August 17, 2002
A Plan for Spam
Paul Graham has a plan for spam. A fascinating article on his statistical approach to spam filtering.
Alex Schroeder has already written an emacs lisp implementation of Graham's method.
Carmelite Saints and Blesseds
In honor of the folks visiting from Steven Riddle's excellent blog Flos Carmeli, here's a website detailing all the Carmelite saints, blesseds, venerables and servants of God.
Saturday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Second Reading from the Office of Readings of the Liturgy of the Hours for Saturday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
From a sermon on Baptism by St. Pacian, bishop
Who, O God, is like You? You take away guilt
As we have borne the image of the earthly man, so we shall bear the image of him who is from heaven; since the first man who came from the earth, is earthly, but the second man who came from heaven, is heavenly. And so, dearly beloved, we shall not die anymore. Even if we fall asleep in this body, we shall live in Christ, as he said: Whoever believes in me, even if he die, shall live.
As the Lord is our witness, we are certain that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and all saints of God are alive. For concerning them the Lord says: They are all alive. For God is a God of the living, not of the dead. And the Apostle says of himself: For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. I would rather die and be with Christ. And again: But while we are still in this body we are away from God, for we are guided by faith, and not by appearance. This is what we believe, dearest brothers. For the rest: If we place our hope in this world, we are the most miserable of men. Life in this world, whether it be that of beasts, wild animals or birds, as you yourself see, is either similar to ours or more tedious. What is peculiar to man, and what Christ gives through his Spirit, is eternal life, but only if we sin no more. Thus death is acquired by sin but avoided by right living; life is lost through sin and preserved through good living. The wages of sin is death; the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
It is Christ who redeemed us, as the Apostle says: Forgiving us all our sins and destroying what was recorded against us by disobedience, he bore our burden in public view, fixed it to the cross, stripped his own flesh, exposed the powers of this world and freely conquered them in himself. He released our shackles and destroyed our chains, as David had said: The Lord lifts up what has been torn down; the Lord frees those in shackles; the Lord gives light to the blind. And again: You have destroyed my chains; I will offer sacrifice to you with praise. And so when we come to the sign of the Lord in the sacrament of baptism we are freed of these chains and liberated by the blood of Christ and by his name.
Therefore, beloved, we are washed clean but once; we are freed only once; we are received into the immortal kingdom once and for all. Once and for all are they happy whose sins are forgiven and whose stains are blotted out. Hold fast to what you have received; preserve it joyfully; sin no more. Keep yourselves as children cleansed by that sacrament and made spotless for the day of the Lord.
RESPONSORY - 1 Corinthians 15:47, 49; Colossians 3:9, 10
The first man was formed from the dust of the earth;
the second man is from heaven.
--Just as we resemble the man of dust,
so we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
You have stripped off your old self and have become a new man,
and you advance toward true knowledge
the more you are formed anew
in the image of your Creator.
--Just as we resemble the man of dust,
so we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
PRAYER
Almighty and ever-living God,
your Spirit made us your children,
confident to call you Father.
Increase your Spirit within us
and bring us to our promised inheritance.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Let us praise the Lord.
--And give him thanks.
The Seventeenth Day of August
The Octave of St. Laurence, martyr. A memory.
At Cracow in Poland, St. Hyacinth, confessor, of the Order of Preachers. Having received the religious habit from the hands of our Father St. Dominic, he excelled in learning and in a life of admirable innocence. He was celebrated for the glory of his miracles, especially for walking dryshod across wide rivers. Thought deserving of sweet converse with the holy Mother of God, distinguished for his spotless life, and filled with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, he died at an advanced age. He was called to his eternal reward on the very feastday of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He was canonized by Pope Clement VIII. A totum duplex feast of the second class.
At Carthage in Africa, the holy martyrs Liberatus, abbot, Boniface, a deacon, Servus and Rusticus, subdeacons, Rogatus and Septimus, monks, and the boy Maximus. In the Vandal persecution under King Hunneric, they were subjected to various unheard-of tortures for confessing the Catholic faith and defending one baptism. Last of all, they were nailed to the planks with which they were to be burned. Although the fire was kindled again and again, every time it was miraculously extinguished. By the command of the King, they then were slain by being beaten with the handles of oars until their brains were dashed out. Thus, crowned by the Lord, they fulfilled the remarkable course of their trial.
In Achaia, St. Myron, priest and martyr, who was beheaded at Cyzicus after many tortures, at the time of the Emperor Decius and the governor Antipater.
At Caesarea in Cappadocia, the birthday of St. Mamas, martyr, the son of SS. Theodotus and Rufina, martyrs. Under the governor Alexander, at the command of Aurelian, he suffered a prolonged martyrdom from childhood to old age, and at length happily completed it. The holy fathers Basil and Gregory Nazianzen celebrated him with great praise.
At Nicomedia, the holy martyrs Strato, Philip, and Eutychian. They were condemned to the beasts, but, remaining unhurt, their martyrdom was finished by fire.
