Upcoming Reviews

On my shelf for book reviews are:

• St. Augustine Answers 101 Questions on Prayer - Sophia Institute Press
• Divine Intimacy - Baronius Press
• Douay-Rheims Confirmation Bible - St. Benedict Press
• Douay-Rheims First Communion Bible - St. Benedict Press
• Rule of St. Benedict - St. Benedict Press

These will probably all appear after Holy Week.

Ignatius Press New Website

It looks like Ignatius Press has a new website.  The old one was tired and difficult to navigate but the update has helped considerably.  They certainly went for a plain look… 

 

From the website:

 

Ignatius Press was the first publisher in the world to have a web site. It was not much more than a list of links to new titles. We launched it in May of 1995. 

Since that time we’ve expanded and improved the site several times. But you’re about to see the results of our first major overhaul. You’ll find it’s more user-friendly, easier to navigate, with more helpful search options. It should also be *faster*! 

And, since we now offer most of our new titles and the best of our backlist in electronic and downloadable audio format, we’ve made them easier to find and download.

But with any big project, there are bound to be a few problems.  We could use your help!

We’ve been testing the site for months now, but we may not have caught all of the bugs yet. If you encounter a pesky bug or error while browsing, ordering, or downloading, please let us know so we can fix it!

Please include as many details as possible when writing up a report of the bug. Send us the details at webhelp@ignatius.com and we’ll work on getting it fixed as soon as we can.

Thanks from all of us here at Ignatius Press!

 

Here’s the link:

 

http://www.ignatius.com

Annunciation thoughts.

Today we commemorate Mary’s “Yes” to the archangel Gabriel.  This is in way the event from which the fountain of the New Covenant flows - the living waters if you will.

 

It is one of my favorite feasts and the Annunciation is also my favorite Rosary mystery.   It is, however, very under celebrated.  Perhaps that is because its almost always during Lent.   The rubrics in the breviary indicate that the feast can be celebrated in Paschal Season, but a quick look on the calendar over the past 40 years indicates that is a very rare occurrence.

 

I like to this of today as the beginning of Advent.  How so?  Well as next week we will be commemorating the Passion and Resurrection, somewhere in the background Mary also has Christ in her womb throughout the year.  The cycle continues and repeats itself and overlaps.   Just a thought.  I want to expand on this more but I’m out of time. 

 

Heading out to Mass in a little bit.  Have a great Feast Day!

 

Best Ever Litter Pan Liner

Only the best for my cats! Can you think of a better use for Monday morning's paper? I can't.

Disgrace and Shame

The House pass the Senate bill last night – as everyone knows.  Stupak abandoned us in the final hours and took the Democrats over the finish line with his group.   It seems he had 5 ready to vote in his bloc.  219 – 5 = 214.  Stupak’s group would have made the bill fail had they voted no.  So he got Obama to make sure there would be absolutely no funding for abortions…oh wait…everyone knows that’s laughable.   

 

Did you notice after Stupak’s announcement not a single Democrat pro-abort politician complained?  (or so I saw, and I was glued to the TV)  It was dismissed.  Pro-lifers were outraged and for good reason. My congressman, Chris Carney (D), another fake Catholic pro-lifer, voted for it. 

 

Shame.  Shame.  Shame.

 

For the record, the other pro-life Democrat who appeared on EWTN, Daniel Lipinski, voted NO and stood firm.  He needs to be commended.

OFFENSIVE: Pelosi Prays to St. Joseph for Health Bill

WOW.

This is an in-your-face to the Church. How offensive is this?!?!

Review: The Publicans Prayerbook

I recently purchased the Publican's Prayer book by Sophia Press. Sophia Press is the official publishing arm of the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton. They have two dozen or so books available about the Melkite and other eastern churches. Spurred by my recent visit to the local Melkite monastery and my general interest in the Christian East, I decided to look for a way to incorporate some eastern practices into my devotional life.

The leather on this volume feels near identical to that which can be found on the Harper NRSV XL. I believe the NRSV XL is bonded. I'm not sure if this is real or bonded. The cover smells real. But at any rate, it is a very nice, textured, soft leather cover. The gold stamping is well done. The book does not lay flat, but that's fine since this is a hand-held book. The Publican Prayer Book comes with five very slender ribbons.

The front and spine.

