WWJD





Thanks to Rick Capezza at Beautiful Feet.

Lord Jesus, Save Me!



"Lord Jesus, the one whom Thou lovest is sick" (Jn 11:3).

The one whom Thou lovest is strayed.

I have lost Thee.

I cannot find Thee.

Find me.

Seek me.

I cannot find Thee.

I have lost my way.

Thou art the Way.

Find me, or I am utterly lost.

Thou lovest me.

I do not know if I love Thee;

but I know Thou lovest me.

I do not plead my love, but Thine.

I do not plead my strength, but Thine.

I do not plead my deed, but Thine.

The one whom Thou lovest is sick.

I dare not say:

The one who loves Thee is sick.

My sickness is that I do not love Thee.

That is the source of my sickness which is approaching death.

I am sinking.

Raise me.

Come to me upon the waters.

Lord Jesus, "the one whom Thou lovest is sick."



(Vincent McNabb, O.P.)



With thanks to Gerard Serafin for the reminder of this great man.



UPDATE and APOLOGY 8/30: Steve Schultz posted this poem and prayer of Father McNabb on Wednesday, 28 August with a note of thanks to Gerard who had posted it on his Live Journal on 8/23. Behind in my visits, I've just seen Steve's post and also visited Gerard's Live Journal site for the first time (I've learned so much from Gerard's website and weblog that I don't know why I've never visited his third site until now). My apologies for stealing the thunder of these two men.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!



The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, drawing more than 250,000 people, occurred 28 August 1963. The National Anthem sung by Marian Anderson. Invocation and benediction by eminent clergy. Remarks and addresses by heroic and storied figures. Mahalia Jackson singing "I've Been `Buked and I've Been Scorned." The momentous day culminated in the speech given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.



Get a sense of the day and listen to the speech here.

A riddle from Bridget at Ivan Parker's ministry.



I was one of the five, but never alive.

He who sent me became King. He who received me died. What

am I?



The answer is in the comments box.

Late have I loved Thee, O Thou Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved Thee! Thou wert within me, but I was outside myself, and it was there that I searched for Thee.



In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.



From the Confessions of our holy father Saint Augustine, whose memorial and feast is celebrated on 28 August. His mother Saint Monica, that model of patience, devotion and intercessory prayer, is remembered today, 27 August.



This only do I know, that it is not good for me when Thou art not with me, when Thou art only outside me. I want Thee in my very self. All the plenty in the world which is not my God is utter want.



Other hymns in his honor are also in my mind, but here is a link to the great hymn of Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan and spiritual father of Saint Augustine, the Doctor of Grace.



O Lux Beata Trinitas.

Mike Harmon’s unbelievable practice crash at Bristol got us here at the Totally NASCAR World Headquarters to thinking — what was the scariest-looking crash in NASCAR history? Here are their Top Five.



Link from Michael Dubruiel at Annunciations.

Mark Byron lists The American 100. Preliminary. He invites your thoughts. You want to nominate someone? Remove someone else from the list. Go join the fun.

Andrew Careaga at Bloggedy Blog writes Publish or Perish (A Prayer). Murmur while sifting through rejection slips. Here's an excerpt:



If I should die before I publish,

I pray the Lord to take my rubbish,

and raise those dull words from the dead,

that I may be posthumously read.



I pray the Lord will let some lover

of my true genius soon discover

the stacks of pads on which I've scribbled

those words these editors think are drivel



A good post. A good blog. And Andrew's having a good day. Go read more.

Be Kind, for everyone you meet

is fighting a great battle. -- Philo of Alexandria



Just received a note from friends at The Fellowship of Saint James that included that reminder.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.



On this date in 1920, Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby issued the proclamation that the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, guaranteeing women the right to vote, had been adopted. Adoption of the amendment was the culmination of the suffrage campaign begun at a convention organized by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in Seneca Falls, New York in July, 1848. Among the resolutions adopted there was one that said "it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise."



Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the mother of seven children, also shared the fervent opposition to abortion and infanticide that characterized these feminists. Her words in a letter to Julia Ward Howe are frequently quoted: "When we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit."