At Ptolemais in Palestine, the suffering of the holy martyrs Paul and his sister Juliana, virgin. In the reign of the Emperor Aurelian, they were both punished with various cruel tortures and finally beheaded for their constancy in confessing the name of Christ.
At Rome, St. Eusebius, pope.
At Teramo (in Italy), St. Anastasius, bishop and confessor.
At Montefalco in Umbria, the virgin St. Clare, nun of the Order of Hermits of St. Augustine. On her heart, which the faithful honor with great devotion, were renewed the mysteries of the Lord's passion. The Sovereign Pontiff, Leo XIII solemnly inscribed her in the list of the holy virgins.
V. And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
R. Thanks be to God.
August 16, 2002
The Apotheosis of Elvis
After hearing NPR's hagiographical account of the life and death of Elvis Presley, I'm wondering when we'll begin seeing black velvet renditions of the Apotheosis of the King, ascending to the right hand of his Father in glory. Sheesh.
As my wife noted today, the media coverage, especially the interviews of poor dopes hanging out at Graceland, shows that folks who don't have a liturgical calendar really have a deep need for one; people who have no saints to venerate will nevertheless venerate.
Benedict, Dominic and the Fathers
John DaFiesole described his incarnational method of praying the Liturgy of the Hours, which reminds me of a new book from Ignatius Press, "Earthen Vessels: The Practice of Personal Prayer According to the Patristic Tradition", written by Fr. Gabriel Bunge, O.S.B. Father Bunge is a Benedictine hermit living in Switzerland, and is steeped in the writings of the Greek Fathers of the Church.
His book introduces the ancient patristic way of prayer, which integrated contemplation and action through various physical gestures during prayer: facing east, hands outstreched, prostrations, various gestures appropriate to the liturgical season - for example, more kneeling and prostrations during penitential seasons. Along the way he demolishes the idea that Eastern meditation techniques are compatible with Christian prayer. Lotsa citations of Evagrius Ponticus.
Sounds a bit like Saint Dominic's nine ways of prayer, doesn't it?
Saint Rose of Lima on Suffering
Mark Shea echoes the Dominican Saint Rose of Lima when he says "that our light and momentary sufferings are winning for us an eternal weight of glory..."
Here's the full scoop from Saint Rose (just a bit early as her feast is celebrated on August 23, a week from today):
Second Reading from the Office of Readings of the Liturgy of the Hours for August 23, Optional Memorial of Rose of Lima, virgin
Saint Rose was born at Lima, Peru in 1586. She led a virtuous life at home and, after receiving the habit of the Third Order of Saint Dominic, she made great progress in a life of penance and contemplation. She died August 24, 1617.
From the writings of Saint Rose of Lima, virgin
(Ad medicum Castillo: edit. L. Getino, La Patrona de America, Madrid 1928, pp. 54-55)
Let us know the love of Christ which surpasses all knowledge
Our Lord and Savior lifted up his voice and said with incomparable majesty: "Let all men know that grace comes after tribulation. Let them know that without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the height of grace. Let them know that the gifts of grace increase as the struggles increase. Let men take care not to stray and be deceived. This is the only true stairway to paradise, and without the cross they can find no road to climb to heaven."
When I heard these words, a strong force came upon me and seemed to place me in the middle of a street, so that I might say in a loud voice to people of every age, sex and status: "Hear, O people; hear, O nations. I am warning you about the commandment of Christ by using words that came from his own lips: We cannot obtain grace unless we suffer afflictions. We must heap trouble upon trouble to attain a deep participation in the divine nature, the glory of the sons of God and perfect happiness of soul."
That same force strongly urged me to proclaim the beauty of divine grace. It pressed me so that my breath came slow and forced me to sweat and pant. I felt as if my soul could no longer be kept in the prison of the body, but that it had burst its chains and was free and alone and was going very swiftly through the whole world saying:
"If only mortals would learn how great it is to possess divine grace, how beautiful, how noble, how precious. How many riches it hides within itself, how many joys and delights! Without doubt they would devote all their care and concern to winning for themselves pains and afflictions. All men throughout the world would seek trouble, infirmities and torments, instead of good fortune, in order to attain the unfathomable treasure of grace. This is the reward and the final gain of patience. No one would complain about his cross or about troubles that may happen to him, if he would come to know the scales on which they are weighed when they are distributed to men."
RESPONSORY - 1 Corinthians 1:27, 28-29; Psalm 138:6
To shame the wise, God chose what the world considers foolish.
God chose those who were nothing at all
to humble those who were everything
--so that no one might boast in his presence.
Though the Lord is exalted,
he cares for the lowly,
but the proud he looks down on from afar.
--So that no one might boast in his presence.
PRAYER
God our Father,
for love of you
Saint Rose gave up everything
to devote herself to a life of penance.
By the help of her prayers
may we imitate her selfless way of life on earth
and enjoy the fullness of your blessings in heaven
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Let us praise the Lord.
--And give him thanks.
