The Music of Seven Sorrows

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Today, I'm going to tell you about the band called Seven Sorrows.

This is the bio I pulled off of reverbnation.com Incidentally, this is where you can download some of their songs for free.

"Seven Sorrows is a Catholic band unashamed toproclaim the truth of the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church. We are proudto be conservative, bound to the Holy Father, faithful to the Magisterium,consecrated to the Immaculate and Sorrowful Heart of Mary, and we are notafraid to speak against that which goes against Catholic beliefs, such asabortion, contraception, pornography, premarital sex, immodest dress,drunkenness, etc."
They are considered a Catholic metal band, but I think they createsomething beyond any easy genre classification. Check out their website.

I love their logo. You can see it at their site, right here.

I'll pick just two songs to review for you.
"Forgotten Virtue part 1" combines raw metalwith  what I'll describe as a sort of alternative/indie sound. Guttural and melodious vocals combineto present poetic lyrics on the theme of dignity and modest dress. Here is ataste of the lyrics:
Claim to want respect
Then you must change your ways
Your clothes are revealing and all they show is shame
Check out "Forgotten Virtue part 1" on youtube.
"Saints and Sinners" is my favorite of theirsongs. It portrays Jesus' raw, pure, love. For some reason it reminds me of howpassionate for my babies I felt right after giving birth. You know, when you're sweaty and exhausted, but exhilarated, and you just want to hold, gaze at, and protect your babies? Oh man, you feel the same way when your babies grow up and become runaway teens. (Trust me on this.) Then, I'm reminded of howmuch more God loves than we humans ever could and I'm blown away. Anyway, that's how I feel about that song.

A sample of the lyrics:
You may trip
You may stumble
You may fall
But I don't want to watch you burn
I will suffer for you
Go to youtube to experience this "Saints and Sinners" for yourself.  
Here's a more eloquent review of "SevenSorrows" at CatholicMetal. I'm no music reviewer (as you've probably gathered), but I know what I likeand I enjoy sharing it.

Oh, I nearly forgot, you can also listen to Seven Sorrowson the catholic etc. music player.

C.S. Lewis, Kids' Book Clubs, and Christ

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I run a children's homeschooling book club and haverecently had the honor or leading the discussion of C.S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew. Some members ofour club are not Christian, so I felt I must keep away from Christian themesand symbolism. Easier said than done.

The more I struggled to see past the Christian themes,the more they stood out for me. You have the struggle of good vs. evil, a manseeking power for power's sake who can't recognize God when he's standing infront of him, a Genesis creation story, temptation in the garden, a forbiddenapple, and the promise of a savior. I'll tell you how I skirted these topics ina moment.
I know neo-pagans, new agers, atheists, and even anti-Christianatheists who love the Narnia books. Why would they be drawn to them when thebooks so obviously deal with Christian themes? Sure, they are good stories. Butthey're only great stories if you seethe deeper meaning that is hidden (or at times, not so well hidden) within them.A child unaware of the Christian elements might enjoy them, but a grownup who'snot only non-Christian, but anti-Christian?


I have a theory.  Thoughsociety tells us to love self, in ourhearts, we want to love God and imitate Him by loving our fellow human beingsin a selfless manner. We are made to love and know God. This is why Narnia ispopular. It's why we admire self-sacrificing heroes in books and films. It'swhy we grow disgusted at villains using power to step on others as they striveto rule the world.  It may be why mynon-Christian friends and family celebrate Christmas. I'd thought it was acultural tradition thing; now I'm not so sure.
Still, the loving selfthing pops up in a couple of ways in our society. One has a bad reputation--theover consumption of goods, such as expensive cars, jewelry, and other luxuryitems. The one that is gaining in popularity (at least in my sphere) is themore new-agey idea that you are your own god or goddess. An atheist relative ofmine posted on Facebook, "Be your own savior."
Of course we should love and respect ourselves. Godcreated each of us as unique human beings. We have an inherent dignity as hischildren. But when self-centeredness gets in the way of loving God and others,there's a problem.
But back to the topic. What did we discuss at book club? Good and evil (because everybody understandthat dichotomy), the similarities between Uncle Andrew and the witch and whatmakes them villains, the nature of the Cabby (aka King Frank), the children, thehorse, and we also touched on Aslan. We discussed the similarities between theWood Between the World and the attic tunnel (both being in-between places, notreally places where things happen), and the similarities of Charn and how thecharacters feel about London. Both were described as hard, cold places.
So, I thank the Lord for the works of C.S. Lewis. Theirpopularity fills me with hope for our society.

