We celebrated the Feast of the Holy Family yesterday and it was very good to mark the day with the singing of the great hymn of William Dix, set of course to Greensleeves, that tune at once noble, familiar, and gently reassuring.
What Child is this who, laid to rest
On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,
The cross be borne for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh,
Come peasant, king to own Him;
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise a song on high,
The virgin sings her lullaby.
Joy, joy for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.
The days between the birth and the circumcision of Jesus must have been full ones for Mary and Joseph: crowded with activity, alive with promise, rich in wonder and thanksgiving. They had the full and grateful hearts of new parents. And the full hearts of an Israel that had watched and waited for centuries for the time of singing, in the words of another of Dix's hymns, Alleluia! not as orphans are we left in sorrow now.
Monday, December 30, 2002
I have a weakness for wordplay. I like the sound of language; I like clever puns; I'm one of those sick puppies who will open up Joyce at random just to hear the flow of words.
Russ Mayes writes Who Will Go For Us?, always worth visiting. Why not go now? He's reading Amalgamemnon by Christine Brooke-Rose and kindly posts an excerpt from its riches.
Russ Mayes writes Who Will Go For Us?, always worth visiting. Why not go now? He's reading Amalgamemnon by Christine Brooke-Rose and kindly posts an excerpt from its riches.
Friday, December 20, 2002
Samuel Johnson, in his life of Alexander Pope, refers to "the most painful of all reflections, the remembrance of a crime perpetrated in vain."
It's been in my mind as true of all our crimes, all our sins. All are ultimately in vain, not just at odds with, but mortal weapons aimed at, what we're called to be, and to think on them is to be consumed with shame and remorse. What a great gift and treasure it is to be reborn, to speak from Lamentations 3 in our own life and in our own experience of salvation: It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness.
Out of his own dramatic experience of that rebirth, John Newton wrote the great and influential Amazing Grace, with its allusion to John 9:25: I was blind but now I see. Tomorrow is the memorial of Newton's death in London in 1807 and here is the epitaph he wrote and which remains on a marble plaque at St. Mary Woolnoth:
JOHN NEWTON, Clerk
Once an infidel and libertine
A servant of slaves in Africa,
Was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour
JESUS CHRIST,
restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach
the Gospel which he had long laboured to destroy.
He ministered,
Near sixteen years in Olney, in Bucks,
And twenty-eight years in this Church.
Newton died almost precisely 100 years after the birth of Charles Wesley. Here is another of Newton's hymns which, set to the music of Franz Josef Haydn, takes its place with the greatest of those of Wesley. On the text of Psalm 87:3: Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God.
Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken
Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God!
He, Whose Word cannot be broken,
Formed thee for His own abode.
On the Rock of Ages founded,
What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded,
Thou may’st smile at all thy foes.
See! the streams of living waters,
Springing from eternal love;
Well supply thy sons and daughters,
And all fear of want remove:
Who can faint while such a river
Ever flows their thirst t’assuage?
Grace, which like the Lord, the Giver,
Never fails from age to age.
Round each habitation hovering,
See the cloud and fire appear!
For a glory and a cov’ring
Showing that the Lord is near.
Thus deriving from our banner
Light by night and shade by day;
Safe they feed upon the manna
Which He gives them when they pray.
Blest inhabitants of Zion,
Washed in the Redeemer’s blood!
Jesus, Whom their souls rely on,
Makes them kings and priests to God.
’Tis His love His people raises,
Over self to reign as kings,
And as priests, His solemn praises
Each for a thank offering brings.
Savior, if of Zion’s city,
I through grace a member am,
Let the world deride or pity,
I will glory in Thy Name.
Fading is the worldling’s pleasure,
All his boasted pomp and show;
Solid joys and lasting treasure
None but Zion’s children know.
It's been in my mind as true of all our crimes, all our sins. All are ultimately in vain, not just at odds with, but mortal weapons aimed at, what we're called to be, and to think on them is to be consumed with shame and remorse. What a great gift and treasure it is to be reborn, to speak from Lamentations 3 in our own life and in our own experience of salvation: It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness.
Out of his own dramatic experience of that rebirth, John Newton wrote the great and influential Amazing Grace, with its allusion to John 9:25: I was blind but now I see. Tomorrow is the memorial of Newton's death in London in 1807 and here is the epitaph he wrote and which remains on a marble plaque at St. Mary Woolnoth:
JOHN NEWTON, Clerk
Once an infidel and libertine
A servant of slaves in Africa,
Was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour
JESUS CHRIST,
restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach
the Gospel which he had long laboured to destroy.
He ministered,
Near sixteen years in Olney, in Bucks,
And twenty-eight years in this Church.
Newton died almost precisely 100 years after the birth of Charles Wesley. Here is another of Newton's hymns which, set to the music of Franz Josef Haydn, takes its place with the greatest of those of Wesley. On the text of Psalm 87:3: Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God.
Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken
Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God!
He, Whose Word cannot be broken,
Formed thee for His own abode.
On the Rock of Ages founded,
What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded,
Thou may’st smile at all thy foes.
See! the streams of living waters,
Springing from eternal love;
Well supply thy sons and daughters,
And all fear of want remove:
Who can faint while such a river
Ever flows their thirst t’assuage?
Grace, which like the Lord, the Giver,
Never fails from age to age.
Round each habitation hovering,
See the cloud and fire appear!
For a glory and a cov’ring
Showing that the Lord is near.
Thus deriving from our banner
Light by night and shade by day;
Safe they feed upon the manna
Which He gives them when they pray.
Blest inhabitants of Zion,
Washed in the Redeemer’s blood!
Jesus, Whom their souls rely on,
Makes them kings and priests to God.
’Tis His love His people raises,
Over self to reign as kings,
And as priests, His solemn praises
Each for a thank offering brings.
Savior, if of Zion’s city,
I through grace a member am,
Let the world deride or pity,
I will glory in Thy Name.
Fading is the worldling’s pleasure,
All his boasted pomp and show;
Solid joys and lasting treasure
None but Zion’s children know.
Wednesday, December 18, 2002
1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Secretary of State William Seward issued the proclamation that incorporated the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing the institution of slavery, into the Constitution of the United States on this date in 1865.
More needed to be done to secure the blessings of freedom and the assurance of legal equality to all citizens, of course, as Frederick Douglass, among others, recognized and, to those ends, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments were ratified during the next five years.
Not that the scars of so deep a wound, the disfigurement wrought by decade on decade of an economy of chattel slavery, don't remain on our country even now.
And how widespread through the world remains the enslavement of the human person.
2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Secretary of State William Seward issued the proclamation that incorporated the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing the institution of slavery, into the Constitution of the United States on this date in 1865.
More needed to be done to secure the blessings of freedom and the assurance of legal equality to all citizens, of course, as Frederick Douglass, among others, recognized and, to those ends, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments were ratified during the next five years.
Not that the scars of so deep a wound, the disfigurement wrought by decade on decade of an economy of chattel slavery, don't remain on our country even now.
And how widespread through the world remains the enslavement of the human person.
Monday, December 16, 2002
Charlotte Elliott's great hymn of surrender and dedication, Just As I Am, is widely known and loved, and rightly so. There is another hymn on the same theme and with the same opening words, whose author Marianne Hearn was born 17 December 1834 and whose anniversary is tomorrow.
Just as I am, Thine own to be.
Just as I am, Thine own to be,
Friend of the young, Who lovest me,
To consecrate myself to Thee,
O Jesus Christ, I come.
In the glad morning of my day,
My life to give, my vows to pay,
With no reserve and no delay,
With all my heart I come.
I would live ever in the light,
I would work ever for the right;
I would serve Thee with all my might;
Therefore, to Thee I come.
Just as I am, young, strong, and free,
To be the best that I can be
For truth, and righteousness, and Thee,
Lord of my life, I come.
With many dreams of fame and gold,
Success and joy to make me bold,
But dearer still my faith to hold,
For my whole life, I come.
And for Thy sake to win renown,
And then to take the victor’s crown,
And at Thy feet to cast it down,
O Master, Lord, I come.
And on 17 December two years after her birth, John Rippon (1751-1836), pastor of the Carter’s Lane Baptist Church in London for more than sixty years and the foremost authority on the hymns of Isaac Watts, died full of years and was laid to rest near the graves of Watts and of John Bunyan. Rippon's own great hymn speaks in power and assurance to those like Charlotte Elliott, like Marianne Hearn, like us, "who unto Jesus for refuge have fled." The hymn was sung at the funerals of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Robert E. Lee.
How Firm A Foundation
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?
In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.
Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.
When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.
Just as I am, Thine own to be.
Just as I am, Thine own to be,
Friend of the young, Who lovest me,
To consecrate myself to Thee,
O Jesus Christ, I come.
In the glad morning of my day,
My life to give, my vows to pay,
With no reserve and no delay,
With all my heart I come.
I would live ever in the light,
I would work ever for the right;
I would serve Thee with all my might;
Therefore, to Thee I come.
Just as I am, young, strong, and free,
To be the best that I can be
For truth, and righteousness, and Thee,
Lord of my life, I come.
With many dreams of fame and gold,
Success and joy to make me bold,
But dearer still my faith to hold,
For my whole life, I come.
And for Thy sake to win renown,
And then to take the victor’s crown,
And at Thy feet to cast it down,
O Master, Lord, I come.
And on 17 December two years after her birth, John Rippon (1751-1836), pastor of the Carter’s Lane Baptist Church in London for more than sixty years and the foremost authority on the hymns of Isaac Watts, died full of years and was laid to rest near the graves of Watts and of John Bunyan. Rippon's own great hymn speaks in power and assurance to those like Charlotte Elliott, like Marianne Hearn, like us, "who unto Jesus for refuge have fled." The hymn was sung at the funerals of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Robert E. Lee.
How Firm A Foundation
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?
In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.
Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.
When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.
Gerard Serafin, who has known it well for many years, asked yesterday whether many parishes still sang the following beautiful hymn of Abbé Simon J. Pellegrin, and I'm glad to say that it was the processional at the vigil Mass on Saturday at St. Laurence, Highland Park.
O come, divine Messiah!
O come, divine Messiah!
The world in silence waits the day
When hope shall sing its triumph,
And sadness flee away.
Dear Savior haste;
Come, come to earth,
Dispel the night and show your face,
And bid us hail the dawn of grace.
O come, divine Messiah!
The world in silence waits the day
When hope shall sing its triumph,
And sadness flee away.
O Christ, whom nations sigh for,
Whom priest and prophet long foretold,
Come break the captive fetters;
Redeem the long-lost fold.
Dear Savior haste;
Come, come to earth,
Dispel the night and show your face,
And bid us hail the dawn of grace.
O come, divine Messiah!
The world in silence waits the day
When hope shall sing its triumph,
And sadness flee away.
You come in peace and meekness,
And lowly will your cradle be;
All clothed in human weakness
Shall we your Godhead see.
Dear Savior haste;
Come, come to earth,
Dispel the night and show your face,
And bid us hail the dawn of grace.
O come, divine Messiah!
The world in silence waits the day
When hope shall sing its triumph,
And sadness flee away.
O come, divine Messiah!
O come, divine Messiah!
The world in silence waits the day
When hope shall sing its triumph,
And sadness flee away.
Dear Savior haste;
Come, come to earth,
Dispel the night and show your face,
And bid us hail the dawn of grace.
O come, divine Messiah!
The world in silence waits the day
When hope shall sing its triumph,
And sadness flee away.
O Christ, whom nations sigh for,
Whom priest and prophet long foretold,
Come break the captive fetters;
Redeem the long-lost fold.
Dear Savior haste;
Come, come to earth,
Dispel the night and show your face,
And bid us hail the dawn of grace.
O come, divine Messiah!
The world in silence waits the day
When hope shall sing its triumph,
And sadness flee away.
You come in peace and meekness,
And lowly will your cradle be;
All clothed in human weakness
Shall we your Godhead see.
