Big Catholic Nerds

Prayers

2005-10-21T18:53:00.000-05:00

Hey, everybody!

THis is my last post on BCN. I will be entering the Dominicans in two weeks, so I'm signing off here. Please, pray for me, and also keep this going. The more we share our Faith, the more we grow in love of God, right?

Brian is now a moderator, and Gregg and Ale are also moderators.

If you want to write to me, you can. Go to http://op.org/nunsopsummit/ for the address.

In Our Lady,
Greta

October -- Month of the Holy Rosary

2005-10-05T13:18:00.000-05:00

October is the month of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We are asked, during this month, to recall the mysteries of the Life, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

The history of the Rosary, given here in the Catholic Encyclopedia, gives a glimpse into the long history of praying the Rosary, in its manifest forms, over the centuries.

I was thinking that we could all maybe comment on our favorite mystery or expound on some point of the devotion that can help us more devoutly and with greater understanding pray for the salvation of sinners and our own salvation.

September -- Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

2005-09-03T14:19:00.000-05:00

Holy Mother Church has dedicated this month to Our Lady of Sorrows. As foretold in St. Luke's Gospel at the Presentation, Our Lady's Heart was pierced with seven swords, each due to Her closeness to Our Lord.

These seven swords pierce Our Lady's Immaculate Heart:

at the prophecy of Simeon;
at the flight into Egypt;
having lost the Holy Child at Jerusalem;
meeting Jesus on his way to Calvary;
standing at the foot of the Cross;
Jesus being taken from the Cross;
at the burial of Christ.

Let us recall, then, during this month, these sorrows of Our Lady, which show Her union with Christ as well as showing us how to unite ourselves more closely to Him.

August 22 – Feast of the Queenship of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary

2005-08-23T15:16:00.000-05:00

The Feast celebrated by Holy Mother Church is three-fold. These three parts, all involving what has been revealed to us by the Holy Spirit about the Blessed Virgin Mary, point back, in the wonderful and mystical way that all Sacred Tradition does, to Christ. I will try in my own miserable and very limited way to explain these three parts. Please help me, through comment and subsequent posts, to expound on this better.

Part I: The octave day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven

We have, in liturgical tradition, a magnificent reminder of the timelessness of God. Eight days ago, in the time we experience as human creatures, we celebrated the Assumption of the Blessed Mother into Heaven. Like Our Lord, Our Lady is united body and soul together in Heaven. She was lifted up by Divine Will into the Beatific Vision. Unlike Her Son, Who being God ascended to Heaven by His Own Will, She needed to be assumed, taken up by Another, into eternity. Our Lord gave Her this grace. This grace is both a promise fulfilled and a promise yet unfulfilled. Allow me to explain.

The promise fulfilled is due to Our Lady being united more perfectly than any other human being ever to the Trinity. She is a daughter of God the Father through obedience; She is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit through love; and She is the Mother of God the Son through humility, which is love and obedience united together. All of this She is through grace, of course. Her three-fold vocation, as daughter, spouse and mother, is one for which She was given an extraordinary gift, that of being not merely cleansed from the effects of Original Sin through the Sacraments but conceived entirely free from it. As She Herself told St. Bernadette, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” It is this fact about Her that the Angel Gabriel was able to greet Her with, “Hail, full of grace!” Being free from Sin in this way, God saw fit to give to Her what we all will have on the last day, Her Soul, immaculate and totally filled with love, united forever with Her Body, glorified and perfect. She was then Assumed into Heaven to be with Her Father, Spouse and Son forever. This is the promised fulfilled for this Most Blessed among women.

