37. Tammy Peterson's Catholic Conversion Anniversary Interview

Faith journeys often reveal themselves in unexpected moments of clarity. For Tammy Peterson, this clarity came during a poignant Good Friday service when she approached Christ's crucifix with tears streaming down her face. "I could see Christ was hurting every time I sinned," she shares, connecting this revelation to a profound experience she had in St. John's cave in Patmos, Greece, years earlier.

On the anniversary of her confirmation in the Catholic Church, Peterson reflects on her deepening spiritual journey with remarkable candor. The conversation weaves through Biblical women's roles, drawing stark contrasts between the choice today: The Virgin Mary and the Whore of Babylon. "Women are being commodified in our society," Peterson observes, referring to the latter depiction of women, seeing in this dynamic an echo of ancient warnings. Furthermore, she interprets the Biblical attention to Christ's feet as symbolic: "Women are the body of Christ, and we are the ones to bring people to church."

Perhaps most compelling is Peterson's thoughtful critique of modern feminism's impact on family life. In sharp contrast to the radical feminist view of domesticity as an imprisonment, Peterson sees the home and family as sacred space. The resulting societal shift has left many women childless, she says, often not by choice – a consequence she finds deeply troubling. Instead, Peterson recommends books like "The Way of All Women" and "The Little Oratory," emphasizing beauty and prayer practices that nurture both faith and family.

Whether teaching her granddaughter to pray the Rosary "one mystery at a time" or discussing theological concepts on her podcast, Peterson exemplifies a woman reclaiming traditional feminine wisdom in a modern context. Her message resonates particularly with mothers and grandmothers seeking to pass down faith traditions in an increasingly secular world. Ready to explore the sacred role of women in spiritual renewal? This conversation offers both comfort and challenge to those navigating the intersection of faith, family, and feminine identity.

Happy Mother's to you all!

Thank you + God bless!

To catch the latest episode of the Tammy Peterson podcast, please visit YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite podcasting platform.

https://www.youtube.com/@tammypeterson

Chapters

• 0:00 Tammy Peterson's Catholic Journey
• 4:48 Spiritual Experiences in Patmos
• 9:40 Good Friday Reflections and Easter Mass
• 15:30 Mary Magdalene and Biblical Women
• 22:20 Women's Choices and Recommended Books
• 27:33 Prayer, Family and Mother's Day Prayers for each and everyone of you!

Transcript

Tammy Peterson: 0:00

I think that in our society, in our day and age now, women have the responsibility to go back to church and bring their families there, and I pray for that to happen.

Narrator: 0:17

Mrs. Tammy Peterson is a truth teller and a truth seeker. This was how my mom began her newspaper story in Toronto's Catholic Register about Mrs. Peterson's conversion in 2023. A lot has happened since then. Mrs. Peterson continues to be on the public stage and host of the popular Tammy Peterson podcast. She is a beloved mother to Julian and Michaela and a doting grandmother awaiting the birth of a new grandchild. She is a devoted wife to her husband, Dr. Jordan Peterson. She has joined him on his we who Wrestle With God World Tour. Here is my mother's interview with Mrs Peterson on the anniversary of her confirmation and First Holy Communion at Holy Rosary Church in Toronto. Happy Easter and Happy Anniversary, Mrs. Peterson. God bless.

Narrator: 1:18

Happy Easter and Happy Anniversary, Mrs. Peterson. God bless

Sheila Nonato: 1:19

and the inspiration of Our Lady, I strive to tell stories that inspire, illuminate and enrich the lives of Catholic women, to help them in living out our vocation of raising the next generation of leaders and saints.

Narrator: 1:32

Please join us every week on the Veil and Armour podcast, where stories come alive through a journalist's lens and mother's heart. Happy Anniversary, Happy.

Narrator: 1:42

Easter, Happy Easter

Tammy Peterson: 1:47

Oh thank you,

Sheila Nonato: 1:49

Yeah, did you want to ask her something?

Tammy Peterson: 1:52

Do you have a question.

Narrator: 1:55

How did you teach your granddaughter the Rosary?

Tammy Peterson: 1:59

Oh well, I didn't teach her the whole thing at the same time. I taught her a little bit at a time, like one mystery at a time. So we would sit outside and I'd ask her who she wanted to pray for and she'd tell me, and then we would pray one mystery and that was about all she had for sitting still, then she'd want to go run around for a while. So you know you can't do it all at once. It's quite a long process. At the beginning, right when you first learn, it takes a little while, but once you get used to it it doesn't take as long and you get used to the necessity of it and how good it is to think of other people.