Republic vs. Empire
Some of you may know Robert Waldrop from the old CatholiCity y2k list. This just in from Robert, of the Oscar Romero Catholic Worker House in Oklahoma City:
We have a new website, http://stopspendingstopwar.org. It's kind of a distributist plot to defend the republic against the empire. ("Kind of" he says.) Pass the word along.
Here is Robert's other website.
He's sort of an orthodox radical liberal conservative, or something :-) which just goes to show that sometimes those labels don't make much sense. How about distributist? That probably covers it pretty well.
I Killed Elvis
As Amy Welborn asks, Where were you when you heard the news? I was on the couch in our living room one evening when Mom came home and told me what had happened. It was pretty big news for an 11-year-old fan.
By the way, the mysterious circumstances of his death can now be revealed: I killed Elvis. I somehow discovered his music in 4th or 5th grade and became a big fan, then he died. I became a Keith Green fan, then he died. I became a John Lennon fan, you know the story. Years later I discovered Stevie Ray Vaughn, then his helicopter crashed. I rediscovered George Harrison's music and he up and died. Fortunately, Patrick O'Brien was already dead when I discovered his books. It's a miracle that Johnny Cash has survived this long - he should have keeled over around 1970 when I first started listening to his music.
The Sixteenth Day of August
The Sixteenth Day of August
St. Joachim, father of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. His birthday is noted on March 20. A totum duplex feast of the second class.
At Rome, St. Titus, deacon, who, when the city was occupied by the Goths, distributed his wealth to the poor, and was commanded by a heathen tribune to be slain.
At Nicaea in Bithynia, St. Diomede, physician, who, in the persecution of Diocletian was slain with the sword for the faith of Christ, and so fulfilled his martyrdom.
In Palestine, thirty-three holy martyrs.
At Ferentino in the Hernican mountains, St. Ambrose the centurion. He was tortured in various ways in the persecution of Diocletian. When he passed through the fire unhurt, he was finally drowned and thus reached eternal rest.
At Milan, the death of St. Simplician, bishop, made famous by the testimony of SS. Ambrose and Augustine.
At Auxerre (in Gaul), St. Eleutherius, bishop.
At Nicomedia, St. Arsacius, confessor. In the persecution of Licinius, he forsook the life of a soldier and lived as a solitary. He was adorned with so many virtues that he is said to have cast out demons and by prayer to have slain a huge snake. At last, after foretelling the future destruction of the city, he died while at prayer.
At Montpellier in Gaul, the death of St. Roch, confessor. He freed many towns of Italy from the plague by the sign of the cross. His body was later taken to Venice, and buried with great honor in the church consecrated under his name.
At Rome, St. Serena, once the wife of the Emperor Diocletian.
V. And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
R. Thanks be to God.
Memorial of Saint Stephen of Hungary
Second Reading from the Office of Readings of the Liturgy of the Hours for August 16, the Optional Memorial of Stephen of Hungary
From admonitions to his son by Saint Stephen
(Cap. 1. 2. 10: PL 151, 1236-1237. 1242-1244)
Son, listen to your father's instruction
My dearest son, if you desire to honor the royal crown, I advise, I counsel, I urge you above all things to maintain the Catholic and apostolic faith with such diligence and care that you may be an example for all those placed under you by God and that all the clergy may rightly call you a man of true Christian profession. Failing to do this, you may be sure that you will not be called a Christian or a son of the Church. Indeed, in the royal palace-after the faith itself-the Church holds second place, first propagated as she was by our head, Christ; then transplanted, firmly constituted and spread through the whole world by his members, the apostles and holy fathers. And though she always produced fresh offspring, nevertheless in certain places she is regarded as ancient.
However, dearest son, even now in our kingdom the Church is proclaimed as young and newly planted; and for that reason she needs more prudent and trustworthy guardians lest a benefit which the divine mercy bestowed on us undeservedly should be destroyed and annihilated through your idleness, indolence or neglect.
My beloved son, delight of my heart, hope of your posterity, I pray, I command, that at every time and in everything, strengthened by your devotion to me, you may show favor not only to relations and kin, or to the most eminent, be they leaders or rich men or neighbors or fellow-countrymen, but also to foreigners and to all who come to you. By fulfilling your duty in this way you will reach the highest state of happiness. Be merciful to all who are suffering violence, keeping always in your heart the example of the Lord who said: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. Be patient with everyone, not only with the powerful, but also with the weak.
Finally be strong lest prosperity lift you up too much or adversity cast you down. Be humble in this life, that God may raise you up in the next. Be truly moderate and do not punish or condemn anyone immoderately. Be gentle so that you may never oppose justice. Be honorable so that you may never voluntarily bring disgrace upon anyone. Be chaste so that you may avoid all the foulness of lust like the pangs of death.
All these virtues I have noted above make up the royal crown and without them no one is fit to rule here on earth or attain to the heavenly kingdom.
RESPONSORY - Tobit 4:8-9; Sirach 35:11, 12
Give alms in proportion to your means;
--if you have many possessions, give generously;
if you have little, give some of what you have.
