Hillarious

iPieta - Haydock and Cantena Aurea

Just a quick note. If you have an iPhone, I highly suggest downloading the iPieta app. I have been using it for a while now but recently it was updated to include the Haydock Bible Commentary and parts of the Cantena Aurea. Needless to say, this is a tremendous addition to any Catholic iPhone user.

For the record, it also has nearly everything else a Catholic might need/want: seemingly endless lists of prayers, Church Father writings, ALL of the Church Councils, the ENTIRE Summa, Latin/English Bibles that can even go side-by-side, traditional and novus ordo calendars...and the list goes on and on.

Price $2.99 for an entire Catholic library. Its incredible.

New Bishop for NEPA

I can't let the day go by without acknowledging the big news in the area today. We have a new bishop here in the Diocese of Scranton, Msgr. Joseph Bambera. I want to add my voice to those who are congratulating him and praying for a successful tenure as our shepherd.

A new bishop brings excitement and anxiety. We are happy to have a bishop and hope he does well but at the same time a little anxious about some things.

Will he be a strong defender of Catholic tradition? Will he be a strong moral advocate like his predecessor? Will the teachers "unions" be placated? How will he handle the local Catholic colleges? Will he help us to become saints?

Only time will tell, but we must pray for him that God will make him a strong shepherd for this ailing flock.

My Lenten "Program"

Every year when Lent rolls around it seems I am deciding what to "give up" late at night on Shrove Tuesday. I decided this year on my diabetes friendly no-sugar-added ice cream. Later on Friday I decided I wanted to go further. So I have put myself on a strict diabetic diet. This is something I fell away from about a year and a half after being diagnosed. It is the same diet that I lost over 100 pounds on.

I never put it all back on, in fact I have kept the greater part of that off because I've never gone back to the hog wild late night Denny's diet I was on through college. But going back on the diabetic diet is going to be tough.

And good. I need it. For far too long I have been much too free with what I am putting into my system. It seems typical that diabetics who get their sugars under control begin to cheat much more often because they think it won't affect them. And it doesn't, until you cheat all the time. The the weight begins to creep back on and the sugar averages begin to rise and all of a sudden you've completely fallen off the wagon and its tough to get back on.

Have you ever heard this story:

"So and so just had their foot amputated. They have diabetes but refuse to eat right. They just eat whatever they want."

I have heard that story over and over and am determined that will not be me if I can help it. Lent is the perfect time to mortify this particular passion by going to a "strict observance" low-carb diet. Essentially I am allowing myself carbs at one meal per day only. For me that will be dinner since I have to cook for everyone else here. The only other carbs I'll have will be incidental (milk in my coffee for example).

Today I had a ham and cheese omelet for breakfast and a boneless chicken breast with ham, mushrooms, and cheese for lunch. I feel like I am starving myself. Its horrible. Coffee and keeping busy at work and the radio are my only refuges. These first days are the hardest - I know from experience. It will get better but right now I can feel a headache coming on.

"But Matt, how does this bring you closer to God? It seems like you are only doing this to be physically healthy."

I can already hear this reply from some. Being physically healthy is important to your spiritual health since as human beings we are both body and soul. When you lose weight your mind clears and you are less prone (in my experience) to the worries of pride. With less food in life there is much more time and place for God. These 40 days will be the starting point for a perpetual mortification that I must put myself on if I am to be a healthy man for many years to come.

If my body is to be a temple of the Holy Spirit I had better do my best to keep it running.

When in Rome

Do as the Romans do, right?

I visited Rome in the Summer of 2000. That was well before becoming Catholic in 2007. I tell people often that most of the trip was spent staring at ceilings in churches and palaces. Of course we went to the Vatican.

One of the traditions is to touch the foot of the statue of St. Peter (seated on his throne). I recall seeing just how rubbed down it was. You can't even really tell its a foot anymore and it is incredibly smooth to the touch. When I think about it I can still feel it on my hand as if it was yesterday. That's what several hundred years of pilgrims touching a statue will get you. I have no idea why that has stuck with me.

