Releases, Weddings, and Life

Whew. I just finished another product release at work. Friday, I leave for a friend's wedding in Philadelphia, and then on to Indiana for the rest of next week. Hopefully I'll have some adventures in Amish country while I'm there. The Amish can cook like nobody's business. Pray for me! Pray also for all married couples and for those discerning married life.

We like to talk about the crisis in vocations to the priesthood and religious life, but I choose not to forget the crisis in vocations to true married life, which is also a complete embrace of the fullness of life and love, particularly when it yields fruit. But that isn't something that our culture likes, in an age of shot-gun weddings, increasing divorce rates, declining birth rates, and abortion. Have you ever noticed how the television ads for the Ortho Tri-Cyclen birth control pill are identical in style to the television ads for Valtrex treatment for genital herpes? Apparently it's good marketing to appeal to potential customers by treating children as just another sexually transmitted disease that will prevent you from living a life full of joy and promise.

The Servant of God Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said something very wise about children and married life, and I'll never forget it for as long as I live:

How dull life would be if a musician were always picking up a violin and a bow, but never producing a melody; or a sculptor were always picking up a chisel, applying it to marble, but never creating a statue; or a poet were putting pen to paper, but never wrote a thoughtful line. Would not the farmer go mad if, each spring after he had planted the seed, he immediately dug it up, went on repeating the silly process, and never waited for fruits and harvests? What would happen to the mind and heart of a woman who, just as soon as the buds began to appear in her garden, cut each of them off, so that she never fondled a rose. Love, by its very nature, wants to bear some fruit; thus is saves itself from a duality that is death... Love is then discovered to be, not like the serpent that crawls on the same level, but rather like a bird that has an ascension of love and begins to taste its sweetest moments in the higher summits of flight.

Pray for us, Uncle Fultie.

The Space Elevator

Saw this over at Dappled Things. The Space Elevator. Sounds incredible, but fascinating. Check out this animation (WMV) with sound to understand what this is. If it were feasible, it would open the doors of possibilities because it would eliminate one of the most expensive components to every space lauch - fuel. Obviously, though, I'm quite skeptical...

The Thirty-Three Heads of Voltaire

I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it.      -François-Marie Arouet de Voltaire

As a student of philosophy and a lover of French history, I appreciate much of Voltaire's work, though he certainly isn't my buddy. While he apparently believed in a God, he had an easy habit of mocking religious faith, or rather what he perceived as distracting superstition. But his satire was witty, and his points, though sometimes misguided, were usually well delivered. If you've ever read any of his work, including Candide, you should also be aware of The Thirty-Three Heads, which are caricatures of Voltaire in his declining years:

The heads derive from caricatures produced by Jean Huber (1721 - 1786). For a time Huber lived within Voltaire's household, giving him the opportunity to portray Voltaire in very informal situations: without his wig, in a night cap and without his teeth.

Some believe that it was at this time that Voltaire was at his best.

Belgian Catholic Travelogue

At BustedHalo.com, my friend Jessica writes from Brussels, A Grad Student's Spiritual Adventure in Brussels:

... my Catholic adventure in Brussels has been both a challenge and a blessing. It has allowed me to grow and to explore the different facets of Catholicism in this city. I am able to witness the interaction of cultures and socio-economic groups -- from professionals to recent immigrants from all over the world -- and experience how the fusing of these practices is creating a new experience of Roman Catholicism in the world.

Grace and Peace to you, Jessica.

Go NouvelObs!

I just ran across something interesting. The quaint and holy village of Santa Maria, California, previously my home for nine years, gets a mention in Le Nouvel Observateur. Given that nobody en France would have known about Santa Maria otherwise, all I have to say is, thanks, Jacko! Jacko frequently made covert trips to Santa Maria for toys at Toys 'R Us as well as the local mall. The town just can't handle all of the fans who come out for his court dates.

Comme en janvier, la petite ville de Santa Maria a été mise en état de siège avec des renforts policiers. Quelque 1.500 fans comptent y soutenir leur idole.

Last time, most of the Jackson family showed up. Neverland isn't too far from where I am right now.

English Missal Draft

I know - this is being posted on just about every other Catholic blog, but since I have been blogging on this topic, I thought I should also post it here (if anything else, for my archives).

A draft translation of the new Mass in English

It is currently pending approval by the bishops of the English speaking world. The draft looks to be about what I expected, based largely on John Allen's excellent reporting. There's still room for good debate, but all things considered, I hope to see many of these changes soon. Will it be an opportunity for liturgical catechesis? I sure hope so.