Dear Savior haste;
Come, come to earth,
Dispel the night and show your face,
And bid us hail the dawn of grace.
O come, divine Messiah!
The world in silence waits the day
When hope shall sing its triumph,
And sadness flee away.
Friday, December 13, 2002
Santa Lucia Day
A thousand years ago King Canute (also known as Knud in Denmark and Knut in Norway) declared that Christmas would last a month, from December 13, the feast of St. Lucia until January 13, or Tjugondag Knut (St. Canute's Day). No one is quite sure why Lucia, a 4th century Sicilian saint, came to be so revered in Sweden. Some say she once visited the country, and others believe that Christian missionary stories of her life entranced the Swedish people. Whatever the origin, these new Christians who converted to Christianity around 1000 acquired a special fondness for the saint whose feast day marked the return of the sun and whose name itself means "light."
The celebration of the Feast of Saint Lucy today means that Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of next week are the seasonal Ember Days. They are no longer required observances but still worth our remembering. Karen Marie Knapp at From The Anchor Hold writes of the tradition with her customary insight and sensitivity.
A thousand years ago King Canute (also known as Knud in Denmark and Knut in Norway) declared that Christmas would last a month, from December 13, the feast of St. Lucia until January 13, or Tjugondag Knut (St. Canute's Day). No one is quite sure why Lucia, a 4th century Sicilian saint, came to be so revered in Sweden. Some say she once visited the country, and others believe that Christian missionary stories of her life entranced the Swedish people. Whatever the origin, these new Christians who converted to Christianity around 1000 acquired a special fondness for the saint whose feast day marked the return of the sun and whose name itself means "light."
The celebration of the Feast of Saint Lucy today means that Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of next week are the seasonal Ember Days. They are no longer required observances but still worth our remembering. Karen Marie Knapp at From The Anchor Hold writes of the tradition with her customary insight and sensitivity.
Chris at Hotdogblog posted great news a few weeks ago about the sale prices on some Oxford University Press book titles. I meant to pass the alert along and didn't get around to it. The good news is that the sale at OUP's web site is still on. Well worth a visit and some browsing. I'll second Chris's view that $50 for a copy of The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church is a steal. I think I use it more frequently than any other reference book: impeccable scholarship beautifully produced. There are other treasures available as well.
Tuesday, December 10, 2002
The relationship—both personal and biological—between a mother and her unborn child is unlike anything in the world, one “marked by peculiar and cardinal distinctions which exist nowhere else.”
The “Peculiar” Being: The Rights of an Unborn Child in Iowa
Jason M. Steffens, whose weblog is Antioch Road, posts his interesting and compelling Iowa Law Review note.
88 Iowa L. Rev. 217 (2002)
The “Peculiar” Being: The Rights of an Unborn Child in Iowa
Jason M. Steffens, whose weblog is Antioch Road, posts his interesting and compelling Iowa Law Review note.
88 Iowa L. Rev. 217 (2002)
Infants Now Murdered As Often As Teens
The homicide rate for U.S. infants is now virtually equal to the murder rate for teenagers, according to a new analysis of government data that revealed a surprising demographic milestone.
A slow, 30-year rise in the infanticide rate, coupled with a sharp -- and more widely reported -- drop in teen homicides, means the two groups are now being murdered at almost equal rates, according to the study's director, Brett Brown, databank supervisor for Child Trends, the independent research organization that issued a report last week.
Eric Johnson at Catholic Light furnished the link to this story from the Washington Post, and offers insightful comment.
We'd do well to remember these grim statistics, and the broken bodies of these children, in a special way on 28 December, joining them in memorial to the Holy Innocents.
The homicide rate for U.S. infants is now virtually equal to the murder rate for teenagers, according to a new analysis of government data that revealed a surprising demographic milestone.
A slow, 30-year rise in the infanticide rate, coupled with a sharp -- and more widely reported -- drop in teen homicides, means the two groups are now being murdered at almost equal rates, according to the study's director, Brett Brown, databank supervisor for Child Trends, the independent research organization that issued a report last week.
Eric Johnson at Catholic Light furnished the link to this story from the Washington Post, and offers insightful comment.
We'd do well to remember these grim statistics, and the broken bodies of these children, in a special way on 28 December, joining them in memorial to the Holy Innocents.
Monday, December 9, 2002
It's a tribute to his adaptability and a measure of his talent and enthusiasm, how he seems to make a city his own after just a few weeks. Take a look at nic's Chicago.
John Milton was born in London on this date in 1608. In this season of Advent, this time of expectant hope and watching, of preparation for the Second Coming of the Lord as well as for Christmas, here is a hymn to fit the day, Milton's poem on the promise of Revelation 22:12.
The Lord will come and not be slow.
The Lord will come and not be slow;
His footsteps cannot err;
Before Him righteousness shall go,
His royal harbinger.
Mercy and truth, that long were missed,
Now joyfully are met;
Sweet peace and righteousness have kissed,
And hand in hand are set.
The nations all whom Thou hast made
Shall come, and all shall frame
To bow them low before Thee, Lord!
And glorify Thy Name!
Truth from the earth, like to a flower,
Shall bud and blossom then,
And justice, from her heavenly bower,
Look down on mortal men.
Thee will I praise, O Lord, my God!
Thee honor and adore
With my whole heart; and blaze abroad
Thy Name forevermore!
The Lord will come and not be slow.
The Lord will come and not be slow;
His footsteps cannot err;
Before Him righteousness shall go,
His royal harbinger.
Mercy and truth, that long were missed,
Now joyfully are met;
Sweet peace and righteousness have kissed,
And hand in hand are set.
The nations all whom Thou hast made
Shall come, and all shall frame
To bow them low before Thee, Lord!
And glorify Thy Name!
Truth from the earth, like to a flower,
Shall bud and blossom then,
And justice, from her heavenly bower,
Look down on mortal men.
Thee will I praise, O Lord, my God!
Thee honor and adore
With my whole heart; and blaze abroad
Thy Name forevermore!
Friday, December 6, 2002
Just to be is a blessing, just to live is holy.
Man's being in the world is, according to the Bible, preceded by man's being known to God. Human existence follows divine anticipation. 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you' (Jeremiah 1:5). We live in the universe of His knowing. What guides and sustains our thinking about afterlife is relatedness to God. Apart from such relatedness and trust, there is no ground for such a hope. The real issue is whether my existence here and now is exclusively being-in-the-world or whether it is also being-in-God's-knowledge, whether being in the world is not also living in the presence of God, transcended by His knowing, escorted by His radiance.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, 1907-1972.
Man's being in the world is, according to the Bible, preceded by man's being known to God. Human existence follows divine anticipation. 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you' (Jeremiah 1:5). We live in the universe of His knowing. What guides and sustains our thinking about afterlife is relatedness to God. Apart from such relatedness and trust, there is no ground for such a hope. The real issue is whether my existence here and now is exclusively being-in-the-world or whether it is also being-in-God's-knowledge, whether being in the world is not also living in the presence of God, transcended by His knowing, escorted by His radiance.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, 1907-1972.
Tuesday, December 3, 2002
God our Father, by the preaching of Francis Xavier you brought many nations to yourself. Give his zeal for the faith to all who believe in You, that your Church may rejoice in continued growth throughout the world. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Opening Prayer, printed in Magnificat, from the Mass for the memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, patron of missions and missionaries, celebrated today.
The hymn O Deus Ego Amo Te was long attributed to him and is translated as My God I Love Thee.
My God, I love Thee; not because
I hope for heaven thereby,
Nor yet because who love Thee not
May eternally die.
Thou, O my Jesus, Thou didst me
Upon the cross embrace;
For me didst bear the nails and spear,
And manifold disgrace.
And griefs and torments numberless,
And sweat of agony;
E’en death itself; and all for man
Who was Thine enemy.
Then why, O blessèd Jesus Christ
Should I not love Thee well?
Not for the hope of winning heaven,
Nor of escaping hell.
Not with the hope of gaining aught,
Nor seeking a reward,
But as Thyself hast lovèd me,
O everlasting Lord!
E’en so I love Thee, and will love,
And in Thy praise will sing,
Solely because Thou art my God,
And my eternal King.
Addendum 12/6: Kensy Joseph at Lethargic IITian, writing in India, has posted several entries this week on St. Francis Xavier, among them a link to this excerpt from Saints For Sinners by Alban Goodier, S.J.
The Opening Prayer, printed in Magnificat, from the Mass for the memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, patron of missions and missionaries, celebrated today.
The hymn O Deus Ego Amo Te was long attributed to him and is translated as My God I Love Thee.
My God, I love Thee; not because
I hope for heaven thereby,
Nor yet because who love Thee not
May eternally die.
Thou, O my Jesus, Thou didst me
Upon the cross embrace;
For me didst bear the nails and spear,
And manifold disgrace.
And griefs and torments numberless,
And sweat of agony;
E’en death itself; and all for man
Who was Thine enemy.
Then why, O blessèd Jesus Christ
Should I not love Thee well?
Not for the hope of winning heaven,
Nor of escaping hell.
Not with the hope of gaining aught,
Nor seeking a reward,
But as Thyself hast lovèd me,
O everlasting Lord!
E’en so I love Thee, and will love,
And in Thy praise will sing,
Solely because Thou art my God,
And my eternal King.
Addendum 12/6: Kensy Joseph at Lethargic IITian, writing in India, has posted several entries this week on St. Francis Xavier, among them a link to this excerpt from Saints For Sinners by Alban Goodier, S.J.
Monday, December 2, 2002
God is the future of man and of the world. If the awareness of God is lost, humanity closes itself to the future and inevitably loses the perspective of its pilgrimage in time. Why be born, why die? Why sacrifice oneself, why suffer?
To these questions Christianity offers a complete response. For this reason, Christ is the hope of humanity. He is the real meaning of our present, because He is our sure future.
Advent reminds us that He has come, but also that He will come. And the life of believers is a continuous and vigilant expectation of His coming. The invitation to watch and wait today is underlined with insistence by St. Mark, who, throughout all the new liturgical year, will lead us to discover the mystery of Christ.
In today's passage, taken from the second of Jesus' great discourses, the Evangelist makes evident the ultimate meaning of history and of creation itself and he exhorts us to make of our whole existence an incessant search for Christ. From the encounter with Him and from the contemplation of His face springs that missionary vigor that makes us come out of our daily dullness to be courageous witnesses of His.
Pope John Paul II, from his Angelus address on the First Sunday of Advent.
To these questions Christianity offers a complete response. For this reason, Christ is the hope of humanity. He is the real meaning of our present, because He is our sure future.
Advent reminds us that He has come, but also that He will come. And the life of believers is a continuous and vigilant expectation of His coming. The invitation to watch and wait today is underlined with insistence by St. Mark, who, throughout all the new liturgical year, will lead us to discover the mystery of Christ.
In today's passage, taken from the second of Jesus' great discourses, the Evangelist makes evident the ultimate meaning of history and of creation itself and he exhorts us to make of our whole existence an incessant search for Christ. From the encounter with Him and from the contemplation of His face springs that missionary vigor that makes us come out of our daily dullness to be courageous witnesses of His.
Pope John Paul II, from his Angelus address on the First Sunday of Advent.
I listened last night to Music of St. Paul's Cathedral, which includes an anthem setting of Psalm 122, I Was Glad When They Said Unto Me, by Charles H.H. Parry. An earlier setting of the text was composed by John Blow, Minister of the Choristers, and was performed at the dedication of the rebuilt St. Pauls' Cathedral on this date in 1697.
The magnificent structure of that extraordinary and diligent man Sir Christopher Wren -- Si monumentum requiris, circumspice -- was built after the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed its predecessor. Wren is entombed in the cathedral crypt, as are Wellington and Nelson.
As the cathedral was among the principal markers of London's renewal after the Great Fire, it's fitting that St. Paul's with its great dome also stands as a smoke-wreathed symbol of indomitability in the photographic record of the Battle of Britain.
