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Articles by Mary Cuff
Remember Your Guardian Angel
Every family with small kids has its bedtime rituals. As kids, my five siblings and I would lay in bed with our doors open while Dad led the Rosary from the hallway. A friend of mine does a dramatic reading of Kipling’s “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi” for his kids if they sit through night prayers. My sister and her husband sing the “Regina Caeli” with their toddler. We have always ended our bedtime routine with the simple invocation, “Guardian Angels, keep them safe,” as we close the door.
The American Mind
The American Mind is a publication of the Claremont Institute. Read articles and listen to The American Mind podcast all of which uncover the ideas and principles that drive American political life. Each podcast episode engages Claremont Institute scholars, co-conspirators, and challengers in thought-provoking and intellectual conversations about the real causes of our current political and cultural reality. These ideas are explored with an eye towards restoring America back to civic health.
Mary Cuff, Author at The American Mind
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The Mothers Behind the Men Who Won the West
On my mantelpiece sits a silver teapot. It is boxy rather than delicate, in the 18th-century American Federal style, with a thick band of vines traced elegantly below the lid. The teapot was a wedding gift in 1797 for my great-great-great-great-great-grandmother, Frances Eleanor Clark. For over two centuries, mother has gifted that teapot to daughter, keeping alive the gathered memories of our family.
The Silence of Heaven
As a mother of five, I have spent many nights sitting in the hallway outside a bedroom door, listening to the angry, frustrated, or sorrowful noises of a child who does not want to go to sleep. Normally, that child has no idea how close I am or that I can hear him or her. In the child’s mind, I am probably having fun, not including them in the great time we could all be having if I only relented and cancelled this unreasonable and unwelcome bedtime.
Our World’s Guardian Angel
When my eldest daughter was four, we found a gorgeous children’s book at our local library that retold the story of St. George of Merry England from Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene. Every day, she would pour over the pictures of the brave knight, wearing a white robe emblazoned with a red cross, locked in battle against the evil dragon. We read the words so many times that she almost had it memorized. One Sunday, we were visiting a basilica for Mass. We were sitting near the back, along the side.
This Classic Book Series Gave My Homeschooled Kids A Passion For History Original
A slow, stately procession wound around the couch where I sat trying to get through a few pages of reading. All five kids were swathed about the middle in towels, and my 5-year-old had rigged some sort of rigid contraption to his chin. Resting on a couch pillow, a stuffed animal was borne aloft over the heads of the motley crowd. Watching from a corner of my eye, I slowly realized that I was a witness to the splendid funeral of Tutankhamen.
Is Feminism Compatible With Christianity? “Something Wicked” Says Absolutely Not
A Christian is made by submitting oneself to Christ and the Church. One wonders if those original first-wave feminists could have possibly imagined just how many external authorities—including basic biology—their idol of autonomy would call upon its adherents to reject. At the end of Kate Chopin’s nineteenth-century novel, The Awakening, protagonist Edna Pontillier steps into the Gulf waters in a desperate bid to escape the human ties that impose upon her soul.
No, Feminism Is Not Compatible With Christianity Original
At the end of Kate Chopin’s nineteenth-century novel, The Awakening, protagonist Edna Pontillier steps into the Gulf waters in a desperate bid to escape the human ties that impose upon her soul.
The Rooster Crows for Christ, by Mary Cuff
The rooster is, for many of us, a goofy figure: the strutting male of a bird species not known for its brains or courage. And for Christians, the rooster bears the dubious distinction of being the other half of the unfortunate duo involved in denying Christ three times the night of His betrayal. And yet, it seems like chickens were very much on Jesus’ mind in the lead-up to His passion. The only two clear references to chickens in the Bible are recalled during Holy Week.
The Rooster Crows for Christ
The rooster is, for many of us, a goofy figure: the strutting male of a bird species not known for its brains or courage. And for Christians, the rooster bears the dubious distinction of being the other half of the unfortunate duo involved in denying Christ three times the night of His betrayal. And yet, it seems like chickens were very much on Jesus’ mind in the lead-up to His passion. The only two clear references to chickens in the Bible are recalled during Holy Week.
Tuesday, July 30, 2024
Posted on Jul 30, 2024 Gus is joined by Dr. Mary Cuff, author of the new book, “Mother to Mother: Spiritual Wisdom from Cloister to Home,” available from TAN Books. In it, she introduces moms to contemplative nuns who have offered their insight of the common struggles of motherhood. It also serves as a meditation upon the vocation of motherhood as both lay and religious mothers strive to be models of the Mother of God.
Forgive Them, Father, by Mary Cuff
By Mary Cuff, Crisis Magazine, Dec. 13, 2023 Mary Cuff is an independent scholar, wife, and homeschooling mother. She holds a PhD in American literature from the Catholic University of America and has published in the Southern Literary Journal, Five Points, Mississippi Quarterly, and Modern Age. She teaches online high school classical rhetoric courses at Homeschool Connections.