Mysteria Luminosa Sacratissimi Rosarii

There is a great deal of depth in praying the rosary in Latin, the lingua ecclesiae. For a while now, I have been looking for a more comprehensive guide to the different mysteries of the rosary in Latin; I haven't found too much, so I decided to put something together myself. I started by putting together this little page outlining each of the Luminous Mysteries in Latin:

Lucis Mysteria

The Scripture text is taken from the Nova Vulgata, and the brief meditations are taken from the Latin text of the Holy Father's apostolic letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae. Eventually, I'd like to do something similar for the Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious mysteries. All in good time!

Conscience: Man's Most Secret Core

Most Rev. Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Denver, on:
What Vatican II did, and didn't, teach about conscience.

In its Declaration on Religious Liberty (Dignitatis Humanae), the council went on to say that, "It is through his conscience that man sees and recognizes the demands of the divine law. He is bound to follow this conscience faithfully in all his activity, so that he may come to God, who is his last end. Therefore he must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters...

(I)n forming their consciences, the faithful must pay careful attention to the sacred and certain teaching of the Church. For the Catholic Church is, by the will of Christ, the teacher of truth. It is her duty to proclaim and teach with authority the truth which is Christ and, at the same time, to declare and confirm by her authority the principles of the moral order which spring from human nature."

if we're serious in our Catholic faith, we also need to acknowledge that conscience does not "invent" truth. Rather, conscience must seek truth out, and conform itself to the truth once discovered — no matter how inconvenient. Conscience is never just a matter of personal opinion or private preference. It never exists in a vacuum of individual sovereignty.

Thank you, Archbishop!

Evidence

I was fascinated as I read the minutes of the local chapter of Voice of the Faithful's recent meeting, particularly this question noted at the end of a lecture given by Fr. Thomas Rausch, S.J.:

Someone suggested that new priests from the seminary seem to be very clerical and conservative in their view of the Church. It was suggested that some sent to Santa Barbara were actually members of Opus Dei. Fr. Rausch suggested we consider the world of chaos in which these new seminarians were raised and thinks that might be crucial in their predisposition towards order. He said he was not aware of seminarians being members of Opus Dei.

Do I smell a conspiracy plot here in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles? It wouldn't be the first one I've heard. However, of all the conspiracy theories I've heard about the goings-on in this Archdiocese, this one is the first more liberal one I've heard explicitly. The sad (or happy?) truth is that such a conspiracy might not be much of a bad thing, given what I now know about the true nature of Opus Dei and the universal call to holiness, accentuated even further in the Second Vatican Council's own dogmatic constitution, Lumen Gentium, which Voice of the Faithful likes to quote. Oh, the humanity!

Pro-life Feminists Speak Up!

Feminists For Life President, Serrin Foster, offers these remarks regarding this weekend's death march in Washington:

Women continue to die from legal and lethal abortion, just as they did before Roe vs. Wade. In 2003, California teen Holly Patterson, age 18, died after taking RU-486. Who will mourn her on Sunday? This march won't bring her back. Women are also rendered infertile and risk future miscarriages. A Montana woman, Lorraine Thul, had a hysterectomy after her uterus was nicked during an abortion in 2002. How will this march help Lorraine? Twenty-nine of 38 worldwide epidemiological studies show increased risk of breast cancer after an abortion, including 13 of 15 studies on American women. Will march organizers continue to deny medical research?

Another march co-sponsor, Planned Parenthood President Gloria Feldt, has said, "Roe v. Wade enabled women to participate in the social, financial and political life of this country." Abortion does not "enable" women. Women need housing, child care, health care that includes maternity benefits, maternity leave, the ability to telecommute, a living wage and a supportive family for themselves and their children. A woman needs and deserves support — both emotional and financial — from the father of the child. The lack of support and resources is what concerns women the most. Addressing these unmet needs must become our priority — not abortion.

I heard Serrin Foster give a very rousing lecture at the university when I was a student. She is always careful to raise some very challenging points that modern feminism avoids like the plague. The truth is that modern feminism is not feminism in truest sense. Foster goes on to suggest that the generational tide is beginning to sway:

63 percent of people aged 18 to 24 are pro-life, making them the most pro-life generation since those now aged 70 and over. It is instructional for those under age 31 to learn that attorney Sarah Weddington argued Roe on the basis that a woman could not complete her education if she were pregnant. Why not? Women are not suddenly stupid because they are pregnant or parenting. Education is essential to combat the feminization of poverty.

