Our Homeschooling Program

Last week I posted on why home-schooling is one of the better choices for Catholic families and today I wanted to get a little more in depth with what this looks like practically. When we first started homes schooling, I have to admit it was a challenge to decide how we were going to apply this. There were many different companies to choose from with many different methods. There are also some big names in home schooling curriculum that have a ton of products that can get pretty expensive. Cost was also a major factor for us, due to being a single income household with 4 kids at the time. That narrows things down a bit, however we also wanted to make sure we were providing most effective product for our children.

I started with the home-schooling group at our parish. The mothers there were very informative and helpful in demonstrating options for us. It seems most people stuck with the big companies, specifically Seton and Mother of Divine Grace. There may be other large companies who offer programs, but these were the names that kept popping up. I would absolutely suggest anyone who is starting out with home-schooling to join the local h.s. groups to get good advice and recommendations. A lot of times, the families are experienced and can really make the transition easier.
At the time we started, I absolutely knew what I didn't want, and that was the common public school method/curriculum; we all know how poor public schools are in educating children in America. On the other hand, I have mixed thoughts on this. I also believe that many public school teachers do the best they can with what they have. Many time the fault lies on the parents and sometimes on the children themselves. The point being, there are many circumstances that play into how well a child is educated and I don't want to point the finger solely at public school.
Based on what I have experienced myself in public school and the inside information I received from my spouse(who at the time was teaching in a public school), that both the environment and the method public schools taught was ineffective. Therefore, picking a home-schooling curriculum that resembled public school seemed asinine. The interesting thing is, a lot of Catholic programs, curriculum and time lines are completely identical to public schools. This seems completely erroneous to think you will get better results with your children, when your giving them the same product that society is giving them. So whats the answer? The answer is a method that is proven by our Catholic Tradition and that is the Classical Method.
The Classical method is exactly what the names implies and that is the Classics. Children today are no longer steeped in the time tested and proven works of the great thinkers of time past. The same people who's works have lasted for hundreds of years and are still presented in good Catholic universities and sparingly in public ones. These works present Ideas, not random facts that kids must memorize for a standardized test. Ideas, but also morals. When a child reads the Grimm's and Anderson's fairy tales, they gain knowledge of right and wrong. The image of love between a man and woman are etched in their little brains and their vocabulary flourishes; that is if the proper translation is read to them. I mention proper translations, because we don't want the hard words removed from these beautiful stories. How else will they be able to properly articulate their own ideas if they haven't the tools to do so? Of coarse after the grammar stage of learning they will advance from the fairly tales to more mature level of literature, but not until the imagination has been properly nourished. Many of us today are suffering from a disease of underdeveloped imaginations.
Unless your blind, you may not have noticed, that schools are moving in a direction that is almost completely of the Natural Sciences. Technology and Science are inundating the course catalogs of schools. Science is a wonderful thing and nobody can argue the great advancements we have made. But when you sacrifice Christian culture for the next gadget, what you get is a society that is no longer concerned with Natural Law, Virtue and ultimately Holiness. So, a classical education is paramount in fostering both a strong intellect, but also a moral compass, which this world so desperately needs today.
Lets look now at how this is applied to the student at home. We do a hybrid curriculum which consists of both Mother of Divine grace and The Classical Christian Homeschooling method touched on in his books The Death of Christian Culture and The Restoration of Christian Culture. His books are not a homeschooling guide, but do provide a springboard to the idea of what should be taught. He also provides a list of  the "1000 Good Books" that children should read to prepare themselves for the "Great Books" of Adler. The Mother of D.G. catalog is simply found by googling them. We purchase their syllabi and pick and choose what we want to use out of them.
My children are all under the age of 7, so we have not yet ventured from the grammar stage, but one thing I will say, is that you should NEVER stress as to how far ahead or behind your child is in comparison to what some curriculum says your child needs to be at. Every child is different and pushing them when they are not ready to advance does more harm than good. Here is an excerpt from Senior that describes the problem with "advanced placement'' and pushing our children to move too quickly.
"A Chinese once criticized American education by saying, "You are always pulling on the flower to make it grow faster."  and At Princeton, under Dean Root, the students in the four-year college normally took five courses per year; the exceptionally bright ones were permitted to take four, on the grounds that for them it was really worthwhile to go slow. An education is not an annoying impediment to research or business, but a good in itself, indispensable to the development of the qualified person."
Do not worry about meeting some sort of imaginary deadline with your child. The slower the better and I would be willing to bet that he or she will be exactly where they need to be come time for college.
Lastly, I would highly recommend you just pick up a good book, hopefully one from seniors list and just read it to your children. Keep doing this until they can take off on their own, and then gently guide them toward sainthood. Remember, our goal is to raise Saints, not for them necessarily to become scholars. However, with Gods grace and our obedience, they may become both. 