Plaque on the Unicorn Inn

BTW IMDb says the film The Magician's Nephew is in production and might not be out until 2014.

If you enjoyed this post, you might like the post I wrote on self-sacrificing mothers in books and film.

"Coyote Fires" by Karina Fabian: donate to a good cause while enjoying a fantasy story

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Enjoy some fantasy and help victims of the Colorado fires. Author Karina Fabian is putting up a story called "Coyote Fires" chapter by chapter. Here's the link to the site.  On the side bar you'll find a donation button. All of the money goes to the Colorado Springs chapter of the American Red Cross.

Why not go over and donate. It's simple and painless. In fact, it's fun because you get to read a fantasy story! :) You get to feel good about helping people while sitting back, sipping a cup of tea, and reading.

Sacramental Wine During Prohibition

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Did you ever wonder where priests got wine for Mass during prohibition?

Mission San Antonio in California

Prohibition in the United States was in place from 1920to 1933. Basically, prohibition made the manufacture, sale, importor export of intoxicating liquors illegal.  Wikipedia has a page thatgives more details.

Dumping illegal booze during prohibition

What did the Catholic Church do about Communion wineduring prohibition? What happened to the wineries that had been flourishing inCalifornia? Both of these stories are intertwined. Sadly, during prohibition, many wineries went out ofbusiness. However, the lucky ones who got contracts with the Catholic Church to makesacramental wines survived or even flourished. You see, alcoholic beverages formedicinal and sacramental use were exempt from the ban.

Wine press

That's the story in a nutshell. To learn more go to thisarticle in the American Catholic and this one at the Straight Dope.

Rainbow Lily a Beautiful Symbol

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What does a rainbow symbolize? When I was growing up,it symbolized God's promise to never flood the world again. Remember Genesis?The world was so full of sin, God wanted to wash away everyone. He spared Noah andhis family and taught him how to build a huge ark, so they'd be safe until thefloods went down, and also so that little children would one day have toy boatswith pairs of animals to play with.

Noah's Ark

Where was I? Oh yes, the rainbow. It symbolizes apromise. I've no idea why it became a symbol of homosexual pride. Anyway,Nissa Annakindt (writer, blogger, expert on Korean soap operas) has created a newsymbol. It celebrates people with same sex attraction (aka, gay people) whocommit to living a chaste, pure, celibate life. It's a beautiful rainbow lily!Rainbow for the same sex attraction thing and a God's promise thing and a lilyfor purity. Brilliant!

Check out Nissa's blog The Lina Lamont Fan Club. She blogs about Doctor Who, the Catholic Church, same sex attraction, writing, and werewolves, among other things.

Women's Health And Dizziness During Pregnancy

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A notable number of women experience dizziness during pregnancy. The scientific explanation for this is that, during that period, the body of a woman's body undergoes a lot of cardiovascular changes. The body is supposed to undergo self-initiating adaptive changes in its cardiovascular and nervous systems to enable normal functioning, especially in maintaining continuous supply of blood to the brain. The consequences of failure of such adaptive mechanisms include fainting and giddiness.

One of the significant changes that occur to women during gestation is an increase in the rate of heart beat. This is accompanied by increment in blood volumes by about 45%. They also undergo dilation of blood vessels, resulting in low blood pressure. A woman experiences the lowest blood pressure levels at around mid-pregnancy. This drop is only restored to normal close to the end of gestation period.

