MSI Press Blog

  And now begins the Triduum. Here is an excerpt about Maundy Thursday from Easter at the Mission .  What is Holy Thursday? Holy Thursday (or Holy Thursday) starts the Triduum (Latin for three days) with its evening Mass. The Triduum is a 3-day period at the end of Lent and includes Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Saturday vigil. Holy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper. That is when Jesus ate together for the last time with his 12 apostles (and during which Judas slipped out and betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver). Before eating supper with his apostles, Jesus washed their feet. The feet washing is also commemorated during the Holy Thursday Mass. Maundy , a term common to Protestant churches, is an old word used in England and France that meant “commandment” (Latin: mandatum ). It was called that because during the Last Supper, Jesus gave the apostles (us, too) a very important commandment: “A new commandant I give to you, that you love one another even as I have loved you”

  Probably everyone has a little video in mind as to how they would like to spend their last few minutes on earth, i.e. how they would like to die. Far from all experience their imagined scenario. Carl was fortunate to die surrounded by family and cats. Even though nothing was said, it seemed like everyone understood that Sunday night would be Carl's last (he died early Monday morning). No one retired. Carl slept in his favorite lazy boy lounger in the living room -- did not want to be taken to his bedroom. I slept in the lounger next to him and leaned up against him. It was much more comfortable than it may sound. Our sons were on the living room couches, and our daughter was in a matching lounger right behind Carl and me. Carl slept with his legs elevated, as always, and his beloved Happy Cat and Snyezhka slept under the footrest. Another four cats, including Murjan , himself dying of cancer and in what turned out to be the last month of his life, were scattered around the livi

  (drawing by Uliana Yanovich) What is Lent? One of the duties during Lent is to go to confession (reconciliation). Lent is one of two times in the Catholic Church when the Sacrament of Reconciliation is required. Can you guess the other? Yep, it is Christmas. I like to sit with people in the church as they take turns going to one of the priests—our Mission often brings in several priests on one evening during Lent to make it easy for people to go to confession. I notice that when they come back—maybe the priest has given them a penance of a prayer or something like that—they sometimes pray beside me. They always seem happy! That is why I think the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a good thing! Sometimes people seem nervous at first, but if anyone is willing to take advice from a cat, I say “go for it; don’t pass up any opportunity for reconciliation.” The Mission, like every Catholic church makes the opportunity for confession available at any time. Usually a few hours each week are

  (photo from last year, in anticipation of changing that number this evening from 41 to 42) November 13 today is CB Leaver's birthday. CB is the MSI Press author of the popular Mommy Poisoned Our House Guest and one of the oldest CHARGE Syndrome adults in the world. He knows only three others world-wide (Ohio, Massachusetts, and Netherlands) who have reached his age of 42 years (one is actually 45, the others are 42, as well) but thinks there may be another one or two somewhere. It is no mere feat, then, that he has survived, and robustly so, after a very tenuous start in life in which he as given 0% chance of survival by well respected doctors at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and rescued by doctors at Children's Hospital in Boston, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Children's National Medical Center, Georgetown University Hospital, and Stanford Children's Medical Center -- it took a countrywide network to turn that 0% into 100%) and no mere feat also that

Happy Cinco de Mayo! How about reading a book in Spanish today? From Parish Cat Sula -- Dia de Muertos From Fernando Ustman -- Las Historias de Mi Vida El Poder de lo Transpersonal Puertas a la Eternidad

Simone (middle) and Wooper (right) would like to take Murjan (left) for a walk.   Happy Caturday! I hope you enjoy the picture of two of our cats trying to take a third for a walk. Beloved Murjan crossed over the rainbow bridge last year, but the picture still makes me smile. And, for Caturday, I hope you enjoy this helpful article I came across recently:  12 Unusual Cat Behaviors to Look Out For – and What They Mean! (msn.com) . For more Caturday posts, click  HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC?  Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@m

Street rescue cats have personalities all their own and their own timetable for joining the rest of the family (or cat family). Some take a brief time; those younger than 6 months, generally can be integrated into the rest of the cat family in weeks, perhaps a couple of months. Those who are older can take months. Simone was and is still cautious. She slept under the house for two years. When we moved, we were happy to be able to capture her (and she promptly bit the vet and was marked FERAL).  She likes living with us, and she has never tried to leave the house, even when we accidentally leave the door wide open. She has calmed down and no longer bites vets! She even likes to be petted, BUT, even after 14 years, she still sleeps under the bed. It is interesting to see what coaxes her out. As I said, cats each have their own personalities. Simone fell in love with golf on TV. She would stand for long periods of time, following the ball, and swatting at it. We discovered this accidental

In honor of Caturday, we are sharing photos of the cats who own MSI Press authors, starting with Sula, pictured above, who is herself an MSI Press author. Click HERE  to see Sula's works. Simon is owned by Joanna Charnas, author of chronic illness support books and A Movie Lover's Search for  Romance , who says he is her "foster failure." Click HERE to see Joanna's works. Jeremy Feig was owned by Shelly. He wrote a book about her, How My Cat Made Me a Better Man , that won a book of the year award. Click HERE   to read about Shelly, including excerpts from the book. Carl and Betty Lou Leaver are owned by Intrepid about whom they wrote a book, stuffed with illustrations, and five other cats. Click HERE to see Intrepid . In the picture, Happy (black & white) and Murjan (red & white) share a cat bed. Cindy McKinley Alder is owned by Watson, shown here wrapped in a ribbon. So cute! Click HERE to see Cindy's contributions to the field of teaching, parenting

  Every year, Sula, parish cat at Old Mission San Juan Bautista, who takes care of the Mission, gift shop, and parishioners, dresses up for Halloween and has a great time greeting customers at the gift shop as well as at Mass. This year, Sula has done something special for Halloween. She has written a book, Dia de Muertos , about Day of the Dead that occurs at the same time, and she lists all the differences between the two holidays. See that except HERE . Enjoy Halloween, then curl up with Sula's book and get ready for Day of the Dead. For more posts from this blog and from the Internet about Sula, click HERE . For more posts about Day of the Dead, click HERE . For more posts about Sula's books, click HERE .

  The Kops-Fetherling International Book Awards competition has selected How My Cat Made Me a Better Man by Jeremy Feig as its legacy award winner in the category of humor, and we are happy to be able to announce it on Caturday! This is the second major award for this book. The book was also selected as a finalist in the Book of the Year competition when it was first published. For more information about Jeremy's book, click HERE . For posts about Jeremy and his book, click HERE .

  Excerpt from Chapter 6 I didn’t convert for marriage, but I think my husband’s soul was meant to convert with mine. The day that I met Travis, I was 16 years old and had just been elected all-school treasurer of our public high school. I was wearing khakis and a white short-sleeved blouse from Hollister to look “professional,” and my hair—which my Conair straightener pulverized every morning—laid totally flat against my head. He was a year older than I and had been elected school president. I never saw boys my age wearing suits and ties, so I was enamored with his sharp outfit. He had choppy, light brown hair and nerdy glasses. He reached out and shook my hand. I decided on the spot that I was in love with him.   Alas, Travis had a girlfriend already, so I spent the rest of high school being hopelessly in love with him (as in, the “crying while listening to Taylor Swift” kind of love). Sometimes, I pretended that I needed a lift to various student government events even though my mom