Sorry about the long silence, folks, but I’m happy to report that I’m back at it here in the old blog mines.
There’s much to discuss . . .
wac
Poor relic hunter Sam White was killed at his Virginia home by a 140-year-old unexploded shell that he was trying to restore.
To give you an idea of how powerful the burst was, the authorities found a chunk of shrapnel in the wall of a house 1/4 of a mile away.
wac
This weeks’ devotion comes to us from Brazil, where European classical art runs headlong into South American pious expression, making for a very pretty, very accessible Madonna:
A close up:
The heart of the devotion as depicted in the image is described thusly on the promoter’s website:
In this angelic court, two angels stand out. One of them holds on to a ribbon, the ribbon of our life, which is full of knots big and small, loose and tight. They are the knots of our life, the knots of anguish and despair of separated couples, the dissolution of the family, the knots of a drug addict son or daughter, sick or separated from home or God, knots of alcoholism, the practice of abortion, depression, unemployment, fear, solitude, etc. The good hearted angel looks to our Queen and holding onto the ribbon of our life, presents to Mary, the Undoer of Knots and says, “We trust you, Mother; You can help us. Undo, then, the knots of this life!”
Then, Mary takes our life into Her compassionate hands and with her long fingers of mercy goes on to undo each knot, one after the other. Look at Her. Feel the attention, love and tenderness with which She does this, hearing our plea, the supplication of a beloved child!
See what happens?
This ribbon becomes free of any type of knot, reflecting all the mercy and freeing power of the holy hands of Mary Undoer of Knots.
Another angel comes over, then, and taking the ribbon of our life, freed of all knots, looks at us and seems to say, “See what She did. Look at what Mary, through her intercession can do again. Trust Her, place your problems and afflictions in Her hands!”
wac
Can we choose to remain where we are under these circumstances? We have argued for years now of our “state of necessity” and of the resulting supplied jurisdiction that the Church supplies to us. But can we continue to argue this when ordinary jurisdiction is offered to us without any compromise in the Faith? Can we choose freely to remain in this irregular canonical situation where we are? In other words, can a state of necessity be the object of a choice without moral fault? Clearly not And on the other hand: are the authorities ready to accord us regular faculties? If the answer to this second question is affirmative, then we are no longer in the same case of necessity!
All these serious considerations, dear friends, move us to go and see what Rome has to say.
Read it all here.
Glory!
wac
The Democrats face a crisis. They must have a consensus candidate before the convention if they want any chance of defeating the Republicans in November. But there are two competing factions that are dividing the party sharply into two camps behind two candidates, and, with the stupidity of the ultra-egalitarian “superdelegate” system now showing forth, each day that goes by divides the party further, and brings it closer to a floor fight.
These two camps are no more separated by irreconcilable ideologies than are the candidates themselves; Both stand firmly on platforms made of dreamy dreams and fluffy promises, tales told by idiots, signifying nothing. No, the division is rather one born of political dysfunction, akin to the dysfunction that ruined the Republican party in the early 1960’s. On one hand, the Democratic realists, the young face of the party, representing the only dynamism evident in that otherwise moribund institution, want to nominate a “winner”, and that would obviously Obama. On the other hand, the old line, representing most of the big money sugar daddies, experienced political and media operatives, and entrenched pols, are still looking to follow through on the scripted coronation of the candidate “whose time has come”-in other words, the conclusion of the same political Kabuki that gave us John Kerry-and Clinton is their obvious (and inexorably inevitable) candidate.
Now, this latter group, which represents the old party alliances with the media, labor, and special interest groups, has seemingly called in some favors, albeit reluctantly, and moved Rev. Jeremiah Wright off the back burner (where he has been simmering since about November) solidly front and center. Wright has been all over the television in the last few days, speaking to the National Press Club and the NAACP. Could it be that party operatives in favor of Clinton have used their contacts in these organizations to feed Wright’s insatiable urge for self promotion in order to kill the Obama campaign in favor of Clinton? It has certainly given Hillary plenty to react to in soundbites over the last two news cycles. In any case, the fact that someone has let Wright out of his cage, or, perhaps, that the Obama campaign can’t keep Wright in his cage, is highly suspicious. Likewise, t is indicative and illustrative of the deep dysfunction in the Democratic Party.