The magnificent structure of that extraordinary and diligent man Sir Christopher Wren -- Si monumentum requiris, circumspice -- was built after the Great Fire of 1666 destroyed its predecessor. Wren is entombed in the cathedral crypt, as are Wellington and Nelson.
As the cathedral was among the principal markers of London's renewal after the Great Fire, it's fitting that St. Paul's with its great dome also stands as a smoke-wreathed symbol of indomitability in the photographic record of the Battle of Britain.
Wednesday, November 27, 2002
Theology is not a school of thought but a gymnasium of life.
Bishop Rino Fisichella, rector of the Pontifical Lateran University.
Bishop Rino Fisichella, rector of the Pontifical Lateran University.
Tuesday, November 26, 2002
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
CHAPTER IX
`You can't think how glad I am to see you again, you dear old thing!' said the Duchess, as she tucked her arm affectionately into Alice's, and they walked off together.
Alice was very glad to find her in such a pleasant temper, and thought to herself that perhaps it was only the pepper that had made her so savage when they met in the kitchen.
`When I'm a Duchess,' she said to herself, (not in a very hopeful tone though), `I won't have any pepper in my kitchen at all. Soup does very well without--Maybe it's always pepper that makes people hot-tempered,' she went on, very much pleased at having found out a new kind of rule, `and vinegar that makes them sour--and camomile that makes them bitter--and--and barley-sugar and such things that make children sweet-tempered. I only wish people knew that: then they wouldn't be so stingy about it, you know--'
She had quite forgotten the Duchess by this time, and was a little startled when she heard her voice close to her ear. `You're thinking about something, my dear, and that makes you forget to talk. I can't tell you just now what the moral of that is, but I shall remember it in a bit.'
Charles Lutwidge Dawson, the Oxford mathematician who wrote under the name Lewis Carroll, sent the handwritten manuscript called Alice's Adventures Under Ground to 10-year-old Alice Liddell on this date in 1862.
Greetings to all White Rabbits, Mock Turtles, Mad Hatters, and March Hares.
CHAPTER IX
`You can't think how glad I am to see you again, you dear old thing!' said the Duchess, as she tucked her arm affectionately into Alice's, and they walked off together.
Alice was very glad to find her in such a pleasant temper, and thought to herself that perhaps it was only the pepper that had made her so savage when they met in the kitchen.
`When I'm a Duchess,' she said to herself, (not in a very hopeful tone though), `I won't have any pepper in my kitchen at all. Soup does very well without--Maybe it's always pepper that makes people hot-tempered,' she went on, very much pleased at having found out a new kind of rule, `and vinegar that makes them sour--and camomile that makes them bitter--and--and barley-sugar and such things that make children sweet-tempered. I only wish people knew that: then they wouldn't be so stingy about it, you know--'
She had quite forgotten the Duchess by this time, and was a little startled when she heard her voice close to her ear. `You're thinking about something, my dear, and that makes you forget to talk. I can't tell you just now what the moral of that is, but I shall remember it in a bit.'
Charles Lutwidge Dawson, the Oxford mathematician who wrote under the name Lewis Carroll, sent the handwritten manuscript called Alice's Adventures Under Ground to 10-year-old Alice Liddell on this date in 1862.
Greetings to all White Rabbits, Mock Turtles, Mad Hatters, and March Hares.
Name This Martian Robot
NASA will launch two robots to Mars next year and you can help name them. The Mars Exploration Rovers are scheduled for launch on or near this coming June, when Mars and Earth are relatively close in their orbits. The landing craft are expected to touch down on Mars in January 2004 and deploy the robot rovers shortly thereafter. Rovers have the capability to crawl about 100 meters each day of their planned 90-day mission. The mission's scientific purpose is to seek out and inspect interesting rocks and terrain that could give clues to the past of Mars.
NASA will launch two robots to Mars next year and you can help name them. The Mars Exploration Rovers are scheduled for launch on or near this coming June, when Mars and Earth are relatively close in their orbits. The landing craft are expected to touch down on Mars in January 2004 and deploy the robot rovers shortly thereafter. Rovers have the capability to crawl about 100 meters each day of their planned 90-day mission. The mission's scientific purpose is to seek out and inspect interesting rocks and terrain that could give clues to the past of Mars.
Monday, November 25, 2002
I spent Saturday in Manhattan and had planned to attend Mass at The Church of Our Saviour for the Feast of Christ the King. Father George William Rutler, an influence on my life since my college days at Villanova University, is pastor there and the subtle brilliance and reverent beauty of his preaching is a blessing.
I'd gone north to New York for an exhibit of Spanish art at the Episcopal Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, The Ages of Mankind: Time to Hope, which was even more engrossing and moving than I'd expected and I lingered there, staying long enough that I needed to modify my plans and attend a later Mass. I made my way south to 50th Street and went with hundreds of others, native and visitor, through the bronze doors of Saint Patrick's Cathedral and felt, like them and as always, at home in that cavernous space that is never cold, but alive with humanity and faith, luminous with His Presence.
The Feast of Christ the King, but the director of music chose also one of the great hymns of Isaac Watts, a blessed reminder that our King is also our Good Shepherd. We sang to the anonymous tune Resignation. And a fitting memorial. The gifted and devoted Isaac Watts died on this date in 1748.
My Shepherd Will Supply My Need
I'd gone north to New York for an exhibit of Spanish art at the Episcopal Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, The Ages of Mankind: Time to Hope, which was even more engrossing and moving than I'd expected and I lingered there, staying long enough that I needed to modify my plans and attend a later Mass. I made my way south to 50th Street and went with hundreds of others, native and visitor, through the bronze doors of Saint Patrick's Cathedral and felt, like them and as always, at home in that cavernous space that is never cold, but alive with humanity and faith, luminous with His Presence.
The Feast of Christ the King, but the director of music chose also one of the great hymns of Isaac Watts, a blessed reminder that our King is also our Good Shepherd. We sang to the anonymous tune Resignation. And a fitting memorial. The gifted and devoted Isaac Watts died on this date in 1748.
My Shepherd Will Supply My Need
"The procedure changes significantly at 21 weeks because the fetal tissues become more cohesive and difficult to dismember. This problem is accentuated by the fact that the fetal pelvis may be as much as 5cm in width...A long curved Mayo scissors may be necessary to decapitate and dismember the fetus..."
(Warren Hern, Abortion Practice, p.134)
And we look again at the child.
(Warren Hern, Abortion Practice, p.134)
And we look again at the child.
Thursday, November 21, 2002
The admirable Terry Jones writes: The Acts of Cecilia has the following: "While the profane music of her wedding was heard, Cecilia was singing in her heart a hymn of love for Jesus, her true spouse." It was this phrase that led to her association with music, singers, musicians, etc.
The Feast of Saint Cecilia is celebrated on 22 November.
Here are the concluding lines, the Grand Chorus, of A Song For Saint Cecilia's Day by John Dryden.
As from the pow'r of sacred lays
The spheres began to move,
And sung the great Creator's praise
To all the bless'd above;
So when the last and dreadful hour
This crumbling pageant shall devour,
The trumpet shall be heard on high,
The dead shall live, the living die,
And music shall untune the sky.
The Feast of Saint Cecilia is celebrated on 22 November.
Here are the concluding lines, the Grand Chorus, of A Song For Saint Cecilia's Day by John Dryden.
As from the pow'r of sacred lays
The spheres began to move,
And sung the great Creator's praise
To all the bless'd above;
So when the last and dreadful hour
This crumbling pageant shall devour,
The trumpet shall be heard on high,
The dead shall live, the living die,
And music shall untune the sky.
She's the dew upon the petals
of a blossom in the spring.
Ganns Deen, bursting with happiness, posts a poetic tribute to Cathy, his new bride.
A unity of love and purpose, in Him, shown forth to others, Lux in Domino.
Ephesians 5: 8-10: For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth) proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
of a blossom in the spring.
Ganns Deen, bursting with happiness, posts a poetic tribute to Cathy, his new bride.
A unity of love and purpose, in Him, shown forth to others, Lux in Domino.
Ephesians 5: 8-10: For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth) proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
Monday, November 18, 2002
There's discussion here and there of the accuracy of Rep. Nancy Pelosi's self-description as a "conservative Catholic." Her fervent promotion of the abortion license and her sympathetic embrace of the anti-Catholic Frances Kissling suggest that such a description of the Member of Congress from San Francisco is something less than accurate. It also suggests a facility at dissimulation that Alger Hiss might have envied.
Both Rep. Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi (1962) and Kansas Governor-elect Kathleen Gilligan Sebelius (1970) are graduates of Trinity College in Washington, DC., a foundation of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.
Both Rep. Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi (1962) and Kansas Governor-elect Kathleen Gilligan Sebelius (1970) are graduates of Trinity College in Washington, DC., a foundation of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.
Christ the Lord founded one Church and one Church only. However, many Christian communions present themselves to men as the true inheritors of Jesus Christ; all indeed profess to be followers of the Lord but differ in mind and go their different ways, as if Christ Himself were divided (Cf. 1 Cor.1, 13). Such division openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and damages the holy cause of preaching the Gospel to every creature.
But the Lord of Ages wisely and patiently follows out the plan of grace on our behalf, sinners that we are. In recent times more than ever before, He has been rousing divided Christians to remorse over their divisions and to a longing for unity. ... This movement toward unity is called 'ecumenical.' Those belong to it who invoke the Triune God and confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, doing this not merely as individuals but also as corporate bodies. For almost everyone regards the body in which he has heard the Gospel as his Church and indeed, God's Church. All however, though in different ways, long for the one visible Church of God, a Church truly universal and set forth into the world that the world may be converted to the Gospel and so be saved, to the glory of God.
from Unitatis Redintegratio, the decree on ecumenism of the Second Vatican Council, issued 21 November 1964. The prayer remains the same, growing in urgency and in fervent hope, "Ut unum sint."
But the Lord of Ages wisely and patiently follows out the plan of grace on our behalf, sinners that we are. In recent times more than ever before, He has been rousing divided Christians to remorse over their divisions and to a longing for unity. ... This movement toward unity is called 'ecumenical.' Those belong to it who invoke the Triune God and confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, doing this not merely as individuals but also as corporate bodies. For almost everyone regards the body in which he has heard the Gospel as his Church and indeed, God's Church. All however, though in different ways, long for the one visible Church of God, a Church truly universal and set forth into the world that the world may be converted to the Gospel and so be saved, to the glory of God.
from Unitatis Redintegratio, the decree on ecumenism of the Second Vatican Council, issued 21 November 1964. The prayer remains the same, growing in urgency and in fervent hope, "Ut unum sint."
Friday, November 15, 2002
During the next ten days, we mark the anniversaries of the deaths of both Anthony Johnson Showalter, who died in Chattanooga on 16 November 1924 and Elisha Albright Hoffman, who died in Chicago on 25 November 1929.
Showalter had been moved by the news that two of his former students had lost their wives within days of each other to compose a melody, and penned a refrain on the text of Deuteronomy 33:27: The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. At Showalter's request, Hoffman wrote the verses of this favorite of campground, meeting, and church.
Leaning On The Everlasting Arms
What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Refrain
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.
O how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
O how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Refrain
What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Showalter had been moved by the news that two of his former students had lost their wives within days of each other to compose a melody, and penned a refrain on the text of Deuteronomy 33:27: The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. At Showalter's request, Hoffman wrote the verses of this favorite of campground, meeting, and church.
Leaning On The Everlasting Arms
What a fellowship, what a joy divine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Refrain
Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;
Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.
O how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
O how bright the path grows from day to day,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Refrain
What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
Leaning on the everlasting arms;
I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Wednesday, November 13, 2002
We must pray without tiring, for the salvation of mankind does not depend on material success; nor on sciences that cloud the intellect. Neither does it depend on arms and human industries, but on Jesus alone.
Today is the memorial of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, patroness of emigrants and displaced persons, of orphans, of immigrants, and of hospital administrators, the first citizen of the United States to be canonized. She is one of the heroic saints of New York depicted on the great bronze doors of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan.
