"[A] man . . .the other day pointed out that I was never bored. I hadn’t thought of that before, but it’s true: I’m never bored. I’m appalled, horrified, angered, but never bored. The world appears to me so infinite in its variety that many lifetimes could not exhaust its interest. So long as you can still be surprised, you have something to be thankful for." -Theodore Dalrymple
I wanted to say something about St Thomas on his feast day but I'm out of sources: I have nothing new that hasn't already been put up on The Inn in prior years.
. . .a.k.a., "Spiritual Assistant" as the constitutions call him:
No new avenues remain to be explored in our preparation for Christmas during this fourth week of Advent, for the Church already has unfolded her entire Advent message. She has led us to the threshold of Christmas with the joyous cry, "Rejoice, for the Lord is near!", and more especially by the Ember Day observance. The liturgy has defined the picture of Christ the Savior as clearly as it can for the time. On this last Sunday, therefore, all the themes of Advent are re-echoed in one harmonious strain by our three Advent preachers. (This last week is usually cut short by the occurrence of Christmas and its succession of feasts.)
The Sunday Office begins with Vespers on Saturday. The antiphons convey our expectancy and intense desire for the Redeemer. The watchman in his tower gives the signal for the King's arrival: "Blow the trumpet in Sion, for the day of the Lord is near! Behold, He comes to save us, alleluia, alleluia." Eagerly we inquire, who is this King ? "Behold, He is coming whom all nations desire; and the house of the Lord will be filled with glory, alleluia." What will happen when He comes ? "The crooked will be made straight, and the rough places even. Come, Lord, and delay no longer, alleluia."
Already the procession which is to meet Him is forming: "The Lord is coming! Go out to meet Him and say: Now we have the great beginning, and Your kingdom will never end. You are the mighty God, the Ruler, the Prince of Peace, alleluia, alleluia." So far the direct object of our expectancy was the Redeemer's coming; now we lift our eyes to heaven and say: "Your almighty Word, Lord, will leap down out of your royal throne, alleluia." The Chapter with its concern over priestly duties recalls the ordinations of Ember Saturday.
Each year between 34-36 million Christmas trees are produced to cope with the holiday demand.
Electric tree lights were first used just 3 years after Thomas Edison had his first mass public demonstration of electric lights back in 1879. Thomas Edison's assistant, Edward Johnson, came up with the idea of electric lights for Christmas trees in 1882. His lights were a huge hit. It took quite a few years, however, before they would be made available to the general public.
In 1895 Ralph Morris, an American telephonist, invented the string of electric Christmas lights similar to the ones we use today. The actual strings of lights had already been manufactured for use in telephone switchboards. Morris looked at the tiny bulbs and had the idea of using them on his tree.
We are in the final days of Advent and the "O" antiphons are being sung for the Magnificat at Vespers each evening until Christmas. In years past I have posted the texts and the chants (the dots, anyway) for the antiphons and a few comments. This year Recta Ratio and Fr Zuhlsdorf have outdone anything The Inn ever put up. Tom Fitzpatrick has posted not only the texts and some commentaries but a recording of the chants for each day. Go to here to Recta Ratio and scroll down to the 17 December post to begin. (The direct link to the beginning is here. But it only shows the one post so you'll have to go back to the top and scroll down anyway. Such are the vagaries of Blogspot.)
The congress was held Nov. 7-9 at the Catholic University of Valencia and was organized by the Archdiocese of Valencia, the cathedral’s metropolitan chapter, the Catholic University of Valencia, the Spanish Center for Sindonology, the Royal Brotherhood, and the Holy Chalice Confraternity.
Experts from several countries attended the congress. They gave presentations on the ways in which this relic has marked history and literature since its move from Rome to Spain by Lawrence the Martyr in the year 258, as held by tradition.
The body of existing data points to the Valencia grail as the most probable authentic chalice of Christ.
And in the Wall Street Journal. I should have thought they were more the republican type, with or without the capital R.
Eloise sent me a better picture of some papal zampognari from yesterday's papal audience. Herewith:
Politico reports that Paul Weyrich died this morning. The story doesn't mention it - surely some of the stories to come will - but Paul Weyrich practically invented the direct mail appeals that were the foundation of the early conservative political movement.
From this morning's meditation book:
Our Lord is coming to us and we must await his arrival with a vigilant spirit. We should not be fearful, like people caught doing wrong. We should not be distracted like those who have placed their heart entirely in earthly goods. . . .
