by Tara Ludwig Christ in the House of Martha and Mary (1655) by Johannes VermeerHangs in the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh The English Cardinal Basil Hume once famously said, “the great gift of Easter is hope.” But as we enter the Easter season of 2023, hope can feel difficult to access, as many of us are weary of a world that has seemingly just been limping along from one calamity to the...  Read More

Wayside Shrine in Bohlingen, Germany Ever since a car smashed into me on my way to work on July 27th, 2013, pain has been a daily part of my life. And I do not mean the trivial pain of a stubbed toe or a bonked elbow, but an agonizing, all-consuming pain, as the nerves that travel into my neck, shoulder, arm, and hand were crushed inside of my chest by the impact. In the last decade I have endured...  Read More

Wayside shrine between Krensheim and Poppenhausen, Germany I am not a “dog person”. To be honest, I have spent most of my life as an actively anti-dog person, after a couple of frightening run-ins with big dogs during my childhood left me fearful and wary of any animal larger than a house cat. Our family never owned dogs when I was growing up, and frankly I couldn’t see why anyone would want to; d...  Read More

Wayside Shrine in Hinterglemm, Austria Yesterday my 8-year-old son, Cirocco, celebrated his First Reconciliation, an important step on the way to receiving his First Communion this spring. Our church put together a very nice little ceremony, with candles, and prayers, and kid-friendly songs. All of the children looked adorable, parading into the sanctuary in their Sunday best. I fully hoped that ...  Read More

Wayside Shrine in Heverlee, Belgium My uncle, Andrew Jude Aber, recently died of pancreatic cancer. It was Uncle Andrew who, 45 years ago, sang in a rock band called Knowhere and introduced his bass player (my dad) to his little sister (my mom) who fell immediately in love, thus beginning the story of their long journey together. So without the gift of Andrew's life, my life, and the lives of my c...  Read More

Wayside Shrine in Strachocina, Poland The Ludwig family closed out our summer this year with a visit from my cousins from New York, along with their children and families. For two weeks our house was filled with raucous, boisterous Italians, laughing and reminiscing and, of course, eating. What a joy it was to see my little ones meet their East Coast kin for the very first time, to watch them play...  Read More

by Tara Ludwig Good Shepherd by Jean Baptiste de Champaigne “Indeed in nothing is the power of the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the estrangement that divides all those who still oppose him ”- J.R.R. TolkienThe Fellowship of the Ring Dear Peregrinus:  (A Wednesday in July)Well, my dear friend, it has been another journey around the sun since I, Tara Ludwig, have written to you last.  A full...  Read More

Dear Peregrinus: I have begun to write this letter to you on Monday, the day after Pentecost, when liturgically speaking we have re-entered Ordinary Time, in its 10th Week. Much has happened in our lives, in our nation, and internationally since Ash Wednesday on March 2nd. For example, the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014 suffered a major expansion on Thursday, 24 February 2022...  Read More

Dear Peregrinus: Happy Eastertide to you, old friend. Be sure to write to me about any insights you gained during Holy Week this year, because I gain so much from the depths I discover inside of your insights. It is one thing for me to receive from you an insight; it is quite another for me to understand what it means and, eventually, to be able to make that insight my own...  Read More

Dear Peregrinus: As I begin to write to you, the Sun, having made most of its transit today through a cloudy sky, is now propelling itself (though it seems to fall) toward the west, dropping behind a stand of hundred-year-old Douglas firs, which are rooted over there some fifty yards beyond my windows. For all the glorious light that the Sun gave today to the world, I wonder if it ever finds itself preoccupied with the shadows that its effulgence...  Read More

Dear Peregrinus: I got to thinking how we, in the Catholic liturgical calendar, have as of last Sunday, January 9th, entered “Ordinary Time”. And the feast day that marks its commencement is that of the Baptism, by John, of Jesus in the Jordan River... Surely for Jesus Himself, and certainly for John the Baptist, there was nothing ordinary about that day...   Read More

Dear Peregrinus: Blessing to you in this month of November, the last of the four months to have thirty days – “Thirty days has September, April, June, and November”. In Anglo-Saxon (i.e., “Old English”), this month was called Blōtmōnaþ, the month when the Anglo-Saxons sacrificed cattle to their gods. The root “blōt- “means “blood sacrifice”...  Read More