Back cover.

Morning prayers.

The Publicans Prayer book contains a section on daily prayers (morning through prayers before sleep), prayers for various needs, devotions for Communion, and examination of conscience, prayers before, during, and after Confession, a section for the Liturgical Year, Canons, Akathists (more on those in a minute), Church Father commentary on various subjects, a glossary of terms, and finally a section on Eastern Christian practices.



There is quite a bit between the covers and enough explanation in each section to help a Latin Rite Catholic like myself participate in the life of the East. One of the best things they added was the glossary of terms. I have to admit - I have no problem telling you what an Antiphon, a Canticle, or a Collect is but if you asked me what an Akathist, Kontakion, or a Metany was before using this prayer book I probably would have looked at you sideways. I had heard all these terms before but allowed them to go in one ear and out the other. The glossary should be longer however. As it stands there only a few terms defined. It would have been nice to have several more pages of eastern liturgical lingo.

There is a lot of artwork throughout the book. Not all of it is so well done however. Rather than finding high quality images to use of certain icons it appears they used small images and blew them up to fit on the page. Some of it looks like clip art on a poorly designed website.

Bad image.

And yet there are other images that are very well done.

There is only one prayer which might present a problem for some. In the prayers for various needs section there is a particularly beautiful prayer for aborted children. The prayer seems to assume that heaven is open for them and that is a highly debated subject in the Church. Personally I hold to the “limbo” theory and believe it to be an extremely generous one. However we do know God is not bound by his Sacraments. That said, G.K. Chesterton once warned that the ultimate tyranny is when the exception becomes the norm.

The Morning, Daytime, Evening, and Prayers Before Sleep will be your most used sections of the book. However the heart of the text in my opinion seem to be the Canons and devotions for Confession and Holy Communion. The prayers themselves are among some of the most beautiful I've ever seen in any prayer book.


At $35 I highly recommend adding this to your library. If any eastern Christians have anything to add here about any of the prayers included I welcome them in the comments section.

The binding and ribbons.

Buy it from Aquinas and More here.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

On Sunday my parish had a St. Patrick's Day party. We've never had one before but our new pastor is from Ireland so the parish had a great deal of fun with it. We had "Irish (American)" food, singing, performing acts, and a visit from our former Bishop Timlin who mingled with the folks and gave his blessing. "I never miss a party," he said. It was a great boost for the congregation to have him there and we were all very grateful.

I figure I am about 1/3 Irish. My father is 1/2 Irish and 1/2 German. My mom is part English, part Irish, and part Welsh. On my mom's side we've traced the tree back 800 years with extensive research. (without Ancestry.com...this was done in the 90s) The last person on the tree has no last name - so that was the end.

Btw, I believe the Breastplate of St. Patrick makes for a good morning prayer. A healthy devotion to St. Patrick would be a nice gift right now for the suffering Church in Ireland. Just a thought.

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

(Preview) Publicans Prayer Book

I just received in the mail a copy of the Publicans Prayer Book published by Sophia Press. This Melkite Greek-Catholic prayerbook is outstanding. I can't wait to show it to you in detail.

Please excuse my quick cell phone picture.

.

Pages Coming

I'm adding standalone pages to the top of the blog. You can see already I've made a list of some of my book reviews and added it to the bar. The list isn't complete but its a start. More pages and content coming soon.

New Exhortation on Sacred Scipture Coming

Normally I would just 'share' this on my sidebar but I thought it would be worth putting up as a regular post given recent entry today on Scripture in the Church.

A blurb:

" Vatican City, Mar 10, 2010 / 06:31 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Following a press conference on Monday to present a new book, Archbishop Nikola Eterovic announced that Pope Benedict XVI will soon release an apostolic exhortation on the Bible. The exhortation will address themes presented at the most recent general assembly of the Synod of Bishops.

In October of 2008, the Synod of Bishops met in the Vatican to discuss the relationship of the Word of God and the Church."

The link:

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/apostolic_exhortation_on_bible_expected_after_easter/

Scripture in the Church

I remember growing up in the Presbyterian Church we had two or three moderate length readings from the Bible at each service. We had hymns, the doxology, and we said the Apostles Creed. The pastor would preach from anywhere between 25 - 60 minutes. We also had Bible studies, Sunday School, and for a time I was in the Youth Group (until everything pretty much fell apart).