Forgive Them, Father
A few weeks ago, as I was leaving church, I fell into step with a fellow mom. She had missed most of the liturgy due to a young child who decided that he had simply had enough right around the Gospel. I have been in this situation myself many times, and I figured an encouraging word was needed. “I feel like I need to change my name and find a new parish after today,” she joked in response. “I don’t think anyone really minded too much,” I answered. “Besides, what’s a couple of grumpy stares?
Saints Walking Among Us
When we moved into our house, we found a collection of letters left by the previous owners. They had received them from the owners before them, who had gotten them from the elderly sister of the man who had built the house at the beginning of the last century. The letters described Roy and the love with which he had built the house by hand with his father and brothers on the ruins of the colonial farmhouse of his great grandfather.
The Truth About Sojourner Truth – Mary Cuff
In 1828, a former slave named Isabella van Wagenen took her owner to court on the charge that he had illegally sold her five-year-old son out of state. Isabella herself had only been legally free for two years at this point, since New York State was still in the process of phasing out slavery.
Casting Down the Strange Gods
America’s atomic age saw the arrival of aliens in Roswell, New Mexico. You might be thinking of those infamous little green men supposedly secreted away in Area 51, but they and their flying saucers might seem a little less out of place to modern eyes than Roswell’s other hidden-away inhabitants: the cloistered Colettine Poor Clares of the Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
By Their Works Ye Shall Know Them
In Lilith, the theological-mythical epic tale by George MacDonald, a traveler from our world steps through a magical mirror in the dusty attic of his ancestral home to discover a whole other world. This other world, populated by many magical and mysterious beings, including a talking raven, is ruled by the evil witch-queen Lilith.
Pope defrocks two nuns who tried to save historic Franciscan monastery
(Crisis Magazine) — For more than seven hundred years, the Franciscan monastery of Santa Chiara has stood overlooking the glorious waters of the Amalfi Coast in the town of Ravello, the “city of music” and the “pearl of the Amalfi.” Poor Clares came to Ravello in 1297, just after the death of St. Francis, and the monastery and town have flourished together for almost a thousand years.
The Vatican Assault on Religious Life Claims More Victims
The Vatican Assault on Religious Life Claims More Victims An Italian monastery worth millions is another in a succession of religious houses being shut down by the Vatican for questionable reasons.
The Vatican Assault on Religious Life Claims More Victims, by Mary Cuff
Here’s Why We Should All Avoid Central Bank Digital Currencies, by Dr. Joseph Mercola, An Italian monastery worth millions is another in a succession of religious houses being shut down by the Vatican for questionable reasons. By Mary Cuff, Crisis Magazine, Feb. 14, 2023 Mary Cuff is an independent scholar, wife, and homeschooling mother.
The Vatican Assault on Religious Life Claims More Victims
For more than seven hundred years, the Franciscan monastery of Santa Chiara has stood overlooking the glorious waters of the Amalfi Coast in the town of Ravello, the “city of music” and the “pearl of the Amalfi.” Poor Clares came to Ravello in 1297, just after the death of St. Francis, and the monastery and town have flourished together for almost a thousand years.
The Anti-Human Humanitarians of Davos, by Mary Cuff
Societal Decline! A Frightening, Global Phenomenon, by Patricia Anthone The World Economic Forum, with its impressive collection of CEOs ranging from Pfizer to Facebook to Black Rock, as well as senior representatives of all major heads of state, has become an anti-human, globalist shadow government. By Mary Cuff, Crisis Magazine, Jan. 30, 2023 “Welcome to 2030.
The Anti-Human Humanitarians of Davos
“Welcome to 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better.” Since 1971, the World Economic Forum, brainchild of Swiss-German billionaire Klaus Schwab, has gathered the richest elites from the four corners of the earth for an exclusive conference on the globe and its problems. The above quote, if you believe the WEF managing director, Adrian Monck, is a conspiracy theory about the Forum originating from an anti-Semitic, misinformation account on 4chan.
Forgive Big Brother Seventy Times Seven Times?
As the world begins Covid’s postmortem analysis, the very voices whose mantras were “trust the science” and “safe and effective” are now shrugging their shoulders, saying, “We did our best.” Emblematic of this new tune is a piece in The Atlantic entitled “Let’s Declare a Pandemic Amnesty.” Emily Oster, the author, helped fan the flames of fear and compliance for much of the lockdowns, only coming out with a “reasonable stance” late in the game as she joined the already loud clamor to reopen...