The future promise is shown through this, as well. As Our Lady’s Body and Soul are so united, we are given a glimpse, through Her, of what shall happen to us. Our souls and bodies will, at the Resurrection, be united again with our souls. Wherever our choices and God’s justice and mercy have seen fit to send us, either Heaven or Hell, so too will our bodies go, to be joined with our souls, to receive their reward or punishment. It was enough for us to witness Our Lord’s Ascension, but God in His great mercy and love has also, so that we do not despair in our own human frailty, given us this most beautiful of examples. A fully human person who is not God, united to God as much as is possible for us lowly creatures, was raised up, body and soul into the Beatific Vision. We have hope in the Resurrection through the Resurrection of Christ, but we have child-like certainty in it through the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I do not mean to imply that this child-like certainty is somehow greater than the hope that we already have, but that it is a facet of this hope. It is for our sake, for our darken intellects and our easy despair, that we have been given the Assumption of Mary, a creature like us, through whom God came into the world, to look to and imitate, even as She looked to and imitated Her Son. It leads back to Him always, as She has so simply and honesty told us, “Do whatever He tells you.”

The timelessness consists in this: the Assumption, celebrated eight days ago, happened from our perspective nearly two thousand years ago. But it is happening now in the ever-present Now of eternity.

Part II: The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth

On the octave day we celebrate the fifth glorious mystery of the Rosary, the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth. It is foolish to think that She was at any point not our Queen, however, in the incarnational way the Faith has of letting us glimpse here below the wonders of Heaven, we imagine this day the coronation ceremony that took Heaven a week to prepare.

While She was on Earth, the Blessed Mother was Queen of the Apostles, Mother of the Church. She does not relinquish these titles now that She is in Heaven. On the contrary, She is now even more so our Mother, more so our Queen. She has dominion over the Angels and all the Church. How can this be, a mere human creature elevated even above the Angels?

Part III: The Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

As was said above, the Blessed Mother was conceived without Original Sin ever having touched Her Soul. The purity of Her Heart, flowing from both this special grace and from Her love of God, is second only to Our Lord’s Most Sacred Heart.

The following is a quote from St. Cyril of Alexandria. He is saying what I have poorly tried to above:

"We salute you, O Mary, Mother of God, treasure of the universe, inextinguishable flame, crown of virginity, scepter of the true Faith, indestructible temple, tabernacle of the One Whom the world cannot contain, and Mother and Virgin. In your virginal womb you enclosed the Immense and Incomprehensible One.

Through you the Trinity is glorified and the Cross is celebrated and adored everywhere on earth. Through you the heavens exult with joy, the Angels and Archangels are glad, demons are put to flight, the demon temptor is cast out of heaven, and our fallen nature has again been assumed into heaven.

It is through you that the only-begotten Son of God, Who is light, shone amid the nations who were seated in darkness and the shadow of death. What human voice can ever worthily celebrate the ineffable greatness of Mary? She is Mother and Virgin at the same time. Through her peace has been restored to the world. What peace? Our Lord Jesus Christ, Whom Mary has brought forth!"

This triple feast of Our Lady, Mediatrix of All Grace, to bring us always back to Her Beloved Son. Everything that She is to Catholics lead us back to Him, always.

Please forgive the lateness and the rambling-ness of this post. There is much more I would like to say, but in my own limitedness I cannot do so, so please help me out or write your own posts. God bless you and Our Lady keep you.

Feast of the Dormition of Our Lady

2005-08-13T13:22:00.000-05:00

Today is the day on which we remember the "falling asleep" of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Tradition relates the story thusly:

The Apostles, knowing Our Lady's time was coming to pass from this life to the next, began to gather at Her bedside. Only St. Thomas was absent. Whether She died or merely appeared to die is still a question debated today, but we do know that the Apostles thought She died. They laid Her in a tomb, rolled a stone over the entrance, and mourned for Her. Two days later, St. Thomas finally arrives, and is heartbroken to find the Mother of God has passed away. In typical fashion, he demands to see Her body, so that he may mourn for Her properly. When they roll the stone back from the tomb entrance, they see a shower of roses falling from Heaven and they know that She has been taken up, body and soul, to rejoin Her Son, with whom She had suffered, loved and lived.