The Bookshelf "The Medal of St. Benedict" Gueranger

So my most recent book binding project is "The Medal of St. Benedict". This was an interesting bind, because I used chromium tanned leather. This leather is primarily used in clothing and furniture. Normal book binding leather is tanned with natural ingredients and is called vegetable tanned. The difference is primarily in the feel and how the leather reacts to tooling and titling. I put a label on the spine made from veg. tanned leather for this very reason. 

The papers I used on this piece are again my own design. It is a pebbled marbling with a Spanish wave effect. The text block was sewn on bands and then rounded and backed in the traditional fashion. 

For the headbands, I used the same marbled paper wrapped on a piece of mizuhiki cord. I like this method, because its easy and it looks good. Its definitely not as strong and elegant as a sewn band, but its nice. 

Thats it for this one, but I did want to mention, I finished reading "The Life of St. Lydwine of Schiedam" and it was very good. I got a lot of spiritual fruit from it and I hope to start writing reviews on the books I bind and read, instead of just showcasing my bindings. 

Pax Tecum

Should Catholics Choose to Home-school?

Recently my wife and I were faced with a question that was brought up by another Catholic mother, whether sending your children to a school from a different faith was sinful in the eyes of the Church. My first response to this was more precautionary due to the obvious occasion of hearing error and scandal. I did a little digging into this topic and found a number of teaching both from the CCC and also a sermon by Fr. Chad Ripperger, which are a major source for my material today.

I have compiled a list of quotations from the Catechism and lets just dive in and see what we can come up with.

2221 The fecundity of conjugal love cannot be reduced solely to the procreation of children, but must extend to their moral education and their spiritual formation. "The role of parents in education is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide an adequate substitute." The right and the duty of parents to educate their children are primordial and inalienable.
I gather from this, that having children is only part of the equation for Catholic parents. It says that it is "almost impossible to provide adequate substitute" for the education of the children. This is a powerful statement I mean just look a the wording here: right, duty, its primordial and inalienable. 
2223 Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule. The home is well suited for education in the virtues. This requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound judgment, and self-mastery - the preconditions of all true freedom. Parents should teach their children to subordinate the "material and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones." Parents have a grave responsibility to give good example to their children. By knowing how to acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents will be better able to guide and correct them: He who loves his son will not spare the rod. . . . He who disciplines his son will profit by him.Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Again, we see here some strong statements of the responsibility we have toward education our children. I especially like the last quotations from scripture on corporeal punishment. I may do a post soon on this subject. 
2229 As those first responsible for the education of their children, parents have the right to choose a school for them which corresponds to their own convictions. This right is fundamental. As far as possible parents have the duty of choosing schools that will best help them in their task as Christian educators. Public authorities have the duty of guaranteeing this parental right and of ensuring the concrete conditions for its exercise.

This one is interesting. It says we have a right to choose which school corresponds to our convictions. So, if you choose to send your children to public private or faith based schools, we have that right. But I think the key point is choosing a school that "best help(s) them in their task as Christian educators". This school is obviously a faith based school; specifically a Catholic one since we are obliged to educate our children in the Catholic Faith. Now we have already read above that there is no substitute for the parents as educators, therefore the school of the Home, is from what I gather from the text, the best choice thus far. 

1653 The fruitfulness of conjugal love extends to the fruits of the moral, spiritual, and supernatural life that parents hand on to their children by education. Parents are the principal and first educators of their children. In this sense the fundamental task of marriage and family is to be at the service of life.

This last quote from the catechism in a way convicts me. We are responsible for handing down moral, spiritual and supernatural life to our children. This is such a big deal, that people too often don't even concern themselves about. I believe that some children can be taught at younger ages what is right and wrong by lecture, but I would assume that most children learn by example and imitation. When you are home with your family do you strive to live a supernatural moral and spiritual life. I know statistically most people dont. I realize most of this type of education happens on the fly, while living out our daily lives, but since this is repeatedly stressed in the catechism I feel we should be putting a lot more effort into the moral and general education of our kids. I mean sitting down when you get home from work and going threw a catechism, doing apologetics Q&A with them, read a spiritual book to them etc. I don't think a laissez faire attitude is sufficient for the most important subject in a child's life.  