“The Truest Ghost Story Ever Told”
Nestled in West Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, the town of Middleway boasts a ghost story that rivals the most famous haunted tales. What makes this haunting stand out is that it is a Catholic story—a tale of sacraments denied, vengeful spirits, a saintly Catholic priest, and the power of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Mothers of Men
There’s a story about the greatest of all heroes, Achilles. His mother, Thetis, terrified that her son will meet an early death at Troy, forced him into hiding, dressed up as a woman in the crowd of daughters of King Lycomedes of Skyros. Clever Odysseus, tasked with collecting heroes for the war, brought a trunk of gifts for the princesses, with a sword hidden in the pile of dresses and jewelry.
That Hideous Strength: A Prophesy for Our Times
[Editor’s Note: See the commentary on the first two books in the Space Trilogy here and here.] The final novel of C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy, That Hideous Strength, brings to a crescendo the themes at work in Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra. While reading the book in its intended context provides a richer experience, Lewis wrote this final novel so that it could stand alone.
Perelandra: Dreadful Good and Reasonable Evil
[Editor’s Note: See the commentary on the first book in the Space Trilogy, Out of the Silent Planet, here.] As the second book of the Space Trilogy begins, C.S. Lewis himself arrives at the cottage of his friend Dr. Elwin Ransom. In the dark hall of the cottage, he finds—to his terror—the Oyarsa of Mars. In the shock of this vision, Lewis admits: I felt sure that the creature was what we call “good,” but I wasn’t sure whether I liked “goodness” as much as I had supposed.
Out of the Silent Planet: A Guidebook Against the “New Normal”
One evening, lamenting the fact that nobody wrote the sort of novels that they enjoyed, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien made a writers’ pact: Lewis would write a space travel series while Tolkien would write on time travel. Characteristically, every attempt Tolkien made ended up sucking him back into his lifelong project of bringing Middle Earth alive. Lewis, on the other hand, gave us the Space Trilogy.
The Vatican's Hidden Financial Scandal
The Vatican is currently conducting the trial of Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who stands accused of financial embezzlement and abuse of office regarding his involvement, with nine other actors, in the multi-million-dollar purchase of luxury London real estate. It remains to be seen whether Becciu will be found guilty in one of the most high-profile financial abuses involving the Curia in modern times. He maintains his innocence and claims to have been framed.
Boycott Disney to Save Your Child’s Soul
As the calls to boycott Disney grow ever stronger, many young parents are no doubt worried that this might be too great a sacrifice for their children. It’s one thing for adults to give up something we enjoy for the sake of sending a message, but how can we ask our young children to throw out their favorite princess or toy space man, especially when they do not even know about those issues that have sparked the boycott?
Boycott Disney to Save Your Child's Soul
As the calls to boycott Disney grow ever stronger, many young parents are no doubt worried that this might be too great a sacrifice for their children. It’s one thing for adults to give up something we enjoy for the sake of sending a message, but how can we ask our young children to throw out their favorite princess or toy space man, especially when they do not even know about those issues that have sparked the boycott?
Disney Has Been Corrupting Kids for Decades
Disney has officially declared itself a woke leader, vowing to fight Florida’s newly-minted Parental Rights in Education Law while advancing the rainbow agenda to the youngest of its viewers.
Recovering the Betrothal Ceremony and the Churching of Women
By now, it is no longer headline news that traditionally-minded Latin-Rite Catholics are finding our access to the public life of the Church shrinking as the new spate of regulations ban or limit the older forms. There is much still to be done and even more to hope that this is not the end of the story and that more gracious and truly pastoral minds will eventually prevail at the end of this era of modernist iconoclasm.
The Beauty of Austerity
Carmelite tradition records the final words of St. Teresa of Avila: “My daughters and my ladies, for the love of God, I beg that you will take great care with the keeping of the Rule and Constitutions, for if you keep them as faithfully as you ought to, no other miracle will be needed for your canonization.” Faithfulness to the austere beauty of Teresa’s rule was indeed a cause for canonization for a little-known modern saint, Mother Maravillas de Jesus (1891-1974).
Why is the Vatican Assailing Contemplative Life?
The future of contemplative orders in the Catholic Church is under siege, not by the oft-bemoaned vocations crisis, but by Archbishop Josè Rodrìguez Carballo, the secretary for the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. In 2018, Carballo released Cor Orans, a series of regulations on women’s monastic orders. Cor Orans is the practical implementation of Pope Francis’ 2016 Vultum Dei Quaerere.
Alone Among Mine Enemies
The saddest line in all of Western literature is at the end of Thomas Malory’s Le Mort d’Arthur. The divinely blessed Round Table has been destroyed, betrayed and sabotaged by the very knights who had been charged with its protection. King Arthur has been utterly defeated by jealous, power hungry hordes whipped into fury by his own kinsman, Sir Mordred. Sir Bedivere, Arthur’s only remaining faithful knight, assists the dying king onto an otherworldly barge that will disappear into the dawn.