. . .This meeting with Our Lord will not come unexpectedly for the Christian who has been on watch. For him He will not come like a thief in the night. There will be no surprises, because there will already have been many meetings with Him each day; meetings in the Sacraments and in ordinary happenings of the day which have been full of love and friendship.
I have been reminded twice this week that this is the season for Italy's Christmas pipes. At Christmas time the zampognari come down from the hills - the Alps according to this morning's news broadcast from Vatican Radio - and play for the Romans.
Net neutrality is buzzing about all over the web. Probably started the other day by this piece in the Wall Street Journal.
Blessed Mary was a 17th century Discalced Carmelite nun.
Mary of the Angels was born in Turin of parents who were equally remarkable for their piety and for their noble blood. she was well grounded in the teachings of a Christian education, and from her earliest youth she gave promise of great and extraordinary things. Turning away from childish games, she used to hide herself in retired chambers, that she might give herself up more completely to prayer; and by constantly reading the deeds of holy men, she was so inflamed with the desire of a more austere life, that she even laid a plan with her brother to run away from their father's house and to betake themselves to a desert place. Even in her early years she drew such a love of suffering from meditating on the torments of Christ the Lord, that she set about making her body suffer by fastings, watchings, and every discomfort. When she was only six years old her strongest desire was to nourish herself with the Sacred Body of Christ; and as soon as she had gained her wish, the flames of divine love burst forth in her heart with greater violence than ever. She speedily saw the dangers to which innocence is exposed, and she determined to with draw under the shadow of the cloister, that she might keep the flower of chastity free from every stain. Her desire was granted, and she hastened promptly and joyfully to Saint Christina's monastery of barefooted Carmelite nuns, in Turin, where she received the holy habit.
When she had made her solemn vows to the Lord, she applied herself wholly to fulfilling them with the utmost fervor of which she was capable. She was rigid in the practice of poverty; she was a wonder of obedience; her chastity was so remarkable that her very conversation, as it seems to me, communicated the fragrance of this virtue in a wonderful way to those about her. Soon afterwards, however, her virtue underwent a long and severe trial, for by God's will she was deprived for six years of all the heavenly joy and light with which the minds of pious persons are usually filled and refreshed. Added to this, she was attached and harassed by many different temptations of the infernal enemy, thus enduring a life more bitter than any kind of physical pain. This great tempest of the mind was stilled at length by the divine mercy, and she was consoled so abundantly with heavenly joys that she seemed to be lifted out of herself as often as she thought of spoke of God. When, in spite of her reluctance, she was called upon again and again to rule over the monastery, she so discharged the duties of her office as to be the teacher and leader of all; of those who were entering on the path of religious perfection, as well as of those who were drawing near to its end. She was conspicuous for her matchless humility, for her singular love of God, for her never-failing practice of prayer, for her exact observance of every rule, and for the unwearied ardor with which she chastised herself. In this she seemed to recall Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, who was closely related to her on the mother's side, for he added the practice of extraordinary penance to the admirable innocence of his life.
In her zeal for the spread of the divine glory, she overcame every difficulty in order to found a monastery of her order at Montcalier. Although she was absent from them, she inspired the holy virgins who dwelt there with the esteem of every virtue, and fostered these virtues by her encouragement. Her charity for her neighbor made her grieve bitterly that there should be so many sinful men in danger of eternal death; and by constant prayer, together with voluntary sufferings, she strove to obtain from the divine mercy that they might return to the path of salvation, with the help of divine grace. She practiced a like charity towards the souls that are undergoing punishment in the cleansing fire, for by prayer and bodily sufferings she labored to shorten the time of suffering allotted to them, and to hasten their entrance into the happiness of Heaven. She showed a singular devotion towards the Blessed Virgn, Mother of God, and towards Saint Joseph, the spouse of the Blessed Virgin, and it was, in fact, through her prayers to them that her country was freed from the attacks and inroads of the enemy. Laden with divine favors, she became celebrated for the gift of prophecy, for the discernment of spirits, the reading of hearts, and even for miracles. She was at length seized with a mortal illness, during which she gave a noble example of Christian patience. Then, yearning for her heavenly espousals, she peacefully sank to rest in the sweet love of the Lord, on the sixteenth day of December, in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventeen. The belief in her holiness, which had gone on increasing, was greatly strengthened, after her holy death, by the frame of the miracles which God performed at her intercession, and which were noised abroad. These miracles were proved in due form, and the Supreme Pontiff [Blessed] Pius IX admitted her to the ranks of holy Virgins.