The feast of the Dormition is celebrated with slightly more solemnity in the East, but is recalled throughout the Church Universal on this day, so that we may remember that, as we have received our Savior through this most humble Handmaid, we also must follow into death to new life in Him.

August-- Month of the Immaculate Heart

2005-08-03T12:10:00.000-05:00

The month of August is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

During this month we honor with special attention, especially on August 22, the Heart of the Mother of God.

Pure, full of love, and pierced with a sword, the Immaculate Heart of Mary shows us the attitude of faith and love we ought to have for Her Beloved Son.

A quote from our Holy Father, who says this better than I could:

"According to Matthew 5:8, the "immaculate heart" is a heart which, with God's grace, has come to perfect interior unity and therefore "sees God". To be "devoted" to the Immaculate Heart of Mary means therefore to embrace this attitude of heart, which makes the fiat—"your will be done"—the defining centre of one's whole life. It might be objected that we should not place a human being between ourselves and Christ. But then we remember that Paul did not hesitate to say to his communities: "imitate me" (1 Cor 4:16; Phil 3:17; 1 Th 1:6; 2 Th 3:7, 9). In the Apostle they could see concretely what it meant to follow Christ. But from whom might we better learn in every age than from the Mother of the Lord?"

July -- The Month of the Precious Blood

2005-07-01T22:35:00.000-05:00

Holy Mother Church has seen fit to dedicate this month, July, to the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The first of the month, since 1849, has been celebrated as the feast of Sanguis Christi. Holy Mother Church has asked us, both as Her children and as those who have been washed clean of sin in the Blood of Christ, to recall on this day, and throughout the month, that it is by the shedding of this Most Precious Blood that we have even the hope of salvation.

"O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus, as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in you!"

" O GOOD Jesu, according to Thy great mercy, have mercy on me. O most merciful Jesu, by that Precious Blood which Thou didst will to shed for sinners, I beseech Thee to wash away all mine iniquities and to look graciously upon me, a poor and unworthy sinner, as I call upon Thy holy Name. Therefore, O Jesus, do Thou save me for Thy holy Name's sake. Amen."

June -- The Month of the Sacred Heart

2005-06-23T12:25:00.000-05:00

It's the month of the Sacred Heart!

The Heart that was pierced for our salvation, the Heart that beats with love for us is honored this month by the Church. Below is a quote from Our Lord to St. Margaret Mary, concerning His Love for us.

"Behold this Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in order to testify its love. In return, I receive from the greater part only ingratitude, by their irreverence and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt they have for me in this Sacrament of love... I come into the heart I have given you in order that through your fervor you may atone for the offenses which I have received from lukewarm and slothful hearts that dishonor me in the Blessed Sacrament."

Though there are only a few days left of the month, don't forget to recall in your hearts and minds the love of Our Lord for us little creatures, and say with firmness and devotion, "Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!"

Cool Audio Series for Catholic Nerds, Big or Small

2005-06-22T22:02:00.000-05:00

Pope Fiction

Despite the cheesy name, this is a really great series. Patrick Madrid goes pretty in-depth in dealing with nearly every objection to the Papacy that has been raised, from the claim that the Pope is the anti-Christ mentioned in Revelations to the claim that Pope Sixtus V taught heresy. I've been listening to these at work and they are wonderful.

Enjoy!

Our Lady of Fatima

2005-05-13T17:40:00.000-05:00

Today is the optional memorial of the apparitions of Our Lady to three children near Fatima, Portugal on the thirteenth of each month from May to October 1917, culminating in the famous Miracle of the Sun. The Virgin told the children she was sent with a special message for every human being in our time.

She promised peace during the time the world was ravaged by war, provided that Her requests of prayer, repatarion, and consecration, be granted. She said war was a punishment for sin. She promised further punishment if the world continued in its disobedience to God's Will-- these chastisements would be in the form of war, famine, and persecution of the Church, and that Russia would be God's special agent.
"If My requests are not granted," Our Lady said, "Russia will spread its errors throughout the world, raising up wars and persecutions against the Church. The good will be martryed, the Holy Father will suffer much and various nations will be annihilated."

