St. Theresa Organ Dedication

Though we have been using it liturgically for lo, these past few weeks, the official dedication for the new organ at St. Theresa's Catholic Church in Sugar Land will be this Friday, May 4th, at 7:30pm. I am told that there will be music by "Bach, Widor, Benoit, and the wonderful St. Theresa choirs!" Come on down!

Oral Contraceptives and Pre-Menopausal Breast Cancer

My wife comments about the link between oral contraceptives and cancer as reported by a 2006 Mayo Clinic meta study:

A Mayo Clinic meta study finds link between oral contraceptive pill use and increased pre-menopausal breast cancer risk. This connection is not entirely new to the medical community. The study documentation states (emphasis and brackets mine):

Approximately 2 in 15 American women are expected to develop breast cancer in their lifetime, and nearly 40,000 women die of the disease annually. During the past 4 decades [Incidentally, that's since the 1960's when the Pill began to pick up greater popularity], breast cancer rates have risen steadily worldwide and have risen even faster in more developed countries, especially among younger women...

The Women’s Health Initiative Clinical Trial reported that prolonged exposure to exogenous estrogens and progestins in hormone therapy increases a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer. In addition, the World Health Organization recently classified both postmenopausal hormone replacement and oral contraceptives (OCs) as group 1 carcinogens.

The ultimate conclusion of the study?

Use of OCs is associated with an increased risk of premenopausal breast cancer, especially with use before FFTP [First Full-Term Pregnancy] in parous women...

"Parous" women are women who have had at least one full term pregnancy. The translation? If you used birth control pills before your first full term pregnancy, your risk is particularly elevated. This is because:

Differentiation of the mammary gland associated with pregnancy inhibits carcinogenic initiation and may explain the natural protection that pregnancy has been shown to confer.

Read the study here.

As my wife mentions, this association is not new and has been suspected for a long time. Why should this be a surprise, though? The hormones are used to force a woman's body into a state of malfunction. Why should we not expect that the body would react in an unhealthy manner? Yet millions of women are not told about these risks, and many others simply underestimate them. I know that the pill is thrown at just about every other medical condition as well, as my wife continues:

Now, I know for a fact that there are women my age who were using the pill during their adolescence for everything from cycle regulation, to acne control to birth control--even as young as thirteen. And now they face increased breast-cancer risk because people have been throwing these pills around without hesitation? Not cool.

And let us not forget about the increased risk of deadly blood clots and other cardiovascular risks such as stroke and heart attack. Also, remember the pill's abortifacient function: the deliberate function to reduce the endometrium of the uterus to prevent implantation of a fertilized egg should "breakthrough ovulation" and subsequent fertilization occur.

Bottom line - These types of contraceptives, even when used for purposes other than birth control, are poisonous to a woman's body in just about every way.

The Tallis Scholars on YouTube

The Tallis Scholars sing William Byrd's Vigilate:



William Byrd (c.1540 – 4 July 1623) was a composer of sacred and secular music during the English Renaissance. His is a very interesting story. And the Tallis Scholars is a most excellent group. I had the good fortune of hearing them sing a Christmas concert in Santa Barbara back in 2004.

Clip courtesy of the New Liturgical Movement blog.