This devotion comes to us from South of the Border (La Mano Mas Ponderosa), where Catholic imagery is awesomely colorful, literal, and evocative.
O Powerful Hand of God! I place my Christian soul before you, and in my despair and anguish, beseech you to aid me with your almighty power. At your feet I place the devotion of my sorrowful heart that I might be delivered from my suffering. May the loving kindness of your power help me and give me strength and wisdom to live in peace and happiness. (Here present your petitions).
Amen
WAC
Editor’s Note: I have given Mr. JPM’s fine post a new surtitle, in order to make it more clear. What follows is a remarkable account of meeting the Pope, serving as his vimp, and then receiving a lecture on the importance of serving the liturgy from Msgr. Marini. And, on the joys of spending the proceeds from a papal commission on a new handgun. Enjoy!)
Although the above post title may seem a tad unorthodox, and may possibly raise the eyebrows of FIB’s author, I assure you all that it is both meet and just. Why? Heh, well, that was seriously the only thing racing through my brain all day Tuesday and Wednesday.
Mr. WAC has requested that I put up a little post on my experience serving Solemn Vespers for the Holy Father. I actually was half-way through one a few moments ago, but I did something stupid and lost it, so let’s just say I got annoyed, and here I am starting over.
The general order of things is that all Altar servers had to be at the Basilica NLT 1500h and proceed to vest. Once vested, we were to remain in the Crypt sacristy in a state of readiness for Monsignor Guido Marini, Master of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff. A while later, Monsignor Marini enters, accompanied by two other Monsignori, and started checking to make sure everything was ready for the Holy Father, including the BNSIC’s servers.
By this time, all of the US bishops were seated, so we were led through our functions with all of them present. Once we had our assignments and had gone over the movements of the liturgy, we went back to the sacristy to await the Holy Father’s arrival. A small TV was placed in the sacristy so we could monitor the pope’s progress, from the USCCB up 4th St NE, onto the CUA campus and Basilica grounds, up the East portal and so on. Once the Holy Father made his way to the Upper Sacristy we formed a large semicircle in which to greet him, following Fr. Holcomb’s prior instructions, grouped by associations: from the Archdiocese of Washington, Msgr. Barry and Fr. Mark Knestout (brothers) and the archbishop’s secretary, from the BNSIC, our dear priests Fr. Holcomb, Fr. Weston, and Fr. Lebrun, OMI, a bunch of people from the USCCS, and then the BNSIC’s deacons, a deacon from the TC and Br. Pius, OP, from the DHS, both to be ordained to the presbyterate pretty darn soon, and, of course, the servers.
I can’t say whether or not people were expectingthe Holy Father to greet us one by one, but I can say with certainty that we had a plan A and a plan B, consisting of left-knee genuflection and damn-near profound bowing, respectively. And so, the elevator opened, out steps Monsignor Rossi and the Monsignori from the Holy See, and all of a sudden we see this kindly-looking old man arrayed in various vesture of brilliant white, his countenance one telling of such deep-seated joy in Christ and love of His Church, such that not even the most gifted artist could capture it. He started making his way greeting each of us, with Monsignor Rossi introducing us. By the time it was perfectly clear that the only way the Holy Father could get to the guy after me was to stop at me, Monsignor Rossi introduces me (more or less): JP Mikolajczyk, he designed the altar for the Mass tomorrow. HOLY SMOKES!!! WOW!!! WOW!!! His Holiness in reply, Ah, zhank you.
There’s really no tactful way to say “you’re welcome” to that, so my existing smile was appropriate, I hope.
WOW!!!
I certainly was not expecting that detail from Monsignor Rossi, but sweet wandering Moses, he just up and said it. Props, Monsignor.