O God! who hast made the Blessed Mary, Thy Virgin, to lead a life like unto that of the angels, grant to us, Thy servants; that following in her footsteps, we may overcome the desires of the flesh, and that we may be worthy to enjoy the companionship of the angels. Through our Lord. Amen.
. . . .continues. And it has nothing to do with Islam.
Brand new. So new, in fact that The Carmelite Sisters of the Transfiguration don't quite exist yet. But every community had to start somewhere.
Note the elegant Advent Wreath in the left-hand column. Many thanks to The Curt Jester for the pre-Christmas gift.
The Inn missed marking St Andrew's Day this year. We were rather busy this Thanksgiving Day/Weekend. Thursday was, of course, The Day itself and for the first time in a very long time we had company for The Dinner. Very pleasant it was, too. Except for the gravy. As you may recall, I am the gravy chef. I tried a new method this year which required using the food processor. The brand new food processor. This was not entirely successful for reasons that reflect rather badly on the intelligence of your servant. But good company smoothed over even the gravy misfortune.
Salva nos, Domine! Perimus!
O Mary, God's own Mother,
Pray for our native land;
And ye, O Saints and Angels,
Around the throne who stand;
Pray for our darkened country,
That faith may live again,
That Jesus in His Sacrament
At last supreme may reign!
NOVEMBER
Month of The Holy Souls in Purgatory
"MAN, that is born of a woman, hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery. He cometh up, and is cut down, like a flower; he fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay.
In the midst of life we are in death: of whom may we seek for succour, but of thee, O LORD, who for our sins art justly displeased?"
from the Burial Service, which got it from the book of Job
"Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescant in pace."
-from the Office of the Dead
SAINTS OF NOVEMBER
September 24
FEAST OF OUR LADY OF WALSINGHAM
Patroness of the Ordinariate of the
Chair of St Peter
O God, Who, through the mystery of the Word made flesh, didst in Thy mercy sanctify the house of the Blessed Virgin Mary: do Thou grant that we may keep aloof from the tabernacle of sinners, and become worthy indwellers of Thy house; through Jesus Christ Thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
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Health Advisory
In the event of an inadvertent overdose of Vatican news, click here and follow directions.
[“On the barque of Peter, those with queasy stomachs should keep clear of the engine room.”
-Msgr Ronald Knox]
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St Thomas Becket, Archbishop & Martyr
Ant. This Saint hath striven for the law of God even unto death,
and hath not feared for the swords of the ungodly; for he hath been
founded upon a firm Rock.
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The men of the East may spell the stars,
And times and triumphs mark,
But the men signed of the cross of Christ
Go gaily in the dark.
The men of the East may search the scrolls,
For sure fates and fame,
But the men that drink the blood of God
Go singing to their shame.
+ + + + + + +
But you and all the kind of Christ
Are ignorant and brave,
And you shall have wars you hardly win
And souls you hardly save.
I tell you naught for your comfort
Yea, naught for your desire,
Save that the sky grows darker yet
And the sea rises higher.
Night shall be thrice night over you,
And heaven an iron cope.
Do you have joy without a cause,
Yea, faith without a hope?
from The Ballad of the White Horse
-G. K. Chesterton
The Anglican Ordinariates in the Catholic Church
CARMEL
Sailing to Byzantium
"Two of the pubs near Oxford which C.S. Lewis frequented were The Trout and The Six Bells.
Some of Lewis's American readers had written him to inquire about his views on drinking
alcoholic beverages. His response to them was in no uncertain terms: 'I have always
in my books been concerned simply to put forward mere Christianity, and am no
guide on these (most regrettable) interdenominational questions. I do however
most strongly object to the tyrannic and unscriptural insolence of anything that calls
itself a Church and makes teetotalism a condition of membership. Apart from the more
serious objection (that Our Lord Himself turned water into wine and made wine the medium
of the only rite He imposed on all His followers), it is so provincial (what I believe
you people call small town). Don't they realize that Christianity arose in the
Mediterranean world where, then as now, wine was as much a part of the normal diet as bread?"
C. S. Lewis: Images of His World by Douglas Gilbert & Clyde S. Kilby
