While traipsing around St. Joseph’s Benedictine Abbey searching for Walker Percy’s headstone with Chick B, I suddenly realized what a truly “southern catholic” moment I was having.

For those of you who don’t know Walker Percy, here is a little bio info that may help explain why two Southern Catholic women would haul four kids 60 miles out of the way on a trip home from New Orleans to an abbey outside the small town of Covington, Louisiana.

Born May 28, 1916 in Birmingham, AL, Walker Alexander Percy was an American Southern author whose interests included philosophy and semiotics.  He is best known for his novels including The Moviegoer, The Last Gentleman, Love in the Ruins, and The Second Coming among others.  His work displays a unique combination of existential questioning, Southern sensibility and deep Catholic faith.  Not only was he a prolific writer but he was instrumental in getting John Kennedy Toole’s Pulitzer Prize- winning novel  A Confederacy of Dunces published after Toole’s death.  He also was a great encourager of his fellow Southern writers and along with 21 other authors founded the Fellowship of Southern Writers.  In 1989 the University of Notre Dame awarded Percy its Laetare Medal, which is awarded annually to a Catholic “whose genius has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of the Church and enriched the heritage of humanity.”

Both Chick B and I share a love for reading books by Southern writers.  And, I had been a Walker Percy fan back in my Protestant days.  So, imagine my delight when we discovered that Walker Percy was a Catholic convert as well.  (This explains the trip to a remote abbey outside Covington, Louisiana.)

Chick B finally located the simple headstone. We paid our respects to the great Southern writer and loaded up back in the car for the 8 hour drive home — a little richer from the “southern catholic moment” we had just had.

Chick A

Sunday, June 6, 9:00 am: excitement building when we load the kids in the car for a 6 hour ride on the first day of the road trip.

Noon: First stop on the way to L.A. (Lower Alabama) is the Cracker Barrel just south of Montgomery.  Our Cracker Barrel national map shows it to be the only one in the area.  Kids are buying candy, sniffing candles, and waiting to be seated.  Vegetable plates and biscuits- this is some kind of good.  Next stop- the Marriott Grand in Point Clear for a few days of swimming and beach fun.  Wondering if we will see tar balls in the sand.

Tuesday: in search of old-fashioned soda shop that Chick B had visited on previous trip to the area.  While driving, shocked to see large, relatively new Catholic church on side of the road- St. Margaret’s of Scotland- near Foley, AL.

Late Tuesday, 9:00 pm: Chick A’s daughter bumps chin on giant pool slide.  On ambulance ride to nearest medical facility to get stitches, driver tells Chick A that there is a rather large population of Catholics along the road stretching from Foley to Gulf Shores.  Who knew?

Wednesday, 11:00 am: Arrive at the Bayou!  Pick up husbands at New Orleans airport and head into New Orleans, Catholic capital of the South.

Wednesday, 2:00 pm: visit the international shrine of St. Jude to pray for sick family members.  Multi-tasking stop- trying to light candles and pray, give a donation to a homeless couple who needed bus fare, and learn about St. Jude.  Wondering what that tuft of hair (or something) is on top of St. Jude’s head.

Wednesday, 5:00 pm: Visit St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square.  Light more candles, say more prayers, and try to figure out the life of Louis.  A true treasure of a site less than a few blocks from Bourbon Street.  One kid comments on the possibility of the confessional boxes being real busy in that part of town.

Thursday, 7:30 am: Chick B (early riser) makes it to 7:30 mass to receive unexpected blessing.   Father Maestri, celebrating the mass that morning, had spent a year in Atlanta at Chick B’s parish.  Former Protestant in her just loved and appreciated his homilies.  He nailed one again that morning.  Hung around to try to say hello, but never saw him.

9:00 am- Breakfast at Cafe du Monde with special entertainment from Hack Bartholomew whose calling is to “lift up the name of Jesus down in New Orleans.”

10:00 am: NOLA food hangover setting in.  Burning hot- not even noon.

11:00 am: Horse and buggy ride in the French Quarter pointing out all the beautiful sites, including the Old Ursuline Convent, once home to the first girls-only school in the United States.

Noon: second meal in less than 2 hours, ignoring onset of food hangover.  Great conversation with business colleague on Catholic culture in the Big Easy.

2:00 pm: Trolley ride to Loyola.  Church of the Holy Name closed for renovation.  This place gives hot new meaning – sweating hot, that is.

Thursday, 7:30 pm: in total denial of food hangover.  Dinner at another one of the Brennan family restaurants.  After dinner, begin planning a water and fruit juice fast once we get home.

