Declina Paulisper

Lo, On That Day

2011-12-13T23:22:00.000-05:00

An Advent hymn I wrote based on antiphons from the Roman Breviary. The tune may be familiar to you.

Lo, on that day the mounts shall drip Their sweetness all around.
Alleluia! Honey and milk Shall from the hills abound.

O daughter of Sion, be glad, Rejoice exceedingly!
The Lord shall come with all His saints To shed His light on thee.

All ye that thirst, to waters come And seek your coming Lord.
Lo, drawing nigh Jerusalem Renews He by His word.

The clouds shall part, the Lord shall come With power great and true.
Emmanuel: Lift high the gates That He may enter through.

Think not our Lord delaying be, Think not ye are deceived.
If He should tarry, wait for Him Whose advent soon shall be.
Download sheet music.

Nehemiah regi

2011-12-08T19:50:00.001-05:00

Nehemiah to the King
His cup did daily bear,
Serving ever pleasantly
Till one day, in despair,
Sighed he when he thought of home,
And longing there to go,
Asked the king for swift release,
Since he its fate did know.

"Give me sir," he begged his lord,
"Safe passage to my land,
Aid from all thy provinces,
To me and to my band.
If my words should please the King,
Do grant me one thing more:
Timber for the city walls,
The Temple, and its door."

Nehemiah pleased the King,
Who promptly gave him leave;
Then proceeded this great man
Jerusalem to grieve.
Walls were down on every side,
Its gates had been destroyed,
"Rise and build," he told his men,
Who soon were so employed.

Threats beset on every side
The builders in their toil;
Nehemiah set a guard
The heathens' plans to foil.
Fought and built each valiant man
Until the fight was won.
"Call to mind for good, O God,
All that which I have done."

Ezra then did read the Law,
Convicting all who heard.
Trembled each man for his sins
Before that awful Word.
Yet, said he, "Weep not nor mourn,
For sacred is this day.
Nay, rejoice! Stay not to grieve;
Instead, be on your way."

We, too, Lord, beseech Thee now
Thy servants to inspire,
Give us strength to do Thy will,
For great things we desire.
Grant that we may build today
A city vast and free,
One built out of living stones
Who live in joy for Thee.

Ye Different Sects

2011-08-15T16:01:00.002-04:00

A hymn I modified from a longer one penned by Charles Wesley:

Ye different sects who all declare,
"Lo, here is Christ!" or, "Christ is there."
Your stronger proofs divinely give,
And show me where true Christians live.

Your claims are but vulgarity
Unless you act with charity.
Thou only, Lord, Thine own canst show,
For sure Thou still hast saints below.

In them let all mankind behold,
How Christians lived in days of old;
Replete with virtues from above,
A proverb of reproach—and love.

O might my lot be cast with them,
The least of these most holy men!
O that my Lord would count me meet
To wash His dear disciples' feet!

The Once and Future King

2011-07-22T15:49:00.008-04:00

Excerpts from T.H. White, The Once and Future King (1958).
Liber Primus:
Chapter 5:

Sir Ector's home was called The Castle of the Forest Sauvage. It was more like a town or a village than any one man's home, and indeed it was the village during times of danger […].Whenever there was a raid or an invasion by some neighbouring tyrant, everybody on the estate hurried into the castle, driving the beasts before them into the courts, and there they remained until the danger was over. The wattle and daub cottages nearly always got burned, and had to be rebuilt afterwards with much profanity. For this reason it was not worth while to have a village church, as it would constantly be having to be replaced. The villagers went to church in the chapel of the castle. They wore their best clothes and trooped up the street with their most respectable gait on Sundays, looking with vague and dignified looks in all directions, as if reluctant to disclose their destination, and on week-days they came to Mass and vespers in their ordinary clothes, walking much more cheerfully. Everybody went to church in those days, and liked it.

Id., of Sir Ector’s dog boy:

Not having a nose like a human, and being, moreover, subjected to stone-throwing by the other village children, he had become more comfortable with animals. He talked to them, not in baby-talk like a maiden lady, but correctly in their own growls and barks. They all loved him very much, and revered him for taking thorns out of their toes, and came to him with their troubles at once. He always understood immediately what was wrong, and generally he could put it right. It was nice for the dogs to have their god with them, in visible form.

Chapter 7, an exchange between the young Arthur and Merlyn:

"Oh," he cried, "but I should have liked to be born with a proper father and mother, so that I could be a knight errant."
"What would you have done?"
"I should have had a splendid suit of armour and dozens of spears and a black horse standing eighteen hands, and I should have called myself The Black Knight. And I should have hoved at a well or a ford or something and made all true knights that came that way to joust with me for the honour of their ladies, and I should have spared them all after I had given them a great fall. And I should live out of doors all the year round in a pavilion, and never do anything but joust and go on quests and bear away the prize at tournaments, and I should not ever tell anybody my name."
"Your wife will scarcely enjoy the life."
"Oh, I am not going to have a wife. I think they are stupid.
"I shall have to have a lady-love, though," added the future knight uncomfortably, "so that I can wear her favour in my helm, and do deeds in her honour."

Chapter 16, of the dog Beaumont:

Then Robin's falchion let Beaumont out of this world, to run free with Orion and roll among the stars.

Chapter 20, the boy Arthur's reflection on knighthood:

If I were to be made a knight […] I should insist on doing my vigil by myself, as Hob does with his hawks, and I should pray to God to let me encounter all the evil in the world in my own person, so that if I conquered there would be none left, and, if I were defeated, I would be the one to suffer for it.

Chapter 21:

The best thing for being sad,” replied Merlyn, beginning to puff and blow, “is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.

Chapter 24, Merlyn on the occasion of the Coronation of King Arthur:

In future it will be your glorious doom to take up the burden and to enjoy the nobility of your proper title.

Liber Secundus:
Chapter 5, of St. Toirdealbhach:

He was a relapsed saint, who had fallen into the Pelagian heresy of Celestius, and he believed that the soul was capable of its own salvation. He was busy saving it with Mother Morlan and the usquebaugh.

Chapter 9:

They glared at each other with the fury of creators.

Chapter 12:

So we may well believe that the King's men were shriven on the night before they fought. Something of the young man's vision had penetrated to his captains and his soldiers. Something of the new ideal of the Round Table which was to be born in pain, something about doing a hateful and dangerous action for the sake of decency—for they knew that the fight was to be fought in blood and death without reward. They would get nothing but the unmarketable conscience of having done what they ought to do in spite of fear—something which wicked people have often debased by calling it glory with too much sentiment, but which is glory all the same. This idea was in the hearts of the young men who knelt before the God-distributing bishops—knowing that the odds were three to one, and that their own warm bodies might be cold at sunset.

Chapter 14, upon hearing of King Pellinore's engagement:

[King Arthur] decided to give the dear fellow a marriage of unexampled splendour. The cathedral of Carlion was booked for it, and no trouble was spared that a good time should be had by all. The pontifical nuptial high mass was celebrated by such a galaxy of cardinals and bishops and nuncios that there seemed to be no part of the immense church which was not teeming with violet and scarlet and incense and little boys ringing silver bells. Sometimes a boy would rush at a bishop and ring a bell at him. Sometimes a nuncio would pounce on a cardinal and cense him all over. It was like a battle of flowers. Thousands of candles blazed before the gorgeous altars. In every direction the blunt, accustomed, holy fingers were spreading little tablecloths, or holding up books, or blessing each other thoroughly, or soaking each other with Holy Water, or reverently displaying God to the people. The music was heavenly, both Gregorian and Ambrosian, and the church was packed. There were monks and friars and abbots of every description, standing about in sandals among the knights,whose armour flashed by candlelight. There was even a Franciscan bishop, wearing grey,with a red hat. The copes and mitres were almost all of solid gold cloth crusted with diamonds, and there was such a putting of them on and taking of them off that the whole cathedral rustled. As for the Latin, it was talked at such a speed that the rafters rang with genitive plurals—and there was such a prelatical issuing of admonitions, exhortations and benedictions that it was a wonder the whole congregation did not go to heaven on the spot. Even the Pope, who was as keen as anybody that the thing should go with a swing, had kindly sent a number of indulgences for everybody he could think of.

Liber Tertius:
Chapter 2:

[Lancelot] wanted to be the best knight in the world, so that Arthur would love him in return, and he wanted one other thing which was still possible in those days. He wanted, through his purity and excellence, to be able to perform some ordinary miracle—to heal a blind man or something like that, for instance.

Chapter 3:

In those days you generally named your children in the same way as we name foxhounds and foals today. If you happened to be Queen Morgause and had four children, you put a G in all their names (Gawaine, Agravaine, Gaheris, and Gareth)— and, naturally if your brothers happened to be called Ban and Bors, you were doomed to be called Gwenbors yourself. It made it easier to remember who you were.

Chapter 6:

What sort of picture do people have of Sir Lancelot from this end of time? Perhaps they only think of him as an ugly young man who was good at games. But he was more than this. He was a knight with a medieval respect for honour. There is a phrase which you sometimes come across in country districts even nowadays, which sums up a good deal of what he might have tried to say. Farmers use it in Ireland, as praise or compliment, saying, "So-and-so has a Word. He will do what he promised."
Lancelot tried to have a Word. He considered it, as the ignorant country people still consider it, to be the most valuable of possessions.

