More light in Bright Week

from St. Ambrose's mystagogical teachings

Today: why the newly-illumined are dressed in white.

After this white robes were given to you as a sign that you were putting off the covering of sins, and putting on the chaste veil of innocence, of which the prophet said: "Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be cleansed, Thou shalt wash me and I shall be made whiter than snow." For he who is baptized is seen to be purified both according to the Law and according to the Gospel: according to the Law, because Moses sprinkled the blood of the lamb with a bunch of hyssop; according to the Gospel, because Christ's garments were white as snow, when in the Gospel He showed forth the glory of His Resurrection. He, then, whose guilt is remitted is made whiter than snow. So that God said by Isaiah: "Though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow."

The Church, having put on these garments through the layer of regeneration, says in the Song of Songs: "I am black and comely, O daughters of Jerusalem." Black through the frailty of her human condition, comely through the sacrament of faith. And the daughters of Jerusalem beholding these garments say in amazement "Who is this that cometh up made white?" She was black, how is she now suddenly made white?

The angels, too, were in doubt when Christ arose; the powers of heaven were in doubt when they saw that flesh was ascending into heaven. Then they said: "Who is this King of glory?" And whilst some said "Lift up your gates, O princes, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in." In Isaiah, too, we find that the powers of heaven doubted and said: "Who is this that cometh up from Edom, the redness of His garments is from Bosor, He who is glorious in white apparel?"

But Christ, beholding His Church, for whom He Himself, as you find in the book of the prophet Zechariah, had put on filthy garments, now clothed in white raiment, seeing, that is, a soul pure and washed in the layer of regeneration, says: "Behold, thou art fair, My love, behold thou art fair, thy eyes are like a dove's," in the likeness of which the Holy Spirit descended from heaven. The eyes are beautiful like those of a dove, because in the likeness of a dove the Holy Spirit descended from heaven.

And farther on: "Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are shorn, which are come up from the pool, which all bear twins, and none is barren among them, thy lips are as a cord of scarlet." This is no slight praise. First by the pleasing comparison to those that are shorn; for we know that goats both feed in high places without risk, and securely find their food in rugged places, and then when shorn are freed from what is superfluous, The Church is likened to a flock of these, having in itself the many virtues of those souls which through the layer lay aside the superfluity of sins, and offer to Christ the mystic faith and the grace of good living, which speak of the cross of the Lord Jesus.

The Church is beautiful in them. So that God the Word says to her: "Thou art all fair, My love, and there is no blemish in thee," for guilt has been washed away. "Come hither from Lebanon, My spouse, come hither from Lebanon, from the beginning of faith wilt thou pass through and pass on," because, renouncing the world, she passed through things temporal and passed on to Christ. And again, God the Word says to her: "How beautiful and sweet art thou made, O love, in thy delights! Thy stature is become like that of a palm-tree, and thy breasts like bunches of grapes."

And the Church answers Him, "Who will give Thee to me, my Brother, that didst suck the breasts of my mother? If I find Thee without, I will kiss Thee, and indeed they will not despise me. I will take Thee, and bring Thee into the house of my mother; and into the secret chamber of her that conceived me. Thou shalt teach me." You see how, delighted with the gifts of grace, she longs to attain to the innermost mysteries, and to consecrate all her affections to Christ. She still seeks, she still stirs up His love, and asks of the daughters of Jerusalem to stir it up for her, and desires that by their beauty, which is that of faithful souls, her spouse may be incited to ever richer love for her.

So that the Lord Jesus Himself, invited by such eager love and by the beauty of comeliness and grace, since now no offences pollute the baptized, says to the Church: "Place Me as a seal upon thy heart, as a signet upon thine arm;" that is, thou art comely, My beloved, thou art all fair, nothing is wanting to thee. Place Me as a seal upon thine heart, that thy faith may shine forth in the fullness of the sacrament. Let thy works also shine and set forth the image of God in Whose image thou wast made. Let no persecution lessen thy love, which many waters cannot quench, nor many rivers drown.

And then remember that you received the seal of the Spirit; the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and godliness, and the spirit of holy fear, and preserved what you received. God the Father sealed you, Christ the Lord strengthened you, and gave the earnest of the Spirit in your heart, as you have learned in the lesson from the Apostle.
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Anoint the Anointed One

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Anoint the Anointed One: My father +Timothy's Chrism Mass Homily

[This is the homily we heard last Tuesday. Remember, thou shalt not covet thy neighbors' bishops! And, don't gripe at me --- I can't help it that we have three bishops with shepherd's hearts here, I can only give thanks for it!]

Like the eyes of all in the synagogue at Nazareth, our eyes are on Jesus.

Jesus is the “anointed one,” the Christ; Jesus is the oil, the balm, the ointment, the consolation, the healing sent by the Father to us.

This evening, with the celebration of His paschal mystery so near, we praise the Father that the anointing He gave His Son continues in His Church, sacramentally through the oil of catechumens, oil of the sick, and sacred chrism; ministerially through the apostolates of those who share in the sacrament of Holy Orders as bishops, priests, and deacons, and in those consecrated in baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist, who are called to service in the Church. Thanks be to God that Jesus, the “anointed one,” Jesus, the oil, the balm, the ointment, the consolation, the healing, sent by the Father remains alive and active through the faithful ministry of His bishops, priests, deacons, and people called to service in His Church.

While heartily praising God for this ministry, I also invite you this evening to anoint the anointed one; I invite you to join the repentant woman in pouring nard on the feet of the Master; I invite you to help Joseph of Arimethea anoint the body of the Christ; I invite you to accompany the women early that first day of the week as they approached the tomb to anoint His body........

I invite you to anoint the broken, bruised, bleeding mystical body of Christ, the Church.

Our worshipping eyes are on Jesus, the anointed one; our grateful eyes are on those priests, deacons, and faithful who minister in His holy name; our loving eyes are on the bruised, bleeding, broken mystical body of Christ, His Church.

Like His mother and His beloved disciple, our patron, we behold His mystical body, His Church, on the cross. The Church is bloodied by division, bruised by scandal, broken by those who taunt her to “come down off the cross.”

Thus does the Church He loves, as His bride, the Church we love and serve, need anointing: with the oil of catechumens as she humbly rediscovers and renews her conversion through dying with Christ in a baptism of blood and suffering so she may rise with Him to a fresh, new, innocent, purified vigor; anointed with the oil of the sick as her wounds are cleansed, salved, and bandaged; anointed with sacred Chrism as she gratefully and confidently rises to her prophetic role as lumen gentium, light of the world.

It is His Church, not ours;
She hands on the faith of the apostles, not the fads of today;
She is ever ancient, ever new;
She is the communion of saints and the assembly of sinners;
Some sneer at her as old, infirm, out of it; some as brash, naïve, too novel;
She can frustrate and confound us;
She can move and excite us.

For we love the Church! One, holy, Catholic, and apostolic ....... We love the Church. And we are called to anoint her.

We often find ourselves saying with Carlo Caretto,

“How much I must criticize you, my Church, and yet how much I love you! You have made me suffer, and yet I owe more to you than to anyone. At times, I should like to see you destroyed, yet I so need your presence. You have scandalized me, and yet you alone have made me understand holiness. Never have I seen anything more compromised, yet never have I touched anything more pure, more generous, or more beautiful. Countless times have I felt like leaving you, yet every night I pray that I may die only in your warm, loving arms. No, I cannot be free of you, for I am one with you. Then, too, where would I go? To build another Church? I could not build one without the same defects, for they are my defects. It would then be my Church, not Christ’s. I am old enough to know better.”

My brothers and sisters in Christ: Love the Church! Anoint the bruised, bleeding, broken body of Christ! With de Lubac we ask, “For what would I know of Him without her?”
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A hymn I'd never seen

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A hymn I'd never seen or heard until I got a Sitemeter

It's always been interesting to me to peek in my referrer logs and see where folk come from and what kind of searches land people here. Of course there's the occasional really flaky search result having to do with "naked" (Pray Naked Experience, linked in the sidebar) and "raw" (Raw Faith, ditto) that I hope 1) don't find anything they're looking for here, and 2) maybe pick up a little spiritual itch from passing through.

But the most consistent "not here, sorry" search I get, every week at least once and some days a binge of them, is "will your anchor hold lyrics" and "hymn will your anchor hold". So, from now on, it'll no longer be "sorry, out of luck" because here it is:

Will Your Anchor Hold?

Will your anchor hold in the storms of life,
When the clouds unfold their wings of strife?
When the strong tides lift, and the cables strain,
Will your anchor drift, or firm remain?

Chorus:
We have an anchor that keeps the soul
steadfast and sure while the billows roll;
Fastened to the rock which cannot move,
Grounded firm and deep in the Saviour's love.

Will your anchor hold in the straits of fear,
When the breakers roar and the reef is near?
While the surges rage, and the wild winds blow,
Shall the angry waves then your bark o'erflow?

Chorus

Will your anchor hold in the floods of death,
When the waters cold chill your latest breath?
On the rising tide you can never fail,
While your anchor holds within the veil.

Chorus

Will your eyes behold through the morning light
The city of gold and the harbour bright?
Will you anchor safe by the heav'nly shore,
When life's stroms are past for evermore?

Chorus

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Welcome to Bright Week

when the Newly-Illumined, just a couple of days ago catechumens, find out just what's happened to them.

During the Vigil, when we dunked them in the baptistry, we threw them into the great deep Catholic sea, and they'd better learn how to swim in it. Sometimes it takes a while.