Millions of people marched on Washington last January bearing witness to life. We must continue to fight for human rights and for true respect for the dignity of women and children.

John Kerry: Man, Myth, Politician

I haven't used this blog too much to draw out my political opinions. Of course, at times they intersect significantly with my living out of the Catholic Faith in this country, so I am obliged to speak up now and then. I'm a registered Republican, though in more than a few areas, I consider myself to be more moderate politically. I'm largely a student when it comes to politics, and so I'm willing to listen to debates and differing opinions on particular policies and issues. But I vote very strongly according to my conscience, which is informed by the teachings of the Church, the authority to which I am obedient. In 2000 AD, I voted for George W. Bush, and while I have not been a fan of how the situation has been handled in Iraq, nor have I been a fan of other policies of the Bush Administration, nothing sickens me more, at this point, than the thought of a Kerry Administration in the White House.

At one point in my life as a Catholic, I pondered the day when there would be a Catholic in the White House who truly understood the struggle of American Catholics, someone who was willing to truly speak up for real human dignity, one who wouldn't be afraid to stand up for something greater than himself. Well, here we have a Catholic who is selling me and other Catholic citizens over to the wolves. He's telling me that my beliefs don't matter; He's saying that they're convenient for photo ops, but in the end, all that matters is winning an election. He's saying that my conscience, informed by the teaching of the Church, is arbitrary and unimportant to American politics. He's even gone so far as to suggest that voting according to my conscience is a dangerous breach of the highly misconceived separation of Church and State. He says these things and acts this way and expects us to brush if off as being business as usual? What would the early martyrs have thought about such an attitude?

Bush is truly not my ideal candidate. He's a politician, for sure. He has, however, had the guts to severly risk his own reputation to stand up to some very powerful people in this country, and as Kerry proudly picks up endorsements from Planned Parenthood after having stood before and received Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, only to then vow to turn back the clock on all of the important abortion reforms we've made in this country over the last few years, I can only imagine what the angels above must be thinking. But they would also be praying for him as well as for President Bush, and as I, myself, am a sinner, I will also pray for John Kerry, but I can't see myself voting for anyone other than George W. Bush this Fall.

St. Thomas More, please pray for all leaders of nations!

Shakespearean Insulter

Certainly there must be a need for Shakespeare's genius!

You scullion! You rampallian! You fustilarian! I'll tickle your catastrophe!
Taken from: Henry IV, part 2

[You] speak an infinite deal of nothing.
Taken from: The Merchant of Venice

Try out the Shakespearean Insulter! :)

Fruitful Exercise

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.

From Kernighan and Ritchie's The C Programming Language, Second Edition:

By definition, chars are just small integers, so char variables and constants are identical to ints in arithmetic expressions.

Great wisdom always gives me pause. From the man behind the curtain; Compile this:

main(k){float i,j,r,x,y=-16;while(puts(""),y++<15)for(x
=0;x++<84;putchar(" .:-;!/>)|&IH%*#"[k&15]))for(i=k=r=0;
j=r*r-i*i-2+x/25,i=2*r*i+y/10,j*j+i*i<11&&k++<111;r=j);}

You'll get a glimpse from on high at the infinity of the universe.

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

Seven years ago tonight, I was baptized, confirmed, and I received my first holy communion -- all in one amazing night. Today I continue, with the merciful help of God's grace, to try to live out that commission of Christ with all who live in Him. Pray that I may continue to live out the Gospel in my daily life; pray that I may never shy away from going out into the world to preach the Good News! Christ has redeemed us and delivered us from everlasting death! Christ has restored life and goes before us ever more! As long as we choose the path of faith, instead of the path of fear, what is there to be afraid of?

Tonight we celebrated the Easter Vigil with the Jesuits over at Our Lady of Sorrows in downtown Santa Barbara. It was done well and beautifully. The homily addressed the importance of maturing in the faith, of not being stagnant or too comfortable, but always being willing to step out in faith knowing that truly no risk is too great with the light of Christ ever before us!

This is truly God's own day!

Hic est dies verus Dei, sancto serenus lumine,
quo diluit sanguis sacer probrosa mundi crimina.

Fidem refundit perditis caecosque visu illuminat;
quem non gravi solvit metu latronis absolutio?

Opus stupent et angeli poenam videntes corporis
Christoque adhaerentem reum vitam beatam carpere.