Chapter 10:

If it is difficult to explain about Guenever's love for two men at the same time, it is almost impossible to explain about Lancelot. At least it would be impossible nowadays, when everybody is so free from superstitions and prejudice that it is only necessary for all of us to do as we please. Why did not Lancelot make love to Guenever, or run away with his hero's wife altogether, as any enlightened man would do today?
One reason for his dilemma was that he was a Christian. The modern world is apt to forget that several people were Christians in the remote past, and in Lancelot's time there were no Protestants—except John Scotus Erigena. His Church, in which he had been brought up—and it is difficult to escape from your upbringing—directly forbade him to seduce his best friend's wife. Another stumbling block to doing as he pleased was the very idea of chivalry or of civilization which Arthur had first invented and then introduced into his own young mind. Perhaps a bad baron who believed in the Strong Arm might have gone off with Guenever, even in the face of his Church's councils, because taking your neighbour's wife was really a form of Fort Mayne. It was a matter of the stronger bull winning. But Lancelot had spent his childhood between knightly exercises and thinking out King Arthur's theory for himself. He believed as firmly as Arthur did, as firmly as the benighted Christian, that there was such a thing as Right. Finally, there was the impediment of his nature. In the secret parts of his peculiar brain, those unhappy and inextricable tangles which he felt at the roots, the boy was disabled by something which we cannot explain. He could not have explained either, and for us it is all too long ago. He loved Arthur and he loved Guenever and he hated himself. The best knight of the world: everybody envied the self-esteem which must surely be his. But Lancelot never believed he was good or nice. Under the grotesque, magnificent shell with a face like Quasimodo's, there was shame and self-loathing which had been planted there when he was tiny, by something which it is now too late to trace. It is so fatally easy to make young children believe that they are horrible.

Chapter 13:

Elaine was only eighteen, and it is fairly easy to explain the feelings of a child—but Guenever was twenty-two. She had grown to have some of the nature of an individual, stamped on the simple feelings of the child-queen who had once received her present of captives. There is a thing called knowledge of the world, which people do not have until they are middle-aged. It is something which cannot be taught to younger people, because it is not logical and does not obey laws which are constant. It has no rules. Only, in the long years which bring women to the middle of life, a sense of balance develops. You can't teach a baby to walk by explaining the matter to her logically—she has to learn the strange poise of walking by experience. In some way like that, you cannot teach a young woman to have knowledge of the world. She has to be left to the experience of the years. And then, when she is beginning to hate her used body, she suddenly finds that she can do it. She can go on living—not by principle, not by deduction, not by knowledge of good and evil, but simply by a peculiar and shifting sense of balance which defies each of these things often. She no longer hopes to live by seeking the truth—if women ever do hope this—but continues henceforth under the guidance of a seventh sense. Balance was the sixth sense, which she won when she first learned to walk, and now she has the seventh one—knowledge of the world.
The slow discovery of the seventh sense, by which both men and women contrive to ride the waves of a world in which there is war, adultery, compromise, fear, stultification and hypocrisy—this discovery is not a matter for triumph. The baby, perhaps, cries out triumphantly: I have balance! But the seventh sense is recognized without a cry. We only carry on with our famous knowledge of the world, riding the queer waves in a habitual, petrifying way, because we have reached a stage of deadlock in which we can think of nothing else to do.
And at this stage we begin to forget that there ever was a time when we lacked the seventh sense. We begin to forget, as we go stolidly balancing along, that there could have been a time when we were young bodies flaming with the impetus of life. It is hardly consoling to remember such a feeling, and so it deadens in our minds.
But there was a time when each of us stood naked before the world, confronting life as a serious problem with which we were intimately and passionately concerned. There was a time when it was of vital interest to us to find out whether there was a God or not. Obviously the existence or otherwise of a future life must be of the very first importance to somebody who is going to live her present one, because her manner of living it must hinge on the problem. There was a time when Free Love versus Catholic Morality was a question of as much importance to our hot bodies as if a pistol had been clapped to our heads.
Further back, there were times when we wondered with all our souls what the world was,what love was, what we were ourselves.
All these problems and feelings fade away when we get the seventh sense. Middle-aged people can balance between believing in God and breaking all the commandments, without difficulty. The seventh sense, indeed, slowly kills all the other ones, so that at last there is no trouble about the commandments. We cannot see any more, or feel, or hear about them. The bodies which we loved, the truths which we sought, the Gods whom we questioned: we are deaf and blind to them now, safely and automatically balancing along toward the inevitable grave, under the protection of our last sense. "Thank God for the aged," sings the poet:
Thank God for the aged
And for age itself, and illness and the grave.
When we are old and ill, and particularly in the coffin,
It is no trouble to behave.
Guenever was twenty-two as she sat at her petit point and thought of Lancelot. She was not half-way to her coffin, not ill even, and she only had six senses. It is difficult to imagine her.
A chaos of the mind and body—a time for weeping at sunsets and at the glamour of moonlight—a confusion and profusion of beliefs and hopes, in God, in Truth, in Love, and in Eternity—an ability to be transported by the beauty of physical objects—a heart to ache or swell—a joy so joyful and a sorrow so sorrowful that oceans could lie between them: then, as a counterpoise to these attractive features, outcrops of selfishness indecently exposed—restlessness or inability to settle down and stop bothering the middle-aged—pert argument on abstract subjects like Beauty, as if they were of any interest to the middle-aged—lack of experience as to when truth should be suppressed in deference to the middle-aged—general effervescence and nuisance and unfittingness to the set patterns of the seventh sense—these must have been some of Guenever's characteristics at twenty-two, because they are everybody's.

Chapter 16:

Lancelot, while Elaine was planning his capture, remained with the Queen at court. But he now remained without the temporary peace of heart which he had been able to invent for himself while the King was away. In the King's absence he had been able to drown himself in the passing minute—but Arthur was perpetually at his elbow now, as a comment on his treachery. He had not buried his love for Arthur in his passion for Guenever, but still felt for him. To a medieval nature like Lancelot's, with its fatal weakness for loving the highest when he saw it, this was a position of pain. He could not bear to be made to feel that his sentiment for Guenever was an ignoble sentiment, for it was the profound feeling of his life—yet every circumstance now conspired to make it seem ignoble. The hasty moments together, the locked doors and base contrivances, the guilty manoeuvres which the husband's presence forced on the lovers—these had the effect of soiling what had no excuse unless it was beautiful. On top of this stain there was the torture of knowing that Arthur was kind, simple and upright—of knowing that he was always on the edge of hurting Arthur dreadfully, although he loved him. Then there was pain about Guenever herself, the tiny plant of bitterness which they had sown, or seen sown, in each other's eyes, on the occasion of their first quarrel of suspicion. It was a pain to him to be in love with a jealous and suspicious woman. She had given him a mortal blow by not believing his explanation about Elaine instantly. Yet he was unable not to love her. Finally there were the revolted elements of his own character—his strange desire for purity and honour and spiritual excellence. All these things, working together with the unconscious dread of Elaine's arrival with his son, broke his happiness without allowing him to escape.

Chapter 19:

It was a fine winter morning with the fields frosted, no wind, and a light fog which was not enough to confuse the pigeons.

Chapter 25:

[A] new generation had come to court. In their own hearts the chief characters of the Round Table felt the ardent feelings which they had always felt—but now they were figures instead of people. They were surrounded by younger clients for whom Arthur was not the crusader of a future day, but the accepted conqueror of a past one—for whom Lancelot was the hero of a hundred victories, and Guenever the romantic mistress of a nation. To these young people, a sight of Arthur as he hunted in the greenwood was like seeing the idea of Royalty. They saw no man at all, but England. When Lancelot rode by, laughing at some private joke with the Queen, the commonalty were amazed that he could laugh. "Look," they would say to each other, "he is laughing, as if he were a vulgar person like ourselves. How condescending, how splendidly democratic of Sir Lancelot, to laugh, as if he were an ordinary man! Perhaps he eats and drinks as well, or even sleeps at night." But in their hearts the new generation was quite sure that the great Dulac did no such things.

Id.:

In the abbeys all the monks were illuminating the initial letters of the manuscripts with such a riot of invention that it was impossible to read the first page at all.

Chapter 37:

This knight's trouble from his childhood—which he never completely grew out of—was that for him God was a real person. He was not an abstraction who punished you if you were wicked or rewarded you if you were good, but a real person like Guenever, or like Arthur, or like anybody else. Of course he felt that God was better than Guenever or Arthur, but the point was that he was personal. Lancelot had a definite idea of what he looked like, and how he felt—and he was somehow in love with this Person.
The Ill-Made Knight was not involved in an Eternal Triangle. It was an Eternal Quadrangle,which was eternal as well as quadrangular. He had not given up his mistress because he was afraid of being punished by some sort of Holy Bogy, but he had been confronted by two people whom he loved. The one was Arthur's Queen, the other a wordless presence who had celebrated Mass at Castle Carbonek. Unfortunately, as so often happens in love affairs, the two objects of his affection were contradictory. It was almost as if he had been confronted with a choice between Jane and Janet—and as if he had gone to Janet, not because he was afraid that she would punish him if he stayed with Jane, but because he felt, with warmth and pity, that he loved her best. He may even have felt that God needed him more than Guenever did. This was the problem, an emotional rather than a moral one, which had taken him into retreat at his abbey, where he had hoped to feel things out.
Still, it would not be quite true to say that he had not come back from some motives of magnanimity. He was a magnanimous man. He was a maestro. Even if God's need for him was the greater in normal times, now it was obvious that his first love's need was pressing. Perhaps a man who had left Jane for Janet might have had enough warmth inside him to return for Jane, when she was in desperate need, and this warmth might be compared to pity or to magnanimity or to generosity—if it were not unfashionable and even a little disgusting to believe in these emotions nowadays. Lancelot, in any case, who was wrestling with his love for Guenever as well as with his love for God, came back to her side as soon as he knew that she was in trouble, and, when he saw her radiant face waiting for him under shameful durance, his heart did turn over inside its habergeon with some piercing emotion—call it love or pity, whatever you please.

De catechizandis rudibus pro rudibus

2011-03-08T16:08:00.005-05:00

In my preparations to give a talk to parish catechists I happened upon St. Augustine's De catechizandis rudibus ('Catechizing of the Uninstructed'), which is a real gem. Very little changes in 1600 years. The link is to chapter 10, "Of the Attainment of Cheerfulness in the Duty of Catechising", always a necessary lesson. As public domain translations are often bursting with ponderous Victorian prose (and Augustine is wordy enough to begin with!) I heavily edited and paraphrased an excerpt to share with these teachers. Perhaps in the future some stalwart souls will put out a series of the Fathers in modern, accessible English. (De catechizandis rudibus pro rudibus?) In any case, I hope you will find edifying the following:

It is my duty to speak of the acquisition of the cheerfulness, because I have heard you complain that your classes seemed to yourself to be poor and spiritless.

