St. Monica's Kneeler

Nativity of Mary

2010-09-07T18:21:00.004-06:00

On this extraordinary of days...

From G.K. Chesterton's, The Ball and the Cross, which I just happened to read this weekend (McIan, the Catholic, speaking to Turnbull, the atheist):

What phrase would inspire the London clerk or workman just now? Perhaps that he is a son of the British Empire on which the sun never sets; perhaps that he is a prop of his Trades Union, or a class-conscious proletarian something or other; perhaps merely that he is a gentleman when he obviously is not. Those names and notions are all honourable; but how long will they last? Empires break; industrial conditions change; the suburbs will not last for ever. What will remain? I will tell you. The Catholic Saint will remain."

"And suppose I don't like him?" said Turnbull.

"On my theory the question is rather whether he will like you: or more probably whether he will ever have heard of you. But I grant the reasonableness of your query. You have a right, if you speak as the ordinary man, to ask if you will like the saint. But as the ordinary man you do like him. You revel in him. If you dislike him it is not because you are a nice ordinary man, but because you are (if you will excuse me) a sophisticated prig of a Fleet Street editor. That is just the funny part of it. The human race has always admired the Catholic virtues, however little it can practise them; and oddly enough it has admired most those of them that the modern world most sharply disputes. You complain of Catholicism for setting up an ideal of virginity; it did nothing of the kind. The whole human race set up an ideal of virginity; the Greeks in Athene, the Romans in the Vestal fire, set up an ideal of virginity. What then is your real quarrel with Catholicism? Your quarrel can only be, your quarrel really only is, that Catholicism has achieved an ideal of virginity; that it is no longer a mere piece of floating poetry. But if you, and a few feverish men, in top hats, running about in a street in London, choose to differ as to the ideal itself, not only from the Church, but from the Parthenon whose name means virginity, from the Roman Empire which went outwards from the virgin flame, from the whole legend and tradition of Europe, from the lion who will not touch virgins, from the unicorn who respects them, and who make up together the bearers of your own national shield, from the most living and lawless of your own poets, from Massinger, who wrote the Virgin Martyr, from Shakespeare, who wrote Measure for Measure—if you in Fleet Street differ from all this human experience, does it never strike you that it may be Fleet Street that is wrong?"

Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2010-09-03T14:56:00.003-06:00

Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend, everyone!!

Sorry I haven't been blogging lately. So much to do with school starting!!

Category: Doppelgangers

This preacher and missionary shares his name with an infamous politician. This New Light Calvanist's works/lectures include "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." While he took great joy in the beauties of nature, he sought to live "earnestly and soberly, to waste no time, to maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking" and is "widely acknowledged to be America's most important and original philosophical theologian."

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2010-08-27T13:46:00.002-06:00

Happy Feast Day of St. Monica!

Here's a question in four parts. I think Chris and AA could get several, but can they get all of them?

Category: In the cards

Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history. Who do the spades, clubs, hearts and diamonds represent.

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

Ancestor charts

2010-08-25T14:38:00.004-06:00

The one hobby that I have had for most of my life is genealogy. I think the blend of history and discovery are what hold my interest.

I'm becoming more and more disappointed with information I find on the internet. I recently checked a popular genealogy site and found someone took information from my family tree and added things that are wrong, blended it all together and re-published the information. The tree actually cites sources, but the sources are all trees other people have mashed together as well. The result is a huge mess.

And, there is my own family that uses incredibly poor scholarship in piecing our common lines together. It's become a run-away train. I'd blame the evil black box of the internet, but the problem really lies in people's willingness to take what the internet says as gospel. Their own genealogical version of sola scriptura.

Ages ago when I lived in Seattle, I used to spend hours looking through rolls and rolls of microfilmed census data at the National Archives (I believe it's was God's plan to move me away from the archives because children were in my future...I don't think my kids would see much of me if an archive was nearby ;)). When records started to become accessible on-line, it was a huge time-saver. It was also very dangerous because it relied on the accuracy of the saintly, but fallible, transcriber. I've still had to go back to the original mircofilm because of transcription errors when I know for certain an ancestor should be on the microfilm.

As much as I'd love to jump at the break-throughs in my remaining genealogical brick walls, I don't want to connect my tree to an ancestor that's not my own. Though picking a name off the internet that kinda-sorta-almost matches is tempting and makes life easy, the self-deception is kinda-sorta-almost always painful.

Primary sources, not the internet or someone's interpretation of the sacred genealogical scriptures, is still required. No analogy intended.

Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2010-08-20T13:07:00.002-06:00

Have a blessed weekend everyone.

Category: In the beginning

The earliest Monastic settlements in Ireland emerged at the end of the 5th century. This first identifiable founder of a monastery established a monastery at Kildare. This monastery was a double monastery, with both men and women ruled by the Abbess, a pattern found in many other monastic foundations.

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

Devotions

2010-08-19T08:15:00.002-06:00

Mum of Six tagged me ages ago for this and I was too busy with all my devotions to get to it until now. Yup.

My Five Favorite Devotions
1. Chaplet of St. Philomena
2. Rosary
3. Novena to the Poor Souls in November
4. Divine Mercy
5. Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Some where in Wisconsin

2010-08-15T19:17:00.003-06:00

During my week's vacation at the cabin I read Joseph Pearce's biography on Hilare Belloc, Old Thunder.

I shouldn't read biographies since they leave me feeling like I know the person enough to address them on the street. Several people have mentioned that biographies make them feel an artificial relationship with someone they never knew. It's odd to remind myself that all I know about Hilare Belloc, aside from the few works of his that I have read, my information comes from one person who never knew Belloc himself and has only tried to "clothe him" with the traces the man left behind.

Although Pearce's use of language remains annoying (I loved his book on Shakespeare because the subject fascinated me, but his words, especially starting out, are heavy...how many people (aside from Chesterton) repeatedly use the words jingoist or penury) and some of his speculations are truly just that, I can understand why he attempted to bring some life to his subject. Genealogists try to do the same. Tracing ancestors back through time, following their every move, trying to piece together their trail.

Slightly more than a decade ago, I sat on the steep hillside along side my great-great-grandfather's well-weathered grave marker. It took years of research to follow him to an obscure and mostly abandoned cemetery in southern Wisconsin where he had rested for generations without family visitors.

What I got from tracing my grandfather was how he, like most of my ancestors, sacrificed to come to this country for their faith. Undoubtedly, there were numerous reasons these ancestors had to immigrate to the US, but for so many of them, their faith was readily apparent and central to their lives. I love the surviving first-hand account about how another branch of Irish ancestors used to say the rosary each night in Gaelic.

My family, unlike Belloc's, was not fortunate enough to have had a prolific writer provide so much detail about the day-to-day struggles of what it is like living and persevering as a Catholic. Belloc is quoted in the book,

"I always like being in America, and find it most amusing. The newspapers tell one very little about Europe. The similarity of the language makes them sometimes talk about England as though they knew it better than the other countries, but it is just as foreign to them as all the others."

No wonder Belloc had a love of history and a desire to write it from a Catholic perspective. He knew the danger in disconnecting from the past.

However slight and vicarious they may be, biographies do allow us to see things from a different perspective. For me, researching my ancestors, like reading Belloc's biography to some extent, has allowed me to see their faith and why they cherished it.

Long Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2010-08-06T11:20:00.002-06:00

On vacation!!

Category: Controversial Catholics

This Servant of God advocated distributism, for awhile worked on the staffs of Socialist publications, engaged in anti-war protests, and was an anarchist.

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

The first correct answer in the form of a question wins the highly coveted WKJ ribbon to display on your blog, cubicle or refrigerator door.

Natural resources

2010-08-05T08:26:00.005-06:00

Spent the past few evenings hanging out at the local Catholic university library doing a project for my homeschool group. Although the library has been remodeled quite a bit since my days there, the distinctive smell of the book stacks takes me back to the days when I used to eat my lunch in the poorly lighted corridors. Decades ago we used text books, library books and had no computers, save an old VAX account that went no where.

Another thing hasn't changed, but I didn't know it back then. It appears to be true until this day. College students at a private Catholic university aren't checking out good Catholic authors.

I've checked out a few "standard fare" Catholic authors from the library in the past several months. The library still uses the little slip in the back of the book with a date stamp -- they've obviously been using this method for generations. I checked out "How the Reformation Happened" by Hilaire Belloc only to find in the last 60 years that this book has sat on the shelf, it's been checked out about a dozen times (the scant dates go back that far). That means the university librarians have probably handled the book more often to move it during construction and renovation than a new freshman has reached for this book as a source for a history paper.

It wasn't just this book. There were shelves of Belloc's works that stood taller than me. Multiple copies of nearly everything. Multiple copies that have sat neglected on the shelves.

I dug out a smattering of others in a fairly wide spectrum that you'd expect a better showing from: Christopher Dawson, G.K. Chesterton, Fr. Stanley Jaki, Joseph Pearce, Scott Hahn, etc. The book of Father Jaki's that I checked out had been sitting on the shelf for 10 years, brand new, never having been used until I checked it out.

And, sadly, some of the "Catholic" books I've searched for aren't even found at this library. One in particular I had to get through InterLibrary Loan from the University of Minnesota. Some others were at Macalester, the liberal school just down the road; and some were at Concordia and St. Kate's.

Although in the library's defense, their search engine sometimes does not show books that the library does have (try searching under Crusades and Belloc and you won't get any listings, although, if I remember correctly, the library has several copies).

I don't know what's worse, that students aren't aware of these books or their authors and aren't using them, or that the tools to search for the books don't "find" them.

Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2010-07-30T12:07:00.002-06:00

After last week's toughie, here's more of a softball. Found it in a book I was browsing through at Barnes and Noble.

Category: Saints and sinners

This saint may be the only one with a notarized police record for nighttime brawling with an intent to inflict serious harm.

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

The first correct answer in the form of a question wins the highly coveted WKJ ribbon to display on your blog, cubicle or refrigerator door.

2010-07-28T12:29:00.000-06:00

Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2010-07-23T07:20:00.004-06:00

Looks like it's going to be a glorious weekend around here!!! Have a good one.

Category: Those little town blues

These three counties in the Empire State are named after Catholic monarchs.

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

The first correct answer in the form of a question wins the highly coveted WKJ ribbon to display on your blog, cubicle or refrigerator door.

I'll live with wrinkles

2010-07-23T07:09:00.003-06:00

Abortion in U.S. a $1 billion industry: study
May 4th, 2010
By Rick DelVecchio

Abortion in the United States has become a $1 billion-a-year industry quietly fostered over 40 years by a climate that is allowing related, morally suspect commercial offshoots to develop in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and life sciences, a new study alleges.

The author, Vicki Evans, Respect Life coordinator for the Archdiocese of San Francisco's Office of Public Policy and Social Concerns, says the legal ethic of abortion has become a "pervasive cultural ethos of abortion, reaching far beyond the immediate abortion participants to tarnish the very industries originally intended to benefit humanity."

"Legal and widespread abortion has made possible a host of clandestine business practices that thrive under the radar of the American populace," Evans says in a synopsis of her 72-page study. "Regulation and transparency are often avoided because of ideological fears of limiting access to abortion or of inviting scrutiny by opposing ideological groups. Thus, the commercialization of human beings as commodities persists."

Evans says abortion and its offshoots represent exploitation of the weak and vulnerable -- "the worst brand of injustice."

Evans wrote her study, "Commercial Markets Created by Abortion: Profiting From the Fetal Distribution Chain," as her thesis for her licentiate in bioethics from the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University in Rome. She recently graduated summa cum laude.

A certified public accountant, Evans used her financial background to follow the money trail in the abortion industry and related businesses.

“I wanted to come up with a body of knowledge that nobody else had thought of before,” she told Catholic San Francisco. “In following the money and seeing who gets paid for what and how much they get paid, and how unregulated these areas are, I found a lot of facts that a lot of people wouldn’t have noticed or wouldn’t have thought to look for.”

Among Evans' findings:

-- There were 1,787 abortion providers in the United States in 2005.

-- Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s abortion market share grew from 12% in 1997 to nearly 25% in 2008.

-- “PPFA presents a comprehensive case study on how business evolves to capitalize on changes in the law and the prevailing culture": During the 1990 through 2008 election cycles, the abortion industry made political contributions of $15.76 million. Of this amount, $12.61 million, or 80%, went to abortion-supportive Democrats running for office.

-- The predominant industries engaged in fetal tissue research are part of the emerging life-science industry: the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and biologics sectors. Commercial use of fetal tissue has historically revolved around the production of childhood vaccines but is now expanding into vaccines to treat flu, HIV and more.

-- The cosmetics industry, particularly the anti-aging market segment, is a beneficiary of the growth of abortion. From miracle creams and emulsions developed using fetal-cell technologies, to face lifts and cosmetic procedures injecting aborted fetal tissue to promote youth and vitality, this business sector has an “enormous and increasing demand” for fetal cells and organs."

-- A fetal parts industry could not have developed without a legal and protected abortion structure. Millions of fetuses that are by-products of abortion cannot technically be bought and sold, but a market does exist

Evans concludes with an appeal to the dignity of life over utiliitarian considerations.

“Natural law dictates that there is something exceptional about man,” she writes. “The commercialization of human beings as commodities is contrary to the law written in his heart. The moral law does indeed have a bearing on the just ordering of society. When morality is excluded from a civil society, the weak and vulnerable are easily exploited for the benefit of the strong and powerful. This is the worst brand of injustice. It deserves to be brought to light.”

Text of Vicki Evans' thesis on abortion industry
May 8th, 2010
ATHENAEUM PONTIFICIUM REGINA APOSTOLORUM
Faculty of Bioethics
"Commercial Markets Created by Abortion: Profiting from the Fetal Distribution Chain"

(The text at this link ends abruptly...anyone know where the rest is?)

Rock of ages

2010-07-19T12:17:00.012-06:00

Cleft into innumerable bits

The older I get the more I understand that since I've been a Catholic all my life, not necessarily always a good or practicing Catholic mind you, but raised and surrounded by Catholics and constantly confirming my belief in the Church as an adult, I realize that I cannot fully see things from any other perspective, specifically relating to my in-laws. It's hard to put my finger on it; I will never have the perspective of a non-Catholic.

To sum it up, since faith and reason are united in Truth, why don't my in-laws move in my direction? Why, quite recently, would a close relation proudly proclaim his desire to leave the Church to become a Lutheran pastor? Why would he think, telling me a Catholic from beginning and to hopeful end, I would react with anything but sadness?

It seems my relative considers himself a "cultural Catholic" because he's never been the practicing sort. But, he's still a Catholic, which places him in an entirely different category than the rest. I've prayed for my proverbial big ol' snow-covered dung hill of Lutheran in-laws, but even though I can't completely understand how they can turn off (or have killed as Father Corapi would warn) the nudgings that I'm certain they receive from their consciences, I expected more from this particular relative -- a move towards Rome instead of away.

Not until I started reading Karl Keating's, Catholicism and Fundamentalism - The Attack on Romanism by Bible Christians*, did I understand more clearly why this in-law's revelation, despite us not being extremely close, so disturbed me. It was the feeling of betrayal, the sense of loss, and the sadness.

What few practicing Catholics can imagine is that they might chuck Catholicism for something like fundamentalism, to which they are not drawn at all. Still, they know that people of their acquaintance, people from their own parishes, have made the transition, and are seemingly none the worse for wear. These former Catholics function the same way on the job, and shop at the same malls. They seem largely unchanged by their newfound faith.

Despite that, their conversion is taken as a betrayal because it is a denial. A change to Eastern Orthodoxy or Anglo-Catholicism is more an adjustment than a real switch; even becoming a lapsed Catholic makes sense, since it is a matter of letting spiritual indolence take control. But fundamentalism? To embrace it is to reject Catholicism outright, because fundamentalism does not just modify, but discards, the sacramental and liturgical core of Catholicism. One might as well subscribe to an obscure Eastern cult. To most Catholics, that would be just as sensible.

My in-law told me he would "always appreciate his (soon-to-be discarded) Catholic Faith." To me this is completely nonsensical and there's not even a good analogy for it. Possibly, "I will always appreciate the medicine that saves me from illness but I choose not to refill the prescription?"

But it didn't stop there.

"God is calling me to be a Lutheran pastor and I'm going to bring people to Jesus. You have to appreciate that God is calling me to do this."

Further, the notion that we, as a collective of Christians, have to evangelize others against "Islam."

Since this was all a shot across the bow, I was totally unprepared. As Karl Keating also said, knowing how to argue is just as important as knowing what to argue. I think I failed on both counts. However, I didn't stay on the ropes.

On the Islam point, I explained that Mohammedism and Protestantism were both heresies and talked about how the Pope is meant to be a bridge builder. (I didn't mention that if all of united Christendom didn't eliminate the heresy of Mohammedism centuries ago, why would he think that a bunch of disparate Christians would fare any better today.)

I also told him that I completely disagreed with his desire to leave the Church and that God would never lead him away from the fullness of Truth. To the comment meant to get some concession out of me about "appreciating" his path, I told him I didn't have to appreciate anyone leaving the Church. As his in-law and fellow Christian I would love him and always pray for him, but in no way did I appreciate this endeavor.

Not the most charitable, probably not the most efficacious, but not completely milque-toast. If God wants me to do any apologetics, He's going to have to provide all of it for me, every last drop.

*This is not to equate Lutherans with fundamentalists

Photo translation from Bulgarian (so it said): This is not a dung-hill. Violators will be fined

New Blog

2010-07-12T19:03:00.004-06:00

Amentior, it's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get.

After the Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2010-07-12T12:47:00.003-06:00

Somehow the days are getting away from me. Didn't have a chance to come up with a Jeopardy question last Friday, so am sneaking one in today.

Category: The Heavens

Established in 1891, the Vatican Observatory was involved in "more than four decades astronomical research, which included a prominent international program to map the whole sky, was carried out in the shadow of St. Peter's, but it eventually became obvious that the urban growth of the Eternal City was brightening the sky to such an extent that the fainter stars could no longer be studied." Because of this, during the 1930s, it was moved to this present location.

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

The first correct answer in the form of a question wins the highly coveted WKJ ribbon to display on your blog, cubicle or refrigerator door.

Existentialism

2010-07-12T12:37:00.002-06:00

The ramblings of a six year old after he watched the DVD of The Land Before Time.

"How can there be a land before time? The earth didn't exist before time."

I'm in over my head with him.

4th of July Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2010-07-03T09:22:00.003-06:00

Hope you are all having a wonderful 4th of July weekend. Sorry this is a bit late. The WKJ question this weekend should be about American history, but the best I can do right now...British History.

Category: British Steel

This English king, crowned while returning from Crusade, had at least two well-known nick-names. One of them similar to the nick-name of Charles Martel (see prior WKJ question for a hint). This king dealt with rebellion of his barons and expelled Jews from his realm.

