As Venus Transits the Sun

As Venus transits the Sun, June 5th, 2012
Image credit NASA/JAXA/Lockheed-Martin

Sometimes it is as though the praise of God filled with world; as if it went out to and enfolded all creation, as for instance in the Psalms of creation or in the response which those songs have found in the hearts of God-enraptured people such as St. Francis of Assisi. … This is not a fairy-tale approach to nature in which the sun and the moon, the trees, and so forth are personalized and given voices with which to sing the praise of God; it is an inspired poetic rendering of the idea that the sun and the moon and all created things are a mirror of God’s glory because, as His creation, they reflect something of His nature. In so doing, they praise Him by their very existence. They themselves know nothing of it, but man does; he can think himself into their silent song of praise; he can voice it on their behalf, offer it up to God and thus act as the spokesman of creation.

- Romano Guardini, The Art of Praying

Courtesy of the Deeps of Time blog...

Mystical Poetry Contest

Pretty neat! From CNA. As I've affirmed before, mystical theology is best expressed through poetry and prayer. If you're so inclined!

A Madrid-based Catholic foundation has launched its 32nd annual contest for the Fernando Rielo Worldwide Prize for Mystical Poetry.

The theme of the poems “should express the spiritual values of man in their deepest religious significance,” said contest organizers.

Fernando Rielo, a Spaniard who lived from 1923-2004, was a mystical poet, philosopher, author, and metaphysician. He also founded religious congregation in 1959 known as the Idente Missionaries of Christ the Redeemer.

The rules of the contest, which are posted on the foundation’s website, allow the submission of unpublished poems in Spanish or English, or translated into one of the two languages. The winner of the contest will receive a cash award of seven thousand euros, approximately $8,800, and a special publication of his or her poem.

Submissions must include a cover including the title of the work, the name of the author, his or her address, email and telephone number. The jury may also select a group of submitted poems to be included in a collection published by the foundation.

The deadline for submissions is October 15, 2012. For more information, visit: www.rielo.com.

Un Corrido de Los Cristeros: El martes me fusilan

A ballad of the Cristeros, sung by Vincente Fernandez (in honor of those who died defending religious freedom in Mexico during the Mexican Cristero War and persecution of the Catholic Church by the Mexican revolutionary government in the 1920s.



English translation of the lyrics:

At six on Tuesday morning,
they will shoot me
for believing in the eternal God
and the great Lady of Guadalupe.

A holy card of Jesus
they found in my sombrero;
Thus, I was sentenced to die
because I am a Cristero.

And for this I will be shot,
at six on Tuesday morning.
My useless body, they will end
But never, never my soul will they bend.

I'd tell my tormentors
that I wanted to be crucified;
And once crucified
Ask them to use their rifles.

Goodbye sierras of Jalisco,
Michoacan and Guanajuato,
where the government fought
but always left running away.

They will grab me, kneeling,
while worshiping Jesus Christ.
They know that there will be no defense
In this blessed site.

I am a peasant by inheritance,
by birth, Jalisciense;
I have no other God than Christ
For He gave me my life.

By killing me, they will not kill
my belief in the eternal God;
Many die in the fight
but many others are born to fight.

That's why they'll shoot me
at six on Tuesday morning.

¡Viva Cristo Rey!