As a Benedictine Oblate, it was with great joy that I read this article on the discovery of ancient relics, including one of our Holy Father, St. Benedict: The new medieval gallery at the British Museum is full of beautiful images of saints in ivory, stone, gold and wood – but invisible to visitors, it also holds the bones of 39 real saints, whose discovery came as a shock to their curator. The relics, packed in tiny bundles of cloth... Read more
This is awesome: Came to it via the invaluable Gerald Warner. Here in the United States, land of the First Amendment and free speech, it is right now unthinkable that anyone would stand up in a political chamber and speak so forthrightly. I mean…can you imagine someone in our Congress or Senate actually standing up with a chart like this, and daring to talk to Obama about his “inherited” debt? Well…we are a nation being hastily (and cheaply) scrubbed and... Read more
“The Angel of the Lord appeared unto Mary,” R: And she conceived by the Holy Spirit — The Angelus A nearby parish rings the Angelus bells twice a day, and I love it. Sometimes in Manhattan, you can hear a church ringing the Angelus. People hurry by; possibly few of them even hear the bells, and those who do may think they are simply tolling 6PM, or noon. The Angelus is a devotion of the Church. At the tolling of... Read more
Now, now, I’m not calling President Obama the devil. Or, for that matter, “the devil’s own.” I’m just thinking of my Auntie Lillie, who would not be at all happy to hear that Obama will be speaking at the commencement for Notre Dame, where he will receive an honorary doctorate in law. Auntie’s take on it, I’m quite sure, would be something like, “…and isn’t Old Scatch stampin’ his foot in glee to have his own one standin’ in the... Read more
Funny…when I saw this headline at Drudge: Obama Seeks Expanded Power to Seize Firms. I misread it and thought it said: Obama Seeks Expanded Power to Seize Arms. That, of course, will come soon enough. For now, he wants all the control over all the money. We are in terrible trouble, you know. As Instapundit writes: Insulation from the political process is only important when there’s a Republican in the White House. Read more
Please pray for Heather, who is pregnant and now diagnosed with what seems to be an aggressive cancer. She is taking light radiation (with protection for the baby) and responding well to that, but she has a long way to go. Doctors hope to take the baby in April, provided its lungs can handle it. This young woman, her baby and her family, need lots of prayers. Congrats to Ann Althouse who has gone and gotten engaged to a fella... Read more
I have written a few times about how socialistic, totalitarian governments tend to go after people of faith – to try to suppress them – and they specifically (and usually pretty quickly) also move to shut down the monastics and vowed religious, and leave them bereft of community. I suspect part of the reason they try to shut down the monasteries – aside from their usual statements demanding “unity and usefulness,” and even apart from the fact that such governments... Read more
I’m adding two new blogs to the blogroll and wanted to introduce them to you. First up, feed the body…I’m seriously thinking about making this Pasta Prima Vera recipe for tomorrow, even if it will kill me. Reader Dick T. introduced me to the Pioneer Woman and I curse him for it, even as I laugh. But really – she does wonderful recipes, often with step-by-step illustrations, and she’s a riot to read, as well. Reading her is like reading... Read more
Regular readers know I never use these GOP Things that get sent my way, but I liked this one. Great music, even if the lyrics are deplorable. The film is rolling, and some are starting to wonder if it is curtains for America? As an aghast world — from China to Chicago and Chihuahua — watches, the circus-like U.S. political system seems to be declining into near chaos. Through it all, stock and financial markets are paralyzed. The more the... Read more
Here is the Podcast of the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, which are ordinarily prayed on Thursdays in Ordinary Time, but as with any of the mysteries, you can pray whichever one the Spirit is leading you to pray. Many Catholics have difficulty remembering the Luminous Mysteries as they are fairly new – instituted by Pope John Paul II. Moving on from the infancy and the hidden life in Nazareth to the public life of Jesus, our contemplation brings us... Read more
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