In the early times of the Church, it was even more so. In those days, only the baptised were allowed to know about or witness the Sacraments. The liturgy of the Word is also called the "Mass of the catechumens" because it was the only part they were allowed to be at. In the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom one can still hear the command "The doors! The doors!" when the catechumens and other unbaptised were escorted out and the doors closed and guarded so no unbaptised would witness or intrude upon the Sacrifice.

So, after being instructed in the Christian life and moral living, the catechumen would be brought to the Vigil not knowing what was going to happen to them, and both witness the Eucharist and receive It for the first time that night.

Then, clothed in their baptismal white garments (that they would wear all week), the bishop would instruct them about what had just happened to them, and especially about the sacraments; this instruction is called the mystagogia.

Following is the very beginning of the mystagogia as taught by St. Ambrose of Milan:

We gave a daily instruction on right conduct when the readings were taken from the history of the patriarchs or the maxims of Proverbs. These readings were intended to instruct and train you, so that you might grow accustomed to the ways of our forefathers, entering into their paths and walking in their footsteps, in obedience to God’s commands.

Now the season reminds us that we must speak of the mysteries, setting forth the meaning of the sacraments. If we had thought fit to teach these things to those not yet initiated through baptism, we should be considered traitors rather than teachers. Then, too, the light of the mysteries is of itself more effective where people do not know what to expect than where some instruction has been given beforehand.

Open then your ears. Enjoy the fragrance of eternal life, breathed on you by means of the sacraments. We explained this to you as we celebrated the mystery of “the opening” when we said: Effetha, that is, be opened. Everyone who was to come for the grace of baptism had to understand what he was to be asked, and must remember what he was to answer. This mystery was celebrated by Christ when he healed the man who was deaf and dumb, in the Gospel which we proclaimed to you.

After this, the holy of holies was opened up for you; you entered into the sacred place of regeneration. Recall what you were asked; remember what you answered. You renounced the devil and his works, the world and its dissipation and sensuality. Your words are recorded, not on a monument to the dead but in the book of the living.
There you saw the levite, you saw the priest, you saw the high priest. Do not consider their outward form but the grace given by their ministries. You spoke in the presence of angels, as it is written: The lips of a priest guard knowledge, and men seek the law from his mouth, for he is the angel of the Lord almighty. There is no room for deception, no room for denial. He is an angel whose message is the kingdom of Christ and eternal life. You must judge him, not by his appearance but by his office. Remember what he handed on to you, weigh up his value, and so acknowledge his standing.

You entered to confront your enemy, for you intended to renounce him to his face. You turned toward the east, for one who renounces the devil turns toward Christ and fixes his gaze directly on him.

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"I have seen the Lord!"

An apostle is an eyewitness to the Lord's resurrection. The first one, the one chosen to make that proclamation to the Eleven, was St. Mary Magdalen. In this image, she is giving her witness to the Eleven.

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This is the night, Christ is risen!

Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels! Exult, all creation around God's throne! Jesus Christ, our King, is risen! Sound the trumpet of salvation!

Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor, radiant in brightness of your King! Christ has conquered! Glory fills you! Darkness vanishes for ever!

Rejoice, O Mother Church! Exult in glory! The risen Saviour shines upon you! Let this place resound with joy, echoing the mighty song of all God's people!

My dearest friends, standing with me in this holy light, join me in asking God for mercy, that he may give his unworthy minister grace to sing his Easter praises.

It is truly right that with full hearts and minds and voices we should praise the unseen God, the all-powerful Father, and his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

For Christ has ransomed us with his blood, and paid for us the price of Adam's sin to our eternal Father!

This is our passover feast, when Christ, the true Lamb, is slain, whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers.

This is the night when first you saved our fathers: you freed the people of Israel from their slavery and led them dry-shod through the sea.

This is the night when the pillar of fire destroyed the darkness of sin.

This is the night when Christians everywhere, washed clean of sin and freed from all defilement, are restored to grace and grow together in holiness.

This is the night when Jesus Christ broke the chains of death and rose triumphant from the grave.

What good would life have been to us, had Christ not come as our Redeemer?

Father, how wonderful your care for us! How boundless your merciful love! To ransom a slave you gave away your Son.

O Happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam, which gained for us so great a Redeemer!

Most blessed of all nights, chosen by God to see Christ rising from the dead!

Of this night scripture says: "The night will be as clear as day: it will become my light, my joy."

The power of this holy night dispels all evil, washes guilt away, restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy; it casts out hatred, brings us peace, and humbles earthly pride.

Night truly blessed when heaven is wedded to earth and men and women are reconciled with God!

Therefore, heavenly Father, in the joy of this night, receive our evening sacrifice of praise, your Church's solemn offering.

Accept this Easter candle, a flame divided but undimmed, a pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God.

Let it mingle with the lights of heaven and continue bravely burning to dispel the darkness of this night!

May the Morning Star which never sets find this flame still burning: Christ, that Morning Star, who came back from the dead, and shed his peaceful light on all humankind, your Son who lives and reigns for ever and ever.

Amen.

This is our invitation

As we finish preparing to celebrate the Great Paschal Vigil, here is our open invitation, from St. John Chrysostom.

If anyone is devout and a lover of God, let him enjoy this beautiful and radiant festival.

If anyone is a wise servant, let him, rejoicing, enter into the joy of his Lord.

If anyone has wearied himself in fasting, let him now receive his recompense.

If anyone has labored from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward. If anyone has come at the third hour, with thanksgiving let him keep the feast. If anyone has arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings; for he shall suffer no loss. If anyone has delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near without hesitation. If anyone has arrived even at the eleventh hour, let him not fear on account of his delay. For the Master is gracious and receives the last, even as the first; he gives rest to him that comes at the eleventh hour, just as to him who has labored from the first. He has mercy upon the last and cares for the first; to the one he gives, and to the other he is gracious. He both honors the work and praises the intention.

Enter all of you, therefore, into the joy of our Lord, and, whether first or last, receive your reward. O rich and poor, one with another, dance for joy! O you ascetics and you negligent, celebrate the day! You that have fasted and you that have disregarded the fast, rejoice today! The table is rich-laden; feast royally, all of you! The calf is fatted; let no one go forth hungry!

Let all partake of the feast of faith. Let all receive the riches of goodness.

Let no one lament his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed.

Let no one mourn his transgressions, for pardon has dawned from the grave.

Let no one fear death, for the Saviour’s death has set us free.

He that was taken by death has annihilated it! He descended into hades and took hades captive! He embittered it when it tasted his flesh! And anticipating this Isaiah exclaimed, "Hades was embittered when it encountered thee in the lower regions." It was embittered, for it was abolished! It was embittered, for it was mocked! It was embittered, for it was purged! It was embittered, for it was despoiled! It was embittered, for it was bound in chains!

It took a body and, face to face, met God! It took earth and encountered heaven! It took what it saw but crumbled before what it had not seen!

"O death, where is thy sting? O hades, where is thy victory?

Christ is risen, and you are overthrown!

Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen!

Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice!

Christ is risen, and life reigns!

Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in a tomb!

For Christ, being raised from the dead, has become the First-fruits of them that slept.

To him be glory and might unto ages of ages. Amen.

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Mother of God, Light in All Darkness

One of the treasures of Milwaukee's Cathedral:



To all human appearances this day, hope has been crushed, the light extinguished, darkness is triumphant. But, this is only an appearance.

There is one who has guarded the light with her whole life, who knows that even this cannot be the end, and continues to guard and cherish the light in her heart as she always has. She waits, and gathers in the crushed and hopeless disciples and encourages them to wait with her and not despair; and so they wait.

Mother of God, Light in all darkness,
intercede for us.
Be a companion to us,
and bring to our confusion and darkness
the Light you bore,
the Light you guard and cherish.
Although we do not yet see light,
do not let us fall into the abyss,
and assure us that there is still light
until such time as the Light shall return.
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Very different Stations

some Stations very different than the ones I posted earlier today.

I have not mentioned these during this Lent, so I'll point the way to them now.

The Upside Down Way of the Cross
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the darkness descends, the earth is dark

XII. After between three and six hours of humiliating and shameful exposure and slow suffocation on the cross, having fulfilled all Your Father's will and having seen to the future care of Your mother, You handed over Your spirit to Your Father and died. Because it was the afternoon before Sabbath, there were orders to break the legs of the condemned so they would suffocate fast and not be left hanging there on Sabbath. Because You had already died, though, they did not break Your legs, only assured themselves of Your death by driving a spear through Your heart. Water and blood flowed out, the spring of salvation that I so often take for granted and fail to appreciate and give thanks for.

XIII. A wealthy and well-placed follower, Joseph of Arimathea, asked for and received permission to take down Your body and give it burial. Your mother, and John, and the other Marys, were already there at the cross, had been there the whole while. Joseph and Nicodemus came, and took Your body down from the cross, and laid it, for the last time, in the arms of Your mother, and she clung to it; but it was very near to sundown and Sabbath, so Joseph and Nicodemus had to take the body from her. Am I always as loath to let go of You?



XIV. Joseph and Nicodemus hurriedly wrapped Your body in linens and put it in Joseph's own tomb, not yet used for any burials, since it was not far away and Sabbath was very near. After Sabbath they would return and finish the rites and practices of burial, for there was no more time now, Sabbath was upon them.

And so we entered the one day in all of history when it can be said with any truth at all that God is dead.......

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via dolorosa

I. Jesus, true and total Innocent, you were condemned and sentenced to death, though You had committed no crime, by a cynical politician who simultaneously denied all responsibility for the decision. Oh, how often do I do what is expedient instead of what is best or most just? How often do I go along to get along?

II. Your cross, Your instrument of execution, is brought to You. You are not bound to it struggling and unwilling, but You take it up of Your own will. Lord, I know that for every one of us, not having a cross is not one of the options, yet how consistently I set out to avoid bearing it. I could bear it with You and offer it as gift, but so often I fight and struggle and am bound and dragged, crushed and broken by it.

