Aaaaaaaaa I'm worm food. Quick! Read!

Because I embrace the Sunk Cost Fallacy.

Since it's been mentioned a couple of times, I'm just going to issue a heads-up on The Golden Legend: a work of its time, there is a lot of antisemitism in it. That's just part of the medieval European landscape, alas.

Still reading Somerset Maugham's semi-autobiographical novel Of Human Bondage. It's very good. An excerpt: ------------------ His habit of reading isolated him: it became such a need that after being in company for some time he grew tired and restless; he was vain of the wider knowledge he had acquired from the perusal of so many books, his mind was alert, and he had not the skill to hide his contempt for his companions' stupidity. They complained that he was conceited; and, since he excelled only in matters which to them were unimportant, they asked satirically what he had to be conceited about. He was developing a sense of humour, and found that he had a knack of saying bitter things, which caught people on the raw; he said them because they amused him, hardly realising how much they hurt, and was much offended when he found that his victims regarded him with active dislike. The humiliations he suffered when he first went to school had caused in him a shrinking from his fellows which he could never entirely overcome; he remained shy and silent. But though he did everything to alienate the sympathy of other boys he longed with all his heart for the popularity which to some was so easily accorded. These from his distance he admired extravagantly; and though he was inclined to be more sarcastic with them than with others, though he made little jokes at their expense, he would have given anything to change places with them.

I think it's a combination of (1) first week of the year; (2) extra days on the week; and (3) multiquote problems requiring multiple reply posts.

Nope, that's them. Let me know! Though the resumption of actual homeschooling has sucked up a lot of perfectly good reading time lately.

I started reading it last year but was distracted by life. Let me know when you're going to be reading it. 'Cause now there are three books on your list this year that are on mine also.

I've only skimmed them; but I think probably not. I didn't see anything inappropriate; but I think most kids would find them uninteresting. YMMV.

It feels wrong to whine when it's well above thirty degrees here; but we are thin-blooded creatures, in a house designed to lose heat, with a third-rate furnace we usually only use a few hours a day for a week or two of winter. We are all of us huddled in the parental bed with our books. This is the homeschooling plan for the day. Dh: Lanark (still weird) Great Girl: Eighteenth-Century London ( http://www.amazon.com/Eighteenth-Century-London-Nichola-Johnson/dp/0112904483 ) (all of which history she apparently knows already from Leon Garfield books) Me & Wee Girl: The Canterbury Tales (this one: http://www.honeyandwaxbooks.com/pages/books/100957/geoffrey-chaucer-gustaf-tenggren-illustrator-mark-van-doren-introduction/the-canterbury-tales-of-geoffrey-chaucer-special-edition-for-young-readers )

Oh! I just got these at the library discard store! They do seem to have a certain franco-focus; not too surprising since the series was originally French.

When dh and I moved back to Texas after a few involuntary years away (including two years in upstate New York--brrrrrr), it was in August. On the first day over a hundred degrees, I stood outside, alone under a blinding cloudless sky, air shimmering over the empty street, in the utter stillness, with no noise but the ear-splitting cicada songs beating in my ears. I was overwhelmed by how much I had missed my home, and wanted to cry for happiness. I don't know if it was the same feeling you have with the snow. But I wondered how I had ever gotten by without that summer stillness.

It is the correct term: a dying or seriously ill person receives the Last Rites, which include the Anointing, but also Confession and Viaticum. A prisoner about to be executed receives the Last Rites, which do not include in that case Anointing. It would be absurd to call what he received "Anointing of the Sick." The term is familiar and frequently used. I hear it used by both Catholics and non-Catholics. The OP was asking how normal Catholics would actually speak, not how Chancery officials and RCIA teams insist that Catholics speak. Calandalsmom, forgive me if I am mistaking your tone, but this seems to be very important to you, for reasons unclear to me but which I am worried threaten to derail the thread from the OP's questions. Perhaps it should be taken to private discussion?

That plus I presume the sharpied-out part is the little boy's genitals. What message does that send to little boys reading the book? "Your body is so bad that grownups have to break the rule of no drawing in books."

My dad worked at Los Alamos, but did I ever get any samples? :(

You're right, Epiphany isn't a day of obligation. My mistake. Last Rites is indeed called that. Extreme Unction (Anointing) is part of the Last Rites. I should have been more exact and explained that communion (viaticum) is received as part of the Last Rites, which strictly speaking is three sacraments in one rite. However I was using the terminology as it's generally, if not precisely, used. I didn't say it was a one-off, nor did I imply it could not be received on other occasions. I was answering the question asked. I have attended many two-hour masses. However my regular Sunday mass is usually only an hour and a half. How different people's experiences can be.