Mysterium mirabile ut abluat mundi luem,
peccata tollat omnium carnis vitia mundans caro.

Quid hoc potest sublimius, ut culpa quaerat gratiam,
metumque solvit caritas, reddatque mors vitam novam?

Esto perenne mentibus paschale, Iesu, gaudium,
ut nos renatos gratiae tuis triumphis aggrega.

Iesu, tibi sit gloria quo morte victa praenites,
cum Patre et almo Spiritu in sempiterna saecula.

Amen.

Next Sunday is Quasimodo Sunday! From the words of the Latin introit:

Quasi modo geniti infantes, rationabile, sine dolo lac concupiscite ut in eo crescatis in salutem si gustastis quoniam dulcis Dominus.

As newborn babes, desire the rational milk without guile, that thereby you may grow unto salvation: If so be you have tasted that the Lord is sweet.

Beautiful. I wish you all a blessed Easter season!

The Requiem and Palm Sunday

Last night, we went to hear the Santa Barbara Symphony's concert of Gabriel Fauré's Requiem. I've listened to this Requiem more than a hundred times, but nothing, I mean nothing, beats hearing it performed in person, particularly hearing the Pie Jesu sung in person with so much emotion and intensity that anyone who has ever mourned for the dead would understand.

But now it is Palm Sunday; A blessed Holy Week to you!

Celsae salutis gaudia
mundus fidelis iubilet:
Iesus, redemptor omnium,
mortis peremit principem.

Palmae et olivae surculos
coetus viando deferens,
"Hosanna David Filio"
claris frequentat vocibus.

Nos ergo summo principi
curramus omnes obviam;
melos canentes gloriae,
palmas geramus gaudii.

Cursusque nostros lubricos
donis beatis sublevet,
grates ut omni tempore
ipso feramus debitas.

Deo Patri sit gloria
eiusque soli Filio
cum Spiritu Paraclito,
in sempiterna saecula.
Amen.

Grace and Peace to you all this week.

Where is your heart?

Matthew 6:19-21:

Nolite thesaurizare vobis thesauros in terra, ubi aerugo et tinea demolitur, et ubi fures effodiunt et furantur; thesaurizate autem vobis thesauros in caelo, ubi neque aerugo neque tinea demolitur, et ubi fures non effodiunt nec furantur; ubi enim est thesaurus tuus, ibi erit et cor tuum.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

Lately, I have been reflecting on just how distracted with earthly possessions I have become since I finished school and started a full-time career. When I was in school, I was content with seemingly little, but now, I have a lot more possessions than I used to. I buy things and use them only a few times; I buy books that may go years before finally being read; I invest and save money for various future investments and security. Some things are necessary, of course, but I pamper myself with conveniences. But even as I do these things, I should be more concerned with how I invest my time, my daily thoughts, and my service toward the Kingdom of God. That is where my heart should be. For the eternal reward that I hope for is not of this world.

Life: The Most Basic and Fundamental Right

Above all, the common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights -- for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture -- is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination.

- Pope John Paul II,
On the Vocation of the Lay Faithful (Christifideles Laici), 1988

Original Innocence

I went to confession last weekend and said my act of contrition in the lingua ecclesiae, Latin, only to have Father C., of his own volition, give me absolution also in Latin: Ego te absolvo ab omnibus peccatis tuis in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. That's the second time in my life I've received absolution in Latin - it's so cool! Yes, I took a risk at seeming extremely pretentious, but it seemed so natural to me - Latin has become so much a part of my spiritual life.

But let me reflect... How long it has been.... since I walked in to my first RCIA Inquiry class - 16 years old - the only boy among seven girls in our high school group. I was so intimidated. I really wanted to leave, and each week I had to make the decision to keep going. That was almost ten years ago. Back then, and even when I entered the Church almost seven years ago this Easter, I was very naive about the Church. That's not to say that I was wrong about what the Spirit was doing in my life then, or that I was wrong in believing what the Church taught, or that I was wrong about trusting that the Spirit led the Church. Rather, I was completely clueless as to how individuals within the broader Church actually lived out the Catholic Faith. I was naive about all the liturgical wars going on. I was naive about the fact that many Catholics disagreed with the Church on just about every conceivable thing, from the most trivial things to the most serious things. During this time I was fortunate to have many Catholic friends and teachers at the Catholic high school I went to for two years. I credit these friends with introducing me to the Church by living their lives as Catholics, by being willing to answer my questions, by inviting me to attend Mass with them, and by teaching me in ways that I could better understand. I discerned the Spirit working in their lives. But the Church, I would soon find out, was so much bigger than what they could have expressed to me with their words or actions.