Friday, 11:00 am: Husbands back at the airport.  Put kids in car and head across the Lake Ponchartrain bridge to Covington, LA to see Walker Percy’s grave at St. Joseph’s Abbey.
More on Walker Percy later.

Friday night, somewhere along I-65 North: one last meal at the Cracker Barrel on the way home.  All is right with the world.

Chicks A and B

Check out what we love about The Barrel from our most recent visit.

Chicks A and B

The Chicks like to travel, take in Catholic sights, and hear great speakers. Really, we like to attend any event to deepen our faith, grow closer to Christ, and learn more about His Church.  There is a big Catholic world out there, and we love to explore it!

2009 was full of great Catholic experiences. By far the number one most meaningful was the mass and veneration of the relic of Saint Mary Magdalene, which we have affectionately named the “traveling tibia” since it is the relic of her tibia bone.  Please don’t be fooled by our little catch phrase that may sound irreverent to some.  It caught these two former Protestants off guard as the most meaningful and unexpected experience in our time as Catholics thus far.  We were initially drawn to attend by a curiosity to witness something considered eccentric in Protestant circles.  However, to be in the presence of a part of someone who was physically present with our Lord during His ministry here on earth, His crucifixion, and His resurrection was so incredibly moving.  It was an indelible stamp that God is real – that faith is not a fairy tale. This is a real bone of a real person who knew Jesus and was transformed by His grace.  To be able to have Mass with our Lord present and His beloved disciple Mary Magdalene – well, it was a little piece of heaven on earth!!  So, if the “traveling tibia” makes it to your parish, we highly recommend taking the time to venerate it.

On with our top ten list – be sure and add yours in the comment section.

Advent Day of Reflection at St. Ignatius House

Summer Apologetics Series at Christ the King

EWTN filming of Life on the Rock

Preview of the Catholicism Project and meeting Father Robert Barron

Dr. Peter Kreeft’s talk on what makes up Catholic identity

Trip to Washington, DC for the Inside Catholic fundraiser

Road trip to St. Augustine, Florida to tour America’s first parish

Annual 3 day silent retreat

Easter Vigil Mass

and……..

1.       Mass and Veneration of the Relic of Saint Mary Magdalene

Chicks A and B

San Gennaro

The strangest thing happened to me one night when I was listening to my daughter describe details of a trip with her grandmother (my mother) to New York City.  As she talked about their stroll through Little Italy, a flood of tsunami proportion hit me.  Suddenly, I was transported back to a time in my life when I travelled to New York in September each year for business.  While on those trips, a dear Catholic friend and I would walk the streets during the Feast of San Gennaro and enjoy the festivities that brought Little Italy to life during that time of year.

I haven’t thought about those trips in years.  But this is the strange part- not once did I ever ask my Catholic friend about the identity of San Gennaro or the reason for this huge, 11-day long celebration.  You would think I would at least have been curious enough to wonder about the meaning of it all.  Instead, I wandered through the festival enjoying the atmosphere but totally clueless about what was taking place around me.  I find this to be the case too often in my life, quite frankly.  I don’t ask the whos, whats and whys of important dates, celebrations, or even daily rituals.  I know I have missed out on deeper, more meaningful experiences because of this tendency.

Even though the Feast of San Gennaro has come and gone this year, it is not too late to ask some whos, whats and whys before year’s end.  Here are some of the things I’m going to be considering over the coming weeks:

Why is Advent chosen as the beginning of the Church’s liturgical calendar, even though it occurs near the end of the calendar year?

If Jesus was born in a desert, why is it considered the “ultimate” to have a white Christmas?

What crazy fool came up with the magic elf idea (you moms know what I am talking about)?

Who was Saint Nicholas, why was he so jolly, and what caused him to morph into Santa Claus?

Why are there 12 days of Christmas, not 3 or 6 or some other number? Follow-up thought: has anyone really ever seen a partridge in a pear tree?

What am I going to do differently this year so that I am not in need of “exhaustion rehab” by the time Christmas has come and gone?

By the way, San Gennaro is the patron saint of Naples.  The first feast in NYC took place on September 19, 1926 when newly arrived immigrants from Naples settled on Mulberry Street.  This religious festival has attracted so many contributors that the organizers’ philanthropic arm has been able to donate over $1.8mm to worthy causes in the tri-state area.  No other public festival donates more to charity.

And Bill Bennett has written an excellent book on St. Nicholas, which I am reading this December.  Look for The True Saint Nicholas- Why He Matters To Christmas at your local bookstore.  

Happy questioning to you and yours!

Chick “B”

The Chicks are back from a major road trip- we were attending the 14th Annual Partnership Dinner and Dance benefiting InsideCatholic.com in Washington, D.C.  Somehow we landed an invitation to this swanky event, and with the blessings of our husbands we took off for a 36 hour adventure.

