A Conversion Story
I love conversion stories. This one is particularly moving and well-written. The St Mary's in Greenville he describes is the church of my baptism.
"[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
A Conversion Story
Matthew XXV: 41-42
Holy Father Receives Extreme Unction
Theresa Marie Schindler (Schiavo)
Speaking of Scotland. . .
Scottish Church Tries to Reverse Severe Shortage of Scandals and Lawsuits
The Hapless Bench
Easter Monday
Terri was allowed her Easter Communion. . .
Easter Sunday -- Dominica Resurrectionis
Insight
As I pointed out in my review of "Hotel Rwanda," when George W. Bush says "democracy" he actually means, in effect, "Anglo-Saxonism:" in other words, rule of law, checks and balances, independent judiciary, a settled distribution of property, free speech, an open economy, habeas corpus, graciousness in defeat, the urge to compromise, gentlemanly treatment of women, etc.
But what people in oppressed countries hear when he says "democracy" is "majority rule," which is not the same thing.
Why has it come to this?
Is it "L.A." or "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles sobre el Rio de Portiuncula"? Or something else?
The name of the game is historical accuracy. Everyone agrees on that.
What historians cannot agree on is the name given to Los Angeles when its Spanish founders formed it Sept. 4, 1781.
Some contend it was El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles.
Others assert it was El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reyna de los Angeles.
Or perhaps it was El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles de la Porciuncula. Or El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reyna de los Angeles del Rio Porciuncula. Or maybe El Pueblo de la Reina de los Angeles Sobre el Rio de Porciuncula. Or Pueblo del Rio de Nuestra Señora la Reyna de los Angeles de Porciuncula.
How about plain old Ciudad de los Angeles?
Sabbato Sancto
Good Friday
Bloody Federal Courts III
A federal judge on Friday refused to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, yet another setback for the parents of the brain-damaged woman in their battle against her husband to keep her alive.
For a second time, U.S. District Judge James Whittemore ruled against the parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, who had asked him to grant their emergency request to restore her feeding tube while he considers a lawsuit they filed.
I suppose it had to happen. But words fail anyway.
The Good News is. . .
Some conservatives expressed grave disappointment at the bishop's about-face. Ernie Grimm, who edits the monthly Catholic newspaper San Diego News Notes, said he felt "betrayed."
"He had showed a lot of courage in making his original decision and encouraged a lot of us lay Catholics who had been looking for stronger leadership from our bishops," Grimm said. "He caved in the face of opposition."
James Hartline, a Christian conservative activist from Hillcrest, said he alerted the bishop to McCusker's gay business interests.
Hartline said he spoke with Brom at least four times about the McCusker case, including a meeting yesterday that lasted an hour. At no time did the bishop indicate he would reverse his position, Hartline said last night.
"He emphatically stated to me he would not budge one bit," Hartline said. "It's very, very strange. He was preparing a document that was going to include the fact that he was not going to reverse course at all
Rebecca Moore, a professor of religious studies at San Diego State University, said Brom acted with grace and compassion in owning up to what she and many others said was a mistake.
"A funeral does not make a statement about the morality of the deceased, but rather it makes a statement about the mercy of God," Moore said. "Bishop Brom had second thoughts about his original decision and had the guts to publicly change his mind. That takes courage."
"Lord Jesus Christ, king of glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of hell and from the bottomless pit. Save them from the lion's jaws; let them not be engulfed in hell nor swallowed up in darkness." - from the Offertorium of the traditional Roman Rite.
This Citation Deserves Its Own Post
Bloody Federal Courts II
ATLANTA — By a 2-1 vote, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals early today denied an emergency request to reinsert Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, setting up an appeal to the nation's highest court.
L'Osservatore Romano on Terri's Case
In a front-page editorial, the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano criticized a U.S. federal judge's refusal to order the reinsertion of Schiavo's feeding tube.
"She has no possibility of being 'restored' to a 'normal' life. Therefore Terri Schiavo must die," the editorial began. "This is ... the absurd and terrifying reason" for the judge's decision, it added.
The Mass in English
Vox Clara clears way for new text. The Vatican-sponsored Vox Clara Committee, the ad-hoc group of 12 English-speaking bishops charged with ensuring a more literal translation of Latin liturgical texts, has noted “impressive improvements” in the most recent texts submitted by the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL).
