Where I Will Be Studying

While I was searching for something else online, I found this video about the Pontificia Università della Santa Croce, where I will be studying for the next three years:

And yes, I am totally excited for this amazing opportunity! :)

(But please pray that the Holy Spirit will help me learn Italian.)

Sorry for the Delay…

Sorry for the long gap in posting—between graduation, spending some time with my family, driving from south Florida back home to New York, and attending a friend’s Ordination and first Mass, it’s been a busy month! But, I hope to resume my regular posting now that the academic year is over.

I did finish my Master’s thesis, titled: “What Does It Mean to Be ‘Dedicated to the Service of the Church?’: Understanding the Call to Service in the Restored Order of Virgins.” We have until the end of the summer to turn in a final copy, and so I am unfortunately still finding myself proofreading, fixing footnotes, tweaking my bibliography, ect.

So for those of you who have written requesting a copy of my thesis—this is what is taking me so long, and I have not forgotten about you! (And if anyone else wants to read my thesis once I have it completely in order, send me an e-mail at: sponsa.christi.author [at] gmail [dot] com). Now that I’m finished traveling, I really and truly do hope to have it done in the next few weeks!

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On a side note, my trip up north this year took a little longer this year, because I actually began it on Pentecost weekend by heading south of Miami! I was able to attend the baptism of a family friend’s first child on Key West, which is the southernmost city in the continental United States (even though it’s an island—I guess it’s considered part of the continental U.S. because it’s in the state of Florida, and Florida is obviously part of the North American mainland).

The baptism was celebrated at the beautiful, historic Church of St. Mary, Star of the Sea, which is the oldest parish in south Florida. Although it is now a part of the Archdiocese of Miami, because Key West is geographically closer to Cuba that it is to the American mainland, it was originally under the auspices of the Diocese of Havana. (You can read more about St. Mary Star of the Sea’s fascinating history here, on the parish website.)

(Here’s a photo we took of the interior of St. Mary, Star of the Sea)

(And here’s one of me holding the Church’s newest member!)

Despite—or perhaps because of?—Key West’s reputation as being a somewhat of a “colorful” or a “party” city, St. Mary Star of the Sea struck me as being home to an especially vibrant Catholic community, with a school, a convent, and a twenty-four hour Adoration Chapel. (I suppose the only thing better than a Perpetual Adoration chapel is a Perpetual Adoration chapel located on a tropical island!)

On my way up north, I was happy to have the chance to visit other family friends in the Orlando area, a seminarian-friend from the Diocese of Raleigh, NC, and to spend a day at the Visitation monastery in Washington, DC. I was also able to visit the Apostolic Sisters of St. John in New Jersey when I stayed with them on the last leg of the long trip. But even after having had an overall very enjoyable journey (minus the part where I got completely, horribly lost in the “interestingly-arranged” streets of Washington yet AGAIN this year), I honestly say that I couldn’t be happier living anyplace other than right here in New York!

A Sidewalk Chalk Drawing…

…from Ave Maria, Florida!

I came across this drawing on my way back from Mass earlier today, and I thought it was too cute to pass by without taking a picture.

It illustrates the story of Jesus’ walking on water, recounted in Matthew 14:23-33.

The stick figure on the left is presumably Jesus, since he’s standing on top of the waves and is saying “Do not be afraid!” in his word bubble. The stick figures in the boat are the apostles, since as describes in the Gospel passage, they are exhibiting their fear by crying “Ghost!”

I’m not sure about the artist—was it a precocious grade-schooler, or a stressed-out graduate theology student trying to revisit the halcyon days of childhood, before midterms and thesis writing?

On argument against a graduate-student artist is that the drawing does not represent the Gospel account with total accuracy—specifically, the happy-face sun would not seem to correspond with the evangelist’s description of this episode as occurring in “the fourth watch of the night,” and during a violent storm.

But, it made me smile all the same.