To prevent these desolations, Our Lady demanded prayer and penance. She asked that the Rosary be prayed daily and that the Brown Scapular be worn. The faithful are called upon by the Queen of Heaven to perform special acts of sacrifice and reparation. She also requested that Russia be consecrated to Her Immaculate Heart. This was to be done by both the Pope and all Catholic bishops of the world. Finally, She implored the faithful to take part in a new devotion to be held on the first Saturdays of five consecutive months as a means to make reparation to Her Immaculate Heart.

The October vision included the famous Miracle of the Sun, witnessed personally by countless faithful. In this astonishing miracle, the blood red Sun was hurled toward the Earth causing many to fear for their lives. The Miracle resulted in widespread belief that the children were in fact seeing the great Mother of God.

The Secrets of Fatima were given to the seers on July 13, 1917. The First Secret, a terrible vision of hell, included the Lady's plea for prayers for sinners. The Second Secret was a direct and specific prophesy of World War II along with a call for Russia's consecration for world peace. That Her Immaculate Heart would triumph in the end was also a part of this secret. The Third Secret, recorded by Lucy and gaurded by the Vatican. It predicted the murder of the Pope, then many bishops and priests-- in essence, the widespread apostasy of the modern Church to begin in the seventh decade of the twentieth century.

May Our Lady of Fatima save Her Church.

Bl. Imelda Lambertini

2005-05-12T12:11:00.000-05:00

Today is the historical feast of Blessed Imelda Lambertini, who died in 1333 and is an incorruptable and the patroness of first communicants.

This young saint was born in 1322 in Italy. She had a very strong devotion to St. Agnes of Rome, of whom Bl. Imelda had many visions. The young girl arranged a small oratory in her house, where she would pray frequently. Determined to enter religious life, her parents finally permitted her early entry into a Dominican convent at age 9. While there, she continued her fervent piety, severe mortifications, and grew in love for the Blessed Mother and the Eucharist. However, she was not allowed to partake of the Sacrament at this time, because she was yet too young. She often commented: "How can anyone receive Jesus into his heart and not die of love?" So strong was her desire to receive the Sacrament that she constantly prayed that she might be allowed this great gift.

On the Feast of the Ascension, she prayed like always that she might have a share in the Eucharist: "Come, for I am languishing with love and dying with desire for Your adorable presence." She began to weep, for He did not come. The Eucharistic Lord heard her heart's desire and a Host miraculously left the tabernacle, passed through the grille and hovered above her young head. A priest was called and Bl. Imelda was finally allowed to make her first holy communion. The sisters left her to make her thanksgiving in private. As time passed, they began to worry and they returned to the chapel but soon realized that she was dead. She is said to have "expired in an estacy of pure love."

The text above her tomb reads:

A virgin of Bologna in ancient Coenobio

St. Mary Magdalene in the Valley of Peter,
Emulating the innocent angel
When, long ago, she desired most passionately
To approach the sacred altar,
But did not reach it because of her tender youth.
Jesus Himself, overcome by her great love,
Four days before the Ides of May in the year 1333
He descending from heaven, restored her in a new miracle with the divine bread,
Embracing her as a spouse,
He filled her with so much ecstatic joy
That the bonds of her fragile body were broken
And her most innocent spirit flew away from this earth
To the eternal banquet of Christ.

Oh blessed citizen of Bologna
You whose bones protect this place with their religious power,
Watch over the chaste line of children,
And approach the celestial banquets.
Teach them to trample down the earthly delights, like you
And to always hope for immortality.