Bloody Federal Courts
WEWN Plays Hide-&-Go-Seek
The Good Friday Night Fights
Jerusalem, Mar. 21 (CWNews.com) - Public officials in Jerusalem are bracing for Eastertide conflicts between Orthodox and Catholic clerics at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, according to the London Daily Telegraph .
Local officials have reportedly called in Catholic and Orthodox leaders for discussions in recent days, hoping to ward off a repetition of an ugly fight that occurred last September, when Orthodox monks charged and battered first Franciscan friars, then local police at the basilica. The Telegraph reports that a videotape of that incident shows the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Irineos instructing monks "to close the door of the Franciscan chapel by force."
In the Year of the Blessed Eucharist. . .
[Bishop Robert] Morlino said he will not tire of telling the story as he travels the country about how Madison firefighters went into an unstable and burned-out St. Raphael to rescue the Blessed Sacrament, or the wafers consecrated as the body of Christ.
"They went in there and had to cut their way through, and brought it out with great reverence," he said.
The Federal Court Solution
Cyprus: The Greeks, The Turks, and. . .The Maronites
"They thought of us as Greeks because we are Christians,", said Paul Kumi, the 67-year-old village priest. "Sadly, the Greeks have never fully trusted us either, because they are Orthodox and we are Catholics."
Prayer for Terri Schiavo
Palm Sunday - the Second Sunday in Passiontide
. . . The Greeks celebrate the day with great solemnity; they call it kyriake or heorte ton baion or heorte baiophoros or also Lazarus Sunday, because on the day before they have the feast of the resuscitation of Lazarus. The emperors used to distribute branches of palm and small presents among their nobles and domestics. The Latin liturgical books call it Dominica in Palmis, Dominica or Dies Palmarum. From the cry of the people during the procession the day has received the name Dominica Hosanna or simply Hosanna (Ozanna). Because every great feast was in some way a remembrance of the resurrection of Christ and was in consequence called Pascha, we find the names Pascha floridum, in French Pâques fleuries, in Spanish Pascua florida, and it was from this day of 1512 that our State of Florida received its name. . .
A Ray of Light?
Recommended on the Touchstone Blog, "Mere Comments"
Here’s both a political and a public-relations reality: The Republican
Party controls the Senate, the House and the White House. The Republicans
are in charge. They have the power. If they can’t save this woman’s
life, they will face a reckoning from a sizable portion of their own base.
And they will of course deserve it.
This should concentrate
their minds.
So should this: America is watching. As
the deadline for removal of Mrs Schiavo’s feeding tube approaches, the story has
broken through as never before in the media.
There is a passionate,
highly motivated and sincere group of voters and activists who care deeply about
whether Terri Schiavo is allowed to live. Their reasoning, ultimately, is
this: Be on the side of life.
If you did it to a mad dog in Florida. . . .
The 2004 Florida Statutes
Title XLVI CRIMES
Chapter 828 ANIMALS: CRUELTY;
828.13 Confinement of animals without sufficient food, water, or
exercise; abandonment of animals.--
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Abandon" means to
forsake an animal entirely or to neglect or refuse to provide or perform the
legal obligations for care and support of an animal by its owner.
(b)
"Owner" includes any owner, custodian, or other person in charge of an animal.
(2) Whoever:
(a) Impounds or confines any animal in any
place and fails to supply the animal during such confinement with a sufficient
quantity of good and wholesome food and water,
(b) Keeps any animals
in any enclosure without wholesome exercise and change of air, or
(c)
Abandons to die any animal that is maimed, sick, infirm, or diseased,
is
guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s.
775.082 or by a fine of not more than $5,000, or by both imprisonment and a
fine.
Received this evening from a Carmelite List:
According to RN Cheryl Ford of FightForTerri.com, Attorney
Barbara Weller, attorney for David Gibbs firm, which represents the
Schiavos, told Terri that they were going to remove her feeding tube,
Terri began to cry and tried to say "I want to live." Weller said she
had a difficult time calming Terri down.
But Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, later claimed it
was a "calm and peaceful" procedure. He said Michael was with Terri after
removal of the tube. He said there was a prayer service. He said
Communion was administered to her before the tube was removed, by a
hospice priest "pursuant to an order by Judge Greer."
If you can receive Communion, you can eat and swallow?
