Karen Santorum's moving book "Letters to Gabriel" is back in print!

 Setting the Record Straight

I was suffering from my third miscarriage and seeking a book which would offer me comforting words from a another Catholic mother who had lost a child. I found "Letters to Gabriel" by Karen Garver Santorum. In the pages of the book I got to know Karen as she spoke to her son Gabriel, who was now with God. Gabriel had a urinary tract irregularity which was life threatening, he was not producing urine and was going to die. Karen, a neo-natal nurse and Rick did not accept this, and traveled out of state to a doctor who was able to do inter-uterine surgery. The surgery was successful but left Karen with an infection causing premature labor, and, despite Rick and Karen's best efforts to save him, Gabriel was born to early to survive.

This is the story of a parent's fierce love for their son, a story which has been viciously misrepresented by Rick Santorum's political enemies. I read a piece in The Daily Kos which said Karen had an abortion, and winced as I saw Alan Colmes and Eugene Robinson mock the Santorums' expression of grief over the loss of their precious son. Gabriel was waked at home and buried in the Catholic Church as any other member of the family. Because he is still a member of the family, thanks to the Communion of Saints.

But the story doesn't end at Gabriel's death.Karen tells the story;

"the Senator (Boxer) was thanking the women who had partial birth abortions for coming forward with their stories, . . said she "hears the cries of the women outside this Chamber".

"We would be deafened by the cries of children who are not here to cry because of this procedure," retorted Senator Santorum. The Washington Post described what happened next, 'Republican Senator Rick Santorum turned to face the opposition, and in a high, pleading voice, cried out, "where do we draw the line? Some people have likened this procedure to an appendectomy. This is not an appendix!' he shouted, pointing to a drawing of a fetus, it is a baby. Its a baby.'

"And then, impossibly, in an already hushed gallery . the cry of a baby pierced the room, echoing across the chamber from an outside hallway. Not one mentioned the cry, but for a few seconds no one spoke at all."

Karen continues, "A coincidence? Perhaps. . .or maybe. . it was the cry from the son whose voice we never herd, but whose life had forever changed ours."
Rick concludes, "Sometimes you hear a faint voice inside whispering what you should do. With respect to this issue, I heard the message through a loudspeaker. " (It Takes a Family p 245)

In an interview I did of Rick for Canticle Magazine, he said he felt that it was Gabriel's voice from heaven, supporting his father as he asserted the truth that the unborn is a baby. If ever there was a call to act, this was one. During the interview in late 2007, I told Rick about my daughter Christina who has Down syndrome, and we chatted about the blessing of special needs children. Within a year, baby Isabella Maria Santorum was born with Trisomy 18, an event which Rick said inspired him to run for president, to help create a more welcoming culture for our special needs children.

Letters to Gabriel is a sensitive and comforting book because it reminds a mother who has lost a child whether born to live too briefly, or unborn, that their child matters to God, to her family, and to the world. It is a unique tribute to the value of every human life, and should be a staple on the Catholic family bookshelf. I myself bought several copies, but kept giving them away to friends who had experienced infant loss.

Please vote for the Church Ladies

 We are mothers who have home schooled our children, and managed to write about it. We have come together under the able editing of Patti McGuire Armstrong of the Amazing Grace series,  and Theresa Thomas to write an anthology of stories called Stories for the Homeschool Heart to encourage other mothers who are homeschooling their children, and we get mocked by the author of another book in the competition at About.com as "The Church Ladies". Such behavior is hardly worthy of a Catholic.Besides, what is wrong with being a Church lady? I've been called worse!

I am proud to be a Church Lady. Proud that my busy friends and I found time to write and share the joys of home schooling and what it has done for my family and the Church in general.  I think our book is inspiriting, funny, encouraging, and faithful to the mission of the family as the Domestic Church.
IF you agree. please vote as many times as you want before March 8 when the competition ends.
Click here to vote. 