Going to Rome (and France, England, Italy, Scotland, Germany, Austria, Spain, Switzerland) and seeing the glory of the Catholic Church was probably one of the real catalysts for becoming a Catholic. Viewing those things had an effect on me which I don't give as much credit as I probably should. Pretty stuff is not enough to make a guy convert, but a witness of faith over 2000 years is a pretty good place to start.

Happy feast of the Chair of St. Peter in Rome everyone.

Lenten Perspective

When you think about it... a little fast and abstinence, some voluntary penance, and some giving to people in need isn't really that hard is it? Have a good and fruitful lent everyone!

US Constitution = Scripture?

I was talking with a friend from the parish a couple weeks back about Glenn Beck. Generally, I agree with him and have learned a lot from his show about how (poorly) our government works. But he keeps saying this one thing over again and again that digs at me, that the Founders of the United States were divinely inspired to write the Constitution.

"You know, that might be a Mormon doctrine," my friend John said. I had suspected as much and decided to check it out. I took a look on the MormonWiki and found this:

The Constitution of the United States of America is considered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be an inspired document. The Founding Fathers are considered men foreordained, or raised up by God, to establish the constitution and a free nation wherein the Gospel could be restored.

The constitution has the following essential characteristics:

1. The whole philosophy of constitutional government is that all sovereign power rests with the...people.
2. It is capable of specific interpretation and encourages a course of stability and uniformity of action where governmental affairs are concerned.
3. It creates an ideal system of checks and balances where the possible exercise of autocratic powers is concerned.
4. The government has no rights; it has duties only. It is ordained to serve the people.
5. It preserves the natural rights of man.
6. Means are provided for the constitution's own change and amendment. ^[1]

In the Book of Mormon, prophets predicted that America would be a nation wherein no kings would rule (2 Nephi 10:11-14). The people who would possess the land would be "free from bondage and from captivity, and from all other nations (Ether 2:12). The Gentiles were to be "established in this land, and be set up as a free people by the power of the Father" (3 Nephi 21:4). This, so that the Book of Mormon could come forth and the Lord's church be established. "And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood" (Doctrine and Covenants 101:80; 109:54). ^[1]

The Prophet Joseph Smith said, "The constitution of the United States is a glorious standard. It is founded in the wisdom of God. It is a heavenly banner; it is to all those who are privileged with the sweets of liberty, like the cooling shades and refreshing waters of a great rock in a thirsty and weary land. It is like a great tree under whose branches men from every clime can be shielded from the burning rays of the sun. We say that God is true; that the constitution of the United States is true; that the Bible is true; that the Book of Mormon is true; that the Book of Covenants is true; that Christ is true; that the ministering angels sent forth from God are true, and that we know that we have an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, whose builder and maker is God." ^[1]

So there you go. The Mormons pretty much believe the Constitution is Sacred Scripture. Does that mean drafters of amendments are sacred writers who are living in our midst? What if they make an amendment to the Constitution that Mormons disagree with?

(Some) Orthodox views on the Catholic Church (?)

Over the past two weeks I have taken a greater interest in the Orthodox Churches. This was spurred by going a few weeks ago to a local Melkite Greek Catholic Monastery. Now, if you read my conversion "story" over on the right sidebar here you will note that there was a time when I didn't know whether to go East or West in the Catholic Church. I was very impressed with the Catholic East but ultimately settled for the Traditional Latin Mass. Since then reunion of the full East with the West has been a big prayer priority for me.

I bought a few "Orthodox" books to get the feel for them. They have a very rich spirituality to them which is very attractive and for the most part are compatible with the Catholic Faith. They depart only (as far as I can tell) by the histories of their authors.