Terri's parents were asked to leave her room, Ford said. Michael
Schiavo was not present when the feeding tube was removed, just a
representative of Michael, said Felos. But he later said there there are
no restrictions on her parents being with her.
She has now begun to die, which will take 1 to 2 weeks.
Note: There was no need to pull her tube. They could have capped
her feeding tube off and prevented the pain she experienced from
having the tune pulled from her abdomen.
The Florida Supreme Court denied a petition today from Congress. The
Schidlers filed two federal appeals court motions against Greer.
UPDATE:
MARCH 18, 2005
3:00 PM
FROM: CHERYL FORD, NURSE SPOKESPERSON SCHINDLER FOUNDATION
TERRI'S FEEDING TUBE WAS REMOVED.
WORD WAS JUST RECEIVED THAT TERRI'S PARENTS WERE ASKED TO LEAVE TERRI'S
ROOM. MICHAEL SCHIAVO WAS PRESENT WHEN THE FEEDING TUBE WAS REMOVED.
JODI'S BROTHER, J. CENTONZE STEPPED OUT OF MICHAEL'S AND JODI'S HOUSE IN
CLEARWATER AND TOLD REPORTER THAT TERRI'S FEEDING TUBE HAD BEEN REMOVED.
SCHIAVO SAID HE ALLOWED A PRAYER SERVICE WITHOUT THE FAMILY PRESENT.
TERRI'S PARENTS WERE ASKED TO LEAVE THEIR DAUGHTER'S ROOM AT 1:45 PM ET.
HER LAST INITIAL FEEDING BEGAN AT 11:00 AM ET. SHE HAD SOME NUTRITION
PROVIDED BEFORE JUDGE GREER ORDERED HER FEEDING TUBE REMOVED STATED
BARBARA WELLER, ATTORNEY FOR THE GIBBS FIRM.
the LAST RITES are NOT
allowed to be given.
*************
BISHOPS' OFFICIAL COMMENDS CONGRESSIONAL ACTION ON TERRI SCHIAVO
WASHINGTON- Gail Quinn, Executive Director of the Secretariat for Pro-Life
Activities of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops made the
following statement today on the recent Congressional action on Terri
Schiavo, a Florida woman at the heart of a controversy over withholding
nutrition and hydration from people with cognitive disabilities:
"We commend the U.S. House of Representatives for passing H.R.
1332 on March 16, 2005 and the U.S. Senate for passing S. 653
the following day."
"We strongly support legislation to provide Terri Schiavo
access to the federal court so she can present her case in
federal court," Quinn said.
**************
On the Eve of St Joseph's Day. . . .
TERRI'S TUBE REMOVED AFTER JUDGE IGNORES CONGRESS SUBPOENAS
Clearwater, Florida, Mar. 18 (CWNews.com) - A Florida judge on Friday reinstated his order that a feeding tube for disabled woman Terri Schiavo be removed less than an hour after that order was suspended . The decisions came after Congress subpoenaed Schiavo, her husband Michael Schiavo, her parents Bob & Mary Schindler, and two of her doctors. By 3:20 pm Terri's tube had been removed by doctors at the hospice where she now lives, and she was expected to starve to death within a week or two.
Although it was unlikely Terri would have been able to attend any congressional hearings, the subpoenas make it a federal offense to tamper with a person who is the recipient of such an order. As a congressional witness, Terri is the beneficiary of many legal protections that would include preventing the removal of her feeding tube. Whether legal action will be taken against those who removed her tube or ordered it done is unknown as this time. "This inquiry should give hope to Terri, her parents and friends, and the millions of people throughout the world who are praying for her safety," House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Government Reform committee chairman Tom Davis said in a joint statement when the subpoenas were announced. "This fight is not over."
Judge George Greer, who has been overseeing Terri's case, reinstated his order to remove Terri's feeding tube less than an hour after the order was lifted. She had been scheduled to have the tube removed at 1 pm on Friday on instruction from her husband. Greer said Congress had overstepped its bounds, that it is federal interference in a state matter, legislative overstepping of the separation of powers, and that the case has long been decided in his court.
The matter will likely be decided in the federal courts, and perhaps in the US Supreme Court. But until that time, Terri is without any nutrition and is slowly starving to death.
The congressional subpoenas followed failures in Washington and in Florida to pass laws to protect Terri from removal of the feeding tube. The Florida Senate had opposed a bill that would have prevented feeding tubes from being removed from people unless they had left clear instructions and left for an Easter recess without taking up the bill.
