Sunday, February 22, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Come to me
Come to me all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart: And you shall find rest to your souls. For my yoke is sweet and my burden light.
Matthew 11:28-30
This Lord of ours is so anxious that we should desire him
and strive after his companionship
that he calls us ceaselessly, time after time,
to approach him; and this voice of his is so sweet.
St. Teresa of Avila, 16th century
Matthew 11:28-30
This Lord of ours is so anxious that we should desire him
and strive after his companionship
that he calls us ceaselessly, time after time,
to approach him; and this voice of his is so sweet.
St. Teresa of Avila, 16th century
Friday, February 6, 2009
Ronald Wilson Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan
February 6, 1911 - June 5, 2004
Remembering this great President on his birthday . . .
Click here for a lovely photo memorial.
February 6, 1911 - June 5, 2004
Remembering this great President on his birthday . . .
Click here for a lovely photo memorial.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
What I Love About the Catholic Church - 1
From Fr. Dwight Longenecker's blog, Standing on My Head -
OK, Here goes a whimsical series about what I love about the Catholic Church. Some posts will be one liners. Others long winded. Some serious, others not so. They're in no particular order, either logically or of priority of importance. I hope you enjoy them. Why not tell others to tune in? I'm trying to boost my readership...
I love the Catholic Church because it is for brainy, sophisticated, cultured, artistic people and it is also for those who are not. It is a church for haute couture and hoi polloi. You can enjoy a Raphael Madonna or a plastic bottle of holy water shaped like the Blessed Virgin with a crown for a cap that unscrews. You can appreciate a picture of the Last Supper painted by Leonardo on the wall of a refectory in Florence or one painted by number on black velvet and hanging in a trailer. You can study the philosophy of St Thomas Aquinas or be an imbecile and still be a good Catholic. Nobody's excluded, in fact to really stand everything on its head, a good Catholic has to consider the peasant, the holy fool, the child, the tasteless ignoramus and the devout ditz to actually perhaps and possibly being closer to heaven than the smart, the rich, the tasteful, the privileged, the powerful and the educated ones. Indeed, to enter the kingdom of heaven one has to become like a little child.
Read the rest here.
OK, Here goes a whimsical series about what I love about the Catholic Church. Some posts will be one liners. Others long winded. Some serious, others not so. They're in no particular order, either logically or of priority of importance. I hope you enjoy them. Why not tell others to tune in? I'm trying to boost my readership...
I love the Catholic Church because it is for brainy, sophisticated, cultured, artistic people and it is also for those who are not. It is a church for haute couture and hoi polloi. You can enjoy a Raphael Madonna or a plastic bottle of holy water shaped like the Blessed Virgin with a crown for a cap that unscrews. You can appreciate a picture of the Last Supper painted by Leonardo on the wall of a refectory in Florence or one painted by number on black velvet and hanging in a trailer. You can study the philosophy of St Thomas Aquinas or be an imbecile and still be a good Catholic. Nobody's excluded, in fact to really stand everything on its head, a good Catholic has to consider the peasant, the holy fool, the child, the tasteless ignoramus and the devout ditz to actually perhaps and possibly being closer to heaven than the smart, the rich, the tasteful, the privileged, the powerful and the educated ones. Indeed, to enter the kingdom of heaven one has to become like a little child.
Read the rest here.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Sad but Beautiful
I love how one book leads to another leads to another, etc. Reading Thomas Howard's books lead me to books by Joseph Pearce; books such as The Quest for Shakespeare, Literary Giants, Literary Catholics, Old Thunder: A Life of Hilaire Belloc and others.
And now I am delighted to discover that there is a great, orthodox, Catholic literary/cultural journal edited by Joseph Pearce. And one of my favorite bloggers, Fr. Dwight Longenecker writes a regular column on film for the journal. The journal is called St Austin Review--StAR.
I went to the website and found this article on Gregorian Chant, which I would like to share with you.
Sad but Beautiful
“It sounds kind of sad,” the little girl said.
It was sad. I was in a classroom full of middle schoolers. We had just
learned to sing a very simple Gregorian chant, a setting of the
Sanctus. And despite the fact that this was a Catholic school, neither
the music teacher nor any of her students had ever sung even the most modest chant melody before.