Professor Marjorie Spruill Wheeler of the University of Southern Mississippi is among the country's pre-eminent scholars of The History of the Suffrage Movement.

Within the intelligence community, Mr. Gardner was said to have been a living legend, and his work in penetrating Soviet codes is widely considered one of the great U.S. counterintelligence coups of the last half-century. But he remained unknown to the public for more than 50 years until 1996, when he emerged from anonymity to tell his story at a conference on the decrypting operation, which had its own code name, "Venona." At that conference, which was sponsored by the National Security Agency, the CIA and the Center for Democracy -- a Washington think tank -- Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) introduced Mr. Gardner as an unsung hero of the Cold War.



From the Washington Post obituary of Meredith Knox Gardner, who died on 9 August at the age of 89.

The Astronomy Picture of the Day is a drawing from the Voynich Manuscript, that perplexing and still-undeciphered work now in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. The correct answer even to so basic a question as what language is transcribed in the manuscript would make your reputation.

John Schultz at Catholic Light says: Anyone who has worked with a conductor who takes the music too slow will enjoy this story.



Tenor Stomps Off Stage in Stormy Opera

Fri Aug 23, 9:13 AM ET



MILAN (Reuters) - Heartfelt performances are expected in opera but emotions spilled off stage in Sicily this week when a tenor stormed out, sticking two fingers up at the audience. Complaining the conductor was taking Pietro Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana" too slowly, tenor Franco Bonisolli broke off and started yelling abuse at the orchestra pit of Taormina's ancient Greek theater.



When the audience started whistling in disapproval, he stuck two fingers up at them -- a vulgar gesture in Italy -- and stormed off stage.



Bonisolli will be replaced as the rogue lover Turiddu for the rest of the opera's run at the theater, perched on a cliff overlooking the sea with Mount Etna smoking silently in the background.



The singer was not reachable for comment.





Anyone at all should enjoy that story.



And Bonisolli (or the conductor) should be grateful Michael Corleone* wasn't in the audience.



Thanks also to John for posting his Opera for the Culturally Illiterate. Gives me an idea for a weekly feature on the bizarre performances that are recorded about various musicians. I've got several in mind already.





*Cavalleria Rusticana is, fittingly, featured in Godfather III.

A sensitive and instructive sermon from the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 15 August is posted at the site of the Benedictine Monastery of the Holy Cross in Chicago. Thanks to Karl Schudt at Summa Contra Mundum, who's always worth a visit, for the reminder of the existence of that unexpected treasure in the heart of the city.

There's a reference two posts down to the anniversary this week of the assassination of the Filipino reforming leader Benigno Aquino in 1983. The anniversary of another political assassination came yesterday.



The Irish patriot Michael Collins was ambushed and killed on 22 August 1922 as part of the long battle between supporters and opponents of the 1921 treaty with Britain. He had said after putting his signature to the treaty that "...I tell you, I have signed my death warrant."



A bronze statue of the maligned and underrated Collins was unveiled yesterday in Clonakilty, his home village in West Cork.

I will have no other God

Besides the One who stands beside me;

I will have no other Lord

Besides the One who leads and guides me;

And I will run to no other refuge

Besides the One who safely hides me;

I will have no other God

Besides the One, besides the One who stands beside me.



Karl Kohlhase, from his CD Through The Dark.

Damn the torpedoes!

Full sail ahead!



Today is the anniversary of those ringing words of Admiral David Glasgow Farragut at Mobile Bay in 1864. His statue stands in Farragut Square in Washington D.C. with a nearby marker listing some of the many accomplishments of this great sailor and patriot. It's worth a visit.

Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.



The words of Saint Rose of Lima, whose memorial is today. The first saint of the Americas, a Dominican and mystic, she was the daughter of Spanish parents who had emigrated to Peru. She is the patron of South America, particularly of Peru, and of the Phillipines.



Both of those countries have suffered sad and troubled recent histories, whether from the fury of nature or the depredations of men. Paulo wrote earlier this week, for example, on the 19th anniversary of the assassination of Benigno Aquino.



