The musings and meandering thoughts of a crotchety old man as he observes life in the world and in a small, rural town in South East Nebraska. I hope to help people get to Heaven by sharing prayers, meditations, the lives of the Saints, and news of Church happenings. My Pledge: Nulla dies sine linea ~ Not a day without a line.
Olha (Olga) was the wife of Igor, the Grand Prince of the Kyivan Rus’, a federation of people whose capital was the city of Kyiv, now the capital of modern-day Ukraine. When her husband was brutally murdered by a subsidiary tribe, Olga went on a legendary campaign of cunning and ruthless revenge. Once in control of her husband’s kingdom, she was an efficient and effective leader.
She converted to Christianity in order to get out of an unwanted marriage proposal. She is credited with introducing Christianity to the Rus people. After her death, Olga was canonised as a saint and is regarded as “Equal to the Apostles” within the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
Traditional Catholic morning prayers to help start your day in a godly way! The month of July is dedicated to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus. May our devotion to the salvific action of the Precious Blood of Christ increase more fervently this month. We've included the Memorare of the Sacred Heart and litany of the Sacred Heart. Begin your July with daily morning prayer. This video is a compilation of many traditional morning prayers Catholics say, and should not be considered a replacement for those who have an obligation to pray the Divine Office morning prayers.
Many people are convinced that the Catholic image of Mary and the temple veil is a sentimental legend invented centuries after the fact, with no roots in Scripture or the early Church. I am convinced the truth is almost the exact opposite. Look at the instructions God gives Moses for a single curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet thread. They are strangely, almost obsessively specific, and that one small detail carries one of the oldest instincts in all of Christianity.
Ancient Jews never read those colours as mere decoration, and Josephus tells us the veil pictured the whole material world screening the glory of God. Then the New Testament makes a breathtaking move: the letter to the Hebrews calls the flesh of Christ the new veil, and that flesh was woven in the womb of Mary. Old Testament, then New Testament, then the tabernacle in your own parish. This is not about exalting Mary above her Son. It is about protecting the truth of who her Son actually is, so that the next time you kneel before the tabernacle at Mass, you know what you are really looking at.
In this video:
• Why the blue, purple, and scarlet of the temple veil were never just decoration
• How Josephus read the veil as the entire created cosmos
• Why Hebrews calls the flesh of Christ the true veil, and how that flesh was Mary's
• What the Protoevangelium of James remembers about the scarlet thread and a girl named Mary
• Why the torn veil opens access rather than abolishing it
⏱ CHAPTERS
0:00 Is Mary in the Temple Veil Just a Legend
2:14 Exodus 26:31 and the Veil of Blue, Purple, Scarlet
2:55 Josephus: The Veil as the Whole Cosmos
3:28 Hebrews 10:20 and the Flesh of Christ as the Veil
4:22 Born of a Woman: The Veil Woven in Mary
4:56 The Protoevangelium of James and the Scarlet Thread
7:27 The Torn Veil in Matthew 27:51
📖 SCRIPTURE REFERENCED
• Exodus 26:31: God commands a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet before the Holy of Holies.
• Hebrews 10:20: we enter God's presence through the veil, which the author calls the flesh of Christ.
• Galatians 4:4: God sent his Son, born of a woman.
• Psalm 22:6: "I am a worm and not a man," using tolah, the same word as the scarlet worm dye, read as a prophecy of the crucifixion.
• Matthew 27:51: At the death of Jesus, the veil of the temple is torn in two from top to bottom.
⛪ FROM THE CHURCH FATHERS & THE CATECHISM
• St. Athanasius (4th century, Alexandria): Christ draws us to the Father through his own flesh, the very flesh Hebrews calls the veil.
• CCC 2676: Mary is the dwelling place where the glory of the Lord abides.
📜 SOURCES & FURTHER READING
• Josephus (1st-century historian): the veil was woven from four materials that demonstrate the nature of the four elements: scarlet for fire, blue for air, purple for the sea, fine linen for the earth.
• The Protoevangelium of James (mid-2nd century, not Scripture): remembers young virgins chosen to spin the temple veil, with the scarlet and true purple falling by lot to a girl named Mary.
🔗 EXPLORE MORE
🌍 Website: https://totuscatholica.org/
Rosary Guide: https://totuscatholica.org/rosary
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One of the most amazing novels I've ever read is her Kristin Lavransdatter, set in medieval Catholic Norway. She was a convert and a shining example of the Faith in a Lutheran country.
"She is far more than an author and Nobel Prize laureate," said local bishop; she is "a model of Christian faith."