Today is the memorial of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, patroness of emigrants and displaced persons, of orphans, of immigrants, and of hospital administrators, the first citizen of the United States to be canonized. She is one of the heroic saints of New York depicted on the great bronze doors of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan.
Friday, November 8, 2002
The Little Ghost Nebula
This beauty was discovered by Sir William Herschel (1738-1822) who, in describing his career, said of himself that 'I have looked further into space than any human being did before me.' Herschel has been described by a contemporary expert as 'the first man to give a reasonably correct picture of the shape of our star-system or galaxy; he was the best telescope-maker of his time, and possibly the greatest observer who ever lived.' His sister and collaborator Caroline Herschel (1750-1848) was the first woman scientist and astronomer to be elected to the Royal Society.
This beauty was discovered by Sir William Herschel (1738-1822) who, in describing his career, said of himself that 'I have looked further into space than any human being did before me.' Herschel has been described by a contemporary expert as 'the first man to give a reasonably correct picture of the shape of our star-system or galaxy; he was the best telescope-maker of his time, and possibly the greatest observer who ever lived.' His sister and collaborator Caroline Herschel (1750-1848) was the first woman scientist and astronomer to be elected to the Royal Society.
The new biography of Max Beerbohm, that witty and ironic master of his craft, by N. John Hall is an event. And an essay by Joseph Epstein is one of the pleasures of contemporary literature. So you can be certain that you'll enjoy and learn from this review in The Weekly Standard.
The Beerbohm Cult
Why Max Beerbohm is the world's greatest minor writer
The Beerbohm Cult
Why Max Beerbohm is the world's greatest minor writer
Wednesday, November 6, 2002
On November 7, 1837, Elijah Parish Lovejoy, whose arguments in the anti-slavery newspaper The Saint Louis Observer were deeply influenced by The Second Great Awakening, was killed by a pro-slavery mob while defending his press.
Will Lamartine Thompson was born in East Liverpool, Ohio, on the same date ten years later, in 1847. The evangelist Dwight Moody, on his deathbed, spoke to Thompson about one of his hymns, saying "Will, I would rather have written Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling than anything I have been able to do in my whole life."
In keeping with the theme of exile in the last couple of entries, another of Thompson's fine hymns may be more appropriate to the anniversary.
Lead Me Gently Home, Father
Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home,
When life’s toils are ended
And parting days have come;
Sin no more shall tempt me,
Ne’er from Thee I’ll roam,
If Thou’lt only lead me, Father,
Lead me gently home.
Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home.
Lest I fall upon the wayside,
Lead me gently home.
Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home,
In life’s darkest hours, Father,
When life’s troubles come;
Keep my feet from wand’ring,
Lest from Thee I roam,
Lest I fall upon the wayside,
Lead me gently home.
Will Lamartine Thompson was born in East Liverpool, Ohio, on the same date ten years later, in 1847. The evangelist Dwight Moody, on his deathbed, spoke to Thompson about one of his hymns, saying "Will, I would rather have written Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling than anything I have been able to do in my whole life."
In keeping with the theme of exile in the last couple of entries, another of Thompson's fine hymns may be more appropriate to the anniversary.
Lead Me Gently Home, Father
Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home,
When life’s toils are ended
And parting days have come;
Sin no more shall tempt me,
Ne’er from Thee I’ll roam,
If Thou’lt only lead me, Father,
Lead me gently home.
Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home.
Lest I fall upon the wayside,
Lead me gently home.
Lead me gently home, Father,
Lead me gently home,
In life’s darkest hours, Father,
When life’s troubles come;
Keep my feet from wand’ring,
Lest from Thee I roam,
Lest I fall upon the wayside,
Lead me gently home.
So many of the results of the elections yesterday are a cause of celebration that there's an added brightness as we pause to renew our thanks for the blessings of liberty. But our political freedoms are such a rare good fortune in the history of the human pilgrimage on the earth that the theme of exile in the preceding post on Dante stays with me. The thoughts of exile are made even more somber in remembering that the Bolshevik Revolution began on this date in 1917 and in thinking of the grim cost in human misery that was its harvest.
I don't read Russian but have been told that the current issue of Russia's premier philosophy journal Voprosy Filosofii is entirely devoted to Lenin's deportation of many of Russia's leading thinkers and artists aboard the "Philosophy Ship" in 1922. The philosopher and Christian thinker Nikolai Berdyaev was among those sent into exile and later wrote about the experience in his autobiography:
When we crossed the Soviet border at sea, there was the feeling that we were out of danger; until then no one was sure they would not make us turn around. But together with this feeling of entering a zone of great freedom, I had a feeling of deep sorrow at parting with my native land ...
And there were others in later years. It's impossible, for example, to forget the lines of anguish and pain added to the face of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who had already suffered and borne witness to so much, when he was expelled from his Russian homeland in 1974, torn from the land that he saw as a mother.
Our political freedoms come bound with a terrible responsibility and are only a part of the radical freedom to which we're called, as Berdyaev wrote in Christianity and Class War: Man's freedom is indissolubly linked with his obligations. Man's freedom is not a claim, but a duty, not so much what he demands as what is demanded of him. Man must be free. God demands and expects this of him.
We hear again the voice of the Lord Jesus in His command to Peter in Luke 5:4: Duc in altum --- Put out into the deep water. Meditation on this command has been a consistent theme of Pope John Paul II and is central to the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, in which His Holiness entreats us to respond to the loving command of the Lord: Let us go forward in hope! A new millennium is opening before the Church like a vast ocean upon which we shall venture, relying on the help of Christ. The Son of God, who became incarnate two thousand years ago out of love for humanity, is at work even today: we need discerning eyes to see this and, above all, a generous heart to become the instruments of his work.
I don't read Russian but have been told that the current issue of Russia's premier philosophy journal Voprosy Filosofii is entirely devoted to Lenin's deportation of many of Russia's leading thinkers and artists aboard the "Philosophy Ship" in 1922. The philosopher and Christian thinker Nikolai Berdyaev was among those sent into exile and later wrote about the experience in his autobiography:
When we crossed the Soviet border at sea, there was the feeling that we were out of danger; until then no one was sure they would not make us turn around. But together with this feeling of entering a zone of great freedom, I had a feeling of deep sorrow at parting with my native land ...
And there were others in later years. It's impossible, for example, to forget the lines of anguish and pain added to the face of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who had already suffered and borne witness to so much, when he was expelled from his Russian homeland in 1974, torn from the land that he saw as a mother.
Our political freedoms come bound with a terrible responsibility and are only a part of the radical freedom to which we're called, as Berdyaev wrote in Christianity and Class War: Man's freedom is indissolubly linked with his obligations. Man's freedom is not a claim, but a duty, not so much what he demands as what is demanded of him. Man must be free. God demands and expects this of him.
We hear again the voice of the Lord Jesus in His command to Peter in Luke 5:4: Duc in altum --- Put out into the deep water. Meditation on this command has been a consistent theme of Pope John Paul II and is central to the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, in which His Holiness entreats us to respond to the loving command of the Lord: Let us go forward in hope! A new millennium is opening before the Church like a vast ocean upon which we shall venture, relying on the help of Christ. The Son of God, who became incarnate two thousand years ago out of love for humanity, is at work even today: we need discerning eyes to see this and, above all, a generous heart to become the instruments of his work.
Tuesday, November 5, 2002
Tu lascerai ogne cosa diletta
più caramente; e questo è quello strale
che l'arco de lo essilio pria saetta.
Tu proverai sì come sa di sale
lo pane altrui, e come è duro calle
lo scendere e 'l salir per l'altrui scale.
E quel che più ti graverà le spalle,
sarà la compagnia malvagia e scempia
con la qual tu cadrai in questa valle.
<<<<< >>>>>
You shall leave everything you love most dearly:
this is the arrow that the bow of exile
shoots first.
You are to know the bitter taste
of others' bread, how salt it is, and know
how hard a path it is for one who goes
descending and ascending others' stairs.
And what will be most hard for you to bear
will be the scheming, senseless company
that is to share your fall into this valley."
The prophecy of Cacciaguida in La Divina Commedia of Dante Alighieri, Paradiso, Canto XVII, 55-63 (translated by Allen Mandelbaum).
Dante was sentenced to death, in absentia, by the magistrates of his city of Florence on November 6, 1315. He avoided the penalty only by continuing in exile from what he called in Inferno XXIII his birthplace and home on "the fair river of Arno, at the great town."
più caramente; e questo è quello strale
che l'arco de lo essilio pria saetta.
Tu proverai sì come sa di sale
lo pane altrui, e come è duro calle
lo scendere e 'l salir per l'altrui scale.
E quel che più ti graverà le spalle,
sarà la compagnia malvagia e scempia
con la qual tu cadrai in questa valle.
<<<<< >>>>>
You shall leave everything you love most dearly:
this is the arrow that the bow of exile
shoots first.
You are to know the bitter taste
of others' bread, how salt it is, and know
how hard a path it is for one who goes
descending and ascending others' stairs.
And what will be most hard for you to bear
will be the scheming, senseless company
that is to share your fall into this valley."
The prophecy of Cacciaguida in La Divina Commedia of Dante Alighieri, Paradiso, Canto XVII, 55-63 (translated by Allen Mandelbaum).
Dante was sentenced to death, in absentia, by the magistrates of his city of Florence on November 6, 1315. He avoided the penalty only by continuing in exile from what he called in Inferno XXIII his birthplace and home on "the fair river of Arno, at the great town."
Monday, November 4, 2002
Augustus Montague Toplady, preacher, controversialist, minister of the Church of England, was born on this date in 1740. His great hymn, said to have been conceived as he sheltered himself during a storm amidst the rocks of Cheddar Gorge in England, was written in 1776 on the text of 1 Corinthians 10: 1-4.
Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant of the fact that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
Rock of Ages
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure;
Save from wrath and make me pure.
Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.
While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyes shall close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant of the fact that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
Rock of Ages
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure;
Save from wrath and make me pure.
Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.
While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyes shall close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
Saturday, November 2, 2002
If you need a reminder of the glories that we've been given in the natural world, Gerard posts a couple of very fine mementoes of his All Saints Day expedition through the Maryland countryside. Or look to Buck Mountain in the Shenandoah. John Bell is providing vivid and evocative pictures to accompany his Notes From a Hillside Farm.
And here's the Giant Stellar Nursery.
There is no contradiction here. The violet sadness and melancholy that can mark All Souls Day is rightly balanced by reminders of the natural glories that God has placed before us and within which we live. The glories which, in their beauty sometimes majestic and sometimes homely, are also intimations of the day when we will be raised incorruptible and live in the presence of The King in His Beauty.
The King Of Love My Shepherd Is
And here's the Giant Stellar Nursery.
There is no contradiction here. The violet sadness and melancholy that can mark All Souls Day is rightly balanced by reminders of the natural glories that God has placed before us and within which we live. The glories which, in their beauty sometimes majestic and sometimes homely, are also intimations of the day when we will be raised incorruptible and live in the presence of The King in His Beauty.
The King Of Love My Shepherd Is
Sainteros has settled into his new web home and you should spend some time there. You'll find penetrating reflections like this and gems like these:
Diamond Head Sutra
How is it, Lord,
That on this height
I find myself
So low,
Unless by grace
I am annulled?
Mania
In addition to the rain
Ten thousand yellow leaves
Elliptical, serrated
Falling on black pavement
Diamond Head Sutra
How is it, Lord,
That on this height
I find myself
So low,
Unless by grace
I am annulled?
Mania
In addition to the rain
Ten thousand yellow leaves
Elliptical, serrated
Falling on black pavement
Friday, November 1, 2002
Today is All Saints Day, the solemn feast that is among the holiest days of the Christian year. Blessed be God in His angels and in His saints.