"Lord Jesus Christ, you received into heaven Blessed Imelda who loved you in the eucharistic banquet. By her prayers may we learn to approach your holy table with that same fervent love and so fulfill our longing to be with you, who live and reign with the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

(Credits: Patron Saints Index, Dominican Vocations, Relics and the Incorruptables)

May -- The Month of Mary

2005-05-11T11:05:00.000-05:00

I know, true to my fashion, I am late in saying something, but IT'S THE MONTH OF MARY!

This month, especially dedicated to the Blessed Mother, is to help us recall the amazing contribution to the Faith that Our Lady is. I was thinking, since it's been awhile since most of us have posted, if we could maybe tell about our favorite book about the Blessed Mother, or our favorite title that She has.

In another post (if you can and want to put up your favorite picture of Our Lady), or as a comment to this one, either is fine, tell us about your favorite book, title, hymn, or image.

2005-05-02T10:08:00.000-05:00

ST. ATHANASIUS

A wonderful man, St. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, was. He was dedicated to defending the True Faith against the Arian heresy of his time.

A father of Nicea in 325, St. Athanasius, he is our earliest Doctor of the Church. After attending the Council, he defended the Faith as it was so defined, and was persecuted for doing so, for the Church Herself was currently invaded by Arians. He was exiled from his episcopal see at least five times and died in 373.

Today, with heresy rampant in the Modern Church, let us pray St. Athanasius to give us strenght to preserve and persevere in the Faith handed down to us by himself and other great men like him.

Here is a beautiful prayer to Our Lady written by this "Defender of Orthodoxy."
It becomes you to be mindful of us, as you stand near him who granted you all graces, for you are the Mother of God and our Queen. Help us for the sake of the King, the Lord God and Master who was born of you. For this reason, you are called full of grace. Remember us, most holy Virgin, and bestow on us gifts from the riches of your graces, Virgin full of graces.

And a nice quote from some of his writings:
The Word of God, incorporeal, incorruptible, and immaterial, entered our world. Out of his loving-kindness for us he came to us, and we see this in the way he revealed himself openly to us. Taking pity on mankind's weakness, and moved by our corruption, he could not stand aside and see death have the mastery over us. He did not want creation to perish and his Father's work in fashioning man to be in vain. He therefore took to himself a body, no different from our own, for he did not wish simply to be in a body or only to be seen. By dying for others, he immediately banished death for all mankind. The corruption of death no longer holds any power over mankind, thanks to the Word, who has come to dwell among us through his one body.

St. Athanasius, pray for us.
(And may all heretics be anathema!)

St. Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort

2005-04-28T02:55:00.000-05:00

Perhaps you have heard of this great saint from reading books, like Pierced By a Sword, or maybe you have a friend that has been incessantly talking about him, that he should be a Doctor of the Church and to "make the consecration." Maybe you have never heard about him at all. Well, I think he's awesome, so please bear with me a little bit, while I gush. :)

St. Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort (1673-1716) came from a very poor family in France. He left his family to study in Paris, where he was ordained at the age of 27. He became well-versed in the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, which increased and matured his childlike love of the Blessed Mother. He fought Jansenism and preached publicly where ever he could on the benefits of devotion to the Blessed Mother and to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. He founded two communities, the Daughters of Wisdom, dedicated to serving the very poor, and the Missionaries of the Company of Mary, now called the Montfort Fathers. He promulgated a consecration to Our Lord through Our Lady, captured most clearly in True Devotion to Mary. In this work he outlined not only how a child and slave of Our Lady ought to act toward others, but also the benefits to the consecrated in the spiritual life.

"Such is the will of almighty God who exalts the humble, that the powers of heaven, earth and hell, willingly or unwillingly, must obey the commands of the humble Virgin Mary. For God has made her queen of heaven and earth, leader of his armies, keeper of his treasures, dispenser of his graces, worker of his wonders, restorer of the human race, mediatrix on behalf of men, destroyer of his enemies, and faithful associate in his great works and triumphs." (True Devotion to Mary, 28). He wrote and preached so that all the faithful may know the tremendous grace Our Lady is to us, and the kind of Mother She to those who love Her Son.