All of this research and reading has spurred a great love in my heart for the Christian East. Yet I am feeling a little deflated by the whole thing. Reading the Catechism or listening to our apologists gives you the idea that we are within spitting distance of reunion. But I don't think that is really true, at least it may not be "humanly possible" without a serious and massive conversion.

In this post I am only going to focus on one area: Holy Orders. Let's take a look at an answer to a Q&A on the Orthodox Church in America's website. [My Emphasis and Comments]:

Concerning Roman Catholic orders: Within the OCA Roman Catholic clergy generally are received into the Orthodox Church through "vesting"; that is, they are not ordained anew. While there are some Orthodox Christians today who would not follow this practice, there is evidence that this was in fact the practice in Russia several centuries ago. [So in other words, Romans who convert are generally not re-ordained. But other Orthodox people believe they should be. The implications of this are huge for Orthodox Christians. Imagine if your parish got a convert priest. Half the congregation could leave if he wasn't re-ordained. They wouldn't believe he is a priest.] One must also keep in mind that the practice of the Orthodox Church on this issue has been subject to change from time to time and place to place, often depending on situations appropriate to the setting. [Do they know what a priest IS? Could you imagine if it was the practice of the Catholic Church to NOT conditionally ordain clergy from other confessions where a doubt regarding their orders existed...but only from time to time?!!]

Concerning the Eucharist: Many Orthodox Christians do view the Roman Catholic Eucharist as the Body and Blood of Christ; others today would not subscribe to this. [So is the doubt growing or shrinking?] The answer is linked to whether one believes that Roman Catholicism is "with grace" or "devoid of grace."

Concerning the "grace of the priesthood": This is partially answered in point 1 above. The answer to this is also intimately linked on whether the Orthodox view Roman Catholicism as a body that is "with grace" or "devoid of grace." [Read carefully here.] Some Orthodox would say that Roman Catholic priests do possess grace; others would say that they do not. And I have encountered still others who would say that, upon conversion to Orthodoxy, the Holy Spirit "heals all that is infirm," a phrase found in the prayers of ordination and other sacramental prayers of the Orthodox Church. [They seem to not have a clear idea of what makes a priest a priest. "Some" Orthodox believe a man can lose his priesthood if he falls away. So what happens if man awakes one day and doubts his faith and falls away. Later in the same day he believes again, but then falls away after dinner. Before going to bed he believes again. How many times in that day was he no longer a priest?] A thorough examination of this question would also require a preliminary discussion on the meaning of "grace," as the Orthodox definition of grace [At least they defined something, right?] is quite distinct from "grace" as defined in Roman Catholic circles.

Concerning sacramental absolution: Your question here is highly theoretical, inasmuch as one might ask why an Orthodox person would approach a Roman Catholic priest for confession and absolution in the first place. Again, a thorough discussion of this would necessarily involve a survey of the different understanding of Confession held by Roman Catholicism and the Orthodox Church. For example, does one confess to the priest, who personally has the "power" to offer absolution and forgiveness, or does one confess to Christ in the presence of the priest, with the priest proclaiming God's forgiveness at the conclusion. [This is theological double-talk. Both of these are within the Catholic viewpoint so I don't see the problem here. I have never heard a Catholic priest say "You are not confessing to Christ, only to me!" This is the type of misunderstanding that gets worked out in theological and ecumenical discussions. Or perhaps they could read one of our Catechisms....]

Concerning whether Roman Catholicism is considered a heresy: Orthodox Christianity in general would view certain aspects of Roman Catholic teaching as heretical. The filioque is the classic example of this, although the Vatican a few years ago has made this addition to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed an option even, if I am not mistaken, for Latin Rite Catholics. [I believe he is mistaken, at least in a liturgical sense.] Most Byzantine Rite liturgical books I have seen of late either do not include the filioque or include it in brackets, indicating that it is optional. Orthodox Christianity also rejects [Rejects? Or maybe they just have a different view of the same mystery?] such teachings as the Immaculate Conception, purgatory, and other uniquely Roman Catholic doctrines.