Now this, I know, results not so much from a lack of things to teach about, as rather from weariness of mind. And that may spring from the fact that we once heard these same teachings explained more beautifully than we could ever hope to do, and feel that in coming up with our own words we teach the subject inadequately. Or perhaps we are wearied by the fact that we already understand these things, and become tired of discussing matters which seem to us childish.

A sense of weariness is also induced upon the speaker when he has a hearer who remains unmoved, either in that he is not stirred by any feeling, or in that he does not indicate by any motion of the body that he understands or that he is pleased with what is said.

Not that it is a becoming disposition in us to be greedy of the praises of men, but that the things which we minister are of God; and the more we love those whom we teach, the more desirous are we that they should be pleased with the things which we hold forth for their salvation: so that if we do not succeed in this, we are pained, and we are weakened, and become broken-spirited in the midst of our course, as if we were wasting our efforts to no purpose.

Sometimes, too, when we are drawn off on a tangent, and can't talk about something we particularly enjoy or find particularly important. Or sometimes, either because of the command of a person whom we are unwilling to offend, or because of the importunity of some parties that we find it impossible to get rid of, we find it impossible to instruct anyone catechetically! In such circumstances we approach a duty for which great calmness is indispensable with minds already perturbed, and grieve that we are not permitted to teach as we would like, and that we cannot possibly be competent for all this. And thus feeling weighed down our discourse ceases to be attractive, because, starting from the arid soil of dejection, it goes on less flowingly.

Sometimes, too, sadness has taken possession of our heart in consequence of some offense. And inevitably at that moment someone says, “Come, speak with this person; he desires to become a Christian.” For they who thus address us do it in ignorance of the hidden trouble which is consuming us within. So it happens that we undertake this task with no sense of pleasure; and then, certainly, the discourse will be languid and unenjoyable which is transmitted through the agitated and fuming channel of a heart in that condition.

Consequently, seeing there are so many causes serving to cloud the calm serenity of our minds, in accordance with God’s will we must seek remedies for them, such as may bring us relief from these feelings of heaviness, and help us to rejoice in fervor of spirit, and to be happy in the tranquility of a good work. “For God loveth a cheerful giver.”

Verbum Domini

2010-12-31T13:15:00.004-05:00

A while ago I had the pleasure of reading Pope Benedict XVI's Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church, entitled "Verbum Domini". There are innumerable treasures hidden in this large field, but I here present some few of them which are more easily reducible to sound bites:

"The word of God makes us change our concept of realism: the realist is the one who recognizes in the word of God the foundation of all things."
- Pope Benedict XVI, Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church "Verbum Domini", 10.

‎"As the word of God became ﬂesh by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, so sacred Scripture is born from the womb of the Church by the power of the same Spirit."
- Pope Benedict XVI, "Verbum Domini", 19.

"Whenever our awareness of its inspiration grows weak, we risk reading Scripture as an object of historical curiosity and not as the work of the Holy Spirit in which we can hear the Lord himself speak and recognize his presence in history."
- Pope Benedict XVI, "Verbum Domini", 19.

"[S]ince Scripture must be interpreted in the same Spirit in which it was written, [...] the text must be interpreted with attention to the unity of the whole of Scripture."
- Pope Benedict XVI, "Verbum Domini", 34.

“Where exegesis is not theology, Scripture cannot be the soul of theology, and conversely, where theology is not essentially the interpretation of the Church’s Scripture, such a theology no longer has a foundation.”
- Pope Benedict XVI, "Verbum Domini", 35.

"[T]he word of God is living and addressed to each of us in the here and now of our lives."
- Pope Benedict XVI, "Verbum Domini", 37.

"As well as learning the original languages in which the Bible was written and suitable methods of interpretation, students need to have a deep spiritual life, in order to appreciate that the Scripture can only be understood if it is lived."
- Pope Benedict XVI, "Verbum Domini", 47.

“What is the distinctive mark of faith? Full and unhesitating certainty that the words inspired by God are true ... What is the distinctive mark of the faithful? Conforming their lives with the same complete certainty to the meaning of the words of Scripture, not daring to remove or add a single thing."
- Saint Basil the Great, Moralia, quoted in Pope Benedict XVI, "Verbum Domini", 48.

"Every saint is like a ray of light streaming forth from the word of God."
- Pope Benedict XVI, "Verbum Domini", 48.

"Christ’s body and blood are really the word of Scripture, God’s teaching. When we approach the [Eucharistic] Mystery, if a crumb falls to the ground we are troubled. Yet when we are listening to the word of God, and God’s Word and Christ’s flesh and blood are being poured into our ears yet we pay no heed, what great peril should we not feel?"
- St. Jerome, In Psalmum 147, quoted in Pope Benedict XVI, "Verbum Domini", 56.

"Generic and abstract homilies which obscure the directness of God’s word should be avoided, as well as useless digressions which risk drawing greater attention to the preacher than to the heart of the Gospel message. The faithful should be able to perceive clearly that the preacher has a compelling desire to present Christ, who must stand at the centre of every homily."
- Pope Benedict XVI, "Verbum Domini", 59.

In the Liturgy, "Preference should be given to songs which are of clear biblical inspiration and which express, through the harmony of music and words, the beauty of God’s word. We would do well to make the most of those songs handed down to us by the Church’s tradition which respect this criterion. I think in particular of the importance of Gregorian chant."
- Pope Benedict XVI, "Verbum Domini", 70.

‎"The Bishop, together with his priests and indeed like every member of the faithful, and like the Church herself, must be a hearer of the word. He should dwell ‘within’ the word and allow himself to be protected and nourished by it, as if by a mother’s womb”.
- Pope John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Pastores Gregis", quoted in Pope Benedict XVI, "Verbum Domini", 79.

“May the Lord himself, as in the time of the prophet Amos, raise up in our midst a new hunger and thirst for the word of God.”
- Pope Benedict XVI, "Verbum Domini", 91.

Reformed Praise

2010-10-26T11:54:00.006-04:00

Last month I was preparing to lead a group discussion on the Confessions of St. Augustine for a meeting of St. Titus Fellowship, which always starts with the singing of a hymn. I found myself wondering whether any of Augustine's reflections had ever been set to music (I could not recall ever having heard such a thing) , and so I set out for a bit of Googling to see what I could find. To my delight I found that such a hymn did indeed exist, but to my surprise it came not from the great heyday of English hymnody, from the late 18th century or thereabouts, but rather had been penned within the last ten years, and by a Baptist at that! Anyone familiar with the Confessions will recognize in "My Heart Has Found Its Rest in Christ" strong echoes of the saint's original words:

Before my restless heart was found,
To worldly treasures it was bound.
The will that seemed so free within
Availed me nothing but to sin.

The Word of God did set me free,
When I took up his book to read:
“Now arm yourself with Jesus Christ;
Be free from nature’s appetite.”

My heart has found its rest in Christ,
My God, My Life, My One Delight!

Obedience to his command
Came by the power of his hand.
What was the grace that he employed?
Compelling and triumphant joy!

How sweet it was at once for me
To from my fruitless joys be free.
The pleasures I once hoped would stay,
The Sovereign Joy did drive away!

My heart has found its rest in Christ,
My God, My Life, My One Delight!

All that he gives me by his grace
Will cause me more to seek his face.
No gift he gives will my love take,
Except to love it for his sake.

Until he calls me to my home,
Or comes again to claim his own,
With zealous tongue I will proclaim
That joy is found in Jesus’ name!

My heart has found its rest in Christ,
My God, My Life, My One Delight!

I was thoroughly impressed with what I saw, and knew at once that I would use this hymn to begin the evening's discussion. And indeed, the group immediately hailed it as a "new favorite." Later I returned to the website, reformedpraise.org, to see what other treasures might lie in wait, and I was not disappointed.

In their own words, "Reformed Praise is a music ministry dedicated to providing songs for corporate worship which are rich in theology, diverse in musical style, and centered on the gospel of grace, that our praise might be informed by Biblical truth." I, for one, enjoy hymns with actual content where we sing about Someone other than ourselves, and found their work refreshing. If you're interested, I'd direct you to either their apologia for Reviving the Hymns or to the page for their new CD, Merciful to Me. I'm not a regular listener to the "Contemporary Christian" genre, but these tracks were a lot better – a lot deeper – than what I've heard on Christian radio.

I've been in touch with Eric Schumacher, the Pastor of Northbrook Baptist Church in Cedar Rapids, IA and author of "My Heart Has Found Its Rest in Christ," and I have nothing but great things to say about these people and their project. They're unapologetically Protestant (as we Catholics prepare for All Saints' Day they'll be celebrating Reformation Sunday), but Christians of any stripe who use hymns in their liturgies or worship stand to benefit from paying a visit to their site.

www.reformedpraise.org

Summary of Pope Benedict's visit to the United Kingdom

2010-09-27T09:41:00.003-04:00

Last week I read through all of the talks Pope Benedict delivered during his recent visit to the United Kingdom, and (as always) was struck by the profundity of much of what he had to say. The list that follows moves backwards chronologically.

Address to the Bishops:

The other matter I touched upon in February with the Bishops of England and Wales, when I asked you to be generous in implementing the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus. This should be seen as a prophetic gesture that can contribute positively to the developing relations between Anglicans and Catholics. It helps us to set our sights on the ultimate goal of all ecumenical activity: the restoration of full ecclesial communion in the context of which the mutual exchange of gifts from our respective spiritual patrimonies serves as an enrichment to us all. Let us continue to pray and work unceasingly in order to hasten the joyful day when that goal can be accomplished.

Beatification homily:

And indeed, what better goal could teachers of religion set themselves than Blessed John Henry’s famous appeal for an intelligent, well-instructed laity: "I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious, but men who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold and what they do not, who know their creed so well that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history that they can defend it" (The Present Position of Catholics in England, ix, 390). On this day when the author of those words is raised to the altars, I pray that, through his intercession and example, all who are engaged in the task of teaching and catechesis will be inspired to greater effort by the vision he so clearly sets before us.

Vigil of the Beatification:

In our own time, the price to be paid for fidelity to the Gospel is no longer being hanged, drawn and quartered but it often involves being dismissed out of hand, ridiculed or parodied.