And when you give, give with a cheerful face;
give to the Most High as he has given to you.
--If you have many possessions, give generously;
if you have little, give some of what you have.
PRAYER
Almighty Father,
grant that Saint Stephen of Hungary,
who fostered the growth of your Church on earth,
may continue to be our powerful helper in heaven.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Let us praise the Lord.
--And give him thanks.
August 15, 2002
The Fifteenth Day of August
The Assumption of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God. A totum duplex feast of the first class with a solemn octave.
At Cracow in Poland, the birthday of St. Hyacinth, confessor, of the Order of Preachers, whom the Sovereign Pontiff Clement VIII canonized. His feast is kept on August 17,
At Albareale in Hungary, St. Stephen, King of Hungary. He was adorned with divine virtues, and was the first to convert the Hungarians to the faith of Christ. He was received into heaven by the Virgin Mother of God on the very day of her Assumption. His feast is kept, by an ordinance of Pope Innocent XI, on September 2, on which day the strongly-fortified city of Buda, by the aid of the holy King, was recaptured by the Christian army.
At Rome, on the Appian Way, St. Tarsicius, acolyte. The heathens detected him bearing the Sacrament of the Body of Christ, and asked what it was that he carried. But he deemed it an unworthy thing to cast pearls before swine, and was therefore attacked by them for a long time with clubs and stones, until he died. When his body was searched, the sacrilegious assailants could find nothing of Christ's Sacrament in his hands or among his clothing. The Christians gathered up the body of the martyr, and buried it with honor in the cemetery of Callistus.
At Tagaste in Africa, St. Alipius, bishop. He had formerly been a disciple of St. Augustine, and afterwards his fellow-convert. He was also his colleague in the pastoral office, his zealous fellow-worker in his contest against the heretics, and lastly his associate in heavenly glory.
At Soissons in Gaul, St. Arnulf, bishop and confessor.
At Rome, the holy Polish confessor St. Stanislaus Kostka, a novice of the Society of Jesus. He was made perfect in a short time, and is everywhere renowned for his angelic innocence of life. He was numbered among the saints by the Sovereign Pontiff, Benedict XIII.
V. And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
R. Thanks be to God.
Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary
Second Reading of the Office of Readings of the Liturgy of the Hours for the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
From the apostolic constitution Munificentissimus Deus by Pope Pius XII
(AAS 42 [1950], 760-762. 767-769)
Your body is holy and excelling in splendor
In their homilies and sermons on this feast the holy fathers and great doctors spoke of the assumption of the Mother of God as something already familiar and accepted by the faithful. They gave it greater clarity in their preaching and used more profound arguments in setting out its nature and meaning. Above all, they brought out more clearly the fact that what is commemorated in this feast is not simply the total absence of corruption from the dead body of the Blessed Virgin Mary but also her triumph over death and her glorification in heaven, after the pattern set by her only Son, Jesus Christ.
Thus Saint John Damascene, preeminent as the great preacher of this truth of tradition, speaks with powerful eloquence when he relates the bodily assumption of the loving Mother of God to her other gifts and privileges: "It was necessary that she who had preserved her virginity inviolate in childbirth should also have her body kept free from all corruption after death. It was necessary that she who had carried the Creator as a child on her breast should dwell in the tabernacles of God. It was necessary that the bride espoused by the Father should make her home in the bridal chambers of heaven. It was necessary that she, who had gazed on her crucufied Son and been pierced in the heart by the sword of sorrow which she had escaped in giving him birth, should contemplate him seated with the Father. It was necessary that the Mother of God should share the possessions of her Son, and he venerated by every creature as the Mother and handmaid of God."
St. Germanus of Constantinople considered that it was in keeping not only with her divine motherhood but also with the unique sanctity of her virginal body that it was incorrupt and carried up to heaven: "In the words of Scripture, you appear in beauty. Your virginal body is entirely holy, entirely chaste, entirely the house of God, so that for this reason also it is henceforth a stranger to decay: a body changed, because a human body, to a preeminent life of incorruptibility, but still a living body, excelling in splendor, a body inviolate and sharing in the perfection of life."
Another early author declares: "Therefore, as the most glorious Mother of Christ, our God and Savior, giver of life and immortality, she is enlivened by him to share an eternal incorruptibility of body with him who raised her from the tomb and took her up to himself in a way he alone can tell."
All these reasonings and considerations of the holy Fathers rest on Scripture as their ultimate foundation. Scripture portrays the living Mother of God, almost before our very eyes, as most intimately united with her divine Son and always sharing in his destiny.
Above all, it must be noted that from the second century the holy Fathers present the Virgin Mary as the new Eve, most closely associated with the new Adam, though subject to him in the struggle against the enemy from the nether world. This struggle, as the first promise of a redeemer implies, was to end in perfect victory over sin and death, always linked together in the writings of the Apostle of the Gentiles. Therefore, just as the glorious resurrection of Christ was an essential part of this victory and its final trophy, so the struggle shared by the Blessed Virgin and her Son was to end in the glorification of her virginal body. As the same Apostle says: When this mortal body has clothed itself in immortality, then will be fulfilled the word of Scripture: Death is swallowed up in victory.