Source for the article: http://www.oca.org/QA.asp?ID=200&SID=3


The article goes on from there, but I think the point is made. The OCA website gives a good example of just how confusing Orthodoxy is. I for one, would never want to belong to a Church that couldn't tell me who did and who did not have the "grace of the priesthood". That would be a spiritual nightmare.

Perhaps I've been unnecessarily harsh on the Orthodox. If I have, leave a comment and let's discuss.

Beautiful day at the park

St. Ignatius of Antioch

Today in the traditional Roman calendar is the feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch. I had the opportunity a few days ago to attend his feast in a local Melkite Greek-Catholic Monastery. Growing up, we always heard of the early Christian martyrs in Rome but never discussed them in any great detail as Presbyterians. We knew people were killed for Christ, but that was it. It wasn’t until I was 26 and interested in the Church did I read of St. Ignatius or those like him.

From today’s Matin’s reading (scraped from DivinumOfficium.com)

From the book of St. Jerome, Presbyter (priest), on the Ecclesiastical writers.

Ignatius was the third Bishop of Antioch after the Apostle Peter. When Trajan stirred up his persecution, he was condemned to be devoured by wild beasts, and sent to Rome in chains. When on his journey thither he arrived at Smyrna, where Polycarp, the disciple of John, was Bishop, he wrote an Epistle to the Ephesians, another to the Magnesians, a third to the Trallians, and a fourth to the Romans and after leaving Smyrna, he addressed a further Epistle to the Philadelphians, and another to the Smyrnians, along with a private Epistle to Polycarp, to whose care he commended the Church of Antioch. In this last he quoteth a passage regarding the Person of Christ from the Gospel, which I have recently translated.

“It is fitting that, as we have made mention of a man of so much importance, we should also note briefly the Epistle which he addressed to the Romans. I am on my way, saith he, from Syria to Rome, and am already fighting with beasts on sea and on land all the way. I may say I am chained day and night to ten leopards, for indeed the soldiers, who have charge of me, are no better. The more courteous I am to them, the worse they use me. But still their wickedness is good schooling for me, though I know that my mere sufferings cannot in themselves gain me justification. I earnestly wish for the beasts which are to devour me; at any rate, I pray they may put me out of pain quickly, and ( fly on me willingly, that I be not like some other Martyrs, whose bodies the animals have refused to touch. If I find that they will not come on, I will run at them as quick as I can, to make them devour me. Let me be, my little children I know what is good for me.

I feel now that I am beginning to be Christ's disciple; I desire none of those things which are seen, if so be I may find Christ Jesus. I care not that there come upon me fire, or cross, or wild beasts, or breaking of my bones, or sundering of my members, or destruction of my whole body, yea, or all the torments of the devil, if only so be I may win Christ. “

When he was brought condemned to the theatre, and heard the roaring of the beasts which were to devour him, he felt so strong an eagerness to suffer, that he cried out I am Christ's wheat, and so let the beasts' teeth be my mill, that I may be ground, and be found to make good bread. He suffered in the eleventh year of Trajan. What was left of his body lieth at Antioch, in the graveyard outside the gate which leadeth toward Daphne.

Without Further Ado - My Rebound 62 Breviary

Back in Advent I sent away my Benziger Brothers 1962 (64) Roman Breviary in English to be rebound. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of its delapidated condition. Truly this was the "Veleteen Breviary". I even put contact paper over its tattered leather cover to make it usable. The ribbons (which the bindery sent back) were frayed and barely long enough from 45 years of life. I had put tape on the ends and man was it ugly.

Voila.

I opted for the semi-yapp cover which hangs over the edge of the book in order to protect the pages from errant scuffs. The years were not so kind to the pages but they are in tact (save for the first page). But they aren't covered you say? Bah! That extra half inch of leather does a lot. Trust me.

The leather is thick, not thin or flimsy.