Sometimes I wish I could go back to my state of mind when I entered the Church. My conversion was completely led by the Spirit. Nobody argued me into joining; I was never anybody's target for proselytization. I never felt obligated to any individual, save Christ Himself, to become Catholic. Rather, the Spirit led me quietly to behold a great mystery, and I, at times nervous, confused, yet curious, trusted Him all the way through.

I didn't know much about the liturgy back then. Mass was mass, and I found it utterly and completely beautiful because I knew enough to know what it was and what it meant. Sometimes we'd get a good priest, sometimes a not so good priest. Sometimes we'd have beautiful, uplifting music, and sometimes we'd have trite, tacky music. Sometimes the externals even discouraged us from focusing on the Most Glorious Act that was being made present on the altar, but the Act was there, nonetheless. It is Christ who accomplishes the Act. It is a mystical reflection of the very Church. The victory of Christ over and in spite of the sinful failings of individual human members. I struggle more now with seeing that reflection. I was pretty innocent. I am more mature now, by God's grace (deo gratias!). However, I succumb to the same vices as most other Catholics. But I long still for that innocence. I am reminded of the scene in Zeffirelli's Brother Sun, Sister Moon, where Pope Innocent III, played by Alec Guinness, tells a nervous but eager Francis of Assisi, In our obsession with original sin, we too often forget original innocence. He was right.

Tenebrae

This year, my parish here in Santa Barbara, St. Raphael's, is having a Tenebrae service on Good Friday. I'm excited because it'll be the first one I've ever been to! The form is slightly different depending on where you go, but I've heard so much about them. What are your experiences of the Tenebrae?

Also, I found this poem:

E Tenebris, by Oscar Wilde (1881)

Come down, O Christ, and help me! reach thy
     hand,
For I am drowning in a stormier sea
Than Simon on thy lake of Galilee:
The wine of life is spilt upon the sand,
My heart is as some famine-murdered land
Whence all good things have perished utterly,
And well I know my soul in Hell must lie
If I this night before God's throne should stand.
'He sleeps perchance, or rideth to the chase,
Like Baal, when his prophets howled that name
From morn to noon on Carmel's smitten height.'
Nay, peace, I shall behold, before the night,
The feet of brass, the robe more white than
     flame,
The wounded hands, the weary human face.

A deathbed conversion, also out of the darkness into the light.

Mary, Mother of Christians

I briefly read through some of Origen's commentaries on the scriptures several months ago, particularly On the Gospel of St. John, written in the early 3rd century and considered by many to be his chef d'oeuvre. Origen is a little shaky, especially to one as historically ignorant as myself, but I found some things that I didn't expect to find. In chapter 6 of the first book, Origen lays out what he considers to be essential in understanding this Gospel.

We may therefore make bold to say that the Gospels are the first fruits of all the Scriptures, but that of the Gospels that of John is the first fruits. No one can apprehend the meaning of it except he have lain on Jesus' breast and received from Jesus Mary to be his mother also. Such as one must he become who is to be another John, and to have shown to him, like John, by Jesus Himself, Jesus as He is. For if Mary, as those declare who with sound mind extol her, had no other son but Jesus, and yet Jesus says to His mother, "Woman, behold thy son," and not "Behold you have this son also," then He virtually said to her, "Lo, this is Jesus, whom thou didst bear." Is it not the case that every one who is perfect lives himself no longer, but Christ lives in him; and if Christ lives in him, then it is said of him to Mary, "Behold thy son, Christ."

- Origen of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John: Book I, Chapter 6 (c. 232 AD)

So, according to Origen, to fully understand the Gospel of John, we must receive Mary from Jesus to be our Mother as John did. Origen here is dealing primarily with John, but in his argument concerning John, we might also extract Origen's fundamental premise that Mary is the Mother of all those in whom Christ lives, id est, Mary is the Mother of all who live in Christ.