He was a third order Dominican, and true to the Preachers' life, he expounded the mysteries of the Rosary and preached against heresy throughout France and Italy. He was a Missionary Apostolic, by order of Pope Clement XI, and continued preaching and teaching until he died.

I encourage you all to read True Devotion and his other great works, like and Secret of the Rosary and Letters to Friends of the Cross. His cause to be made a Doctor of the Church has indeed been put forward. Maybe our Holy Father will make this the case?

Messing with CTA

2005-04-27T01:30:00.000-05:00

This was on Deacon Dana's blog:

"Call to Action has a survey on what the new Pope should be like during his papacy The questions are the most biased questions I have ever seen in a survey. Needless to say I used the "Other: Please specify" box quite a bit.

Fr. Bryce Sibley suggests we all take the survey to see if we can skew the results. I agree."

Here's the link to the CTA survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=1551988614

HABEMUS PAPAM!

2005-04-19T13:47:00.000-05:00

Benedict XVI, formerly Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, is now the successor of St. Peter. Let us pray for him and with him as he begins his reign.

No New Pope Today

2005-04-18T13:57:00.000-05:00

Black Smoke Signals No New Pope Elected (AP)

The Conclave will reconvene Tuesday morning.

World Vocation Day

2005-04-17T19:47:00.000-05:00

Have you ever thought, had the slightest inkling, that Our Lord has called you, and called you be name, to be His totally and completely? We each have a vocation, a call, an invitation extended to each of us to serve God in a special capacity. Today's day is dedicated to that call, be it the priesthood, religious life, or lay ministry. What does God ask of you?

The Dominicans have a wonderful posting today about being called to religous life specifically, but the lesson outlined there can be applied to each of us, regardless. Please pray for those discerning religious and priestly vocations; please pray for those who have already chosen, that they remain strong in their conviction, trusting in Our Lord; pray for the Church, that She may have laborers to "go out into the harvest."

Easter Baptism

2005-04-08T16:46:00.000-05:00

I know I'm late. It's almost 3 weeks since Easter has passed, but I've been busy, and it just now occurred to me that it would make a great post to tell everyone about something they probably have no conscious experience with--Baptism.

I was Baptized this Easter, March 26th 2005, during the Easter Vigil at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. The experience was really quite amazing, and so that is what this post is. There won't be any theology or philosophy--just a relation of the events that happened to me and, particularly, my reaction to them.

The week leading up to Easter, I was in a very strange spiritual funk--strange because in all my (short) time as a Christian, I'd never felt that way before. I found myself not wanting to pray and actively avoiding it in favor of other things. There was a mild alarm at this new attitude in my mind because it was so novel. This lasted pretty much until Saturday morning. It was interrupted by a very moving and spiritual service on Good Friday at the Cathedral, however, but it did not last through even that night.

On Saturday morning I woke up in the same terrible mood I had gone to sleep in. I couldn't bring myself to care very much about God or Christ or anything, really, at all. I laid in bed for awhile brooding like this when, all of a sudden, I was completely illuminated. I must admit I don't remember the transition; I don't know how I went from my wretched mood to this new mood, but somehow it happened, and apparently pretty sudden.

Unlike most experiences, this change is not hard to describe at all. In fact, I can do it in one word: Love. I was filled with Love. Love for everything. I loved God more than I ever had before. I loved my neighbor--my roommates, my girlfriend, my friends, my relatives, my priests and archbishop--more than I ever realized was possible. Everytime I saw someone-anyone-my mind leaped to one thing: their soul--the means by which we can receive God directly and share in His Happiness; our direct chain to heaven (if we allow it to be), which bears the clear impression of the trinity. I rejoiced at each face I saw just for this reason.