What is the Role of Women in the Church?
I think we were all heartened by the news of new sanctions on “women’s ordination” in the Vatican’s newly revised canon law. We have no way of knowing whether Pope Francis shares our revulsion for those posing as liturgical ladies, but it’s comforting to know that “going to the peripheries” has its limits. Of course, the revision also authorizes female altar servers, liturgical readers, and eucharistic ministers, confirming a long-standing liberalization.
Tending the Garden
This morning, I looked out the dining room window at my rows of tiny carrots in the garden. The parable of the weeds and the crops jumped to mind. Remember how it goes? At night, the landowner’s enemy sowed weeds among the newly planted wheat. When the landowner’s servants discover this, they ask their master if they should uproot the sprouting weeds. The landowner forbids them, however, for fear of uprooting the good plants.
When Scandal Hits a Newman Guide College
Last week, Rene Rasmussen wrote an excellent piece alerting us to the unfortunate situation involving Abby Johnson’s planned speech at the Catholic University of America. For those who missed it, the CUA student pro-life group had invited Johnson and then, facing pressure from various students and, unfortunately, the university chaplain, cancelled the event.
A New Carmel - Crisis Magazine
“Praised be Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, His most holy Mother! Come to prayer, Sisters, come to praise the Lord!” It is 4:00 a.m. and fifteen Carmelite sisters arise to this call, dating back to the days of their foundress, Saint Terese of Avila. They make their way to the stone chapel, where they will spend an hour in adoration. At 5:30, the silence is broken by Latin: the community recites together the Little Hours of the Divine Office. Mass—in the Extraordinary Form—follows directly after.
'Believe Science'? You First
No matter the results of this election, one thing is clear: half of America has announced through its vote that it does not implicitly trust the public health experts. As both Donald Trump and Joe Biden made clear time and again, part of this election was a referendum on the pandemic and its management.
There Is No Vocation to the 'Single Life'
The word “vocation” has been diluted. Before the sixteenth century, “vocation” had an exclusively sacramental sense. But, as Max Weber points out in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, the Lutheran and Calvinist dissolution of monastic and priestly orders gave rise to its modern sense of “occupation” or “profession.” What is the difference between them and a vocation? You can quit a job or switch careers. Not so with the priesthood, religious life, or marriage.
There Is No Vocation to the ‘Single Life’
The word “vocation” has been diluted. Before the sixteenth century, “vocation” had an exclusively sacramental sense. But, as Max Weber points out in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, the Lutheran and Calvinist dissolution of monastic and priestly orders gave rise to its modern sense of “occupation” or “profession.” What is the difference between them and a vocation? You can quit a job or switch careers. Not so with the priesthood, religious life, or marriage.
Is Easter a Recycled Pagan Festival?
It is a well-known element of Christian tradition: early missionaries repurposed or replaced established pagan rituals, artifacts, and places in their effort to convert the local people. There are some very famous instances of this: Santa Maria Sopra Minerva is a beautiful Roman church built upon the ruins of a pagan temple to the goddess of wisdom and war; the church makes a bold statement that Mary is the true seat of wisdom, and that Christendom has replaced pagan Rome.
Tolkien's Witness to the Good News
The other day, I found myself in a cramped waiting room dominated by a television much too large and loud for the space. After the third or fourth depressing “newsworthy” tidbit in a row, an old man glanced over at me and smiled ruefully. “Why can’t they have a whole channel that only plays the good news?” he asked. “I’d like to watch that one for a change.” I returned the man’s smile, and we settled back into a sort of fatigued silence.
Tolkein's Witness to the Good News
The other day, I found myself in a cramped waiting room dominated by a television much too large and loud for the space. After the third or fourth depressing “newsworthy” tidbit in a row, an old man glanced over at me and smiled ruefully. “Why can’t they have a whole channel that only plays the good news?” he asked. “I’d like to watch that one for a change.” I returned the man’s smile, and we settled back into a sort of fatigued silence.
The Disposable Modern Hymn
The outcry against bad liturgical music has been growing in volume and numbers. Crisis author and professor Anthony Esolen has provided deeply insightful explanations of why many modern hymns are aesthetically and theologically shoddy compared to older, more traditional ones. Podcasts such as “The Catholic Talk Show” devote episodes to mocking the worst church music to come out of the 1960s and ’70s.
Is It Time for the Robert Penn Warren Option?
This essay appears in the Winter 2019 issue of Modern Age. To subscribe now, go here. The U.S. census of 1890 officially declared the American frontier closed. There was no longer a great line crossing the country, across which a young man seeking a new identity and new beginnings could “go west.” And with that, perhaps the most influential aspect of the American experience—already romanticized and ritualized—passed forever into history and myth.
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