Aqueous

This weekend, I saw a sign for Aqueous Church, which apparently meets every Saturday night at the elementary school auditorium in the college town of Isla Vista. My curiosity having been peaked, I visited their webpage to discover that they are basically a young adult, "pop-culture" frontend to the Goleta Foursquare Church. They use the name aqueous as a reference to the waters of baptism and to the living water spoken of by Jesus. As is mostly the case, aqueous is their attempt to reform themselves into something that seems to be fresh and new, something modern and relevant. It seems these types of pop-churches abound now more than ever in our culture in the attempt to reach young adults who are lost on old-school religion.
Initially, I thought the name aqueous was a little too new-agey. I love the fact that the Roman Catholic Church has tradition, a profound sense of history and depth built on years of reflection, guidance, and perseverance through every type of human tragedy and world change. The Church has traditionally reached cultures by adapting elements while remaining true to its own history and teaching, sustaining doctrinal unity throughout the world. These pop-churches that spring up only appeal to one type of culture, one type of epoch in history; Hence, I am very suspicious of them.
Where else can you find a guy with a mohawk and black fingernails releasing a dove? On a more interesting note, one of the expectations listed on their webpage is:

To create an atmosphere so saturated with joy that people can barely fight the urge to "shake it like a Polaroid picture."

But we, Catholics, are joyful too! Our joy echoes through the centuries, for mohawks and all.

Gratias Tibi Ago, Domine

Spem in alium numquam habui praeter in te, Deus Israel, qui irasceris et propitius eris et omnia peccata hominum in tribulatione dimittis. Domine Deus, Creator caeli et terrae, respice humilitatem nostram.

I have never put my hope in any other but in you, God of Israel, who will be angry and yet become again gracious and who forgives all the sins of suffering man. Lord God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, look upon our lowliness.

Lent is coming along. I haven't had much trouble keeping my Lenten promise of reciting one of the penitential psalms for meditation each night, although my meditation on each psalm hasn't been too thorough. I suppose that is what I must continue to work on. My sins are ever before my God, and yet He washes away all of my iniquities. He makes His place in my secret heart; a pure and contrite heart He will not scorn. From the depths of my dark nights, I cry out to Him, and He graciously hears me. He rescues me from my enemies and delivers me into His stronghold. My spirit belongs to Him. There is a beauty to when Christ called out in a great voice from the Cross, "Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit." He gave up His spirit.

How about for you all?

I'm the Renaissance




You should know something about this, it's the Renaissance!
As for style, "...artists studied the natural world, perfecting their
understanding of such subjects as anatomy and perspective."
(artcyclopedia.com.) They loved science-y things and labored for
perfection and harmonious beauty, a goal with which you
sympathize. You're probably pretty smart, too. Anal-retentive much?
Famous Renaissancers (lots!): Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, Raphael, and You.

Which art movement are you?

this quiz was made by Caitlin

Renaissance Music in 15th Century Painting

I saw this on Notes To Myself..., and I just had to blog about it here as well. A very interesting article about an original musical score discovered in Filippino Lippi's 15th century painting Madonna and Child with Singing Angels.

Scholars had long thought that the angels were holding a scroll on which the notes were painted randomly, with no relation to any music. Yet, while scrutinizing the score, Timothy McGee, professor emeritus in music at the University of Toronto, Canada, discovered that the painted score indeed contains unknown music....

"Unfortunately what we have is only the first half of the piece. The remainder is rolled up in the scroll at the foot of the angels. I searched all known manuscripts from the period and could not find this piece anywhere - so this is the only copy," McGee said.

The composition has been given its first full modern performance at the Florentine art exhibition. There, visitors can admire the painting and listen to the music at the same time.

"It is undoubtedly the first time this music has been heard in 500 years. It is a moving experience and takes us back in time, when the same angelic music was played in front of the painting, in a sort of multimedia experience," art historian Jonathan Nelson, the author of a recent monography on Filippino, told Discovery News.

Be sure to listen to the music piece!

Between You and Me

I'm not an English scholar, but I do notice a few things every so often. When I was an elementary school, we, kids, often made the mistake of saying things like John and me are going outside only to be promptly corrected by the teacher who would say, John and I are going outside. But typically, that's all our teachers would say about the usage of me. The problem is that it seems teachers everywhere made such a point of correcting this that many English speakers no longer know when it is proper to say John and me or improper to say John and I.

For example, I hear many adults saying things like, I'm doing this for my family and I or Between you and I, I think we're scones! These usages are not correct because the pronoun "I" can only refer to the subject of a sentence (nominative case), not the object. The proper usage in these examples would be, I'm doing this for my family and me or Between you and me, I think we're scones!

I think it is best summed up here:

Between you and me is acceptable in standard English; between you and I isn't. This is because between is a preposition, and pronouns that come after prepositions are in the accusative case (here, me), not the nominative case (not I).