My interactions changed, too--and remain affected in this way weeks afterwards. I realized I'd so long been treating people as sinners, rather than as partakers, potential or actual, in Divine Beatitude. Several times in my Christian life, I had restrained myself from doing things I thought I should. I used to rarely Cross myself in public, because people would think I'm pretentious. I used to feel strange acting kindly to strangers--they might think I'm weird, or hitting on them, or have any number of possible reactions. These and many other things had been a settled point of my unbaptized life, but now that I had risen from the tomb, I saw it completely differently. Why should I care if someone thinks I'm pretentious for making the Sign of the Cross--I don't know if they will or not, why presume and focus on their sinful nature? If they do care, it is forgiveable. Why should I feel awkward mentioning God in public? People might think I'm stupid, or might number me among the "Ned Flanders" Christians; but, again, why assume they will? And even if they will, I can forgive them; God will.

Every facet of my life was changed by this experience--I saw everything so much more clearly, because I saw it through Christ's Love.

This, as I said, was all during the day Saturday; the Vigil began at 9:00pm that night. The service was absolutely amazing, and I felt (rightly) honored that I was able to participate as much as I did. The entire thing felt like a dream, but with utter lucidity. I floated from moment to moment in the liturgy with total presence of mind and peace in my heart.

There was no emotional explosion when the Baptismal waters touched my head, for those wondering. The actual experience of Baptism was more moving and clear than that. It was situated in the perfect emotional context. I felt a calm anticipation as I stood around the fount waiting for my turn to come up. I knew the event that was about to happen wasn't about how I was going to feel for five minutes afterwards. I saw it for what it was: It was the event that was going to define and shape the rest of my life. I expected nothing sudden or explosive. I expected to be put in the fount, have water poured on my head, and arise--born again, looking forward to what the rest of my life means now. This is exactly what happened. The archbishop drenched me with three generous scoops of water and I calmly lifted my head up, was handed a towel by my sponsor, dried my head, and looked forward. I knew everything, absolutely everything, had changed at that point. I was born again--not born an utterly new person, but a new Gregg. I looked forward then, as I look forward now, to what God has in store for me as his newly adopted child.

St. Vincent Ferrer

2005-04-05T03:34:00.000-05:00

St. Vincent Ferrer (1350-1419) was a Dominican friar during the Great Western Schism. Given the recent and on-going events with the Church (the death of John Paul II and the coming conclave) it is interesting to note that this great saint worked for an anti-pope, Pedro de Luna, the only man who refused to step down at the end of the Schism. St. Vincent, however, did recognize and fully accept the Church's decision and allied himself with the true pope, Martin V.

He travelled all over Europe, preaching conversion of life and penance for sin. He worked miracles everywhere he went, and though he could only speak his native dialect of Spanish, many heard him in their own tongues. He spent his life in service to Holy Mother Church, making Her known throughout Europe by his own example and words. Christ was his example, and like Him, he travelled mainly on foot, preaching the Cross everywhere.

For a fuller biography, I direct you here and here.

May we all be touched by the same zeal that St. Vincent was.

The Feast of the Annunciation and Incarnation

2005-04-03T23:23:00.000-05:00

"Behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to thy word."

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.

Today we celebrate (due to Good Friday), the feast where great big God became tiny little Baby in the immaculate womb of Our Blessed Mother. The beginning of Our Lord's Passion...

Her fiat plays so much into what it means for us as Catholics to live a good life. She merely wills that which the Father wills for Her. She is the icon, the type that we look to so that we can know how to live according to God's will. Not what we think is best for us, nor even what we think is best for others, but what is truly in accordance with the Divine plan.

Yesterday, we celebrated the feast of Divine Mercy, and today (since time and eternity are forever joined at this moment, as St. Augustine says) a young woman in Nazareth becomes the Mother of Divine Mercy!

Johannes Paulus II, Requiescat in pace.

2005-04-02T14:35:00.000-06:00

Our Holy Father has gone to his eternal reward...