III. Yet, You are very weak. Up all night, marched all over town then scourged until nearly dead, the cross is heavier than Your body can carry, and You fall down. Yet You got back up, picked up the fallen cross, and went on. How often do I fall down and just give up and stay there?

IV. You meet Your mother along the road. She shares one of God the Father's attributes --- You are her only-begotten Son. She loves You, and witnesses Your suffering, and can hardly help but suffer with You; yet she consents to this, and continues to follow You, all the way to the end and beyond.

V. Even the guards can see Your bodily weakness, and they want to get You to the execution grounds still alive so You can be crucified. So they grab a guy off of the street and force him to carry Your cross, so You only have to carry Yourself. The evangelist identifies this guy, Simon the Cyrenean, as "Alexander's and Rufus' father," a sign that the people the evangelist were writing for knew Alex and Rufus as fellow believers. Was this where Alex and Rufus first encountered Christ, coming in from the fields with their dad?

VI. A lady in the street, bold in her mercy, performs an alms-deed for You. Seeing You nearly blinded by sweat and blood, she of her own volition wiped Your face with one of her veils. Am I ever bold in mercy, or am I chickenhearted, only being merciful to the respectable and deserving, when it's easy and without risk?

VII. Even with help from Alex's and Rufus' dad, this journey is more than Your bodily strength can endure, and You fall down again. You do not stay down though, and the guards do not force You up by Your bindings; You get up Yourself, and continue on. How often am I not persistent in going towards the good, and I give up and wallow in my woes?

VIII. A group of women were touched by Your suffering and Your sentence, and they mourn for You. And You, who so loved all humankind, pitied them, and gave them a prophetic warning of the days to come for them. Not good tidings. But a true warning.

IX. Nearly there, the grade changes --- execution sites are up on hills to better make an example of what happens to those who breach the Pax Romana --- and You fall yet again. And You still do not give up, but rise and continue. No matter how many times I fail and falter and fall, I must continue to get up and go on. Do I?

X. You have finally arrived at the execution grounds. Your last few possessions are now taken from You, including Your clothes. The guards are none too gentle, and the forming clots and scabs from Your scourging come off with Your undertunic, opening all those wounds again. You are totally dispossessed, without even the dignity of being allowed to cover Your nakedness, absolutely exposed. When the day comes when I am Called, I must go to God empty in order to be filled totally with Himself; yet do I cling tightly to physical or psychic "stuff": money, houses, toys, honor, respectability, dignity? You were entirely disdignified; why would I be more deserving of dignity than You?

XI. And then You were crucified. You stretched out Your arms and the guards nailed then securely to the crossbeam. They took Your feet and nailed them also, and they raised You up from the earth. Not far, not nearly to the skies, let alone the heavens. They posted your name and crime above Your head: King of the Jews. And they left You there to die. You are all-good and deserving of all my love, and yet I have given You this.



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What we have done

We ran away and abandoned You.

We denied we even knew You.

We marched You all over town, from courtroom to courtroom.

We screamed for Your execution.

We beat You to within an inch of Your life.

We gave You the only crown You ever wore
and it was formed of thornbush;
and the only scepter, a stray stick lying about the barracks.
We pretended to pay homage.
When that wasn't fun enough, we beat You on Your crown with Your scepter.

We condemned You to death,
and tried to wash away the responsibility.

And yet, You loved us so very much
(and still and forever love us)
even while we did thus.



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Jesus is betrayed

and it is begun.

We also betray each other.

The Institution, by Lisa Basarab

Like a wrench turned inward
Flashing pain, and gone
Then squeezing, pounding
All of life

A grip of fear so real
That all becomes hell
Swirling, mashing black
In dreams

Nightmares without release
With jeering, fractured finger
Seeping unholy accusation
Pointing, pointing

Like a knife backstabbing
Like a serpent striking
Like a nail in my heart
A plea

To kill my God in me
To sever bonds with Him
And make of me a shade
Pulled so down

Down in mire so weak and pale
The squalid self abyss,
Marrow-deep fatigue (and
Endless night)

No light, no piercing stream of light
No hint of water
For me on a jury's slate
Only guilt

Of my own making, breaking a
Heart so cold from stone
Jabbing guilt, always guilt
Never mercy

Never.

Why no priestly absolution,
Just a toll to pay and pay?
A slim, tortuous road bending
So far, so far

You promised in His words to me
A feast on my return
A fatted calf
Not noose

To string along and up a swaying
Body in surreal ease
Poked like a child on a swing
Whee!

But the glee of games is gone
For my heart's hunt-ripped effigy
Searing, burning,
Flamed

On the spit of upright clerics
Turning folly into shame
Shame, shame!
(An ancient game.)

And so, alone, I hurt
Slipping into nowhere else to go
Except a shrinking Body
Tree-hung

Battered limbs, blood-splashed
Spittle-strewn and slung
With friends looking up
In misery

Save me, sweet Convicted One
In faint aches of rage I spew
that steal Your breath
From mine

Lift the noose away, heal the ache around
To squelch only every urge to bolt
And not Your pain
In me
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On the night before He suffered, He took bread

and as the Passover made each generation of Israel actually present in the exodus from Egypt, so the Eucharist makes us truly present at the Lord's one Sacrifice through all the ages. It is the evil child who says, "The LORD brought our ancestors out of Egypt." Note, not himself, just his great-great-grands. We are as much present, as much implicated, as our ancestors in the first century AD.



[This image, by Giotto, is wonderful, but it is not the one I really wanted this evening. If anyone knows an electronic version of the Fritz Eichenberg Last Supper, please leave the link in the comments box or email me; thanks]
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and He humbled Himself......

Jesus was invited to dinner by a well-to-do gentleman, Simon the Pharasee, one day. The dinner party was crashed by a woman of rotten reputation. When Simon asked why Jesus did not rebuke this sinner-woman: Quit harrassing her! You invited Me to dinner, and didn't even provide a basin for Me to rinse My dusty feet, yet she has been washing them with her tears and drying them with her hair, and she has not stopped kissing them since she got in here. She loves much; she has been forgiven much. Those who are stingy with their love will receive stingy forgiveness .......

It wasn't all that much later



that Jesus brought His disciples together in a borrowed upstairs room in Jerusalem, not far from His mother's apartment. He took up a towel and basin, and got down on the floor, and performed that menial guest-service that was one of the less-enviable chores of the most junior house-servant, washing the dust and grime from their feet in those days of open sandals and dirt roads.

This is My command: that you love one another.

The one who would lead must be the servant of all, the slave of all.
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Betrayer, denier, crucifier, beloved

Betrayer, denier, crucifier, beloved: facing my true self before God

The very first symptom of the Fall was the desire to hide from God. And from each other. And, even, from ourselves. Hiding from God is just futile and frustrating. Hiding from others and from ourselves, however, is death-dealing. Secrets bind and kill. Delusions make one stupid. Both are what makes up the wide and downhill superhighway to despair.

However, there is an infallible antidote to this mess.

I have to face, straight-on, exactly what I've done, precisely what my besetting problem is.

In the journey out of Egypt to the Land of Promise, the people suffered an invasion of poisonous seraph serpents, and many were bitten and died. The way of healing prescribed by the Lord was to look upon the image of a seraph serpent. Those who would look upon the bronze serpent, who could admit, "I have been bitten by the serpent", would be healed. Those who would not look, those who feared or panicked or denied that the serpent was their problem, would die.

In the same way, I must look at the cross of Jesus. I _must_ look. In fact, the cross of Jesus must be my only glory. But, what do I see when I raise my eyes to the crucifix above the altar, or finger the cross that dangles from my rosary? My Lord and Messiah, my true King and only true Love, is put to a torturous death, and submits to it freely, that I may be redeemed. And that death, the death of a true Innocent, is at my hands. I am a betrayer, an abandoner, a coward and denier, a crucifier. And the Crucified forgives me, and redeems me, and raises me up. All that is required is to gaze upon His cross, and to know and say, "This is what I have done to my Lord of Glory. He is All-Good and deserves all my love and I have given Him this." At that, the Lord will conquer death in me, and tear down the gates of the netherworld in me, and heal me, and, on that Day, call me to Himself. But if I refuse to look upon the cross, and deny that I had anything to do with that, and try to say that it's all Judas' problem or Peter's problem or Pontius Pilate's problem, then I will die, as surely as my fathers and mothers died in that desert when the seraph serpents came, and as sure as, before that, Adam and Eve took death for their inheritance.

Look upon the Cross, on which is hung Salvation Himself, and we will be healed and live!
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Chrism Mass

Just home from Chrism Mass --- pray for your bishops and priests!



