Welcome Faith and Culture Viewers!

 I've you saw this show on EWTN's "Faith and Culture" with Colleen Carroll Campbell this morning, welcome!
If not, you have another chance on Wed June 8 at 11:30 PM. Eileen Haupt and I tell Colleen about how the joy of life raising our two special daughters made us want to do something to lower the tragic 92% abortion rate of babies with Down syndrome.
Welcome to Cause of Our Joy, come in an sit a spell and get a peek at everyday life with my daughters Gabbi, Bella, Christina, and my husband Francisco as we share the joy of our special family. Leave a comment and tell us about yourself, and welcome to our family!

My Christmas card is coming!

I am a little late this year, my back is still in spasm, but the girls managed to put together a wonderfully artistic, yet deeply religious Christmas card this year. For those of you who won't be getting it, the interior of the card has the lyrics of "O Holy Night", followed by "The Velasquez family wishes you a Blessed Christmas"

Why I moved to Connecticut

We had become isolated from like minded Catholics on Long Island, when my friends fled south en masse. We needed a Catholic community. Since September 2008, we have been living in Eastern CT, close to the Friary of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Griswold, attending Holy Mass at St Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Baltic, with the famlies of these wonderful wholesome Catholic teens  (See Derek in the 11 on my own documentary in my previous post).
Now my beautiful daughter Gabbi (see the BIG smile on her face?) is being courted by Derek, who turns 18  in June, two days after she turns 17 (Do I hear, "You are 16, going on 17"?). Next to Derek is Sarah, and his sister Courtney, Gabbi's two best friends. We were celebrating the college graduation of Chris and John Duda, other members of our community, who had a massive party capped by a sing along around the campfire. What a wonderful evening it was.
In two weeks, we all will be camping in a state park singing and praying the rosary around the campfire, with about 300 other Catholic campers, for the annual Catholic camp-ar-ee.
How blessed we are to live here!

11 on my own documentary

Shrine of the North American Martyrs and other family pilgrimages

If your family is like mine, you probably have family spread all over the country, and most vacations are spent visiting them. That doesn't mean that your family can't make a pilgrimage, however, you just have to find shrines in the area you are going to visit. I found the Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville, NY and the nearby National Shrine of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha in Fonda, NY just accross the Mohawk River. My oldest daughter was nine, and my middle daughter was four when my family visited these holy sites, but they were still profoundly moved by seeing the site of Kateri's Longhouse and the well she was baptized which still flows with clear water. They were able to visit the river bank where St Jean de Brobeuf (whose memorial we celebrate today)babtized Indian children, and where his body and that of were thrown after their martyrdom. Experiences like this will be remembered long after the glow of an amusement park has subsided.

The Kateri Tekakwitha Shrine Church has a North American Indian theme, and a fasinating array of artifacts in the museum below. The North American Martyrs Shrine has a commanding view of the river, beautiful and extensive grounds and facilities for large groups. The stadium-like church has statues dedicated to each of the French Jesuits who gave their lives for conversion of the Indians. It served to remind them of the often hidden Catholic heritage of the United States. A little known fact about the Shrine is that Fr Corapi had the LONG and colorful confession which brought him back to his Catholic faith, and ended with the words, "and, father, I think I want to become a priest", much to the shock of his elderly confessor!

My family may never get to see the great shrines of Europe, yet they were deeply impressed with the silent witness of the lives of these holy Catholics. We look forward to our next shrine visit; I owe Our Lady of La Leche a visit to the Shrine of Nombre de Dios in St Augustine Florida in thanksgiving for successfully nursing my three girls.

I recommend the video series of The Faithful Traveler top quality videos on various shrines, both in America and Europe. They are interesting, informative without being boring, because they offer plenty of high quality footage of the shrines they cover.

Next time you're planning a family vacation, look up shrines and make your trip something to refresh both body and soul!