If we twittered- which we don’t – this would have been the running commentary on some of the details of our experience:

Night before trip- reviewing guest list of attendees.  Apparently we will be seated at a table with Eduardo Verastegui, the “Mexican Brad Pitt,” and a young blogger called The American Papist.

Day of trip…8:20 am- driving to the airport wondering what we are qualified to talk about with movie stars, bloggers, intellectuals, and political insiders.  Chick A suggests  subjects we know something about include shopping at Costco, middle school sports carpools, laundry, household logistics, elementary school homework, and meal planning for busy families.  Chick B concurs and reminds Chick A that we also know a little about paying bills online.  What is a Southern Catholic Chick supposed to do?

Noon, The Daily Grille on M street- going over dinner conversation and possible questions that will keep conversation rolling with movers and shakers.

2:00 pm- looking over schedule wondering about the 6:30 wine reception featuring the sacred icons of Sister Eliseea Papocioc. Very strange reception theme for 2 former protestants.  Wishing we had brought a copy of Butler’s Lives of the Saints to confirm identity of Sister.

3:00 pm- getting ready.  Could be a fashion crisis brewing.  Looking over several outfits, wanting to strike proper balance of Catholic modesty and the hip Washington scene.

5:00 pm- end of mass.  Amazing how a meeting room can be turned into a beautiful sacred space.  Wondering what hotel guests in lobby are thinking about our singing Now Thank We All our God.

6:50 pm- awards ceremony concludes with convicting reflections by Archbishop Raymond Burke.  Time for dinner and icons reception.

7:15 pm- all mixed up about icons and relics.  Were thinking that icons were relics and that we were going to be seeing some bones next to the bar.  Instead, just received a quick lesson on icons from an Aussie named Patrick of the Archdiocese of New York who is a very enthusiastic “cradle” Catholic.  Realized that Sister Papocioc is alive and well and is actually an icon artist.   More on icons later…

Artist Sister Papocioc second from left

8:00 pm- star-studded dinner with great food, swing band, and interesting table companions- move star, political blogger, right-to-life lawyer, and entrepreneurs make for interesting conversation for two Southern housewives.  Just thanked EWTN star Raymond Arroyo for his news commentaries and books.

Raymond Arroyo

Watching guests taking swing dance lessons.  Deal Hudson of InsideCatholic.com claims that dancing is part of his penance.

The Chicks with Deal Hudson

10:30 pm- strategically placing ourselves in hallway outside ballroom to see all the movers and shakers.  Finally get up nerve to take pictures.

Eduardo Verastegui, star of the movie Bella

11:00 pm- back in the room taking off heels.  A chick can only wear 4” heels for so long.  Reflecting on the event, we decide what a fantastic night it was to be among Christians who love Christ and the Church and who want to be a powerful force for good in our society.

Check out the InsideCatholic.com website for great articles on faith, politics and culture.  Their fundraisers aren’t bad either!

Chicks A and B

There’s an expression down South- maybe you’ve heard it.  It goes like this: “Even a blind pig can find an acorn every once in a while.”  Well sure enough, that is exactly what has happened!  In an attempt to spend some quality vacation time at the beach in conjunction with visiting America’s oldest European settlement and city, we have stumbled across America’s Most Sacred Acre.

Who would have known that a Catholic mission sent from Spain would give birth to the city of St. Augustine in 1565?   The travelers landed, celebrated mass, and established what would be our country’s first parish and Christian settlement.  Yes, before Jamestown (1607) and Plymouth (1620) there was St. Augustine, and you can visit this historic city when you travel to the northeastern coast  of Florida.  The site of the landing is called Mission de Nombre de Dios, a lovely park area that boasts the rustic altar first used for mass, the first shrine in America built to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, and a 400 ft. high cross that commands the shoreline as you cross over the bridge toward the city.   About a mile from the park is the beautiful Cathedral standing at the original location of the first church built for the faithful.

Named for one of the most famous bishops and doctors of the Church, St. Augustine is a family-friendly town that is well worth a visit. If you break away from the typical tourist attractions and make your way to the Cathedral and to that most sacred acre at Mission de Nombre de Dios, you will feel as if you have stepped back in time to a crucial era in the history of the Christian faith in our country.  It will be hot-hot-hot in the summertime, though, so be prepared to sweat like a pig (pardon the expression) while you are out finding your acorn!

For more information on St. Augustine and America’s Most Sacred Acre, visit www.thefirstparish.org and www.missionandshrine.org

Chicks “A” and “B”