A Blog Award

Normally, I don’t really participate in blog awards, but I’ll make an exception for this one since it was awarded to me by my long-time friend (and blogging inspiration) Sr. Mary Blogger, VHM—editor of the Georgetown Visitation Monastery’s community blog “Live + Jesus!”

Part of accepting the award includes listing six little-known facts about yourself, and naming six other “Gorgeous blogs.” So here it goes:

1. Before I went to earn my bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, I spent three years training to be a professional artist in a fine arts program. (I was a painting major.) Even now, I think if I went back to finish that last year, I could have a B.F.A. It took me two years to earn a Philosophy degree at my new university, only because I was lucky enough to have a lot of my credits transfer—and because I was willing to take four Philosophy courses a semester (on top of a language, which for me was classical Greek).

2. My favorite psalm is psalm 116. Aside from its obvious beauty, I’m not really sure why it has such a particular draw for me, or why it feels like “my” psalm. But I’m always especially moved when it comes up in the Breviary.

3. My patron saint is St. Genevieve of Paris—my real first name is “Jenna,” and my mother chose this as a diminutive form of my grandmother’s name, Genevieve. St. Genevieve was a consecrated virgin who lived during the fifth century, and she is credited with saving Paris from an attack of Attila the Hun through her prayers and fasting. I was consecrated on St. Genevieve’s feast day, January 3.

4. In studying theology, I’m much more of an “Augustinian” than a “Thomist.” I certainly appreciate St. Thomas Aquinas’ writings, but the Summa Theologica just doesn’t make my heart sing the way the writings of the Church Fathers do!

5. I taught myself to say the Liturgy of the Hours by reading the rubrics…for the most part, anyway; I would also button-hole the local parish priests as necessary! I started off when I was eighteen by saying just Lauds, Vespers, and Compline with a copy of “Shorter Christian Prayer.” Then I was able to add one of the daytime hours when Sr. Mary Blogger gave me her old copy of the regular version of “Christian Prayer.” Finally, when I was twenty, I was able to “graduate” to saying the full, four-volume Liturgy of the Hours when our New York Vocation Director gave me the second-hand breviaries of a local religious Sister who had recently entered into eternal life—and these are actually the same books I use today.

6. My petition to receive the Rite of Consecration to a Life of Virginity was approved just ten days before the Pope came to visit New York. And then I was fortunate enough to attend the Mass for Clergy and Religious in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I often think of this timing as akin to a small miracle!

And now for six other “Gorgeous blogs” worth visiting:

1. Emily, a young aspiring consecrated virgin from Louisiana, writes the blog “Witnessing Hope.”

2. The other “Sponsa Christi”—the Passionist nuns of St. Joseph’s monastery in Kentucky write the blog “In the Shadow of His Wings.”

3. Dawn Eden stopped writing her blog “The Dawn Patrol” just this past summer (much to my disappointment!) but you can still read her archives for insightful commentary on issues relating to Catholicism vis-à-vis contemporary culture.

4. The Redemptoristine nuns of Esopus, New York write the blog “Contemplative Horizon.” Their monastery is located in my archdiocese, and for a long time we had the same Vicar for Religious (who is the one who gave me permission to write this blog—under the condition that I didn’t talk about him! I hope this doesn’t count.) This autumn the posted beautiful photos of the foliage by the Hudson River, which I really appreciated since I’m stuck in Florida for the entire season!

5. Sr. Marla Marie, MSCL is founding the first apostolic Maronite-rite Catholic women’s religious community in the United States. (And, coincidentally, though the smallness of the “Catholic world,” someone asked her to pray for me in the days leading up to my consecration!) Her blog is called “Radiate His Light.”

6. I’m sure that the “Gorgeous blog” award button is MUCH too feminine for the administrator of “Roman Catholic Vocations” ever to consider posting. But I think that this is one of the most helpful blogs for people discerning vocations, so I link to it every chance I have.