Another interesting thing of note, that I am sure most people have noticed, is the somewhat disappearance of the Humanities from the common curriculum. The moral truths found in literature are indispensable for the moral compass of children.  It provides hope and knowledge of good vs evil. Chesterton said it best like this "Fairly tales do not tell children that dragons exist, they already know that, they teach children that dragons can be killed." No longer do we see Greek and Latin offered in our schools, which is a foundation for the English and other Latin languages. This I feel is very important, not just because it is the ordinary language of the Roman Catholic Church, but because it is language of the great classics that again are no longer studied in our schools. Everything seems to be migrating to the Natural Sciences. There is an endless list of classes in colleges now that pertain to some technical field or another. I making plans for graduate school in the next year or two and have been looking at programs offered by local public colleges and have found very little in the area of Humanities. I get free tuition from a Texas public school due to my military service, so I am working on finding a halfway decent program; it hasn't been easy. Needless to say you can start your children out right in homeschool by teaching the classical languages at an early age, while reading them the 1000 good books. I will do a post on this program soon. 

I want to touch a bit on some of the things Fr. Ripperger says before this gets excessively verbose. 

The link to the article is thus: Parentis. It doesnt take long to read this, but being a typical Ripperger piece, it is a bit heady, so dont just blast through it. 

Fr. R. touches on a number of aspect of the role of parents and their right as well as duty to educate their little ones. He starts by presenting the problem of thr traditional parent obligation to send their children to Catholic School as per Vatican 2 and the apparent dissidence of these schools and their teaching of heresy. This of coarse is not blatant, but by looking at the fruits thereof, we obviously see poorly educated young Catholics coming out of them.  From this, we can glean that todays Catholic Schools need to be thoroughly examined before you allow them to attend, especially if you want them to remain Catholic. 

Next he goes on to explain a bit on Natural Rights and gives a good example from St. Thomas Aquinas "the good of each thing is that it comes upon its end: moreover, its evil is that it turns aside from its due end." The end of the conjugal act is two-fold, viz, the begetting of children and their proper education". The later half of this quote is from Fr. R. , which is from the CCC. I believe this is another good definition of our Natural Rights as parents. 
"Since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious obligation to educate their offspring and therefore must be recognized as the primary and principal educators"

Vatican II, Declaration on Christian Education
This quote Fr. provides, seems to be his source from the documents of Vatican II that justify the rights as parents. Again this wording is very similar to that we see in the CCC.
Now there are circumstances where parents are not able to provide for the education of their children for various reasons. In these circumstances Fr. believes that the Catholic School is better suited for this than CCD classes, in that it provides a comprehensive Catholic atmosphere that can be bounced back to the similar atmosphere in the home, and thus the child is constantly surrounded by a Catholic Culture which will serve him if any questions or concerns may arise.
If a child attends a public school, which is obviously the least desirous of methods, there is an apparent lapse in that fertile and nurturing Catholic Culture, which is oh so valuable in todays secular society with its infectious lies and temptations.
The last section of Fr's. Article he lays out a history of the educational system and how state schools developed into the ordinary means of education. He states that it was primarily for those parents who were not educated and were not able to read. In circumstances like these, it seems public school is the obviouse choice. However today, though there are many who are illiterate in our society, the numbers are nowhere near where they where 150 years ago I would guess, thus reopening home-school as the more efficacious option available to parents.
I believe that the state has overstepped its bounds by requiring families to send their children to state schools in some regions. I am reminded of the phrase, "If you give them an inch, they will take the mile". This seems to be the case with education. Families entrusted education to the state and they think it belongs to them. On the contrary, this obligation is ours according to Natural Law, not a civil law.
In summary, we see that the end and purpose of the parents is to procreate and educate our children. This duty is both a blessing and an obligation, one that is founded in love and reason and is best achieved in the womb of the truly Catholic home. In it, a child will find love, consistency and a perfect image of unity between the family and the Body of Christ. Nowhere can a child truly understand the theological truths and the virtues necessary for saintly living, then in a Catholic home.
I think the best way to end this, is with Fr. Ripperger's own words,
"Home schooling, therefore, has as its foundation the natural law itself. For it was the
intention of God from the very beginning that parents should be the primary educators of their
children. Consequently, parents who home school fulfil the will of their Creator in a most excellent
fashion, for they not only provide the end which God intended when gifting them with children the necessary moral and natural education, but they also employ the best means to that end. Consequently, home schooling should never see the need to justify its existence since parents who
do so are fulfilling the Will of their Creator."

Pax Tecum

Are you Obedient?

