Author Archive for Mary Anne Moresco

Mary Anne Moresco writes from Howell, New Jersey.

Spring Cleaning With Mary
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Spring Cleaning With Mary

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[Editor’s note: Originally published June, 2006] Mary and mercy came to our house this May. After years of chasing an illusive dream of someday organizing our entire home, I finally managed, with God’s assistance, to do just that. It was a ruthless and exhaustive endeavor. Closets, cabinets, drawers, shelves and rooms were systematically purged of […]

Poisoned by the Pill: Truths about Chemical Contraception
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Poisoned by the Pill: Truths about Chemical Contraception

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What are we doing?  Obstetricians, whose job it is to help usher new life into the world, display birth control advertisements on their waiting room end-tables the way one’s Aunt Matilda might once have displayed dear family photos.  The secular news media, whose job it is to objectively report information, only last year exalted 50 […]

Where’s the Pizza?
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Where’s the Pizza?

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There are times when I dream of a simple life on the prairie with a family, a horse, a dog, a fiddle and a house with a wood-burning stove. And this particular Friday night before Christmas was one of those times. Daughter #2 had an annual Christmas slumber party with some old homeschooling friends, and […]

Daily Mass: Medicine for a Sick Culture
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Daily Mass: Medicine for a Sick Culture

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Rosie grabbed my arm as I walked into Mass one weekday morning. Whispering in a hushed tone she asked:  “Can you help me measure the candle?   I can’t reach the top of it to measure it.  I was helping to set up for a funeral, and I dropped the candle and broke the glass that […]

Movie Review: <em>The 5th Quarter</em>
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Movie Review: The 5th Quarter

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The 5th Quarter is a captivating true story of perseverance and as such it is a story for us all.  It is a riveting story for anyone who has ever suffered through personal tragedy from which one thought there was no way to recover.  It is an emotional story for any parent who has ever […]

Called to the Upper Room
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Called to the Upper Room

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After Jesus ascended to heaven at Mount Olivet, the Apostles returned to the Upper Room in Jerusalem and devoted themselves to prayer (Acts 1:12-14). A novena is nine days of prayer. The nine days of prayer between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost Sunday marked the first of all novenas. At different times in our lives, God […]

Gregorian Chant: “Pride of Place”
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Gregorian Chant: “Pride of Place”

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Look up “Gregorian chant” in just about any current dictionary or encyclopedia and you will see a description that says it “is the liturgical chant of the Roman Catholic Church.” Notice that the tense of the verb “to be” is in its present form of “is.” What Should Customarily Be? The definition doesn’t place Gregorian […]

Who Does It Hurt?
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Who Does It Hurt?

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Our then 4-year-old daughter decided that she’d had enough. We’d heard the complaints about a small group of boys in her preschool class and their trucks for a while. I can’t remember now exactly what it was the boys were doing with those trucks, except that they were breaking preschool truck rules in a way […]

Teaching Teens the Truth about Sin
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Teaching Teens the Truth about Sin

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I never cease to be amazed by what can be included in a high school “health” curriculum these days. I was recently looking at a health course for ninth graders, which included such topics as “contraception,” “decision-making” skills, “sexual orientations,” as well as “what to know about health care facilities, costs and sources of payment.” […]

Dressed in Matrimonial Grace
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Dressed in Matrimonial Grace

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As our eldest daughter perched on the cliff of entry into adolescence, I found myself perched upon a dangerous cliff of my own — that of seeking modest dress for teenage girls. I slowly awakened to the truth (I was somewhat in denial) that taking a teenage girl shopping for modest clothing is nothing less […]

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Scattering Seeds

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I plant seeds for a living. Every plant I’ve ever watered has died. People give away dead and dying plants to my husband Tom and he resurrects them like they were Lazarus. Me? Put a plant in my charge and it will turn brown. But I plant seeds, none the less. I don’t sow seeds […]