I've had repeated contact, to my great benefit and over many years, with citizens of both countries and have been borne up by their Christian witness and fellowship. It's good to think of saluting them in saluting her.

Spare, evocative, moving. And a reminder of how many not far from us are lonely, unattended, and in need of our presence and help -- and His. Visit Barlow Farms and a new urban park.

Because of this post, scarcely a day goes by that a Google or Yahoo search tracing "Snapple real facts" doesn't land someone here. I'm glad of the visitors, but I wonder whether Snapple would be willing to supply me with product samples.

Time on Hero:



Expectations are sky-high for director Zhang Yimou's ambitious star-studded martial-arts flick



On the shoulders of Hero ride the hopes of all Asian cinema. Did Crouching Tiger's popularity portend a huge global market for Asian movies, or was it a fluke? That uncertainty—and Hero's $30 million budget—has piled pressure on everyone on the set. It's palpable, but rarely mentioned, like the wire propelling an actor through an action sequence that gets computer-erased in the final print.



Time link from nic at Dazed in Hong Kong.

... I believe there ought to be a consitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter ... Bull Durham



I ran across the quotation at Karl Martino's site paradox1x and it reminded me of the strike date looming at the end of the month for Major League Baseball. A bothersome prospect and perhaps another blow to the game's position in American life, although some people would maintain that the integrity of professional baseball was permanently befouled when the National and American Leagues were broken into divisions in 1969. Others might claim that the victory of the "Miracle Mets" in 1969 was enough to justify the new arrangement.



A train of thought and a different sport.



Remember that the New York Mets won that World Championship (in five games) over Baltimore. And it was another team from Baltimore that, at the beginning of 1969, was the heavy favorite to defeat another team from New York. But it didn't turn out quite that way. Johnny Unitas and Joe Namath. Representative of something more than their teams and their cities.



Who Lost Super Bowl III?

by Geoffrey Colvin was printed in City Journal in 1995. You shouldn't have missed it then. Read it now.

Kurt Brobeck at Sainteros considers a temptation to pride and, as he sometimes does, uses as a focus of reflection a passage from the notebooks of Dag Hammarskjöld.



To be pure of heart means, among other things, to have freed yourself from all such half-measures: from a tone of voice which places you in the limelight, a furtive acceptance of some desire of the flesh which ignores the desire of the spirit, a self-righteous reaction to others in their moments of weakness.



Kurt is spending some time pondering the virtue of humility, as Kairos, Fr. Jim Tucker at Dappled Things and Steven Riddle at Flos Carmeli have also recently done.



I'm feeling more and more abashed for having used the word as part of the weblog description.



Addendum 8/21: I've changed the words describing the weblog. Not convicted exactly, but still abashed.



Proverbs 22:4: By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour,and life.



Here is a Litany of Humility

Love is sufficient of itself; it gives pleasure by itself and because of itself. it is its own merit, its own reward. Love looks for no cause outside itself, no effect beyond itself. Its profit lies in the practice. Of all the movements, sensations and feelings of the soul, love is the only one in which the creature can respond to the Creator and make some sort of similar return however unequal though it be. For when God loves, all He desires is to be loved in return. The sole purpose of His love is to be loved, in the knowledge that those who love Him are made happy by their love of Him.



From a sermon of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, whose memorial and feast is observed today.



This gifted man and Doctor of the Church -- reformer, ascetic, priest and teacher -- formidable in his learning, vast in his influence, stern in his discipline, could be difficult, no doubt, and he is seen as an unsympathetic figure by many, perhaps especially by those with a romantic attachment to the story of the lovers Abelard and Heloise.



But as Reverend George William Rutler has written: If his pure ardor made him overly strict in judging the faults of more wayward lovers like Abelard, it had happy issue in his radiant treatise on grace and free will, De Diligendo Deo, and bore social fruit in his protection of Jews persecuted by the extravagant monk Rudolf and in his desire for the sanctification of the laity as well as clerics.