Hence, the august Mother of God, mysteriously united from all eternity with Jesus Christ in one and the same decree of predestination, immaculate in her conception, a virgin inviolate in her divine motherhood, the whole-hearted companion of the divine Redeemer who won complete victory over sin and its consequences, gained at last the supreme crown of her privileges - to be preserved immune from the corruption of the tomb, and, like her Son, when death had been conquered, to be carried up body and soul to the exalted glory of heaven, there to sit in splendor at the right hand of her Son, the immortal King of the ages.
RESPONSORY
This is the glorious day,
on which the Virgin Mother of God was taken up to heaven;
let us sing these words in her praise:
--Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
Happy are you, holy Virgin Mary, and most worthy of all praise,
from your womb Christ the Sun of Justice has risen.
--Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
PRAYER
All-powerful and ever-living God,
you raised the sinless Virgin Mary,
mother of your Son,
body and soul to the glory of heaven.
May we see heaven as our final goal
and come to share her glory.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Let us praise the Lord.
--And give him thanks.
August 14, 2002
Cultural Debris
I first read this essay in the late 1980s and it's had a lasting effect on me. Even then, long before marriage and children, I hoped I could be engaged in the "pious tailoring" that Kirk praises here. For me, this essay ranks up there with Dorothy Sayers' "The Lost Tools of Learning" as one of the important foundational essays of modern homeschooling. While I think Kirk could have profited from a reading of Hilaire Belloc's works on the history of Christendom and avoided his "Rome is dead and gone" tone, this is still a valuable essay on what we're all about.
(Please forgive any typos - I typed in a hurry while I should have been cooking supper :-)
Originally published in Russell Kirk's quarterly, Modern Age, and reprinted in his book The Intemperate Professor, and Other Cultural Splenetics (Baton Rouge, 1965), pp. 160-163. Italics are indicated by angle brackets.
Cultural Debris - Russell Kirk
We live in a world that is giving at the seams. Sometimes, indeed -- especially to a man who travels a good deal -- there comes an uneasy feeling that the garment of civilization has already parted; and that if one were to tug even the least bit, a sleeve or a trouser leg of our social fabric would come away in his hand. In half the world, the decent draperies of the old order have been burnt altogether, and King Demos struts naked, like the emperor with his imaginary new clothes. When the garment of civilization is worn out, we are confronted by the ugly spectacle of naked power.
Yet cheerfulness will keep breaking in. At this hour when Communists and other totalists are busy ripping to shreds the "wardrobe of a moral imagination," certain people of a different cast of mind have turned tailors, doing their best to stitch together once more the fragments of that serviceable old suit we variously call "Christian civilization" or "Western civilization" or "the North Atlantic community" or "the free world." Not by force of arms are civilizations held together, but by the subtle threads of moral and intellectual principle.
Some years ago, I was in Europe participating in two international conferences, intended to help in this pious tailoring. Between sessions, I tramped about England and Scotland with an American friend, an executive in a great industrial corporation. Being something of a classical scholar, my friend collects sixteenth- and seventeenth-century editions of Latin works -- particularly Cicero and Seneca -- and pokes happily about Roman remains.
We found for his library, in the dusty caverns of Scottish secondhand bookshops, a number of admirable things at trifling prices. There lay the noble elephant folio of Strabo, in two immense volumes, at a mere thirty-five shillings; and the Strawberry Hill edition of Lucan, beautifully bound, at five guineas; and a twelve-volume set of Cicero for a pound. In an age of progressive inflation, one commodity alone remains stable, or increases little in price: classical works. At the devil's booth in Vanity Fair, every cup of dross may find its ounce of gold; but the one thing which Lucifer can't sell nowadays is classical learning. Who wants Latin texts? No twentieth-century Faustus disposes of his immortal soul for mere abstract knowledge. The copies of Strabo and Lucan and Cicero for which a Schoolman might have risked his life ten times over are now a drug on the market. As my friend remarked to me, "These things are cultural debris. It's as if a great ship had sunk, but a few trifles of flotsam had bubbled up from the hulk and were drifting on the surface of the great deep. Who wants this sea drift? Not the sharks. You and I are rowing about in a small boat, collecting the bits of debris."
Whether our civilization really retains coherence sufficient for restoration to be possible may be made clear to all thinking men within a few years. If the fabric of our ancient society has declined to the condition of a mere scattering of debris, all the tailors in the world cannot put it aright -- nor all the beachcombers live by raking the sand for its vestiges. The totalists say that the old order is a corpse, and that man and society must be fashioned afresh, in grim fashion, upon a grim plan. Yet there survive among us some people of intellectual power who hold that the wardrobe of our moral imagination is not yet altogether depleted.