The virtue of obedience has frequently been at the forefront of my desire and practices lately. I have picked up here and there many teaching on this virtue and have pieced together an idea of it that I feel is one of the foundations of the primary virtue of humility. I have also been reading a lot from "The Rule of St. Benedict" as well as a "Commentary for Benedictine Oblates On the Rule of St. Benedict" by G. A. Simon. The theme of this blog comes from both of these works and a number of the ideas I express are found in them.

I think we all know how important humility is in attaining sanctity. St. Gregory said "whoever accumulates the other virtues without humility is like one throwing chaff into the wind." So we know our goal is to increase in humility. But how do we get humility? 

First I would recommend praying for it. Every time you pray your rosary you should dedicate the first joyful mystery for the increase of the virtue of humility because our lady humbled herself to receive the Lord in her womb. Her "Fiat" was a perfect example of this virtue. Another method of increasing in humility is by obedience. I have been striving to become more obedient at work and at home and I admit, it has given me much peace. I would have never guessed that obedience can increase peace to the degree it has in my life. There is much freedom in knowing you are doing Gods will and I pray from this blog you can learn a little about how to glean more of it. The first point that I want to expound on, is the importance of obedientia sine mora, or obedience without delay as St. Benedict says. It is easy to say to your superior "yes" and come to postpone or forget to do what you were asked. I know that I have readily consented in my heart to accomplish what i was asked, but I finished what I was doing at the time and forgot to perform the task given. In Psalm 17:45 we see "As soon as he heard, he obeyed Me"  and to teachers, which is all of you parents "He who hears you, hear me" (Luke 10:16). We see from these scriptures that it is good to drop what you are doing, and perform the will of the one you have heard. If we continue with our project we are working on and decide to delay what was asked until later, we are indicating that our will is better and more important than that of him who is over us; this is disobedience. As a resolution pray that you will be swift in fulfilling the command of your superiors. This reminds me of a lesson I learned a long time ago growing up. I was a teenager and my mother asked me to do the dishes. I decided I would do them later and left them there. Later on my father came into the room asked me to do the dishes and I said "no, I will do them later." this pretty much infuriated him and he made it very clear to me with the extreme change in temper that that was not acceptable. That scene was burned into my memory banks and it is a lesson that I should recall often. I would assume we have all been in similar circumstances.
Another aspect of this virtue that I have learned, is that it is more of an attitude than it is an act. It is an attitude of submission to authority out of love. Yes love! Love for Christ. It is love for our lord that we submit, because it is our Lord that you are ultimately working for. If this is at the forefront of our minds and we truly believe it, work becomes love. It becomes an expression of our affection for Jesus. "For this is the charity of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not heavy." (1John 5:3-5).
The second motive that I would like to remind you is that if you are Catholic, then you are bound to obey. We are baptised into the Church and with that we are under the hierarchy of the Church. This is significant for us Traditional Catholics who can very easily slip into a spirit of disobedience to our current magesterium. That does not mean we are to revert to a resigned submission, much less an unwilling submission, but a thoughtful ready compliance.  If we just give lip service to God and say we love Him, while we do not fulfill our duties, then we are not fulfilling our call as Christians.
One motivation that drives me from time to time is also the fear of Hell. "Is not hell the lot of the disobedient?" (G. A. Simon) Sin is disobedience to God. Based on this statement, any sin we perform is disobedience. Our whole life, everything we do is dependent on whether we obey God, the Church, our Spouse, our supervisors and even ourselves. We must be whipped into submission by ourselves through penance and frequent mortification's.
The last motivation would be our final hope; life with God in Heaven. This reward is only for those who have set aside their own will and led a life replete with obedience in all its forms.
We should pray that we do not fall into lassitude over time and start backtracking into our old prideful habits.
One of the best examples to encourage us and to remind us of our duty is to look to Jesus. He is our perfect model for obedience. He says "I am not come to do My will, but the will of Him who sent Me." (John 6: 38). The Gospels is nothing but a record of the Jesus doing the will of His Father.
I would also like to remind you of the petition we make to the Father daily when we say the Lords prayer: "Thy will be done". How else is this will to be done, if we do not obey? I still sometimes ask myself, what God will is, even though I know it is simple tasks that are right in front of me.
The practice of this virtue manifests itself incessantly. There is always something to be done, but it is the spirit in which we do it that transforms it to an act of love for God.
I recommend we pray for in increase of desire for the virtue of obedience because this leads to peace, joy and humility. To put an bow on this, remember that Jesus "humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross." (Philippians 2:8) Let us follow our Lord. 