The promises we renewed tonight to God and each other:

[Archbishop queries the Laity]

As God's people, baptised and anointed in Christ, will you dedicate yourselves to spreading the gospel message wherever you go? [We will]

Will you continue to care for people in want and in need? [We will]

Will you continue to live in unity with one another; one with your bishop and one in the Body and Blood of Christ, as you listen to Christ's Word and share in the Eucharist? [We will]

May God renew in you the spirit of holiness. [Amen]

[then, (after the deaconate and the presbyterate had their turns), the Laity query the Bishops]

Do you renew your resolve as devoted pastors and teachers to sustain the people of God and to guide us in the way of salvation in cooperation with the priests, the deacons, and all who share your ministry? [We do]

Will you continue to be faithful and constant in proclaiming the Gospel of Christ together with the Pope and the college of bishops, and to pray for the people of God without ceasing? [We will]

Will you continue to show kindness and compassion in the name of the Lord to the poor and to strangers and to all who are in need, seeking out the sheep who stray and gathering them into the fold of the Lord? [We will, with the help of God. We pray that God who has begun the good work in us will bring it to fulfillment.]
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where I was tonight

Where I was tonight (and where I'll be the rest of the week)



The altar of God:
square, as the heavenly Jerusalem is square;
erected over the relics of the saints of God;
the center of the Church;
the center of life.
Stone, permanent, not to be moved.
Above it, a corona,
"a form of honor canopy suspended from the ceiling, without pillars."
And, in this case, truly a corona, a crown.
A crown of thorns to acknowledge our King,
our crucified Lord and Redeemer.
I look up and see
those golden nails that hold Him fast
as He gives His very spirit to His Father.
"Into Your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit."
It flies away like a dove.
And those thorns, first meant for degradation,
yet becoming glory;
for He is the King, the Lord.
On the cross, and on the altar.
In the tabernacle, and in our own hearts.
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Creatures image God,

or, it's all about oil today

Tonight is the night of the Chrism Mass, where it's glaringly obvious that God mediates Himself through His creatures to His creature-children (=us).

Oil, the all-around medicinal and perfume, good for healing and for strengthening --- slather it on the dry skin, massage the muscle aches with it, dab it on the wound scabs --- is blessed and sent, and becomes effective in mediating God's healing of the entire person, body, mind, soul, and spirit, and imparting His strength and endurance on the catechumens and the newly-enlightened.

This is the way God normally deals with us. We are bodily creatures; we need to hear and see and touch and smell and taste in order to learn and know.

And, not just on this very oily day, but constantly. Water that washes, bread and wine that nourish, ashes, tree branches, things that used to belong to our dear departed, and even our actions toward one another are transformed and manifest our Lord to us in their various ways. Therefore we rejoice.
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He Stops

[used by permission, as always. Thank you very much, Pavel. For more of Pavel's poems, go to his website or to Amazon to buy his book, Lion Sun.]

HE STOPS

It rained forever on the earth
The seasons washed the land away
The continents dissolved in salt
A virgin to the Lord gave birth
How God divided night from day
I heard an old man say

Peter told the tale to Mark
Apostle doubling as a clerk
Of how he walked upon a lake
Till panic made the surface break
How Teacher set the demons fleeing
And made the blind become the seeing
Revived the dying and the dead
And multiplied the fish and bread
But one thing Peter did not see
The Master killed on Calvary
Mother Mary stayed and John
Two other women looked upon
The execution of her son
But of the rest there wasn't one
So only four would there remain
To hear the Rabbi groan in pain
And only four of them desired
To comfort him till he expired

No miracle dispelled the fear
That kept the rest from coming near
And though the Lord made time and space
He won't compel the human race
To wipe the blood from off his face

. . . . Pavel Chichikov
. . . . http://users.erols.com/fishhook

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I had a GIRM nightmare this morning

I entered my beloved Cathedral --- but it wasn't. There were pleated drapes over the stained glass windows. About halfway down the nave there was a plexiglass partition (rood-screen? iconostasis?) with etched-glass panels. The corona and crucifix were gone, and a tacky wooden fish symbol was dangling over the altar in its place. Just past the altar was a screen like some women's convents have to mark enclosure in the chapel. Mater Ecclesiae was gone, and Blessed John; they were replaced by a large litho of the most simpering Immaculate Heart of Mary ever painted and an equally awful Sacred Heart print. There were heavy drapes on the Tabernacle also, and the Tabernacle spotlights were gone, so it sat in the gloom. The seats-with-kneelers were not there any more, but an assortment of ricketty folding and stacking chairs. Even the floor was carpeted.

Somebody with a crozier (but not +Timothy or +Richard or +Rembert or anybody else I recognised) came out of the gloom, sat in the cathedra, and began preaching about what a wonderful day it was in the neighborhood since we were being so faithful to Jesus and to the Tradition. Most of the congregation wept. One pious old lady pressed her face to the plexiglass as she cried. A few beefy ushers came to bodily eject the weepers. I grabbed an usher who was molesting the pious old lady, he clunked me over the head.

I woke with a start --- the phone was ringing.

Thank You, my Lord my Love, for softening my heart and allowing me a tiny glimpse of what life must look like for the Szewses and their Miniature Bishop Bashing Brigade. Lord, help and comfort them.
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truths about GIRM warfare....

There's a lot of truth about GIRM Warfare.....

....in this little article, B. L. Zebub's Eight Simple Rules for Running Off Your Preacher, on Matt Tullos' site. It's written with a Protestant community in mind, but a lot of Mr. Zebub's suggestions are found quite useful by some of my Catholic brothers and sisters. (Especially #2,4,5, and 7) For the humor impaired: it is satire.
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Have I been faithful to my alms-deeds today?

as faithful as to tuna salad?

from a Lenten sermon of St. Leo the Great:

Dear friends, at every moment "the earth is full of the mercy of God", and nature itself is a lesson for all the faithful in the worship of God. The heavens, the sea and all that is in them bear witness to the goodness and omnipotence of their Creator, and the marvelous beauty of the elements as they obey him demands from the intelligent creation a fitting expression of its gratitude.

But with the return of that season marked out in a special way by the mystery of our redemption, and of the days that lead up to the paschal feast, we are summoned more urgently to prepare ourselves by a purification of spirit.

The special note of the paschal feast is this: the whole Church rejoices in the forgiveness of sins. It rejoices in the forgiveness not only of those who are then reborn in holy baptism but also of those who are already numbered among God's adopted children.

Initially, men are made new by the rebirth of baptism. Yet there still is required a daily renewal to repair the shortcomings of our mortal nature, and whatever degree of progress has been made there is no one who should not be more advanced. All must therefore strive to ensure that on the day of redemption no one may be found in the sins of his former life.

Dear friends, what the Christian should be doing at all times should be done now with greater care and devotion, so that the Lenten fast enjoined by the apostles may be fulfilled, not simply by abstinence from food but above all by the renunciation of sin.

There is no more profitable practice as a companion to holy and spiritual fasting than that of almsgiving. This embraces under the single name of mercy many excellent works of devotion, so that the good intentions of all the faithful may be of equal value, even where their means are not. The love that we owe both God and man is always free from any obstacle that would prevent us from having a good intention. The angels sang: "Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth." The person who shows love and compassion to those in any kind of affliction is blessed, not only with the virtue of good will but also with the gift of peace.

The works of mercy are innumerable. Their very variety brings this advantage to those who are true Christians, that in the matter of almsgiving not only the rich and affluent but also those of average means and the poor are able to play their part. Those who are unequal in their capacity to give can be equal in the love within their hearts.
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On the prowl

for a ride to/from the Easter Vigil! My paratransit provider claims they no can do --- the latest they'll bring me home is 11:25, and last year it went till ten to midnight and there were only 4 converts, it'll be longer this year because there are 7 in the current RCIA class. I've got a voicemail out to my friends with the SUV --- they wouldn't even have to stay there with me (they aren't much interested in Church or faith, but they're tolerant of me). Pray that I find one without too much nailbiting; Vigil is a long time to be out in public, and I don't trust my endurance for it without the chair with me; if I take a taxi, the chair has to stay home......

[roll eyeballs] Trials and tribulations! [sigh] However, I'm set with paratransit for the other Holy Week services, Chrism Mass included, and for tonight's Pallium Lecture, so things are going better than they could be, I guess.
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Abba Macarios on the ongoing struggle

If we want to draw close to Christ we must first drag ourselves forcibly towards the good, even though our heart may not wish it. 'The kingdom of heaven is subjected to violence, and the violent take it by force', said the Lord. And He also said: 'Strive to enter through the narrow gate'. We must, then, force ourselves even against our will towards virtue, towards love when we lack love, towards gentleness when we have need of it, towards sympathy of heart and compassion, towards patience in the face of insult and contempt, and steadfastness in the face of mockery, if we have not yet acquired the habit of these things, and towards prayer if we have not attained spiritual prayer. If God sees us struggling in this way and forcibly dragging ourselves towards the good even when our heart seem to oppose it, He will bestow true prayer on us, will give us compassion, patience, forbearance, and in general will fill us with all the fruits of the Spirit.
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Another prayer from St Ephrem: Lord, keep me mindful of my own sins, and so not condemn my neighbor.

Your grace has made it possible for me to call upon Your name, O Lord. O only good One, Who has created us all, forgive the transgressions and sins of Your sinful and ungrateful servant.

I know, O Lord, that my sins exceed those of all other men, but I have as my refuge the abyss of Your compasssions which exceeds all things. I am confident that You will accept and have mercy on all who approach Your goodness, for it pleases You to behold repentance, and You rejoice at the ascetic struggles of Your servants.


Grant me, Your unworthy servant, tears, that with an enlightened mind, with love and faith, I may entreat Your incomparable goodness and be cured of my hidden sores. Show miserable me Your charity. Deliver me from the torment I deserve. May Your grace be preached all about, to the benefit both of the coutless multitudes who are careless, and me as well.

As You did fill the waterpots with Your blessing, so likewise fill my heart with Your grace and Your goodness. When a caring mother is rejected by her child, she does not scorn him, for her motherly care triumphs over all; may my sins likewise not surpass Your grace.

I know that I will be punished even for idle words, for evil thoughts, for mere desire. Yet as soon as an opportunity to satisfy my pleasures presents itself, I immediately forget everything, and like a fool indulge in all manner of sin. I am a vainglorious, wrathful cripple, a lazy, dissolute glutton, a sensualist covered with impurities who hourly strays into error -- and I do not realize it.