I was reminded of the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, and particularly of
the deep and abiding sadness that permeates his tales of Middle-earth. In those tales, ages and ages have come and gone, and the remote histories and legends of the earliest times are largely forgotten. But the Elves were the keepers of the legends. They were the stewards of the ancient wisdom and lore that linked generation to generation back to the very creation of Middle-earth…back to the time when the earliest peoples had spoken and lived with the Valar, those mighty angels and servants of God Himself.
Tolkien’s Elves were immortal, and so they were, as such, natural
guardians of history and wisdom. But Tolkien modeled these mythical
beings after the Benedictine monks of Europe. The western monastic
tradition, which began with the Rule of St. Benedict, spread throughout Europe during the Dark Ages. And in those times, as the
Roman Empire crumbled and western civilization was overrun by waves of conquerors, all ancient lore and wisdom was gathered by the monks and preserved. And the prayerful temple music of the ancient Hebrews was remembered and modified to suit the celebration of the Catholic Mass, becoming what we know today as Gregorian chant. Read the rest of the article here.
And now I am delighted to discover that there is a great, orthodox, Catholic literary/cultural journal edited by Joseph Pearce. And one of my favorite bloggers, Fr. Dwight Longenecker writes a regular column on film for the journal. The journal is called St Austin Review--StAR.
I went to the website and found this article on Gregorian Chant, which I would like to share with you.
Sad but Beautiful
“It sounds kind of sad,” the little girl said.
It was sad. I was in a classroom full of middle schoolers. We had just
learned to sing a very simple Gregorian chant, a setting of the
Sanctus. And despite the fact that this was a Catholic school, neither
the music teacher nor any of her students had ever sung even the most modest chant melody before.
I was reminded of the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, and particularly of
the deep and abiding sadness that permeates his tales of Middle-earth. In those tales, ages and ages have come and gone, and the remote histories and legends of the earliest times are largely forgotten. But the Elves were the keepers of the legends. They were the stewards of the ancient wisdom and lore that linked generation to generation back to the very creation of Middle-earth…back to the time when the earliest peoples had spoken and lived with the Valar, those mighty angels and servants of God Himself.
Tolkien’s Elves were immortal, and so they were, as such, natural
guardians of history and wisdom. But Tolkien modeled these mythical
beings after the Benedictine monks of Europe. The western monastic
tradition, which began with the Rule of St. Benedict, spread throughout Europe during the Dark Ages. And in those times, as the
Roman Empire crumbled and western civilization was overrun by waves of conquerors, all ancient lore and wisdom was gathered by the monks and preserved. And the prayerful temple music of the ancient Hebrews was remembered and modified to suit the celebration of the Catholic Mass, becoming what we know today as Gregorian chant. Read the rest of the article here.
Archbp. Carroll’s “Prayer for Government”
From the wonderful blog, What Does The Prayer Really Say -
"The following prayer was composed by John Carroll, Archbishop of Baltimore, in 1791. He was the first bishop appointed for the United States in 1789 by Pope Pius VI. He was made the first archbishop when his see of Baltimore was elevated to the status of an archdiocese.
John was a cousin of Charles Carroll of Maryland, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Americans among the readership might print it and bring it to your parish priests and ask them to use it after Mass, perhaps on Inauguration Day.
This needs no translation for Catholics who love their country!"
Click here for the prayer- and join in praying this prayer for your country.
PRAYER FOR GOVERNMENT
"The following prayer was composed by John Carroll, Archbishop of Baltimore, in 1791. He was the first bishop appointed for the United States in 1789 by Pope Pius VI. He was made the first archbishop when his see of Baltimore was elevated to the status of an archdiocese.
John was a cousin of Charles Carroll of Maryland, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Americans among the readership might print it and bring it to your parish priests and ask them to use it after Mass, perhaps on Inauguration Day.
This needs no translation for Catholics who love their country!"
Click here for the prayer- and join in praying this prayer for your country.
PRAYER FOR GOVERNMENT
Morning Offering
Most Holy and Adorable Trinity, one God in three Persons, I firmly believe that You are here present; I adore You with the most profound humility; I praise You and give You thanks with all my heart for the favors You have bestowed on me. Your Goodness has brought me safely to the beginning of this day. Behold, O Lord, I offer You my whole being and in particular all my thoughts, words and actions, together with such crosses and contradictions as I may meet with in the course of this day. Give them, O Lord, Your blessing; may Your divine Love animate them and may they tend to the greater honor and glory of Your Sovereign Majesty. Amen.
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