Pax Tecum

P.S. I don't think this would be complete without a few more quotes from the saints. So here's a few for you:

The Devil doesn't fear austerity but hold obedience. - St. Francis de Sales

A single instant passed under simple obedience is immeasurably more valuable in the sight of God than an entire day spent in the most sublime contemplation. - St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

Obedience is the true holocaust which we sacrifice to God on the altar of our hearts - St. Philip Neri

Naturally we all have an inclination to command, and a great aversion to obey; and yet it is certain that it is more for our good to obey than to command: hence perfect souls have always had a great affection for obedience, and have found all their joy and comfort in it. - St. Francis de Sales

The Bookshelf "St. Lydwine of Schiedam"

One of the things I will try to frequently post about will be my bookbinding projects. I'm a bit traditional when it comes to the medium i use in reading. I prefer a well bound book for many reasons. The most important of these reasons to m would most likely be the comfortability of holding a book. The texture of the leather, feel of the papers and smell all make a difference.
So what is a well bound book? Well, I would say one that is sewn, so that it opens well and you do not have to fight to keep it open. Secondly it must be made of leather or a very good quality book cloth. This makes the book feel real and comfortable in the hand. A good quality book cloth also protects the text from moisture and or any other damages. A book may also have decorative end-sheets or decorative paper covering all or a portion of the case. This makes the book appear very elegant and adds a certain charm to the book. Another aspect may be the paper used in the text block. Book paper generally is smooth and off white in color. There are numerous textures and colors to choose from depending on your tastes.
There are many more styles and features a bookbinder may employ when making a book, it is primarily how he was trained and his personal preference. I haven't been book binding for a long time, but I already do have my preferences. I love Marbled papers and half bound books. My sewing techniques vary based on the type of book i'm binding.
OK, so I'm obviously a book worm and I wont bore you too much with the details. But I will just say that I love books and I think there will always be a need for bookbinders in the future. Bookbinding is an art form that is dying. There aren't many more bookbinders around, due to the increase of digital media and hand-held devices. A lot of people are scanning books into digital format for archival purposes too. This is fine, but what are you going to do when your hard drive fails, or the on line storage company goes out of business. I also think there is nothing more attractive than a bookshelf full of well bound classic works.
So lets look at my most recent project.
This book is "St. Lydwine of Schiedam Virgin"  It was written by Thomas A. Kempis. It is a mystical exposition of her life. One of my passions is to read the lives and works of the Saints. It is often very difficult to find their works and most of the time, they are old or poorly bound. I plan on bequeathing my library to my children when I die, so I plan on having a good one for them.

 So what I did here was a half bind in green goat skin leather. The leather was pretty old. I got it for a great price from a lady at paper shop in Dallas. It turned out to be usable and I think it looks really nice. The paper you see is one of my designs that I marbled a few months ago. It contrasted pretty well with the green.

 In this shot you can see the spine titled in gold leaf. It didn't come out as well as id like, due to the graininess of the old leather, but it kind of gives it a nostalgic look.

 These are the end sheets made from the same paper as the cover. Due to the books small size, I was able to use the whole sheet of marbled paper for the cover and end sheets.

The text block was sewn with a lock stitch method and rounded and backed to create a French groove on the covers. The headbands were sewn with a yellow silk thread that I think contrast the green well. This is one of the better books I have made recently, but there were still a number of things I would have liked to have done differently. Overall though, I think it came out good and I cant wait to start reading it. 

There was a sermon on Audiosancto not too long ago that described the life of St. Lydwine and that prompted me to purchase this book. 

Let me know if you have any questions on my work or if you have any ideas please let me know. I would also like to encourage anyone out there to read the old fashioned way. 

Pax Tecum

NFP Confusion "A shift in mentality"

Recently my wife and I have had many discussions about NFP and how ambiguous it is among Catholics. My wife heard on the radio a snippet from Dr. Popcak about how a family should use NFP and pray diligently to determine Gods will for their family size. This sparked up the question  "Why would you use NFP while discerning this?" I was under the impression that NFP was only to be used in serious circumstances. I don't believe it is eligible to use as a 'time out" until YOU decide what God will is for your family size. I did some web searching and found some great and not so great info out there. We all know there are NFP junkies out there that seem to believe it is the Catholic way of contracepting and that it can be used anytime in place of the pill, IUDs, etc..  I also frequently see brochures on parish book shelves describing how great NFP is and its good for your relationship too. I beg to differ here. NFP is an alternative to abstinence for couple who unfortunately have to make the sacrifice of not conceiving for some sad and hopefully serious reason. The priests at my parish have also given many sermons on the topic. 

The point is, you have some with a conservative understanding of it and others with a liberal understanding. I really wish the magesterium would give clarification as to what constitutes a "serious reason" for using NFP. Until that happens, were left with our traditions and the help of your confessor. 