Medical experts have identified a number of ways that can help in handling dizziness. It is critical that a woman lies down if she experiences vertigo. This prevents her from suffering injury by falling. She should also stop doing any activity that may bring harm to her or others, for instance operating machinery or driving.

The basic cause of dizziness and fainting is an inadequate supply of blood to the brain. First aid measures, hence, should aim to restore this supply. One way of achieving this is by resting the victim in a horizontal position, but with the head slightly lower than the rest of the body. Where there is no space to lie, it is advisable that the victim sits, then put her head between her knees. The woman may also lie on her left side, since this increases blood flow to both the heart and the brain.

A woman's actions may increase the risk of her fainting or experiencing lightheadedness. Top on this list is a quick shift in position from either lying or sitting to standing. Blood pools around the feet and in lower legs during resting periods. The body may not be able to restore blood flow to the heart and brain upon springing from the rest position, hence resulting in dizziness. Therefore, it is advisable for pregnant women not to spring from resting positions to standing.

Blood may also pool around the feet when a person stands at the same position for prolonged periods. Expectant women are advisable to walk around after short periods of being stationary. In case this is not possible, exercising legs could also help improve blood circulation. Wearing support stockings has also been proven to improve circulation.

Pregnant woman should take note of their sleeping positions since how they sleep may increase chances of experiencing lightheadedness. A woman should not lie on their stomachs or backs during their second and third trimesters. This is because such positions cause the uterus to exert extra pressure on inferior vena cava, slowing circulation in the lower abdomen. They should lie of their left side instead.

Vasovagal syncope may also result in dizziness during pregnancy. This is a condition resulting from straining during activities such as urination or coughing, dehydration, pain or anxiety. Symptoms associated with this condition are a feeling of warmth, nausea, yawning, sweating and paleness. It is advisable to lie or sit upon experiencing such symptoms.

Tomorrow....

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We are still waiting for baby to make his grand arrival.  As of Thursday, I was dilated to 2 1/2 cm and very s...l...o...w...l...y... making progress on my own which makes me a good candidate for induction.  My doctor was out of town over the long Presidents' Day weekend, so I am thankful that baby Gyver decided to wait it out for our induction tomorrow morning.  There is still the chance that I could get bumped from the schedule, so we have to wait and see if there is room for me.  If Tuesday doesn't work out, then we'll try again on Thursday.

This weekend, we made a trip to Barnes and Noble and Michael's to use up the remainder of Christmas gift cards.  The children made some good choices and should have no trouble keeping busy for the next couple of weeks while we take our "baby break" from schooling.

A little something for everyone!

So, we're all waiting and praying that all goes well.  We have a lovely neighbor who has been on call the past week, just in case baby decided to come on his own. She has volunteered to spend the day with the children so that Todd can be at the hospital with me all day.  What a blessing to our family!

We're all anxious to add #7 to our next "Mom and Kids" photo!

I enter the end of this pregnancy with all the same mixed emotions that I have each time.  Being pregnant is such a blessing and I truly enjoy this special time.  I am nervous about the labor/delivery, but trying hard to trust that God will guide everything and take good care of us.  I know the children will be in good hands and that is a huge relief. 

Your continues prayers are immensely appreciated.  I can feel them and they are impacting me greatly.  I am much more at ease than I was a few weeks ago and I know it is due to all of the prayers that I am covered with.  Please continue them and we'll keep you posted....hopefully with some pictures of our baby boy tomorrow!

Now, I suppose I should go get a bag packed for the hospital....funny how preparations change from baby #1 to #7!

UPDATE:  (Tuesday early am) Todd is out snow blowing the driveway so that we can head to the hospital for our induction.  No snow all winter...of course it snows last night!  I've been awake since 3:00....anxious to meet our baby boy I guess.  As always, your prayers are greatly appreciated!

God Bless!

Heather :-)