Only my hope in the manifestation of Your grace, O man-befriending Master, consoles me and keeps me from despair. Whether You so desire or not, save me, O all-good Lord, according to Your great kindness!
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Surprising Lenten Ecumenism

105.3 The Fish, our local (Protestant) contemporary Christian music station, is broadcasting PSA's --- or maybe paid ads, I don't know --- from the Archbishop for Lent. I've found links for them, so here they are, for your listening enjoyment. [Real Audio required, 1:00 each]

"Scarlet O'Hara"

"spring training"

"garden preparation"

"remembering mortality"

"the blame game"

"admitting we're sinners"

Have fun! [But please, no coveting our bishops!]
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Liturgy of the Hours: in Orlando it's entertainment!

courtesy of Fr. Jim of Dappled Things, this interesting article on praying the Liturgy of the Hours by ordinary people. Now just _how_ did the Orlando Sentinel entertainment section writer catch on, I wonder?
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St. John the Almsgiver and CCC 2477-2478

St. John the Almsgiver was Patriarch [Papa}of Alexandria in the times of the desert Christians. This story, from Life of John the Almsgiver by Leontius of Neapolis, notes his behavior when one of the abbas came into town from the desert and started behaving in a notedly unusual way.......

History of the Monk Vitalios

A certain monk nearly sixty years old, having heard tell of the good deeds of the Blessed Man [St. John the Almsgiver, patriarch of Alexandria 609-619], wished to put him to the test, to see if he was quick to listen to calumnies and be scandalized, and if that would be the case, if he would condemn him. He had first lived in the monastery of Abba Seridon. And in this manner, he came to Alexandria and adopted a lifestyle designed, without doubt, to scandalize men, but he was approved by God who "gives to each," as David says, "according to what is in his own heart."

Having thus entered the city, he wrote down for himself a list of names of all the prostitutes, and he worked as a laborer in a workshop, and each day he earned a keration (silver coin). When the sun went down, he ate some warm beans for a follis (bronze coin), took the rest of the follis, went into one of the prostitutes, gave her the follis and said: "Grant to me this night, but there will be no fornication." And he remained at her side during the evening, watching her so that she wouldn't go fornicate. Late at night, he stood up in a corner of the small room near the place where the woman laid, and he began a psalm, praying for her, saying matins until dawn. Then he left, but he made the woman swear that she would not tell anyone what he did. So that, when one of the prostitutes had denounced him, that is to say revealed his conduct, saying, "He did not come to us in order to fornicate, but to save us," the monk prayed, and the woman was possessed by a demon, so that after this day the others were afraid and did not unmask him for the rest of his life. Some people said to the demoniac, "What is the matter? God has recompensed you because you have lied. For it was in order to fornicate and not for any other reason that this most vile man came to you."

This holy Vitalios, for that was his name, wishing to flee from human glory and to call back souls from the darkness, said in the hearing of all as he labored in the workshop and left in the evening with his small pay, "Come along, my lords, to Lady So-and-So who awaits you." Thus he spoke in the place where he worked. And when many of them accused him and mocked him he answered, "Haven't I a body like everyone else, or is it only upon monks that the wrath of God descends so that they die from the troubles that they bring upon themselves? Truly, they are also men, like those in the rest of the world." Then certain ones said to him: "Get yourself a wife, abba, and change your habit, lest God be blasphemed because of you and lest you be condemned for the souls you have caused to stumble." Again he replied to them with oaths, even pretending to be angry, "As God lives, I am not going to listen to you. Leave me alone. Must I now change my way of life, so that you won't be scandalized? And as for taking a wife, should I take one for the worries of a family and spend my days miserably? No, by God! If anyone wants to be scandalized, let him be so. Let him beat his head against a wall! What do you want of me? Did God set you up as my judges? Go on, look after your own affairs. It isn't you who will defend me before God. There is only one Judge, only one holy day of judgment; it is this Judge who will render to each one according to his deeds. And if God had not willed it, I would not be in Alexandria!" He said this and created such a tumult by his shouting, that everyone refrained from speaking to him. And he kept saying, "Truly, if you don't stop, I will see that you do, and you will regret it!"

Then some of the church disciplinary officials, after having learned of these things, reported this affair to the Papa [patriarch]. But God knew that the saint did not wish to offend Abba Vitalios. The Papa turned a deaf ear to this, and he did not believe anyone, but he shook off those who had said evil of Abba Vitalios, and reproached them greatly, saying, "Stop bringing me accusations against monks. Do you know what writers tell us about the late emperor Constantine, how some impious men, including some bishops and monks, gained access to his holy council and gave to him denunciations against one another before the blessed emperor? The saintly emperor Constantine summoned these people before him two by two, the accuser and the accused, and made them speak face to face, the plaintiff accusing the defendant of the sin that he had committed, whether it was adultery or something worse --- a murder or whatever else. And when he had ascertained that the majority of these accusations were well-founded, remembering that it was said, "Who is weak, and I am not weak?" and that the Lord Himself had not condemned the adulterous woman caught in the very act of adultery, he followed their example. He had a lighted candle brought, and before the eyes of everyone, the accusers and the accused, he burned all the accusations that had been given to him and said, "In truth, if with my own eyes I had seen a priest of God or someone wearing the garments of an angel committing a sin, I would undo my cloak and cover him, so that none could see him. That is the very design you have had on this eunuch who is a servant of God. You would have turned me from the path, and would have brought a terrible condemnation on my soul." Having thus made them greatly ashamed, he dismissed them.

However Vitalios, the servant of God, did not alter his conduct. After all, this was the very thing he had asked of God. Thus after his death he revealed in a dream to several people that one should not count as a transgression the fact that someone is scandalized by his behavior, since, he said, his own practices lent themselves so well to scandal, "and I will condemn no one if he said something against me." Whatever the case, his behavior brought compunction to many of these women, especially at night when they saw him stretch his hands towards heaven and pray for each one of them. Some abandoned prostitution, some married and corrected their behavior in that way, while others renounced the world completely and pursued an eremitical life. But no one knew until his death that his admonitions and prayers had caused these improper young women to break with their sin.

Once toward dawn, when he was leaving the house of the chief one of such women, he was met by a dissolute fellow who was coming there to fornicate with her. As soon as he saw master Vitalios leaving the woman's establishment, the man slapped him and said, "You miserable mocker of Christ, when will you stop abandoning yourself to these activities?" The monk said to him, "Believe me, you poor little creature, someday you will be slapped so hard that nearly all of Alexandria will congregate to hear your cries." Just a short while later the blessed Vitalios fell asleep peacefully in his cell, with absolutely no one knowing that he had. He had a tiny cell at the city gate called the Gate of the Sun, so that often, when he celebrated the Liturgy in the Church of St. Metras [a martyr under Decius, 250-251, dragged out of city and stoned - Eus. HE 6. 41. 3] next to his cell, some of the young women would meet each other and say, "Let's go to Liturgy! Abba Vitalios is celebrating again! When they came to church, he was very solicitous of them, eating and joking with them until other people were irritated and would say, "All these women love the pseudo-abbot so much, and they yield to his designs on them," because, as stated above, they did not know his secret mode of life. Doubtless they had seen him enter each one of those women's houses, but they were unaware that this generous, chaste man was on an errand to save them.

Thus, as we have said, when unknown to anyone he had fallen asleep in his cell, a demon in the guise of an evil-eyed Ethiopian appeared alongside the man who had slapped Abba Vitalios, and struck him also, saying, "Take this blow that you gave to Abba Vitalios!" The man immediately fell to the ground and began to foam at the mouth. As Abba Vitalios had prophesied, a large crowd assembled from all over the city of Alexandria, drawn by the violence this man was suffering at the hands of the demon, and especially since the sound of that slap was heard by some as far as an arrow can travel. When he regained consciousness several hours later, he possessed man tore his clothes from his chest and ran to the saint's cubicle, shouting and saying, "I have sinned against you, O Vitalios, servant of God! Have pity on me!" All those who heard him ran with him, and when they arrived at the saint's cubicle the demon came out of him in the sight of all, tearing him mightily. And when those who accompanied him entered the cell, they found the saint on his knees in prayer, having commended his soul to the Lord, while on the ground this inscription was seen: "Men of Alexandria, do not judge before the time, until the Lord comes." At this, the demon immediately left the man, who then began to confess how he had wronged the saint and to report what the saint had said to him.

All this was reported immediately to the Papa [St. John the Almsgiver]. Then he left, accompanied by the clergy, to view the remains of holy Vitalios. When he saw the inscription on the ground, he said, "In truth, it is by God's grace that humble John has escaped this inscription, seeing that the blow dealt to this possessed man was one that I might have received." Then all the prostitutes who had renounced the world and those who had married led the saint's funeral procession with candles and torches, weeping and saying, "We have lost our savior and our teacher." "He did not enter our houses for any shameful activity. We never saw him sleep except on his side, and he took only one of us by the hand." Some of the people reproached them and said, "Why didn't you say this to the rest of us? He scandalized the whole city!" Then they told them what had happened to the demon-possessed woman. "We were afraid the same thing would happen to us, and so we kept our peace."

When he had been buried with high honors, the man who had obtained punishment and healing from the saint remained behind, giving unceasing testimony to his memory. In the end, he renounced the world and joined that same monastery of Abba Seridon in Gaza, and by faith he occupied the cubicle of Abba Vitalios, where he remained until his death.

Meanwhile, the most holy Patriarch performed great acts of thanksgiving to God, because he had not been permitted to sin against God's servant Vitalios. And since that time, many men and women have given aid to the
monks in Alexandria, forever afterward showing them hospitality, and always careful not to condemn anyone when a similar occasion arose. May the Lord, by this man's prayers, justify us and take pity upon us, until that day when He reveals the hidden depths of men and bares the designs of their hearts.