The division that this problem has caused is very embarrassing to me. It reminds me of my protestant days. I mean the disagreement on doctrine and interpretations of texts etc.

So what are the "serious reasons" were talking about here? It may be serious to someone that their child attend a good college, have a newer car, wear good clothing and maybe have their own room in the house. Then there are others who are on the other end of the spectrum. They would say a serious reason would be something like not having the money to pay for  food, not having shoes or living in a one bedroom apartment with 4 kids. I think we can all agree on the seriousness of a lethal illness for the baby and or the mother, but some of the more everyday situations are pretty much up in the air for the individuals discernment. Or are they?

In situations like these the best thing Catholics can do is look at Scripture and Tradition. Some people would argue, "well, your looking at people from a different time and location. That cant apply to us today." I disagree, especially when it comes to the saints and their families. That is why they were canonized, so we can look at their lives and emulate them to the best of our ability.

Before we get into the resources, Ive heard it mentioned from a priest that "having as many kids as possible is not the goal." I would like to evaluate that statement and see what we can make of it. 

What is the correct frame of mind we as Catholics should have toward having many children? Hands down, it should be a positive mentality one of gratitude and pride in ones progeny. We see in so many scripture verses that fecundity is a direct blessing from God. We should hope to have such blessing from Him, because it the direct fruit from the love a couple shares with one another. I admit, the idea of taking care of a house full of children would be draining mentally and physically, but that in my opinion is the pessimistic view of it. The better choice is relishing the love, joy and contentment you get when spending time with your wife and children.

I get sick of hearing "Your wife is pregnant again? You know what causes that right?". That is another statement that labels children as some sort of condition that needs to be prevented. I believe Satan has succeeded in brainwashing Christians into thinking children are some sort of burden or drain on their lives. We should all start praying for a change in attitude. Now to the Word of God.

Lets crack open the old Duey-Rheims Bible. 

Psalms 126:3 Behold the inheritance of the Lord are children: the reward, the fruit of the womb.

126:4 As arrows in the hand of the mighty, so the children of them that have been shaken.

126:5 Blessed is the man that hath filled the desire with them; he shall not be confounded when he shall speak to his enemies in the gate."

This is by far my favorite scripture quote in regard to the blessing of children. It has some warlike connotation to it with the arrows mentioned in verse 4. This is not surprising considering Israel is from all time persecuted and in need of defense. 

In the Haddock commentary we read:

S. Jerome. --- "Such may be able to assist their aged parents, whereas those who are born in their old age must frequently be left orphans."

We also read from St. Alphonsus' commentary "Blessed is he that shall see his desire satisfied by the birth of so many children; he shall not suffer confusion when he shall have to treat with his enemies at the gate of the city, that is according to Bellermine, at the last judgment, which shall take place at the great gate, or before the whole world, when Jesus Christ shall confound the demons, who thought to drag the whole human race down to Hell."

So we see here that having children in some way gives us understanding, the opposite of being confounded, that we may us to our advantage at the judgment.  

Children really are are a blessing from the Lord. I think most people are too caught up in themselves to even notice this. If children are our inheritance from God, then we should not put our own limit on the gifts God gives us. 

The second verse I want to look at is Genesis

1:27 And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.

1:28 And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth.

We are encouraged by God to be fruitful. Never have I seen in scripture "Be fruitful and multiply, up until the 1960s when contraception becomes available". Also importantly I also don't see it said in scripture "Be fruitful and multiply up until the practice of NFP has become scandalously popular". Never have I seen it encouraged in scripture to only have a couple of children. In fact I would argue that just about anytime family or children are mentioned in scripture it is in a mindset of a great blessing and the more the merrier. I would encourage you to do a google search on on scriptures for large families etc. and Id be willing to bet you wont find a single verse discouraging them. 

God said, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth . . ." (Gen. 1:28). The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, "Sacred Scripture and the Church’s traditional practice see in large families a sign of God’s blessing and the parents’ generosity" (CCC 2373).For just reasons, spouses may wish to space the births of their children. It is their duty to make certain that their desire is not motivated by selfishness but is in conformity with the generosity appropriate to responsible parenthood. (CCC 2368).

People have been practicing some forms of contraception for centuries. Ive read evidence of this well be before Christianity. But the point I'm making is that this widespread 'contraceptive mentality' among Catholic Christians is a novel idea and has become supported by some within the church. I think the most confusing part of all this for me, is that its pretty much spelled out in the Catechism and other encyclicals and people just seem to ignore it. 