Cant and equivocation dismissed, it seems to me that there are three great bodies of principle and conviction which tie together what is called modern civilization. The first of these is the Christian faith: theological and moral doctrines which inform us, either side of the Atlantic, of the nature of God and man, the fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, human dignity, the rights and duties of human persons, the nature of charity, and the meaning of hope and resignation. The second of these is the corpus of imaginative literature, humane letters, which is the essence of our high culture: humanism, which, with Christian faith, teaches us our powers and our limitations -- the work of Plato, Virgil, Cicero, Dante, Shakespeare, and so many others. The third is a complex of social and political institutions which we may call the reign of law, or ordered liberty: prescription, precedent, impartial justice, private rights, private property, the character of genuine community, the claims of the family and of voluntary association. However much these three bodies of conviction have been injured by internecine disputes, nihilism, Benthamism, the cult of Rationalism, Marxism, and other modern afflictions, they remain the rocks upon which our civilization is built.
Well, presently my classics-collecting friend and I walked some miles of Hadrian's Wall, away at the back of beyond in Northumberland. Here, for centuries, Romanitas and humanitas looked northward into barbarism. It is an empty country still, much of it; Pictish hill forts still scowl almost within bowshot of the Roman masonry. To the men of the legions, garrisoned here generation upon generation, it must have seemed -- even toward the end -- that indeed Rome was immortal; and that the barbarian, however vexatious he might be in one year or another, never could give the death thrust to a civilization which extended from Mesopotamia to Pictland, from the Sahara to the Rhine.
Yet in the fullness of time, when the common faith of the Roman world had lost its virtue, the Picts came over the wall. The end of Roman civilization was as abrupt as its beginning had been slow.
In material accomplishments, the barbarians never equalled the Romans; nor had they need to. They possessed the will to endure and in the end the Romans lacked that will. So all that remains of the material achievement of Roman civilization is some fragments of cultural debris: a few coins, a smashed helmet, scattered beads, a ruined wall, a battered stone head. And as for the Roman moral and intellectual accomplishment, it is sold nowadays for a price not much superior to that of wastepaper.
Once we put some value upon our Roman heritage, and I hope we may do so again. Among us there still are men and women enough who know what makes life worth living -- enough of them to keep out the modern barbarian, if they are resolute. If they are enfeebled, and if they cannot make common cause, the garment of our civilization will slide to the rag bin, and the cultural debris of the twentieth century will drift down the rubbish heaps of the future. Not many years of indulgence, I fancy, remain to us. But -- as Henry Adams was fond of saying -- the fun is in the process.
Chesterton on "dead languages"
Ever been criticized for spending time on a "dead language"? Well, next time you are you can whip this out. Or something.
"It is not that Latin is a dead language and English is a living language: Latin is an immortal language and English is a dying language" -G. K. Chesterton
Barbecue Schmarbeque
So the store has boneless beef ribs on sale but you get home and find that there's no barbeque sauce handy? Get a bowl and mix ketchup, Worchestershire sauce and steak sauce. That's Bachelor 101. Then ask your wife to do a taste test and watch her add Vidalia onion salad dressing and (gasp!) applesauce. Tastes pretty darn good.
Picture search: St. Isidore of Seville
Websearch alert! Someone on a homeschooling list just asked for a picture of Saint Isidore of Seville. This is the only one I've been able to find on the net - are there more somewhere?
Memorial of Maximilian Kolbe
Second Reading from the Office of Readings of the Liturgy of the Hours for August 14, the Memorial of Maximilian Mary Kolbe, priest and martyr
From the Letters of Maximilian Mary Kolbe
(Scritti del P. Massimiliano M. Kolbe, Italian translation, vol. 1, pt. 1 [Padua, 1971], 75-77; 166 )
Apostolic zeal for the salvation and sanctification of souls
The burning zeal for God's glory that motivates you fills my heart with joy. It is sad for us to see in our own time that indifferentism in its many forms is spreading like an epidemic not only among the laity but also among religious. But God is worthy of glory beyond measure, and therefore it is of absolute and supreme importance to seek that glory with all the power of our feeble resources. Since we are mere creatures we can never return to him all that is his due.
The most resplendent manifestation of God's glory is the salvation of souls, whom Christ redeemed by shedding his blood. To work for the salvation and sanctification of as many souls as possible, therefore, is the preeminent purpose of the apostolic life. Let me, then, say a few words that may show the way toward achieving God's glory and the sanctification of many souls.
God, who is all-knowing and all-wise, knows best what we should do to increase his glory. Through his representatives on earth he continually reveals his will to us; thus it is obedience and obedience alone that is the sure sign to us of the divine will. A superior may, it is true, make a mistake; but it is impossible for us to be mistaken in obeying a superior's command. The only exception to this rule is the case of a superior commanding something that in even the slightest way would contravene God's law. Such a superior would not be conveying God's will.
God alone is infinitely wise, holy, merciful, our Lord, Creator, and Father; he is beginning and end, wisdom and power and love; he is all. Everything other than God has value to the degree that it is referred to him, the maker of all and our own redeemer, the final end of all things. It is he who, declaring his adorable will to us through his representatives on earth, draws us to himself and whose plan is to draw others to himself through us and to join us all to himself in an ever deepening love.