You need to provide the king's name and his two well known nick-names

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys for this last week of the Year for Priests while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

The first correct answer in the form of a question wins the highly coveted WKJ ribbon to display on your blog, cubicle or refrigerator door.

All Seasons

2010-07-01T11:42:00.003-06:00

I just finished watching A Man for All Seasons, about the conflict between St. Thomas More and Henry VIII. It was a good movie to watch while sick in bed. The kids even sat and watched it with me.

As you know, Sir Thomas More refused to swear an oath to King Henry’s supremacy in England over the Church and to the validity of his divorce and remarriage.

Some of the lines from the movie stuck with me...

Speaking to his beloved daughter, Meg, as she pleads with him to take the oath to save his life:

Listen, Meg, God made the angels to show Him splendor, as He made animals for innocence and plants for their simplicity. But Man He made to serve Him wittily, in the tangle of his mind. If He suffers us to come to such a case that there is no escaping, then we may stand to our tackle as best we can, and, yes, Meg, then we can clamor like champions, if we have the spittle for it. But it's God's part, not our own, to bring ourselves to such a pass. Our natural business lies in escaping. If I can take the oath, I will.

And, to his biographer and son-in-law-to-be:

William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!
Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!

St. Thomas More is a saint I really like but then don't totally understand. I recently read More's Utopia, which wobbles back and forth between communistic ideas and a criticism of the same. I'd like to think I knew where More stood, but the questions will have to remain until I can reread the book or my kids get old enough to explain it to me.

Done with VBS Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2010-06-25T11:23:00.003-06:00

Have a good weekend everyone!!

Category: Unintended consequences

It wasn't until the late 18th century that this country was significantly exposed to Catholicism. A group, which later included three priests, none of them missionaries tasked to preach, settled here and Catholicism began to spread. Currently, slightly over a quarter of this country's population is Catholic.

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys for this last week of the Year for Priests while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

The first correct answer in the form of a question wins the highly coveted WKJ ribbon to display on your blog, cubicle or refrigerator door.

Half way there

2010-06-22T20:13:00.003-06:00

Sister joked this morning when she saw me that I returned for another day of Vacation Bible School.

Here's our crew.

With it being so hot this week, I'm glad I'm not in a habit. One upside, this year they have special snacks for the teachers. I think it's meant as a bribe. No animal crackers for this gal.

Same time next year

2010-06-21T19:00:00.005-06:00

I was talking with my brother-in-law's mother over the weekend and somehow the topic of First Communion came up. Next year my son, God-willing, will receive his First Holy Communion. She mentioned that when she was growing up all the neighbor ladies would take turns bringing a ham baked in bread to the family of the First Communicant. I had never heard of it before. The best I can tell, it's an Eastern European thing. I think I may make one of these next Spring.

Both my Irish and German sides didn't have any First Communion traditions that were handed down to my generation. Heck, no photos even exist of my First Communion. That's what happens when you're at the tail-end of almost 60 first cousins...handed down dress, no glow-in-the-dark rosaries as gifts, no ham and no photos.

Smatterings on Monday

2010-06-21T06:28:00.003-06:00

With Vacation Bible School this week, things will be pretty busy and blog posts limited. Add to that music and guitar lessons for my son, along with meetings nearly every night this week. I hope to at least limp across the finish line on Friday.

This weekend we were at a high school graduation. Of course, the kids were off playing with the small group of other kids that were there.

We had been there about an hour when the new little playmate of my daughter's came running up to me. She was very intent on talking to me. Her reaction was beginning to make me wonder if my daughter had been mean to her.

"Are you her Mommy?" she demanded, pointing to my daughter. I told her I was. "Does she live just with you?"

I gently had to explain to this little four year-old, who obviously lived with only her mother, that my daughter did live with both parents and even her brother. Then I didn't know what more to say, since with kids, you answer the question and don't expound on things as you risk confusing them or harming their innocence. In this case, the already not-so-innocent awareness of a four year-old.

Word of the day

2010-06-19T09:45:00.007-06:00

Panegyric/panegyrist

pan·e·gyr·ic (pn-jrk, -jrk)
n.
1. A formal eulogistic composition intended as a public compliment.
2. Elaborate praise or laudation; an encomium.

Used in a sentence:

"Illness and unceasing anxiety had seen to her losing all that; and we can safely neglect all panegyric in that direction, even the observation of foreign envoys; for each panegyrist had an axe to grind."
~Hilaire Belloc, Elizabeth, Creature of Circumstance

Unrelated, however, I liked Belloc's lament in the above book about the decline of English prose and language:

"On the other hand, more and more of us now possess a familiar acquaintance with the glorious German tongue in which it is possible to converse with animals."

I thought it was that Victorian charmer, Dr. Dolittle, who spoke with animals.

Snark off.

Just browsing

2010-06-18T19:13:00.004-06:00

Had an appointment today. Usual babysitters (ie: aunts) were out of town, so I had to take the kids with me. Ah, fun. But, they weren't too disruptive.

Once the appointment was over, the kids and I walked next door to an independent children's bookseller. My daughter walked in and said, "It's all a kids' section!!!!" Off she ran squealing.

The thrill for me wore off rather quickly when I found...

No, not the Tarot set for kids or a Ouija board, but...

Product Description
Lily is 9. Her sister Daisy is 1. And she's no ordinary baby. Somehow, when she was born, something went rather wrong... and now Daisy is a Witch Baby. Nobody knows this but Lily - she's the only one who can see when Daisy makes the fridge float in the air, or turns people into slugs, or summons up her very stinky dog Waywoof...

About the Author
DG is the author and illustrator of many books for children, such as No Matter What and the Pure Dead series, which includes Pure Dead Magic and Pure Dead Wicked.

Isn't that special? A whole series where "something went rather wrong."

Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2010-06-18T14:33:00.002-06:00

Chris got the last one way too quickly, so here's another. Have a great weekend everyone!

Category: In"vestments"

This garment dates back to the Greeks and Romans and was supposed to have been worn, in an early form, by Jesus and his apostles because it was identified with philosophers and teachers. During the fourth century, on the Eve of Sts. Peter and Paul, this newly woven garment was "taken to the Basilica of St. Peter and laid upon the tomb of that apostle to rest above his body for the night: from whom it was supposed to have contracted a share of apostolic authority." It was in the fifth century that this garment became primarily associated with ecclesiastical authority.

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys for this last week of the Year for Priests while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

The first correct answer in the form of a question wins the highly coveted WKJ ribbon to display on your blog, cubicle or refrigerator door.

2010-06-18T12:58:00.003-06:00

Category: Can you spare a dime?

This group set up an early banking system across Europe. They allowed non-members to deposit money with them, issuing letters of credit. Travellers could visit a facility belonging to this group in their home country, depositing their deeds and valuables. They were then given a letter which would describe their holdings. While traveling, they could present the letter along the way, to "withdraw" funds from their account. This kept the travellers safe since they were not carrying valuables.

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys for this last week of the Year for Priests while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

The first correct answer in the form of a question wins the highly coveted WKJ ribbon to display on your blog, cubicle or refrigerator door.

Thanks, Vincenzo, for the updated design:

Becket

2010-06-18T07:02:00.007-06:00

I used to work with a guy whose ancestry included St. Thomas Becket. I saw the movie the other day at the library and was tempted to check it out...for the third time. Have never made it through the whole thing. Instead, I reserved a copy of A Man for All Seasons on St. Thomas More, which I have never seen.

Reliquary Casket with Scenes from the Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket
Source: Reliquary Casket with Scenes from the Martyrdom of Saint Thomas Becket [English or German] (17.190.520) Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This precious silver box was created to contain a relic of the martyred English saint Thomas Becket. Saint Thomas was the archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to 1170, and he is perhaps best known for his struggles with King Henry II of England over the separation between the rights of the monarch and the rights of the church. Thomas was killed by four knights of Henry's court in Canterbury Cathedral at twilight on December 29, 1170.

The long sides of the reliquary display a brief narrative of the saint's martyrdom. On one side, the lower rectangular panel shows the four knights assaulting Thomas, while on the triangular lid above, an angel makes a sign of blessing over the event. On the other side, the lower panel shows Thomas's body lying in state, while above, an angel cradles a small child, the symbol of the saint's soul as it rises to heaven. This reliquary is dated to the years immediately following Thomas's canonization in 1173, making it one of the earliest objects commemorating his sainthood.

The martyrdom of St Thomas from the St Thomas Altarpiece commissioned in 1424, from Meister Francke by the Guild of English Merchants in Hamburg.

Stained glass of St. Thomas Becket, Canterbury Cathedral.

Stuff

2010-06-17T15:50:00.001-06:00

Just put up a new post. Haven't posted in a few days since I couldn't get on the internet...or things were so slow I didn't have the patience to spend an hour to post a few sentences. Still experiencing problems...bear with me!

Why Bene?

2010-06-17T14:44:00.012-06:00

Statue of Pope Benedict XV, "The great Pope of the world tragedy...the benefactor of all people, irrespective of nationality or religion," in the courtyard of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, Istanbul, placed there by the Turks due to the Pope's peace efforts during WWI.

In listening to the EPIC CDs, I learned a little bit about why Pope Benedict XVI chose the name Benedict, which he alluded to when he was chosen as Pope:

Filled with sentiments of awe and thanksgiving, I wish to speak of why I chose the name Benedict. Firstly, I remember Pope Benedict XV, that courageous prophet of peace, who guided the Church through turbulent times of war. In his footsteps I place my ministry in the service of reconciliation and harmony between peoples. Additionally, I recall Saint Benedict of Nursia, co-patron of Europe, whose life evokes the Christian roots of Europe. I ask him to help us all to hold firm to the centrality of Christ in our Christian life: May Christ always take first place in our thoughts and actions!

But what did Pope Benedict XV do exactly?

He spoke out against facism, national socialism and communism -- having people be subjected to the whim of the State. He also spoke out way back then, during our grandfather's or great-grandfather's time, against relativism and modernism.

During the war, the Great War, his pontificate had three principles on how the Vatican would relate to the world.

1. Perfect neutrality, which meant that he wasn't publicly picking sides but didn't mean he didn't make a stand. His first encyclical, Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum, is so relevant that it could've been written by the current pontiff, being at the same time strong, pastoral, sympathetic and heralding, in part, much the same message that we heard from Our Lady at Fatima (which occurred while he was Pope). Here's one of several paragraphs that caught my eye:

Once the plastic minds of children have been moulded by godless schools, and the ideas of the inexperienced masses have been formed by a bad daily or periodical press, and when by means of all the other influences which direct public opinion, there has been instilled into the minds of men that most pernicious error that man must not hope for a state of eternal happiness; but that it is here, here below, that he is to be happy in the enjoyment of wealth and honour and pleasure: what wonder that those men whose very nature was made for happiness should with all the energy which impels them to seek that very good, break down whatever delays or impedes their obtaining it. And as these goods are not equally divided amongst men, and as it is the duty of authority in the State to prevent the freedom enjoyed by the individual from going beyond its due limits and invading what belongs to another, it comes to pass that public authority is hated, and the envy of the unfortunate is inflamed against the more fortunate. Thus the struggle of one class of citizen against another bursts forth, the one trying by every means to obtain and to take what they want to have, the other endeavouring to hold and to increase what they possess.

2. Extend charity to all. Pope Benedict XV arranged for prisoner exchanges and created a Vatican bureau to help prisoners of war, similar to what the Red Cross does today by being a go-between for military personnel and their families. He passed out financial aid during the war, according to EPIC, 5M Lira from the Vatican, along with over 30M Lira that was donated to the Church. Reportedly, he gave away so much money that the Vatican was broke and had to go into debt to pay for his funeral.

3. Constant call for peace. He also called for reduction of arms, spoke against particular weapons like poison gas, and against the deportation of workers. He also wrote another encyclical on peace and Christian reconciliation, Pacem, Dei Munus Pulcherrimum, saying peace should be granted without reparations.

He was also the Pope that canonized St. Joan of Arc during "the suicide of Europe," which is how he referred to the war, providing the Church and the world a great saintly example during such a devastating period.

Woodrow Wilson also incorporated some of Pope Benedict's ideas into his "Fourteen Points."

In light of this, I can begin to understand Pope Benedict XVI's recent encyclicals a little more clearly (he's has an incredible intellect) and why he has been much more pastoral and not heavy-handed during his pontificate, like so many thought he would be.

Above us only sky

2010-06-14T15:15:00.004-06:00

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.
~Prayer of St. Gertrude the Great

Last month I attended the funeral Mass for a cousin once-removed. The family recently sent out thank you cards, along with returning the money from "the envelopes," because they weren't "familiar with the custom."

The custom of giving money to have Masses said for the repose of the deceased's soul.

What a mess.

Nobody expects....

2010-06-14T09:49:00.002-06:00

the Spanish Inquisition.

Am reading up on the real Inquisition while sitting in my comfy chair. William Walsh's, Characters of the Inquisition. All I know so far, I learned from Monty Python.

Close enough

2010-06-12T18:51:00.006-06:00

Even though it's the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I finally got back my retouched icon, Our Lady of Mount Carmel. It's beautiful and I'm happy to have it home after a long absence.

It's a completely rainy and over-cast day, plus I have a dark Craftsman-style home with no bright lights, so the photo is very poor. The icon is quite large, about 24" x 19", and is a very generous gift from a priest friend.

It really has brightened up this gloomy day!

(Update: Photo has been enhanced by the wizard, Vincenzo.)

Poodles, terriers, whatever...

2010-06-12T10:08:00.004-06:00

My 4 year-old daughter thinks the neighbor owns a sheep. Try arguing with a kid.

Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2010-06-11T07:40:00.002-06:00

This question is hard to hint at without giving it away. I think the time frame pretty much points to the answer.

Category: Novel Inquiries

Though taken down with fever, this writer refused to stay below in the vessel he was serving, and begged to be allowed to take part in the battle (of Lepanto), saying that he would rather die for his God and his king than keep under cover. He fought bravely on board a vessel, and received three gunshot wounds – two in the chest, and one which rendered his left arm useless, saying that he "had lost the movement of the left hand for the glory of the right."

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys for this last week of the Year for Priests while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

The first correct answer in the form of a question wins the highly coveted WKJ ribbon to display on your blog, cubicle or refrigerator door.

Thanks, Vincenzo, for the updated design:

Today's garage sale finds

2010-06-10T13:46:00.006-06:00

OK, it may just be cool to me, but had some luck at garage sales today after having been pretty much skunked up to this point. Got my son a wooden knight's shield, not the exact one as seen in the picture, but the kind they sell at the Renaissance Faire for around $20. This one was $1.50

A Thames and Kosmos "Milestones in Science Kit." The kit was brand new and unopened and retails for $90. Got it for $2

Embark on an active research expedition through the history of science and technology. Learn about famous scientists and inventors, like Archimedes, Copernicus, Einstein, Watt, and Darwin, as you reproduce their ground-breaking experiments. Read about each scientist and their times, what they did and how they did it, and then see it yourself firsthand! From the Stone Age to modern times, the history of science comes to life in front of you in this tangible, hands-on format. This comprehensive kit covers the accomplishments of over 140 scientists and civilizations.

I also got this brand new kit for $2.

Along with the science kits, I found some homeschooling books:
The New St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism No.2
The Winged Watchman by Hilda van Stockum
Beorn the Proud by Madeleine Polland
The Life of Grace - Faith and Life Series 7

And a guilty pleasure for me

It's the time of the season for loving...

2010-06-10T07:04:00.010-06:00

VBS - Vacation Bible School

Some of you may remember the fun I had a few summers ago teaching the Kindergarten VBS. Had it not been for the two other teachers, the ship would've sunk. No permanent damage to the children has been observed.

Last year I was sick and in no shape to help out. But, I'm back in the saddle this summer. The nuns will be teaching the program for all the grades and I get to be a trusty assistant.

I'm excited that we will be learning about the very cool St. Joseph of Cupertino:

Joseph of Cupertino had trouble learning to read and write. The world thought him to be a failure. However, Joseph rose above the world. His love for God was so deep that the power of the Holy Spirit lifted him up time and time again.
Witnesses came from far and wide to see Joseph hover near the ceiling of a church, floating over a religious procession, or on the branch of a tree. Read this amazing story of a saint whose great love for God could not keep him down.

Hubble Finds a Star Eating a Planet

2010-06-09T18:00:00.003-06:00

Too bad it's an artist's rendering and not an actual photo. Our solar system is so boring we had to down-grade a planet to get rid of it.

NASA 05.20.10

The hottest known planet in the Milky Way galaxy may also be its shortest-lived world. The doomed planet is being eaten by its parent star, according to observations made by a new instrument on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS). The planet may only have another 10 million years left before it is completely devoured.

The planet, called WASP-12b, is so close to its sunlike star that it is superheated to nearly 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit and stretched into a football shape by enormous tidal forces. The atmosphere has ballooned to nearly three times Jupiter's radius and is spilling material onto the star. The planet is 40 percent more massive than Jupiter.

This effect of matter exchange between two stellar objects is commonly seen in close binary star systems, but this is the first time it has been seen so clearly for a planet.

"We see a huge cloud of material around the planet, which is escaping and will be captured by the star. We have identified chemical elements never before seen on planets outside our own solar system," says team leader Carole Haswell of The Open University in Great Britain.

Haswell and her science team's results were published in the May 10, 2010 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

A theoretical paper published in the science journal Nature last February by Shu-lin Li of the Department of Astronomy at the Peking University, Beijing, first predicted that the planet's surface would be distorted by the star's gravity, and that gravitational tidal forces make the interior so hot that it greatly expands the planet's outer atmosphere. Now Hubble has confirmed this prediction.

WASP-12 is a yellow dwarf star located approximately 600 light-years away in the winter constellation Auriga. The exoplanet was discovered by the United Kingdom's Wide Area Search for Planets (WASP) in 2008. The automated survey looks for the periodic dimming of stars from planets passing in front of them, an effect called transiting. The hot planet is so close to the star it completes an orbit in 1.1 days.

The unprecedented ultraviolet (UV) sensitivity of COS enabled measurements of the dimming of the parent star's light as the planet passed in front of the star. These UV spectral observations showed that absorption lines from aluminum, tin, manganese, among other elements, became more pronounced as the planet transited the star, meaning that these elements exist in the planet's atmosphere as well as the star's. The fact the COS could detect these features on a planet offers strong evidence that the planet's atmosphere is greatly extended because it is so hot.

The UV spectroscopy was also used to calculate a light curve to precisely show just how much of the star's light is blocked out during transit. The depth of the light curve allowed the COS team to accurately calculate the planet's radius. They found that the UV-absorbing exosphere is much more extended than that of a normal planet that is 1.4 times Jupiter's mass. It is so extended that the planet's radius exceeds its Roche lobe, the gravitational boundary beyond which material would be lost forever from the planet's atmosphere.