Homily in Westminster Cathedral:

In the life of the Church, in her trials and tribulations, Christ continues, in the stark phrase of Pascal, to be in agony until the end of the world (Pensées, 553, éd. Brunschvicg).

And may this increase of apostolic zeal be accompanied by an outpouring of prayer for vocations to the ordained priesthood. For the more the lay apostolate grows, the more urgently the need for priests is felt; and the more the laity’s own sense of vocation is deepened, the more what is proper to the priest stands out.

I pray that ... you may join the ranks of faithful believers throughout the long Christian history of this land in building a society truly worthy of man, worthy of your nation’s highest traditions.

Address to school children:

I hope that among those of you listening to me today there are some of the future saints of the twenty-first century. What God wants most of all for each one of you is that you should become holy. He loves you much more than you could ever begin to imagine, and he wants the very best for you. And by far the best thing for you is to grow in holiness. ... When I invite you to become saints, I am asking you not to be content with second best.

Homily at the Mass for St. Ninian, addressing young people:

There is only one thing which lasts: the love of Jesus Christ personally for each one of you. Search for him, know him and love him, and he will set you free from slavery to the glittering but superficial existence frequently proposed by today’s society. Put aside what is worthless and learn of your own dignity as children of God. ... This is the challenge the Lord gives to you today: the Church now belongs to you!

From the in-flight press conference en route to the UK:

Q. – Your Holiness, the figure of Cardinal Newman is obviously very significant ... What are the aspects of his personality which you would like to give stronger emphasis to?

A. - ... I would say these three elements: the modernity of his existence, with all the doubts and problems of our existence today, his great culture, knowledge of the great cultural treasures of mankind, his constant quest for the truth, continuous renewal and spirituality: spiritual life, life with God, give this man an exceptional greatness for our time. Therefore, it is a figure of Doctor of the Church for us, for all and also a bridge between Anglicans and Catholics.

Q. - ... Can anything be done to make the Church as an institution, more credible and attractive to everyone?

A. - I would say that a Church that seeks to be particularly attractive is already on the wrong path, because the Church does not work for her own ends, she does not work to increase numbers and thus power. The Church is at the service of another: she serves, not for herself, not to be a strong body, rather she serves to make the proclamation of Jesus Christ accessible, the great truths and great forces of love, reconciling love that appeared in this figure and that always comes from the presence of Jesus Christ. In this regard, the Church does not seek to be attractive in and of herself, but must be transparent for Jesus Christ ....

This last bit is my favorite line of the whole collection. Trying to be "attractive" or "relevant" is not our business. Would that the Church in America would heed this message.

Finally (listed here out-of-sequence), worth reading to in its entirety is Benedict's Address to Parliament in Westminster Hall. It does not lend itself well to sound bytes, but is tremendous. Some snippets:

... [W]hat are the requirements that governments may reasonably impose upon citizens, and how far do they extend? By appeal to what authority can moral dilemmas be resolved? These questions take us directly to the ethical foundations of civil discourse. If the moral principles underpinning the democratic process are themselves determined by nothing more solid than social consensus, then the fragility of the process becomes all too evident - herein lies the real challenge for democracy.

...

[T]he world of secular rationality and the world of religious belief – need one another ....
...

I also note that the present Government has committed the United Kingdom to devoting 0.7% of national income to development aid by 2013. ... Where human lives are concerned, time is always short: yet the world has witnessed the vast resources that governments can draw upon to rescue financial institutions deemed "too big to fail". Surely the integral human development of the world’s peoples is no less important: here is an enterprise, worthy of the world’s attention, that is truly "too big to fail".

All the Pope's speeches and homilies can be found in both text and video formats on the wonderful official site of the visit.

Gather Us In (Latin Translation)

2010-08-26T16:02:00.003-04:00

This was the fruit of my resolution to keep up with the study of Latin this month, and also of my deep love of juxtapositions. The recording is rough, I know – think of it as a 'proof of concept.' Latinists: feel free to use the comments to offer your suggestions for improvements to the translation! (Original lyrics taken from this PDF.)

Hoc in loco lux lucens nova
Tenebrae nunc evanescuntur
Vide nostrorum metus somniaque
Lati tibi hoc aprico die.

Congrega nos, perditi et relicti
Congrega nos, caeci claudique
Voca nos et exsuscitabimur
Nomen sonatus tunc oriemur.

Juvenes quorum vitae occultae
Et senes qui quaeritamus te
Cantabamur per cunctam historiam
Et luci mundi vocati sumus.

Congrega nos, divites superbi
Congrega nos, qui contumaces
Da nobis cor humile miteque
Ut carmen audacter ingrediamur.

Hic vinum accepimus et aquam
Hic accepimus panem vitae
Vocabis filios filiasque
Vocati denuo sal terrae esse.

Dona vinum miserationis
Dona nobis panem quod es tu
Nutri bene et doce nos facere
Vitas sanctas atque corda vera.

Neque domi nec aliquo caelo
Spatium lucis longe annuae
Hoc in loco, lux radiens nova
Hodie regnum, nunc jam dies.

Congrega nos, et tene in saeculum
Congrega nos, et tui nos fac
Congrega nos, omne nationem
Ignis amoris in visceribus.

Twenty and Four Years Have I Served Him

2010-08-17T11:00:00.002-04:00

I was baptized twenty-four years ago today. God be praised for bringing me this far.

I have been traveling for most of the summer, first to Colombia for a Spanish Immersion program and then out West on a road trip with friends. As always, a picture is worth a thousand words, so please allow these photo albums to suffice for a description of what I've been doing.

Our Lady of Peace, Geneva NY

2010-04-23T13:56:00.009-04:00

Next year I will spend my Pastoral Year in Geneva at Our Lady of Peace parish, which consists of St. Francis deSales Church and St. Stephen Church. Praise God for this great placement! The parish has perpetual adoration, the people I've met from there are all wonderful, and the physical campus is absolutely gorgeous. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll direct you to the Flickr page for a visual feast. Here are some highlights:

Did I mention Perpetual Adoration?

The exterior of St. Stephen's. The parish was built in 1912, the rectory in 1924. This picture is currently my desktop background.

The high altar in St. Stephen. Trivia: the artist who made the wood carvings is the same one whose work can be seen in Blessed Sacrament in Rochester.

Just one of many examples of the beautiful stained glass windows.

This is the front door of the rectory. No, really! Can anyone identify the third figure in the top piece?

The dining room. The inscription reads:
"Manducate ex oblatis, quae dat vobis Deus gratis,
et si vobis non sint satis, mementote paupertatis",
which I translate:
"Eat from what has been offered, which God gives to you freely,
and if it should not be enough for you, be mindful of poverty."
Or perhaps, to preserve some of the original poetry,
"Eat you now what things are given, Which come to you from God for free;
Should you think them insufficient, Think you, then, on poverty."

A display case in the rectory. Notice in the upper right a picture of Fulton Sheen's visit to the parish. In the center, the breviary has been left open to the Feast of St. Stephen. Ah, detail: it's the little things that count!

Please pray for me and for the people of the parish. My assignment there begins September 1.

Pearls of Wisdom: Insipidity

2010-04-02T13:42:00.003-04:00

"Not Herod, not Caiaphas, not Pilate, not Judas ever contrived to fasten upon Jesus Christ the reproach of insipidity; that final indignity was left for pious hands to inflict. To make of His story something that could neither startle, nor shock, nor terrify, nor excite, nor inspire a living soul is to crucify the Son of God afresh and put Him to an open shame." — Dorothy L. Sayers, The Man Born to be King

Homily for the Annunciation

2010-03-23T09:22:00.002-04:00

Below is the text of a homily I authored for the preaching class in which I am currently enrolled. Enjoy!

“Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.”

Who having heard, was troubled at his saying.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

These words of the Gospel are so very familiar to us because of their use in the “Hail Mary.” “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with thee.” We say these words so many times, it becomes easy to pass over them without thinking. And because of its presence in the Joyful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary, the entire feast of the Annunciation can sometimes seem so familiar to us that we miss the significance of it. I will be the first to admit my guilt in so often failing to marvel at what happened in that crucial moment in history. So let us consider more carefully the words of the Gospel.

The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.

Who was Mary? When we speak of Mary we often think of the Mother of God, the Mother of the Church, a heavenly intercessor, the first of the saints, the Queen of the Universe. That's who Mary is now; who was Mary then? She was none of that, yet. She was no queen, she was mother to no one; she was just a girl. A simple Jewish girl living in a small town. The fourth-century Protoevangelium of James tells us that she was sixteen years old when the Annunciation occurred. Sixteen. Imagine this teenager who, according to this tradition, was on her way to fill a pitcher with water from the well when suddenly hears a voice saying “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with thee.”

She was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

Why would Mary find this troubling? So far the angel has only told her two things: one, that she if full of grace, and two, that the Lord is with her. Hardly troubling statements! But Mary had good reason to be troubled. Why? Because she knew the Scriptures. Yes, Mary even from a young age knew the Old Testament thoroughly – in fact, the Magnificat, her famous canticle of praise, is what one might call a jazz improvisation on the canticle of Hanna found in the First Book of Samuel.

Mary was greatly troubled by the announcement that the Lord was with her because she knew that these words, “The Lord is with thee,” meant that God was about to do something tremendous!

In the time of the Judges, “The angel of the Lord appeared to [Gideon], and said: The Lord is with thee, O most valiant of men,” and after those words were spoken God used Gideon — the youngest of his family and a member of the smallest tribe in all Israel — God used Gideon to free Israel from the oppression of their enemy the Midianites.

At one point King David announces that he is about to build a great Temple to the Lord. David, the youngest son in his father's house and originally just a poor shepherd, is told by God's prophet Nathan, “Go, do all that is in thy heart: because the Lord is with thee.” David's dream of a great Temple to the Lord would be realized by his son Solomon, ushering in a new age in the history of Israel where God's people would now have a magnificent structure in which to worship their magnificent God.

The Spirit of God came upon the prophet Azarias, who told Solomon's great-grandson King Asa, “Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you, because you have been with Him.” Asa would then usher in a period of reform, destroying many of the pagan idols in the land.