Here is the bottom of the book. The quality of McSpadden's premium calfskin is wonderful. It feels like butter in your hand. You can see that I asked for six ribbons: 1) Proper of Season 1 2) Proper of Season 2 - post Pentecost 3)Ordinary 4)Psalter 5)Proper of Saints 6)Commons. You need all six when using a totum, as opposed to a Breviary split into parts, where 5 are sufficient. Notice the colors. They are not the ones I asked for. It was meant to have all dark ribbons and I even gave them a specific color order...so I don't know what happened. Some light ribbons discolor over time. I hope these don't.

You can see why I opted to protect the pages.

Above you see how the cover extends out from under the book when it is open. The semi-yapp does a nice job framing the text block so your eyes focus on the psalms and prayers while reading. I didn't expect this effect but it is akin to putting up a new painting in a frame that enhances the art and draws your attention to it. Notice the ribbon has re-enforced edges along the sides.





There is another slight disappointment here in that the title on the spine is off-center. You don't have to look too closely to notice. This is an unfortunate part of getting a book rebound: one should have realistic expectations. It is not lined up by a computer but by hand and having this corrected would probably mean sending it back and having the whole thing done over. So I'll live with it as is. My Liber Usualis by the way, also bound by McSpadden's, is centered properly.




The Breviary opens flat but the text block doesn't. This is due to little flaps that McSpadden's puts along the inside cover in order to protect the binding. They loosen up with time and are eventually unnoticeable. This is part of the breaking-it-in process. Do not be alarmed if you get a book rebound and it comes back like this - it's meant to give your book a longer life.

It just looks great, doesn't it?

They used a different grain of calfskin for my Liber Usualis. The Liber is much more flexible. The Breviary is stiff right now but it won't stay that way. The semi-yapp technique used here prevents it from doing (or attempting) "Bible Yoga". With the sensitivity of the older pages in this book however this comes out as a plus. I'm glad it came back this way.

So there you have it. Another good experience with book binding. Originally I paid $75 for the book and it cost $86 to get this project done. I have seen lesser books of this kind on eBay go for over $500. They were not freshly bound in a semi-yapp calfskin. So this was worth every penny and maybe a few extra.

McSpadden's Book Bindery does not nickel and dime you by the way. The gold stamping and ribbons were included in the flat fee for both of my projects. On a hardcover I have there right now the die of a crest I re-drew cost extra from the die-caster but they don't appear to be charging me for the stamping itself. I like these people and hope you will too, should you send a book their way for a shiny new coat.

Breviary is back

Just out of the box. More in a day or so.

Statues in the Church

In this Youtube video I saw someone posted via Facebook, Tim Staples shows that God commanded the making of statues. It is a good defense of the Catholic tradition of doing so.

New CMAA DVD

Massive

The March for Life is the most massive thing I've ever been to.

Mass for life on EWTN

The Vigil Mass for Life is on television right on EWTN. I love the
shrine but I'm kinda glad I'm not there tonight.

Oh you didn't know it was on? It started at 6:30 but you can still
catch it. The procession should last a good 3 to 4 unecessary hours.

Pope Benedict has finished his book.

The Pope has finished the second half of his work "Jesus of
Nazareth". Now I must dust off the first part and actually finish
it. I really enjoyed the first half until something else caught my
attention...

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/popes_second_book_on_jesus_of_nazareth_is_finished/?utm_source=feedburner

Sent from my iPhone

Breviary Rebind - On its way back!

I am waiting with an irrepressible ebullience.

Today I received word from the binder that my Benziger Breviary will be on its way back tomorrow. I had it done in a nice black calfskin with a gold embossed Cross on the front complete with a semi-yapp (of full...can't remember right now) cover.

Pictures, pictures, and more pictures when it comes in. I bought this velveteen breviary with the thought in mind that I would have it rebound. It should be here next week.

January tree

This tree knows it's January, apparently.
--------------------------------------------------

Eery fog at the park today.

At 3:53 no less.