Hebrews 12:1-2: Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For All The Saints
For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
For the Apostles’ glorious company,
Who bearing forth the Cross o’er land and sea,
Shook all the mighty world, we sing to Thee:
Alleluia, Alleluia!
For the Evangelists, by whose blest word,
Like fourfold streams, the garden of the Lord,
Is fair and fruitful, be Thy Name adored.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
For Martyrs, who with rapture kindled eye,
Saw the bright crown descending from the sky,
And seeing, grasped it, Thee we glorify.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
All are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of glory passes on His way.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
And singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost:
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Hebrews 12:1-2: Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For All The Saints
For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
For the Apostles’ glorious company,
Who bearing forth the Cross o’er land and sea,
Shook all the mighty world, we sing to Thee:
Alleluia, Alleluia!
For the Evangelists, by whose blest word,
Like fourfold streams, the garden of the Lord,
Is fair and fruitful, be Thy Name adored.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
For Martyrs, who with rapture kindled eye,
Saw the bright crown descending from the sky,
And seeing, grasped it, Thee we glorify.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
All are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of glory passes on His way.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
And singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost:
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Thursday, October 31, 2002
The scholar Rochelle I. Altman in the Israeli Insider on the ossuary said to be that of Saint James.
Ossuary was genuine, inscription was faked
As an expert on scripts and an historian of writing systems, I was asked to examine this inscription and make a report. I did.
The bone-box is original; the first inscription, which is in Aramaic, "Jacob son of Joseph," is authentic. The second half of the inscription, "brother of Jesus," is a poorly executed fake and a later addition. This report has already been distributed on at least two scholarly lists.
Please note that the fraud is so blatant that I did not bother to go into extreme detail on whether the faked addition is supposed to be Hebrew or Aramaic.
The report follows the article.
Many thanks to Orrin at Brothers Judd for the link.
Ossuary was genuine, inscription was faked
As an expert on scripts and an historian of writing systems, I was asked to examine this inscription and make a report. I did.
The bone-box is original; the first inscription, which is in Aramaic, "Jacob son of Joseph," is authentic. The second half of the inscription, "brother of Jesus," is a poorly executed fake and a later addition. This report has already been distributed on at least two scholarly lists.
Please note that the fraud is so blatant that I did not bother to go into extreme detail on whether the faked addition is supposed to be Hebrew or Aramaic.
The report follows the article.
Many thanks to Orrin at Brothers Judd for the link.
Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?
Quem patronum rogaturus,
Cum vix justus sit securus?
What am I who am wretched then to say?
Whom might I seek as my protector,
When even the just man is scarcely safe?
From the Dies Irae of Thomas of Celano, O.F.M.
Quem patronum rogaturus,
Cum vix justus sit securus?
What am I who am wretched then to say?
Whom might I seek as my protector,
When even the just man is scarcely safe?
From the Dies Irae of Thomas of Celano, O.F.M.
Wednesday, October 30, 2002
New York Will Face Bus Bombs, MTA Security Czar Is Warning
Charles linked to this disturbing story this morning at Little Green Footballs. Dozens of comments have been posted in response, none of them reassuring.
Charles linked to this disturbing story this morning at Little Green Footballs. Dozens of comments have been posted in response, none of them reassuring.
Monday, October 28, 2002
The victory of the followers of Constantine over the army of Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge occurred on this date A.D. 312.
. . . Accordingly he called on God with earnest prayer and supplications that He would reveal to him Who He was, and stretch forth his right hand to help him in his present difficulties. And while he was thus praying with fervent entreaty, a most marvelous sign appeared to him from heaven, the account of which it might have been hard to believe, had it been related by any other person. But since the Victorious Emperor himself long afterwards declared it to the writer of this History, when he was honored with his acquaintance and society, and confirmed his statement with an oath, who could not believe the account especially since subsequent events established its truth?
He said that about noon, when the day was already beginning to decline, he saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, bearing the inscription IN HOC SIGNO VINCES. At this sight, he himself was struck with amazement, and his whole army which was with him on this expedition too and which witnessed this miracle.
"He said that he doubted within himself what importance the vision might hold. He continued to ponder its meaning through until he fell asleep. While sleeping, the Christ of God appeared to him with the same sign he had seen earlier in the heavens. God commanded him to make a likeness of that sign which he had seen in the heavens and to use it as a safeguard in all encounters with his enemies."
Eusebius of Caesarea, Life of Constantine, 28.
. . . Accordingly he called on God with earnest prayer and supplications that He would reveal to him Who He was, and stretch forth his right hand to help him in his present difficulties. And while he was thus praying with fervent entreaty, a most marvelous sign appeared to him from heaven, the account of which it might have been hard to believe, had it been related by any other person. But since the Victorious Emperor himself long afterwards declared it to the writer of this History, when he was honored with his acquaintance and society, and confirmed his statement with an oath, who could not believe the account especially since subsequent events established its truth?
He said that about noon, when the day was already beginning to decline, he saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, bearing the inscription IN HOC SIGNO VINCES. At this sight, he himself was struck with amazement, and his whole army which was with him on this expedition too and which witnessed this miracle.
"He said that he doubted within himself what importance the vision might hold. He continued to ponder its meaning through until he fell asleep. While sleeping, the Christ of God appeared to him with the same sign he had seen earlier in the heavens. God commanded him to make a likeness of that sign which he had seen in the heavens and to use it as a safeguard in all encounters with his enemies."
Eusebius of Caesarea, Life of Constantine, 28.
Friday, October 25, 2002
Thursday, October 24, 2002
To meditate upon the “joyful” mysteries, then, is to enter into the ultimate causes and the deepest meaning of Christian joy. It is to focus on the realism of the mystery of the Incarnation and on the obscure foreshadowing of the mystery of the saving Passion. Mary leads us to discover the secret of Christian joy, reminding us that Christianity is, first and foremost, euangelion, “good news”, which has as its heart and its whole content the person of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, the one Saviour of the world.
The promulgation of the apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae and Pope John Paul II's commendation of a series of meditations on the public life of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Luminous Mysteries inaugurated what His Holiness envisions as a year of devotional renewal. Viewed in this light, tomorrow evening's presentation at The International Institute for Culture, the inaugural concert of its Music Program and Schola Nova, featuring choral music inspired by the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary by Schütz, Monteverdi, Lassus and others, should be an even richer experience than it already promised.
As October is the month of the Holy Rosary, it also marks the inauguration of the Music Program at the International Institute for Culture. To celebrate this auspicious confluence, the IIC is pleased to present its brand new resident music ensemble in a debut concert featuring choral works inspired by the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. Since the Middle Ages, the joyful events in the early life of Jesus have inspired artists, musicians and dramatists to create an inestimable treasury of masterworks, forever fused with the sacred mysteries of the Christ-event. Likewise, the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary has provided Christians of countless generations a prayer window into these intimate moments in lives of Our Lord and his Holy Mother.
The promulgation of the apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae and Pope John Paul II's commendation of a series of meditations on the public life of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Luminous Mysteries inaugurated what His Holiness envisions as a year of devotional renewal. Viewed in this light, tomorrow evening's presentation at The International Institute for Culture, the inaugural concert of its Music Program and Schola Nova, featuring choral music inspired by the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary by Schütz, Monteverdi, Lassus and others, should be an even richer experience than it already promised.
As October is the month of the Holy Rosary, it also marks the inauguration of the Music Program at the International Institute for Culture. To celebrate this auspicious confluence, the IIC is pleased to present its brand new resident music ensemble in a debut concert featuring choral works inspired by the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. Since the Middle Ages, the joyful events in the early life of Jesus have inspired artists, musicians and dramatists to create an inestimable treasury of masterworks, forever fused with the sacred mysteries of the Christ-event. Likewise, the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary has provided Christians of countless generations a prayer window into these intimate moments in lives of Our Lord and his Holy Mother.
I hope that you've been following the series of vignettes and situation portraits that James Cordrey has been creating at Threshing Floor. They began last month with Station and we've been introduced to several characters -- Rosa, Sam, Charles, Jason -- in the succeeding weeks and have now come to Station 11. Intimate, penetrating, worth your time.
Wednesday, October 23, 2002
The transformation of earthly things has a purpose. Activities like politics are only the outward manifestation of an inner transformation. We are not trying to create a Christian culture for the sake of having control over society, or even so that Christ’s rule will be acknowledged by our nation’s leaders. We should endeavor to establish a Christian culture because it is the inevitable result of God’s saving grace. Culture is the unavoidable outworking of our worship. And just as worship and the sacraments cleanse the whole man, so our culture must reflect that same holistic redemption. In other words, salvation and worship are the heart of the Christian, but the heart brings life-giving blood to the whole body. The limbs of culture are nourished and move in accordance with the will of the mind - which in this metaphor is God’s prescriptive will.
David P. Henreckson, in his essay Heaven and Middle Earth in Volume II, Issue 4.
Another fine and searching issue of New Christendom Journal is now available. Be enriched.
David P. Henreckson, in his essay Heaven and Middle Earth in Volume II, Issue 4.
Another fine and searching issue of New Christendom Journal is now available. Be enriched.
Sunday, October 20, 2002
Five hours on a crisp and sun-drenched Sunday spent aboard an Amtrak Acela Express from Philadelphia to Boston. Slight changes of color in the trees as we moved north and in the mountains to the west the changes are further advanced, but here on the Atlantic Plain the foliage is just beginning the annual show. Other sensations on the trip, too. No matter how many times seen, there are few sights like the Manhattan skyline, but the sense now of what's missing still catches you and leaves the vista suddenly tinged with ache and sadness and loss. It was very good after that to have the immense distances of the blue-grey sea along the Connecticut coast, to see families out for a seaside walk on the shingles, fisherman on the piers or up to their waists in waders, the bright whiteness of boats in the marinas or out on the water, the answering whiteness of church steeples. But I hadn't spent so long on a train since the many rides on the Crescent from Philadelphia to Charlottesville. I'm glad of today's experience -- it's a good train. But, after commuter rail trips at each end of the Acela ride and capped by a taxi to the hotel, I'm glad too to have arrived now in North Andover. I'm entering this at a terminal in the McQuade Library at Merrimack College.
Rev. Vincent McQuade, O.S.A. was the founder of the college and possessed of all the gifts that such a phrase implies. I had the privilege of knowing him in his last years at Villanova University when he was an official of the Augustinian Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova and remember now not only his educational achievements but the dedication of his priestly ministry, as well as his fondness for my sisters and his great personal kindness to me.
I made the trip north in order to be present at the celebration of the priestly anniversary of a friend from prep school and college. The Mass of Thanksgiving will be tomorrow afternoon in the Collegiate Church of Christ the Teacher at Merrimack College.
Be Thou My Vision
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
Rev. Vincent McQuade, O.S.A. was the founder of the college and possessed of all the gifts that such a phrase implies. I had the privilege of knowing him in his last years at Villanova University when he was an official of the Augustinian Province of Saint Thomas of Villanova and remember now not only his educational achievements but the dedication of his priestly ministry, as well as his fondness for my sisters and his great personal kindness to me.
I made the trip north in order to be present at the celebration of the priestly anniversary of a friend from prep school and college. The Mass of Thanksgiving will be tomorrow afternoon in the Collegiate Church of Christ the Teacher at Merrimack College.
Be Thou My Vision
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
Friday, October 18, 2002
It's a twenty-minute walk from the train to the office up near the Schuylkill River and the area becomes more suburban as the months pass. But there are still echoes of the rural. Groundhog and rabbit still have a presence. The walk is a pleasure more often than not and especially on a crisp October morning under the kind of vivid blue sky that opens the heart. And this morning, and unexpectedly, I shared part of the walk with a wild turkey, beautifully marked and mildly wary. It's made my day.
Thursday, October 17, 2002
No earthly pleasures, no kingdoms of this world can benefit me in any way. I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire.
.....
The prince of this world is determined to lay hold of me and to undermine my will which is intent on God. Let none of you here help him; instead show yourselves on my side, which is also God's side. Believe instead what I am now writing to you. For though I am alive as I write to you, still my real desire is to die. My love of this life has been crucified, and there is no yearning in me for any earthly thing. Rather within me is the living water which says deep inside me: "Come to the Father."
These passages are taken from the letter of Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans, one of a collection he wrote to various churches as he was being taken from Antioch in Syria, where he was bishop in succession to Saint Peter, to Rome, where he was martyred under the Emperor Trajan c. 107. Saint Ignatius, zealous, fearless, and learned, whose memorial and feast is celebrated today, is one of the principal sources for our knowledge of the liturgical practices and daily life of the ancient church.
The Patriarchs of the Syriac Orthodox Church have for more than 500 years adopted the name of Ignatius preceding their own.
.....
The prince of this world is determined to lay hold of me and to undermine my will which is intent on God. Let none of you here help him; instead show yourselves on my side, which is also God's side. Believe instead what I am now writing to you. For though I am alive as I write to you, still my real desire is to die. My love of this life has been crucified, and there is no yearning in me for any earthly thing. Rather within me is the living water which says deep inside me: "Come to the Father."
These passages are taken from the letter of Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Romans, one of a collection he wrote to various churches as he was being taken from Antioch in Syria, where he was bishop in succession to Saint Peter, to Rome, where he was martyred under the Emperor Trajan c. 107. Saint Ignatius, zealous, fearless, and learned, whose memorial and feast is celebrated today, is one of the principal sources for our knowledge of the liturgical practices and daily life of the ancient church.
The Patriarchs of the Syriac Orthodox Church have for more than 500 years adopted the name of Ignatius preceding their own.
Wednesday, October 16, 2002
That a man might do something very audacious and desperate for money, power or fame, was to the general apprehension quite possible; but . . . that nineteen men could invade a great State to liberate a despised and hated race, was to the average intellect and conscience, too monstrous for belief.
---- from John Brown, an address by Frederick Douglass.
The raid by John Brown and his followers on Harper's Ferry, Virginia, occurred on the night of October 16, 1859.
---- from John Brown, an address by Frederick Douglass.
The raid by John Brown and his followers on Harper's Ferry, Virginia, occurred on the night of October 16, 1859.
The text of the apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae has been released and the Five Luminous Mysteries differ from those mentioned as possibilities in some preliminary reports. Here is the relevant paragraph from the letter, the point at which Pope John Paul II moves from a consideration of the Joyful Mysteries to the newly introduced Luminous meditations, which commemorate events next in time in the life of Christ, before the Sorrowful Mysteries commemorating the events of the passion and death of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Glorious Mysteries commemorating the Lord's Resurrection and Ascension, the Descent of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of honor to Mary, the Mother of God.
Moving on from the infancy and the hidden life in Nazareth to the public life of Jesus, our contemplation brings us to those mysteries which may be called in a special way “mysteries of light”. Certainly the whole mystery of Christ is a mystery of light. He is the “light of the world” (Jn 8:12). Yet this truth emerges in a special way during the years of his public life, when he proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom. In proposing to the Christian community five significant moments – “luminous” mysteries – during this phase of Christ's life, I think that the following can be fittingly singled out: (1) his Baptism in the Jordan, (2) his self-manifestation at the wedding of Cana, (3) his proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with his call to conversion, (4) his Transfiguration, and finally, (5) his institution of the Eucharist, as the sacramental expression of the Paschal Mystery.
His Holiness gives extended consideration to the primary purpose of praying the rosary, to the centrality of Sacred Scripture as the basis of meditation, and to the aspects of the prayer that will most surely advance our growth in Christ and in His Love. The letter is rich in its imagery, deep in its understanding, persistent in echoing the call of God to His people.
In Christ, God has truly assumed a “heart of flesh”. Not only does God have a divine heart, rich in mercy and in forgiveness, but also a human heart, capable of all the stirrings of affection. If we needed evidence for this from the Gospel, we could easily find it in the touching dialogue between Christ and Peter after the Resurrection: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Three times this question is put to Peter, and three times he gives the reply: “Lord, you know that I love you” (cf. Jn 21:15-17). Over and above the specific meaning of this passage, so important for Peter's mission, none can fail to recognize the beauty of this triple repetition, in which the insistent request and the corresponding reply are expressed in terms familiar from the universal experience of human love. To understand the Rosary, one has to enter into the psychological dynamic proper to love.
Moving on from the infancy and the hidden life in Nazareth to the public life of Jesus, our contemplation brings us to those mysteries which may be called in a special way “mysteries of light”. Certainly the whole mystery of Christ is a mystery of light. He is the “light of the world” (Jn 8:12). Yet this truth emerges in a special way during the years of his public life, when he proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom. In proposing to the Christian community five significant moments – “luminous” mysteries – during this phase of Christ's life, I think that the following can be fittingly singled out: (1) his Baptism in the Jordan, (2) his self-manifestation at the wedding of Cana, (3) his proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with his call to conversion, (4) his Transfiguration, and finally, (5) his institution of the Eucharist, as the sacramental expression of the Paschal Mystery.
His Holiness gives extended consideration to the primary purpose of praying the rosary, to the centrality of Sacred Scripture as the basis of meditation, and to the aspects of the prayer that will most surely advance our growth in Christ and in His Love. The letter is rich in its imagery, deep in its understanding, persistent in echoing the call of God to His people.
In Christ, God has truly assumed a “heart of flesh”. Not only does God have a divine heart, rich in mercy and in forgiveness, but also a human heart, capable of all the stirrings of affection. If we needed evidence for this from the Gospel, we could easily find it in the touching dialogue between Christ and Peter after the Resurrection: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Three times this question is put to Peter, and three times he gives the reply: “Lord, you know that I love you” (cf. Jn 21:15-17). Over and above the specific meaning of this passage, so important for Peter's mission, none can fail to recognize the beauty of this triple repetition, in which the insistent request and the corresponding reply are expressed in terms familiar from the universal experience of human love. To understand the Rosary, one has to enter into the psychological dynamic proper to love.
Tuesday, October 15, 2002
Tomorrow will begin the silver anniversary year of the pontificate of Pope John Paul II and reports continue that His Holiness will issue an apostolic letter on the Rosary to mark the event. The reports suggest that he will recommend and inaugurate commemoration of Five Luminous Mysteries to join the Glorious, Joyful, and Sorrowful meditative groupings. The five new meditations may include the Baptism in the Jordan, the Temptation in the Desert, the Proclamation of the Kingdom, the Transfiguration, and the Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
How rich the meditations of the renewed devotion and how fitting the name. Luminous and illuminating. What we are called to be in Mt 5:13-14: You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world. What we can be in Him and because of the life-giving promise of John 8:12: Then Jesus spoke again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. The Light of the life everlasting.
Light Of The Lonely Pilgrim's Heart
Light of the lonely pilgrim’s heart,
Star of the coming day,
Arise, and with Thy morning beams
Chase all our griefs away.
Come, blessèd Lord, bid every shore
And answering island sing
The praises of Thy royal Name,
And own Thee as their King.
Bid the whole earth, responsive now
To the bright world above,
Break forth in rapturous strains of joy
In memory of Thy love.
Lord, Lord, Thy fair creation groans,
The air, the earth, the sea,
In unison with all our hearts,
And calls aloud for Thee.
Come, then, with all Thy quickening power
With one awakening smile,
And bid the serpent’s trail no more
Thy beauteous realms defile.
Thine was the cross, with all its fruits,
Of grace and peace divine;
Be Thine the crown of glory now,
The palm of victory Thine.
How rich the meditations of the renewed devotion and how fitting the name. Luminous and illuminating. What we are called to be in Mt 5:13-14: You are the salt of the earth...You are the light of the world. What we can be in Him and because of the life-giving promise of John 8:12: Then Jesus spoke again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. The Light of the life everlasting.
Light Of The Lonely Pilgrim's Heart
Light of the lonely pilgrim’s heart,
Star of the coming day,
Arise, and with Thy morning beams
Chase all our griefs away.
Come, blessèd Lord, bid every shore
And answering island sing
The praises of Thy royal Name,
And own Thee as their King.
Bid the whole earth, responsive now
To the bright world above,
Break forth in rapturous strains of joy
In memory of Thy love.
Lord, Lord, Thy fair creation groans,
The air, the earth, the sea,
In unison with all our hearts,
And calls aloud for Thee.
Come, then, with all Thy quickening power
With one awakening smile,
And bid the serpent’s trail no more
Thy beauteous realms defile.
Thine was the cross, with all its fruits,
Of grace and peace divine;
Be Thine the crown of glory now,
The palm of victory Thine.
Monday, October 14, 2002
John and Charles Wesley set sail from England for America in the Simmonds on this date in 1735. Here is an excerpt from John Wesley's diary for that day.
Mr. Benjamin Ingham, of Queen's College, Oxford, Mr. Charles Delamotte, son of a merchant in London, who had offered himself some days before, my brother Charles Wesley, and myself, took boat for Gravesend, in order to embark for Georgia. Our end in leaving our native country was not to avoid want, (God having given us plenty of temporal blessings,) nor to gain the dung or dross of riches or honor; but singly this, -- to save our souls, to live wholly to the glory of God. In the afternoon we found the `Simmonds' off Gravesend, and immediately went on board.
Here is one of the hymns of Charles Wesley from a few years later, on the text of Luke 15:2: This man receiveth sinners.
Sinners, Believe The Gospel Word.
Sinners, believe the Gospel word,
Jesus is come your souls to save
Jesus is come, your common Lord;
Pardon ye all through Him may have,
May now be saved, whoever will;
This Man receiveth sinners still.
See where the lame, the halt, the blind,
The deaf, the dumb, the sick, the poor,
Flock to the Friend of human kind,
And freely all accept their cure;
To whom did He His help deny?
Whom in His days of flesh pass by?
Did not His Word the fiends expel,
The lepers cleanse, and raise the dead?
Did He not all their sickness heal,
And satisfy their every need?
Did He reject His helpless clay,
Or send them sorrowful away?
Nay, but His bowels yearned to see
The people hungry, scattered, faint;
Nay, but He uttered over thee,
Jerusalem, a true complaint;
Jerusalem, who shedd’st His blood,
That, with His tears, for thee hath flowed.
Mr. Benjamin Ingham, of Queen's College, Oxford, Mr. Charles Delamotte, son of a merchant in London, who had offered himself some days before, my brother Charles Wesley, and myself, took boat for Gravesend, in order to embark for Georgia. Our end in leaving our native country was not to avoid want, (God having given us plenty of temporal blessings,) nor to gain the dung or dross of riches or honor; but singly this, -- to save our souls, to live wholly to the glory of God. In the afternoon we found the `Simmonds' off Gravesend, and immediately went on board.
Here is one of the hymns of Charles Wesley from a few years later, on the text of Luke 15:2: This man receiveth sinners.
Sinners, Believe The Gospel Word.
Sinners, believe the Gospel word,
Jesus is come your souls to save
Jesus is come, your common Lord;
Pardon ye all through Him may have,
May now be saved, whoever will;
This Man receiveth sinners still.
See where the lame, the halt, the blind,
The deaf, the dumb, the sick, the poor,
Flock to the Friend of human kind,
And freely all accept their cure;
To whom did He His help deny?
Whom in His days of flesh pass by?
Did not His Word the fiends expel,
The lepers cleanse, and raise the dead?
Did He not all their sickness heal,
And satisfy their every need?
Did He reject His helpless clay,
Or send them sorrowful away?
Nay, but His bowels yearned to see
The people hungry, scattered, faint;
Nay, but He uttered over thee,
Jerusalem, a true complaint;
Jerusalem, who shedd’st His blood,
That, with His tears, for thee hath flowed.
Sunday, October 13, 2002
Visit Davey at Poet Warrior if you've not been there in a few days. Read The Dawning Fire. A vision of Patrick and a liberating Faith, the armor of God that drives out fear.