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a little town in Galilee called Nazareth,
to a sixteen-year-old virgin whose name — was Mary.

“The Lord is with thee, Gideon, O most valiant of men”

“Go, David, do all that is in thy heart: because the Lord is with thee.”

“Hear me, King Asa: the Lord is with thee.”

“Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.”

When Mary heard those words come from the mouth of the angel, she knew she was standing on the threshold of a new era in human history. And indeed, she was!

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever!
And of his Kingdom there will be - no - end.

Mary knew that immediately following her assent, everything would change, the whole world be turned upside-down.

... ... “Behold — I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”

“The Lord is with thee, O most valiant of men,” and Gideon freed Israel from their enemy. “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee,” and Christ destroyed the last enemy, death.

“Go, do all that is in thy heart: because the Lord is with thee,” and David's son built a great Temple to the Lord. “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee,” and Mary's Son opened the great sanctuary of Heaven to all who believe.

“Hear me, Asa, the Lord is with thee,” and the pagan idols were removed from the land. “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee,” and pagans from every land were removed from their former way of life, and brought to faith in the Son of God.

Truly the words of Scripture are deep beyond comprehension! May God grant us the grace always to consider these things as we meditate upon the mystery of the Annunciation in the Holy Rosary, and may He grant us also great fervor as we pray to this woman who knew God's word, who said “May it be done to me according to your word,” and through whom the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Snowmageddon

2010-02-13T11:13:00.006-05:00

Nothing makes old buildings look nice quite like snow, eh?

Between the two blizzards of Snowmaggedon I ventured out to take some pictures around the campus of Catholic University. Above is the entrance to Caldwell Hall.

Theological College

Clearing snow behind McMahon Hall

A view from the front steps of Theological College: Gibbons Hall

The statue of Sedes Sapientiae (Our Lady Seat of Wisdom)

St. Peter's, Harpers Ferry

2010-01-15T09:59:00.008-05:00

Not wanting my fellow Rochesterian seminarian Peter VanLieshout to be the only one blogging about visiting beautiful old churches, I share with you today the historic chapel of St. Peter in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

Built in the 1830s, this church was one of the few buildings in the area to survive the Civil War. During Stonewall Jackson's attack on Harpers Ferry in September of 1862 the young pastor, Fr. Michael Costello, flew the British Union Jack from the steeple so as to discourage the Confederates from firing on his parish. One imagines this must have wounded the pride of the good Irishman, but it saved his church from destruction!
In 1896 the original church was torn down and a slightly larger one was built atop the old foundation. If you look at the left part of the above image, you can see that the original brickwork was incorporated into the new edifice.
The approach to St. Peter's is a set of 44 stairs carved from the rock in 1810. (The handrail was not added until the 20th century.) When the church was used as a makeshift hospital during the war, these steps acquired the name "the bloody stairs" from the sanguineous trails leading to the doors of St. Peter's. (Having walked up them myself, I can imagine there might be another reason they acquired this name: they're downright treacherous!)

The interior of St. Peter's is quite beautiful. Here you can see the high altar and some of the stained glass. The freestanding wooden altar is moved aside when Mass is said in the Extraordinary Form.

Detail of the Carrera marble altar carved in Italy.

Located in the baptistery of the church is a rather memorable crucifix based on Italian original which was made to match the wounds found on the Shroud of Turin. I'm not a huge fan of artist Sharon Garvey's calligraphy for the Greek (does that look a little odd to anyone besides me?) but it is nice to see the full title on the cross once in a while.

Nearby St. Peter's is Jefferson Rock, where Thomas Jefferson once stood and proclaimed, "this scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic." How much more, then, was it worth a stop on the way back to Washington!

Image of crucifix © ptpFlickr. Other images used under creative commons license from Teak's Pics or used by permission from Thomas Eichwald, seminarian for the Archdiocese of St. Louis

Epitaph: Nehemiah 5

2009-11-24T19:36:00.001-05:00

Nehemiah 5:19

Remember me, O my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.

Another great epitaph waiting to happen.

The Application of Thought to Textual Criticism

2009-10-17T16:43:00.002-04:00

Today I stumbled upon "The Application of Thought to Textual Criticism" by A.E. Housman, written in 1921. I think I enjoy Housman's various papers and letters even more than his poetry, and I found this work to be a particularly refreshing and level-headed view of things. This will be of interest only to a few, but those few who are intrigued by this snippet would do well to read the whole of it (linked above).

[Textual criticism] is not a sacred mystery. It is purely a matter of reason and of common sense. We exercise textual criticism whenever we notice and correct a misprint. A man who possesses common sense and the use of reason must not expect to learn from treatises or lectures on textual criticism anything that he could not, with leisure and industry, find out for himself. What the lectures and treatises can do for him is to save him time and trouble by presenting to him immediately considerations which would in any case occur to him sooner or later. And whatever he reads about textual criticism in books, or hears at lectures, he should test by reason and common sense, and reject everything which conflicts with either as mere hocus-pocus.

[...]

Textual criticism, like most other sciences, is an aristocratic affair, not communicable to all men, nor to most men. Not to be a textual critic is no reproach to anyone, unless he pretends to be what he is not. To be a textual critic requires aptitude for thinking and willingness to think; and though it also requires other things, those things are supplements and cannot be substitutes. Knowledge is good, method is good, but one thing beyond all others is necessary; and that is to have a head, not a pumpkin, on your shoulders and brains, not pudding, in your head.

St. John Vianney

2009-10-05T22:45:00.003-04:00

Last Saturday, I heard an absolutely extraordinary homily at Mount St. Mary's Seminary given by a certain Fr. Miller. This was given in the context of a conference on the life of St. John Vianney, and I share here just the closing thoughts:

The greatest penance the Saint performed was his heroic availability to his people. What would you do as a priest if so many people came to your confessional that you had to sit there for three hours a day seven days a week? That’s how it started with Father Vianney! Three hours soon turned into six, then into ten, then to sixteen hours a day. He sat in a cold Church in winter and a sweltering Church in summer. So many people came from such distant places that they often had to wait for a week to see him. Please note that this charismatic phenomenon confirmed Vianney in the asceticism that he had chosen as his way of priesthood. His service as Shepherd permitted him no “days off” – no vacations – no working out in the gym for hours on end - no fine dining – no preoccupation with financial matters. Surely the poorest of the poor always felt comfortable in his company and in his home. Father Vianney relaxed each day by visiting the girls in the orphanage that he had founded. The Divine Lover of Souls kept asking the priest for more of his time and energy. He never said “no” – even though he was tempted to say “no”.

Three times in his long pastorate John Vianney ran away from Ars in the shadows of night. Why? He felt he was neglecting his spiritual life. He yearned to be a monk, a hermit. Surely, he was overwhelmed by what he heard day in and day out in the confessional. Surely, it was nerve wracking to be so available to so many people at such a level of intimacy day in and day out. It was all too much and he ran away. Each time en route to his destination, John Vianney turned around and returned to Ars. It was his obedience to Christ that brought him back to the tiny Church of Ars. He believed Christ had called him to be a priest and spoken to him through his Bishop so many years before: There is not much love of God in the parish of Ars. You will bring some to it. It was his ever deepening “yes” to Christ that has made Saint John Vianney a beacon of Divine Mercy in the Church of God.

The most important truth Saint John Vianney teaches us about the Priesthood is that the ministers of Christ become holy only by serving the Lord’s flock. Everything and anything that impedes that service is not of God. The grace of the priesthood is the grace of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

Happy Michaelmas

2009-09-29T14:09:00.002-04:00

Happy Michaelmas to all! Today marks four years since I was received into full communion with the Church. God continues to do marvelous things!

Pearls of Wisdom: Finance 101

2009-09-24T09:08:00.003-04:00

"If I could purchase with money the blessings which I possess, I should make much of it; but it is plain that these blessings are gained by abandoning all things." — St. Teresa of Avila, Autobiography, XX, 34

Amazon
Online

An Untried Idea

2009-09-18T11:18:00.004-04:00

"But where says some is the King of America? I'll tell you Friend, he reigns above [...] Yet that we may not appear to be defective even in earthly honors, let a day be solemnly set apart for proclaiming the charter; let it be brought forth placed on the divine law, the word of God; let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve of monarchy, that in America THE LAW IS KING. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King; and there ought to be no other. But lest any ill use should afterwards arise, let the crown at the conclusion of the ceremony be demolished, and scattered among the people whose right it is." — Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)

Exaltation of the Holy Cross

2009-09-14T11:00:00.003-04:00

Heraclius restoring the Cross to Calvary

At the end of the reign of the emperor Phocas (early 7th century), Chosroes, king of the Persians, seized Egypt and Africa and captured Jerusalem, killing many thousands of Christians and taking away into Persia the Cross of Christ the Lord which Helena had placed on Mt. Calvary. Heraclius, who succeeded Phocas, was prompted by the burdens and disasters of war to sue for peace. But he could not obtain it even under unjust conditions, since Chosroes had been made insolent by his victories. In this great crisis, Heraclius gave himself up to constant prayer and fasting, imploring God's help. By divine inspiration, he raised an army, joined battle with the enemy and conquered three of Chosroes' generals and their three armies.

Broken by these defeats, Chosroes fled and, as he was preparing to cross the river Tigris, he appointed Medarses, his son, as his co-ruler. But Siroes, Chosroes' older son, bitterly resented this affront to himself and plotted to kill his father and his brother, which he did a little later when they returned from their flight. He obtained his kingdom from Heraclius under certain conditions, the first of which was the restoration of the Cross of the Lord Christ. And so, fourteen years after it had been taken by the Persians, the Cross was returned. On his coming back to Jerusalem, Heraclius bore it on his own shoulders in a solemn ceremony, taking it to the mount which the Savior Himself had carried it.