In the US Senate, opposition by some Democrats put a halt to efforts to pass the Incapacitated Persons Protection Act, which had earlier pass the House. Congressional Republican leaders vowed to continue to press for passage of the bill. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay also said he hoped Judge Greer would modify his court orders to allow the recipients of the subpoenas, including Terri, to attend Capitol Hill hearings on March 28, so the world could see that Terri is indeed alive.
"She's not barely alive, she's not being kept alive. She is alive," DeLay said.
Beannachtaí na fheile Phádraig a dhuibh
Deus qui ad prædicandam gentibus gloriam tuam beatum Patritium Confessorem atque Pontificem mittere dignatus es: ejus meritis et intercessione concede; ut, quæ nobis agenda præcipis, te miserante adimplere possimus. Per Dominum. Amen.
O God Who wast pleased to send the blessed Patrick, Thy confessor and bishop, to preach Thy glory to the heathen, grant, through his merits and intercesion, that by Thy mercy we may be enabled to accomplish the tasks Thou settest us: through or Lord. Amen.
Deus, qui ad prædicandam Hiberniæ populis gloriam tuam beatum Patricium episcopum providisti, eius meritis et intercessione concede, ut, qui christiano nomine gloriantur, tua mirabilia hominibus iugiter annuntient. Per Dominum. Amen.
O God, Who didst send forth blessed Patrick the bishop to preach Thy glory to the people of Ireland, grant by his merits and intercession, that they who glory in the name of Christian may alway proclaim Thy wonders to mankind. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
O Almighty God, who in thy providence didst choose thy servant Patrick to be the apostle of the Irish people, that he might bring those who were wandering in darkness and error to the true light and knowledge of thee; Grant us so to walk in that light, that we may come at last to the light of everlasting life; through the merits of Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Amen
A Phádraig atá i bParthas Mhic Dé gan locht,
A bheir sláinte is do ghrásta
don té a bhíos bocht,
Tháinig mé i do láthairse agus mé lag gan lúth,
Faigh áras dom i bParthas, an áit a bhfeicfidh mé thú.
Patrick, who are in the Paradise of the sinless Son of God,
who give health and your good favour
to anyone who is poor,
I have come into your presence, weak and without vigour,
find me a home in Paradise, the place where I will see you.
The Ides of March
In the Times this morning
Over the Airwaves
Friday the 13th Comes on a Sunday This Month
Alice Thomas Ellis, RIP
I have been told that I should end on a hopeful note but am finding it difficult in the present climate of foolishness, of ungrounded optimism, of error and artificial bonhomie, of worldwide mayhem and chaos, and no one to lead us, for those who would do so in truth and fidelitiy to God are ignored or derided. I keep thinking of the tale of the rabbi, alone at night in the synagogue: he sees God sitting in a corner, his head in his hands. ‘My Lord,’ says the rabbi, ‘what are you doing here, your head in your hands?’ ‘I’m weary, Rabbi,’ says the Lord, ‘weary unto death.’ If I were God I’d feel like that, but fortunately I’m not. The gates of Hell shall not prevail. That promise was the only hope I could see until I remembered the moment in the Creed at which we kneel, at the words et homo factus est and realize that God so loved us that He lived on earth and died for us. This reminder of the absolute reality of self-sacrificial love, of total goodness, is all we can hold on to in a climate dedicated to the pretence of fellowship and loving-kindness, to schmaltz, self-conceit and heresy.
Much of my acquaintance will be glad to see the last of this book, for I have thought of little else for a long time, and even when it’s finished I shall go on thinking about what I have found and wondering about what has been lost. Somebody once said to his friend, ‘Can’t you talk about anything else but God?’ And the friend responded, ‘What else is there?’
Passion Sunday
One more for the left-hand column
it's dedicated to G.K. Chesterton and his "friends." We construe "friends" broadly to mean his acquaintances during his life and the writers he influenced. The list is potentially huge, but here are a few: Belloc, Baring, Lewis, Tolkien, Dawson, Barfield, Knox, Muggeridge. And what the heck: Wells, Shaw, Wilde.
Come frequently for doses of quotes, ancedotes, and commentary. We welcome and encourage comments!