The same applies to a pair of pronouns that is the object of a verb: They've invited you and me to dinner is acceptable, They've invited you and I to dinner isn't.

The reason why expressions like between you and I have become so common is that people are aware that the accustive case is not correct for the subject of a verb ( You and I have been invited is acceptable; You and me have been invited is not), so they make the mistake of thinking it is not correct anywhere, and always use the nominative case.

If you are in any doubt, try leaving out the first pronoun of the pair. That will show you what case the second one should be: between I and they've invited I are clearly ungrammatical.

I wasn't aware of the difference myself for years.

Piggly Wiggly

Still goin' strong...

Brother Sun, Sister Moon

Interesting conversation at Amy's blog about Zeffirelli's Brother Sun, Sister Moon, which is now being released on DVD more than 20 years after it was made. I also liked this one, I admit. Yes, it's a groovy flick, but there are some powerful scenes in it. My favorite scene is St. Francis' encounter with Pope Innocent III where he is told: You, in your poverty, have put us to shame.

Can we stand up for religious liberty?

Today, our California Supreme Court has ruled in a 6-1 decision that Catholic Charities must betray its religious foundation by offering birth control coverage to employees. The courts have said that they alone have the right to determine what is religious and what isn't. It doesn't matter that Catholic Charities says it is religious, even if it ministers to all regardless of their religious affiliation. It isn't even offered the choice of how it enacts its own health benefits, nor can it stand on its own conscience, according to the courts.

The California Catholic Conference, which represents the church's policy position in the state, said it was disappointed with the ruling and feared that it could open the door to mandated insurance coverage of abortion. "It shows no respect to our religious organizations," said spokeswoman Carol Hogan.

Justice Janice Rogers Brown, the lone dissenter, had this to say:

Here we are dealing with an intentional, purposeful intrusion into a religious organization's expression of its religious tenets and sense of mission. The government is not accidentally or incidentally interfering with religious practice; it is doing so willfully by making a judgment about what is or is not a religion.

Journey to Houston

Annunciation Church

Our Lady of Walsingham

Here is my album of photos from my trip to Houston. As you can tell, I like to get many different angles of things; Some pictures turned out better than others. I'm still working on taking pictures that are meaningful and clear.

The trip was truly magnificent. The developer's conference went well, and my presentation went smoothly. In our business, we use email a lot to communicate with coworkers in sites across the nation and on the other side of the world. We rely on email. Often, it is the only means of communication. It's amazing to see the relationships you can establish with coworkers merely through email, and then when you finally meet them in person and put a face to a name, the relationships take on a new form, like meeting someone again for the first time.

Shortly after I arrived in Houston, the evening before the conference began, I met up with Bill Cork; he took the time to help me get aquainted with Houston and the surrounding area. Later, after the conference had ended, I met up with him again, and we made our way to Galveston where he offered to give me the grand tour of the Bishop's Palace and keep me company for Mardi Gras festivities! On the way to Galveston, Bill took me by the Queen of Angels Chapel and Bookstore of the Society of St. Pius X - the seedy underbelly of Catholic Houston. After hearing so much about the infamous SSPX, it was interesting to finally see an SSPX chapel, but I can't say that I'll ever be back! On Saturday, I made it down by myself to the Johnson Space Center and took some pictures, and I made my way back into the city and made a visit to the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. An excellent day!

High Altar at Annunciation

Our Lady of Walsingham

I was also able to attend a Tridentine mass at the beautiful Annunciation Church in downtown Houston. And, of course, I was also given the opportunity to experience the beautiful liturgy of the Anglican Use at Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church! I need to go again and explore the intricate detail of the liturgy a bit more. The emotions that ran through me during the liturgy were interesting - strangely familiar yet new. It was still the beauty and depth of any mass, but this particular liturgy brought me to a new place in my worship. The English chant, the language, the incense and song, the preaching, and the prayer appealed very much to my long lost Anglo spirit, reminding me of my cherished England that I have never yet had the opportunity to see with my own eyes. It almost felt like seeing an old family friend - for the first time in centuries.

Thanks to Bill Cork for taking the time to show me around, and thanks to all of you for your prayers of support!

The Lenten Season

During Lent this year, I plan to take a page from the lives of St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher and pray the seven penitential psalms. Of course, More would recite them all each day, but this Lent, prior to Night Prayer, I will recite one of them for each day and use it for meditation, in either Latin or English.

I'm back!