Narrator: 2:45

Very good, thank you.

Sheila Nonato: 2:49

She was very curious about that. When I told her.

Tammy Peterson: 2:55

My granddaughter knew how to pray the Rosary in Russian. Wow but not in English, so she wanted me to teach her that.

Sheila Nonato: 3:03

That's amazing. Well, Happy Easter! That's amazing.

Tammy Peterson: 3:05

Yeah, it is, isn't it?

Sheila Nonato: 3:06

Well, Happy Easter.

Tammy Peterson: 3:08

You, too, Happy Easter.

Sheila Nonato: 3:09

How was Easter for you?

Tammy Peterson: 3:11

How was your family? It was very interesting. Are you recording this? So right now it is recording, I'm going to say yeah.

Sheila Nonato: 3:19

Yeah, so it's recording now is recording now.

Tammy Peterson: 3:33

So, um, I went to the sermon and then this church that I went to. They brought in the Crucifix covered in a shroud and walked up the center aisle to the front, and then the main priest uncovered each side of the cross and then the middle part of the cross. Each side of the cross and then the middle part of the cross, and then people started coming up and kneeling in front and kissing the feet of Christ, and I was sitting halfway back in the church. So I watched that as everyone went up, and I thought. The first thing that I thought was this is a very good practice in patience, because each of the pews stood up one at a time and went up there, and so it was a good exercise to not have sat right at the front so that I could be first, so sitting back far enough so that I could contemplate why I was there.

Tammy Peterson: 4:48

And what I felt was that when I was in Patmos in Greece I think it was during the summer we went over to Greece, to Patmos, on a ferry, and I knew that we were going to the cave of St John, and so I decided that I would pray on the way there, and so it was about a 15 minute boat ride and I prayed the entire boat ride and then, when we got there, it was a beautiful old town with very twisty cobblestone passages, and we got to the small chapel and inside it was very small and dark and there were only a couple of pews. It was very small, and so I sat in the front pew and as I got used to the light, I saw that there was a priest standing in the front pew, and as I got used to the light, I saw that there was a a priest standing in the corner praying and another priest who was back behind with all of the you know I don't know what you call them, but the, the special and sacred relics that are back there, and so I saw him back there too, and so I was waiting for them to finish, and once they finished, I stood up and someone said to me and I don't know who it was said go over to the corner there. And so I went over and I saw that there was a place in the stone that was worn away, where St John would have put his hand, and then there was a place on the ground where St John would have put his knee and so I put my hand in that place and I put my knee in that place on the ground and I could feel my sins very deeply from my life and it was a profound experience. It was the most profound experience I had had to my own misgivings that I had, and it wasn't anything in particular, it was just a very deep feeling of. I think probably what it is is sorrow and regret to have done something that was so hurtful, which I didn't really understand until I entered the Catholic Church.

Tammy Peterson: 7:22

So now this is probably three or four years later, which would have been last Easter when I entered the church, and now this year, going to church, I sat in the pews and I was thinking about the fact that I had sinned, like everybody has Nothing spectacular, but everybody sins and I was feeling sorrow for the fact that Christ was hurting every time I sinned and I felt very bad. And so by the time and tears came down my face which was new for me to sit in church and to feel that kind of emotion and as I walked up, I was, I teared up again and when I knelt down I said I was sorry. And when I knelt down I said I was sorry, and then I stood up and went back to my seat and I decided that it was time to go and so I walked to the back of the church and as I got there there were two Catholic brothers standing by the door and one of them put his hand out for me and I came over and shook his hand and he said that he knew who I was and he asked me to pray for him and um, and then I left for the day and it was that was good, um. The next night my husband was home and we watched Mel Gibson's movie, the Passion of the Christ, and I told him how I felt the day before when I was in at Mass and I could see now through that depiction.

Tammy Peterson: 9:17

It was very interesting how he depicted the devil lurking and that Christ could see the devil but the people couldn't, and so that was also something that Christ is aware of the misdemeanors, all of the sins that we make. He's aware and he can see them, and he can see them as falling away from what's right, and we don't see it. We don't see it until we, I think until we are baptized and we come to the church and are humbled enough to join the church and to come to service and to be there, understanding that the reason that we're there is to be humble, and I think it it's working for me anyway.

Sheila Nonato: 10:18

So yeah, beautiful. Um, that's interesting. You mentioned the passion of the Christ. Um, many, many years ago I had interviewed the spiritual director of Mel Gibson during the movie, and he was in Rome.

Sheila Nonato: 10:32

The priest was in Rome, father Stephen Somerville, may he rest in peace. But he said every morning, stephen Somerville may he rest in peace, but he said every morning Mel Gibson would come and when Jim Caviezel could come he would come and he would say the Mass in Latin. And that was every day during the filming. And it felt, as I recall that movie too, there was a very sort of prayerful direction that was guided by something more than human, that the Holy Spirit was guiding Mel Gibson's hand in that movie. It was very powerful and, from what I recall, people were disparaging it, saying no one's going to watch that, it's in Latin and nobody understands that. But people came. People came because of the power of the story and the movie that he made. It's like a gift every year, although it's a difficult gift to watch. It's difficult to watch for me as well. But how did your husband receive that movie?

Tammy Peterson: 11:30

Well, first of all, he said are you sure you could? He said it's very graphic. I said, yeah, I want to watch it. You know I'm ready to watch it. I cried throughout the movie Like it was hard to watch it. But then it was something. He what did Jordan say? He said that when Jim what is his name? Caviezel, Caviezel, Caviezel. When Jim Caviezel was on set and he was on the Sermon on the Mount, he was hit by lightning and he had two heart attacks during the filming of that. Wow, you know, that's really something.

Sheila Nonato: 12:28

So there was definitely some spiritual communication among the people there. And so this Easter you were by yourself. Was it in Arizona?

Narrator: 12:37

Were you in Canada, I'm in Arizona, yeah.

Sheila Nonato: 12:38

Okay, okay, yourself, was it in Arizona? Were you in Canada? In Arizona? Yeah, okay, okay. So you spent Easter in Arizona. What do you recall from last year?

Tammy Peterson: 12:45

I recall blowing up the church the night that would have been Saturday night and having Queenie there with me and Jordan there with me. I have pictures, so that helps my memory. I remember you being there with me. I have pictures, so that helps my memory. I remember you being there with all your family and having our picture taken. And I remember many gifts. I got many gifts. I received many, many gifts. I remember the church was full and there were many young men being baptized, which was very good to see, and a number of us being confirmed. Yeah, and the church was packed. And I had an interview before and that was with Colm (Flynn).

Narrator: 13:35

Yes.

Tammy Peterson: 13:35

Yeah, so I had an interview before and then we had an interview. So, yeah, that's pretty much what I remember. I remember, you know, coming up and kneeling and having Father Turrone's hands on my head and standing with Jordan. Yeah, it was, that was a very good. It was very good. I could feel it was good.

Sheila Nonato: 14:07

And you took the name Mary, I did.

Narrator: 14:10

Mm-hmm.

Tammy Peterson: 14:13

Well, you know, I prayed the Rosary so I thought it was suitable that that is the name I chose. Since then I've been doing a podcast and I'm still talking to people about religious matters, and I had a woman who wrote a book called the Mary. We Forgot about Mary Magdalene, and I read that book a couple of times. It's a pretty good book and she outlines in all the ways that Mary was written into the Bible and also how well she was also concerned about her being known as a prostitute. But I asked her one question that I was curious about. I said you know, in the Old Testament God was the almighty, the everlasting, the omnipotent and omniscient, unknown. Really, you know, omnipotent and omniscient, unknown, really you know. And then Christ comes to earth and we can understand him in human form, which makes it, you know, easier for us to relate to. I said do you think there is any relationship between what? Now I turned that on for you, but now I have no worries, no worries anyway. Um, I wondered if there was any relationship between the whore of Babylon and Mary Magdalene, and so I asked her what she thought that was and I said you know, the whore of Babylon is more of a universal character from the Old Testament that represents in every way that a woman can go wrong, can be commoditized, which is happening in our society right now, that women are being a commodity. They're a commodity, a commodity, they're a commodity, they have a financial value and that when the Whore of Babylon is riding on the seven-headed monster, that's the patriarchy that has gone bad and it's not unified under god anymore. And when it isn't, then it has these heads and one of them might be power, another one might be money, status, all kinds of things. And the thing that happens to women is they become commodities and that's why she's on top of the, that's why she's riding on this monster. And I said and then in the new testament there's mary magdalene, who has seven demons. She has seven demons and was cleansed of those demons by, uh, humbling herself to, to, and he relieved her of those demons. And she said that she thought that that was a reasonable, although she hadn't written that in her book. She thought that that was a reasonable comparison and I think it is Mary Magdalene. You know she was, as I learned through reading this book. She was there at the tomb and named. There's a reason for that. She was at Christ's feet many times, anointing many times, and I think you know what is that.

Tammy Peterson: 17:49

What are feet? What are feet? Well, feet are. It's where you go, it's how you move, it's what else are feet? Feet take you here and there, but they also they're what you put up at night when you rest, because if you put them up then you're not going anywhere, because if you put them up then you're not going anywhere. And I think that this attention to the feet is the attention to the body of Christ, and of course the church is known as the body of Christ, and women in the Bible are attending to his feet. So women it's no wonder. Women are the body of Christ, and so we are the ones to bring people to church, and I think the mother is the one to bring people to church. So I think that in our society, in our day and age now, women have the responsibility to go back to church and bring their families there, and I pray for that to happen.

Sheila Nonato: 19:03

Do you think there's sort of a dichotomy that you mentioned the Whore of Babylon and no disrespect to Madonna, she's a great singer, but I'm just thinking about Madonna and what she has done over her career and we have the Madonna, christ Jesus and Jesus' mother. Is this sort of the stark choice that we have today as women, that we have to make this choice? I don't.

Tammy Peterson: 19:27

I think we always have choices to make. We always have in everything we do. We have choices to make, but those two and those choices are broad and deep, those choices we make and they make a difference. So, yes, there are definitely choices that we make and Madonna, the singer, she made her choices.

Sheila Nonato: 19:50

And I'm just reminded I actually well trying to prepare for the interview. I was sort of called to look at this book again and it's called "he Feminine Mystique.

Sheila Nonato: 20:01

I did in university, I was very obsessed with women's rights and women's human rights and I took all the courses and this book was actually very, I guess, influential to me. I was a Catholic, but I was also, I guess, influential to me. I was a Catholic but I was also, I guess, guided by what I was reading and my professors and I thought, yeah, according to this book, I didn't. I didn't want to get married. Well, I also thought I was called to be a nun, but that's another story. But I didn't want to get married because, according to this book, marriage being in the home, domesticity, femininity it's like a prison and I did not want to be imprisoned. Who wrote that book? It's Betty Friedan, I don't know if.

Sheila Nonato: 20:43

I'm pronouncing her name correctly.

Tammy Peterson: 20:45

But yeah, that the home is a prison. I would say that that was her point of view and it was not very helpful for her to generalize to everyone.

Sheila Nonato: 20:55

But do you think there is a return to domesticity that women nowadays? Well, they have a choice. They could.

Tammy Peterson: 21:02

Yeah, they could, and if they do, I commend them because it is a sacred place.

Sheila Nonato: 21:10

Yeah, exactly. I mean, we're looking at falling birth rates Actually at the time. What was interesting to? To find out at the time that she wrote this book, or by the end of the 1950s, the U. S. birth, the American birth rate, was actually overtaking India's. And then the birth control movement and Planned Parenthood started and the Feminist movement. I don't know if it's a coincidence, but then the birth rate started falling since then.

Tammy Peterson: 21:34

I would say that that was causal. Yeah, I would say that was was causal. Yeah, I would say that was causal. You know there was there were so many feminists speaking about the necessity for women to get out in the workforce and that the home was not. All of them said it was a prison, but they weren't putting it first. Let's say they weren't putting the home and the idea of being a parent first. They were trying to put work first and career first, and we have seen where that has taken us. It's obvious where the birth rate has fallen. 50% of women, by the time they're 30, don't have any kids. 50% of those women won't have any kids and it won't be their choice. So we are actually ending up now with our idea of feminism and the values that have been instilled within our societies. Because of that, we're leaving women barren of children and that doesn't sound like a good outcome to me.

Sheila Nonato: 22:46

Instead of "he feminine mystique, what would you recommend for young women to read today?

Tammy Peterson: 22:51

Oh, that's a good, that's a good. Can I get a couple of books? Yeah, of course. Okay, I'll get a couple, three books, okay, so talk about these a little bit. Yeah for sure.

Tammy Peterson: 23:03

This one is called "he Way of All Women, okay, esther Harding, okay, so it's a book about myths, and it's a book about myths, and it's a book about history and what has gone on for many, many years. Let's see what does it say on the back of it. It's for our time for a deeper knowledge of the human being and for clarification of the confusion existing in the relationship between the sexes, and that is something that Carl Jung wrote on the back. So it's a very good book. Esther Harding was a leading Jungian analyst for many years and the founder of the Analytic Psychology Club of New York. She is also the author of a book called Women's Mysteries Ancient and Modern Psychic Energy, its Sources and Its Transformation. So she has a number of books, and Jordan agrees with me that this is a very good book. He's the one who brought me to it, that book. Okay, now this book.

Tammy Peterson: 24:18

I interviewed a fellow named David Clayton and he wrote a book called "he Way of Beauty, and he's written a course on beauty that he's working to bring to people. And I think this is very interesting because, you know, people wonder. They look at the church and they think, oh, why is the church so rich looking? Why are the priests dressed in these rich looking garments that they wear? And the idea behind the way of beauty is that you're presenting beauty as an offering to God. Beauty is that you're presenting beauty as an offering to God.

Tammy Peterson: 25:02

And you know modern art, which I studied for quite a while. Largely it does not look for beauty, and so I think that, and even our modern architecture with its, you know how sometimes you go to a new downtown high rise and you can't find the door. Like, that's not, that's not welcoming, right? So the whole idea of modern architecture is not for people because it doesn't even, they don't even tell you where the door is. And even in the seventies and the eighties, the windows often didn't open in those, in those. So people were inside the buildings with no fresh air. So even architecture has brought us away from what's beautiful as an offering to God. And so I think that's a very interesting book.

Tammy Peterson: 25:52

And then this last one is called "he Little Oratory. Okay, and this is a book by the same author, david Clayton, and he wrote it with another woman, layla Marie Lawler, and this is Practicing Praying in your Home, okay, okay. And so you know, I know that people have got away from the church, and that doesn't have to stop you from praying. You can have a prayer practice at home and at least have that that you can share with your children as a beginning. And then, if you can find your way to give the time that is necessary to go to church once a week, that would also be very good.

Tammy Peterson: 26:46

So you had mentioned earlier when you were talking to my daughter about teaching your granddaughter about the rosary, don't often pray with her, but when I'm with her she is very sure that I pray. She knows I pray, she's very sure of that. I can tell there's no question in her mind that that's who I am and for her that's very important to know that. And I can remember that about my grandmothers, that my grandmothers went to church every Sunday. One of them played the organ, the other one sung in the choir and that was something I knew and I didn't question. I thought it was right, and she thinks that it's right that I prayed the rosary and that is, I think, what grandmothers can give their kids. That is the most precious thing they can give them.

Sheila Nonato: 27:56

Join us for Part Two of Faith, family and Motherhood with Tammy Peterson. Happy Mother's Day to Mother Mary, to my mom, to my mother-in-law, to Tammy Peterson! Happy Mother's Day to my sister Kate, to my sisters-in-law Patricia and Nhu, and the spiritual mothers, my sister Christl and my sister-in-law Tamara, and you are all beautiful women, strong, intelligent and inspirational and role models for my daughters, and I really appreciate having you in our lives! I cannot forget my Aunt Ellen, the Titas on the Nanato and Dabu side, my aunts in Chicago, Tita Winnie and Tita Bing, and Aunt Cynthia and all the Titas, Tita Emily, Tita Tess, Tita Maty, and if I've forgotten you, I'm so sorry. I do sincerely appreciate each and every one of you and all the mothers and spiritual mothers. May we celebrate them every day and if you're a mom, may you be treated with extra special love and attention on this day.

Sheila Nonato: 29:10

Please join me in a free Retreat for Mothers starting on May 11, online on the Hozana App or the Hozana website. May 11 online on the Hozana app or the Hozana website, and it is a free app and website that has 1.9 million registered users and, as I said, it is free. So, please, I invite you to join me. It's a seven-day retreat and it has prayers and reflections and we'll be celebrating Mother Mary from Canada, and other Marian devotions from around the world. Thank you so much. God bless and may you have a blessed, blessed week. See you next time. Thank you for listening to the Veil and Armour podcast.

Narrator: 30:06

I invite you to share this with another Catholic mom today. Please subscribe to our podcast and YouTube channel and please spread the word. Let's Be Brave, let's Be Bold and Be Blessed together.