I'm a traditional Catholic woman married to a hardworking man living in a small town. Upon coming back to the Church after many years, I became part of a Catholic young adult group which I eventually lead for a few years and then discerned to be a cloistered nun with the Carmelites and over time, God placed the desire on my heart to marry. The heart of my spirituality comes from the Traditional Latin Mass.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

A Little Something Extra For Your Wardrobe

I'm in the middle of a project for classic fashion & modesty-hard to find these days especially in the Catholic world. I can't tell you how much time I used to spend looking in the department stores for a beautiful dress that would cover my shoulders and my knees-without the frumpyness! Of course when you do find that dress it costs an arm and a leg! Not only is it hard to find modest cute clothes, but quality fabric is hard to come by unless again you spend the big dollar. And sure, you have to pay up for the quality stuff and that can be said for anything in life if you ask me! :) Let me be honest with you, I would rather support a Catholic based modest clothing company if they existed-and maybe they do, but I haven't seen it yet. Until I can support the Catholics, I choose  to support any place that sells modest clothes as long as that place does not contribute mind or money to anything that compromises the Catholic teaching.
Not all things are black and white, and I'm going to come across grey situations so depending on what I'm looking for, if I had to choose between Macy's and the little thrift shop run by the Mormons with only modest clothes, I will most likely choose the Mormon thrift shop, but on occasion when I need that extra quality nice dress, I'll hit Nordstroms or Macy's, because as far as I know as of a few months ago, these stores are "neutral" on issues. I don't like that word, but I'm using it for clarification purposes.
This is my way of thinking-With the Mormons, their morals play into what they sell. These department stores may not be supporting Planned Parenthood Federation of America (at least I hope not) but, religious values with the common good in mind, do not play a role in the products sold at these places.
With that said, I came across a great article from Colleen Hammond  and a link to cute modest clothes (I don't know if this is run by the Mormons FYI) for your reference:

Colleen Hammond | Modesty | Modesty is More than Longer Skirts | 2011-02-22 11:55:20
http://www.colleenhammond.com/dressing-with-dignity/modesty/modesty-is-more-than-longer-skirts/

Funky Frum:
http://www.funkyfrum.com/

Also, here's a little something extra from Hammond (I love her work and mindset) on Mantillas just in case you ever thought about wearing a veil in Mass. And, no, I don't wear one cause as vain as this sounds, I can't find the right lace to stay on my head and that looks nice on me, but I'm on the hunt!

Colleen Hammond | Uncategorized | “Why I Wear a Mantilla”, by Mantilla the Hon | 2010-10-05 08:18:32
http://www.colleenhammond.com/uncategorized/mantilla-the-hon-why-i-wear-a-mantilla/

See you next week!

In The Heart of Our Lady,
Pati

Why Do Women Need To Be Convinced That It Is Good To Be A Woman?

During an interview with Catholic Online about her book "The Privilege of Being A Woman" on 11/27/2003 -Alice was asked, why do women need to be convinced that it is good to be a woman? Her answer:

"The amazing thing is that feminism, instead of making women more profoundly aware of the beauty and dignity of their role as wives as mothers, and of the spiritual power that they can exercise over their husbands, convinced them that they, too, had to adopt a secularist mentality: They, too, should enter the work force; they, too, should prove to themselves that they were someone by getting diplomas, competing with men in the work market, showing that they were their equals and -- when given opportunities -- could outsmart them.
They let themselves become convinced that femininity meant weakness. They started to look down upon virtues -- such as patience, selflessness, self-giving, tenderness -- and aimed at becoming like men in all things. Some of them even convinced themselves that they had to use coarse language in order to show the "strong" sex that they were not the fragile, delicate, insignificant dolls that men believed them to be. The war of the sexes was on. Those who fell into the traps of feminism wanted to become like men in all things and sold their birthright for a mess of pottage. They became blind to the fact that men and women, though equal in ontological dignity, were made different by God's choice: Male and female he made them. Different and complementary. Each sex has its strengths; each sex has its weaknesses.
According to God's admirable plan, the husband is to help his wife overcome these weaknesses so that all the treasures of her femininity will come to full bloom, and vice versa. How many men truly become "themselves" thanks to the love of their wives. How many wives are transformed by their husband's strength and courage. The tragedy of the world in which we live is that we have become apostates. Many have abandoned the treasures given to us by revelation -- the supernatural. Original sin was essentially an attack on the hierarchy of values: Man wanted to become like God, without God. The punishment was terrible: Man's body revolted against his soul. Today, this reversal of the hierarchy of values goes so far that Peter Singer denies man's superiority over animals, and that baby whales are saved while human babies are murdered. The whole is topsy-turvy: Marriages break down; many do not even consider getting married; partnership lasts only as long as it satisfies one. Unnatural relationships so severely condemned by Plato are fashionable and claim their rights to be put on the same level as those that God has ordere
d."