[Leontius Neapolitanus vita Joannis Eleemosynarii 38]
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Bishop Kenneth Untener of Saginaw has been Called

I've just received news from the Contemporary Catholic Music listserv that +Kenneth of Saganaw passed away last night, from cancer. He was noted, some of St. Blog's would say infamous, for his determined labor to improve the quality of preashing in his diocese.

Eternal rest grant to him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.
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We fall down, and we get up: a story of the desert Christians

A certain brother, overcome by the passion of fornication, sinned every day. However, each time, with tears and prayers, he would fall before the Master and Lord and receive forgiveness from Him. And as soon as he had repented, the next day, being misled again by shameful habit, he would fall into sin.

Afterwards, having sinned, he would go to the Church, where he would prostrate himself before the honorable and revered Icon of our Lord Jesus Christ and tearfully confess to Jesus: "Lord, have mercy upon me and take away from me this fearful temptation, for it troubles me fiercely and wounds me with the bitter taste of the pleasures. O my Master, cleanse my person once more, that I may gaze upon Thine Icon and see Thy holy form and the sight of Thy face, brighter than the sun, that my heart might be sweetened and thankful."

And though his lips had just whispered these words, no sooner would he leave the Church than he would fall once again into sin.

Despite this, however, he did not despair of his salvation, but, returning from his sinful deed, would cry out in the Church the same words to God, to the Lord, Who loves mankind, adding the following: "My Lord, I swear to Thee on my word that I shall no longer commit this sin. Only forgive me, Good and Most Merciful Lord, whatever sins I have committed from the beginning to this moment."

No sooner would he utter these awe-inspiring words, than he would find himself the captive of this evil sin. Let no one cease to marvel at the sweet love of God towards mankind and at His boundless goodness, with which He each day tolerated the uncorrected and evil transgression and ingratitude of the brother. Indeed, God, because of the greatness of His mercy, persistently accepted the repentance of that sinful brother and his inevitable return. For this happened not for one or two or three years, but for more than ten years.

Do you see, my brother, the measureless forbearance and boundless love of the Master? How He continually endures, showing to us kindness, tolerating our terrible transgressions and sins? And what evokes astonishment and wonderment with regard to the rich mercies of God is that He did not become wrathful with the brother in question, though the brother, agreeing not to fall to sin again, continually broke his word.

At any rate, one day when all that we have described again occurred, the brother, having fallen into sin, rushed to the Church, lamenting, groaning, and crying with anguish, to invoke the mercy of God, that He might have compassion on him and take from him the sin of immorality.

No sooner had he called on God, the lover of man, than the Devil, that evil of old, destroyer of our souls, seeing that he could gain nothing, since whatever he accomplished by sin, the brother expunged by his repentance, became infuriated and appeared visibly before the brother. Facing the Icon of Christ, the Devil said to our compassionate Savior: "What will become of the two of us, Jesus Christ? Your sympathy for this sinner defeats me and takes the ground I have gained, since you keep accepting this dissolute man and prodigal who daily mocks you and scorns your authority. Indeed, why is it that you do not burn him up, but, rather, tolerate and put up
with him? ..... It is because one day you intend to condemn all of the adulterers and the dissolute and you will destroy all sinners.

"Actually, you are not a just Judge. But by whim your power is sometimes applied leniently and overlooks things. So, while I was cast from the heavens down to the abyss for a little breach of pride, to this fellow here, even though an immoral man and a prodigal, you calmly show your sympathy, just because he throws himself down in front of your Icon.

"In what way can you be called a just Judge, then? For, as I see it, you receive individual people with great kindness, but ignore justice in general."

The Devil said all of this, poisoned with great bitterness, whilst there poured forth from his nostrils a black flame.

Having said these things, he fell silent. A voice was heard in response, coming forth from the divine sanctuary, saying the following: "O, all-cunning and ruinous Dragon, are you yet not satisfied with your evil and destructive desire to gobble up the world? Now you have even the nerve to try to do away with and devour this man here, who has come with contrition to entreat the mercy of my compassion, too? Can you offer up enough sins that, by them, you can tilt the balance of justice against the precious blood which I shed on the Cross for this man? Behold my murder and death, which I endured for the forgiveness of his sins.

"You, when he turns again to sin, do not turn him away, but receive him with joy, neither chastising him nor preventing him from committing sin, out of the hope that you might win him over; but I, who am merciful and love mankind, who counselled my laudable Apostle, Peter, to forgive sins seven times seventy, should I not show him mercy and compassion? Indeed, simply because he flees to me, I will not turn him away until I have won him over. Furthermore, I was crucified for sinners and for their salvation; my immaculate hands were nailed to the Cross, that those who so wish might take refuge in me and be saved. For this reason, then, I neither turn away nor reject anyone, even if he should fall many times a day and many times return to me; such a person will not leave my Temple saddened, for I came not to call the righteous, but to call sinners to repent."

During the time that this voice was heard, the Devil was fixed in his place, trembling and unable to run away. The voice then again began to say: "We have heard from all that you say, O Seducer, that I am not just; to the contrary, I am just beyond all. In whatever moral state I find a person, in that state I judge him. Look at this man who a few moments ago repented, having returned from sin and having fallen at my feet with a sincere resolution to abandon sin, and thereby having conquered you.

"Therefore, I will accept him immediately and save his soul, since he did not lose hope in his hard toil for salvation.

"Look how much he merits by his repentance before me, for which he is honored. As for you, let your hate be shred to pieces and you disgraced."

While this was being said, the repentant brother had thrown himself before the Icon of the Savior. With his face to the ground and lamenting, he surrendered his spirit to the Lord. At the same time that the repentant brother departed to the Lord, a great tempest fell upon Satan, like a fire from Heaven, and devoured him. From this incident, my brothers, let us learn of the limitless compassion of God and of His love of man --- a good Master we have ---, that we might never again be disheartened by our sins, but rather look after our salvation with zeal.
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Incarnation

"You will become pregnant and bear a son, and you will call him Jesus...."

"How will this be, since I am a virgin?"

"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. For this reason the child to be born will be acclaimed 'Holy' and 'Son of God'......"

"I am the slave girl of the Lord. Be it done to me as you have said."



When time began, the Word was there,
and the Word was face to face with God,
and the Word was God.
This Word, when time began,
was face to face with God.
All things came into being through him,
and without him there came to be
not one thing that has come to be.
In him was life,
and the life was the light of men. .....

And the Word became man
and lived among us;
and we have looked upon his glory ---
such a glory as befits
the Father's only-begotten Son ---
full of grace and truth! ......

And of his fullness
we have all received a share ---
yes, grace succeeding grace;
for the Law was granted through Moses,
but grace and truth have come
through Jesus Christ.

---- John 1: 1-5, 14, 16-17
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An excellent reflection on this coming Sunday's readings [5th Sunday Lent, C]

will be found if you click on the headline before next Wednesday. [Real Audio required, 15:07]. The link changes at midweek to the reflections for the coming Sunday, so the link will be worth clicking even if you are seeing this in the archives.....

And, for the true sermon addicts among us, the entire series, all three cycles, is available for purchase on the Cathedral Parish website linked in the sidebar, all proceeds to benefit the Cathedral Parish outreach ministries, among which is the Open Door Cafe. I already have cycles A and C in hand, have listened to much of them, and can vouch for their excellence.
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Prayer, fasting, and ? : for my Open Door Cafe companions

Do you wish to honor the Body of the Savior? Do not despise it when it is naked. Do not honor it in church with silk vestments while outside it is naked and numb with cold. He who said, "This is my body," and made it so by his word, is the same who said, "You saw me hungry and you gave me no food. As you did it not to the least of these, you did it not to me." Honor him then by sharing your property with the poor. For what God needs is not golden chalices but golden souls.

[St. John Chrysostom "On the Gospel of St. Matthew", 50, iii (PG 58, 508)]
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The power of prayer: another Desert Christian story

There was a presbyter from Kellis who was discerning. While coming into the church to complete the synaxis, he saw a number of demons outside the cell of one of the brothers. Some had taken the form of women who were speaking indecently, and others of blasphemous youths; others were dancing while still others were trying on different outfits.

The old man sighed and said, "The brother persists in negligence in every way, and because of it the wicked spirits surround his cell in this disorderly manner." Therefore, when he had completed the synaxis, he returned and entered the cell of the brother, and said to him, "I am suffering, brother. I have faith in you, and if you pray for me, God will completely relieve my heart from suffering." The disciple was shamed, and said, "Father, I am not worthy to pray for you." The old man persisted, pleading and saying, "I will not leave unless you promise me that you will say one prayer for me every night." The brother obeyed the old man's command. The old man did this because he wanted a new way to ensure that the brother would pray at night.

Therefore, when the brother rose in the night, he said the prayer for the old man. After finishing the prayer, he was struck with contrition, and said to himself, "Wretched soul, you pray for the old man, but you do not pray for yourself." Therefore he offered one prayer for himself. He did this for a week, offering two prayers each night, one for the old man and one for himself.

On Sunday, while the old man was going to the church, he saw the demons once again standing outside the brother's cell, looking glum, and the old man knew that the demons were grieved because the brother prayed. He was filled with joy and went to the brother, saying, "Have charity and offer another prayer for me each night." After saying the two prayers for the old man, he was struck again with contrition, and said to himself. "O miserable one, offer another prayer for yourself." He did this for a whole week, offering four prayers each night.