Remember that Catholicism, like any religion, is very inculturated. Most of the things you ask about are matters of Catholic cultural life and so likely to be different in other countries. Many answers you've gotten are very specific to Anglo US Mainstream Catholicism. Blessings are given to children, even adult children, by parents, grandparents, or godparents, making the sign of the cross on their forehead with one's thumb. I bless my children when I put them to bed or when I or they are about to leave home on a long trip. Among Anglo Catholics in the US, wearing a rosary on one's neck is considered disrepectful; however in Texas, Hispanic men often wear them and it's not considered disrespectful. Many of us do try to pray the rosary daily. Catholics are supposed to pray at regular times during the day, particularly at rising (the Morning Offering) and going to bed, and before (and sometimes after) meals. The Angelus prayer is prayed at morning, noon, and evening; our family prays it at noon. You can find standard forms of these prayers on-line. It's hard to give a short explanation of these: Confirmation and the Eucharist (communion) are two of the seven sacraments, which are means given by Christ to the Church by which the faithful receive grace. Wikipedia is probably helpful. The ages of Confirmation and first reception of the Eucharist vary greatly according to country. Bishops of a diocese set the guidelines, though most bishops follow the guidelines of their country's bishops' conference. In the US the usual age for first communion is about 7; however eastern rite Catholics in the US and elsewhere usually receive both sacraments, together with baptism, in infancy. Confirmation in the US is generally in the teen years, in some dioceses as late as 16. In Scotland, first communicants are confirmed also at the age of 7; so you might Google the ages in Ireland. Most practicing Anglo Catholics in the US receive communion every time they go to mass. One is only to receive if one is in a state of grace (that is, has not committed any unconfessed mortal sins), has observed the pre-communion fast, and is in a fit state to receive (has made some spiritual preparation). Hispanic US Catholics are less likely to go forward automatically for communion when at mass; I gather this is the case in many other countries. (ETA: On re-reading, this sounded judgmental. It's not meant to; it's just a cultural difference.) Catholics can, and some do, receive communion daily. You would receive communion for the last time as part of the Last Rites, a sacrament administered (hopefully) when a Catholic is near death. Yes, and yes. Mass must be attended on all Sundays and holy days of obligation (like tomorrow!). A Sunday mass will generally last anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the longwindedness of the priest, the kind of mass, the patience of the congregation, and the tightness of the scheduling in a busy parish with lots of masses. Probably English, but depending on the community, Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, Tagalog, or even Latin. Good for you for doing research. It's a big subject!

Some people do one, some the other. Generally folks save their Friday and Saturday posts in expectation of the new thread Sunday (not a rule, just an observation). Some people review, some just report, some discuss, some summarize. I like to give an interesting and/or representative snippet of the book, as I find that gives me the most useful idea about it. But Robin is very tolerant of our multifarious ways.

I didn't remember writing either post, and was fascinated to read--thanks to Eliana--my thoughts on James. :D I blame children.

Fiona, my condolences for your loss. May he have eternal rest.

Finished another started-in-2014 book, on Middle Girl's recommendation, the second Brigadier Gerard collection: 2. Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Gerard. It is that rare animal, a genuinely funny for adults collection of stories that is completely appropriate for children. MG's edition includes a later story, "The Marriage of the Brigadier," which may be the most amusing thing I've read all year and had me snickering audibly. If you need more, there's an endorsement on the back cover by Winston Churchill. So. I just can't find the next book I'd started, The Foundation Pit, so I've gotten underway with Of Human Bondage and the collected stories of J. F. Powers. How is it I'd never heard of Powers? He's great. (Now everyone is going to say, What, you didn't know about J. F. Powers?)

She finds the opportunity to sound Wiser Than the Adults to be irresistible. But to be honest, she mostly loved Moby Dick for the whaling adventure parts. Perhaps she'll find new depths in it when older.

Middle Girl says she can see "how Moby Dick might be disappointing if one expects it to be something it isn't." I wonder if twelve might not be the perfect age for Melville; just leaving the world of children's books, but without much in the way of expectations for grown-up books.

2014 was rough around here, too; and the Imitation is my always go-to reading for life's rockiness. It doesn't show up on my list often because I seldom read from beginning to end. Anyway a ringing endorsement for Kempis.