I'm back from Houston, TX. The conference was pretty good, my presentation went smoothly, and I got to do and see many things, including most of the items on my list below and some things that aren't on that list (like the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and even an SSPX chapel/bookstore?). Bill showed me all around and even taught me the proper way to eat boiled crawfish (crawdads as we say in Alabama). I'll blog in more detail about everything within the next few days, but suffice it to say, it was a very good trip -- and the Anglican Use liturgy at Our Lady of Walsingham was extraordinary; it exceeded my expectations.

It also looks like I took 128 pictures with my digital camera, so I'm going to sort through them and post some in the next few days :)

Ready for a trip...

Next week, I am embarking on yet another business trip, as I mentioned a couple of months ago. I am flying to Houston, TX to speak at the Texas Instruments Developer's Conference.

I'm really looking forward to the conference; A lot of cutting-edge tech. I'm also looking forward to speaking and meeting the various TI internal and third-party developers. Plus, while I am in Houston, I'm going to stick around a few days and check the place out. Among the things I'd like to see are:

- Visit my buddy, Bill
- Johnson Space Center
- Mardi Gras in Galveston
- High Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church
- Anglican Use liturgy at Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church
- Our Lady of Cedars Maronite Catholic Church

I'm a nut for liturgical history and a lover of ecclesiastical latin, but I have never been to a (Tridentine) high mass, only the low mass down in Ventura. And as it pertains to modern liturgical history, I have also been eagerly anticipating attending the approved Anglican Use liturgy for a couple years now. I have also never been to the Johnson Space Center (I wanted to be an astronaut in my former life), nor have I ever been to any Mardi Gras festivities. Bill informs me that the Galveston celebration is much more tame than New Orleans, which is another place that I'd love to visit someday.

Please pray that my trip goes well. I'll be back with plenty of pictures!

The Blessed Virgin and the Order of Preachers

The Vision of the Dominican Habit, Fra. Angelico

Article: Devotion to Mary Among the Dominicans in the Thirteenth Century, by Denis Wiseman, O.P.

I really enjoyed this article by Denis Wiseman, professor at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., about early devotion to the Blessed Virgin among the friars of the Order of Preachers, including the pious traditions and beliefs about Mary's gracious protection of the Order as well as the early development of the Order's distinctive Marian character. Also, a discussion on the legends about the origin of the Dominican Habit and its connection to the Blessed Virgin:

Jordan's "Libellus" recounts Mary's role in bringing Reginald, a master of theology and dean of the cathedral chapter at Orleans, to the Order. During a serious illness in 1218, Our Lady healed him and, then, according to Jordan's account: "showed him the whole habit of the Order." The "Legenda Petri Ferrandi," composed by the Spanish Dominican, Peter Ferrandus, between 1235 and 1239, records the event, with the words of Mary: "Then she showed him the habit of the Order of Preachers. 'Behold,' she said, 'this is the habit of your Order.'"

...Taken literally, Jordan [of Saxony] and [Peter] Ferrandus may mean only that Mary indicated the order which Reginald should enter by showing its habit. However, these texts have come to be understood as meaning that Mary gave Reginald a new habit or an additional element to the habit. ...The tradition that Mary either gave the entire habit or the scapular has been persistent in the Order. Stephen Salanhac, who died in 1291, describes Mary as the felix huius ordinis vestiaria, "the happy clothier of our Order."

And, of course, the connection between Mary and preaching:

... perhaps the most powerful image for Dominicans is the association of Mary with the preaching mission. In the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., the Priory of the Immaculate Conception, a figure of the pregnant Virgin stands above the lectern illustrating that she is the model for those who bring forth the Word.

The Still, Small Voice...

1 Kings 19:11-13:

Then He said [to Elijah], "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

the Voice of God...

not in the commotion of the wind; not in the quaking of the earth; not in the roaring of the fire.

... but in a whisper.

Medieval Latin Tales

If you want to have some fun, I stumbled upon these two edited medieval latin tales.

The Proud Emperor

[This] story is the fifty-ninth tale of the Gesta Romanorum, a 13th-century collection of tales. Drawn from various sources, these tales inspired many later writers including Shakespeare and Mark Twain. This particular tale of a fictitious emperor reappears as a Hindu fairy tale, as a French morality play, and as "Robert of Sicily" in Longfellow's Tales of a Wayside Inn.

The Clever Thief

This story is taken from a medieval collection by Johannes de Alta Silva, who may have been a monk in England around the year 1200. The origin of the story is thought to be India. It has been widely translated.