New in the Left-Hand Column
Liskeard, Cornwall: The Lost Shrine of Our Ladye of the Park
The story of the revival of the Ladye Park cult is remarkable. It began with an apparition of the Blessed Virgin witnessed by Dr Peggy Pollard who was the great granddaughter of William Gladstone, the nineteenth-century Prime Minister. Dr Pollard, who died in 1996, was a brilliant but eccentric academic, a Cornish Bard, a skilled linguist, artist and musician. In her own words which were carefully recorded at the time, she described how in November 1955 in her home in Truro, she suddenly noticed ‘a woman sitting in an armchair. She was dressed in a variety of shades of blue, full flowing, draperies and she wore a tiara-shaped crown with projecting rays that appeared to be jewelled with dull opaque stones like pearls and opals. She had dark hair … she spoke in Russian … "I want to come back to Liskeard".' Dr Pollard was sceptical by nature and replied; ‘If you are who you seem to be, I need some sort of proof. So I ask you to stay there long enough for me to make a sketch of you, then tomorrow, I'll start painting a picture based on that sketch. I'll submit it to the Paris Salon and if it is hung, which is most unlikely, I will accept that you are genuine and try to do something about your request.’ Dr Pollard did a quick sketch on an envelope and the woman disappeared.
The painting, ‘La Vierge à la Porcelaine’ was completed and duly accepted for an exhibition in the Paris Salon! Dr Pollard then began her research at the Cornish record office and found that a shrine in honour of the Blessed Virgin had existed on a site in Liskeard called 'Ladye Park'. Records from the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries proved that the pilgrimage spot was situated in a clearing between two woods: ‘one with deer and the other without’. A series of extraordinary events (outlined by Claire Riche in ‘The Lost Shrine of Liskeard’) led to the restoration of the shrine and at the turn of the new century an annual pilgrimage to Ladye Park was established, organized by the Cornish branch of the Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Ladye Mary, Blessed Mother,
Whom we hail as full of grace,
Whom our Cornish fathers honoured,
In this green and peaceful place,
Pilgrims from the stony moorlands,
Through the rain and wind and dark
Loving Mary, praising Mary,
Lady Mary of the Park.
Poor men tramping, rich men riding,
All Our Lady came to greet:
Wife and widow, youth and maiden,
Gathered at the virgin's feet.
Of God's justice she is mirror,
Of his covenant the ark,
Blessed Mary, Holy Mary,
Lady Mary of the Park
Grazing deer deep in the forest
Heard the pilgrims" joyful song,
And the birds among the branches
Sang in chorus with the throng:
Wren and robin, thrush and blackbird:
And the heavenward-soaring lark
Sang to Mary, Blessed Mary
Lady Mary of the Park.
Now returning, we will praise thee,
For the peril is long past.
Come again O Blessed Mother
And reclaim thy shrine at last.
To the promised Land in safety
God has brought his sacred Ark,
And we praise thee, Blessed Mary,
Lady Mary of the Park
Found While Looking for Something Else
Gregorian Chant in . . . Arkansas
Blessed John Larke
A Game?
Iwo Jima -- 60 Years On
Lætare Sunday
Strictly speaking, [says the Catholic Encyclopædia,] the Thursday before Laetare Sunday is the middle day of Lent, and it was at one time observed as such, but afterwards the special signs of joy permitted on this day, intended to encourage the faithful in their course through the season of penance, were transferred to the Sunday following. They consist of (like those of Gaudete Sunday in Advent) in the use of flowers on the altar, and of the organ at Mass and Vespers; rose-coloured vestments also allowed instead of purple, and the deacon and subdeacon wear dalmatics, instead of folded chasubles as on the other Sundays of Lent.
Other names applied to it were Refreshment Sunday, or the Sunday of the Five Loaves, from a miracle recorded in the Gospel; Mid-Lent, mi-carême, or mediana; and Mothering Sunday, in allusion to the Epistle, which indicates our right to be called the sons of God as the source of all our joy, and also because formerly the faithful used to make their offerings in the cathedral or mother-church on this day. This latter name is still kept up in some remote parts of England, though the reason for it has ceased to exist.
Piping in Unexpected Places
"What did one do before tea was invented? I thank God I was not born before tea."-The Rev. Sidney Smith
The Venerable Nicholas Horner
Crossing the Tiber
St John the Baptist Church, Lound, Suffolk
Eatcher heart out, America