Tuesday, April 27, 2010

April Hailstones

Here we are almost into May, and the temperature is in the high fifties... 


...and we get hailstones the size of lima beans!


Where else but in Idaho?

Monday, April 26, 2010

Not Nuts -- Nuns!

Meet the cloistered Dominican Nuns of St. Dominic's Monastery, Linden, Virginia, not far from Front Royal.  These nuns get up at oh-three-hundred -- yes, you read it right: 3:00 a.m. -- and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if this was them processing into the chapel for Matins at oh-three-thirty.  It takes a real prayer warrior to get up at an hour when the rest of the world is sleeping, partying, or out getting a DUI after all the bars have closed.

And clearly, these nuns have not lost sight of what the religious life is all about.   There does not appear to be any of the nut-stuff at St. Dominic's that has infested other congregations, to their great cost.  Not only have these Dominicans not kicked the habit; they lead a disciplined life of prayer and work, in that order, keeping a daily schedule that most of us in the world could not keep for three days together if our lives depended on it.  Yet which of these women would care to trade in that schedule for anything the world has to offer?  This community may not be numerous, but it is obviously fairly young, and not without postulants and aspirants.  I doubt these nuns are among those kicking up a fuss about the apostolic visitation of women religious communities in the United States.

Although this particular community of Dominican nuns traces its roots back over 100 years, they  have only lived at the present monastery of St. Dominic's since 2008.  And the monastery is still unfinished: among other things, they still need to build an enclosure fence, and to establish a cemetery.  They are also working on a permanent chapel, a permanent library, and guest rooms for visitors.

So if you've got some filthy lucre, and you'd like to help support these roaring lionesses of two-fisted cool...here's where to send donations.  Hint, hint. 

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Litany of the Blessed Sacrament

I thought I had previously posted this litany, which is full of wonderful meditations, but apparently, I was mistaken. So here it is.


Lord, have mercy.  Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, hear us.  Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit…
Holy Trinity, one God…
Living Bread that came down from heaven…
Hidden God and Savior…
Wheat of the elect…
Wine of which virgins are the fruit…
Bread of fatness and royal dainties…
Perpetual Sacrifice…
Clean oblation…
Lamb without spot…
Most pure Feast…
Food of Angels…
Hidden Manna…
Memorial of the wonders of God…
Supersubstantial Bread…
Word made flesh…
Sacred Host…
Mystery of faith…
Most high and adorable Sacrament…
Most holy of all sacrifices…
True Propitiation for the living and the dead…
Heavenly Antidote against the poison of sin…
Most wonderful of all miracles…
Most holy commemoration of the Passion of Christ…
Gift transcending all fullness…
Special memorial of divine love…
Affluence of divine bounty…
Most august and holy mystery…
Medicine of immortality…
Tremendous and life-giving Sacrament…
Bread made flesh by the omnipotence of the Word…
Unbloody Sacrifice…
Our Feast at once and our fellow-Guest…
Sweetest banquet, at which angels minister…
Sacrament of piety…
Bond of charity…
Priest and Victim…
Spiritual sweetness tasted in its proper source…
Refreshment of holy souls…
Viaticum of those who die in the Lord…
Pledge of future glory…

Be merciful, spare us, O Lord.
Be merciful, graciously hear us, O Lord.

From an unworthy reception of Your Body and Blood, O Lord, deliver us.
From the lust of the flesh…
From the lust of the eyes…
From the pride of life…
From every occasion of sin…
Through the desire by which You desired to eat this Passover with Your disciples…
Through the profound humility by which You washed their feet…
Through that ardent charity by which You instituted this divine Sacrament…
Through Your precious Blood which You have left us on our altars…
Through the Five Wounds of this Your Most Holy Body which You received for us,

We sinners, we beseech You, hear us.
That You would preserve and increase our faith, reverence, and devotion toward this Sacrament…
That You would conduct us, through a true confession of our sins, to a
frequent reception of the holy Eucharist…
That You would deliver us from all heresy, evil, and blindness of heart…
That You would impart to us the precious and heavenly fruits of this Most Holy Sacrament…
That at the hour of death You would strengthen and defend us by this heavenly Viaticum…

Son of God, Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Christ, hear us.  Christ, graciously hear us.