Wednesday, October 9, 2002
Jamie mentioned him at The King There In His Beauty and I'd not thought of his work in a while. Jamie and I have different favorites, it seems, and here is the poem of Jacques Prévert called Cet Amour, from the collection Paroles. And a translation into English by Alastair Campbell.
Cet amour
Si violent
Si fragile
Si tendre
Si désespéré
Cet amour
Beau comme le jour
Et mauvais comme le temps
Quand le temps est mauvais
Cet amour si vrai
Cet amour si beau
Si heureux
Si joyeux
Et si dérisoire
Tremblant de peur comme un enfant dans le noir
Et si sûr de lui
Comme un homme tranquille au milieu de la nuit
Cet amour qui faisait peur aux autres
Qui les faisait parler
Qui les faisait blémir
Cet amour guetté
Parce que nous le guettions
Traqué blessé piétiné achevé nié oublié
Parce que nous l'avons traqué blessé piétiné achevé nié oublié
Cet amour tout entier
Si vivant encore
Et tout ensoleillé
C'est le tien
C'est le mien
Celui qui a été
Cette chose toujours nouvelles
Et qui n'a pas changé
Aussi vraie qu'une plante
Aussi tremblante qu'un oiseau
Aussi chaude aussi vivante que l'été
Nous pouvons tous les deux
Aller et revenir
Nous pouvons oublier
Et puis nous rendormir
Nous réveiller souffrir vieillir
Nous endormir encore
Rêver à la mort
Nous éveiller sourire et rire
Et rajeunir
Notre amour reste là
Têtu comme une bourrique
Vivant comme le désir
Cruel comme la mémoire
Bête comme les regrets
Tendre comme le souvenir
Froid comme le marbre
Beau comme le jour
Fragile comme un enfant
Il nous regarde en souriant
Et il nous parle sans rien dire
Et moi j'écoute en tremblant
Et je crie
Je crie pour toi
Je crie pour moi
Je te supplie
Pour toi pour moi et pour tous ceux qui s'aiment
Et qui se sont aimés
Oui je lui crie
Pour toi pour moi et pour tous les autres
Que je ne connais pas
Reste là
Là où tu es
Là où tu étais autrefois
Reste là
Ne bouge pas
Ne t'en va pas
Nous qui sommes aimés
Nous t'avons oublié
Toi ne nous oublie pas
Nous n'avions que toi sur la terre
Ne nous laisse pas devenir froids
Beaucoup plus loin toujours
Et n'importe où
Donne-nous signe de vie
Beaucoup plus tard au coin d'un bois
Dans la forêt de la mémoire
Surgis soudain
Tends-nous la main
Et sauve-nous.
Cet amour
Si violent
Si fragile
Si tendre
Si désespéré
Cet amour
Beau comme le jour
Et mauvais comme le temps
Quand le temps est mauvais
Cet amour si vrai
Cet amour si beau
Si heureux
Si joyeux
Et si dérisoire
Tremblant de peur comme un enfant dans le noir
Et si sûr de lui
Comme un homme tranquille au milieu de la nuit
Cet amour qui faisait peur aux autres
Qui les faisait parler
Qui les faisait blémir
Cet amour guetté
Parce que nous le guettions
Traqué blessé piétiné achevé nié oublié
Parce que nous l'avons traqué blessé piétiné achevé nié oublié
Cet amour tout entier
Si vivant encore
Et tout ensoleillé
C'est le tien
C'est le mien
Celui qui a été
Cette chose toujours nouvelles
Et qui n'a pas changé
Aussi vraie qu'une plante
Aussi tremblante qu'un oiseau
Aussi chaude aussi vivante que l'été
Nous pouvons tous les deux
Aller et revenir
Nous pouvons oublier
Et puis nous rendormir
Nous réveiller souffrir vieillir
Nous endormir encore
Rêver à la mort
Nous éveiller sourire et rire
Et rajeunir
Notre amour reste là
Têtu comme une bourrique
Vivant comme le désir
Cruel comme la mémoire
Bête comme les regrets
Tendre comme le souvenir
Froid comme le marbre
Beau comme le jour
Fragile comme un enfant
Il nous regarde en souriant
Et il nous parle sans rien dire
Et moi j'écoute en tremblant
Et je crie
Je crie pour toi
Je crie pour moi
Je te supplie
Pour toi pour moi et pour tous ceux qui s'aiment
Et qui se sont aimés
Oui je lui crie
Pour toi pour moi et pour tous les autres
Que je ne connais pas
Reste là
Là où tu es
Là où tu étais autrefois
Reste là
Ne bouge pas
Ne t'en va pas
Nous qui sommes aimés
Nous t'avons oublié
Toi ne nous oublie pas
Nous n'avions que toi sur la terre
Ne nous laisse pas devenir froids
Beaucoup plus loin toujours
Et n'importe où
Donne-nous signe de vie
Beaucoup plus tard au coin d'un bois
Dans la forêt de la mémoire
Surgis soudain
Tends-nous la main
Et sauve-nous.
Tuesday, October 8, 2002
I wrote last month about the exceptional exhibit of the work of Anthony Visco at the Art Gallery of the Connelly Center at Villanova University. The exhibit, curated by the gallery's director Rev. Richard G. Cannuli, O.S.A., closes on Friday, 11 October, and I strongly recommmend that you make time to see it in the next few days if you're in the Philadelphia area.
And on Friday evening, the International Institute for Culture presents another lecture in its series Christianity and the Creative Imagination. Dr. Walter Persegati, retired Secretary General and Treasurer of the Vatican Monuments, Museums and Art Galleries, will lecture on Michelangelo Rediscovered: The Cleaning of Michelangelo's Frescoes in the Sistine Chapel.
And on Friday evening, the International Institute for Culture presents another lecture in its series Christianity and the Creative Imagination. Dr. Walter Persegati, retired Secretary General and Treasurer of the Vatican Monuments, Museums and Art Galleries, will lecture on Michelangelo Rediscovered: The Cleaning of Michelangelo's Frescoes in the Sistine Chapel.
Monday, October 7, 2002
A Moment ... From A Child
And it's both rebuke and bitter irony that the child has been named Samuel. Reminders like this are themselves a call from God and it is we who need to respond as did the first Samuel.
1Sa 3:10: And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak, LORD, for thy servant heareth.
Hushed Was The Evening Hymn
With my thanks to Thomas Joseph at The Christian Conscience for the link to this beautiful image and testimony. Fearfully and wonderfully made.
And it's both rebuke and bitter irony that the child has been named Samuel. Reminders like this are themselves a call from God and it is we who need to respond as did the first Samuel.
1Sa 3:10: And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak, LORD, for thy servant heareth.
Hushed Was The Evening Hymn
With my thanks to Thomas Joseph at The Christian Conscience for the link to this beautiful image and testimony. Fearfully and wonderfully made.
Signs of the growing appreciation of folk art, and the appetite it whets, are everywhere. Starting November 21, the Whitney Museum of American Art will exhibit a collection of quilts sewn by four generations of African-American women in isolated Gee’s Bend, Alabama. The exhibition was organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, where it is on view through November 10. Debra Singer, the Whitney’s associate curator of contemporary art, acknowledges that an exhibition of homemade quilts in a museum known for its O’Keeffes and Rauschenbergs is "a little unusual. But from our perspective, these quilts are art. The distinctions aren’t so much fine art versus folk art—these quilts are just extraordinary works of art with the high esthetic standards you’d expect from that."
The lure of Antiques Roadshow and of unexpected jewels at neighborhood flea-markets. The desire for the stamp of individuality and the authentic that's found in crafts and primitives. Collectors are paying extraordinary prices for exceptional pieces and museums are rightly seeking to exhibit and preserve the treasures. Anneli Rufus writes on American folk art that is Coming Out of the Attic and into its own.
The lure of Antiques Roadshow and of unexpected jewels at neighborhood flea-markets. The desire for the stamp of individuality and the authentic that's found in crafts and primitives. Collectors are paying extraordinary prices for exceptional pieces and museums are rightly seeking to exhibit and preserve the treasures. Anneli Rufus writes on American folk art that is Coming Out of the Attic and into its own.
A more simple and still more elevated way of reciting the Rosary is, while saying it, to keep the eyes of faith fixed on the living Jesus who is always making intercession for us and who is acting upon us in accordance with the mysteries of His childhood, or His Passion, or His glory. He comes to us to make us like Himself. Let us fix our gaze on Jesus Who is looking at us. His look is more than kind and understanding: it is the look of God, a look which purifies, which sanctifies, which gives peace. It is the look of our Judge and still more the look of our Savior, our Friend, the Spouse of our soul. A Rosary prayed in this way, in solitude and silence, is a most fruitful encounter with Jesus. It is a conversation with Mary too which leads us to intimacy with her Son.
-------- Rev. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O. P.
Today is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. The devotion is strongly identified with Saint Dominic and the feast was instituted by the sainted Dominican Pope Pius V to commemorate the great naval victory of the combined papal, Spanish, Venetian, and Genoese fleets under Don John of Austria over the Turkish fleet at Lepanto on this date in 1571.
The Rosary has been called “the school of contemplation” because it introduces the faithful to meditative prayer on the themes of particular events in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and of His passion, death, resurrection and ascension and on His gracious favor to the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother and ours. Pope John XXIII referred to the Rosary as "the psalter of the poor" and the title of Mary as Queen of the Most Holy Rosary fittingly appears among those others of noble beauty in the hymn to "our tainted nature's solitary boast," The Litany of Loreto.
-------- Rev. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O. P.
Today is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. The devotion is strongly identified with Saint Dominic and the feast was instituted by the sainted Dominican Pope Pius V to commemorate the great naval victory of the combined papal, Spanish, Venetian, and Genoese fleets under Don John of Austria over the Turkish fleet at Lepanto on this date in 1571.
The Rosary has been called “the school of contemplation” because it introduces the faithful to meditative prayer on the themes of particular events in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and of His passion, death, resurrection and ascension and on His gracious favor to the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother and ours. Pope John XXIII referred to the Rosary as "the psalter of the poor" and the title of Mary as Queen of the Most Holy Rosary fittingly appears among those others of noble beauty in the hymn to "our tainted nature's solitary boast," The Litany of Loreto.
Friday, October 4, 2002
Jesus of Nazareth was no masochist. He did not seek out his suffering. It came to him--as it comes to people of conscience everywhere--and he accepted it as his Father's will. He asked that the cup of suffering pass him by. And the gospels tell us that he liked his food and wine. It was one of things that his ascetic cousin John found a little fishy at first.
A life thoroughly lived brings quite enough suffering. Parents, for example, say no to themselves in scores of ways through all their years of family life. Anyone who requires a celicia in order to say no to himself must lead a wonderfully privileged life. Forgive me, but these ostentatious mortifications --not to mention the revelation of them--seem to me to be both self-indulgent and sanctimonious.
Moreover, these are pains over which the self-abuser has complete control. He wills his own pain in order to experience himself as holy. There is a good measure of self-regard in such mortification.
In life, pain comes when it chooses and stays for as long as it likes. There is no theatre in it, none of the satisfactions of zealotry. Sorrow is a far greater sanctifier than a celicia.
Maureen Mullarkey, from her beautifully crafted and expressed comment in response to Mark Sullivan's post at Ad Orientem on the active mortification of the flesh practiced by some members of Opus Dei. The practices have the sanction of the group's founder Blessed Josemaría Escrivá, who writes at one point in The Way: Blessed be pain. Loved be pain. Sanctified be pain. . . Glorified be pain!
The canonization of Blessed Josemaría Escrivá will be celebrated on Sunday.
A life thoroughly lived brings quite enough suffering. Parents, for example, say no to themselves in scores of ways through all their years of family life. Anyone who requires a celicia in order to say no to himself must lead a wonderfully privileged life. Forgive me, but these ostentatious mortifications --not to mention the revelation of them--seem to me to be both self-indulgent and sanctimonious.