Saint Bernard's motto was To Know Jesus, and Jesus Crucified and we are indebted to him for several great Christian hymns, perhaps especially for Salve caput cruentatum, O sacred Head sore wounded.

Gerard Serafin posts the Memorial of Blaise Pascal. Moving and powerful words and fervent in their faith. The intensity of a captured heart.



Addendum 8/20: A coincidence of timing. Yesterday was the anniversary of the death of Blaise Pascal. The Bible Study Hour yesterday began broadcast of a commentary series on the story of Joseph in Genesis by Dr. James Montgomery Boice. Dr. Boice referred to Pascal as among the thinkers who had given thought to Joseph as a prefiguring of the Christ. Here is the passage from the Pensees, XII, 768.



Jesus Christ typified by Joseph, the beloved of his father,

sent by his father to see his brethren, etc., innocent, sold by his

brethren for twenty pieces of silver, and thereby becoming their lord,

their saviour, the saviour of strangers and the saviour of the

world; which had not been but for their plot to destroy him, their

sale and their rejection of him.



In prison, Joseph innocent between two criminals; Jesus Christ

on the cross between two thieves. Joseph foretells freedom to the one,

and death to the other, from the same omens. Jesus Christ saves the

elect, and condemns the outcast for the same sins. Joseph foretells

only; Jesus Christ acts. Joseph asks him who will be saved to remember

him, when he comes into his glory; and he whom Jesus Christ saves asks

that He will remember him, when He comes into His kingdom.

Infamous Terror Leader Found Dead

The Associated Press



RAMALLAH, West Bank - Abu Nidal, the Palestinian renegade whose name became a byword for international terrorism in the 1970s and 1980s, was found dead in his Baghdad apartment with multiple gunshot wounds, Palestinian officials said Monday.



Read the following article from the Vancouver Sun with that breaking news in your mind. Link from Bene Diction.



The War On Iraq Is Already Underway

Jonathan Manthorpe



There is growing evidence to suggest the physical war against Saddam Hussein has been under way for nearly six months.



....



The overall picture suggests a war of the python rather than the cobra; the slow and steady squeezing of the life out of Saddam Hussein's regime rather than a quick strike.



It is a war that might well remain almost silent and invisible until it is all but over.





And, demonstrating that the problem of terror is worldwide, and that so must be civilization's response, here is an article by Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down and Killing Pablo.



Colombia's Leftist Revolt Is Ripe For The Crushing

The U.S.S. Constitution -- called "Old Ironsides" because bullets weren't able to penetrate her tough oak sides -- was among the original six frigates that made up the United States Navy. Built for a crew of 450, armed with 44 guns, she was christened and launched in 1797. On August 19, 1812 the USS Constitution defeated HMS Guerriere off the coast of Nova Scotia. A heartening early victory for the United States in the War of 1812 against Great Britain. Here are the accounts of the battle by the captains of the ships.



Here is a painting of the engagement by Craig Slaff.



And here is the poem written by Oliver Wendell Holmes in 1830 on hearing of proposed plans to scrap the ship.



OLD IRONSIDES



Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!

Long has it waved on high,

And many an eye has danced to see

That banner in the sky;

Beneath it rung the battle shout,

And burst the cannon's roar;

The meteor of the ocean air

Shall sweep the clouds no more.



Her deck, once red with heroes' blood,

Where knelt the vanquished foe,

When winds were hurrying o'er the flood,

And waves were white below,

No more shall feel the victor's tread,

Or know the conquered knee;

The harpies of the shore shall pluck

The eagle of the sea!



Oh, better that her shattered bulk

Should sink beneath the wave;

Her thunders shook the mighty deep,

And there should be her grave;

Nail to the mast her holy flag,

Set every threadbare sail,

And give her to the god of storms,

The lightning and the gale!

But perhaps it might properly be said that there are three times, the present of things past, the present of things present, and the present of things future. These three are in the soul, but elsewhere I do not see them: the present of things past is in memory; the present of things present is in intuition; the present of things future is in expectation. If we are permitted to say this, then I see three times, and I affirm that there are three times.