New FTC regulations on book reviews

I began reviewing books because I have always wanted a reliable source for good clean family-friendly literature, and orthodox Catholic religious books, and had trouble locating one. Now, it seems to gaining popularity with the advent of blog review programs like "The Catholic Company" and so in comes the FTC with regulations. Let me be very clear. I do NOT make a living doing book and DVD reviews. I get free books and DVDs with strings attached. Great is my guilt when I get backlogged as I am now, and have to delay sending a review for several months. However, I always get them in, and normally elicit very positive responses. Tim Drake, Senior Correspondent for the National Catholic Register took time to write me about my review of his book "Behind Bella" saying it was obvious that I had taken time to carefully read the book. I consider it my responsibility. My greatest honor aside from hearing from Mr. Drake, was when Kent Gilges, the author of "A Grace Given" quoted my review on his book jacket between two of my heroes, Don Wildmon, and George Weigel.
Another point is; I almost never accept a book I expect to find objectionable. It gets too messy. The only exception I make is when a book, like the Twilight series or Michael Brown books become so popular that it is leading many Catholics astray, I feel a need to join the battle against the corruption of our culture. I have been surprised by objectionable content in books I expected to love notably; "The Dangerous Book for Girls" despite having some wonderful wholesome activities, had several suggestions of occult practices which no Catholic mother can recommend for girls. This was an especially contentious review, I had been invited to share my comments on "The Today Show" with my girls, this invitation was quickly revoked and my review on Amazon.com was targeted for attack, perhaps with help from the authors. My reviewer rating suffered as a result.
So the answer is NO, no one besides the National Catholic Register is paying me for book reviews, and again, I carefully select a book I expect to enjoy and relate to. Some publicists from religious and secular publishers have sought me out because of the high Google rating my book reviews have generated, and I am flattered and my reviews are published in many places, some of which are a surprise to me, for example the other day I Googled my name and found that my review of "My Sister Alicia May" was on the Catholic TV website. It's a wonderful book and I am thrilled to see it there. That and the pleasure of reading and promoting high quality literature and films is my compensation for being a book reviewer at this time.

Here's what Catholic Company reviewer, Long Island Motherhood Examiner and blogger at The Divine Gift of Motherhood Elizabeth Miller has to say about this, "
This just in: The FTC is now requiring bloggers to disclose if they have received a free book or other payment in exchange for writing a book review. I find this to be absolutely ridiculous. Since the beginning of publishing, authors have been sending free copies of their books to reviewers for publicity. So I am now disclosing, to cover myself for my past reviews, that any books I reviewed for The Catholic Company were given to me for free in exchange for my honest review. I was also given a free book by Ellen Gable in exchange for my honest review of her first book, and am in the process of reviewing her second book, which she also sent me for free.
Thus ends the ridiculous item of the day. Click here for the story from Fox News. "

Mother Teresa's Guide to Sanctity

Today on Blessed Mother Teresa's birthday in heaven, what will probably become her feastday, celebrate by reading my review of "Mother Teresa's Secret Fire" up at Catholic.net.

Fr Langford shares the principles of her spirituality and in this wonderful book, you will find new intmacy with Jesus in prayer.

"Twilight"is dangerous

One of the reasons the "Twilight" phenomenon is frightening has little to do with vampires, and more to do with the fierce passion of it's devotees. Good Catholics whom I respect have come at me, hammer and tongs, excoriating me for my negativity about the series, in a way which surprises even me, a veteran of the perenially unpopular pro-life movement.
I knew that I was taking an unpopular stand with my review, but even on this lonely island I have created for myself, there are some friends.
Fr Larry Gearhardt, author of Eyes of Faith, has quoted my review from "Catholic Online" in agreement. Thank you, Father, your solidly orthodox opinion means more to me than mere popularity. Now I can take a beating knowing that I just might be right to warn people about this series which has commandeered the imagination of our young women.
12/10 UPDATE:
Editor Tom Hoopes has this quote of Steve Greydanus' review of the Twilight Series on the website of the National Catholic Register.The virtues claimed for the story are chiefly respect for family and abstinence — in this case the vampire’s abstinence from consuming the blood of the girl.
Greydanus makes the good point that
“vampirism makes a sickly, twisted metaphor for sexuality. Nothing like mutual complementarity can exist between humans and vampires — at least, not without completely rewriting vampire nature somehow. Vampires have nothing to give and everything to take; humans have everything to lose and nothing to gain. Humans may complete vampires, but vampires don’t complete humans, any more than a lion completes an impala.”
In the end, Hoopes decides his 15 year old daughters will stick with Austen.
Good dad, that Tom Hoopes!
12/21 Update
Fr Z chimes in on this debate, praising the excellent reviews of Spes Unica, with some fascinating links in the comments.
Catholic fiction writer Michael O'Brien has some comments on the Harry Potter series which apply here.
"Books and films which three generations ago would have been instantly recognized as unhealthy for our children, are now considered acceptable, and those who oppose them alarmist or “hysterical.” Why is this so? Why are threats (recognized for thousands of years as real threats) to our children’s well-being now being interpreted as harmless? To what degree have our judgments been influenced by the pagan worldview — possibly affected to the core? To what degree have we mistaken the assimilation by paganism for legitimate inculturation? What, precisely, is a legitimate adaptation of non-Christian culture? Can we really “baptize” the symbols and activities of the realm of darkness (vampires)without negative effects? These are particularly urgent questions, because we are no longer the early Christians cleansing a classical pagan temple and consecrating it as a church. We are “Late Western Man,” to use C. S. Lewis’s term, and we are in the midst of a social revolution that is assaulting the truly sacred and degrading it at every turn. "
4/06/2009 Update:
Fr Euteneuer, on his recent interview with Raymond Arroyo on "The World Over" predicted an upsurge in exorcisms in the next ten years, thanks to books lik e"Harry Potter" and "Twilight". Here are some comments he made on this subject.