Look, then, at the high dignity that by God's mercy belongs to our state in life. Obedience raises us beyond the limits of our littleness and puts us in harmony with God's will. In boundless wisdom and care, his will guides us to act rightly. Holding fast to that will, which no creature can thwart, we are filled with unsurpassable strength.
Obedience is the one and the only way of wisdom and prudence for us to offer glory to God. If there were another, Christ would certainly have shown it to us by word and example. Scripture, however, summed up his entire life at Nazareth in the words: He was subject to them; Scripture set obedience as the theme of the rest of his life, repeatedly declaring that he came into the world to do his Father's will.
Let us love our loving Father with all our hearts. Let our obedience increase that love, above all when it requires us to surrender our own will. Jesus Christ crucified is our sublime guide toward growth in God's love.
We will learn this lesson more quickly through the Immaculate Virgin, whom God has made the dispenser of his mercy. It is beyond all doubt that Mary's will represents to us the will of God himself. By dedicating ourselves to her we become in her hands instruments of God's mercy even as she was such an instrument in God's hands. We should let ourselves be guided and led by Mary and rest quiet and secure in her hands. She will watch out for us, provide for us, answer our needs of body and spirit; she will dissolve all our difficulties and worries.
RESPONSORY - Ephesians 5:1-2; 6:6
Be imitators of God as his dear children.
Follow the way of love,
even as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us
as an offering to God.
--A gift of pleasing fragrance.
Do God's will with your whole heart as servants of Christ.
--A gift of pleasing fragrance.
PRAYER
Gracious God,
you filled your priest and martyr,
Saint Maximilian Kolbe,
with zeal for your house
and love for his neighbor.
Through the prayers of this devoted servant of Mary Immaculate,
grant that in our efforts to serve others for your glory
we too may become like Christ your Son,
who loved his own in the world even to the end,
and now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Let us praise the Lord.
--And give him thanks.
The Fourteenth Day of August
The Vigil of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
At Rome, the birthday of Blessed Eusebius, priest and confessor. He was imprisoned in a small room of his house by the Arian Emperor Constantius, for defending the Catholic faith. Persevering continually in prayer, he remained there (a prisoner) for seven months until he died. Two priests, Gregory and Orosius, took his body and buried it in the cemetery of Callistus on the Appian Way. A memory.
At Apamea in Syria, St. Marcellus, bishop and martyr. He broke to pieces a shrine of Jupiter and was slain by the outraged heathens.
At Todi in Umbria, St. Callistus, bishop and martyr,
In Illyria, St. Ursicius, martyr. After many and various torments was slain with the sword for Christ's name, under Maximian the Emperor and Aristides the governor.
In Africa, St. Demetrius, martyr.
On the island of Aegina, St. Athanasia, widow, famous for her observance of the monastic life and for the grace of miracles.
V. And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
R. Thanks be to God.
August 13, 2002
It's about dang time...
...someone ordained a skinny bishop: see the story and pictures at Gerard Serafin's fine blog.
This Just In
The Archbishop of Miami gives a sort of heads-up on the Internet. What it is, be careful, et cetera.
Blessed Titus Brandsma
Here's another entry for my still quite small webpage detailing the causes of various venerables and blesseds.
I read somewhere recently that someone has a picture of Bl. Titus at his desk, and it's a mess! Three cheers for sloppy saints!
Who reads Dutch? Is this the homepage for his canonization cause?
General Carmelite news with some mention of Bl. Titus
Short biography from Ireland's Brandsma Review.
Hard Day's Night
I've pulled two all-nighters in a row, followed by all day with the kids at home while Lisa works at the bookstore. The owners of the store are taking a short and well-deserved vacation and with my flexible schedule Lisa is able to cover for them. So the kids and I are organizing around the house, thanks to some good "clean-up" music: Jaco Pastorius's album Invitation, the Meat Puppets album Too High to Die and the Red Hot Chili Peppers album with their remake of Stevie Wonder's Higher Ground. What's it take to get on our playlist? You've gotta be at least as harmonically interesting as the Beatles.
P. J. O'Rourke, the anti-Puritan
There's a new interview in The Atlantic with P. J. O'Rourke, one of my favorite writers. An old quote: "Personally, I believe a rocking hammock, a good cigar, and a tall gin-and-tonic is the way to save the planet." More quotes here.
The Thirteenth Day of August
At Rome, Blessed Hippolytus, martyr. So glorious was his confession of faith, in the reign of the Emperor Valerian, that after the usual torments had been inflicted, his feet were tied to the necks of wild horses. Then he was cruelly dragged through briars and brambles until he died, his whole body having been torn to shreds. On the same day, Blessed Concordia, his nurse also suffered. Flogged with lead-tipped whips, she died ahead of him. Also nineteen others of his household were beheaded outside the Tiburtine Gate. All were buried with Hippolytus in the Veranian field. A feast of three lessons.