Priest spotting

2010-06-08T06:28:00.003-06:00

The kids and I were at McDonald's last week and a priest (Father Gj, who I only recognized because of his blog and Theology on a stick) sat at the next table. While it was nice to see a priest out for lunch in blacks, I don't know if I want the kids thinking McDonald's is a holy place to go for lunch or a place for priest spotting. Although, I am in favor of anything that distracts the kids from wanting a Happy Meal.

At this point, my son doesn't want to be a priest, he wants to be a mystery solver. Arguably, there's some overlap.

There should be a calendar, "Fast Food Fathers"

The grass is greener here

2010-06-07T14:57:00.006-06:00

Growing up, you could flip a coin as to which religion a given neighbor might be. Next door on one side were Catholics; the other side Lutherans. Farther down the block, alternately Catholic and Lutheran. Across the street, it was the same pattern. Each Sunday morning we all got in our cars and went to our corresponding church, although the Lutherans had more to pick from.

It wasn't until recently, and still not very persuasively, that I could explain why I was Catholic. Having kids, as my father used to say in slightly less than delicate words, brings stuff into focus. It prioritizes then reprioritizes again. Explaining the Faith to children and trying as best as one can to live that Faith is not a vocation for a sissy. Distilling down the four Last Things, I primarily will be judged on my short tenure as a parent.

Dad might not have been elegant in his speech, but he usually was right.

He also was big on the theme of perseverance. The decision to homeschool also boils down to me as the teacher, primary educator, "Parents are the first and most important educators of their children, and they also possess a fundamental competency in this area: they are educators because they are parents."

Which brings me off the tangent to the latest thing I read in my attempts to be informed enough to educate my children. In my ecumenical monologue with my Lutheran in-laws, I've tried to explain my Faith. I'm finally looking into what the in-laws believe, or at least what the founders of what they believe (Luther and Calvin), actually believed.

It's been illuminating and not pretty.

For Luther sin is passion, for Catholicism sin is in the will -- the act of choice. In Freudian terms Luther's sin is libido, Catholic sin is ego. From this a number of consequences flow. From the Lutheran point of view the conclusion follows that, as nobody is ever entirely passionless (least of all essentially passionate types like Luther), there can be no freedom from sin in this world. Man is born and dies in iniquity. The utmost he can attain is an assurance that this won't be counted against him -- that Christ's redemptive suffering covers all. Hence justice is only imputed -- the Lutheran concept which became the center of controversy.

In Catholic teaching, on the other hand, the work of justification is not limited to the act of faith with which it begins. It is carried on by the use of the sacraments, the life of charity and the practice of good works, so that human nature recovers the spiritual life that was lost by sin and man becomes a new creature, not by an external act of imputation but by the appropriation of divine grace -- by sanctifying grace, which is the technical theological term.

Thus there is a difference between Lutheran and Catholic teaching as regards good works and free will. Luther says that good works do not make a good man, or evil works a bad man, but that the good man does good works and the bad man does evil. This is psychologically true, but it does not cover the whole ground. The ordinary man is not wholly good or wholly bad. He is both. He does good acts and bad acts, and it is psychologically false to argue that his character is not affected by good or evil practice. Thus it is also true to say that good habits make a man good and bad habits make him bad. This second fact was ignored or underestimated by Luther. It seems that there is a certain confusion in his thought on these matters. He had become convinced of the worthlessness of pious practices -- that it is no use fasting or saying long prayers or making a pilgrimage or a vow. Good works, however, are not merely pious practices, they are simply what the words denote -- doing good -- and it is a fallacy to argue that such action has no value from a religious point of view.
~ Christopher Dawson, The Dividing of Christendom

Since I wasn't doing it much on my own, children are God's way of insisting I learn my Faith, even just a little, so that my kids may fare better than the odds of a coin flip.

Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2010-06-04T07:16:00.003-06:00

After making everyone weary of the history category last week, we'll move over to science and see how it goes.

Category: What's in a name

Science has benefited greatly from the works of numerous Catholics. Three common electrical units have been named after important Catholic pioneers. Name the units and/or the scientists they are named for. You need all three to get the WKJ ribbon.

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

The first correct answer in the form of a question wins the highly coveted WKJ ribbon to display on your blog, cubicle or refrigerator door.

Thanks, Vincenzo, for the updated design:

Foreign languages

2010-06-02T20:27:00.003-06:00

How in the world did the term "play date" ever get in my vocabulary?

Dividing Christendom

2010-06-02T08:37:00.005-06:00

I grabbed the book, The Dividing of Christendom by Christopher Dawson, off the shelf at a local bookstore while I was letting the kids dig through the children's section. As the kids were rummaging through Sponge Bob and Dora, I only managed to get a few pages in, so I requested it later through the library. Now I'm trying to plow my way through a book that assumes one is much more familiar with history than I am.

"Of all divisions between Christians, that between Catholics and Protestants is the deepest and the most pregnant in its historical consequences. It is so deep that we cannot see any solution to it in the present period and under existing historical circumstances. But at least it is possible for us to take the first step by attempting to overcome the enormous gap in mutual understanding which has hitherto rendered any intellectual contact or collaboration impossible. From this point of view the problem is not to be found so much in the sphere of theology, strictly speaking, as in that of culture and historical tradition. For the changes that followed the Reformation are not only the work of the Churches and theologians. They are the work of the statesmen and the soldiers. The Catholic and Protestant worlds have been divided from one another by centuries of war and power politics, and the result has been that they no longer share a common social experience. Each has its own version of history, its own social inheritance, as well as its own religious beliefs and standards of orthodoxy. And nowhere is this state of things more striking than in America, where the English Protestant North and the Spanish Catholic South formed two completely different worlds which had no mental contact with one another."

I guess I shouldn't expect my in-laws to "get me" after all these years. They do have a completely different view of the world, but what is so striking is that they used to be Catholic. Catholic within my mother-in-law's lifetime. My husband's great-grandparents were devoutly Catholic. His great-aunt was a Benedictine who was a teacher, artist and professor.

Remarkable how one decision can change the entire trajectory of a family. In this case, the loss of a child led the family outside of the Church. Many times it's divorce. Sad how hostility gets handed down from generation to generation and the faith of numerous ancestors is abandoned.

Michelangelo in the attic

2010-06-02T07:18:00.004-06:00

Well, not exactly.

Last week, when I was at Half Price Books, they had this book by Edward Gorey in their case for $100. It caught my eye.

Not knowing it was a collector's item, I had picked it up for my kids at a garage sale a few years ago for way less than a dollar.

Photo and info below from this site:

One of Edward Gorey's most theatrical published works is The Tunnel Calamity. Published in 1984 by G. Putnam's Sons, New York, this item really cannot be called a book. It is better described as a Magic Windows paper toy.

Holding the front and rear stiff covers, the viewer extends the accordion pleats and looks into a peep hole on the front. This creates a "tunnel" where all kinds of things are happening. The angle can be moderately changed from side to side to view the layers of illustration that appear when the item is extended. The effect is that you are looking down a tunnel or into a deep stage set. This is one of Mr. Gorey's more fragile and frivolous printed works.

Needless to say, the kids aren't playing with it any more.

2010-06-01T17:52:00.002-06:00

Applicants for Admission to a Casual Ward by Sir Samuel Luke Fildes (1874)

Of stones and free will

2010-06-01T11:53:00.003-06:00

Father Know-it-All's homily for Corpus Christi Sunday, from a few years ago.

Text follows YouTube links for those of us with non-functioning computer sound or slow dial-up.

(Couldn't get Part 2 to provide the code to embed, so here is the link to Father's website that has the two-part homily and the readings.)

First of all I’d like to congratulate S.N. [initials only] who was baptized a few weeks ago...
A member of our religious education class...
Who will be making her First Holy Communion today.
It’s a very appropriate day to do so, the feast of Corpus Christi [Latin for "The Body of Christ"].
So, as we say in Skokie (Illinois), "Mazel Tov" [literally means "good fortune" in Hebrew]
S.N. [initials only] will come up with her family at the beginning of Communion.
I hope you are all awake.
You’re all focused, are you all focused?
Because this a very strange sermon.
Not long, just strange.
Well, it may be long --- you never know.
It all kind of started at the Great Adventure Bible Class, about three or four weeks ago.
We were studying the book of Joshua.
And it had never occurred to me that Joshua really brings right into the limelight, I guess you’d say..
The problem of evil.
Not only does God permit evil...
I mean that’s a problem --- if God is so good...
All of us have been through this, I think...
If God is so good, and so loving...
Why are all these bad things happening to me?
I remember, I don’t know if you’ll follow this, but this cartoon in the Sun Times, "Mr. Boffo".
Maybe I mentioned this one...
Mr. Boffo is hiding behind a big rock, and there’s a voice in the sky, and lightening bolts and thunder.
And the voice says "Come out in the open so I get a clear shot at ya."
You know, some of us feel like that, don’t’ we?
Lord...
I remember the line in the "Fiddler On The Roof":
"Lord, we know we’re the Chosen People, but couldn't You choose someone else for a while?"
But this is a problem we have.
If God is so good, why is there so much difficulty in my life?
And, on a grander scale, why is there so much evil in the world?
And more importantly, if you read the book of Joshua, and study the conquest in the Land of Canaan...
It seems that God not only permits evil, but He is its perpetrator.
I remember my mother decided to read the Bible cover to cover.
And about a book or two in, she gave me a call and said, "Richard, do you know what’s in this book?"
"I mean, really, it’s a challenging book!"
I gave a talk in Huntley [Illinois] a of couple weeks ago...
And I was kind of warned by the people who had invited me...
There's a woman here who is pacing back and forth, she has come here to ask you one question.
Somehow I was able to avoid her going into the hall.
But she sat patiently through a long and boring lecture to ask her question.
And her question was simply this --- that she was reading the story of Judith and Holofernes.
Judith was a heroin from among the Israelites.
And Holofernes, a general of, I think it was, the Syrians.
I don’t know, one of those people who are always trying to dislodge the Israelites.
But her question was --- how did this story make it into the Bible?
This woman seduced a general, drugged him and then killed him.
And this was all for the glory of God.
How in any way can that be Scripture?
This is a good question.
How can this be?
Well, I know a woman, she’s an older woman now, and a very dear friend...
Who was Jewish, and has become a Catholic
Maybe I told you about her...
But when she was a little girl
Maybe I told you about her...
She was a girl of exceptional intelligence.
And at a very young age, she was allowed to attend a yeshivah.
NOTE: A yeshivah is a Jewish institution for Torah study and the study of Talmud and generally cater to boys or men. A roughly equivalent women's institution is the midrasha.
Which was unusual itself in those days.
And she was asked the classic question:
"Can God make a stone so big that He Himself can not move it?"
Now, the Catholic and Jewish answer is:
"No, He would not make a stone so big that He could not move it...
Because, He has made creation as a mirror of His goodness."
Creation itself and natural law are extensions of God’s goodness.
It would be as if you stood in a mirror, raised your hand, and expected the reflection to lower its hand.
It just makes no sense.
That’s the Catholic and Jewish answer.
The Muslim and Protestant answer is:
"Yes, God could do that. He can do anything he wants."
I think this is something that a lot of people don’t know.
That the founders of the Reformation --- the reformers Calvin and Luther --- were very much influenced by Islamic thought that had come into the Christian world through Spain.
And Calvin especially, but Luther also, did not believe in free will.
And they believed that God, being absolutely sovereign, could do whatever He pleased.
Therefore, if God woke up on the wrong side of the bed...
Well, He could say that murder and adultery were good.
And they would be good.
So, the answer of Muslims and Protestants is YES --- God could make a stone so big that He Himself could not move it.
Well, this little Jewish girl in a yeshivah said, when asked the question:
"Can God make a stone so big that He Himself could not move it?"
She looked at her teachers and she said:
"Yes, He can. And He did --- the human heart."
And for that, she was thrown out of school.
God made a stone so big that He Himself cannot move it.
And that is --- the human heart --- in its freedom.
God has given us freedom.
And on the cross He subjected Himself --- to our freedom.
Well - why did God give us freedom?
Because freedom is the only necessary precondition for real love.
Your dog loves you.
I mean, there are a lot of dog owners here, aren't there?
And heaven forbid if anyone should say your dog doesn't really love you.
You are the giver of food, and possessor of the can opener, aren't you?
Your dog loves you.
And you know what?
Your dog’s love is more constant and more sincere than the love that most people you know have for you.
Your dog is always glad to see you when you come home.
And does not tell you that the laundry must be done.
Or the garbage must be taken out.
That dog loves you.
That dog does not love you in the way that you love.
That dog’s love is not predicated on freedom - whereas yours is.
The marriage vows that you took, were for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.
Where does the love come in?
Does it come in the better or the worse?
In the richer or the poorer?
In the sickness or in the health?
When you keep vigil at the sick bed of someone you love, you ask:
"Why am I doing this?"
Well, for love.
When you endure sorrow and suffering, the love that you offer is all the more bright for the darkness that surrounds it.
You know that.
So, God has given us freedom --- in order that we might love.
Now... are you listening?
This is a very un-understandable part of what I want to say this morning.
If Jesus is not the Son, the very Heart of God...
If Jesus is not the visible image of the invisible God.
If Jesus is not God's love made Flesh...
Then God is, in fact, a savage.
He is cruel beyond imagining.
It’s very quiet in here, isn't it?
Let me say that again...
If Jesus is not God’s love in the Flesh...
If God did not become man...
Then God is a savage as some people think He is.
If God had given us freedom.......
And then stood aloof from us...
And watched from heaven...
As some little boy standing over an ant hill with a magnifying glass.
You see --- Calvin and Luther, as I said, did not believe in freedom.
They believed, as do the Muslims, in complete predestination.
That God had created some people to show His love.
Us --- depending on who "us" is.
And He has created some people to show His justice.
Them --- whoever you want "them" to be.
Now Hitler and Stalin designated certain groups of people to suffer for a while in order to exterminate them.
But --- if Calvin and Luther and Mohammed were right...
Then God has created a group of people to suffer infinitely and eternally.
He makes Hitler look like a Boy Scout.
If God stands aloof from our suffering --- then God is truly a savage.
But God so loved the world, that He sent His only Son.
You know --- another fellow, who is also a Jew, fell madly in love with a young girl who was both Greek Orthodox and Charismatic.
I mean Greek Orthodox and Charismatic ! ! !
This was a convinced Christian.
But, as often happens, you fall in love with someone before you realize it’s a very bad idea.
Well, they came to see me.
And he was grieved because...
Had they children, though those children might be able to become Jewish through conversion; he could not pass down his name to them.
He was a Levite.
You see, Levites and priests, still have identities among Jews.
And they have special roles in certain services.
But because his children would be converted to Judaism, their mother, being a Gentile, he could not pass down his Levitical inheritance.
And I thought about it.
And I thought "You know you do things for people you love."
And in a sense, for love --- you part with your own inheritance.
And I said:
"Think about Abraham."
God asked that Abraham sacrifice his son --- for love.
And you know when you think about it, we Christians believe, I told this young man, that the sacrifice of Isaac and Abraham was not canceled.
We read the bible, and we think that God withheld the hand of Abraham permanently.
But He didn't.
Because you see, Jesus, if we are correct, was Son of God --- and son of Abraham.
Because --- you’re Jewish if your mother is Jewish.
And so because Mary was the daughter of Abraham...
Jesus was a son of Abraham.
It's as if God withheld Abraham’s hand, and said:
"Wait! Wait! We will do this together."
"You, Abraham, and I will sacrifice our Son."
That’s what I mean, when I say, if Jesus is not the very Heart of God...
God’s love in the flesh...
Then God stands aloof from the suffering of humanity.
But God does not stand aloof..
He enters into the heart of our sorrow.
And He subjects Himself to the evil which freedom perpetrates.
And He who is all powerful on the cross, becomes powerless.
And He is at the center, not only as God, but as Man.
He is the victim of the freedom He gave us.
500 years before His birth, the prophet Isaiah said to King Hezekiah:
"Behold! A virgin shall conceive, and you shall call His name Emmanuel - God is with us."
God is not the God that those who think of Him as arbitrary and aloof.
He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who accompanies us in every sorrow.
Sorrow and suffering being the price of love.
And because His sorrow and our sorrow are not separate...
Every tear is counted...
Every sorrow has meaning...
Every pain is dear to the heart of God...
His eye is on the sparrow.
And He watches you.
He is not distant from your sorrow.
But as you weep, He weeps.
And as you love, He loves.
God with us. Now...
He died --- He rose from the dead.
And He stood on the Mount of Olives, looking over his beloved city, Jerusalem, torn then, as now, with strife and war.
And He looked at his disciples and said:
"Behold, I am with you. All days --- until the end of the world."
And just as I believe that had God NOT descended to Earth...
To share our sorrows as the Person of Jesus of Nazareth...
I too believe, that if God were not present in each tabernacle, in the form of bread and wine...
Then Christ Jesus would have been a liar as He ascended to the Father.
He said: "I am with you all days."
And when He changed bread and wine into His body and blood, His humanity, His divinity, His real Presence....
He fulfilled His promise.
And He waits for you in every tabernacle.
And at every Sacrifice of the Mass, you join your sorrows to His, your weakness to His weakness, and His triumph will be yours.
It is the Sacrifice of the Mass --- that’s at this place, this morning, that you tie the sorrows of your heart to His heart.
And taking His flesh and blood into yourself, in the form of bread and wine, you become who He is.
And His sorrow and His joy --- become your sorrow and your joy.
Your sorrows become His --- inseparably and eternally.
God made two promises that we celebrate today on this feast of Corpus Christi:
He said the virgin shall conceive and be with child...
And you shall call his name Emmanuel --- God Is With Us!
And on the day of His Ascension, he fulfilled that promise and made it eternal...
Saying "Behold, it is I, Emmanuel. I am with you --- all days."
God is not arbitrary.
He is not cruel.
He embraces you in your sorrow and lifts you to His throne.
In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy Zwei

2010-05-28T08:44:00.001-06:00

Here's another one since the last one was snapped up in a NY minute. You guys are too smart.

Category: Great moments in history

Dante wrote this man into his Paradiso and called him a "Defender of the Faith" because if this man had failed, it is likely there would have been no Charlemagne, no Holy Roman Empire, no Papal States.

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

The first correct answer in the form of a question wins the highly coveted WKJ ribbon to display on your blog, cubicle or refrigerator door.

Thanks, Vincenzo, for the updated design:

Memorial Day Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2010-05-28T06:52:00.003-06:00

Wishing you all a happy and blessed Memorial Day weekend. Please remember past and present military in your prayers.

Category: Great places, great faces, not in South Dakota

Throughout its long history, this site has been home to several saints, and was visited by nobles, rulers and popes. It was destroyed by the Lombards around 585, by the Saracens in 884, by the Normans in 1046, by an earthquake in 1349, by Napoleon in 1799, and destroyed by American bombs in February of 1944.

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

The first correct answer in the form of a question wins the highly coveted WKJ ribbon to display on your blog, cubicle or refrigerator door.

Thanks, Vincenzo, for the updated design:

Cat head theatre

2010-05-27T20:07:00.002-06:00

Hamlet. Shakespeare was a Catlick.

For Mr. Nelson

Trinity Sunday

2010-05-26T08:25:00.003-06:00

Was surprised to hear that Lutherans recite the Athanasian creed, also known as Quicunque Vult or Fides Catholica, during their liturgy on Trinity Sunday. St. Athanasius most likely did not compose this creed himself. I had never even heard of this creed until recently after listening to stories about St. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, on the EPIC CDs and then reading a little on the saint myself. For me, with my Irish heritage, Trinity Sunday always reminds me of St. Patrick and the clover leaf.

St. Athanasius defended the Church's doctrine on the Trinity against Arianism. "God was not always Father" was how the heresy was summed up on EPIC.

It would be nice if our friends would come home to Rome instead of borrowing creeds, the Bible, etc!

Background on the Athanasian Creed from Wiki is below. The link also contains the text of the creed:

Composed of 44 rhythmic lines, the Athanasian Creed appears to have been intended as a liturgical document - that is, the original purpose of the creed was to be spoken or sung as a part of worship. The creed itself uses the language of public worship, speaking of the worship of God rather than the language of belief ("Now this is the catholic faith: We worship one God"). Among medieval European Christian churches, this creed was recited following the Sunday sermon or at the Sunday Office of Prime. The creed was often set to music and used in the place of a Psalm.

Early Protestants inherited the late medieval devotion to the Athanasian Creed, and it was considered to be authoritative in many Protestant churches. The statements of Protestant belief (confessional documents) of various Reformers commend the Athanasian Creed to their followers, including the Augsburg Confession, the Formula of Concord, the Second Helvetic Confession, the Belgic Confession, the Bohemian Confession and the Thirty-nine Articles. Among modern Lutheran and Reformed churches adherence to the Athanasian Creed is prescribed by the earlier confessional documents, but the creed does not receive much attention outside of occasional use - especially on Trinity Sunday.

In Reformed circles, it is included (for example) in the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia's Book of Forms (publ. 1991). That said, it is rarely recited in public worship.

In the successive Books of Common Prayer of the reformed Church of England from 1549 to 1662, its recitation was provided for on 19 occasions each year, a practice which continued until the nineteenth century, when vigorous controversy regarding its statement about 'eternal damnation' saw its use gradually decline. It remains one of the three Creeds approved in the Thirty-Nine Articles, and is printed in several current Anglican prayer books (e.g. A Prayer Book for Australia (1995)). As with Roman Catholic practice, its use is now generally only on Trinity Sunday or its octave.

In Roman Catholic churches, it was traditionally said at Prime on Sundays after Epiphany and Pentecost, except when a Double feast or day within an octave occurred, and on Trinity Sunday. In the 1960 reforms, it was reduced to once a year on Trinity Sunday. It has been effectively dropped from the Catholic liturgy since Vatican II, although it is retained in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. It is however maintained in the Forma Extraordinaria, per the decree Summorum Pontificum, and also in the rite of exorcism, both in the Forma Ordinaria and the Forma Extraordinaria of the Roman Rite.

In Lutheranism, the Athanasian Creed is—along with the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds—one of the three ecumenical creeds placed at the beginning of the 1580 Book of Concord, the historic collection of authoritative doctrinal statements (confessions) of the Lutheran church. It is still used in the liturgy on Trinity Sunday.

Hot fun in the summer time

2010-05-25T10:01:00.003-06:00

and thinking about First Holy Communion prep.

During this time of year most homeschooling families are doing two things...finishing the year and preparing for the next.

It's homeschool conference time again. Unfortunately, this year the MN Catholic Homeschool Conference is this weekend, Memorial Day. I've been to the conference every year since my son was a newborn. I love the conference, love the speakers, love the enthusiastic and encouraging vibe that helps inspire me to continue.

However, I hate that the conference is this weekend since we will be out of town. Serious case of withdrawl and mild depression has hit me. How will I get through deciding which curricula to use if I can't look at it in person? All the glorious old books I'll miss and the cool things I didn't know existed.

I do have most of my decisions made for next year, just haven't ordered anything yet. Am almost in tears that RC History is not out with the third year. But, am finally going to order the lapbooks I had been looking at for the last year or so.

Lapbooks for Catholics has wonderful lapbooks/faith folders. I had planned to get the Things I see at Mass faith folder last year, but am finally getting around to ordering it. And, since my son will receive his first Holy Communion and Confession next year, I need to begin prepping him for all that entails. But, what really makes it great is that Lapbooks for Catholics is offering a 50% discount until May 31, on your next order if you mention the site on your blog or Facebook. Perfect timing!!

Wishing all my friends a wonderful time at the conference. Wish I was there too!

The physics of Padre Pio

2010-05-24T12:47:00.008-06:00

Padre Pio was amazing. He was also kind of scary. I'm not sure I would want to know someone that could see the state of my soul and all my sins, providing the grace of sincere repentence. Excruciating.

How painful this must have been for him also.

His ability to bilocate has always peaked my curiosity. I can't seem to multi-task very well, but to be present in two locations at once, carry on different conversations - it's our "darkened by sin" definition of mind-bloggling. Remarkably, that was only one of his many charisms, which included the stigmata, miraculous scents, prophecy, reading hearts, healing and interpreting languages.

I was thinking about Padre Pio's ability to do the physically impossible recently while I was reading the book, similarly titled, Physics of the Impossible, A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation and Time Travel. The book, as far as I can tell since I'm only a few chapters into it, doesn't specifically address bilocation, which some physicists argue could be possible if string theory advanced further. Kind of like Mike TeeVee on Willy Wonka, except instead of getting sent from one place to another (teleportation), is actually in two places...or another. According to what we currently know for Padre Pio to bilocate, all the atoms in his body would have to coherently move together across space and time. Unfortunately, the foundation of quantum mechanics is based on (Heisenberg) uncertainty, probability (Schrodinger), and chance (Born), which present some difficulties in allowing Padre Pio to visit pilots in their flying aircraft or visit places like the US and the Holy Land, all while still in his room at San Giovanni Rotondo.

"As to how Padre Pio with God's help accomplished such feats, the closest he ever came to an explanation of bilocation was to say that it occurred 'by an extension of his personality.'" This makes perfect sense considering what we know from St. Thomas Aquinas and others about the nature of God. Interesting how God allows these small glimpses, graces, into the spiritual world while we struggle to explain and then bottle them.

Of all things seen and unseen
Some of the things discussed in the book are fascinating for Trekkies and Sci Fi fans, other things get a little "far out," dude.

And, some things mentioned may have even made for a better story:

To make Harry Potter invisible, one would have to liquefy him, boil him to create stream, crystallize him, heat him again, and then cool him, all of which would be quite difficult to accomplish, even for a wizard.

My kids want to be invisible. Somedays, I'd like to be invisible. It's something every mom should have a golden ticket to do once a year. But the reality, or "supernaturality," are difficult to grasp on so many levels.

Pope John Paul II, speaking in his General Audience 9 July 1986, on the topic of angels and the invisible, said, "We cannot conclude our catechesis on God, Creator of the world, without devoting adequate attention to a precise item of divine revelation, "the creation of purely spiritual beings which Sacred Scripture calls "angels." This creation appears clearly in the creeds, especially in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed: "I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, of all things (that is entia or beings) seen and unseen." We know that man enjoys a unique position within the sphere of creation. By his body he belongs to the visible world, while by his spiritual soul which vivifies the body, he is as it were on the boundary between the visible and invisible creation. According to the creed which the Church professes in the light of revelation, other beings which are purely spiritual belong to the invisible creation. Therefore they are not proper to the visible world, even though present and working therein. They constitute a world apart."

If I can't be invisible or bilocate, at least, for the sake of homeschooling moms, let holodecks be possible.

Photo: Cathedral by Jacek Yerka

Lemon curd and clotted cream

2010-05-24T09:25:00.005-06:00

I survived my first Little Flowers tea last week. It was quite nice. We had scones, finger sandwiches, dainty desserts, clotted cream, salads, etc.

If you're not familiar, Little Flowers is a Catholic girls group, "based on learning Catholic virtues through the lives of Catholic saints, Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church...the Club strives to bring the Catholic faith alive and inspire the girls to become authentic Catholic women."

I did try the clotted cream, so did my daughter. She thought it was her beloved whipped cream and took a whole mouthful. I only wish I had a camera for the horrified look on her face.

And, there were a slew of etiquette rules to observe during the tea. Rule 12 should be amended to say:
"Have a clean handkerchief or tissue in your pocket in case you need to very slightly blow your nose OR SPIT OUT THE CURSED CLOTTED CREAM."

Aside from learning the virtues, we really need to work on our etiquette.

Today's garage sale find

2010-05-21T10:01:00.001-06:00

Fitting in with the Medieval period we are learning about:

Lionheart is a simple wargame that is like chess but with dice rolls that determine the success or failure of a capture move. There are seven different units: King, Knight, Archer, Heavy Infantry, Infantry, Mercenary, and Peasant. Each turn players can perform any 2 actions: move, turn, or attack. Foot units move one square forward per action. Mounted units move as many unblocked squares in front of them as they like. Units attack the square they are facing (archers attack an area of squares in front of them). Attacks are resolved by rolling the combat dice. Each appropriate symbol rolled (axes or arrows) counts as a "hit". Scoring more hits than the target has hit points removes some of the units (miniatures) from the target army. The winner is the player who eliminates his opponent's King or eliminates every other warrior in his opponent's army leaving the King standing alone on the field of battle.

Rejuvenated Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2010-05-21T07:07:00.004-06:00

After a long hiatus, WKJ has returned. If you haven't played before, just imagine yourself standing along side Sean Connery; you can do this!

Category: Countries

Known as Mary's Dowry, Pope Leo XIII recalled, "the 'wonderful filial love which burnt within the hearts of your forefathers towards the get Mother of God...to whose service they consecrated themselves with such abundant proofs of devotion, that the [country] itself acquired the singular title of Mary's Dowry."

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

The first correct answer in the form of a question wins the highly coveted WKJ ribbon to display on your blog, cubicle or refrigerator door.

My Dear Wormwood

2010-05-20T14:51:00.002-06:00

If only the sound on my computer worked...John Cleese reading C.S Lewis', The Screwtape Letters.

Or try here.

Putting aside childish ways

2010-05-20T07:07:00.003-06:00

Don't the things your kids do just tug at your heart? My son is riding his bike without training wheels. The big event should've happened last summer, but hubby didn't want to take the trainers off since my son was a bit apprehensive. This spring my son got on the bike and took off sans training wheels.

He also started reading. I mean really reading. He went from hating studying phonics each day to reading chapter books, all in a few short months. As a child, I never read books like that. He's reading all day...without me suggesting and certainly without me asking. Hoping this phase lasts longer than a week.

He's learning piano and has now asked to learn guitar. First he needs to practice the piano more than five minutes before each lesson.

It's amazing how we are wired to learn.

"I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like"
~ Queen, Bicycle Race

Alphabet soup

2010-05-19T08:21:00.009-06:00

I'm growing weary reviewing Protestant resources for use in my homeschool. I try to use Catholic sources, but my favorite Catholic history author hasn't come out with her third book in the series...yet. I've used the first two books, but without the third currently available, it's on to Plan B.

The very popular, Story of the World, has been used by homeschoolers of all different faiths for many years. I, myself, own the SotW CDs for the second series for children, but they have a definite Protestant bent and I haven't even played some of the chapters for my kids (ages 4 and 6) since my little ones need a better background in history, including Church history, to understand the full and complex context of the period. The British defeat of the Spanish Armada was not a good thing from a Catholic Perspective. The adjectives used for Martin Luther are not those I would've picked. Good Queen Bess?

But, it wasn't until I started reading the adult-version, The History of the Medieval World, by the same author, that I really bristled. My education in history was quite poor. I'm not a historian, but am trying to make up for lost time and stay ahead of the game to properly instruct my kids. The author and I do share that in common - we're not historians.

Leo did not depend only on this letter to establish his authority. He appealed to the throne, and in 445, Valentinian III (still dominated politically by his magister militum Aetius) agreed to make a formal official decree that recognized the bishop of Rome as the official head of the entire Christian church. Leo the Great, the bishop of Rome, had become the first pope.

The History of the Medieval World, p. 110

Guess many of the writings from the Church Fathers, like St. Clement, St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Polycarp, etc., are considered historically apocryphal and have been removed from the canon of time.

It continues along these lines.

Dioscorus was just as suspicious of Leo the Great, and he tried to flex some theological muscle in return. Although both men were monophysites ("one nature" supporters), Dioscorus's version of monophysitism was more extreme than Leo's; he insisted that "the two natures of Christ became a single divine nature at the incarnation," an interpretation that almost veered back over into heresy again, since it tended to remove Christ's humanity from view.

The History of the Medieval World, pps. 110-111

Really? Pope St. Leo the Great was a monophysite? Maybe a brief look at just one of Pope St. Leo's writings would've helped.

Time for Plan C.

Vincenzo's family photos

2010-05-17T21:13:00.006-06:00

For those of you wondering what Vincenzo really looks like.

To see more of the family go to: Monkeys Are Great Posers – An Outstanding Photography by Jill Greenberg

Ease on down the road

2010-05-17T17:43:00.009-06:00

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.

With Pentecost coming this weekend, the First Reading always reminds me of my time as a Charismatic. It was my mother and father that took me to my first Catholic Charismatic prayer meeting, but I continued on with the group long after my parents made the unlikely transition to Third Order Carmelites. Every year, as I'm sharply reminded of the gymnasium prayer meetings, I struggle to understand exactly what I was involved in.

Apparently, even though the term "slain in the Spirit" post-dated my time in the movement, these experiences happened without the formal definition, along with speaking in tongues, intercessory prayer, laying on of hands, interpretation of tongues, etc. While I certainly believe the Holy Spirit can give His gifts to whomever He chooses, I still question why more people aren't slain at Mass or why the Charismatics seem to be the only ones speaking/praying in tongues?

Over the years, I've asked a few priests about the things I experienced while I was a Charismatic and have yet to receive a good answer. One priest did tell me something along the lines of the addage, "holiness attracts." In this case, things that are holy shouldn't confuse or make one feel uneasy. Considering the confusion and discomfort I have about these events so many years later, does that imply they were brought about by group dynamics, my own zeal, desire to be part of the group or something else? It's not usual advice from a priest to suggest you "trust your gut."

Back then, trusting my gut told me that I was part of a group who "got it." We had special insight. We were alive in the Spirit, especially compared to more traditional Catholics. But, just because it had a Catholic label didn't mean it was a good place to be. Several close friends, members of the "youth group" to which I belonged, became pregnant while in high school. Adult leaders dated youth members. We got together to watch "left behind" style movies that clashed with Church teaching. Few kids held on to their faith.

It was during this time that my father asked me if I wanted to attend one of the Charismatic group functions because of my desire "to be with Jesus" or to be with my friends. I didn't lie; I told him to be with friends. There's no doubt in my mind that my friends were there for the same reason. As my kids get older, I think I will be cautious about them getting involved in similar Catholic social groups. While I want my kids to incorporate religion into all aspects of their lives and to share it with their friends, my experience is that some of these groups tend to be heavy on the social and very light, superficial, or even plain wrong, on Catholic teaching.

I left the Charismatics, just as my parents had done, for the Carmelites. If it is at all possible that Catholicism can be thought of as linear, I moved from one end of the spectrum to the other. Something about being quiet and still made more sense to me. Ironically, I learned I really didn't know much about my faith, God or myself. However, I still haven't figured out if my time as a Charismatic was part of the path or a tangent.

Coffee lovers...

2010-05-17T13:36:00.003-06:00

here's some SUGAR. Boeing's Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research aircraft.

Beauty of Future Airplanes is More than Skin Deep

An 18-month NASA research effort to visualize the passenger airplanes of the future has produced some ideas that at first glance may appear to be old fashioned. Instead of exotic new designs seemingly borrowed from science fiction, familiar shapes dominate the pages of advanced concept studies which four industry teams completed for NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Program in April 2010.

Look more closely at these concepts for airplanes that may enter service 20 to 25 years from now and you'll see things that are quite different from the aircraft of today.

Just beneath the skin of these concepts lie breakthrough airframe and propulsion technologies designed to help the commercial aircraft of tomorrow fly significantly quieter, cleaner, and more fuel-efficiently, with more passenger comfort, and to more of America's airports.

You may see ultramodern shape memory alloys, ceramic or fiber composites, carbon nanotube or fiber optic cabling, self-healing skin, hybrid electric engines, folding wings, double fuselages and virtual reality windows.

LINK

Free online grammar check

2010-05-16T18:08:00.007-06:00

Moments prior to my receiving Communion from a jock in shorts and flip-flops, the Liturgical Director led us in singing the Agnus Dei:

Lamb of God, you take away sins of the world,
have mercies on us,
Lamb of God, you take away sins of the world,
have mercies on us,
Lamb of God, you take away sins of the world,
grant us peace.

I argue that the last word, befittingly, should be the plural "pieces."

Not my usual parish.

Thank you

2010-05-16T17:22:00.004-06:00

It really is a Sally Field moment. Thank you, my street-fighter friends in Chicago, for your voting prowess.

In my defense, blogging lost out to watching Dancing with the Stars and homeschooling my kids (sometimes simultaneously). And, the other fact that I am fickle and never stick with most things. I will try to do better.

On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.
Hooyah.

Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2010-01-23T07:45:00.002-06:00

Not to disappoint Ray, even though he already was disappointed I didn't have this up earlier, here is the latest installment of WKJ. At least this question immediately narrows it down to just a few.

Category: Apostles

This apostle, who deemed himself unworthy to be crucified on the same type of cross as Christ, asked to be tied to a Crux decussata or an X shaped cross.

Bonus (easy once you know the apostle): which country bears this symbol on their provincial flag (coat of arms you could say).

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

For all those with the day off...

2010-01-18T10:58:00.002-06:00

some Dino.

My computer's sound is working again, at least for the moment, so I was finally able to see this video. There's some commercial on TV currently that uses this song, not sung by Dino, so had to find this version for myself. Nothing compares to Dino!

First Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy of the year

2010-01-15T21:04:00.003-06:00

Bowing to overwhelming pressure, here is Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy.

Category: Emperors

This infamous emperor was more commonly known by his nickname, which translates (roughly) to "baby boots." Bonus points if you know his full given name (without looking it up, that is).

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

Coming this January...

2009-12-30T19:53:00.002-06:00

DSL

Thank you Santa!!!!

Until then, St. Monica is on sabbatical making a list of all the websites she plans to visit once her DSL is hooked up. Yee ha!

Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2009-12-05T14:21:00.002-06:00

Sorry, it's a busy time of year. I've been cooking all day and now my MIL is here, so here's all I can muster.

Category: Card sharks

This popular 19th century game, also known as the "Curse of Scotland," bears the name of a much disputed figure in Church history.

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

Civic duty

2009-11-21T08:18:00.002-06:00

Alleluia!!!!!!!!!!!!

I found out just before dinner time last night that I don't have jury duty next week!!!!!!!!!!!! I can hear the angels singing!!!!!!!!

The frustrating thing is that my daughter was just getting off the bus from school and I couldn't get the lady from the district court to hold on while I pulled my daughter off the bus. I literally had my cell phone in one hand while I scooped up my daughter with my other arm and pulled her off the bus. Am sure the bus aide and the driver thought I was the rudest person in the world that I couldn't put the phone down for a minute.

But, if you were "randomly selected" to be excused from jury duty, you'd be listening pretty closely. I couldn't understand exactly why I was being released (I think it had to do with few cases on the docket next week, so my evil plan worked), but the bad news is my name now goes back in the pool and I can be called again.

Curses.

Honestly, truth be told, I would love to get on a case and see how everything works, but NOT when I have two little ones at home...and am trying to homeschool them.

What a relief. One more thing to be thankful for.

Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2009-11-21T08:12:00.002-06:00

Category: Christendom

During the 14th century, this was the last mainland European country to officially convert to Christianity.

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

Never let the water run

2009-11-17T07:49:00.003-06:00

There was a period when my daughter was quite little that we watched Barney. My son, being only two years older, appreciated Barney more than she did. I figured it was my parental obligation to not bash the inane songs and goofy dancing segments. As a child, I had sometimes watched Sesame Street and Electric Company, so my kids should have the same time-wasting opportunity. However, I drew the line at Teletubbies, the brain-numbing creatures I consider children's slap-stick.

In the short time we allowed Barney to infiltrate our home, I remember a few of the songs he sang. One was "Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere..." And, another about brushing teeth that instructed children, in an attempt to save the planet, to "Never let the water run."

Branded into my brain are both tunes and they pop up in the weirdest places.

Yesterday a cousin confided in me that she is getting a divorce. I was totally caught off-guard. They have been married about 25 years and have four kids.

During her story, all I could hear in my head was the Barney tune, but the lyrics were not about brushing teeth. Instead, permeating the strange workings of my mind, was the tooth-brushing melody, but the lyrics were, "Never let the devil in."

More background. This cousin's parents had been married forever. She is one of eight children. All were raised Catholic and attended Catholic grade school. All eight have been married. Seven of the eight are divorced, some multiple times.

This is nearly an 88% divorce rate in one family. Higher if you count the multiple marriages.

The youngest of the family is only recently married, so pray she escapes the odds.

Everyone has free will, but the poor choices of parents dramatically affect their children. Behind the scenes of this family was abuse, alcoholism, and probably other things that aren't known beyond their front door. The dysfunction of the parents cascades down through the family.

Never let the devil in.

Last things

2009-11-16T08:24:00.003-06:00

Thoughts of my aunt very well expressed by John Cardinal Henry Newman. Sorry, it is quite long, but you just can't edit or paraphase this sort of thing. I plan to visit her again today. Please keep her in your prayers.

The Dream of Gerontius

Gerontius
JESU, MARIA—I am near to death,
And Thou art calling me; I know it now.
Not by the token of this faltering breath,
This chill at heart, this dampness on my brow,—
(Jesu, have mercy! Mary, pray for me!)
'Tis this new feeling, never felt before,
(Be with me, Lord, in my extremity!)
That I am going, that I am no more.
'Tis this strange innermost abandonment,
(Lover of souls! great God! I look to Thee,)
This emptying out of each constituent
And natural force, by which I come to be.
Pray for me, O my friends; a visitant
Is knocking his dire summons at my door,
The like of whom, to scare me and to daunt,
Has never, never come to me before;
'Tis death,—O loving friends, your prayers!-'tis
he! …
As though my very being had given way,
As though I was no more a substance now,
And could fall back on nought to be my stay,
(Help, loving Lord! Thou my sole Refuge,
Thou,)
And turn no whither, but must needs decay
And drop from out the universal frame
Into that shapeless, scopeless, blank abyss,
That utter nothingness, of which I came:
This is it that has come to pass in me;
Oh, horror! this it is, my dearest, this;
So pray for me, my friends, who have not strength
to pray.

Assistants
Kyrie eleïson, Christe eleïson, Kyrie eleïson.
Holy Mary, pray for him.
All holy Angels, pray for him.
Choirs of the righteous, pray for him.
Holy Abraham, pray for him.
St. John Baptist, St. Joseph, pray for him.
St. Peter, St. Paul, St Andrew, St. John,
All Apostles, all Evangelists, pray for him.
All holy Disciples of the Lord, pray for him.
All holy Innocents, pray for him.
All holy Martyrs, all holy Confessors,
All holy Hermits, all holy Virgins,

Gerontius
Rouse thee, my fainting soul, and play the man;
And through such waning span
Of life and thought as still has to be trod,
Prepare to meet thy God.
And while the storm of that bewilderment
Is for a season spent,
And, ere afresh the ruin on me fall,
Use well the interval.

Assistants
Be merciful, be gracious; spare him, Lord.
Be merciful, be gracious; Lord, deliver him.
From the sins that are past;
From Thy frown and Thine ire;
From the perils of dying;
From any complying
With sin, or denying
His God, or relying
On self, at the last;
From the nethermost fire;
From all that is evil;
From power of the devil;
Thy servant deliver,
For once and for ever.

By Thy birth, and by Thy Cross,
Rescue him from endless loss;
By Thy death and burial,
Save him from a final fall;
By Thy rising from the tomb,
By Thy mounting up above,
By the Spirit's gracious love,
Save him in the day of doom.

Gerontius
Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus,
De profundis oro te,
Miserere, Judex meus,
Parce mihi, Domine.
Firmly I believe and truly
God is three, and God is One;
And I next acknowledge duly
Manhood taken by the Son.
And I trust and hope most fully
In that Manhood crucified;
And each thought and deed unruly
Do to death, as He has died.
Simply to His grace and wholly
Light and life and strength belong,
And I love, supremely, solely,
Him the holy, Him the strong.
Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus,
De profundis oro te,
Miserere, Judex meus,
Parce mihi, Domine.
And I hold in veneration,
For the love of Him alone,
Holy Church, as His creation,
And her teachings, as His own.
And I take with joy whatever
Now besets me, pain or fear,
And with a strong will I sever
All the ties which bind me here.
Adoration aye be given,
With and through the angelic host,
To the God of earth and heaven,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Sanctus fortis, Sanctus Deus,
De profundis oro te,
Miserere, Judex meus,
Mortis in discrimine.

I can no more; for now it comes again,
That sense of ruin, which is worse than pain,
That masterful negation and collapse
Of all that makes me man; as though I bent
Over the dizzy brink
Of some sheer infinite descent;
Or worse, as though
Down, down for ever I was falling through
The solid framework of created things,
And needs must sink and sink
Into the vast abyss. And, crueller still,
A fierce and restless fright begins to fill
The mansion of my soul. And, worse and worse,
Some bodily form of ill
Floats on the wind, with many a loathsome curse
Tainting the hallow'd air, and laughs, and flaps
Its hideous wings,
And makes me wild with horror and dismay.
O Jesu, help! pray for me, Mary, pray!
Some Angel, Jesu! such as came to Thee
In Thine own agony …
Mary, pray for me. Joseph, pray for me. Mary,
pray for me.

Assistants
Rescue him, O Lord, in this his evil hour,
As of old so many by Thy gracious power:—
(Amen.)
Enoch and Elias from the common doom; (Amen.)
Noe from the waters in a saving home; (Amen.)
Abraham from th' abounding guilt of Heathenesse;
(Amen.)
Job from all his multiform and fell distress;
(Amen.)
Isaac, when his father's knife was raised to slay;
(Amen.)
Lot from burning Sodom on its judgment-day;
(Amen.)
Moses from the land of bondage and despair;
(Amen.)
Daniel from the hungry lions in their lair;
(Amen.)
And the Children Three amid the furnace-flame;
(Amen.)
Chaste Susanna from the slander and the shame;
(Amen.)
David from Golia and the wrath of Saul;
(Amen.)
And the two Apostles from their prison-thrall;
(Amen.)
Thecla from her torments; (Amen:)
—so to show Thy power,
Rescue this Thy servant in his evil hour.

Gerontius
Novissima hora est; and I fain would sleep.
The pain has weaned me ... Into Thy hands,
O Lord, into Thy hands ...

The Priest
Proficiscere, anima Christiana, de hoc mundo!
Go forth upon thy journey, Christian soul!
Go from this world! Go, in the Name of God
The Omnipotent Father, who created thee!
Go, in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord,
Son of the living God, who bled for thee!
Go, in the Name of the Holy Spirit, who
Hath been pour'd out on thee! Go, in the name
Of Angels and Archangels; in the name
Of Thrones and Dominations; in the name
Of Princedoms and of Powers; and in the name
Of Cherubim and Seraphim, go forth!
Go, in the name of Patriarchs and Prophets;
And of Apostles and Evangelists,
Of Martyrs and Confessors; in the name
Of holy Monks and Hermits; in the name
Of Holy Virgins; and all Saints of God,
Both men and women, go! Go on thy course;
And may thy place today be found in peace,
And may thy dwelling be the Holy Mount
Of Sion:—through the Same, through Christ, our Lord.

Soul of Gerontius
I went to sleep; and now I am refresh'd,
A strange refreshment: for I feel in me
An inexpressive lightness, and a sense
Of freedom, as I were at length myself,
And ne'er had been before. How still it is!
I hear no more the busy beat of time,
No, nor my fluttering breath, nor struggling pulse;
Nor does one moment differ from the next.
I had a dream; yes:—some one softly said
"He's gone;" and then a sigh went round the room.
And then I surely heard a priestly voice
Cry "Subvenite;" and they knelt in prayer.
I seem to hear him still; but thin and low,
And fainter and more faint the accents come,
As at an ever-widening interval.
Ah ! whence is this? What is this severance?
This silence pours a solitariness
Into the very essence of my soul;
And the deep rest, so soothing and so sweet,
Hath something too of sternness and of pain.
For it drives back my thoughts upon their spring
By a strange introversion, and perforce
I now begin to feed upon myself,
Because I have nought else to feed upon.—

Am I alive or dead? I am not dead,
But in the body still; for I possess
A sort of confidence which clings to me,
That each particular organ holds its place
As heretofore, combining with the rest
Into one symmetry, that wraps me round,
And makes me man; and surely I could move,
Did I but will it, every part of me.
And yet I cannot to my sense bring home
By very trial, that I have the power.
'Tis strange; I cannot stir a hand or foot,
I cannot make my fingers or my lips
By mutual pressure witness each to each,
Nor by the eyelid's instantaneous stroke
Assure myself I have a body still.
Nor do I know my very attitude,
Nor if I stand, or lie, or sit, or kneel.

So much I know, not knowing how I know,
That the vast universe, where I have dwelt,
Is quitting me, or I am quitting it.
Or I or it is rushing on the wings
Of light or lightning on an onward course,
And we e'en now are million miles apart.
Yet ... is this peremptory severance
Wrought out in lengthening measurements of space
Which grow and multiply by speed and time?
Or am I traversing infinity
By endless subdivision, hurrying back
From finite towards infinitesimal,
Thus dying out of the expansive world?

Another marvel: some one has me fast
Within his ample palm; 'tis not a grasp
Such as they use on earth, but all around
Over the surface of my subtle being,
As though I were a sphere, and capable
To be accosted thus, a uniform
And gentle pressure tells me I am not
Self-moving, but borne forward on my way.
And hark! I hear a singing; yet in sooth
I cannot of that music rightly say
Whether I hear, or touch, or taste the tones.
Oh, what a heart-subduing melody!

Angel
My work is done,
My task is o'er,
And so I come,
Taking it home,
For the crown is won,
Alleluia,
For evermore.

My Father gave
In charge to me
This child of earth
E'en from its birth,
To serve and save,
Alleluia,
And saved is he.

This child of clay
To me was given,
To rear and train
By sorrow and pain
In the narrow way,
Alleluia,
From earth to heaven.

Soul
It is a member of that family
Of wondrous beings, who, ere the worlds were
made,
Millions of ages back, have stood around
The throne of God:—he never has known sin
But through those cycles all but infinite,
Has had a strong and pure celestial life,
And bore to gaze on the unveil'd face of God,
And drank from the everlasting Fount of truth,
And served Him with a keen ecstatic love.
Hark! he begins again.

Angel
O Lord, how wonderful in depth and height,
But most in man, how wonderful Thou art!
With what a love, what soft persuasive might
Victorious o'er the stubborn fleshly heart,
Thy tale complete of saints Thou dost provide,
To fill the thrones which angels lost through pride!

He lay a grovelling babe upon the ground,
Polluted in the blood of his first sire,
With his whole essence shatter'd and unsound,
And coil'd around his heart a demon dire,
Which was not of his nature, but had skill
To bind and form his op'ning mind to ill.

Then was I sent from heaven to set right
The balance in his soul of truth and sin,
And I have waged a long relentless fight,
Resolved that death-environ'd spirit to win,
Which from its fallen state, when all was lost,
Had been repurchased at so dread a cost.

Oh, what a shifting parti-colour'd scene
Of hope and fear, of triumph and dismay,
Of recklessness and penitence, has been
The history of that dreary, life-long fray!
And oh, the grace to nerve him and to lead,
How patient, prompt, and lavish at his need!

O man, strange composite of heaven and earth!
Majesty dwarf'd to baseness! fragrant flower
Running to poisonous seed! and seeming worth
Cloking corruption! weakness mastering power!
Who never art so near to crime and shame,
As when thou hast achieved some deed of name;—

How should ethereal natures comprehend
A thing made up of spirit and of clay,
Were we not task'd to nurse it and to tend,
Link'd one to one throughout its mortal day?
More than the Seraph in his height of place,
The Angel-guardian knows and loves the ran-
som'd race.

Soul
Now know I surely that I am at length
Out of the body; had I part with earth,
I never could have drunk those accents in,
And not have worshipp'd as a god the voice
That was so musical; but now I am
So whole of heart, so calm, so self-possess'd,
With such a full content, and with a sense
So apprehensive and discriminant,
As no temptation can intoxicate.
Nor have I even terror at the thought
That I am clasp'd by such a saintliness.

Angel
All praise to Him, at whose sublime decree
The last are first, the first become the last;
By whom the suppliant prisoner is set free,
By whom proud first-borns from their thrones
are cast;
Who raises Mary to be Queen of heaven,
While Lucifer is left, condemn'd and unforgiven.

Soul
I will address him. Mighty one, my Lord,
My Guardian Spirit, all hail!

Angel
All hail, my child!
My child and brother, hail! what wouldest thou?

Soul
I would have nothing but to speak with thee
For speaking's sake. I wish to hold with thee
Conscious communion; though I fain would know
A maze of things, were it but meet to ask,
And not a curiousness.

Angel
You cannot now
Cherish a wish which ought not to be wish'd.

Soul
Then I will speak. I ever had believed
That on the moment when the struggling soul
Quitted its mortal case, forthwith it fell
Under the awful Presence of its God,
There to be judged and sent to its own place.
What lets me now from going to my Lord?

Angel
Thou art not let; but with extremest speed
Art hurrying to the Just and Holy Judge:
For scarcely art thou disembodied yet.
Divide a moment, as men measure time,
Into its million-million-millionth part,
Yet even less than that the interval
Since thou didst leave the body; and the priest
Cried "Subvenite," and they fell to prayer;
Nay, scarcely yet have they begun to pray.

For spirits and men by different standards mete
The less and greater in the flow of time.
By sun and moon, primeval ordinances—
By stars which rise and set harmoniously—
By the recurring seasons, and the swing,
This way and that, of the suspended rod
Precise and punctual, men divide the hours,
Equal, continuous, for their common use.
Not so with us in the immaterial world;
But intervals in their succession
Are measured by the living thought alone,
And grow or wane with its intensity.
And time is not a common property;
But what is long is short, and swift is slow,
And near is distant, as received and grasp'd
By this mind and by that, and every one
Is standard of his own chronology.
And memory lacks its natural resting-points
Of years, and centuries, and periods.
It is thy very energy of thought
Which keeps thee from thy God.

Soul
Dear Angel, say,
Why have I now no fear at meeting Him?
Along my earthly life, the thought of death
And judgment was to me most terrible.
I had it aye before me, and I saw
The Judge severe e'en in the Crucifix.
Now that the hour is come, my fear is fled;
And at this balance of my destiny,
Now close upon me, I can forward look
With a serenest joy.

Angel
It is because
Then thou didst fear, that now thou dost not fear,
Thou hast forestall'd the agony, and so
For thee the bitterness of death is past.
Also, because already in thy soul
The judgment is begun. That day of doom,
One and the same for the collected world,—
That solemn consummation for all flesh,
Is, in the case of each, anticipate
Upon his death; and, as the last great day
In the particular judgment is rehearsed,
So now, too, ere thou comest to the Throne,
A presage falls upon thee, as a ray
Straight from the Judge, expressive of thy lot.
That calm and joy uprising in thy soul
Is first-fruit to thee of thy recompense,
And heaven begun.

Soul
But hark! upon my sense
Comes a fierce hubbub, which would make me fear
Could I be frighted.

Angel
We are now arrived
Close on the judgment-court; that sullen howl
Is from the demons who assemble there.
It is the middle region, where of old
Satan appeared among the sons of God,
To cast his jibes and scoffs at holy Job.
So now his legions throng the vestibule,
Hungry and wild, to claim their property,
And gather souls for hell. Hist to their cry.

Soul
How sour and how uncouth a dissonance!

Demons
Low-born clods
Of brute earth
They aspire
To become gods,
By a new birth,
And an extra grace,
And a score of merits,
As if aught
Could stand in place
Of the high thought,
And the glance of fire
Of the great spirits,
The powers blest,
The lords by right,
The primal owners,
Of the proud dwelling
And realm of light,—
Dispossess'd,
Aside thrust,
Chuck'd down
By the sheer might
Of a despot's will,
Of a tyrant's frown,
Who after expelling
Their hosts, gave,
Triumphant still,
And still unjust,
Each forfeit crown
To psalm-droners,
And canting groaners,
To every slave,
And pious cheat,
And crawling knave,
Who lick'd the dust
Under his feet.

Angel
It is the restless panting of their being;
Like beasts of prey, who, caged within their bars,
In a deep hideous purring have their life,
And an incessant pacing to and fro.

Demons
The mind bold
And independent,
The purpose free,
So we are told,
Must not think
To have the ascendant
What's a saint?
One whose breath
Doth the air taint
Before his death;
A bundle of bones,
Which fools adore,
Ha! ha!
When life is o'er;
Which rattle and stink,
E'en in the flesh.
We cry his pardon!
No flesh hath he;
Ha! ha!
For it hath died,
'Tis crucified
Day by day,
Afresh, afresh,
Ha! ha!
That holy clay,
Ha! ha!
This gains guerdon,
So priestlings prate,
Ha! ha!
Before the Judge,
And pleads and atones
For spite and grudge,
And bigot mood,
And envy and hate,
And greed of blood.

Soul
How impotent they are! and yet on earth
They have repute for wondrous power and skill;
And books describe, how that the very face
Of the Evil One, if seen, would have a force
Even to freeze the blood, and choke the life
Of him who saw it.

Angel
In thy trial-state
Thou hadst a traitor nestling close at home,
Connatural, who with the powers of hell
Was leagued, and of thy senses kept the keys,
And to that deadliest foe unlock'd thy heart.
And therefore is it, in respect of man,
Those fallen ones show so majestical.
But, when some child of grace, Angel or Saint,
Pure and upright in his integrity
Of nature, meets the demons on their raid,
They scud away as cowards from the fight.
Nay, oft hath holy hermit in his cell,
Not yet disburden'd of mortality,
Mock'd at their threats and warlike overtures;
Or, dying, when they swarm'd, like flies, around,
Defied them, and departed to his Judge.

Demons
Virtue and vice,
A knave's pretence,
'Tis all the same;
Ha! ha!
Dread of hell-fire,
Of the venomous flame,
A coward's plea.
Give him his price,
Saint though he be,
Ha! ha!
From shrewd good sense
He'll slave for hire
Ha! ha!
And does but aspire
To the heaven above
With sordid aim,
And not from love.
Ha! ha!

Soul
I see not those false spirits; shall I see
My dearest Master, when I reach His Throne?
Or hear, at least, His awful judgment-word
With personal intonation, as I now
Hear thee, not see thee, Angel? Hitherto
All has been darkness since I left the earth;
Shall I remain thus sight-bereft all through
My penance-time? If so, how comes it then
That I have hearing still, and taste, and touch,
Yet not a glimmer of that princely sense
Which binds ideas in one, and makes them live?

Angel
Nor touch, nor taste, nor hearing hast thou now;
Thou livest in a world of signs and types,
The presentations of most holy truths,
Living and strong, which now encompass thee.
A disembodied soul, thou hast by right
No converse with aught else beside thyself;
But, lest so stern a solitude should load
And break thy being, in mercy are vouchsafed
Some lower measures of perception,
Which seem to thee, as though through channels brought,
Through ear, or nerves, or palate, which are gone.
And thou art wrapp'd and swathed around in dreams,
Dreams that are true, yet enigmatical;
For the belongings of thy present state,
Save through such symbols, come not home to thee.
And thus thou tell'st of space, and time, and size,
Of fragrant, solid, bitter, musical,
Of fire, and of refreshment after fire;
As (let me use similitude of earth,
To aid thee in the knowledge thou dost ask)—
As ice which blisters may be said to burn.
Nor hast thou now extension, with its parts
Correlative,—long habit cozens thee,—
Nor power to move thyself, nor limbs to move.
Hast thou not heard of those, who after loss
Of hand or foot, still cried that they had pains
In hand or foot, as though they had it still?
So is it now with thee, who hast not lost
Thy hand or foot, but all which made up man.
So will it be, until the joyous day
Of resurrection, when thou wilt regain
All thou hast lost, new-made and glorified.
How, even now, the consummated Saints
See God in heaven, I may not explicate;
Meanwhile, let it suffice thee to possess
Such means of converse as are granted thee,
Though, till that Beatific Vision, thou art blind;
For e'en thy purgatory, which comes like fire,
Is fire without its light.

Soul
His will be done!
I am not worthy e'er to see again
The face of day; far less His countenance,
Who is the very sun. Natheless in life,
When I looked forward to my purgatory,
It ever was my solace to believe,
That, ere I plunged amid the avenging flame,
I had one sight of Him to strengthen me.

Angel
Nor rash nor vain is that presentiment;
Yes,—for one moment thou shalt see thy Lord.
Thus will it be: what time thou art arraign'd
Before the dread tribunal, and thy lot
Is cast for ever, should it be to sit
On His right hand among His pure elect,
Then sight, or that which to the soul is sight,
As by a lightning-flash, will come to thee,
And thou shalt see, amid the dark profound,
Whom thy soul loveth, and would fain approach,—
One moment; but thou knowest not, my child,
What thou dost ask: that sight of the Most Fair
Will gladden thee, but it will pierce thee too.

Soul
Thou speakest darkly, Angel; and an awe
Falls on me, and a fear lest I be rash.

Angel
There was a mortal, who is now above
In the mid glory: he, when near to die,
Was given communion with the Crucified,—
Such, that the Master's very wounds were stamp'd
Upon his flesh; and, from the agony
Which thrill'd through body and soul in that embrace,
Learn that the flame of the Everlasting Love
Doth burn ere it transform ...

.... Hark to those sounds!
They come of tender beings angelical,
Least and most childlike of the Sons of God.

First Choir of Angelicals
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise:
In all His words most wonderful;
Most sure in all His ways!

To us His elder race He gave
To battle and to win,
Without the chastisement of pain,
Without the soil of sin.

The younger son He will'd to be
A marvel in His birth:
Spirit and flesh his parents were;
His home was heaven and earth.

The Eternal bless'd His child, and arm'd,
And sent him hence afar,
To serve as champion in the field
Of elemental war.

To be His Viceroy in the world
Of matter, and of sense;
Upon the frontier, towards the foe
A resolute defence.

Angel
We now have pass'd the gate, and are within
The House of Judgment; and whereas on earth
Temples and palaces are form'd of parts
Costly and rare, but all material,
So in the world of spirits nought is found,
To mould withal, and form into a whole,
But what is immaterial; and thus
The smallest portions of this edifice,
Cornice, or frieze, or balustrade, or stair,
The very pavement is made up of life—
Of holy, blessed, and immortal beings,
Who hymn their Maker's praise continually.

Second Choir of Angelicals
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise:
In all His words most wonderful;
Most sure in all His ways!

Woe to thee, man! for he was found
A recreant in the fight;
And lost his heritage of heaven,
And fellowship with light.

Above him now the angry sky,
Around the tempest's din;
Who once had Angels for his friends,
Had but the brutes for kin.

O man! a savage kindred they;
To flee that monster brood
He scaled the seaside cave, and clomb
The giants of the wood.

With now a fear, and now a hope,
With aids which chance supplied,
From youth to eld, from sire to son,
He lived, and toil'd, and died.

He dreed his penance age by age;
And step by step began
Slowly to doff his savage garb,
And be again a man.

And quicken'd by the Almighty's breath,
And chasten'd by His rod,
And taught by angel-visitings,
At length he sought his God;

And learn'd to call upon His Name,
And in His faith create
A household and a father-land,
A city and a state.

Glory to Him who from the mire,
In patient length of days,
Elaborated into life
A people to His praise!

Soul
The sound is like the rushing of the wind—
The summer wind—among the lofty pines;
Swelling and dying, echoing round about,
Now here, now distant, wild and beautiful;
While, scatter'd from the branches it has stirr'd,
Descend ecstatic odours.

Third Choir of Angelicals
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise:
In all His words most wonderful;
Most sure in all His ways!

The Angels, as beseemingly
To spirit-kind was given,
At once were tried and perfected,
And took their seats in heaven.

For them no twilight or eclipse;
No growth and no decay:
'Twas hopeless, all-ingulfing night,
Or beatific day.

But to the younger race there rose
A hope upon its fall;
And slowly, surely, gracefully,
The morning dawn'd on all.

And ages, opening out, divide
The precious, and the base,
And from the hard and sullen mass
Mature the heirs of grace.

O man! albeit the quickening ray,
Lit from his second birth,
Makes him at length what once he was,
And heaven grows out of earth;

Yet still between that earth and heaven—
His journey and his goal—
A double agony awaits
His body and his soul.

A double debt he has to pay—
The forfeit of his sins:
The chill of death is past, and now
The penance-fire begins.

Glory to Him, who evermore
By truth and justice reigns;
Who tears the soul from out its case,
And burns away its stains!

Angel
They sing of thy approaching agony,
Which thou so eagerly didst question of:
It is the face of the Incarnate God
Shall smite thee with that keen and subtle pain;
And yet the memory which it leaves will be
A sovereign febrifuge to heal the wound;
And yet withal it will the wound provoke,
And aggravate and widen it the more.

Soul
Thou speakest mysteries; still methinks I know
To disengage the tangle of thy words:
Yet rather would I hear thy angel voice,
Than for myself be thy interpreter.

Angel
When then—if such thy lot—thou seest thy Judge,
The sight of Him will kindle in thy heart
All tender, gracious, reverential thoughts.
Thou wilt be sick with love, and yearn for Him,
And feel as though thou couldst but pity Him,
That one so sweet should e'er have placed Himself
At disadvantage such, as to be used
So vilely by a being so vile as thee.
There is a pleading in His pensive eyes
Will pierce thee to the quick, and trouble thee.
And thou wilt hate and loathe thyself; for, though
Now sinless, thou wilt feel that thou hast sinn'd,
As never thou didst feel; and wilt desire
To slink away, and hide thee from His sight:
And yet wilt have a longing aye to dwell
Within the beauty of His countenance.
And these two pains, so counter and so keen,—
The longing for Him, when thou seest Him not;
The shame of self at thought of seeing Him,—
Will be thy veriest, sharpest purgatory.

Soul
My soul is in my hand: I have no fear,—
In His dear might prepared for weal or woe.
But hark! a grand, mysterious harmony:
It floods me like the deep and solemn sound
Of many waters.

Angel
We have gain'd the stairs
Which rise towards the Presence-chamber; there
A band of mighty Angels keep the way
On either side, and hymn the Incarnate God.

Angels of the Sacred Stair
Father, whose goodness none can know, but they
Who see Thee face to face,
By man hath come the infinite display
Of thy victorious grace;
But fallen man—the creature of a day—
Skills not that love to trace.
It needs, to tell the triumph Thou hast wrought,
An Angel's deathless fire, an Angel's reach of thought.

It needs that very Angel, who with awe,
Amid the garden shade,
The great Creator in His sickness saw,
Soothed by a creature's aid,
And agonized, as victim of the Law
Which He Himself had made;
For who can praise Him in His depth and height,
But he who saw Him reel amid that solitary fight?

Soul
Hark! for the lintels of the presence-gate
Are vibrating and echoing back the strain.

Fourth Choir of Angelicals
Praise to the Holiest in the height,
And in the depth be praise:
In all His words most wonderful;
Most sure in all His ways!

The foe blasphemed the Holy Lord,
As if He reckon'd ill,
In that He placed His puppet man
The frontier place to fill.

For, even in his best estate,
With amplest gifts endued,
A sorry sentinel was he,
A being of flesh and blood.

As though a thing, who for his help
Must needs possess a wife,
Could cope with those proud rebel hosts
Who had angelic life.

And when, by blandishment of Eve,
That earth-born Adam fell,
He shriek'd in triumph, and he cried,
"A sorry sentinel;

"The Maker by His word is bound,
Escape or cure is none;
He must abandon to his doom,
And slay His darling son."

Angel
And now the threshold, as we traverse it,
Utters aloud its glad responsive chant.

Fifth Choir of Angelicals
Praise to the Holiest in the height
And in the depth be praise:
In all His words most wonderful;
Most sure in all His ways!

O loving wisdom of our God!
When all was sin and shame,
A second Adam to the fight
And to the rescue came.

O wisest love! that flesh and blood
Which did in Adam fail,
Should strive afresh against the foe,
Should strive and should prevail;

And that a higher gift than grace
Should flesh and blood refine,
God's Presence and His very Self,
And Essence all-divine.

O generous love! that He who smote
In man for man the foe,
The double agony in man
For man should undergo;

And in the garden secretly,
And on the cross on high,
Should teach His brethren and inspire
To suffer and to die.

Angel
Thy judgment now is near, for we are come
Into the veilèd presence of our God.

Soul
I hear the voices that I left on earth.

Angel
It is the voice of friends around thy bed,
Who say the "Subvenite" with the priest.
Hither the echoes come; before the Throne
Stands the great Angel of the Agony,
The same who strengthen'd Him, what time He knelt
Lone in that garden shade, bedew'd with blood.
That Angel best can plead with Him for all
Tormented souls, the dying and the dead.

Angel of the Agony
Jesu! by that shuddering dread which fell on Thee;
Jesu! by that cold dismay which sicken'd Thee;
Jesu! by that pang of heart which thrill'd in Thee;
Jesu! by that mount of sins which crippled Thee;
Jesu! by that sense of guilt which stifled Thee;
Jesu! by that innocence which girdled Thee;
Jesu! by that sanctity which reign'd in Thee;
Jesu! by that Godhead which was one with Thee;
Jesu! spare these souls which are so dear to Thee;
Souls, who in prison, calm and patient, wait for Thee;
Hasten, Lord, their hour, and bid them come to Thee,
To that glorious Home, where they shall ever gaze on Thee.

Soul
I go before my Judge. Ah! ….

Angel
…. Praise to His Name!
The eager spirit has darted from my hold,
And, with the intemperate energy of love,
Flies to the dear feet of Emmanuel;
But, ere it reach them, the keen sanctity,
Which with its effluence, like a glory, clothes
And circles round the Crucified, has seized,
And scorch'd, and shrivell'd it; and now it lies
Passive and still before the awful Throne.
O happy, suffering soul! for it is safe,
Consumed, yet quicken'd, by the glance of God.

Soul
Take me away, and in the lowest deep
There let me be,
And there in hope the lone night-watches keep,
Told out for me.
There, motionless and happy in my pain,
Lone, not forlorn,—
There will I sing my sad perpetual strain,
Until the morn.
There will I sing, and soothe my stricken breast,
Which ne'er can cease
To throb, and pine, and languish, till possest
Of its Sole Peace.
There will I sing my absent Lord and Love:—
Take me away,
That sooner I may rise, and go above,
And see Him in the truth of everlasting day.

Angel
Now let the golden prison ope its gates,
Making sweet music, as each fold revolves
Upon its ready hinge. And ye, great powers,
Angels of Purgatory, receive from me
My charge, a precious soul, until the day,
When, from all bond and forfeiture released,
I shall reclaim it for the courts of light.

Souls in Purgatory
1. Lord, Thou hast been our refuge: in every generation;
2. Before the hills were born, and the world was:
from age to age Thou art God.
3. Bring us not, Lord, very low: for Thou hast said,
Come back again, ye sons of Adam.
4. A thousand years before Thine eyes are but as
yesterday: and as a watch of the night which
is come and gone.
5. The grass springs up in the morning: at evening
tide it shrivels up and dies.
6. So we fail in Thine anger: and in Thy wrath are
we troubled.
7. Thou hast set our sins in Thy sight: and our
round of days in the light of Thy countenance.
8. Come back, O Lord! how long: and be entreated
for Thy servants.
9. In Thy morning we shall be filled with Thy
mercy: we shall rejoice and be in pleasure all
our days.
10. We shall be glad according to the days of our
humiliation: and the years in which we have
seen evil.
11. Look, O Lord, upon Thy servants and on Thy
work: and direct their children.
12. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be
upon us: and the work of our hands, establish
Thou it.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the
Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall
be: world without end. Amen.

Angel
Softly and gently, dearly-ransom'd soul,
In my most loving arms I now enfold thee,
And, o'er the penal waters, as they roll,
I poise thee, and I lower thee, and hold thee.

And carefully I dip thee in the lake,
And thou, without a sob or a resistance,
Dost through the flood thy rapid passage take,
Sinking deep, deeper, into the dim distance.

Angels, to whom the willing task is given,
Shall tend, and nurse, and lull thee, as thou
liest;
And masses on the earth, and prayers in heaven,
Shall aid thee at the Throne of the Most
Highest.

Farewell, but not for ever! brother dear,
Be brave and patient on thy bed of sorrow;
Swiftly shall pass thy night of trial here,
And I will come and wake thee on the morrow.

The Oratory.
January, 1865.

Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2009-11-14T10:29:00.003-06:00

Hold yer horses, here's WKJ. I have some folks chompin' at the bit wanting WKJ. Sorry, I've been busy and one of my aunt's is failing. I'm off to visit with her now. Please keep her in your prayers. She's already received Last Rites, please pray for a peaceful death and the repose of her soul. Thank you so much.

This category has been used on Jeopardy, but I think it may take some explaining. You need to take part of the answer from the first part and add it to the answer from the second part to get the correct WKJ question. I hope this isn't going to be a mess, but we'll see how it goes.

Category: Before and after authors

This is what you get if the Canterville Ghost interviews Lestat. (I don't just want the authors' names, it needs to be in the form of "before and after" making a unique solution...I'm beginning to appreciate how hard Alex Trebek's job is!)

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

Say something nice about a priest meme

2009-11-09T06:57:00.002-06:00

I have been tagged by Mum6kids for the “Say something nice about a priest” meme. According to her, "Apparently the person who created the meme meant that we are to say something nice about a particular priest and we are to pass it on to three other bloggers to do the same."

If you have something nice to say about a priest, please place it in the combox.

Something nice about a living priest:
This living priest was responsible for drawing my entire family further into the Church. His example of living the virtues in a quiet, humble way has impacted many. He was my father's spiritual director and confessor, providing both my parent's with Last Rites. He also brought my best friend at the time and my husband into the Church, instructing these converts patiently and then being allowed to Confirm them in a private Mass. His prayers have touched many lives and I am grateful to know I can count on him with any request. He also anointed me earlier this year. One of the relics I now have of St. John of the Cross, that had been my father's, was given to him by this priest.

Something nice about a deceased priest:
This priest, like many today, suffered because of his traditional views. His health was also poor and he was quite lonely, but he was always happy (joyful even) and had a great sense of humor. He drove a great distance to pray at my dying mother's bedside almost constantly. I cannot count the number of rosaries and all the prayers he said for her. I am grateful for the counsel he provided her. He attended her funeral Mass (as did the above priest). He and my father got along very well and together enjoyed BBQ rib meals and grand conversation. This priest promoted a wonderful devotion to your Guardian Angel and his relationship with his own was tender and sweet. I was privileged that he concelebrated my wedding Mass.

May Our Lady keep these good priests, and especially the wayward ones, close to her.

I tag:
Vincenzo

Cathy

AA

Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2009-11-06T16:37:00.002-06:00

Have a warm and sunny weekend!!

Category: States

This US state boasts the largest number of Catholics per capita. (I'm not saying they vote in line with the Church!)

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

Pollution control

2009-11-06T08:25:00.002-06:00

If you haven't heard or kept up on the odd and hostile goings-on in England lately regarding homeschooling, you need to check out the blog: Thinking Love, No Twaddle. Mum6kids has been posting over and over again about how MP Badman is attacking homeschooling, trying to make it an oppressive and bureaucratic mess, meanwhile insinuating that homeschoolers are closet abusers.

Seems the man with the well-deserved name, Graham Badman, is now claiming that all homeschooling parents suffer from a mental illness -- Munchhausen's by Proxy. No, you can't make this stuff up. Please keep UK homeschoolers in your prayers.

The below is from Thinking Love, No Twaddle:

Some things just make you laugh. Paula Rothermal informs the DCSF of her interviews with Graham Badman in which his opening question was whether home educating mothers have Münchhausen by Proxy.

Don’t laugh-apparently this is true.

The obvious slur was that home educators are of course abusers. I might add at this point that the whole diagnoses of Munchhausen by Proxy is strongly debated in pyschiatric circles. There is serious doubt whether such a disorder exists at all. But that is by the by. Paula Rothermal’s evidence here shows a man determined to see nothing positive in home education and prepared to scrap the bottom of any barrel in search of something foul to throw at us.

I hope all parents are taking note of this.

~~~~~~~~~~
Memorandum submitted by Dr Paula Rothermel FRSA, Educational psychologist expert witness

1. I am one of the leading academics in the field in the UK and the only expert witness specialising in court cases where home education is an issue. My 2002 research involved 1099 children and remains the largest and most in-depth and authoritative independent of home education carried out in the UK. The research involved 419 survey questionnaires to families and 238 targeted assessments (with 196 different children) to evaluate the psychosocial and academic development of home-educated children aged eleven years and under.

2. I was invited on two occasions to meet with Mr Badman.

3. At our first interview Mr Badman was interested in what I had to say. His opening question was to ask me if home educating mothers suffered from Munchhausen's by Proxy. I thought this to be a curious starting point - that of questioning whether home education is a symptom of mental illness. I am not medically qualified, but I was able to inform Mr Badman that there is no research evidence available that I am aware of, which makes this link.

4. At our second interview Mr Badman was dismissive of my work. He insisted that my study covered just 30 children. He indicated that someone had told him this and insisted that my conclusions and findings, therefore, were of little significance. Nothing I could say would sway him from this view. He had clearly not informed himself about my work by reading it.

5. I consider the review to be seriously flawed. It should be a matter of concern to the Select Committee that the person commissioned to carry out the review could so easily be influenced by a lay person hostile to my work. I question the rigour applied to the Review.

6. All the tests I conducted were overseen by two senior professors and employed established methods for reliability and validity. Articles published following my research have appeared in peer reviewed journals. My work has thus been judged to be rigorous enough for the wider academic population and I have presented papers on my work to academic and professional audiences in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Malta, Ghent, Estonia, Geneva and to broader audiences through BBC television and radio news, and many radio interviews. Next week I am presenting a paper in Vienna, and the University of Bogota have invited me to speak there in November.

7. I was not notified of the Select Committee despite having participated in the Review.

8. I have many observations to make regarding Mr Badman's recommendations but the absence of numbers in his bulleted recommendations makes this reference laborious. Overall the recommendations are, in my opinion, complicated, expensive and unworkable.

September 2009

Duty of charity

2009-11-04T18:54:00.002-06:00

Penance is a duty of charity both to ourselves and to our neighbor.
- Rev. Adolphe Tanquerey, The Spiritual Life

Tomorrow is the eve of the first Friday in November. For some reason, going to confession on Thursday evening before First Friday is much better than trying to get there on a Saturday afternoon. On the weekends, there are a million things to think about, errands to run, places to go. But, on Thursday nights, for some reason, it is much more peaceful, and I am better recollected, to go to Confession.

No matter how painful these works may be, they will seem of light account if we keep constantly in mind this thought: I am a fugitive from hell, a fugitive from purgatory, and were it not for the mercy of God, I would be there now, undergoing the well-merited punishment of my faults; therefore, I can consider nothing as humiliating me overmuch or grieving me above measure.

The submissive, willing and joyful acceptance of all the crosses Providence may see fit to send us. The Council of Trent teaches us that it is a great token of God's love for us that He deigns to accept as satisfaction for our sins the patient endurance wherewith we suffer the temporal ills He visits upon us. Therefore, should we have any physical or moral trials to undergo, arising from the uncontrolled forces of nature or from reverses of fortune, from failure or from humiliation, let us, instead of breaking into bitter complaint as out tendencies would suggest, accept all such suffering in a spirit of gentle resignation, persuaded that they are the just wages of sin, and that patience in adversity is one of the best means of atoning for it. This acceptance, a mere resignation at first, will gradually grow into a manful, nay, a joyous endurance of ordeals, as we see our woes thereby assuaged and made fruitful. We should be glad thus to shorten our purgatory, to become like Our Crucified Master and to glorify the God we have outraged. Then patience will bear all its fruits and cleanse our soul because it will be a work of love: "Many sins are forgiven her, because she hath loved much."

To patience we shall add the faithful discharge of our duties of state in a spirit of penance and reparation. The most acceptable sacrifice we can offer God is obedience: Obedience is better than sacrifices. Now, the duties of our state are the manifest expression of God's will in our regard. To fulfil them as perfectly as we can is to offer God the most perfect sacrifice within our giving, a perpetual holocaust, since this duty rests upon us from morning until night. This is assuredly true for such as live in community: faithful obedience to their rule, general or particular, and the courageous accomplishment of the orders or directions of their superiors multiply their acts of obedience, of sacrifice and of love, and enable them to repeat with St. John Berchmans: "My greatest penance is community life." Such perfect discharge of the duties of state is likewise the best means of doing penance for persons in the world. Fathers and mothers who loyally observe all their obligations as husbands and wives and as parents have many occasions of offering God sacrifices that will work unto the purification of their souls. The one thing necessary is that they acquit themselves resolutely of their duties in a Christian manner, for God's sake, and in a spirit of expiation and penance.
- Rev. Adolphe Tanquerey, The Spiritual Life

So, as I mentioned in my prior post, my penance will start early in the morning when I take my son to the play hockey. I don't know if it will be an opportunity for expiation or another reason I need to get to confession tomorrow night.

One ringy dingy

2009-11-04T10:45:00.003-06:00

Ernestine says to ring the Chancery

Thanks to B who sent this to me.

This Thursday evening (November 5), the Saint Paul Deanery Council of Catholic Women is hosting an educational evening at St. Pascal's in St. Paul. The title of the event is "How Big is Your Footprint?" http://accwarchspm.org/pdfs/eveningenrichmentnov.pdf

Panelists include Deacon Glenn Skuta speaking on global warming, Fr. Pat Foley will speak on Catholic environmental theology, and finally, and most disturbingly, David Paxson, President of World Population Balance, will speak on the need to stabilize the population through population control.

A look at his website quickly shows that he in not in line with Catholic teaching! On his website he states that one of the best ways to check the exponential rate of population growth is to keep kids in school as long as possible because better educated women have less children (what a horse's rear, eunuchs have fewer children too). In his letter to educators he tells them he must disagree with abortion (I guess he thinks ALL educators are pro-abort?). He believes in a humane method of population control. http://www.worldpopulationbalance.org/

It is upsetting that a proponant of population control is being given a Catholic platform on which to speak. He is being granted further legitimacy by being on a panel with a Catholic deacon and a Catholic priest.

Please consider attending this presentation in order to promote true Catholic teaching on this matter. If you can't join him, please at least call the Chancery and voice your displeasure. 651-291-4400

Or you can reach the church at 774-1585, but be prepared to hear a scripted response about how we all should be good stewards of God's creation (meanwhile frustrating that creation with population control).

Vote today

2009-11-03T09:36:00.001-06:00

May the Force of Ms. Child be with you

2009-11-01T07:28:00.002-06:00

I was looking for a cook book for the kids and think I found one for myself.

It actually has numerous favorable reviews and is reasonably priced ($11.55 on Amazon)!! Down side is it uses prepared food, but, but...it's Star Wars.

From the publisher:
"Consider, young Jedi: Why bake a plain old cookie when you can bake a super-Chewie Wookiee Cookie?" So begins the delightful Star Wars Cookbook. Aimed at young cooks, but fun for all ages, the cookbook provides recipes for treats such as Princess Leia Danish Dos, Twin Sun Toast, Tusken Raider Taters, Sandtrooper Sandies, and the Amazon.com house favorite, Boba Fett-uccine. (What better way to get young Jedi knights to eat their broccoli?) Author Robin Davis's directions are extremely thorough and safety oriented (as she notes, "the calm and perceptive mind of a Jedi warrior will enable you to prevent most mishaps in the kitchen"), and perfect for kids who are new to cooking. The spiral-bound pages are lightly plasticoated, so if you spill some milk while concocting C-3PO Pancakes, it's easily wiped off. The highlights of the book are Frankie Frankeny's terrific photographs of Star Wars action figures posing with the food--R2-D2 encounters giant frozen R2-D2 Treats that look remarkably similar to him, while Darth Vader raises his fist at Bossk the bounty hunter atop a wall of Bossk Brownies as Darth's henchmen look on. And who could resist a shot of Jabba Jiggle? There's Jabba the Hutt positioned on a pile of oozing lime Jell-O®. Whether you're a Star Wars fan or just looking for a way to get the kids to feel the Force in the kitchen, The Star Wars Cookbook is great fun, and tasty, too!

The buds have it

2009-10-31T10:05:00.002-06:00

As a homeschooling mom, one of the subjects I dislike teaching is PHONICS. I hate phonics. Unfortunately, so does my son.

This year I've leaned more heavily into the Charlotte Mason realm (living books, few texts and even fewer tests) and tried to apply it to my classical approach. This seems to have worked well, except in phonics where there isn't really a good way to do this other than by brute force.

I knew one day I would regret not being in the military because I can't do the heavy lifting. Phonics in our house gets contentious every few days. My son gets put on black out and loses privileges, then the rest of us suffer because of the restrictions we have placed on him impact us. I haven't found a solution to this.

However, last night as we were carving pumpkins a moment that will live in infamy occurred. Actually, it's a moment that I will remember for a lifetime.

My son and hubby wanted an anatomy book because they wanted to carve a skeleton-looking face on the pumpkin. I dug out a colorful anatomy book I had and off my son went to design a face. After hubby drew the pattern on the pumpkin, my son and daughter were sitting on the floor with my son showing his sister some of the pictures and telling her about them.

Then they got to the tongue. My husband and I were only half-paying attention to them when we heard, "These are the taste buds. This one is sour, this one is salty, this one is salty and so is this one. This one is sour." How did he know which ones were salty and which ones were sour?

He read the headings on the picture.

Aside from the arm-twisting moments when we have him read to us, this is the first time he's read something for pleasure (that I know of.) I don't think he even knew he was doing it. He didn't even have to sound out the words the way kids do when they are first learning to read...he just confidently read it and shared it with his sister.

I think that gave me a second wind to tackle phonics again on Monday. The relief of potty training pales in comparison to a kid who is finally taking off with his reading.

Halloween Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2009-10-30T14:27:00.003-06:00

It can't be Friday already. Tomorrow is Halloween. As a kid, the day couldn't come soon enough, but as a parent it's like we just did this awhile ago. Didn't we?

Happy Halloween!! Remember daylight savings, to pray for reparations, and pray for the Poor Souls. Also, Father Z reminds us that you can obtain several indulgences next week, especially in this Year for Priests. Pray for our priests, both living and dead.

Category: It's better in Latin

I don't know how to phrase this so ArchAngel's Advocate won't get it right away, but let's just hope he's busy doing the Monster Mash and doesn't notice. Here goes. This man is well-known in various fields of study. In philosophy, he's known by his given name, while in mathematics he's known by his Latin name. (I hope that's obtuse enough.)

Bonus points if you know his famous quote, ala Latin. (We just learned it in Linney's Latin!)

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

When the rubber meets the road

2009-10-30T14:15:00.002-06:00

Subtitled: Our tax dollars at work

About a week ago, my daughter came home from school with a note in her backpack that her bus pick-up time was going to be three minutes earlier. The following school day, a note came home that said her pick-up time would be three minutes later (back to square one). Today (Friday) the bus dropped her off and the driver and bus aide informed me that my daughter would be on a different bus with a different driver and aide starting on Monday, but that they didn't know any other information, like what time for pick-up and delivery.

Moments after my daughter arrived home, her teacher called with updated details. Monday morning my daughter will be on a different bus with different driver and different aide, but the pick-up time will be the same.

To think of all that is going on behind the scenes to orchestrate a bus schedule is mind-bloggling. No wonder the cost per student (in tax payer dollars) is so high when something completely removed from what is taught in the classroom monopolizes and wastes so much time, energy, resources and dollars!

Stepping down off my soap box now to go get a piece of candy.

Hockey moms go to Heaven

2009-10-29T14:05:00.006-06:00

Yes, we skip Purgatory altogether.

I'm not even a real hockey mom, not yet anyway. I just take my son skating since he's been on the ice a total of three times. But, in that time I have had the personal and vivid revelation that all activities and functions related to a mom taking her son to hockey are directly credited to any time due in Purgatory.

This morning I had to roll both kids out of bed (since my daughter needs to tag along), get them dressed while they were in a groggy, sleepy stupor, and pull most of my son's hockey gear on him, before we raced out the door during rush hour headed toward the hockey arena, which is half an hour away.

Once at the rink, I had to somehow finish getting the suitcase-worth of equipment affixed to my son. Lacing up skates is definitely an "offer it up" occasion.

Ditto for sitting around in a cold rink for 90 minutes.

I'm certain there must be a lost book of the bible that mentions saintly hockey moms.

Oh, this applies to dads too, especially the super saintly ones who try to help my little guy. I think they get 2-for-1 Purgatory credits.

Did I tell you that doing papier mache at home for art also counts toward time off in Purgatory? Truth be told, I'd rather lace up skates.

[Artwork: "Moose". Moose has to dry for a few days before it will be painted]

What's a girl to do?

2009-10-26T19:01:00.002-06:00

I attended a meeting of the local lay (or third order as they used to be called) Carmelites a few weeks ago. For years, I have felt drawn to this way of life, but in looking to my parents as examples since they were both lay Carmelites, the meeting was not what I expected.

For me, Carmelite spirituality is personal, contemplative, solitary. I'm not saying the people at the meeting weren't all these things, but my parents didn't attend meetings, didn't have these social gatherings, didn't participate in any group activities. So, proceeding from what I was familiar with in my parents' examples, this was all new territory and not something I was looking for. I'm a homeschooling mom with kids I run all over town, the last thing I need right now is to add activities to my already hectic schedule and I don't need the socialization. Socialization was not what I was looking for; I was looking for a group that would help structure my prayer life without all the fluff. No offense intended.

As an aside, in the past few months I have met numerous folks who are what I consider an odd blend of things, expressive and contemplative, especially given my parents as the reference point, with my father who said his daily office along with a daily rosary, attended daily Mass, and prayed for hours and hours every afternoon. Lay Carmelites, from my experience, didn't engage so heavily in the world, things were more internal, such as my father spending a large amount of time saying prayers of petition for others -- if anyone was suffering from any ailment, they called my father. So, encountering people I would describe as "Charismatic Carmelites" is simply jarring.

One of the things I have been gradually learning (the hard way) this past year is not to judge. I'm honestly not trying to judge this strange breed of cat, but I don't get how you mix all the "prayers of quiet" and "prayers of recollection" with such outward expressions as praying in tongues or other things traditionally considered "Charismatic" in nature, like laying on of hands. I'm used to each having it's own arena, not a blending of the two seemingly diametric spiritual paths.

But, that's off on a tangent.

What was really on my mind was the Catch-22 beginners are in when they attempt to progress in the spiritual life. Paraphrasing St. Teresa, P. Marie-Eugene, OCD, in his, "I Want to See God," says:

"It is natural enough that the devil should use his great power and take advantage of the relative weakness of beginners in prayer, to stop them in their journey towards God by causing in them, as far as he is able, as much dryness and distractions as he can. That he thus intervenes -- often successfully -- in the prayer of beginners seems certain; and, although using on them much more benign procedures than on Saint Teresa, these are probably much more effective.

The action of these natural and prenatural causes enters into the plan of God who uses everything for the good of those whom He loves. Supernatural light and grace, fruits of the Passion and death of Christ, cannot penetrate deeply within a soul unless it shares in that redemptive suffering and death. Such sufferings give it light on its own self and establish it in humility..." (p. 244)

If you want to grow in the spiritual life, you have to suffer and carry part of the Cross, plus have the devil attempt to thwart you at every turn. The Pearl of Great Price scenario. You can't stay where you are, you cannot stagnate because you know better and will be lost if you drag your feet, but moving forward means you're going to be assaulted and suffer. Pere Marie-Eugene further says,

"Our inquiry will not bear on the voluntary causes of distractions and of dryness, such, for instance, as negligence in putting them out of mind during prayer or even complacence in entertaining them; notable neglect of spiritual reading and of the preparation necessary to secure for prayer its sustenance; dissipation of life and habitual lack of mortification of the senses. For these, it is easy indeed to state the remedy. Not to apply it, would be to condemn oneself to culpable failure." (p. 239)

It's almost like damned if you do, damned it you don't. Well, definitely damned if you don't, but not a whole lot of fun if you do. Akin to what St. Teresa talks about in the early mansions when she doesn't understand why souls would want to stagnate in the outermost mansions where they are prey to the vipers and beasts, but then few souls have the grit to make it much further than the third or fourth mansions because of the sufferings, trials and mortifications they will endure.

I think I liked reading the Narnia tales better.

As Archbishop John Ireland would say, "Ever press forward."

Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy Zwei

2009-10-24T08:09:00.002-06:00

Bending to overwhelming demand, here's another one.

Category: Hollywood

This Oscar-winning actress, who had a Methodist father and Catholic mother, was baptised in both faiths. Raised as a devout Catholic, she eventually abandoned her faith, divorced her first two husbands, married a third time and became a ardent follower of Christian Science. She appeared in numerous films, starring in 52 of them.

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2009-10-23T18:30:00.003-06:00

It rained and snowed and rained some more today. Brrr. It's winter here in the hinterland. This should be a softball for all the frozen folks out there.

Category: Org chart

This diocese, headquartered in Washington D.C. and serving almost 1.5 million Catholics, has no physical boundaries or location.

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

It's a mad, mad World's Fair

2009-10-23T06:46:00.003-06:00

What I remember from last night's World's Fair; I thought it was just me.

Similarly, I also used to like John Cusack until his politics went.off.the.deep.end.

And Richard Gere.

It was a great evening, with very nice presentations and good food. The kids presented countries from nearly every continent (North America was not represented). One mom suggested that next time we pick a state and bring our favorite fast food. I second that.

Our country was Switzerland. I made Swiss Kugel, which was just OK. Trader Joe's made the nut torte I brought for dessert. There's only so many hours in the day.

Catholic quarantine

2009-10-19T06:20:00.006-06:00

It's a good thing I flipped through the parish bulletin yesterday. Seems the Diocese of Superior has a plan for the upcoming plague. Better to be prepared than to react to a situation when you often times have your course of action dictated to you.

But still.

It takes me back to the Swine Flu scare that occurred in my childhood. The pandemic that never happened. Our entire school received the Swine Flu shot, except my brother and me.