Naomi Chana at Baraita quotes the passage from the Confessions of Saint Augustine and writes: There are many cogent critiques of Augustine's overall philosophy of time -- no, I won't go there right now -- but I've found this passage oddly comforting for years.



Confusion of time in the mind of a beloved grandmother, the nature of family relations, literature, theology. Naomi Chana is writing as well as anyone with a weblog. This latest entry is called Present Tense.

And everybody used to tell me big boys don't cry

Well I've been around enough to know that that was the lie

That held back the tears in the eyes of a thousand prodigal sons

Well we are children no more, we have sinned and grown old

And our Father still waits and He watches down the road

To see the crying boys come running back to His arms.





Rich Mullins, "Growing Young" (World As Best As I Remember It, Volume 2)

Michael Paul at Tribe of Jesus is running a poll: When do you pray? Cast your vote and take a look at the results so far. He's also got a nice post today that begins: Yesterday I failed to mention the Blind man that I met on the Bus after work.



Thanks to Richard Burley at Cup of Rich, who's a fan of The Kry, for pointing me to Michael's site.

It had been a while, so I was listening this morning to Early American Choral Music, anthems and fuging tunes by William Billings (1746-1800). The CD is a collection of remarkable performances by Paul Hillier and His Majestie's Clerkes of the very fine music of Billings. If you're not familiar with the composer or the performers, accept this as a very strong recommendation.



There are no weak selections on the CD, but the setting of David's lamentation is haunting and especially fine.



2Sa 18:33 And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!

Paulo moves from DC to Baltimore's Little Italy today, in preparation for working toward the MA in digital art at MICA. He posts again the account of the Big Jump from Manila to DC back in March. Good stuff.

Posted a reference to E.M. Forster's Howards End the other day. It's been an important novel in my life, not least because of its epigraph: "... only connect." There are implications in the words for the narrative of much of the novel and for its symbols, but it occurs to me now that they could stand as one of the mottoes of the blogosphere as well.



And if sculpture to represent the blogosphere is needed, it would be good to look to one of the mobiles of Alexander Calder.

Just finished spending some time at The Justice Clarence Thomas Appreciation Page. Many thanks to Stuart Buck.

You'll already have seen this news: Some 600 relatives of Sept. 11 victims filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking more than $100 trillion from the Sudanese government and Saudi officials, banks and charities, charging they financed Osama bin Laden's network and the attacks on America. And probably have read the reaction at Joshua Claybourn's site, Fly Over Country and elsewhere.



Here are the complaint in the case and some background material from the Ness Motley law firm. The attorneys representing the plaintiffs are among the most dynamic members of the bar and have long experience in the successful prosecution of mass tort claims, including class actions in tobacco and asbestos litigation. I'm not inclined to underestimate their chances.

Ultimately, it's not my happiness that matters so much as this: that years hence, when I am old and gray, I want to look back on my life and know that I lived by Os Guinness' call -- that I lived for an audience of One.



From the gracious essay by Ben Domenech on his last day in the speechwriting office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Go and read.

From Patrick Ruffini:



ROOM FOR ONE MORE? This has got to be the best photo-op of the Bush presidency thus far. If Iraq, Iran, and the House of Saud have fallen by January 2009, the sculptors are going to have to start working off this photo.



Update: Patrick notes that Ben Domenech beat him to the blog with this photo by a clear eight hours.

On 25th anniversary of Elvis' death, some Israelis ask: Was the king Jewish?

The shots pierced through His wrists and feet, into the wood -

He took it like a Savior, like a thug never could -

Like a God, Like a King -

Like a Soldier at War -

Who knew the cost of dying -

and all that it was for!



----------- Cross Movement

Here's some good news. Dave Hegeman, author of Plowing in Hope, started a blog in early August. The Native Tourist promises "observations on culture from a reformed, biblical perspective."



Thanks to David Henreckson and Jim Hart for posting the word.

the light of Christ

is a blazin' one

there's a fight

to live right

and it's major, son

but the grace has come

so we praise the Son

and celebrate Him

'cause we know

what He saved us from



--------- Cross Movement

The blog referred to in this cartoon bears no relation to any of those that I read.



