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Finding Lady’s Wells
I told them I was going for a run, but that wasn’t the whole story. When driving to our accommodations in west Cork, I spied from the passenger seat a sign marking a “Lady’s Well and Mass Rock” and...
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It’s OK to be sick
When I got sick, it was public. I was late and out sick often, I couldn’t be as social as I had been before, I lost a lot of weight and later a lot of hair. I know some people criticized me for how...
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In hac lacrimarum valle
To you we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to you we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Quite close to St Ignatius’s childhood home in Loyola is a shrine to Our Lady of...
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Ignatius and me in Barcelona: Companionship, reliance and faith
He was afraid that if he had a companion with him, he would lose some of that supreme trust in God, deflecting it onto his companion. – Pedro de Ribadeneira, writing of Ignatius’s travel from Manresa...
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The grace we need
Once we he was going out of devotion to a church situated a little more than a mile from Manresa…as he went along occupied with his devotions, he sat for a little while with his facd toward the river...
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Restoration
Not far from the Sanctuary of Loyola, near St. Ignatius’ family home, pilgrims can visit the Magdalene Chapel. When Ignatius returned to his homeland having fallen ill in Paris in April 1535, he stayed...
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Teach us to number our days aright
Many years ago I visited Pompei. I knew that my grandmother had been born in a small town not far from nearby Naples, and as our bus drove around the city on the autostrada I looked up into the...
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What I’m into: August 2017
Summer vacation has come to an end and I can honestly say this was one of the best summers I’ve had. We travelled near and far, I wrote and sang a ton, read a record number of books, and saw lots of...
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The blessedness of place
Because I know that time is always time And place is always and only place… – T.S. Eliot, from Ash Wednesday I spent last weekend in the Berkshires, a region of western Massachusetts near the northern...
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Born in Drive
My mother describes me as having been “born in drive”. Apparently on the first day of some toddler play group I became so excited by the promise of meeting new friends that I ran into the room...
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What I’m Into: May/June 2017
Reading, Music, Travel, Summer! That about sums up what I’ve been into the last few months. I read some great books in varying genres and took a phenomenal trip to Sicily. Now that I’m back, it’s back...
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In a certain light
Behold God beholding you…and smiling. – Anthony de Mello, SJ We probably would have taken tons of pictures of Scala dei Turchi even if we hadn’t been there during the most beautiful hour just before...
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Gentle with her
Maggie was my yoga teacher the summer I was sickest. Young and healthy, kind without being showy about it, she is a memorable character from that time of trying to hold together what was falling apart....
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Santa Lucia
My father had an Aunt Lucy who I, of course, also considered my aunt, and who died too young of cancer. Her wake and funeral were full of Italian family and friends, many of whom were women of a...
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What I’m Into, September 2016
As it often does, September flew by, full of back-to-school activity, rehearsals starting up for different groups, auditions and meetings filling days and nights. I’m always so grateful for Leigh...
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Scenes from Sicily: A wedding in Catania
When Catania was destroyed by an earthquake and a volcanic eruption in the 17th century, its citizens rebuilt it in an unmistakably baroque style.This is especially evident in its many churches:...
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Scenes from Sicily: Caronia
This week I will share some of the striking scenes I saw on our recent trip to Sicily. I had never heard of the Sirocco winds until we woke up to them on our third morning in Sicily. Hot air whipped...
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What I’m into, Spring 2016
I had a rather busy spring, capped off with a fantastic trip. Without further ado, here’s what I’m into. Thanks to Leigh Kramer for hosting this linkup! Reading Station Eleven I have a pretty good...
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Riposo: The value of taking a break
This blog began in 2008 as a travel blog while I travelled to a small town in Italy to sing opera for five weeks. It was on that trip that I finally learned the value of the riposo, the Italian mid-day...
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The gift of the question
Each time Psalm 103 rolls around I am reminded that I truly believe The Lord is Kind and Merciful. Each time, too, I have to ask myself, what does that mean? It doesn’t mean that God waves the magic...
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