This event was made famous by a spectacular miracle. For Heraclius, clad as he was in gold and jewels, was forced to halt at the gate which led to Mt. Calvary. The more he tried to go on, the more he seemed to be held back. Heraclius and those with him were dumbfounded at this; but Zacharias, bishop of Jerusalem, said, "Consider, O emperor, how poorly you are imitating the poverty and humility of Jesus Christ when you carry His Cross in these triumphal robes." Then Heraclius, taking off his ceremonial robes and his shoes and putting on a poor man's garment, easily went the rest of the way and placed the Cross on that same spot on Calvary from which it had been taken by the Persians. And so the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, which was already being celebrated each year on this day, took on still more luster because of the memory of this event when Heraclius replaced the Cross where it had first been set up for the Savior.

Image from Cardinal Seán's Blog.
Text from Mater Dei.

Pearls of Wisdom: Fidelity

2009-09-12T13:22:00.002-04:00

"The fidelity of the servant of Jesus Christ consists precisely in the fact that he does not try to adapt the faith to the fashions of the time." — Pope Benedict XVI, at a recent episcopal ordination

How I Got Here

2009-09-09T19:43:00.001-04:00

Last year I penned an article for Rochester's Catholic paper explaining, in brief, who I was, whence I came, and what my first year in seminary was like. Without further introduction, here it is:

Raised a Methodist, I never imagined I'd find myself studying to be a Catholic priest, but following God's will sometimes takes you in an unexpected direction.

During my freshman year at the Rochester Institute of Technology, I began attending Mass with some Catholic friends, and eventually I even started going to some Catholic Bible studies. That experience left me with a lot to think about, and the more I prayed and the more I read over summer break the more I was convinced that the Catholic Church was truly established by Jesus Christ. I discovered, with John Henry Cardinal Newman, that “To be deep in history is to cease to be a Protestant.”

I was received into the Church not long after summer break ended, and the experience of my second year of college was one of constant grace. The things I looked forward to most were praying the Rosary, studying the Scriptures, and going to daily Mass. Although I still gave my best effort to my schoolwork, my classes in Information Technology quickly receded to a place of secondary importance. I wondered whether God wasn't calling me to do something else with my life.

This question was answered for me during a six-week Study Abroad program in Kanazawa, Japan. There I was, half a world away from everyone I knew, with countless opportunities to experience things, and yet the thing I looked forward to most each day was going to Mass. Whether the prayers were in English or Japanese mattered little, because the Eucharist was the source and summit of my life. One can only find joy in doing the Lord's will, and more and more it seemed like His will for me was to enter the priesthood.

Five months before graduation I contacted Fr. Tim Horan, our Vocations Director, and got an application to Becket Hall, the Diocese's house of discernment. I moved in immediately after receiving my degree from R.I.T. and began studying Philosophy at St. John Fisher College while working part-time as the diocesan Webmaster. This year was, in its own way, another year of grace. Through my work at the Pastoral Center and at Blessed Sacrament, my parish assignment, God confirmed to me over and over again that this was where I was supposed the be. At the end of that year, I was told that the Diocese would send me to Theological College, a Seminary in Washington, D.C., and this latest chapter of my journey to the Priesthood has been yet another great blessing.

Seminary is definitely the best environment in which to discern a priestly vocation. The men here “encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called 'Today,'” as it says in the Letter to the Hebrews. While I've learned much in the ten classes I've taken this year, I dare say I've learned even more just hanging around the hallways of the Seminary! The men here come from dioceses all over the country and around the world, and each one of them has his own insights to offer on one topic or another.

My first year in Seminary has also been very spiritually enriching. All men entering the Seminary are required to find a local Spiritual Director, and the first thing mine told me to do was to keep a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament every day. Even if this had been been my only accomplishment this year, it would all have been worth it!

I don't mean to paint too rosy a picture. There are trials — I certainly expect the nine weeks of intensive Latin I take this summer to put me through my paces! — but every encouraging e-mail, every care package, every card filled with assurances of prayer is a reminder of why I am here: to serve God's people.

Please pray for me and my fellow seminarians, pray for the men entering Becket Hall next Fall, and pray for vocations. God will do great things for the Diocese of Rochester if only we ask Him.

A Curse Against Book Stealers

2009-09-04T15:10:00.002-04:00

For him that stealeth a book from this library,
let it change into a serpent in his hand and rend him.
Let him be struck with palsy,
and all his members blasted.
Let him languish in pain crying aloud for mercy,
and let there be no surcease to his agony
till he sink to dissolution.
Let bookworms gnaw his entrails in token of the worm that dieth not,
and when at last he goeth to his final punishment,
let the flames of Hell consume him for ever and aye.

-From the monastery of San Pedro, Barcelona

Source: Fr. Daren Zehnle (caveat: I don't read this blog and have no idea what else you might find on it, good or bad.)

Pontius Pilate

2009-08-29T18:36:00.005-04:00

Psalm 51:9 [52:7]: "Ecce homo qui non posuit Deum adjutorem suum," "Behold the man who did not make God his helper."

The Feast of St. Augustine

2009-08-28T19:23:00.002-04:00

St. Augustine's Confessions is one of the greatest literary works in the West, having inspired countless saints through the centuries.

The chaste dignity of continence appeared to me – cheerful but not wanton, modestly alluring me to come and doubt nothing, extending her holy hands, full of a multitude of good examples – to receive and embrace me. ... [S]he smiled on me with an encouraging mockery ... as if to say: “Stop your ears against those unclean members of yours upon the earth, that they may be mortified. They tell you of delights, but not as does the law of the Lord thy God.”
— Confessions, Book VIII Chapter XI

That last line is particularly striking: "Narrant tibi delectationes, sed non sicut lex domini dei tui." It is reminiscent of Psalm 118 [119]:85, "Narraverunt mihi iniqui fabulationes, sed non ut lex tua," "The wicked have told me fables: but not as thy law." The fables, the lies of this world – all of Satan's empty promises – are nothing when compared with the awesome promises of God – indeed, they would not even compare if they were true. St. Augustine realised this and turned his life around completely, dedicating himself wholly to the work of the Kingdom. God grant us all such a conversion.

St. Augustine, pray for us.

The Lion & the Cardinal

2009-08-26T22:07:00.003-04:00

This will be old news to some, but I wanted to share a link to what I think is a very worthwhile blog:
The Lion & the Cardinal
It's a fascinating collection of Church art (and a few other interesting things) which covers topics one might not otherwise run across. Here are some examples of entries which I found particularly interesting:
The Priesthood of the Virgin
The Horns of Moses
The Author's Depiction of the Crucifixion

I had run across this blog before, but only very recently have begun reading it. Do give it a look.

Epitaph: Ezra 7

2009-08-24T22:05:00.002-04:00

Very slightly modified from Ezra 7:9-10:

The good hand of his God was upon him, for he had set his heart to study the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.

Wouldn't that make a great epitaph?

Pearls of Wisdom: The Son of Such Tears

2009-08-20T20:12:00.001-04:00

In his Confessions (Book III, Chapter XII), St. Augustine recounts the advice his mother (St. Monica) received from a certain Bishop concerning her wayward son:

"Only pray to the Lord in his behalf. He will find out by reading what is the character of that error and how great is its impiety." ... [S]he still would not keep quiet, but by her entreaties and flowing tears urged him all the more to see me and discuss matters with me, he became a little vexed and said: "Go away from me now. As you live, it is impossible that the son of such tears should perish." As she was often wont to recall in her conversations with me, she took this as if it had sounded forth from heaven.

"Tantum roga pro eo Dominum; ipse legendo reperiet, quis ille sit error et quanta impietas." ... [I]lla nollet adquiescere, sed instaret magis deprecando et ubertim flendo, ut me videret et mecum dissereret, ille iam substomachans taedio: "Vade - inquit - a me; ita vivas, fieri non potest, ut filius istarum lacrimarum pereat".

Amazon
Online
Latin

The History of Rome

2009-08-20T18:57:00.002-04:00

It's important to know history. This history of Rome, in particular, is worth studying because it forms the backdrop for Western civilization even to the present day, and because it was the context in which the events of the New Testament and the early Church took place.

Therefore, I would like to recommend The History of Rome podcast, a weekly podcast tracing the history of the Roman Empire, beginning with Aeneas's arrival in Italy and ending (someday) with the exile of Romulus Augustulus, last Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. About 20 or 25 minutes each, these studies give a broad view of Roman history while at the same time providing details vivid enough to remember after only one listen.

RSS

Dominus Pars

2009-08-19T18:13:00.003-04:00

Our Holy Father on the priesthood and celibacy: an excerpt from Benedict XVI's 2006 Christmas Address to the Roman Curia:

Paul calls Timothy - and in him, the Bishop and in general the priest - "man of God" (I Tm 6: 11). This is the central task of the priest: to bring God to men and women. Of course, he can only do this if he himself comes from God, if he lives with and by God. This is marvellously expressed in a verse of a priestly Psalm that we - the older generation - spoke during our admittance to the clerical state: "The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup, you hold my lot" (Ps 16[15]5).
The priest praying in this Psalm interprets his life on the basis of the distribution of territory as established in Deuteronomy (cf. 10: 9). After taking possession of the Land, every tribe obtained by the drawing of lots his portion of the Holy Land and with this took part in the gift promised to the forefather Abraham.

The tribe of Levi alone received no land: its land was God himself. This affirmation certainly had an entirely practical significance. Priests did not live like the other tribes by cultivating the earth, but on offerings. However, the affirmation goes deeper. The true foundation of the priest's life, the ground of his existence, the ground of his life, is God himself.

The Church in this Old Testament interpretation of the priestly life - an interpretation that also emerges repeatedly in Psalm 119[118] - has rightly seen in the following of the Apostles, in communion with Jesus himself, as the explanation of what the priestly mission means. The priest can and must also say today, with the Levite: "Dominus pars hereditatis meae et calicis mei". God himself is my portion of land, the external and internal foundation of my existence.

This theocentricity of the priestly existence is truly necessary in our entirely function-oriented world in which everything is based on calculable and ascertainable performance. The priest must truly know God from within and thus bring him to men and women: this is the prime service that contemporary humanity needs. If this centrality of God in a priest's life is lost, little by little the zeal in his actions is lost. In an excess of external things the centre that gives meaning to all things and leads them back to unity is missing. There, the foundation of life, the "earth" upon which all this can stand and prosper, is missing.