V.  You gave them bread from heaven,
R.  Containing in itself all sweetness.

Let us pray.

O God, in this wonderful Sacrament, You left us a memorial of Your passion.  Grant us so to venerate the sacred mysteries of Your Body and Blood that we may ever continue to feel within us the blessed fruit of Your redemption.  You live and reign forever and ever.  Amen.

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Gold Coins

Years and years ago, I read a fairy story about a girl whose evil stepmother sends her out in a paper dress in winter to gather strawberries.  She takes refuge in a house belonging to three dwarfs.  When they demand that she share her food with them, she gladly gives them half of her only crust of bread.  When they order her to sweep their back step, she does so at once.  Part of her reward for her humility, generosity and obedience is that every time she speaks, a gold coin falls from her mouth.

Meet Fr. José de Jesús Camacho, priest of the Diocese of Boise.   In addition to his regular parish duties, he has a prison ministry and a blog.  He has also taken over the city's only 7:00 a.m. daily Mass since the death of Msgr. Donoghue, about whom you have read in this space.  I don't agree with everything Fr. Camacho says; but he is a good and devoted priest.  I don't know if getting up early enough for 7:00 a.m. Mass is as much a mortification for him as it is for me; either way, he gets beaucoup points for it as far as I'm concerned.

And when a priest is humble, generous, and obedient, and gets out of God's way...gold coins fall out of his mouth.  Here are a few of the gold coins that have fallen from the lips of Fr. Camacho during his homilies (and these quotes are not exact, but as close as I can remember them):

On the nature of freedom: "Freedom" does not mean freedom to do whatever you want; it means the freedom to do what is right.

On true priestly vocations: Those who want to build a career within the Church rather than serve do not have an authentic vocation: that is the difference between God's call and one's own agenda.

On the liturgy and particularly the Eucharist: The more entertainment you need, the less faith you have.

'Nuff said!  What more can be added?  Except: Yay, Father!  Keep those gold coins coming!

And thank you for crawling out of a warm bed on cold mornings for us.   

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Playtime Is Over

After its long, long Lent, Easter finally dawns in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.  Meet Archbishop Jose Horacio Gomez, whom the Holy Father has appointed Coadjutor Bishop of the Archdiocese.  As Coadjutor, Archbishop Gomez will take over as soon as Cardinal Mahony retires on February 27, 2011.  The new Coadjutor holds a doctorate in Sacred Theology, a B.A. in philosophy, and a degree in accounting.  This last should come in handy in an archdiocese that has shelled out astronomical sums in sex abuse damages. 

La-La Land's new shepherd-elect receives the ringing endorsement of the superlative Archbishop Charles Chaput of the Archdiocese of Denver, where he served as auxiliary bishop.  Oh, and he's a priest of the eeeeeeeeeeeeevillllll Opus Dei.  How will the liberals cope with being torn between outrage over the end of the Age of Mahony and political correctitude in the matter of L.A.'s first Hispanic archbishop?

Pray for Archbishop Gomez, who inherits a train wreck of mammoth proportions.  No doubt he can expect furious opposition as soon as he assumes power.  Before he even touches anything, the liberals will howl, like a child whose mother approaches with a hot needle to pick a splinter out of his finger. 

Since nothing he does will please the liberals, and he might as well start antagonizing them sooner rather than later, I hereby proffer my humble suggestion for Archbishop Gomez's first official act as head of the archdiocese: have the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels hauled away as scrap.  Fortunately for him...
  ...most of it already comes conveniently pre-scrapped.     

Saturday, April 03, 2010

Easter


It behooved Christ to rise again, for five reasons. First of all; for the commendation of Divine Justice, to which it belongs to exalt them who humble themselves for God's sake, according to Lk. 1:52: "He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble." Consequently, because Christ humbled Himself even to the death of the Cross, from love and obedience to God, it behooved Him to be uplifted by God to a glorious resurrection; hence it is said in His Person (Psalm 138:2): "Thou hast known," i.e. approved, "my sitting down," i.e. My humiliation and Passion, "and my rising up," i.e. My glorification in the resurrection; as the gloss expounds.