When the old man came again, he saw the demons glum and silent, and gave thanks to God, and went in again to the brother and urged him to offer another prayer for him. The brother also offered one for himself, and said six prayers at night. When the old man came again to the brother, the demons were angry with the old man, furious about the salvation of the brother. The old man gave glory to God and after entering his cell and exhorting him not to be negligent but the pray unceasingly, let him alone. The demons, seeing the brother’s perseverance in the prayers and in soberness, by the grace of God left him.
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"May I X while I pray?" vs. "May I pray while Xing?

This morning I was sitting in the corner of the Cathedral atrium, waiting for an Open Door Cafe job assignment, tying knots in #36 twine, and praying. All at the same time, of course.

Then the question wandered through my mind: there's a difference between "doing x while praying" and "praying while doing x", it's obvious, but just what is that difference?

I think the difference in not only in attitude, but in primary allocation of a piece of time.

We are to pray always. That means that, unavoidably, we will be praying while doing all kinds of things --- cooking, dishwashing, driving, showering, laboring at all kinds of things. Things that we really can't not do, and other things that we just like to do. And, praying while doing these things is an actual good, not a problem at all.

However, we do (or should) be setting aside some special times for praying ---- the morning offering time, the nightly examination of conscience, maybe a rosary or the Liturgy of Hours or a holy half-hour at the tabernacle. This is not the time to twiddle with twine or nibble pretzels or smoke or do anything else that does not directly nurture prayer. They are not evil things, but at those times they are inappropriate things.

So, while we should pray while it's time for doing any X, we should be avoiding Xing while it's time for praying, leastwise it seems to me.
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My subscription copy of the 26 March Commonweal has arrived....

.... and it has letters about the St. Blog's article in it, including one that's a bit humorous from Kathy Shaidle, and one from a gentleman who'd probably label me a raving dissenter, for, after all, I subscribe to Commonweal and link it in the sidebar.

Now that it's out, I'll not be undercutting our valuable Catholic print press by posting what I wrote to them:

Re: St. Blog's Church

I was very pleased to see your notice of that piece of the Internet known as "St. Blog's Parish" (though a little shocked to see my own name in it!)

I don't think it is quite fair to the real world to call us "vibrant" because though many of us write well, any actual vibrant, life-nurturing, faith-supporting things that might come from that will take place in real-life cities and parishes, not at St. Blog's of Bloggsville.

Bloggsville is a pretty wild place, and it has no cops yet. So there are some pretty wild public places full of street-corner speechmakers and people screaming "the end is nigh," but also residential neighborhoods and quiet coves and clearings. There are sites from which I feel deprived if I can't visit them daily, and other sites I dare not get near, they'd be near occasions of wrath to me. The news sites vary wildly in quality; no editors means there's good immediacy, but no fact-checking, so it's reader beware. Also, at certain news sites, what's written in the comments boxes is often more insightful, or more inflammatory, than the site itself is.

I started my site, back in May of 2002, because I was frustrated at the often inaccurate content and the attitudes of bloggers about a particular local crisis, and I thought there were things that needed saying, by someone who actually lived here, and they wouldn't be said unless I did it. By the time that particular crisis had been resolved, my little place on the net had become established, and I found I had more I could write about than just reactions to crisis, and my site has survived.

To tour St. Blog's, start with the list at http://praiseofglory.com/blogs.htm , "Some Catholic Blogs." When you find a blog you like, check out the left or right margin, where you'll usually find a "blogroll" of sites which that blogkeeper likes, or at least finds interesting. Soon you will have your own list of places worthy of regular visits. I'd hope one of those places might be mine; you all would certainly be welcome.

peace and good,
Karen Marie Knapp
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
"From the Anchor Hold", http://kmknapp.blogspot.com/
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The husband of Mary

Today is the feast of St. Joseph, the husband of Mary.

The stepfather of Jesus.

The stepfather of God the Son; an image of his true Father.



Jesus went back with them to Nazareth, and he was obedient to them. His mother treasured all of these things in her heart, and Jesus made steady progress, proportionate to his age, in understanding and in favor with God and with men. [Luke 2:51-52]

"No, you hold the plane _this_ way."
"You _have_ to watch out for your fingers."
"Now go get washed up for dinner, boy"
"BEDTIME!"

a true father, a true son.
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First there was +Seraphim Sigrist, then +Robert of Baker......

...... and now a third bishop has entered the virtual world, and my blogroll. How many more, maybe, as comfort with computers increases even among elders?

This, of course, affords me my regular opportunity to preach again: Pray for your bishops, wherever you are. Pray for them all.
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I've found a sister

Remember a few posts ago my being amazed that, according to Commonweal, there didn't seem to be any women religious in St. Blog's. Well, there is one now, Sister Christer, a Dominican Sister, and I've blogrolled her, since us simple/single/submitted types have to stick together! [grin]

speaking of the evangelical counsels......

a prayer request

Swimming the Tiber is no more. Sean, the blogkeeper there, who was in St. Blog's 2003 RCIA class, has been accepted as a postulant in Holy Resurrection Monastery, a community of the Ruthenian Catholic Church. Keep him in your prayers as his vocation is tested, and for his perseverance.
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Tomorrow's not just green beer, corned beef and cabbage, and free bus rides....

.... but it's the commemoration of a great, holy, imperfect and very human bishop, who knew nothing of green beer, etc.

What he did know was the great mercy and love of the Lord toward his miserable self, and the call of the Lord on his life.

Here is St. Patrick's own confessions, which are a little too long to post here in their entirety but not _that_ long.

One passage to tempt you there:

And there I saw in the night the vision of a man, whose name was Victoricus, coming as it were from Ireland, with countless letters. And he gave me one of them, and I read the opening words of the letter, which were, `The voice of the Irish'; and as I read the beginning of the letter I thought that at the same moment I heard their voice --- they were those beside the Wood of Voclut, which is near the Western Sea --- and thus did they cry out as with one mouth: `We ask thee, boy, come and walk among us once more.'

And I was quite broken in heart, and could read no further, and so I woke up. Thanks be to God, after many years the Lord gave to them according to their cry.

And another night --- whether within me, or beside me, I know not, God knoweth --- they called me most unmistakably with words which I heard but could not understand, except that at the end of the prayer He spoke thus: `He that has laid down His life for thee, it is He that speaketh in thee'; and so I awoke full of joy.

And again I saw Him praying in me, and I was as it were within my body, and I heard Him above me, that is, over the inward man, and there He prayed mightily with groanings. And all the time I was astonished, and wondered, and thought with myself who it could be that prayed in me. But at the end of the prayer He spoke, saying that He was the Spirit; and so I woke up, and remembered the Apostle saying: The Spirit helpeth the infirmities of our prayer. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit Himself asketh for us with unspeakable groanings, which cannot be expressed in words; and again: The Lord our advocate asketh for us.

And when I was attacked by a number of my seniors who came forth and brought up my sins against my laborious episcopate, on that day indeed was I struck so that I might have fallen now and for eternity; but the Lord graciously spared the stranger and sojourner for His name and came mightily to my help in this affliction. Verily, not slight was the shame and blame that fell upon me! I ask God that it may not be reckoned to them as sin.

As cause for proceeding against me they found --- after thirty years! --- a confession I had made before I was a deacon. In the anxiety of my troubled mind I confided to my dearest friend what I had done in my boyhood one day, nay, in one hour, because I was not yet strong. I know not, God knoweth --- whether I was then fifteen years old: and I did not believe in the living God, nor did I so from my childhood, but lived in death and unbelief until I was severely chastised and really humiliated, by hunger and nakedness, and that daily.

On the other hand, I did not go to Ireland of my own accord. not until I had nearly perished; but this was rather for my good, for thus was I purged by the Lord; and He made me fit so that I might be now what was once far from me that I should care and labour for the salvation of others, whereas then I did not even care about myself.

On that day, then, when I was rejected by those referred to and mentioned above, in that night I saw a vision of the night. There was a writing without honour against my face, and at the same time I heard God's voice saying to me: `We have seen with displeasure the face of Deisignatus' (thus revealing his name). He did not say, `Thou hast seen.' but `We have seen.' as if He included Himself, as He sayeth: He who toucheth you toucheth as it were the apple of my eye.

Therefore I give Him thanks who hath strengthened me in everything, as He did not frustrate the journey upon which I had decided, and the work which I had learned from Christ my Lord; but I rather felt after this no little strength, and my trust was proved right before God and men.

And so I say boldly, my conscience does not blame me now or in the future: God is my witness that I have not lied in the account which I have given you.
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Prayer, fasting, acts of mercy --- [key music] You can't have one without the others.....[un-key music], from St. John Chrysologos in today's Office of Readings

There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer, fasting and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other.

Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated. If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others you open God’s ear to yourself.

When you fast, see the fasting of others. If you want God to know that you are hungry, know that another is hungry. If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give. If you ask for yourself what you deny to others, your asking is a mockery.

Let this be the pattern for all men when they practise mercy: show mercy to others in the same way, with the same generosity, with the same promptness, as you want others to show mercy to you.

Therefore, let prayer, mercy and fasting be one single plea to God on our behalf, one speech in our defence, a threefold united prayer in our favour.

Let us use fasting to make up for what we have lost by despising others. Let us offer our souls in sacrifice by means of fasting. There is nothing more pleasing that we can offer to God, as the psalmist said in prophecy: A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God does not despise a bruised and humbled heart.

Offer your soul to God, make him an oblation of your fasting, so that your soul may be a pure offering, a holy sacrifice, a living victim, remaining your own and at the same time made over to God. Whoever fails to give this to God will not be excused, for if you are to give him yourself you are never without the means of giving.

To make these acceptable, mercy must be added. Fasting bears no fruit unless it is watered by mercy. Fasting dries up when mercy dries up. Mercy is to fasting as rain is to earth. However much you may cultivate your heart, clear the soil of your nature, root out vices, sow virtues, if you do not release the springs of mercy, your fasting will bear no fruit.