Link from Gary Petersen at Country Keepers. Gary's also invaded Joshua Claybourn's site to peddle something called ButterBurgers from a place called Culver's.

The programs are a great deal more than the morning's background murmuring and have become integral to the daily routine of my weekdays. Quite different in their approach and presentation. Different in their theology. But earnest, committed and serious in their devotion to the Word. So I've learned from both radio shows: Pastor Joe Focht of Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia on Straight From the Heart and the late Dr. James Montgomery Boice of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia on The Bible Study Hour.



By a coincidence of program scheduling, both are at present preaching on Genesis. Pastor Joe is deep in the narrative of that great and sympathetic figure Joseph. Dr. Boice is expounding some of the implications of the opening words of Sacred Scripture, the words that search our heart and need no drum or trumpet to be made more dramatic:



In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.



And we think on that creation, the vastness of its extent and the beauty of its design. And we say with the Psalmist: O LORD, how great are thy works!



Here's a link to a hymn of John Quincy Adams inspired by Psalm 92:5. Let it be in your mind as you look at this demonstration of the wonder and glory of God's creation.

No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is the inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the hecatombs of extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?



From the writings of the "Priest Hero of the Death Camp" in The Knight. The memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe is on 14 August.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High was released twenty years ago today. Andrew Careaga at Bloggedy Blog looks back.

China holds rebels in Soviet-style asylums



BEIJING’S use of psychiatric detention is now on a par with the treatment of dissidents in the mental asylums of the Soviet Union, according to a new study.

China has charged many of its most outspoken critics with “political monomania” and detained them in psychiatric hospitals, according to Human Rights Watch, which has extensive contacts in China.



Link to UK's TimesOnline from Gregorian Rant.



The World Psychiatric Association meets in Yokohama August 23-29 for the XII World Congress on Psychiatry. The Madrid Declaration On Ethical Standards For Psychiatric Practice will be among the items on the agenda.

It's that time of year. Students preparing to leave their homes and families. Beginning college. For parents, pride in the achievement of their children is mixed with sadness at parting with them and worry over the new dangers and temptations that the students will face along with new experiences, opportunities and blessings. Dennis Rainey of Family Life Today has seen several children off on that journey and proposes Philippians 2: 12-16 as a parents prayer at parting.



Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in [our] presence but much more in [our] absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;

for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.



Do all things without grumbling or questioning,

that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,



holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ [your mother and] I may be proud that [we] did not run in vain or labor in vain.

The Washington Post tries to box above its weight class today in its denunciation of Justice Antonin Scalia's article on the moral basis of capital punishment, God's Justice and Ours.



And Justice Scalia's article was printed in the May issue of First Things. It's not clear why the Post's reaction comes almost four months later. The time doesn't seem to have been spent in trying to understand his argument.

Those who are interested in studying the writings of the Fathers of the Christian Church are often overwhelmed by the sheer vastness of the volumes they find before them. In order to introduce the curious reader in a very simple way to the writings of these beloved Fathers, this website contains excerpts on various subjects from their writings in the hope that the reader may be spurred on to further and deeper study of our forebears in the faith.



The Info statement at the new weblog The Fathers of the Christian Church. A very fine idea from Wayne Olsen. New vistas of insight, edification and fellowship. Visit often.

And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings [are here]!

And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. Mark 13: 1-2



The siege of Jerusalem by four Legions under the command of Titus, son of the Emperor Vespasian, which had begun in April, ended on this day A.D. 70. As part of the destruction then visited on the city, the Temple was put to the torch and destroyed. The Babylonians had destroyed the Temple on the same day of the calendar, 9 Av, in 586 B.C.



Saint Jerome wrote in 392:



On the anniversary of the day when the city fell and was destroyed by the Romans, there are crowds who mourn, old women and old men dressed in tatters and rags, and from the Top of the Mount of Olives this throng laments over the destruction of its Sanctuary. Still their eyes flow with tears, still their hands tremble and their hair is disheveled, but already the guards demand pay for their right to weep.

