Moving away...

If anybody comes across this blog and wants to find out what I am doing these days, please go to my new blog. It is called "Not just a pretty face..." and is hosted by Wordpress.

Not News to Me

Who Should I Vote for Quiz by QuizRocket.com fun quizzes!
Make a Quiz | Career Quizzes | MySpace Quizzes
» » "Who Should I Vote For?" « «

This result did not surprise me. Even though I oppose abortion rights and embryonic stem-cell research, I am otherwise firmly on the political left.

Which model of the Church do I have?

You Scored as Sacrament model Your model of the church is Sacrament. The church is the effective sign of the revelation that is the person of Jesus Christ. Christians are transformed by Christ and then become a beacon of Christ wherever they go. This model has a remarkable capacity for integrating other models of the church. Sacrament model 100% Servant Model 84% Mystical Communion Model 78% Herald Model 72% Institutional Model 56%

It's consecrated virginity (God willing)

A member of Caritas Christi e-mailed me today that she thinks that I should remain a Lay Carmelite and that wanting to join a secular institute is a temptation that I must reject, since joining a secular institute would mean that I would have to give up being a Lay Carmelite.

I replied:

It's strange, but I feel more at peace now. I still would like to dedicate myself to God more completely. Three years after making permanent profession (permanent profession for me would be in 2011 or thereabouts), Lay Carmelites can take private vows of chastity and obedience. God willing, if I am gainfully employed and the local diocese (I suspect that by 2015 or so, I might be living in a condo in Rialto near the Byzantine Catholic parish of St. Nicholas, so I can attend Liturgy there regularly -- besides, it is less expensive to buy a place in Rialto than in West Covina) approves of it, I might become a consecrated virgin as well. Now I know why I refused to "go all the way" with the guys that I made out with 20 and more years ago :-)

And I do enjoy the Lay Carmelite community of which I am a part: I do not want to give that up. Also, I do feel an affinity with Carmelite spirituality and the Carmelite saints. One of my favorites is a 19th-century Spanish Secular Carmelite, Blessed Josefa Naval Girbes (1820-1893).

I meant every word that I wrote. God grant that my ambitions come true, if He wills it!

In memoriam Gatinha

Gatinha, one of our family's cats, was run over by a car this morning. My brother took her to the veterinarian as soon as the vet's office opened, but to no avail: the vet had to put Gatinha to sleep this evening.

Gatinha (Portuguese for "kitten" or "pretty girl") was a domestic longhair with the coloring of a Himalayan. She had the loveliest, if rather blank, deep blue eyes. She came into the life of the da Brescia family when she was about four months old. It was about four years ago, on a stormy night. She was wet, thin, bedraggled, skittish of everything and everyone. My mother fed her. My brother and I helped. Slowly Gatinha became used to us. We had her fixed, of course: there are too many strays and feral cats in this neighborhood, and we did not want to contribute to the population problem.

Gatinha did not see or hear very well (Mom speculated that Gatinha was the product of inbreeding among the neglected cats of a neighbor), and liked to stay close to home, even though we let her outside. I don't know why she was out in the street, since she did not like to stray from our yard. Perhaps a dog spooked her: that would be characteristic of her.

Poor baby, poor silly, simpleminded baby....

Renovating the bathrooms

Last Friday, I fell through the floor of the master bathroom. The floor had been rotting for months, if not years. It was weird to be one moment on tile and the next moment in mud, two feet or so below the tile. Thank goodness I only received a few scratches!

My mother had deferred maintenance because we don't have a lot of money. Ever since my father left in 1996, things have been tight financially chez da Brescia. However, my falling through the floor was the last straw. Now we are having renovated the second bathroom, which has been out of commission for years. I would love to be able to use the bathtub in there once the work is finished! After the second bathroom is finished, my mother plans to get the master bathroom done. And of course the roof has to be repaired before the rainy season starts again: we don't want to use buckets to collect the rainwater in the dining room for a long long time.

I told Mom that I could give her $2000. All she said is "we'll see."

Nativity of Mary

By the way, today was the Nativity of Mary. I was so lazy that I stayed at home all day, but I prayed the Liturgy of the Hours and read today's Scripture readings for Mass and the Office of Readings.

Of course, that is what I do every day, but it would be nice to have company to do it with me and keep me from dragging my feet spiritually. It is sooo hard to do these things on my own. Eh bien! God's will be done! (But it's hard to understand why God allows these little inconveniences.)

Caritas Christi

I have been in contact with the secular institute Caritas Christi. However, there is a bit of a snag, since I am not gainfully employed. I think I could work part-time (10 to 20 hours a week to start with, then gradually increase up to 30 hours). In fact, I think that I could easily become qualified to be a parish director of religious education (DRE). In my parish, the duties of the DRE are split according to the age of the students. There is a DRE for the elementary school level and a DRE for middle school and high school students. Each, I think, works between 30 to 40 hours a week. (The effective DREs for RCIA and adult religious education are one of the deacons and his wife.)

Of course, this is all moot if I do not keep my Medi-Cal health insurance, which is probably the main reason I am reluctant to go to (paid) work. (I have calculated that my three psychotropic medications would cost nearly $700 a month if I had to pay the full cost out of pocket.) Social Security has a Ticket to Work program that I have been looking into. I don't know whether the Ticket to Work would facilitate my becoming a parish DRE, however.

Which Superhero Would I Be?

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 65% Spider-Man 65% Green Lantern 65% Catwoman 65% Robin 55% Hulk 55% Batman 50% Supergirl 40% Wonder Woman 30% The Flash 30% Iron Man 30%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test


Well, I don't see myself as all that strong, and my goodness is largely self-righteousness. However, I am flattered by the comparison :-)

Desabafo

Just letting out some steam...

I am a little bit irritated when vocation offices tell me that I would not be able to handle the stresses of religious life. Life is stressful in itself: do the vocation offices think I would be a dead weight? Wouldn't the vocation offices at least want to have my psychiatrist vouch for me first?

Yes, I have been discerning with secular institutes and consecrated virginity lived in the world, but I think that living in community would be a big advantage.

Eh bien... let God's will be done!

Update

I was temporarily professed as a Lay Carmelite at St. Jane Frances de Chantal parish in North Hollywood on Saturday, May 17. Since then, my summer has been good, if rather monotonous. I have been preparing for religion class (which starts in little over a month), as well as watching aquatics (swimming, diving, etc.) and gymnastics Olympic events on TV.

I have had recurrent pain in my left shoulder this summer. I'm not sure why. It is not bothering me now, thank goodness.

What Does My Birth Date Mean?

Your Birth Date: September 23

You're not good at any one thing, and that's the problem. You're good at so much - you never know what to do. Change is in your blood, and you don't stick to much for long. You are destined for a life of travel and fun. Your strength: Your likability Your weakness: You never feel satisfied Your power color: Bright yellow Your power symbol: Asterisk Your power month: May

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

This seems more or less correct. However, I have not thought of bright yellow as my "power color" (whatever that is -- my favorite color is the lighter shades of purple) or the asterisk as my "power symbol".

What's My Theological Worldview?

What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Roman Catholic You are Roman Catholic. Church tradition and ecclesial authority are hugely important, and the most important part of worship for you is mass. As the Mother of God, Mary is important in your theology, and as the communion of saints includes the living and the dead, you can also ask the saints to intercede for you. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 93% Roman Catholic 93% Emergent/Postmodern 79% Classical Liberal 71% Neo orthodox 71% Modern Liberal 61% Charismatic/Pentecostal 46% Reformed Evangelical 29% Fundamentalist 21% What surprised me about the results was the high place given to Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan, but my mother was raised as a Methodist, after all :-)

Which Saint Would I Be?

Which Saint Would You Be?

Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity is praying for you!
To learn more about this gentle Carmelite saint
go to the Patron Saint Index at http://www.catholic-forum.com/
Take this quiz!








Quizilla
Join

Make A Quiz More Quizzes Grab Code

For a Lay Carmelite who is preparing to be professed in May, this result might be too obvious :-) Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity is a favorite of mine, but I did not deliberately intend for this to be the result.

Christ is Risen!

Indeed he is risen! Have a Happy Easter, everybody!

Which Church Father am I?

You’re St. Melito of Sardis! You have a great love of history and liturgy. You’re attached to the traditions of the ancients, yet you recognize that the old world — great as it was — is passing away. You are loyal to the customs of your family, though you do not hesitate to call family members to account for their sins. Find out which Church Father you are at The Way of the Fathers!

I decided to look in Wikipedia to find out more about St. Melito, because I did not know who he was. I would not have preached that Jews were responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus, but otherwise he seems to be an admirable sort.

My Yahoo avatar

I am not as slender as the avatar, but the coloring and hair style are pretty accurate. Not a good idea to stand in the middle of the street, n'est-ce pas?

A Day at Catechism

Today was a fairly typical day. I got up, said Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours and prepared myself to teach religion in the afternoon after school. My sixth-grade (11-year-old) students are good girls (my class just happens to have four girls this year: last year my class had five boys and one girl), but they have short attention spans and are more interested in playing games. The lesson ended 20 minutes before the end of class, and I allowed my students to play hide-and-seek in the classroom. They seemed happier about that than learning about the Ten Commandments and the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert.

After class, I went to the evening Mass and stayed for the rosary recital. My mother picked me up (unlike most Southern California adults, I do not know how to drive) and took me home.

Eating crab

My mother has told me that when my uncle Vincent came to visit the California da Brescia branch, Dad took him to a surf-and-turf restaurant where there was an all-you-can-eat special on crab legs. Dad and Uncle Vincent stayed at the restaurant till it closed, trying to outdo the other in eating crabs: Mom does not remember who won the "contest".

This afternoon, for a late lunch before the 5:30 P.M. vigil Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception at Sacred Heart, Mom took me to the local Red Lobster. I decided to order the Ultimate Feast ("A tender Maine lobster tail, steamed snow crab legs, garlic shrimp scampi and Walt's Favorite Shrimp": I substituted the shrimp scampi for Parrot Bay Coconut Shrimp, which I enjoy more) since my only breakfast had been two slices of chocolate Bundt cake and two Lindor chocolate truffles. I had a hard time cracking the crab legs, but oh! It was worth it -- better even than the lobster. Thank goodness we were through eating by 4:45 P.M.: I had enough time to wait before receiving Holy Communion around 6:10 P.M. (I was serving as a Eucharistic minister at the Mass, since it was not my week to lector.)

Update

Has it truly been over three years since I last blogged here? Indeed it has. I have been teaching a sixth-grade religious education class at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Covina for over a year now. I also serve as a lector and Eucharistic minister (yes, I know that "extraordinary minister of Holy Communion" is the correct way to describe a layperson who distributes the Eucharist at Mass, but just about everyone refers to a layperson who fulfills this ministry as a "Eucharistic minister", so that is what I use).

What else have I been doing? I still go to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Ontario for the Portuguese Mass once a month: otherwise, what social life I have revolves around Sacred Heart parish and the Mystical Rose Lay Carmelite community at St. John the Baptist in Baldwin Park. It is a quiet life, but it is not bad, on the whole.

Quiet birthday

My birthday was yesterday, which I celebrated in a very — how shall I put it? — discreet manner. Got up around noon (I've often been sleeping 10, 12 or even 14 or 16 hours at a stretch, partly due to the Lexapro I've been taking) and lolled about the house all day. I hadn't much choice but to loll around, since I do not know how to drive (but this household has only one car, anyway), the nearest bus stop is 6 blocks away (an ordeal with my lower limb primary lymphedema, asthma and 90 F heat), and Mom is working both the morning and afternoon shifts as an instructional aide until the high school hires a new aide.

