Mary Valle
Mary Valle lives in Baltimore and is the author of Cancer Doesn't Give a Shit About Your Stupid Attitude: Reflections on Cancer and Catholicism. She blogs on KtB as The Communicant. For more Mary, check out her blog or follow her on Twitter.
Recent Posts by Mary
Jesus! Murder! High-five!
Last Saturday, my daughter and I and our mother-daughter friends Rachel and Ruby enjoyed a lovely tour of the White House, which I have dubbed Crafting Versailles. Everything is perfect there, from the life-size Bo made of pompoms to Jackie’s portrait. Fires blaze in the fireplaces, cleanly. We didn’t want to leave: we lingered, listening…
Be Not Afraid (Of So-Called Apocalypses)
NASA and the Vatican agree: the Mayan apocalypse isn’t going to happen. Sure, there’s that calendar and all, but guess what? The Mayans ran out of room on the stone. Do I run screaming down the street when I pull December 31 off of my Cute Overload Page-A-Day Calendar, screaming It’s the end of days! And cute…
That’s Mrs. Christ to You
Of course Lord Jesus has a wife! Not much of a surpriser Her name is the Roman Catholic Church Unwashed: now you are wiser
Occupy Catholics: Assemble!
While the USCCB celebrates its “Fortnight of Freedom,” Occupy Catholics are going to hold their first General Assembly on Freedoms, from June 21st to July 4th, which will concern itself with other kinds of freedoms other than refusing to pay for other people’s contraception. These freedoms include “freedom of conscience” and “freedom from complicity.” I’d…
New Election Strategy: Damnation Threats
I can’t stop watching this Test of Fire video put out by Catholics Called to Witness. It’s a kinda Lord-of-the-Ringish vibed “promo.” Just what is it promoting? Scaring Catholics into voting against contraception, abortion and gay marriage lest they send themselves to hell. Let’s take a look, shall we? Starts out kinda like a legend….
This Far and No Further
After the announced LCWR “crackdown,” I was in a Jo-Ann fabric store. A few women in line were deriding the Girl Scouts for being “radical feminists.” I had to butt in and note that if being competent is radically feminist, then Girl Scouts are. I made a lot of jokes about my being “2 for…
#radicalfeministthemes
The Vatican has announced a crackdown on US sisters, who, amongst other offenses like running hospitals and educating countless children and young adults, are possibly guilty of promoting “radical feminist themes.” This news kicked off a lot of frenzied tweeting on my part. I saw Doom arrive in the form of this announcement. I cried…
Wrap Yourself In Vision Bedding!
Thank you, Elizabeth Castelli, for introducing me to the bedroom of my dreams, courtesy of Vision Bedding. I’ve often wondered if there’s a place where faith meets decor. Like most Catholics, I tend to trail statues, plaques, holy water fonts, crucifixes and mass cards all over my house, but I’ve never been able to get…
Lenten Thrills: 1974
Did you know that during Holy Week in 1974, an Australian nun had a top ten hit in the United States with a recording of the Lord’s Prayer? I didn’t either! Happy Lent to me! I made my non-believer husband watch the video with me on YouTube. Our comments are included with screenshots below. …
Ross’s Magic Monogamy
Dear Ross, Thanks for teaching me something new today: “Monogamy, not chemicals or latex, is the main line of defense against unwanted pregnancies.” All this time I’d thought that deciding “when sex makes babies”—which is a phrase I recently heard, oddly enough, when sitting in on an innovative new kind of sex-ed class in Liberal California—had…
The Year of the Bi-i-ble
Good News! The Pennsylvania Legislature just declared 2012 the Year of the Bible. Since they didn’t specify exactly which Bible, as in the “King James Bible Heritage Month” resolution from the same session, and since I only live in neighboring Maryland, I’m going to go ahead and play along with my trusty Good News Bible….
OWS Library Update
Back in November of 2011, an epic act of state occurred in New York City—the seizure and destruction of the OWS library. More seizures ensued. The library reappeared on the Brooklyn Bridge. Readers and writers all over the world spoke out against the so-called Bloomberg Bibliocide. What’s been happening with our favorite library? KtB recently…
Who Do I Want to Praise?
Do you ever get taken by surprise when watching shows with your spouse or significant other or pet? I was watching That Mitchell and Webb Look with my husband and pets the other night. You know how it is: Last night of vacation, laptop, electric mattress pad, wind blowing, had my face all lotioned up,…
Happy Hopkins Eve
This being Baltimore, we’re celebrating Christmas Eve morning by gathering around the grave of Johns Hopkins. He’s buried in the expansive Greenmount Cemetery, which is now located in the so-called “Station North Arts District.” Doctors tell tales of great men and women and their muscle, bravado and intellect. We hear about Mary Elizabeth Garrett, whose…
Douthat’s Atheist
Oh Ross. You are making me violate my custody of my mind with your words again. You’re talking Hitchens and his “atheism” or whatever, but the most important thing about this column is the part where Hitchens “cornered” you in a “pantry” at a “Washington dinner party” and “insisted on having a long argument about…
Manger Mania!
Your Communicant has spotted a new trend: “Stable births”—giving birth in a barn, attended by animals—are the new-old way for babies to come into the world. Amongst some New Yorkers, finding a nice spot with animals has almost become de rigeur. “Stables are great because they’re semi-outdoors,” says Laurel Minley-de Deseriato, 35, of Manhattan. “I had Lorenzo…
Belief-O-Matic Results!
I took BeliefNet’s Belief-O-Matic test and here are the results. Check out #1 and #27 out of #27. OK. Fine. I’ll light some candles and don a shawl and pray to the Goddess. Oh wait. I already do that. The first shall be last and the last shall be first, Belief-O-Matic. Click any Faith for…
Biblioclasm Now!
The state destroyed 5,554 books this morning. Support the restocking and retelling of the OWS library tonight!