Celibacy, in force for Bishops throughout the Eastern and Western Church and, according to a tradition that dates back to an epoch close to that of the Apostles, for priests in general in the Latin Church, can only be understood and lived if is based on this basic structure.

The solely pragmatic reasons, the reference to greater availability, is not enough: such a greater availability of time could easily become also a form of egoism that saves a person from the sacrifices and efforts demanded by the reciprocal acceptance and forbearance in matrimony; thus, it could lead to a spiritual impoverishment or to hardening of the heart.

The true foundation of celibacy can be contained in the phrase: Dominus pars - You are my land. It can only be theocentric. It cannot mean being deprived of love, but must mean letting oneself be consumed by passion for God and subsequently, thanks to a more intimate way of being with him, to serve men and women, too. Celibacy must be a witness to faith: faith in God materializes in that form of life which only has meaning if it is based on God.

Read the whole thing:
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/december/documents/hf_ben_xvi_spe_20061222_curia-romana_en.html

Pearls of Wisdom: Humbled

2009-08-18T14:20:00.005-04:00

Priusquam humiliarer ego deliqui: propterea eloquium tuum custodivi.
Bonum mihi quia humiliasti me, ut discam justificationes tuas. – Ps 118[119]:67,71

Before I was humbled I offended; therefore I have kept thy word.
It is good for me that I was humbled, that I might learn thy statutes.

"[F]or the furtherance of humility it is needful that we sometimes find ourselves worsted in this spiritual battle, wherein, however, we shall never be conquered until we lose either life or courage." – St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Part I, Chapter V

The Typical American

2009-08-17T09:23:00.005-04:00

Theodore Roosevelt with James Cardinal Gibbons

From “Theodore Roosevelt: the man as I knew him” by Ferdinand Cowle Iglehart, pp. 298-300:

At the White House one day President Roosevelt came into his room, greeted me cordially, as was his custom, and then slipped over to another gentleman and greeted him. He brought that gentleman over to where I was and said, “Dr. Iglehart, permit me to introduce to you Father —, who has been doing very important work among the Indians and has come to talk with me about it.” And then, placing himself between us, he said, “Here's the great Catholic church, with its millions represented by this Catholic priest, on one side of me, and here on the other is the great Methodist church, with its millions represented by my old friend, and I am only a poor little Dutch Reform layman between the two.” The twinkle in his eye evidenced the fun that was always bubbling over within him. I replied, “No, Mr. President, you are not the poor little Dutch Reform layman between them. You are the great head of the nation and a Christian with a universal heart. You are large enough to belong to all the churches and all of us claim you as such, and we have reason to believe that you consider that all of us belong to you.”
[...]
Cardinal Gibbons, at my request, sent these words with reference to his dear friend, Colonel Roosevelt:

My dear Mr. Iglehart:
In reply to your esteemed letter, asking for an estimate of Mr. Roosevelt, I wish to say that my relations with him were of a most intimate character from the time he entered the White House up until the day of his death. Besides I had much correspondence with him all of a nature too sacred to be made public. I ever regarded Mr Roosevelt as the typical American, the embodiment of the highest patriotism.
Faithfully yours,
(Signed) J. Card. Gibbons.

Pearls of Wisdom: Fruit After its Kind

2009-08-15T21:41:00.002-04:00

I'm in the midst of planning a little vocations dinner, and the following phrase from Francis de Sales keeps bouncing around in my head:

"When God created the world He commanded each tree to bear fruit after its kind; and even so He bids Christians, — the living trees of His Church, — to bring forth fruits of devotion, each one according to his kind and vocation."
– Introduction to the Devout Life, Part I, Chapter III

Read it online at ccel.org

Dante: The Divine Comedy Audiobook

2009-08-14T23:59:00.001-04:00

Each month christianaudio.com gives away a free audiobook download. This month the featured book is Dante's Divine Comedy (i.e., the Inferno, the Purgatorio, and the Paradiso) in the wonderful translation by John Ciardi, my favorite of all the ones I've seen. This will last only until the end of this month (August 2009), so you don't want to put this off:
https://christianaudio.com/free
The pleasant female narrator is certainly not who I would have chosen to read Dante's harrowing journey through Hell, and I think it's a bit difficult to understand because of her quick speed, but nevertheless I recommend it to anyone who does not think himself up to the task of actually reading the book.

There is definitely something to be said for reading it in print.

Providentissimus Deus

2009-08-13T18:42:00.003-04:00

Pope Leo XIII's 1893 encyclical Providentissimus Deus is the first magisterial document on modern Catholic Biblical scholarship, and is absolutely crucial for interpreting later magisterial teaching, such as Vatican II's Dei Verbum. It's a rather lengthy document, but about a year ago I made a summary of it. Originally 10,505 words, my summary is 2,782 words. This summary is in the style of Squashed Philosophers, so none of these words are my own invention, I've just removed excess verbage from what Leo XIII said. So, for example, if he said: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," my summary might read "The fox jumps over the dog". It would not say "The fox leaps over the dog," because the only thing I've done is delete words, not edit words. Just imagine invisible elipses everywhere, that's pretty much what's going on here. So, without further introduction:

Providentissimus Deus

ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII ON THE STUDY OF HOLY SCRIPTURE (1893 – 10,505 words)
Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Summarized by Peter Mottola (2008 – 2,782 words)

Revelation is contained both in Tradition and in written Books, which are canonical because, "being written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for their author."(2) This has been perpetually held in regard to both Testaments. A letter, written by our heavenly Father, God Himself has composed them.

2. Scripture should be made accessible, but not suffer any attempt to defile it [with] imprudent novelties. It is Our wish to see labourers, especially those called to Holy Orders, display greater diligence in reading, meditating, and explaining it.

3. "All Scripture is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct,"(6) and to suppress heresy. Armed with spiritual weapons, novices of the ecclesiastical army will be "well grounded in the Scripture, the bulwark of the Church."(11)

4. Those preachers are foolish who use no words but those of human science, trusting their own reasonings rather than to those of God.

5. The Fathers never cease to extol the sacred Scripture, "an overflowing fountain of salvation."(17) "Let the speech of the priest be ever seasoned with Scriptural reading."(19) "Vainly does the preacher utter the Word of God exteriorly unless he listens to it interiorly."(21) Bring to divine reading docility and attention, for to understand such things is required the "coming"(24) of the Holy Spirit, sought by humble prayer and holiness of life.

6. The Church has ordered that her children be fed with the saving words of the Gospel.

7. All who have been renowned for holiness of life have given constant attention to Holy Scripture.

Catechetical schools taught the divine written word. In the twelfth century, many took up with great success allegorical exposition. The scholastics were solicitous about the genuineness of the Latin version. To them we owe the investigation of the objects of the writers, the demonstration of the connection of sentence with sentence, and clause with clause, all of which throw much light on obscure passages.

8. Clement V established chairs of Oriental literature to make more accurate investigation on the original text. The revival of Greek and the invention of printing gave a strong impetus to Biblical studies. The Vulgate diffused throughout the Catholic world during that very period against which the enemies of the Church direct their calumnies.

Many learned men did excellent work for the Bible between the Council of Vienne and Trent, when it almost seemed that the great age of the Fathers had returned. Editions of the Vulgate and the Septuagint are now in common use. From that time downwards, Catholics have defended Scripture against rationalism with the same weapons with which it had been attacked. The Church has never failed to bring the Scriptures within reach of her children.

10. In earlier times the contest was with those who, relying on private judgment and repudiating the divine traditions and teaching office of the Church, held the Scriptures to be the one source of revelation and the final appeal in matters of Faith.

Now the Rationalists, true children of the older heretics, have rejected even the remnants of Christian belief. They deny inspiration, they see only forgeries and falsehoods, stupid fables and lying stories. Prophecies are to them predictions made up after the event, miracles are mere tricks and myths, and the Apostolic writings are not the work of the Apostles at all – detestable errors obtruded as "free science." Some of them would be considered theologians and Christians, and disguise by such honourable names their pride.

Professors of other sciences attack the Bible by a similar intolerance of revelation, in schools taken by violence from the Church. They pervert the minds of the young to the contempt of Holy Scripture. Should not these things stir up every Pastor, so that "knowledge, falsely so called,"(28) may be opposed?

11. In Seminaries, teachers are to be appointed whose character and fitness are proved by their love of the Bible.

12. To provide for a continuous succession of such teachers, select young men of good promise and set them apart exclusively for Holy Scripture.

13. Train them to defend the sacred writings and to penetrate their meaning, to prove the integrity and authority of the Bible, with the assistance of Theology.

Avoid the mistake of giving a mere taste of every Book, and of dwelling at too great length on a part of one Book. Take the students through the whole of one or two Books in such a way that the students learn from the sample put before them and use the remainder of the sacred Book during the whole of their lives.

"In public lectures,"(29) the Vulgate is "authentic." Other versions which antiquity has approved should not be neglected, for the "examination of older tongues,"(30) will be advantageous. Prudence is required, for the "office of a commentator is to set forth not what he himself would prefer, but what his author says."(31)

Adhere to the received canons of interpretation. Whilst weighing the meanings of words, the connection of ideas, the parallelism of passages, use illustrations, but with caution not to bestow on this more time than [is] spent on the Sacred Books themselves.

14. Scripture [is] difficult, for the language is employed to express things beyond man, a hidden depth of meaning which the laws of interpretation hardly warrant. Moreover, the literal sense frequently admits other senses, adapted to illustrate dogma or to confirm morality.

No one can enter into their interior without the Church. St. Irenaeus laid down that Holy Scripture was safely interpreted by those who had Apostolic succession.(33) 'In things of faith and morals, the true sense of Holy Scripture is held by the Church, whose place it is to judge the interpretation of the Scriptures; and it is permitted to no one to interpret Holy Scripture against such sense or against the unanimous agreement of the Fathers.'(34)

This by no means restrains Biblical science, but protects it from error. The private student may, in those passages of Holy Scripture which have not yet received a definitive interpretation, bring to maturity the judgment of the Church. In passages already defined, the student may do work by setting them forth more clearly. Interpret passages which have received an authentic interpretation in the New Testament or from the Church, and prove, by science, that sound hermeneutical laws admit of no other interpretation. In other passages, the analogy of faith should be followed. Catholic doctrine should be held as the supreme law.