As I quickly read through the bulletin, I noticed a small statement paraphrasing the bishop's plan, stating that communion on the tongue was to cease and desist. Blessings of my children were to stop (the priests/deacons at St. Agnes always bless you without touching you, but the priest in this parish likes to place his hand on the kids' heads). No drinking from the Chalice (which is fine by me because I never do this anyway.)

It just seems like the devil is in the details. Back in the days when I was influenced by a rad trad friend, I might've even entertained the thought that this was a conspiracy, since the pandemic fears are striking at the heart of our Faith and our expression of it.

I'd still prefer to receive Communion on the tongue. I'm old enough to remember when this was the only way things were done. Just like the next person, I don't want to get sick and I certainly don't want my family to get sick, but is Communion in the hand really part of the answer to stopping the Swine Flu? Why not just have Our Lord hermetically sealed in plastic, much like they do with fortune cookies?

Further, why the Sign of Peace is only addressed in Level B is kind of odd since you're allowed to spread all your pandemic germs with people before you go to Communion, where you are now required to receive Our Lord in your hand...your potentially plague-infested hand.

And, holding hands during the Lord's prayer, well it shouldn't require a plague to get rid of that.

However, just like my father chastised me when I attended a Byzantine Catholic parish but didn't want to observe all the Holy Days of Obligation and Feasts that they did because, well, I was a Roman Catholic just moonlighting in their congregation, my wise father told me if I was going to attend that parish, I needed to tow the line. If you're a Roman Catholic who's ever tried to fit into a Byzantine parish, you know how difficult it is.

Even though I just "visit" a parish in the Diocese of Superior when we are at our cabin, I remembered my father's admonishment and quickly decided I needed to be obedient to the Bishop's wishes even though I hadn't received Communion in the hand since I was a child.

And so it went. Awkward and self-conscious, but grateful that the pandemic hadn't reached Level D, when the sacraments might be suspended, I received Communion in the hand.

Level “A”
At this point, events suggest the increased risk for a pandemic, prompting the need to review plans and preparations for such an emergency and increase our level of caution.
• Parishes are to have bottles of alcohol-based hand sanitizer available for extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion. For example, these may be placed in the front pews (or other discreet but convenient place) and should then be used by these ministers both on their way to the sanctuary before communion and then again after ministering communion.
• All sick individuals, including clergy, are to stay home. Signs are posted on church, and parish/school doors instructing those with fever or other flu-like symptoms not to enter.
• Faith formation programs should be aware that camps, retreats, and other large youth gatherings may need to be postponed or cancelled, depending on local conditions. Youth ministers and catechists should keep up to date with the latest advice from public health authorities concerning such gatherings.
• Increase frequency of sanitizing door handles and other commonly touched solid surfaces.
• The vessels containing the bread and wine are to remain covered until placed on the altar.
• If a parish uses a large vessel at the entrance(s) of the church from which individual parishioners move hosts to the paten/ciborium, such a practice needs to stop at this point.
• Communion from the Cup is suspended. Only the priest and deacon if present are to commune from the Chalice—and then from opposite sides of the rim.
• In distributing communion, the Host shall be placed in the communicant’s hand without the minister touching the communicant.
• Communion on the tongue is discontinued.
• The practice of touching a non-communicant for a blessing is also to be discontinued.

Level “B”
In addition to the steps found in level “A”, the following steps (and modifications) are now to be added if necessary:
• Set up hand-washing stations in all buildings: tissues, trash receptacles, hand sanitizer, including instructions (signage).
• Sharing of the Sign of Peace by handshake or hug is suspended; rather, a simple bow/nod to one another will be used.
• Holding hands during Lord’s Prayer or any other part of the Mass is suspended.
• Ministers (incl. clergy and ministers of hospitality) are asked not to shake hands when they greet parishioners.
• Priests, deacons, readers, and servers—since they will be touching items in common—are to sanitize their hands before and after Mass, and during Mass if their hands become contaminated.
• On Good Friday, the Cross will be venerated by bow or genuflection, not by touch or kissing.
• In those places where it is the practice to venerate icons with a touch or kiss, that practice, too will be replaced with a bow.
• As far as pastoral visits to the sick are concerned, ministers should practice meticulous hand washing and—if the parishioner has symptoms of the flu virus—consideration should be given to wearing masks and gloves.
• Holy water fonts/stoops are emptied and refilled after each liturgical celebration and at least once daily.

Level “C”
In addition to the steps found in levels “A” and “B”, the following steps (and modifications) are now added if necessary:
• Staff or volunteers are to clean door handles and other hard surfaces (such as pews, water fountains, desks, tables, countertops washrooms) with a disinfectant. They should wear masks, gloves, and goggles when doing so and when emptying trash receptacles.
• Disinfecting should be done in parishes and chapels after each Liturgy (at least daily).
• Empty all baptismal and holy water fonts, including those that allow for full immersion; parishes should have pre-filled bottles of holy water available.
• Large group meetings should be postponed if at all possible. If not, participants should be seated with at least a 3’ distance between individuals.
• Home prayer booklets and other resources will be made available in case large group gatherings are suspended by Public Health authorities.
• The person preparing wine and hosts for Mass is also to wear a mask and non-latex gloves.
• Collection baskets are not to be passed person-to-person. It is preferred that a collection basket or locked poor box be placed at the entrance(s) of the church; alternatively, baskets with handles may be used (in which case ushers are to wear gloves and immediately wash their hands after the collection).
• Because the influenza virus can remain viable on surfaces for some time, the money collected is to be quarantined for 3 days before being counted. Those removing money from the collection baskets or boxes are to wear gloves and wash their hands afterwards.
• The collection is not carried in procession as part of the preparation of the gifts and altar.
• Due to their ability to transfer infection from hand-to-hand, common missalettes and song books should not be used.
• Worship aids, if used, should be printed for each occasion and then destroyed. Reprint permission pertaining to applicable copyright laws is to be followed.
• To the extent possible, the assembly will be seated in alternating rows, thereby increasing distance between individuals. In addition, it may become necessary to limit the number of individuals present for any one Mass.
• Non-essential gatherings—such as Children’s Liturgy of the Word and post-Mass social gatherings/refreshments—are to be cancelled.
• Turn off water fountains or mark them as not to be used. Bottled water should be available in case of necessity.

Level “D”
In addition to the steps found in levels “A”, “B”, and “C”, the following steps are now added if necessary:
• If Public Health authorities mandate that all large-group gatherings be suspended, parishes will comply and stop offering the Mass and other sacraments to groups. If such were to occur, the Bishop dispenses from the Sunday obligation to attend Mass.
• If public celebration of the sacraments is suspended, signs to that effect will be posted at entrances to the church and parish offices.

Visual WKJ

2009-10-16T13:05:00.002-06:00

Here's one that I found just odd and interesting all in one.

Category: Final Resting Places

The above picture shows the final resting place of this Catholic convert.

That's all I'm telling you! Guess away.

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2009-10-16T05:46:00.002-06:00

I hadn't planned to keep going into the Fall with Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy, but because things have been so busy since school started, I don't post much. If I didn't do WKJ, there might not be much new on my blog at all.

In mommy news, my son lost his first tooth. It had been loose for two weeks, so every day he walked around with his hand cupped under his chin because if the tooth were to fall out, he wanted to be absolutely certain he would catch it. Turns out he woke up one morning after this had been going on for awhile and just pulled the tooth out. I see my son is taking after me with a strong showing in the virtue of patience.

And, more on my son. His behavior kept him from going to Cub Scouts, had him on blackout and also kept him from going to hockey. My MIL thinks I'm terrible, but now that she isn't staying here any more, the TV is on infrequently and the kids aren't snacking constantly. Hoping next week brings him some clarity on his behavior. Or as my father, the swearing saint would say, "This shit needs to come into focus." Always a nice visual.

We will miss the St. Agnes Fall Festival because we have to run to the cabin to drain the water heater and get the place closed up. Not normally a problem at this time of year, but with the cold and snow we've had, we're lucky the pipes haven't frozen already! (As of Wednesday, the pipes were OK, at least according to my FIL).

Category: Anathema

This heretical group was comprised of Perfects and Believers who held dualistic beliefs and embraced a form of reincarnation. Like the scarlet letter, they were required to wear a yellow cross on their clothes.

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

Holy Water

2009-10-13T08:57:00.003-06:00

The Church has instituted the sacramentals, those rites or objects on which a particular blessing bestows a special virtue for preservation against the influence of the devil. Among the sacramentals, St. Teresa favored the use of holy water:

From long experience, I have learned that there is nothing like holy water to put devils to flight and to prevent them from coming back again. They also flee from the Cross, but return; so holy water must have great virtue. For my own part, whenever I take it, my soul feels a particular and most notable consolation. In fact, it is quite usual for me to be conscious of a refreshment which I cannot possibly describe, resembling an inward joy which comforts my whole soul. This is not fancy, or something which has happened to me only once; it has happened again and again and I have observed it most attentively [Life, xxxi, Peers, I, 205].

...The Church, in the different prayers for the blessing of water, asks insistently that power be given to this water "to put to flight all power of the enemy, to expel this enemy with all the rebel angels, to drive it away, to destroy the influences of the evil spirit and to cast out the venomous serpent.

"I often reflect on the great importance of everything ordained by the Church," comments St. Teresa, "and it makes me very happy to find that those words of the Church are so powerful that they impart their power to the water and make it so very different from water which has not been blessed."

Source: I Want To See God, A Practical Synthesis of Carmelite Sprituality, by Pere Marie-Eugene, OCD, pps. 115-117.

Just in time for Christmas

2009-10-11T06:28:00.002-06:00

After a few hours of gemuchlichkeit at a local Oktoberfest, we stopped by Barnes and Noble on the way home.

In the children's section -- not the teen section -- the children's section, next to kits on bead projects, children's cookbooks, and stuffed animals, was this little gem.

Pondering whether it would be confession-worthy if these things mistakenly ended up under one of the store's cushy lounge chairs or accidentally got dropped in the garbage or one of the kids spilled a vendi mocha on them.

Here's what the BN site has to say about this set:

Synopsis
“A primer for beginning enthusiasts. The text is accompanied by soft, flowing illustrations and detailed pictures of the most popular Tarot cards...This guide will be ideal for providing a solid base for exploration.”—School Library Journal. “One of the best parts of this is its crisp, bright artwork. The cards’ familiar look will make potential Tarot readers more comfortable...An attractive choice.”—Booklist.

Annotation
Full instructions on how to use tarot cards. Includes ideas for birthdays, parties, storytelling, keeping a journal and designing your own tarot cards.

School Library Journal
Gr 6 Up-A primer for beginning enthusiasts. The text is accompanied by soft, flowing illustrations and detailed pictures of the most popular Tarot cards, the Rider-Waite deck. Beginning with a brief history, the author moves into a step-by-step guide for using the cards. From there, readers are given a picture and description of what each one means in both upright and reserved form. The text finishes with sample spreads and tips for designing one's own deck. The book guides girls through the Major and Minor Arcana (the two sections of the deck) in simple language, and explains what the Tarot will and will not answer. While touting this device as a way to connect to intuition and bring clarity to a situation, the text retains a neutral, if somewhat New Age tone. Olmstead makes it clear that the Tarot should blend into one's daily life, "not be a controlling force." This guide will be ideal for providing a solid base for exploration, but practitioners of the art may be disappointed by the lack of in-depth information.-Elaine Baran Black, Gwinnett County Public Library, Lawrenceville, GA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Being a parent these days really requires vigilance. The malls are full of suggestive ads/displays, you can't watch most of what's on television, and you can't even browse in the children's section of a bookstore without having to look over your kids' shoulders! And, it's interesting that school librarians are reviewing this and recommending it. Personally, I don't know enough about Tarot to have even mustered a review. Interesting how versed the librarian is on the topic.

Snowy Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2009-10-10T07:07:00.003-06:00

Yes, we have snow!! Bad news is we didn't turn the heat on at the cabin AND we haven't drained the water from the water heater and pipes. Bad combination. May have to run up there and close the place up. Brrrrr. At least the boat got brought in and stored in the garage a few weekends ago, and the dock and boat lift are out of the water. (We could've turned the heat on, but there isn't enough propane in the tank to last very long...OY! Always something!)

Have a blessed weekend!!!

Category: Conquerors and invaders

Known as the "Devil's Horsemen," these conquerers who had half the known world in their control during the 13th century, surprisingly set an example of religious tolerance not known in the medieval world.

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

My little dragon slayer

2009-10-06T16:27:00.002-06:00

Braving the rain and mud, we courageously made our way to the Renaissance Fest last Friday. Despite the constant drizzle and cold temps, we managed to have a good time. My son especially loved "balloon fencing." We walked, ate, petted animals, learned about knights, watched some jousting, rode on a war horse, and ate some more.

No good deed

2009-10-01T12:09:00.002-06:00

I was a good citizen, one of only 5% of the population in the city that voted in the recent primary. Dutifully, I walked over to my polling place with my kids and voted. I hate politics. It's a dirty business. But, I sure don't want my freedoms taken away, so I slogged over and voted.

A few days ago I got a SUMMONS, what an ominous and officious word, for JURY DUTY.

It seems like a bunch of people I know have gotten jury duty lately. It's an epidemic.

It's my duty to be part of the process, yada yada, I get that, but why NOW. I didn't have kids until I was in my late thirties, but the system doesn't pick me until I start homeschooling my kids. What if I was still nursing? That would really be difficult since they only let you request to postpone your duty for nine months. A lot of moms nurse for much longer than that...I wonder if you could get a doctor's note to get out of it then?

You can't bring a cell phone or any electronic device. How in the world can a mother of little ones be expected to sit in a room from 8am-4:30pm and not have a cell phone in case of emergency? Oh yeah, there's a contact number folks can call in case of emergency. Let's just say, in case of emergency I want my freakin' phone on me, not risking things to a disinterested civil servant to pass along a message. Good grief.

Another rub is that it seems folks can vote if they are citizens but don't speak English (some who aren't even citizens may vote, but we'll leave that to the ACORN folks to sort out), however, if you can't communicate in ENGLISH you can get out of jury duty. HUH? You can't read the ballot well enough to vote, but that isn't a problem, but it gets you out of jury duty?

And, they pay you a whole $10 a day to sit there in silence.

Did you ever feel like the Israelites after they asked for a king?

Convergence

2009-09-30T15:09:00.011-06:00

Our homeschool group is doing a "World's Fair" where each family picks a country, learns all about it, then presents it to the group. Our family (read: me) picked Switzerland. That was a no brainer. Figured it was time my kids learned a little bit about one of their ancestral homes. Granted, I'm a lot more Irish (technically, of Irish descent) than I am all the other nationalities combined, but so many people can claim that whereas not so many can claim being of Swiss descent.

On a side note, as an American, I learned very little, probably nearly nothing, about European history, other than things related to pilgrims and the world wars. At the library the other day, as I was scanning through the courses on CD that they have (my new past time since I now spend a good deal of time in the car driving my kids to their history club that meets three times a week), I found one on early medieval history. This is the period we are learning about in the history club, so I was pretty thrilled with myself...I'd be able to "brush up" on the time period and not look totally clueless in front of the kids and especially the other moms! This time period was never taught in school. I don't know how I learned the minuscule amount I do know. Minuscule.

Just down the shelf from the early medieval history course was a course on the French Revolution. Did I mention I learned very little about history, other than American? I know little of any history. My liberal arts degree ensured I took at least one history class, but to soften the blow to my GPA, in the wisdom of my youth, I took my one required class on Early American History to 1875...or something like that. Basically, I was repeating the only history I had ever really learned a fig about. Who cared about English history? Our Founding Fathers had left that country behind so who I was to quibble with that...and who cared a lick about the French?

Being a genealogy buff, I have gone on to learn a few things about the countries my ancestors were from, sans the Brits and the French (inherited bias and German pride that was ingrained in me by my father). I know more about Irish history than I probably do American and I know some German and Swiss, along with Scottish, as much as one can without opening their eyes to how it all overlaps and connects.

I finished the course on Early Medieval History, the French Revolution and am now on a course that focuses on Napoleon himself.

I know very little, but I really don't like Napoleon. What on earth was going on in France...the place was mad. Terror is an understatement.

I read Trianon (see Elena Maria Vidal's blog), which I enjoyed for its unique perspective. Historical fiction though it is, I hope it was half true, especially when one learns of the hideous things said about Marie Antoinette! Leave it to the French...what a mess.

Anyhow, in learning about the French Revolution and Napoleon, I learned about this famous painting of him, which must be familiar to most folks, of his crossing the St. Bernard Pass (Napoleon Crossing the Alps by Jacques-Louis David)...which is in Switzerland, not too far south from where my ancestors are from.

I just read a story to the kids on the monks and the St. Bernard dogs that live near the pass. Funny how things go off on tangents, but then seem to bring you back to where you started.

But, what is interesting about this painting, other than it's connection to Switzerland, is how it was painted. There was a very deliberate method to this painting...it has an orthogonal scheme and Napoleon on his horse forms a "Z" for effect. There are five versions of it. To be brief, I'll just link to it on Wiki.

Oh, and it has Hannibal's and Charlemagne's names inscribed on the rocks...which fits right in with the early medieval history!

Weekend Kneeler Jeopardy

2009-09-24T17:38:00.002-06:00

Sorry to leave you all disappointed that there wasn't a WKJ last weekend. St. Alex was praying for the gift of bilocation, like Padre Pio had, to get everything completed that day, but that didn't happen. So, here's this one a bit early to avoid not being able to do one at all.

Have a blessed weekend!!!

Category: Refractory, refectory, and the French Revolution

The stained glass window above depicts this "colorful" and clandestine Mass that was celebrated by the peasantry when deprived of their priests during the French Revolution. (From what St. Alex understands, since lay people were "saying Mass," women tended to take over and became somewhat modern examples of wymen priests.)

St. Alex says, please place your answer in the form of a question in the combox, and say a few Hail Marys while you wait for the answer to be revealed.

Demerits for using Google and other sneaky searches. Educated guesses are welcome and encouraged. Good luck!!

Date night

2009-09-23T05:46:00.003-06:00

I guess when you get to be an old married couple, things like an hour alone together is all you hope for. So tonight, my sweet hubby is taking me to IKEA for dinner, drinks and dancing. Dinner is IKEA's Wednesday $7.99 special - half rack of ribs, fries and corn bread (if they still have it), drinks will be carbonated and the dancing will come when we drop the kids off at the one-hour free child care play land.

During our hour, we will stroll arm-in-arm through cheap housewares, oblivious to the world around us.

All this and I don't even have to dress up or wear heels.

(I hope they still have the rib special because for some reason, all you can eat crawfish, also $7.99, just doesn't sound so good. There are the Swedish meatballs as a back up plan though.)

Cartoon Tuesday

2009-09-22T09:34:00.005-06:00