LoginMarch 2023 Notable Author: Charles Constantine Pise
Charles Constantine Pise, born November 22, 1801, in Annapolis, Maryland, was an American priest and writer who became the only Roman Catholic United States Senate Chaplain and the first American to be ‘knighted’ by the Pope. He was the son of an old Philadelphia family which meant they had the money to send him to Georgetown College in Washington, D.C., and then to Rome, Italy for his education. There he became a Jesuit. He returned from Rome at the news of the death of his father and at the same time left the Jesuits. He taught at Mount St. Mary's College and Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland and continued there after his ordination 1825.
He immediately distinguished himself as a talented writer, lecturer, and preacher and was asked to become an assistant at St. Patrick's Church in Washington, DC, where he drew the attention of both President John Tyler and Senator Henry Clay. Clay was so impressed by Pise’s spiritual thought and wisdom that he arranged for Pise to be appointed Chaplain of the Senate from 1832-33.
Pise wrote several works in prose and verse, including three Catholic devotional novels and one semi-fictional work, Letters to Ada. Versatile in the literary arts, Pise also published a five-volume History of the Church from Its Establishment to the Present Century (i.e. 1700’s). Pope Gregory XVI considered the work so valuable to the Church that he made Pise a knight of the Sacred Palace and Count Palatine. He was also granted a Doctor of Divinity degree and further honored as knight of the Holy Roman Empire.
After serving at St Patrick’s, Washington, Pise was asked to serve at St. Patrick’s in New York City and finally assigned as rector to Saint Charles Borromeo Church in Brooklyn, New York, where he finished his career and died on May 26, 1866.
Genre: Devotional
Writing that focuses on adoration, praise, and worship of a person’s God, or in the parlance of Alcoholics Anonymous, a higher power.
Sample Reading List: Father Rowland: a North American Tale (1829), The Pleasures of Religion and Other Poems (1833), Letters to Ada, From Her Brother-In-Law (1834), First Flow'ret of the Desert Wild (1851).
Writer's Prompt - Fun With Words
Fun With Words - Maryland Writers’ Association (MWA) invites you to have fun writing a devotional like Charles Constantine Pise. Using only 100 words, pick your higher power and write a piece that praises its attributes and qualities or its interaction with you.Title your work and submit to: https://marylandwriters.org/Notable_Maryland_Authors by the 22nd of the month to receive an MWA Fun With Words submission certificate. Selected responses to be published with next month’s article and on the MWA website.
Submit Your FUN WITH WORDS Prompt
Steve Baker
Apr. 4, 2023Moses, the Boll Weevil, and You - In Exodus 3:2 Moses encounters a "boll weevil" (of sorts) as God speaks through a burning bush....but, what about this "boll weevil?" In the early 1900s, a boll weevil infestation bought disaster to cotton farming in Enterprise, Alabama. Two locals (H.M. Sessions and C.W. Baston) decided to abandon cotton and instead plant peanuts. The successful peanut crop spread from Enterprise across the entire southeastern U.S. With that, another Enterprise local (Bob Fleming) wanted to commemorate the idea that "disaster could be a catalyst for change;" so, on December 11, 1919, in downtown Enterprise, Alabama, Fleming dedicated a monument to the boll weevil. Enterprise, like Moses, allowed that boll weevil to redirect their lives for the better. Hopefully, we too, can be so flexible. Full piece "Moses the Boll Weevil and You" at: medium.com/@forSteveB posted on: April 14, 2020.
Doris Brady
Apr. 4, 2023Paean of Gratitude - I see your breath among the leaves of trees, whispering a song. I feel your power as you send waves crashing against the shore. I feel your warmth coming from a baby’s breath. I see the icy glaciers you built to save the earth. I notice the silence as snow falls on the landscape. I feel the cacophony as a thunderstorm rages overhead. I see your guidance in holy books: a blueprint how to live. For all those things, I feel enriched, alive, nourished, and most of all, Thankful to my creator and builder of this perfect world. If only we can keep it.
