We are body-soul persons, sacramental, both visible and invisible. The spiritual and physical share a union that literally brings life. Through the gift of our bodies and our senses and the creation in which we exist, God reveals, speaks, and teaches us who we are and who He is. In this interview series, we'll share some places that have formed us, changed us, called us, and where we've encountered God.
We begin with my favorite person of all: my husband, Colin MacIver. (Note: That's us above at the Ocean House in Westerly, Rhode Island, where he grew up.)
The Church of St Michael the Archangel, aka St Michael's—Pawcatuck, Connecticut
Why is St Michael's the first significant place you think of?
This is place where my religious imagination began. There was a really prominent statue of St Michael the Archangel that impressed me. I remember the light blue carpet and the arched shape of the pews, which I used to trace with my fingers as a kid during Mass. I received almost my entire sacramental life here. Later, my mom’s funeral was here, too.
Now that you're an adult, does it still seem the same to you as it did when you were a child?
Actually, the original church building was completely torn down and rebuilt. They salvaged a lot of the original elements, but it looks really different now. There’s still something primordial about this place to my heart and my faith.
The jetty at Dunes Beach—Westerly, Rhode Island
I've heard you talk about the jetty as long as I've known you (actually, we first met in Westerly!). Why is it such an iconic place for you?
Westerly is a beach town and I spent almost all my childhood and high school years on the beaches. The jetty is like the center of my existential development. It's a metaphor for my whole life. The jetty lays out a clear path, but the size of the rocks makes it a hard path to follow. I started walking out on the jetty as a little kid, always holding some adult's hand. We would hang out and catch crabs. Then later, when adolescence hit, I'd go out to the jetty on my own to ponder all those questions about life. Some friends and I went to the jetty watch the first sunrise of the new millennium in 2000. The jetty is probably the first place I really learned to pray outside of church walls.
What's the most recent thing you've brought to prayer on the jetty?
My last several visits to Westerly were connected to my dad's illnesses, and then to his death and funeral. I came to the jetty to process and pray about all of that. On the jetty you can see the waves crash from a totally different point of view than you usually do on the beach. There's something really helpful about that perspective.
Mega's house on East Avenue—Westerly, Rhode Island
Is this the house where your mom grew up?
Yes, my grandfather built this house himself, but he died when my mom was young so I never met him. The house kind of connected me to family roots I had never seen myself. My grandmother, Mega, sold this house when I was still in elementary school, but then in sixth grade I got a job babysitting regularly for the family who was currently living there. In the summer, I was babysitting six or seven hours a day over there.
Wait, what? Was it weird being in your family's generational home? Did the new owners change anything?
The owners had added on a really nice family room, but kept the original living room even though nobody really used it that often. It makes me think about how life has more rooms than you know. This house is an intense psychological totem for me and it often appears in my dreams. (Note: That's Colin's mom, Kristine, inside the house her father built on East Avenue.)
Adoration chapel at St Peter Catholic Church—Covington, Louisiana
I think I know why this place is special to you, but I always love hearing you talk about it again.
I proposed to you here, so it's a hugely significant place. I had just moved to Louisiana and didn't really even know how to get around town yet. I think I only knew how to get to Walmart and this adoration chapel. So this chapel became the first spiritual anchor for me here.
We each had individual devotions to St Thérèse prior to meeting, and then we really bonded over this when we were dating. She ultimately became our family patron. Tell me again about how she was there the night you proposed.
When I decided to propose to you that night, I prayed for St Thérèse's help and direction, then when we went in, I immediately saw a red rose laid underneath the monstrance. As I told you when I proposed, this is where we begin and end. (Note: That's us right after we left the chapel freshly engaged! We had saved that wine from a college trip to Assisi—actually, this will come up again below.)
Basilique Notre-Dame des Victoires—Paris, France
There are so many beautiful churches in Paris—why is this one so special to you?
We've been to France a few times and it's really cool to be getting genuinely familiar with a city in another country. But I didn't even know this church existed. We were just doing our thing, walking around a ton, and I noticed the red door. It doesn't really look like much from the outside. But I felt like we should go in, and as soon as we did, something intense started happening to me.
What happened when we walked in?
I felt a strong presence of St Thérèse and her parents, St Louis and St Zélie Martin (our daughter's namesake), but I had no idea that their family had a huge personal connection here. Then you started reading me the information and history and we learned that this is where Louis Martin came to Mass whenever he was in Paris, and later where he brought Thérèse. Their family had a devotion to Our Lady of Victory and prayed novenas to Our Lady of Victory for different special intentions, including for Thérèse's healing of a serious illness. I had a really intense spiritual consolation here that Our Lady will win the victory in the hearts of our children.
So where do you want to go next?
I'd love to go back to Rome and Assisi.
Really? I didn't know that. I would have guessed Norway or Scotland to visit your ancestral homelands.
Well, we went when we were in college but I think I was 21? So I'd love to go back now having a quarter century of greater experience and wisdom. Being in Rome is being home, tapped into what’s literally central to our Catholic faith. And I remember Assisi as being incredibly beautiful, but it's kind of a faded memory now.
Do you remember my headbands from that trip?
We should go back. (Note: That's us above on the aforementioned college trip. And he didn't answer the question.)
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