Playing catch up and its fall in Connecticut

Now that I'm home from Dad's house, and Washington, home for the first time in over two weeks, it's time to play catch up.
I spent some wonderful time with family and new and old friends at the funeral and afterward (which I'll share in a later post) but now I have to face the effects of nearly putting off housekeeping and writing on hold for the length of Mom's illness (four months). A good decision I will never regret, but a costly one. I was swamped then, I don't have a word for how behind I am in book reviews, news stories, blog posts, and assignments.
Monday morning, I was confronted by a neglected home, VERY sore feet from Washington DC, and suitcases full of our clothing and Mom's belongings. Did I mention that I broke a tooth? That's where I spent today and will spend two other days, at the dentist beginning a root canal and crown, which will cost us about $500. All because I grind my teeth at night. I'm getting a night guard for that too.
After the dentist, I had a school meeting for Christina with her teachers where we discussed using a communication augmentation tool. I had been resistant to the idea at first, feeling it would replace speaking, but once Christina pushes a button with a drawing on it and hears the recording say, "I would like a drink" she repeats it and is truly learning language. So I have to come up with nine phrases she needs to learn at home. Can you believe I am having trouble finding them?
The three I have are "I want to go outside" , "I want to read a book", and "I want to read a story". I think the problem is that she does make her needs known at home, albeit incompletely. She says 'book' and we understand. She shoves a Veggie Tales DVD in our faces, and we get the point. Now we can refine the language a bit. One phrase I would give the world to hear is "I have to use the toilet". At Dad's house, we were overjoyed to find her using it on her own!!! We did back flips for joy. She hasn't done it again. Sigh.

It's fall up in Connecticut. Brilliantly colored trees, crisp sunshine and cool breezes brush my cheek as I hurry to ferry the girls to and fro. But this time, Gabbi is driving! I'd take photos but I haven't unpacked the camera yet. So I'll let my friend at Totus Tuus Family Homeschool share about autumn with her beautiful mix of artsiness and Catholicism.
It features my favorite Irish tune which always rings true this time of year, performed with a truly gifted voice.

The Decline of the big American Catholic family

The New York Times has a warmhearted story, reminscing about the big American Catholic families of fifty years ago, when people used to listen to the Church teaching on contraception.

"The smaller Irish-American family has been attributed to many factors, but the one most often cited is a decline in willingness to defer to the Roman Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. “The church’s guidance on all kinds of things, including family planning, doesn’t carry the weight it used to carry,” said Terry Golway, a writer who teaches American history at Kean University in New Jersey.
In New York, the migration of the Irish middle class from the city to the suburbs contributed to the decline of the double-digit family, he said. “Their world was not defined by the parish as it once was, when they lived in the Bronx,” Professor Golway said. “They moved to the suburbs, where it really was a melting pot. Not everybody on your block was Irish anymore.”'

This is the type of family my father grew up in in Flushing Queens; six kids in bunk beds in bedrooms arranged around a huge kitchen. During the Depression both parents worked to keep a roof over their heads, and the kids banded together to run the home. The boys had baseball games in Grandpa's tomato garden ("Pop, if you see any tomatoes with seed in 'em; DON'T eat 'em!).
Saturday morning battles between the boys and bossy big sisters in charge of the housecleaning over a quarter to see the double feature. Jam-packed family car driving over the bridge to Granpa's farm in Jersey. And the legacy has continued, as the family is aging and 19 grandchildren are raising their own children. Weddings and funerals are reunions but the contstant contact by phone maintains the closeness born around the kitchen table on homemade benches where Nana's homemade tomato sauce was served twice a week; Sundays and Thursdays. I grew up enjoying the boisterous closeness at Christmas and Easter, the happy chaos of gangs of boys who had to be keep under control in the basement, where my cousin Liz and I were told "don't let anyone get hurt". We'd hide under the stairs and share secrets while the boys wrestled and made mayhem around us. Soon it wouild be time for dessert and we'd come upstairs to a table covered with dozens of pies, cakes, pudding and, best of all, expensive Italian pastries.
I'd sit at the adult table eating a cannoli and listen to Uncle Al's stories, complete with dialogue in various New York ethnic accents. He had stories of Old New York and he made them come alive, reliving the events as he made us roll with laughter. My favorite was when he and his brother left Queens on Good Friday by horse cart to get pizza in Manhattan on Good Friday. The horse wasn't tied, and took off down the street, with the cart swinging back and forth wildly, smashing the window of Harvey the Jewish tailor, who came outside yelling in Yiddish.