The Catholic Bishop of Oslo, Norway, His Excellency Fredrik Hansen, has begun preparations for a canonization cause for the Catholic writer Sigrid Undset.
Undset, a Catholic convert and lay Dominican, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928 and is considered one of the foremost writers of the 20th century. Hansen's announcement means the Catholic Church will begin a formal investigation to determine if Undset lived a life of heroic virtue in such a way that she can be declared a saint officially.
After examining Undset's life and finding clear signs of devotion, Bishop Hansen presented the case to the Nordic Bishops' Conference and to experts on the life of Sigrid Undset. He said the formal process will begin this fall.
Sigrid Undset jako młoda dziewczyna | Sigrid Undset as a young girl
The announcement was made July 8 during an annual pilgrimage Mass for the feast of St. Sunniva on the island of Selja, where hundreds of Catholic pilgrims were gathered.
Norwegian Catholics gathered for Mass on the island of Selja in monastery ruins, where the opening of Undset's canonization cause was announced.
Courtesy of Mathias Ledum
Speaking from the ruins of an ancient monastery where the annual Mass is celebrated, Bishop Hansen described the famed writer, saying:
She is far more than an author and Nobel Prize laureate. For us, she is a model of Christian faith, of a life lived in virtue, and of the pursuit of holiness.
She showed a constant and practical concern for the poor. She gave of herself in caring for her daughter, in her commitment to life and to the sanctity of life.
Through her many books she has shaped countless believers, inspired them to live in Christ, and borne witness to our medieval saints.
Local community rejoices
Aleteia reached out to Fr. Mathias Ledum, who is the first priest to come from Undset’s home parish in 500 years, and is known for his popular #MakeScandinaviaCatholicAgain social media campaign.
Bishop Hansen, Fr. Ledum and other clergy in the monastery ruins on Selja
Courtesy of Mathias Ledum
Ledum feels a strong connection to Undset and already asks her to pray for him. He said:
I regard Sigrid Undset almost as a godmother. I have actively prayed for her intercession for two years already, and I know that others have been doing the same.
Undset paved the way for the Catholic community of my home area in Gudbrandsdalen and specifically formed a prayer group that prayed for Norwegian vocations. We can assume that she even prayed and hoped for a priestly vocation from this area that she held so dearly.
Fr. Mathias Ledum with a photograph of Sigrid Undset
Courtesy of Mathias Ledum
Given his history with Undset and her beloved status among the Norwegian Church, Ledum said the local Catholic community received the news “with great joy and enthusiasm!”
While cautioning that the process is in its very earliest stages, he said, “I agree with the bishop that it's the right time to look into this, and for all of us to rediscover the person of Sigrid Undset and what she has to offer us Catholics today, through her brilliant authorship and through the strong testimony of her life.”
A bridge-building writer
Ledum is something of a local expert on Undset. “The last couple of years I have grown in my knowledge of her and friendship with her,” he said.
Because of his personal connection to her, local organizations, both Catholic and secular, frequently invite Ledum to speak about Undset. He has given talks at the Undset museum, in parishes and churches, and at local history associations. He even celebrated Mass at the parish in Lillehammer where Undset lived, wearing vestments she had donated to the parish more than a century before.
Fr. Mathias Ledum and other Norwegian Catholics pray at the grave of Sigrid Undset
Courtesy of Mathias Ledum
Ledum told Aleteia of a recent incident that seems almost uncannily prophetic in hindsight:
During the celebration of Olsok (solemnity of St. Olav, which was her favorite feast!), I got to speak to a huge crowd about her devotion to St. Olav and why he was her favorite saint.
So many Lutherans and non-believers were there and they listened with great attention to what was basically an explanation of Catholic theology on the saints, through the lens of Undset.
I even proposed that we might have Undset herself as one of our canonized saints one day!
The non-Catholic attendees’ reaction is consistent with something he’s seen repeatedly: “Everywhere I go and speak about Undset, she seems to have a huge impact on many Protestants. Her writings often help them in understanding better the Catholic faith, and even in being received into full communion with the Church.”
Undset herself was an adult convert to Catholicism, entering the Church the same year she won the Nobel Prize.
Undset is a “bridge builder,” he said, among the different Christian denominations in Scandinavia. Her life and witness are strengthening the Christian faith in Norway and helping many to rediscover its Catholic roots—and “how we can still connect with those roots for the benefit of our country and our culture.”
Undset is a meaningful force in Ledum’s campaign to “Make Scandinavia Catholic Again,” and no doubt this fresh attention through the opened cause for canonization will bring her personal witness and powerful writings to many more Scandinavians—and people around the world.