In particular, Edith [Stein] made her own the suffering of the Jewish people, even as this reached its apex in the barbarous Nazi persecution which remains, together with other terrible instances of totalitarianism, one of the darkest and most shameful stains on the Europe of our century. At the time, she felt that in the systematic extermination of the Jews the Cross of Christ was being laid on her people, and she herself took personal part in it by her deportation and execution in the infamous camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Her voice merged with the cry of all the victims of that appalling tragedy, but at the same time was joined to the cry of Christ on the Cross which gives to human suffering a mysterious and enduring fruitfulness. The image of her holiness remains for ever linked to the tragedy of her violent death, alongside all those who with her suffered the same fate. And it remains as a proclamation of the Gospel of the Cross, with which she identified herself by the very choice of her name in religion ... Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.



From the Letter of Pope John Paul II naming her, with St. Bridget of Sweden and St. Catherine of Siena, as one of the co-patronesses of Europe.





Today is the memorial of Saint Edith Stein, 1891-1942, Carmelite, Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.

Jesse Owens (1913-1980) won his fourth Olympic gold medal at the Berlin Games on this date in 1936. His extraordinary talent and discipline were matched by the dignity of his bearing and person and his achievement is one of the most inspiring stories in athletics.



It's conveniently forgotten how fawning was the coverage of the Berlin Olympic Games by much of the media, the New York Times, for example, running stories with headlines like Olympics Leave Glow of Pride in The Reich. There will almost certainly be a similar tone to coverage of the 2008 games in the presence of the butchers of Beijing.



It would be a fitting and honorable gesture, and a reminder of American aspirations and ideals, were the athletes who will represent the United States at the 2008 Olympic Games to name Jesse Owens as their honorary captain.

A handful of women are challenging a Florida law that requires mothers who don't know who fathered their children to detail their sexual past in newspaper notices before they can put the children up for adoption.



Here's a link to the Associated Press story on the Washington Post site. Thanks to Howard Bashman for the news.

"And if I drink oblivion of a day,

So shorten I the stature of my soul.''



George Meredith

Modern Love, XII



E.M. Forster quotes the lines in Howards End and adds his belief that the principle "lies at the foot of all character."



The words were in my mind.

Augustine thought it was the highest of all aesthetic forms. Luther thought it was second only to the Holy Ghost in its power to affect the soul of man. And we treat it as entertainment. Somewhere between Mozart and McCartney our mindset changed. So now music is mere ear candy produced by Eminem and others among his dissonant crew.



In this issue we hope to catch just a glimpse of that musical glory which once gilded the legend of Christendom. Words always fail to evoke the same emotions as music. However, we trust that we might encourage a renewed interest in our theology of music. The lay of the Christian bard may again echo down our halls.



From the Introduction to Prelude To Glory, the new issue of New Christendom Journal. It's available now. Hot off the presses, so to speak.

I was browsing last week in Jaroslav Pelikan's Jesus Through The Centuries in search of a memory. Located the fact I needed without much effort but found it difficult, as had happened before, to put the book down. The author's immense erudition, lightly worn, is engaged in description of the Man like none other and His place in the history of culture.



Which leads today to another reference that I owe to Andrew Jones. He recommended a visit to Canada's Virtual Museum. David J. Goa, the curator of the exhibit Anno Domini there, acknowledges Jaroslav Pelikan as "an inspiration and touchstone for our work."



And the inscription that the great scholar chose for his masterful survey -- nihil amori Christi praeponere -- should be a prayer ever on our lips. Let nothing be preferred to the love of Christ.

Wrote here a while back about the grave concern and dismay attending introduction of the Bible translation Today's New International Version. The controversies continue and spread, particularly among evangelical Christians, and Insight on the News has published this article.

High-energy physics is the search for elementary particles and basic laws of nature. What are the smallest building blocks out of which protons, neutrons, atoms, and all matter are made? Do such elementary particles exist?; and if so, what are they? This search to unveil the elementary constituents of matter, along with the forces that link them, involves distances thousands of times smaller than nuclear sizes, about one ten trillionth of a centimeter, or 10-13cm.