The amount of Scripture we read in one week in the Presbyterian Church (as a congregation, so to speak) equals the amount of Scripture that Catholics will read in a single day. The difference is how we view Scripture and how it is used.

I generally don't like getting into how much Scripture is read at Mass or in the Office because that just descends into an argument between the Novus Ordo and TLM lectionaries. Here I am trying to put another nail in the coffin of an age old argument: Catholics don't read the Bible. Practicing Catholics do. Barely practicing Catholics don't. Which is why they are such an easy pick-off for different sect groups.

If you are a serious practicing Catholic and pray the Office (we'll say the new one for now) and attend daily Mass, you will read the following parts of the Bible just today.

Psalm 95

Psalm 89:2-38

Exodus 33:7-11, 18-23 and 34:5-9, 29-35

2 Corinthians 3:13, 18, 15 (Responsory)

2 Corinthians 6:2, 4, 5, 7 (Responsory)

Psalm 86

Isaiah 33:13-16

Psalm 98

Deuteronomy 7:6, 8-9

Luke 1:68-79

Psalm 119:105-112

Psalm 70

Psalm 75

Ezekiel 18:30b-32 or Zechariah 1:3b-4b or Daniel 4:24b

Psalm 126

Psalm 127

Colossians 1:12-20

Philippians 2:12b-15a

Luke 1:46-55

Psalm 31:1-6

Psalm 130

Ephesians 4:26-27

Luke 2:29-32

Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9

Psalm 147: 12-13, 15-16, 19-20 (Responsory)

Matthew 5:17-19

That's just the prescribed readings in the liturgy today - without anything extra. I didn't count the incidental verses contained before each Psalm in the Divine Office, nor did I scour the liturgy for direct or indirect quotes from the Bible.

We can argue whether or not it all sinks in. Sometimes less is more and sometimes if you throw enough out there something is bound to stick. I like to think of the Church's use of Scripture as an immersion into the Word of God rather than stand alone readings.

Catholic Bible Dictionary

I just received my order from Amazon of Scott Hahn's Catholic Bible Dictionary. So far I'm very impressed.

Mini Review

The Catholic Bible Dictionary seems very complete, theologically sound, and well laid out. I am really glad I purchased this book. I read several of the articles already even though it is the middle of the work day. The article on the inerrancy of Scripture was relatively impressive. He managed to defend Dei Verbum against the liberal-modernist interpretation which believes the document promulgated a limited understanding that the Bible is only inerrant when it talks about things having to do with salvation but not history. His article also shuts down the "fundamentalist" argument that Dei Verbum is a modernist document. There isn't anything especially new in what he says, but the Dictionary provides the content in an easy to use format.

The entry on English versions of the Bible doesn't give much credence to the Challoner version's current popularity however, and only says it was "known by Catholics well into the twentieth century."

... and into the 21st ...

The Challoner version of course is still available everywhere and read and enjoyed by many Catholics today. Taken in one sense, Scott Hahn is correct, the Challoner version lost favor in the mid twentieth century but has since regained steam. As to the future...time will tell. For it to survive I am convinced we need it in an updated text layout.

1. The reason is that,

2. while at one time popular, and many times useful

3. especially for scripture proof-texting and playing scripture hockey with Protestants or Jehovah's Witnesses

4. who knock at your door,

5. verse-by-verse formatting is not a great way to read Sacred Scripture.

6. But that is another post entirely.

Nevertheless, one tail end of a sentence doesn't ruin the whole thing. I can't wait to really spend more time with it.

Not Leaving

In the normal order of things, I agree with most everything Glenn Beck says about our economic and political woes. I agree with him on the issues of Progressivism, Socialism, and Communism but he has now crossed a line I cannot follow.

I’m begging you, your right to religion and freedom to exercise religion and read all of the passages of the Bible as you want to read them and as your church wants to preach them . . . are going to come under the ropes in the next year. If it lasts that long it will be the next year. I beg you, look for the words ’social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes” (Glenn Beck, as quoted in First Things here )

Evil isn't it? Over my dead martyred body will I leave the Church that Christ founded due to a wrong headed notion of Social Justice by some in the fold. This is akin to encouraging people to leave the Church during the Reformation because of the practice of indulgences.

"The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected." - G.K. Chesterton