Moreover, these are pains over which the self-abuser has complete control. He wills his own pain in order to experience himself as holy. There is a good measure of self-regard in such mortification.
In life, pain comes when it chooses and stays for as long as it likes. There is no theatre in it, none of the satisfactions of zealotry. Sorrow is a far greater sanctifier than a celicia.
Maureen Mullarkey, from her beautifully crafted and expressed comment in response to Mark Sullivan's post at Ad Orientem on the active mortification of the flesh practiced by some members of Opus Dei. The practices have the sanction of the group's founder Blessed Josemaría Escrivá, who writes at one point in The Way: Blessed be pain. Loved be pain. Sanctified be pain. . . Glorified be pain!
The canonization of Blessed Josemaría Escrivá will be celebrated on Sunday.
The General Court of the Plymouth Colony instituted a legal code, the first composed in North America, on October 4, 1636. It guaranteed citizens a trial by jury and stipulated that all laws were to be made with the consent of the freemen of the colony. The "General Fundamentals" of the Plymouth Colony are printed in The Book of the General Laws of the Inhabitants of the Jurisdiction of New-Plimouth, one of the oldest items in the collection of laws in the Library of Congress.
Human dignity deserves a place as part of our common language only as long as we appreciate that all people hold this dignity in common. A pluralistic society will inevitably hold this standard in tension with competing ideas about what constitutes human dignity. That is why there is a continuing need for dynamic translation of the biblical principles underlying dignity into the common language. Successful translation also requires that Christians lead lives consistent with those principles.
--- from the commentary by William D. Cheshire, Toward a Common Language of Human Dignity, in the latest issue of Ethics & Medicine.
--- from the commentary by William D. Cheshire, Toward a Common Language of Human Dignity, in the latest issue of Ethics & Medicine.
Confessional Poets--particularly those of the suicidal school--John Berryman, Sylvia Plath, and Anne Sexton, are probably not completely responsible for the phenomenon, but do bear a burden of responsibility for the progressive diminution of poetry.
Steven Riddle at Flos Carmeli gives a seminar session in modern American poetry in the space of half a dozen paragraphs. And, as in the poetic vision itself, the implications range far beyond the text.
Steven Riddle at Flos Carmeli gives a seminar session in modern American poetry in the space of half a dozen paragraphs. And, as in the poetic vision itself, the implications range far beyond the text.
Praised be my Lord and God, with all His creatures, and especially our brother the sun, who brings us the day and brings us the light; fair is he, and he shines with great splendor.
O Lord, he is a sign to us of you!
Praised be my Lord for our sister the moon, and for His stars, set clear and lovely in the heaven.
--- Saint Francis of Assisi, Il Poverello, whose memorial and feast is today.
Update 9/5: Bill Cork at Oak Leaves links to three interesting articles on Franciscan themes that he wrote as a Lutheran seminarian and pastor.
O Lord, he is a sign to us of you!
Praised be my Lord for our sister the moon, and for His stars, set clear and lovely in the heaven.
--- Saint Francis of Assisi, Il Poverello, whose memorial and feast is today.
Update 9/5: Bill Cork at Oak Leaves links to three interesting articles on Franciscan themes that he wrote as a Lutheran seminarian and pastor.
Thursday, October 3, 2002
Scientists Unveil The World's Funniest Joke
Scientists have unveiled the world's funniest joke at the end of the largest study of humour ever undertaken.
For the past year people around the world have been invited to judge jokes on an internet site as well as contribute quips of their own. The LaughLab experiment conducted by psychologist Dr Richard Wiseman, from the University of Hertfordshire, attracted more than 40,000 jokes and almost two million ratings.
---- from London's The Telegraph
Scientists have unveiled the world's funniest joke at the end of the largest study of humour ever undertaken.
For the past year people around the world have been invited to judge jokes on an internet site as well as contribute quips of their own. The LaughLab experiment conducted by psychologist Dr Richard Wiseman, from the University of Hertfordshire, attracted more than 40,000 jokes and almost two million ratings.
---- from London's The Telegraph
Wednesday, October 2, 2002
Matthew 18:10: See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
October 2 is the feast of the Guardian Angels.
October 2 is the feast of the Guardian Angels.
Tuesday, October 1, 2002
He contents the people where he goes best that ever did Prince, for many a poor man that hath suffered wrong many days hath been relieved and helped by him and his commands in his progress. And in many great cities and towns were great sums of money given him which he hath refused. On my trouth I liked never the conditions of any prince so well as his; God hath sent him to us for the wele of us all.
Thomas Langton, bishop of St Davids, writing to William Sellyng, prior of Christchurch, Canterbury on the subject of Richard III, who was born on 2 October in 1452.
And when Richard was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, the people of the City of York entered the following in their public records: This day was our good King Richard most piteously slain and murdered; to the great heaviness of this city.
The reputation of King Richard III, that admirable and gracious man, has never recovered from the calumnies heaped on him by the apologists for the Tudor dynasty, and the popular image of him as a twisted and wicked usurper has faded only in the sense that all knowledge of history earlier than the advent of Oprah and MTV has dimmed.
But Truth is the Daughter of Time, as the proverb has it. Read Josephine Tey's illuminating novel of that name, if you haven't already.
Thomas Langton, bishop of St Davids, writing to William Sellyng, prior of Christchurch, Canterbury on the subject of Richard III, who was born on 2 October in 1452.
And when Richard was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, the people of the City of York entered the following in their public records: This day was our good King Richard most piteously slain and murdered; to the great heaviness of this city.
The reputation of King Richard III, that admirable and gracious man, has never recovered from the calumnies heaped on him by the apologists for the Tudor dynasty, and the popular image of him as a twisted and wicked usurper has faded only in the sense that all knowledge of history earlier than the advent of Oprah and MTV has dimmed.
But Truth is the Daughter of Time, as the proverb has it. Read Josephine Tey's illuminating novel of that name, if you haven't already.
For me, prayer is an aspiration of the heart, it is a simple glance directed to heaven, it is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as well as joy; finally, it is something great, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus.
Let us see life as it really is...It is a moment between two eternities...
October 1 is the memorial and feast of Saint Thérèse de l'Enfant-Jésus de la Sainte Face, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, Carmelite, mystic, poet, the greatest missionary of modern times, The Little Flower, Doctor of the Church.
I understood so well that it is only love which makes us acceptable to God that this love is the only good I ambition. Jesus deigned to show me the road that leads to this Divine Furnace, and this road is the surrender of the little child who sleeps without fear in its Father's arms.
Let us see life as it really is...It is a moment between two eternities...
October 1 is the memorial and feast of Saint Thérèse de l'Enfant-Jésus de la Sainte Face, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, Carmelite, mystic, poet, the greatest missionary of modern times, The Little Flower, Doctor of the Church.
I understood so well that it is only love which makes us acceptable to God that this love is the only good I ambition. Jesus deigned to show me the road that leads to this Divine Furnace, and this road is the surrender of the little child who sleeps without fear in its Father's arms.
Monday, September 30, 2002
Lord, shed upon our darkened souls the brilliant light of your wisdom so that we may be enlightened and serve you with renewed purity. Sunrise marks the hour for men to begin their toil, but in our souls, Lord, prepare a dwelling for the day that will never end. Through our unremitting zeal for you, Lord, set upon us the sign of your day that is not measured by the sun. -- Ephrem the Syrian
The memorial of Saint Ephrem of Syria was on 9 June but he is a figure who is never met at the wrong time. Breakpoint published The Lyre of the Holy Spirit by T.M. Moore last week.
The memorial of Saint Ephrem of Syria was on 9 June but he is a figure who is never met at the wrong time. Breakpoint published The Lyre of the Holy Spirit by T.M. Moore last week.
One of the hymns and anthems of another Philadelphian, Eliza Edmunds Hewitt.
Stepping In The Light
Trying to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Trying to follow our Savior and King;
Shaping our lives by His blessèd example,
Happy, how happy, the songs that we bring.
Refrain
How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Stepping in the light, stepping in the light,
How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Led in paths of light.
Pressing more closely to Him Who is leading,
When we are tempted to turn from the way;
Trusting the arm that is strong to defend us,
Happy, how happy, our praises each day.
Refrain
Walking in footsteps of gentle forbearance,
Footsteps of faithfulness, mercy, and love,
Looking to Him for the grace freely promised,
Happy, how happy, our journey above.
Refrain
Trying to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Upward, still upward, we follow our Guide;
When we shall see Him, “the King in His beauty,”
Happy, how happy, our place at His side.
Refrain
Stepping In The Light
Trying to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Trying to follow our Savior and King;
Shaping our lives by His blessèd example,
Happy, how happy, the songs that we bring.
Refrain
How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Stepping in the light, stepping in the light,
How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Led in paths of light.
Pressing more closely to Him Who is leading,
When we are tempted to turn from the way;
Trusting the arm that is strong to defend us,
Happy, how happy, our praises each day.
Refrain
Walking in footsteps of gentle forbearance,
Footsteps of faithfulness, mercy, and love,
Looking to Him for the grace freely promised,
Happy, how happy, our journey above.
Refrain
Trying to walk in the steps of the Savior,
Upward, still upward, we follow our Guide;
When we shall see Him, “the King in His beauty,”
Happy, how happy, our place at His side.
Refrain
Friday, September 27, 2002
On The Bible Study Hour today, Dr. Boice continued his exposition of Genesis 45. Joseph has revealed himself and his identity to the brothers who had sold him into slavery so many years before and he now tries to reassure them in his love for them, asking that they draw near. The sermon has the title Come! Come!, and Dr. Boice draws the parallels using the richness and warmth of that word. How frequently in Scripture it is the pivotal word, the message of hope and reassurance, the invitation to fellowship and life in the presence of God.
In Matthew 11:28: Come unto me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
The special promise and invitation of Matthew 19:14 and Luke 18:16: But Jesus called them unto him, and said, suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
It is the insistent word used by those who stood witness to the transforming grace of the presence, words and person of Jesus.
The woman at the well who hurries to her village to spread the good news in John 4:29: Come see a man who told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
In John 1:44-46, Philip going to find Nathanael and to tell him that the Law and the Prophets are fulfilled in this man Jesus of Nazareth: And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see.
The angel standing watch at the empty tomb who gives the triumphant account to the women in Mark 16:6: He is risen. He is not here. Come and see the place where they laid Him.
Other passages will surely come to your mind. All of them reminders of how gracious is the call and invitation, the promise that He will make us welcome home.
Just As I Am
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Hath broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, of that free love
The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove,
Here for a season, then above,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
In Matthew 11:28: Come unto me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
The special promise and invitation of Matthew 19:14 and Luke 18:16: But Jesus called them unto him, and said, suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
It is the insistent word used by those who stood witness to the transforming grace of the presence, words and person of Jesus.
The woman at the well who hurries to her village to spread the good news in John 4:29: Come see a man who told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
In John 1:44-46, Philip going to find Nathanael and to tell him that the Law and the Prophets are fulfilled in this man Jesus of Nazareth: And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, Come and see.
The angel standing watch at the empty tomb who gives the triumphant account to the women in Mark 16:6: He is risen. He is not here. Come and see the place where they laid Him.
Other passages will surely come to your mind. All of them reminders of how gracious is the call and invitation, the promise that He will make us welcome home.
Just As I Am
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Hath broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, of that free love
The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove,
Here for a season, then above,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!
Humility and charity are the two master-chords: one, the lowest; the other, the highest; all the others are dependent on them. Therefore it is necessary, above all, to maintain ourselves in these two virtues; for observe well that the preservation of the whole edifice depends on the foundation and the roof.
Today is the memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, constant servant of the poor, the enslaved, the abandoned, the ignored, the pariahs. Founder of the Vincentian Fathers and The Daughters of Charity. He is the patron of charities and of hospitals.
Today is the memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, constant servant of the poor, the enslaved, the abandoned, the ignored, the pariahs. Founder of the Vincentian Fathers and The Daughters of Charity. He is the patron of charities and of hospitals.
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