Let me summarize the CCC for you in the most basics terms I can. 

Children = Blessing (CCC 2373)

Contraception = intrinsically evil (CCC 2370)

NFP= only for serious reasons until its safe to stop practicing it (CCC 2368)

Just Reasons= physical, psychological, economic and social reasons (Humanae Vitae par. 10.)

Physical Reasons= You may become seriously ill during a pregnancy that may cause harm to you or the baby. 

Psychological= Diagnosed mental diseases. There are many of these, but I would guess clinical depression, schizophrenia, Bi-polar etc. 

Economic= You are in the poverty range and cant afford clothes and food. However, there are government programs that help with this. Not paying for college I would bet is not included in this section or other luxuries. I hope you get the idea. 

Social= Wars or like China's one child policy. 

These reasons are from a good orthodox priest. They are not my definitions. I'm speaking mostly to people who live in America, where most of the poor people are obese. If you live in America, you really have to try hard not to be fed. 

Now lets look at some of the lives of the Saints. 

This is a list I found on the Blog "Are We There Yet" It is pretty much just a listing of Saints who were formed in large families. This isn't an exhaustive list, but it is impressive.

Queen St. Margaret of Scotland, the mother of eight children
St. Therese of Lisieux, the ninth child
St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother was the eleventh of thirteen children
St. Thomas Aquinas was the sixth son of the noble Aquino family
Gianna Beretta Molla was the tenth of thirteen children, mother of four, the last of whom she died to save
Pope St. Pius X was the second of eleven children in the Sarto family
Queen St. Clotilda bore five children
St. Catherine of Genoa was the youngest of five children
Faustina Kowalska of the Most Blessed Sacrament, the third of ten children
St. Bridget of Sweden was the mother of eight children
St. Hedwig was one of eight children and the mother of seven
St. Charles Borromeo was the third of six children
St. Thomas More was the father of four children, but also had a stepdaughter and two wards, plus several other students whom he mentored
St. Bernadette of Lourdes , one of six named children
St. Leonides, a martyr of the third century , was the father of seven sons
St. Lous de Montfort was one of eighteen children
St. Joan of Arc was one of five siblings
St. Francis de Sales was the oldest of six brothers
St. Casimir of Poland the third of thirteen children
Now lets look and see what some of the Saints say about family planning and children. 

"If we marry, it is only so that we may bring up children."  St. Justin Martyr, "First Apology," c. 160 A.D.

"God made the male and female for the propagation of the human race."  St. Irenaeus, "Against All Heresies," c. 180 A.D.

"Because of its divine institution for the propagation of man, the seed is not to be vainly ejaculated, nor is it to be damaged, nor is it to be wasted.  To have coitus other than to procreate children is to do injury to nature."  St. Clement ofAlexandria, "The Instructor of Children," 191 A.D.

"On account of their prominent ancestry and great property, the so-called faithful want no more children from slaves or lowborn commoners, they use drugs or sterility or bind themselves tightly in order to expel a fetus which has already been engendered."  St. Hippolytus, "Refutation of All Heresies," 225 A.D.

They (certain Egyptian heretics) exercise genital acts, yet prevent the conceiving of children.  Not in order to produce offspring, but to satisfy lust, are they eager for corruption."  St. Epiphanius of Salamis, "Medicine Chest Against Heresies," 375 A.D.

"...and that which is sweet, and universally desirable, the having of children, they esteem grievous and unwelcome.  Many at least with this view have even paid money to be childless, and have mutilated nature, not only killing the newborn, but even acting to prevent their beginning to live."  St. JohnChrysostom, "Homilies on Matthew," 391 A.D.

"But I wonder why he (the heretic Jovianianus) set Judah and Tamar before us for an example, unless perchance even harlots give him pleasure; or Onan, who was slain because he grudged his brother seed.  Does he imagine that we approve of any sexual intercourse except for the procreation of children?"  St. Jerome, "Against Jovinian," 393 A.D.

"You may see a number of women who are widows before they are wives. Other, indeed, will drink sterility and murder a man not yet born."  St. Jerome, "Letter 22," 396 A.D.

"And then, fearing because of your law against child-bearing...they copulate in a shameful union only to satisfy lust for their wives.  They are unwilling to have children, on whose account alone marriages are made.  When this is taken away, husbands are shameful lovers, wives are harlots, bridal chambers are brothels, fathers-in-law pimps."  St. Augustine of Hippo, "Against Faustus," 400 A.D.

"For necessary sexual intercourse for begetting (children) is alone worthy of marriage.  But that which goes beyond this necessity no longer follows reason but lust."  St. Augustine of Hippo, "The Good of Marriage," 401 A.D.