And does a nearly invisible universe of real supersymmetric particles also exist all around us? Scientists investigate the wobble rate of the muon for possible evidence.



Ps. 102:25 Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens [are] the work of thy hands.

Andrew Jones is back from Freakstock, the Jesus Festival. He posts an Aussie version of the Story of Creation.

Prayer is nothing else but union with God. In this intimate union, God and the soul are fused together like two bits of wax that no one can every pull apart. This union of god with a tiny creature is a lovely thing. It is a happiness beyond understanding. My little children, your hearts are small, but prayer stretches them and makes them capable of loving God. Through prayer we receive a foretaste of heaven and something of paradise comes down upon us. Prayer never leaves us without sweetness. It is honey that flows into the souls and makes all things sweet. When we pray properly, sorrows disappear like snow before the sun.



From the catechetical instructions of St. John Vianney, the Cure of Ars, whose memorial is Sunday, 4 August.



Many, including Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II, have written of the extraordinary life and matchless example of this patron of priests and confessors. There are several modern biographies, including the very fine work of Rev. George William Rutler, pastor of the Church of Our Saviour in Manhattan.



Again, warm thanks to Terry Jones for his labor and devotion in compiling his vast store of information on our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Andrew Careaga at Bloggedy Blog conducts an experiment and invents a weblog variation on Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Check it out.

James Cordrey and David Heddle have each spent time in 1 Samuel 28. The Witch of Endor. Very different posts. Good thoughts. Look.

President Bush said recently, "There is no capitalism without conscience; there is no wealth without character." Many, including The Post [editorial, July 10] responded that conscience has nothing to do with it. "There's no harm in this rhetoric," said The Post, "but it is naive to suppose that business can be regulated by some kind of national honor code."



Charles Colson, in an op-ed featured in the Washington Post, asks "Will we never learn?" Law Isn't Enough

"But perhaps it is good that evangelism, even in its most culturally tame forms, is dogged by cultural suspicion. It reminds us of the one who came not to bring peace, but a sword, and it reminds us that in order to bear the good news, we must first ourselves be pierced."



Andy Crouch at re:generation quarterly. The Violence of Evangelism.



Thanks to Richard Burley for the link.

It's not an easy question and we benefit from reasoned discussion about it. What is the proper role of Christians in the development and formulation of public policy? A Dialogue on the Gospel and Public Policy.



Family Life Today, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, broadcast yesterday and today this debate between the syndicated columnist Cal Thomas and Tom Minnery, VP for Public Policy for Focus on the Family.

Nobody sings about the experience like Patsy Cline, but take a look at the Astronomy Picture of the Day and see Comet 57-P Fall To Pieces.

Both the Roman and Eastern Orthodox Calendars have memorials today for the Seven Maccabean Martyrs. In the West, this is the only feast of an Old Testament saint that has more than a local observance.



The gruesome and noble story is told in 2 Maccabees 7 and is probably the specific reference of Hebrews 11:35:



"Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection."



Think of their heroic perseverance and of the passsage a little further on in Hebrews 13:14: “Here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.”



Brief Life Is Here Our Portion

Well, here's some very good news. Karl Kohlhase, a musician and songwriter in His service, has started a blog at My Daily Crumbs.

You've had The Star-Spangled Banner running through your mind all day and you weren't sure why. Francis Scott Key was born on this date in 1779.



The poem that became our national anthem is one of the high points of Key's substantial life but he was in all his work "an individual whose heart beat for God," in the words of Rev. Byron Snapp in his foreword to the reprint of the Delaplaine biography.



Here is one of the hymns written by Francis Scott Key: Lord, With Glowing Heart I’d Praise Thee

It was news to me. On June 14, 2002, the number of designated solar active regions reached 10,000. Find out more about these sunspot groups. It's the Astronomy Picture of the Day.

The feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori, lawyer, teacher, theologian, ascetic, Doctor of the Church. Gerard Serafin posts a tribute to this great man, including the words to his hymn O God of Loveliness.