I did get some nice gifts, though. My friend Tritia (who is a grad student at San Jose State University) sent me a choker of faceted rondelles (chrysoprase? new jade?) with a filigree cross pendant. Alas, the choker is 16" — too literally a choker for my thick neck :-) But fear not: I got out a plain 8" silver bracelet I have had for years and used it as an extender. The necklace looks just as nice at 24" than it would at 16" — and much more comfortable.

My mother gave me a ring with marquise-shaped sapphires forming a flower, as well as a DVD of The Passion of the Christ. No cake, though: Mom was too tired to make one (and the kitchen is too hot, even at 9 PM), and she had not thought of ordering a quarter sheet cake (marble or German chocolate with vanilla custard filling and vanilla whipped frosting) from Albertson's. Ah well. Considering that people are suffering in Sudan, Iraq and God knows where else, I don't have that much to complain about :-)

And what is this Diamantina da Brescia name, anyway?

Funny you asked. It's not my given name, obviously: too florid, too much the romance-novel heroine name, n'est-ce pas? And, despite what some people have thought, I have no known Italian ancestry. (My father's people were Prince Edward Island Acadians and Québécois: my mother is of New Mexico Hispano and Irish descent.) But the name does symbolize two aspects of my life.

Diamantina is a city in Minas Gerais, Brazil. I visited it two years ago for the centennial of the birth of its most famous native son, Juscelino Kubitschek (the 1950s Brazilian president who ordered that Brasília be built in the middle of nowhere in five years flat). It's a lovely 18th-century colonial town (the name "Diamantina" comes from the fact that it was a center of diamond mining), isolated and hilly. Although Diamantina's most famous native son was Kubitschek, two of its native daughters may be even better known: the 18th-century Afro-Brazilian folk heroine Chica (Xica) da Silva and the 19th-century child diarist Helena Morley.

da Brescia refers to the city of Brescia in northern Italy, which I have not yet visited (though I would like to, given enough money and time). St. Angela Merici spent most of her life in Brescia, and Giovanni Battista Montini — Pope Paul VI — grew up there.

Les raisons d'être du blog de Mlle Diamantina

There are three main reasons why I am writing this blog:

1. Personal diary entries (though not too personal!) — these are mostly for myself and people who know me offline

2. My adventures trying to discern a vocation to some type of consecrated life in the Catholic Church. This is made difficult due to my disabilities. Some are relatively minor somatic disabilities — asthma, lower limb primary lymphedema and the like — and some major psychological disabilities — depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder. The fact that I am on SSI is also at least a temporary barrier.

3. Stretching my wings in creative writing after a hiatus caused by four years of grad school and two years of acute illness. Expect some verse, but mostly sketches for a possible historical novel that I am dreaming up. More information later as it develops, ladies and gentlemen... :-)

Introduction

Over a year ago, I kept a blog called Brasilianista Aspirante. I stopped writing in it because I was becoming too ill to successfully be the upbeat graduate student specializing in Brazilian history and culture, and I did not want to discuss my illness or other personal difficulties to all and sundry. Self-pity is unflattering, after all.

I am no longer in graduate school — although I want very much to return, God willing, when my health is better and I have more money. I have been on SSI for the past several months, living (resignedly but for the most part calmly) with my mother and my younger brother, a musician who plays the McCartney role in a Beatles tribute band.

One way that I am maintaining my Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) connection is by attending Portuguese Masses at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, a Catholic parish in Ontario, California. (By the way, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is one of my all-time favorite saints, so that is another factor in the parish's favor.) Ontario is some 20 miles away from home and I have no car, but St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is the closer of the two Los Angeles-area Catholic parishes with Portuguese Masses. Considering that there is a sizable Brazilian community in Palms, Culver City and other parts of the Westside of LA — not to mention the several Brazilian Protestant parishes with Portuguese services — I am surprised that the only two LA-area Catholic parishes with Portuguese Masses are in Artesia and Ontario, where immigrants from the Azores settled in the early 20th century and became dairy farmers. Ah well — I suppose Cardinal Mahony has other things to think about than the spiritual welfare of Brazilian immigrants....