At Imola (in Italy), the birthday of St. Cassian, martyr. Because he refused to worship idols, the persecutor summoned those pupils to whom he had become hateful while teaching them, and gave them permission to kill St. Cassian. Although their hands were weak, the agony of the martyrdom was all the greater, being so long drawn out.
At Todi in Umbria, St. Cassian, bishop and martyr, under the Emperor Diocletian.
At Burgos in Spain, SS. Centolla and Helen, martyrs.
At Constantinople, St. Maximus, abbot, famous for his learning and zeal for Catholic truth. He fought strenuously against the Monothelites, and for that reason his hands and tongue were cut off by the heretical Emperor Constans. He was exiled to the Chersonese, and died there, celebrated for his glorious profession of faith. At that time, two of his disciples, both named Anastasius, and many others, also suffered various tortures and bitter exile.
At Tritzlar in Germany, St. Wigbert, priest and confessor.
At Rome the birthday of St. John Berchmans, a scholastic of the Society of Jesus, confessor. He was noted for his innocence of life and careful observance of religious discipline. He was canonized by the Sovereign Pontiff, Leo XIII.
At Poitiers in Gaul, St. Radegund, queen, whose life was resplendent with miracles and virtues.
V. And elsewhere many other holy martyrs, confessors, and holy virgins.
R. Thanks be to God.
Memorial of Saints Pontian and Hippolytus
Second Reading from the Office of Readings of the Liturgy of the Hours for August 13, the Optional Memorial of Pontian, pope and martyr, and Hippolytus, priest and martyr
saint Pontian was ordained bishop of Rome in 231. In 235 he was banished to Sardinia by the Emperor Maximinus, along with the priest Hippolytus. There he resigned from his office and later died. His body was buried in the cemetery of Saint Callistus, while the body of Hippolytus was buried in a cemetery along the Via Tiburtina. The Roman Church sanctioned devotion to both martyrs at the beginning of the fourth century.
From a letter by Saint Cyprian, bishop and martyr
(Epist. 10, 2-3. 5; CSEL 3, 491-492, 494-495)
Invincible faith
With what praises can I extol you, most valiant brothers? What words can I find to proclaim and celebrate your brave hearts and your persevering faith? Examined under the fiercest torture, you held out until your ordeal was consummated in glory; it was not you who yielded to the torments but rather the torments that yielded to you. No respite from pain was allowed by the instruments of your torture, but your very crowning signaled the end of pain. The cruel butchery was permitted to last the longer, not so that it might overthrow the faith that stood so firm, but rather that it might dispatch you, men of God, more speedily to the Lord.
The crowd in wonder watched God's heavenly contest, this spiritual battle that was Christ's. They saw his servants standing firm, free in speech, undefiled in heart, endowed with supernatural courage, naked and bereft of the weapons of this world, but as believers equipped with the arms of faith. Tortured men stood there stronger than their torturers; battered and lacerated limbs triumphed over clubs and claws that tore them.
Savage and prolonged beating could not overcome such invincible faith, even when the bodies of God's servants were so mangled that no whole members were left to suffer punishment, but only wounds remained. Enough blood flowed to quench the fire of persecution, a glorious river to cool even the burning heat of hell. What a divine display it was, how sublime and magnificent! How pleasing did the sworn allegiance and loyalty of his soldiers render the dead in God's sight! In the psalms, where the Holy Spirit speaks to us and counsels us, it is written: Precious in the sight of God is the death of his holy ones. Rightly is that death called "precious," for at the price of blood it purchased immortality and won God's crown through the ultimate act of courage.
How happy Christ was to be there, how gladly he fought and conquered in such servants! He protects their faith and gives strength to believers in proportion to the trust that each man who receives that strength is willing to place in him. Christ was there to wage his own battle; he aroused the soldiers who fought for his name; he made them spirited and strong. And he who once for all has conquered death for us, now continually conquers in us.
How blessed is this Church of ours, so honored and illuminated by God and ennobled in these our days by the glorious blood of martyrs! In earlier times it shone white with the good deeds of our brethren, and now it is adorned with the red blood of martyrs. It counts both lilies and roses among its garlands. Let each of us, then, strive for the highest degree of glory, whichever be the honor for which he is destined; may all Christians be found worthy of either the pure white crown of a holy life or the royal red crown of martyrdom.
RESPONSORY
We are warriors now, fighting on the battlefield of faith, and God
sees all we do;
the angels watch and so does Christ.
--What honor and glory and joy to do battle in the presence of God,
and to have Christ approve our victory.
Let us arm ourselves in full strength
and prepare ourselves for the ultimate struggle
with blameless hearts, true faith and unyielding courage.
--What honor and glory and joy to do battle in the presence of God,
and to have Christ approve our victory.
PRAYER
Lord,
may the loyal suffering of your saints, Pontian and Hippolytus,
fill us with your love,
and make our hearts steadfast in faith.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Let us praise the Lord.
--And give him thanks.