Secondly, for our instruction in the faith, since our belief in Christ's Godhead is confirmed by His rising again, because, according to 2 Cor. 13:4, "although He was crucified through weakness, yet He liveth by the power of God." And therefore it is written (1 Corinthians 15:14): "If Christ be not risen again, then is our preaching vain, and our [Vulg.: 'your'] faith is also vain": and (Psalm 29:10): "What profit is there in my blood?" that is, in the shedding of My blood, "while I go down," as by various degrees of evils, "into corruption?" As though He were to answer: "None. 'For if I do not at once rise again but My body be corrupted, I shall preach to no one, I shall gain no one,'" as the gloss expounds.

Thirdly, for the raising of our hope, since through seeing Christ, who is our head, rise again, we hope that we likewise shall rise again. Hence it is written (1 Corinthians 15:12): "Now if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how do some among you say, that there is no resurrection of the dead?" And (Job 19:25,27): "I know," that is with certainty of faith, "that my Redeemer," i.e. Christ, "liveth," having risen from the dead; "and" therefore "in the last day I shall rise out of the earth . . . this my hope is laid up in my bosom."

Fourthly, to set in order the lives of the faithful: according to Rm. 6:4: "As Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life": and further on; "Christ rising from the dead dieth now no more; so do you also reckon that you are dead to sin, but alive to God."

Fifthly, in order to complete the work of our salvation: because, just as for this reason did He endure evil things in dying that He might deliver us from evil, so was He glorified in rising again in order to advance us towards good things; according to Rm. 4:25: "He was delivered up for our sins, and rose again for our justification."

Summa Theologica, III, Q. 53, Art. 1

Holy Saturday: The Harrowing of Hell

I will deliver them out of the hand of death. I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy death; O hell, I will be thy bite... 
Osee 13:14 (Douay-Rhiems)

Because Christ also died once for our sins, the just for the unjust: that He might offer us to God, being put to death indeed in the flesh, but enlivened in the spirit, in which also coming He preached to those spirits that were in prison: which had been some time incredulous, when they waited for the patience of God in the days of Noe, when the ark was a building: wherein a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water. 
1 Peter 3:18-20 (Douay-Rheims)

Friday, April 02, 2010

Blessed Is the Wood by Which Righteousness Comes

Borrowed from Fr. Powell, O.P., who borrowed it from Taylor Marshall:

Seven Reasons Why Christ Died on a Wooden Cross

First, Augustine observed that crucifixion is not only painful, it is painful and public. The public nature of Christ's death inspires us to face death heroically.

Second, Augustine observed that since Adam brought death through a tree, it was fitting that the New Adam destroy death by hanging on a tree.

Third, John Chrysostom and Theophylact observed that by being lifted up on the cross, Christ sanctified the air.

Fourth, Athanasius observed that by being lifted up on the cross, Christ shows that He has prepared the ascent into Heaven.

Fifth, Gregory of Nyssa observed that the shape of the cross was fitting for because it extends in the four directions and is therefore universal. Also, Athanasius wrote that the one outstretched arm sanctified the those in the past and the other arm as outstretched to the future. So we have both a spacial and temporal universality signified in the crucifixion.

Sixth, Augustine says the parts of the cross signifies the following:

* Breadth – This pertains to Christ’s hands and thus "good works"
* Length – This pertains to the upright nature of a tree and thus "longanimity".
* Height – This pertains to the top and Christ’s head and "the good hope" of the faithful.
* Base – The base is the root and it is hidden, thus it signifies "grace".

Seventh, Augustine observes that wood is salutary in the Old Covenant. Wood saved Noah in the Flood. Moses divided the sea with a wooden rod; purified water with wood, and brought forth water with his wooden rod. Also, the Ark of the Covenant was made of wood.
It is Thy will that works of Thy wisdom should not be without effect; therefore men trust their lives even to the smallest piece of wood, and passing through the billows on a raft they come safely to land.  For even in the beginning, when arrogant giants were perishing, the hope of the world took refuge on a raft, and guided by thy hand left to the world the seed of a new generation.  For blessed is the wood by which righteousness comes.
Wisdom 14:5-7

Thursday, April 01, 2010

God to Boise: April Fool's!

Snow in April!

Wish I could have gotten a picture of the blizzard that hit this morning.