We see here from these quotes, the church fathers are pretty cut and dry on many aspects of family planing, contraception and abortion. Some of these quotes deal specifically on contraception and abortion, but the prevailing theme we see in that the purpose of marriage for the begetting and rearing of children. 

I think I will sum up this with just a few thoughts I think that we should walk away with. The biggest issue we are facing is the corruption of our modern way of thinking that children are some sort of burden as opposed to a great blessing. We all know how demanding raising children can be, but that is not a just reason for preventing child birth, no matter what means you use to prevent it. Also, I would argue that the Church has provided NFP for those couples who are in situations where becoming pregnant may be dangerous to the health of the infant or the mother, in some sort of economic downturn where there is difficulty in paying bills and feeding children and or in a state of social unrest; i have provided examples above for these situations. If a couple were not to prevent conception with these dangers present, then that would be irresponsible and worthy of criticism. At that time it would be "responsible parenthood" to prevent conception by either abstinence or NFP. I would greatly encourage people to trust the Lord with their family size and consider the possibility of being a proud parent of a large traditional Catholic family. Open yourself to the will of God for procreation and for generosity. One of the most selfless acts anyone can do in this life is to lay down ones life for another. Lay down your life by giving it to your children and then continue to lay it down as many times as God blesses you with the opportunity. 

Pax Tecum

Marian Shrine with the Kids

So here are a couple of icons my wife and kids made. Fun stuff! What a great family activity during the Marian month of May. Im going to try and mix up the Hymns and prayers we say in the evening so we can have a little variety. Last night we prayed The Total Devotion Prayer after the Rosary. It’s a bit lengthy, but it is a gem of a Marian prayer. 

Prayer to Mary, by St. Louis-Marie de Montfort

Hail MARY, beloved Daughter of the Eternal Father. Hail MARY, admirable Mother of the Son. Hail MARY, faithful Spouse of the Holy Ghost. Hail MARY, my Mother, my loving Mistress, my powerful sovereign. Hail, my joy, my glory, my heart and my soul. Thou art all mine by mercy, and I am Thine by justice. But I am not yet sufficiently Thine. I now give myself wholly to Thee without keeping anything back for myself or others. If Thou seest anything in me which does not belong to Thee, I beseech Thee to take it and make Thyself the absolute Mistress of all that is mine.

Destroy in me all that may displease GOD; root it up and bring it to nought. Place and cultivate in me everything that is pleasing to Thee. May the light of Thy faith dispel the darkness of my mind. May Thy profound humility take the place of my pride; may Thy sublime contemplation check the distractions of my wandering imagination. May Thy continuous sight of GOD fill my memory with His presence; may the burning love of Thy heart inflame the lukewarmness of mine. May Thy virtues take the place of my sins; may Thy merits be my only adornment in the sight of GOD and make up for all that is wanting in me. Finally, dearly beloved Mother, grant, if it be possible, that I may have no other spirit but Thine to know JESUS and His Divine Will; that I may have no other soul but Thine to praise and glorify GOD; that I may have no other heart but Thine to love GOD with a love as pure and ardent as Thine.

I do not ask Thee for visions, revelations, sensible devotions, or spiritual pleasures. It is Thy privilege to see GOD clearly; it is Thy privilege to enjoy heavenly bliss; it is Thy privilege to triumph gloriously in Heaven at the right hand of Thy Son and to hold absolute sway over angels, men and demons. It is Thy privilege to dispose of all the gifts of GOD, just as Thou willest. Such, O heavenly MARY, is the ʻbest partʼ, which the Lord has given Thee, and which shall never be taken away from Thee, and this thought fills my heart with joy. As for my part here below, I wish for no other than that which was Thine, to believe sincerely without spiritual pleasures, to suffer joyfully without human consolation, to die continually to myself without respite, and to work zealously and unselfishly for Thee until death, as the humblest of Thy servants. The only grace I beg Thee, for me, is that every moment of the day, and every moment of my life, I may say, “Amen, so be it, to all that Thou art doing in Heaven. Amen, so be it, to all Thou didst do while on earth. Amen, so be it, to all Thou art doing in my soul,” so that Thou alone mayest fully glorify JESUS in me for time and eternity. Amen.

I think this weekend if theres time we might start a garden in Marys honor as well. My backyard is a barren wasteland when it comes to floral embellishment. Lets just say my thumb isnt exactly green. More like a dusty brown color. This task is a bit more labor intensive, so it may take me some time. Ill post what i can.

Pax Tecum!