Big Catholic families, whether Irish, Italian, German or Polish are wonderful. and I wanted one myself. I still hope that one of my girls has a dozen children so I can sit around the Christmas table and tell stories of when I was a kid at my Italian family gatherings, hiding under the table and guessing whose feet was whose. Or when my ugly mutt of a dog, Skippy used to chase cars and recovered every time he got too close and got hit. We will brag about how Granpa Crafa was born ten years after Padre Pio in Pietrelcine, Italy, and baptized in the same Church. We were so proud the day he was canonized and bought a brick in the family name around his shrine in our church.
Two generations later, we still carry some of the closeness of my dad's big Italian family with us; it' is Granpa's gift to us.


Read the entire story here.

Cathedral in the pines

The verdant arc made by the White Pines at the and the bond between father and daughter, make it easy to see God is at work in the world.

My birthday at the beach

Today I celebrated another year of God's gift of life.

The day began with Holy Mass continued with a well made luncheon made by my girls, and finished with the fellowship at St Mary's youth group.

In between we spent a few wonderful hours on the ocean in Rhode Island. The sun came out and warmed the girls who were chilly from the water. We had mango ice and soaked up the sun.

God is good.

Vaccine Safety to be re-examined by CDC

My pediatrician and I were discussing vaccines. This happens every time I switch practices; I get 'the talk' about not vaccinating my children. The reason I don't is twofold; aborted fetal cell lines in vaccines, and the fact that Isabella contracted Whooping Cough from the old DTP vaccine (discontinued by the way). Christina is already delicate without risking her health to side effects of vaccines.
Here is a link to Dr William Sear's blog where he discusses a potential new study by the CDC into the claims that vaccines cause autism. I will be watching this closely.
For more information about the morality of those vaccines which use fetal cell lines go to Children of God for Life.

Isabella is 12, Gabriela is sweet sixteen

Friday, May 29, was a whirlwind day, I was subbing at Bellas school, then we rushed home with her best friend Mary to change and go out to enjoy "Night at the Museum 2". We completed the celebration with pizza and ice cream sundaes before packing the car to drive down to visit Grandma and Grandpa.
On Saturday, we attended a Down syndrome activities day at St Anthony's High School with our Long Island friends. Afterwards I took Christina to a pro-life youth conference at Nassau Community College, where she enjoyed the food, and I tried to enjoy the speeches. We stopped at our friend's home for tea, then home for a big roast beef dinner cooked by Grandpa.

Sunday, after Mass in the parish I grew up in, St Philip Neri, Northport, I walked the girls home down Main Street, the same path I used to take to daily Mass the summers when I was a teenager. I showed them the bushes where I used to pick flowers to put in front of the Blessed Mother's statue, when I felt that I had a religious vocation at 15. Such tender memories were great to share with my girls.

We took my brother Rob's two boys out with Christina to the local farm to visit the animals, something we both did as children. Here is a photo of Bella looking pensive at the farm.

There we had some family time and a great big Baskin Robbins CHOCOLATE cake for both Bella and Gabbi who turned 16 last Tuesday. Please keep my mother Eleanor in your prayers, she is in pain and has surgery scheduled.

On June 2, after school, Gabbi invited two friends to a shopping trip to spend her gift from her grandparents and then to come home and share a meal and her birthday cake. The lively conversations lasted past midnight,


They are such beautiful, intelligent young ladies, with such vivacious senses of humor. I am truly blessed to be their mother. May God grant them a grace-filled joyful, healthy year.

Easter at our house

Happy 7th Birthday Christina Maria!

Family ties on Facebook

My friend Cay Gibson has some insightful comments on how Facebook can help you connect with family within your own home.

I am blogging at Mom Writer's Literary Magazine

Take a look at how I reconciled myself to Connecticut Critters.

This family knows what Christmas is all about!

The Duggar Family welcomes their 18th child; Jordyn-Grace.
This family is part of a growing movement of" "Quiverfull" families who understand the blessing of children.
We don't look like one of them, but for many miscarriages, we would have a large family. I am extremely grateful for my three girls, many of my friends wished for as many children as I have, and never had their own children. I do, however, get misty eyed looking at big families knowing that the season of childbearing is over for our family. God has great plans for our future, but more babies don't seem to be part of it. It's a wonderful phase in a family's life that I remember fondly.
God bless you, Duggar family for being a pro-life beacon and great example of homeschooling Christians in a darkened world!
Merry Christmas!