After the Holy Father greeted us, he proceeded to vest and we got in our places. Vespers, itself, was a very beautiful liturgy. So many times I’ve served Mass in the crypt, usually you’re seated to the left or right of the celebrant. This time? Just behind the Vicar of Christ. Several times I’ve had vimp duty. This time? Keeping an eye on the ferula (that’s right, not a crozier) used by Pope John XXIII of Blessed Memory. How many times I’ve joined the Dominicans or Marians for Vespers, this time praying those familiar psalms and canticles with the Vicar of Christ physically present with us.
After the recessional the servers stood off to the left after the prosit, and waited for the Holy Father to exit and make his address to the bishops. As he passed us, hands candled or folded, he simply turned to us and said, zhank you!
What a wonderful man to shepherd Christ’s flock and safeguard the deposit of faith from those who would destroy it.
After the Holy Father left, we all headed up to the Great Upper Church to watch his address. On the way up, we still had cassocks on, including those of us who aren’t seminarians, and I felt as if hundreds of years of prayer and politeness were getting the better of me, because there were a bunch of cops and firearms lining the stairway, and all I could think to myself was in the voice of a cloistered nun let out for a little bit (you all know what I’m talking about), oh. oh my. look at these weapons. oh dear. oh my, as I hopped up the stairs. This coming from the guy who used his half of the design competition winnings on a Glock 17, adding to an existing Ruger.
One final thing I’d like to mention happened before the Vespers. It’s something that I hope I remember for a long time. After the rehearsal and before he had to attend to other checklists, Monsignor Marini gave us a short spiritual conference which Monsignor Anglophone translated for us. He spoke to us about what it means to serve at the Altar of God. Obviously this centered on serving for the Holy Father. He told us he understands we were a little nervous, and that it’s okay. It is important for us to know our functions in the liturgical movements and to execute them well, but he exhorted us to above all, pray. Monsignor told us to always remember that whenever we are serving, we are first and foremost engaging in the Church’s worship of God. Our specific roles in the liturgical movements can and do help the faithful who are present in fostering a reverent, solemn, prayerful atmosphere in which to praise God, and the best way we can do that, is to pray — pray with the Holy Father today, pray with the bishops and priests we serve for throughout the year.
Ultimately, the most effective altar server is the one who prays.
In the words of Ronnie Reagan, a good time was had by all. It was both unreal, and yet very, very real. You can’t believe that you’re a few feet behind the Vicar of Christ, but yet it actually is happening. Incredible.
An amazing blessing. A tremendous gift.
NLM quotes the Sunday Times:
An Anglican priest whose conversion to Catholicism shocked Victorian England will this week take a big step to becoming one of the first new British saints in almost 40 years.
The Vatican will announce the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman after accepting that he was responsible for a miracle in which an American clergyman was ‘cured’ of a crippling spinal disorder.
Newman will be given the title ‘Blessed’ after a ceremony later this year, leaving him one step away from sainthood.
Read the rest of this entry »
From Catholic By Choice, Lou Dobbs perhaps reveals a personal preference?:
Pope Benedict XVI addressed the social context in which the scandal took place, asking, “What does it mean to speak of child protection when pornography and violence can be viewed in so many homes through media widely available today?” On his CNN show last night, Lou Dobbs made the following comments about the pope:
“I don’t want to put you [addressing a guest] in jeopardy of either perdition or Hell itself. But, so I will gamble this, may I? The idea that the pope would come here and criticize the United States this way is, I think, first of all bad manners. I don’t care if you’re infallible [sarcastically] or not. So it’s bad manners. Number two, it is absolutely out of all proportion with the world scale. This is the most welcoming nation, the most generous nation on the face of the earth. And for this pope to have this attitude and to make these comments is, in my opinion, absolutely repugnant…. I’m on my way to Hell…. It seems to me that if one is going to reach to the level that he did, you have to have some moral standing for it. And what has been happening to this church…for the last decade, seems to leave open his standing, cleaning up his own house. I don’t know if there is a scriptural reference there, but it seems to me that, glass houses, stones. Whatever it may be, it’s just bad manners.”
wac