Seeing that God is the author both of the Sacred Books and of doctrine, it is impossible that any teaching extracted from the former shall be at variance with the latter. All interpretation is foolish which makes the sacred writers disagree or is opposed to doctrine. The Professor must be well acquainted with Theology and deeply read in the Fathers. 'What can be a greater sign of pride than to refuse to study the Books of the divine mysteries by the help of those who have interpreted them?'(37) The Fathers 'endeavoured to acquire understanding not by their own lights, but from the the ancients.'(38)

The Fathers are of supreme authority whenever they all interpret in the same manner any text pertaining to faith or morals, for their unanimity clearly evinces that such interpretation has come from the Apostles as a matter of Catholic faith. The opinion of the Fathers is also of very great weight because they are men on whom God bestowed a more ample measure of His light.

15. [It is] not forbidden to push exposition beyond the Fathers, provided he not to depart from the literal and obvious sense, except where reason makes it untenable or necessity requires;(40) a rule to which it is necessary to adhere strictly. Neither should passages be neglected which the Fathers understood in an allegorical sense. This method of interpretation has been received by the Church from the Apostles, and has been approved by her Liturgy; although the Fathers did not thereby pretend directly to demonstrate dogmas, but used it as a means of promoting virtue and piety.

The authority of other interpreters is not so great, but the study of Scripture has always continued to advance, and these commentaries have their own honourable place. It is unbecoming to pass by the excellent work which Catholics have left in abundance, and to have recourse to the works of non-Catholics – and to seek in them, to the peril of faith, the explanation of passages on which Catholics have successfully employed their talent. Although the studies of non-Catholics may be of use, bear in mind that the sense of Holy Scripture can nowhere be found incorrupt outside of the Church.

16. Theology should be animated by the divine Word. The Fathers desired to, chiefly out of the Sacred Writings, establish the Articles of Faith, and it was in them, with Tradition, that they found the refutation of error and the mutual relation of the truths of Catholicism. Without their use, Theology cannot be placed on its true footing. 'If the adversary do but grant any portion of the divine revelation, we have an argument against him. If our opponent reject divine revelation entirely, there is no way to prove the Article of Faith by reasoning; we can only solve the difficulties which are raised against them.'(44) Care must be taken that beginners approach the Bible well prepared; otherwise they will risk error, falling prey to the sophisms of the Rationalists. The best preparation will be philosophy and theology under the guidance of St. Thomas.

17. Maintenance of its [the Bible's] full authority cannot be done except by the Church. But since the magisterium rests on the authority of Scripture, the first thing to be done is to vindicate the trustworthiness of the sacred records at least as human documents, from which can be clearly proved the Divinity of Christ, the institution of a hierarchical Church and the primacy of Peter and his successors. It is desirable that the clergy enter upon a contest of this nature, not unaccustomed to modern methods of attack. 'For unless he knows every trick, the devil is well able, if only a single door be left open, to get in his fierce bands and carry off the sheep.'(48)

The study of Oriental languages and of the art of criticism are held in high estimation, and therefore the clergy, acquainted with them, will better discharge their office. It is most proper that Professors master those tongues in which the sacred Books were originally written, and students also. Endeavours should be made to establish chairs of other ancient languages, especially the Semitic, and of subjects connected therewith, for the benefit of those intended to profess sacred literature, thoroughly acquainted with the art of true criticism.

There has arisen, to the great detriment of religion, an inept method by the name of "higher criticism," which pretends to judge of the integrity of each Book from internal indications alone. In historical questions the witness of history is of primary importance; internal evidence is seldom of great value. To look upon it in any other light will be to open the door to many evil consequences. It will give rise to dissension and the elimination of all prophecy and miracle.

18. Those who scrutinize the Sacred Book to vilify its contents are peculiarly dangerous to the masses, for if they lose their reverence for the Holy Scripture on one or more points, [they] are easily led to give up believing in it altogether. Science is adapted to show forth the glory of the Great Creator, provided it be taught as it should be. If it be perversely imparted, it may prove fatal in destroying true philosophy and in the corruption of morality. Hence, to the Professor of Sacred Scripture a knowledge of natural science will be of great assistance.

There can never be any real discrepancy between the theologian and the physicist, as long both are careful "not to make rash assertions, or to assert what is not known as known."(51) 'Whatever they can demonstrate to be true of nature, we must show to be capable of reconciliation with our Scriptures; and whatever is contrary we must prove entirely false.'(52) The Holy Ghost "did not intend to teach men these things, things in no way profitable unto salvation."(53) Hence they described things in figurative language, in terms which in many instances are in use even by the most eminent men of science. Ordinary speech primarily and properly describes what comes under the senses; and the sacred writers "went by what sensibly appeared."(54)

19. The Fathers, in commenting on physical matters, expressed ideas of their own times which have been abandoned as incorrect. We must note what they lay down as belonging to faith, for "in those things which do not come under the obligation of faith, the Saints were at liberty to hold divergent opinions."(55)

20. The principles here apply to History. It is lamentable that many investigations on antiquity display not only extreme hostility, but the greatest unfairness: in their eyes a profane book or ancient document is accepted without hesitation, whilst the Scripture is set down as quite untrustworthy. It is true that copyists have made mistakes in the text of the Bible, but good hermeneutical methods assist in clearing up obscurity.

It is absolutely wrong and forbidden to narrow inspiration to certain parts only of Scripture or to admit that the sacred writer has erred. The system of those who concede that divine inspiration regards faith and morals, and nothing beyond, cannot be tolerated. All the books which the Church receives as canonical are written wholly and entirely, with all their parts, at the dictation of the Holy Ghost. Inspiration is incompatible with error. It is impossible that God, the supreme Truth, can utter that which is not true. This is the unchanging faith of the Church. 'The Books of the Old and New Testament, with all their parts, are to be received as sacred and canonical because, having been written under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they have God for their author.'(57)

Because the Holy Ghost employed men, we cannot say that these inspired instruments have fallen into error, for, by supernatural power, He so moved and impelled them to write the things which He ordered, and those only. They rightly expressed infallible truth. Otherwise, it could not be said that He was the Author of the entire Scripture. "His members executed what their Head dictated."(58) "Most superfluous it is to inquire who wrote these things – we loyally believe the Holy Ghost to be the Author of the book. He wrote it Who dictated it for writing."(59)

21. Those who maintain that an error is possible in any genuine passage of the sacred writings pervert inspiration or make God the author of error. All the Fathers and Doctors agreed that the divine writings are free from all error, [and] laboured with reverence to reconcile with each other passages which seem at variance – which have been taken up by "higher criticism." God, speaking by the sacred writers, could not set down anything but what was true. 'If in these Books I meet anything contrary to truth, either the text is faulty, or the translator has not expressed the meaning, or I myself do not understand.'(60)

22. To undertake fully, with all the weapons of science, the defence of the Holy Bible is an enterprise in which we expect the co-operation of all Catholics. For nothing is better calculated to impress the masses with respect for truth than to see it boldly proclaimed by learned and distinguished men. Moreover, objectors will not dare to insist so shamelessly that faith is the enemy of science.

23. If apparent contradiction be met with, every effort should be made to remove it. Hostile arguments should be carefully weighed. Even if the discrepancy seems to remain, the contest must not be abandoned; truth cannot contradict truth, and we must suspend judgment for the time being. As time goes on, mistaken views die and disappear, but "truth remaineth and groweth stronger for ever and ever."(61) No one should be so presumptuous as to think that he understands the whole of the Scripture: 'It is better to be oppressed by unknown signs than to interpret them uselessly and be caught in error.'(63)

24. Put into practice the training of students, which is the Church's hope. Approach the Sacred Writings with reverence and piety, for it is impossible to attain understanding unless arrogance be laid aside.

REFERENCES:
2. Conc. Vac. sess. iii. cap. ii. de revel.
6. 2 Tim. iii., 16-17.
11. In Isaiam liv., 12.
17. S. Athan. ep. fest. xxxix.
19. S. Hier. de vita cleric. ad Nepot.
21. S. Aug. serm. clxxix., I.
24. S. Hier. in Mic. i., 10.
28. I Tim. vi., 20.
29. Sess. iv., decr. de edit. et usu sacr. libror.
30. De doctr. chr. iii., 4.
31. Ad Pammachium.
33. C. haer. iv., 26, 5.
34. Sess. iii., cap. ii., de revel.; cf. Conc. Trid, sess. iv. decret de edit. et usu sacr. libror.
37. Ad Honorat. de util. cred. xvii., 35.
38. Rufinus Hist eccl. ii., 9.
40. De Gen. ad litt. I, viii., c. 7, 13.
44. Summ. theol. p. i., q. i., a. 5 ad 2.
48. De sacerdotio iv., 4.
51. In Gen. op. imperf. ix., 30.
52. De Gen. ad litt. i. 21, 41.
53. S. Aug. ib. ii., 9, 20.
54. Summa theol. p. I, q. lxx., a. I, ad 3.
55. In Sent. ii., Dist. q. i., a. 3.
57. Sess. iii., c. ii., de Rev.
58. De consensu Evangel. 1. I, c. 35.
59. Praef. in Job, n. 2.
60. Ep. lxxxii., i. et crebrius alibi.
61. 3 Esdr. iv., 38.
63. De doctr. chr. iii., 9, 18.

73 Books of the Bible Song

2009-08-12T21:53:00.003-04:00

We endeavored to teach the parish's Vacation Bible School students the Seventy-Three Books of the Bible Song, adapted from the Protestant version I learned as a kid. I was so proud of these kids for learning the whole thing in only 3 days! If it sticks, they'll use this knowledge for the rest of their lives (I know I have).

Turn Aside for a Little While

2009-08-12T20:44:00.000-04:00

Declina paulisper: turn aside for a little while.

These two little words come from the Vulgate of Ruth 4:1, and in them we can hear Christ's words to us. Turn aside! The world is full of business, turn aside for a little while and pray.

I hope this blog will not turn out to be just another source of busyness, either for me or for you, dear reader. I will strive to say here "only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear."