Sally Thomas

Anne Lamott wrote once that prayer boils down to saying either Help Help Help or Thank you Thank you Thank you. The description’s accurate enough, as I have some reason to know, and as a default mode for prayer, I guess a person could do worse. To believe in God to begin with, and to believe that . . . . Continue Reading »

Well, really from our comments forum. Reader Mark Gooley is looking for a painting of the Holy Trinity, which he describes thus: . . . a beautiful painting of the Trinity (perhaps being adored by the Blessed Virgin and/or other saints: I’m not sure). It shows the Father and the Son exhaling a . . . . Continue Reading »

It’s hard to know what to say about tambourines. On the one hand, they’re great for festive medieval music: “Gaudete! Gaudete! Christus est natus!” and so on. On the other hand, they’re so often not used for festive medieval music, and I think I’ll just leave it . . . . Continue Reading »

Check this out. Bidding closes today, so hurry. Al says we can’t tell how good this really is without trying it ourselves; on the other hand, it’s not a Sacred Heart tongue stud. [Rating: 90 out of . . . . Continue Reading »

So my friend Alex has instructed her children to ask their VBS teachers, “Have you ever heard of a Christian pirate?”[Rating: 47 out of . . . . Continue Reading »

If you haven’t already, take the Students of Faith survey over at the First Things home page.First Things is embarking on a journey through the wild world of college rankings, and we need your help. We’d like to come up with a list of schools that provide (1) a solid academic training, . . . . Continue Reading »

All right, this quiz is dadgum everywhere right now, but on the off-chance that you haven’t taken it yet . . . For the record, I took it twice. I am either Saint Melito or Origen. Make of that what you will. But . . . uh . . . the Church Fathers collectively are . . . great . . . Right, Al? . . . . Continue Reading »

The Stuttgart edition, printed per cola et commata, and including variant readings? Or the Nova Vulgata?Or what about the Clementine Vulgate?Recommendations, anyone? More Vulgate conversation here.I can’t really rate anything in this post, but I wonder if I can host an informal poll here. I . . . . Continue Reading »

Really it’s a travel diary, and I’d forgotten all about it. In the summer of 1993, expecting our first child, my husband and I spent three weeks in France and Germany. Our aim I suppose was to prove to ourselves that having children wasn’t going to tie us down. We’d been . . . . Continue Reading »

We have company coming for lunch today, and I’ve stopped counting the times somebody in the household has passed me here at my desk to ask what we’re having to eat. FOOD, all right? Now pick up that Q-tip and get back to dusting the settee.Being a Southerner, I generally have a ready . . . . Continue Reading »