Erica Decker
Apr. 4, 2023A Saint’s Intercession - I seek help from you, St. Therese of Lisieux, in raising my voice to God. I find solace in knowing that you are like me, of fault and sin, but have achieved great acts of faith, hope, and charity, serving as an example of how I, too, can better devote my life to God. Pick a rose for me, as the prayer goes, I asked of you. In return, a single red tulip grew alongside the road, a symbol of your intercession. After, my life drastically changed for the better. You magnify my prayerful intentions to God.
Jon Ketzner
Apr. 4, 2023Cogito Ergo Sum - I stagger in awe before the majesty of human imagination and will power. Since that first salamander boldly crawled from the primal soup looking for a better life, we have evolved far past mere Darwinian survival imperatives to become supreme beings. Opposable thumbs are swell; but the brain pan to imagine the amazing and the pure cussedness to chase and achieve it are what distinguish our species. Humans should be miserable nihilists. We understand the permanency of death but work collectively towards a future we’ll never see. Perhaps some invisible, magic guy in the sky deserves the credit. I believe we’re our own higher power.
Lawrence McGuire
Apr. 4, 2023A PRAYER FOR THE UNIVERSAL COMPLAINER - Job 17:16 "Will my hope go down with me to Sheol? Shall we go together in the dust?" Lord, may nothing for me ever go right. Permit me to complicate life's hiccups into hardships. Let me live my days as one cursed. Eternally keep a thunderous cloud hurricaning over my head. That way, others will know my misery and also hear about it. Should anything go right for me, let me not long endure such a blessing. Remind me you reign over everything, your shoulders as wide as the universe (broad enough to carry all my blame). Amen, I guess
Viola Robinson-Boone
Apr. 4, 2023Nothing Else Matters - Depression. Low self-esteem. Poor Life. Lack of guidance. I didn’t know you during those days. I cried out. Humans listened but to no avail. I remained on a cliff. One day I prayed. You answered. You took my hand. I walked the path You chose for me. My life shifted like the wind in a storm. Your character. Your omnipotence. Devotion to You surpasses any and all things that are not of or from You. I adore and praise You. You have taught me to have faith and to rely on You. I get it now. Nothing else matters. You abide…God
Mark Sankey
Apr. 4, 2023A Psalm - Who is like you, o God? You made everything we see. Before beginning, you knew every one of us. Who can fathom your greatness? Words fail but words are what I have. You made us to express, to create, to imagine, to ponder. I still my soul and am drawn beyond my thoughts to know you more. You invite me to open my secret places. You come like a candle and illuminate the good, the bad, and the ugly. You throw out the ugly, replace it with your beauty and your love. And I love you more.
Kevin Silberzahn
Apr. 4, 2023Love Your Neighbor
Beth Smith
Apr. 4, 2023Daffodils - The daffodils poked through the snowy mud. The day was dreary, but the yellow burst of color brought me joy. I was grieving for my ninety-nine-year-old mother, but this bit of spring reminded me of the old hymn “Morning Has Broken,” and I smiled. I missed my mother greatly, but I knew she had taken the outstretched hand of Jesus and walked quietly with him into Paradise. I touched the tiny flowers. The petals were chilly but promised days of sunshine coming. I reached up for Jesus, knowing his hand would guide me gently through the years ahead.
Susan Wright
Apr. 4, 2023Sunset (9/28/96) - We looked at the sky and saw on high; A flame, a ribbon, a curtain; Of light so bright and glorious; A sign of love and beauty, Calling - - Out to the open we sped; And watched in wondrous ecstasy; Blue and red and orange; A river of light heralding; Day’s end - - Songs of praise bubbled and soared; Flowing from lips and hearts; As eagles to their Lord; And we were all amazed - - We waited quietly; Watching for greater things, but then; All too soon it was gone; Fading into gray and black and night; And silence
James Burd Brewster
Apr. 4, 2023A Light Unto My Path - Your word, oh Lord, is a lamp unto my feet a light unto my path. It says, You know the plans You have for me. Plans to prosper me and not to harm me. Plans to give me hope and a future. It promises, You work for the good of those who love You, like me, who have been called according to Your purpose. It tells me, when You work for my good, You will restore to me the years that the locust have eaten. I have seen this in my life and praise You for it.