When you fast, if your mercy is thin your harvest will be thin; when you fast, what you pour out in mercy overflows into your barn. Therefore, do not lose by saving, but gather in by scattering. Give to the poor, and you give to yourself. You will not be allowed to keep what you have refused to give to others.
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one of the dearest writings about the Eucharist I've ever read

is in a novel by Thomas S. Klise, The Last Western. The protagonist, Willie Brother, has fled from the great city Houston, where a disaster had leveled his neighborhood and killed his entire family. He is found unconscious on the side of the highway by two bearded guys in a pickup truck, who took him to their dwelling place to care for him.

[from chapter eleven, pp 125-127]
Several times a day strange, bearded men would come to his room, offering food which he could not eat.
The men would examine the bottle that stood at the head of Willie's cot, replacing it sometimes with another bottle. They would examine the tube that led from the bottle to Willie's arm. Sometimes they would feel his pulse.
Now and then a man who seemed to be a doctor came to call. He would listen to Willie's heart and peer into his eyes with a penlike flashlight.
Once or twice he gave Willie an injection that put him to sleep.
Willie gazed out over the gardens and the muddy, sluggish stream, at the city of Houston.
He spoke to no one and no one spoke to him.
He felt nothing. only an emptiness.
He wondered from time to time if he were really alive.
One night he heard men singing.
He thought he must be dreaming.
But then the melody of the song came more clearly to him and it seemed somehow familiar.
He thought he would ask about it the next day.
But the next day he remembered nothing.
Two nights later he heard the singing again.
He got out of bed and started down the corridor toward the room where the singing seemed loudest.
But he was too weak to reach the door.
His knees gave way beneath him and he fainted.
A little later he had the vague memory of silent men carrying him through the corridor and placing him on his bed.
The next morning an old man with a long white beard, not one of the regular visitors, came to Willie's room.
He wore a strange tunic, made of gunnysack and other rags patched together.
He put a little card on the stand beside Willie's bed.
When the old man left, Willie reached for the card.
It said, THE SILENT SERVANTS OF THE USED ABUSED AND UTTERLY SCREWED UP ARE WITH YOU.
Willie tried to make sense of these words, but it was too much work.
He fell asleep for another week.
Then one night the singing woke him again.
He got out of bed very carefully and tried his legs while supporting himself on the edge of the bed.
When he was satisfied that he could walk, he started down the shadowy corrodor once more.
He came to a broad wooden door that looked like the door to a barn.
He tried to open it, but it was no use. He was too weak.
He was about to try it again when the door gave way and there stood a bearded man wearing a ragtag garment, motioning Willie to come forward --- a slow gentle motion that seemed to say Welcome.
Willie entered an open courtyard where eighteen or twenty men, similarly garbed in gunnysack tunics, stood about a bare wooden table, singing.
In the center of the table stood the old white-bearded man who had given Willie the strange card.
He was holding a cup and a loaf of bread.
The man who had met Willie at the door led him to the old man at the table.
The old man broke the bread and gave a chunk of it to Willie.
"Body of Christ," he said in a cracked old voice.
"Body of Christ," said Willie, and he ate the bread.
Then the old man gave Willie the cup --- a tin cup it was, such as crippled beggars used to hold out for the pennies of the rich.
"Blood of Christ," said the old man in his cracked, wavering voice.
"Blood of Christ," said Willie, and he sipped from the cup.
It was the first food he had eaten in six weeks.
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Franz Cardinal Koenig died this morning

Eternal rest grant to him, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon him.

Cardinal Koenig was one of the Council Fathers, learned and holy, and a known joy addict who, at least in public, never yielded to cynicism over all the years. Someone on the Documents of Vatican II Study list (known as VatII-doc) remembers him entering a lecture hall to teach "bouncing down the aisle...." Reminds me of our +Timothy....
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About that Commonweal article

1) I have written a note to Commonweal's editors ---- but I'm not posting it here, at least not right now. First, because I think it's only fair that they get to read it first, and use it if they wish; and, second, because I may write it again after some time to mull it over.

2) I was still in the nursing home, incommunicado, when I saw the article, and I was thoroughly shocked to see my name and site mentioned, and especially when Mark, Amy, and dear Gerard were not. She must have leap-blogged, rather than use the Great Catholic Blog List. And she even missed jcecil3!

3) The all of us have got to keep in mind that the barque of Peter has a port bow as well as a starboard stern, and if it were missing either one it would surely sink. (I ride in a cozy corner of steerage.)
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We have to forgive; we must not judge.....

a story from an Athonite elder:

In the Holy Trinity hut of St. Anne’s Skete [on Mt. Athos] there lived, many years ago, five natural brothers. Because of Satan’s envy, they started quarrelling among themselves in such a way that they became known as troublemakers. They did ask forgiveness of each other every night, however, and thus they were forgiven.

Many years were passed in this way. Then one day no noise was heard coming from their hut. That night the dikaios of the skete was informed in his sleep that all five brothers had reposed in the Lord. He went with some other fathers to the hut, and indeed they saw that it was true. All five of them had departed to the Lord in a position of prostration, while asking forgiveness of each other. The forgiving and merciful God had taken them away right after Vespers.

Thus God gave a sign of justification and salvation, a proof of correction and forbearance, and a sign that one should never judge his fellow men.
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Get out the Brass-o, eh?

I've discovered a new blog, new to me anyhow, Conjectures of a Guilty Seminarian. This is what Lee posted on February 22nd, the Sunday before Lent:

It is once again time for the liturgical seasons to change. There is something quite wonderful about following a liturgical calendar. For instance, I can say "Today is Quinquagesima Sunday...." It just sounds nice. Say it with me... "Quinquagesima."

Tuesday will be Shrove Tuesday, for which I hope to receive short shrift --- not really, I actually hope and pray for the cleansing to begin.

But, at the parish, we will be taking down the Christus Rex and replacing it with the old Crucifix --- mortis style. The tabernacle is replaced with a wooden one, sent off to the metal worker for polishing. The brass will be put away, also for polishing. Further, the Alleluia will be put away --- also for polishing.

Lent, overall, is a time of polishing. We wipe away, once again, the collective layers of soot and tarnish that obscure and make grotesque our souls and natures. It takes serious time --- repentance. But, the work we do is secondary. Just as the real miracle of polishing is the polish itself, and not the polisher"er," the Holy Spirit acts upon us. He is really quite something. Able, is He, to wash our souls and leave grace behind. For this I give thanks and one last --- "Alleluia."
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to be remembered in this joyous season

1) There is no saint without a past; there is no sinner without a future. [from good old Anonymous] Therefore, never give up, never lose hope, and never despair of forgiveness and restoration.

2) The only way to live in any true security is to live so close to the bottom that when you fall you do not have far to drop, you do not have much to lose. [This one from Ven. Dorothy of New York City, who did actually live in this way in our own days]
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Housekeeping details in the anchor hold

Just completed three months worth of blogroll maintainance, totaling twenty separate changes. If I still have dead or broken links in the blogroll, or I accidentally broke yours in the template tampering, do not hesitate to email me.

Also, BlogMatrix has died, so I have eliminated their icons for my syndication feed and have activated an Atom feed. There's a link in the sidebar, below Mater Ecclesiae where the BlogMatrix icons used to be.

Still working on housekeeping in the real-life anchor hold; the virtual anchor hold should be back on topic very soon.
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cute game, courtesy of Annunciations

Pholph's Scrabble Generator My Scrabble© Score is: 19. What is your score? Get it here.

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Free at last, free at last!

I was discharged from Christopher East Rehab this afternoon at approximately 4 pm CST.

Thank you for all your prayers and good wishes.

I hope to have this virtual anchor hold back to speed by the end of the weekend; I do have to shape up the real-life anchor hold first. [If in doubt, try abandoning your house for three months without warning and find out. >:-) ]

Until I can further attend to this site, a little noodle to chew on.......

Is Commonweal really correct?

Are there, really and truly, no properly licenced and permitted consecrated women in St. Blog's? The Commonweal author did not find a single woman religious among us. Priests, seminarians, religious brothers, and one anchor hold dweller --- but no women religious. It shocked me to read that, but I don't recall any either. If anyone knows of any woman religious blogging, tell me in the comments.
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It's just me again

I've snuck back to the house for a couple hours to download my email, peek in here, and take my bills, my March Magnificat, and a big empty suitcase back to Christopher East nursing Home. They were supposed to let me out on Mardi Gras so I'd be here in time for Lent..... but it did not happen. Now they are talking about maybe the end of this week or early next week. Surgeons can make neat, clean, and well-placed holes and slices, but only God can grow skin. I know that patient endurance attains to all things ---- but, my Lord, I want it NOW!!!!

Ash Wednesday at Christopher East was a feast day for Black History Month and they served a soul food feast: fried chicken, yams, cornbread, giblet stuffing, collard greens with ham hocks, etc.

This year's Lenten disciplines: cultivating patience and a peaceful spirit, and eating what is set before me with a thankful heart, even overcooked underseasoned veggies or chicken and ham hocks on Ash Wednesday.

I'll be out by Good Friday...................
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Yoo-hoo!! Anybody around? It's me

come back to the house for the evening to try to kill some of my backed-up email. My brother Tom's here to visit, and brought me over. Will go back to Christopher East tonight, go out shopping with Tom tomorrow, and, I hope, be back home for keeps in time for Lent. Please continue to keep me in your prayers. Thanks to all who have written or called, especially to Br. Dismas in Peru, who didn't have a return address on his postcard. Nursing homes are ok if they're really needed, but I will be very glad to get out of there!