If you needed more proof that we are not in this blogging thing to become influencers and make a pile of money, I guess the past few weeks with the issues here on this site have bestowed that proof upon you!
But I think, I hope, we have gotten things to the point that you will no longer experience terrible spammy interference, so sorry! and we are hoping to renovate the internal workings enough to provide a few other niceties like a blog title and so on.
Oh well, you get what you pay for haha!
Anyway, I will let you peruse the past couple of posts — don't miss this one, about how it really won't work to have both breastfed babies and outside work as the norm for women –– and this one, a few random thoughts about how to reduce overstimulation in ourselves.
And I will give you some links I've been saving up for that magic moment when they don't break your computer! Enjoy!
bits & pieces
- First, an interview with me about what led me to write God Has No Grandchildren: A Guided Reading of Pope Pius XI's Encyclical Casti Connubii (On Chaste Marriage) – 2nd Edition (affiliate link).
You can watch or listen to it on YouTube and Spotify (accessible via Anchor as well)
As long-time readers know, I first wrote about the Church's teaching on marriage here on the blog, as a reading group for all of you! I then edited those posts and expanded on them, and published the whole thing on Kindle.
Arouca Press did not produce that, as the interviewer mistakenly says (I did it myself and that was quite a stretch for me!), but they did publish this new edition in both paperback and hard cover, and were able to include the text of the encyclical as well as my essay about the contradiction between the perennial teaching of the Church and Pope Francis' letter Amoris Laetitia.
And for that I am really grateful, because I have seen first-hand how knowing what the Church has always taught about marriage has changed people's lives.
The idea of this “guided reading” is to make it easy for people — married couples, those in marriage preparation, women's groups, men's groups — to read the actual encyclical together without being deterred by its archaic diction and, to our modern ears, shocking language. I would say bracing… in a good way! We talk all about that and many other things in the interview, so do give a listen and tell me what you think!
- Marie Kondo has given up on tidying up now that she has three children? (Come and see about the LMLD way, which has always assumed you have at least 5 kids! Link below in the next section.)
- “The similarities between Southport’s wide, tree-lined Lord Street and the boulevards of Paris cannot be ignored.” Emperor Napoleon did inspire rebirth of Paris after Southport visit says historian.
- Bernini and the Art of Dying: “In the art of Gianlorenzo Bernini, human beings are the protagonists of their own epic stories, and it is how they act during their time on the stage that determines the most important part of the human drama, the after party in heaven.”
- Women have been lied to about the importance of making a home (as I was saying). But the human heart is fundamentally shaped by the experience of place, as the beautiful words of dear departed Pope Benedict tell us.
- Because of the popularity of the TV series The Chosen, some questions have come up about what the actual birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ entailed for His Mother (or ought to come up, so that we are not satisfied with how it is depicted there or, increasingly, by the modern mind in general). Here is a detailed and beautiful reflection on the subject, based on Scripture and the teachings of the earliest Christians.
from the archives
- Let's have a Reasonably Clean House, one that is causing us neither palpitations by its pigsty-ish-ness nor breakdowns by its minimalism. You can find all the posts under that category, also laundry and menu planning, and all collected in the third volume of The Summa Domestica with plenty of extra material never even seen on this blog! (Did you know that the Summa Domestica is now available in paperback?!)
help us recover from our cyber attack — remind your friends about us and —
follow us everywhere!
My book, The Summa Domestica: Order and Wonder in Family Life is available now from Sophia Press! All the thoughts from this blog collected into three volumes, beautifully presented with illustrations from Deirdre, an index in each volume, and ribbons!
My “random thoughts no pictures” blog, Happy Despite Them — receive it by email if you like, or bookmark, so you don’t miss a thing!
My new podcast can be found on the Restoration of Christian Culture website (and you can find it where you listen to such things) — be sure to check out the other offerings there!
Stay abreast of the posts here at LMLD, when they happen:
Consider subscribing to this blog by email. In the current situation, if we can’t meet here, it would be good for us to be connected by email!
We share pretty pictures: Auntie Leila’s Instagram, Rosie’s Instagram, Deirdre’s Instagram. Bridget’s Instagram.
Auntie Leila’s Facebook (you can just follow)
The boards of the others: Rosie’s Pinterest. Sukie’s Pinterest. Deirdre’s Pinterest. Habou’s Pinterest (you can still get a lot of inspiration here! and say a prayer for her!). Bridget’s Pinterest.
Samantha says
Your Summa Domestica is just what I needed. I’m so thankful to you for publishing it! It’s my favorite reading right now and I know I will be referring back to it often in the decades to come. You have put into words so many things I have struggled with and given me some actionable things to do in my current slump. Thanks again!
Leila says
Wonderful! I’m so glad! You’re welcome!
Kessie says
I’d noticed for a long time that your posts in my feed showed up with the title “null” instead of your actual title. Seems the malware got to your blog the way it did mine! I finally threw in the towel and went from wordpress.org back to .com and haven’t looked back. That way WordPress can handle the cyberattacks and I can blissfully write my blogs in peace. 😀
N says
Re: Marie Kondo — I learned a long time ago not to take advice from women with fewer kids than me, unless it’s something unique and specific (like a medical condition). I learned that lesson when I was dealing with a toddler who wouldn’t brush their teeth and a mom online advised me to just sit in the bathroom with him and wait with him until he was “ready” to do it — that’s what SHE did! She detailed a time when she sat with her kid for 3 HOURS until he was ready to do the task she wanted him to do. When I asked her how she got anything done waiting for a toddler to be “ready” to do something, she advised me that she didn’t have any other kids and that she had a housekeeper who cleaned her house for her.