He is the only Vicar of Christ I have ever known. I am aware of the traditions around the death of one Pope and the election of another. We will have a novena of mourning for His Holiness, while all the electors assemble in Rome. Then, 15 days hence, they will convene to begin the election process. How long it will take, or what sort of man we will next have to lead us in this world, only God knows at the moment.

What is giving me consolation right now, what is keeping me from being scared for Holy Mother Church, is that She is bigger than we little creatures that belong to Her. She is holy and wholly inviolate. We are merely the earthly staff, so to speak, that keeps Our Lord known through generation to generation. So, it makes sense this staff would need to change, as we change, grow older and die.

I will miss this Holy Father, his kindness, gentleness, humor, joviality, constancy, and inexhaustible service to the Church. He died on the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday, what a fitting day for him to enter eternity!

Easter!

2005-03-28T13:58:00.000-06:00

He is risen, truly He is risen!

Words fail me for this wonderful day. Our salvation has been wrought by the Blood of the Cross, and now the Gates of Heaven are open for us! I don't know what else to say.

Anybody want to give it a stab?

Oh, until Trinity Sunday, instead of saying the Angelus during the day, we say the Regina Coeli. It is as follows:

Regina Coeli, laetare, Alleluia!
quia, quem meruisti portare, Alleluia!
Resurrexit, sicut dixit, Alleluia!
Ora pro nobis Deum. Alleluia!

Gaude et laetare, Virgo Marie, Alleluia!
Quia surexxit Dominus vere, Alleluia!

Oremus:

Deus, qui per resurrectionem Filii tui, Domini nostri Iesu Christi, mundum laetificare dignatus es: praesta, quaesumus; ut, per eius Genetricem Virginem Mariam, perpetuae capiamus gaudia vitae. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

O Queen of heaven rejoice! alleluia:
For He whom thou didst merit to bear, alleluia,
Hath arisen as he said, alleluia.
Pray for us to God, alleluia.

Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia.
Because the Lord is truly risen, alleluia.

Let us pray:
O God, who gave joy to the world through the resurrection of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; grant, we beseech Thee, that through His Mother, the Virgin Mary, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Good Friday

2005-03-25T12:59:00.000-06:00

We call this day "good" because of the salvation that was wrought for all us poor sinners on the Cross. This year, we are doubly blest, for it takes places on the day which Tradition tells us Our Lord was crucified. The following is a mediation I wrote for our poor CSC, and the Lenten booklet they publish:

"Today we see Our Lord raised high upon the Cross. His Hands and Feet pierced, Head crowned with thorns, Side opened with a lance. His Most Precious Blood pours out in love for each of us. The Blood and Water flow from His Side, and in this Mystery we behold our salvation. Jesus Christ, Our Lord, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, took on our flesh, and in that Incarnation He began His Passion. It ends with Him, fully God and fully Man, dying, passing from earth to open the Gates of Heaven which had been shut by the sin of that first man. Being perfectly God, He knew from all eternity that this Suffering would come to pass. Being perfectly Man, He begged that it be taken from Him, but only willed that the Will of the Father be done.

In this year of the Eucharist, let us remember that it is this very Flesh and this very Blood which hangs on the Cross, under the appearance of mere bread and wine, that we receive in the Most Blessed Sacrament. We are witnesses to Love Who so loved His creation that He pours out Himself on the Cross that we may share in that Love for all eternity. His Mother, our Mother whom He gave to us from the Cross, gathers Him in her arms when He is taken down from the Cross. She stays with Him, even when it appears all is lost. She unites her suffering to His, in love for Love. Let us go to her, too, when it seems as though we could not endure, when all seems lost. She will help us to learn to live our lives for Love, even if it means that we are to suffer with Him and for Him."

Not that good, I apologize, but it's the gist of what I wanted to say today.

The following is what is called the Reproaches. It is what is commonly sung (except at St. Peter's, due to another tradition arising there) at the Veneration of the Cross during the Mass of the Pre-Sanctified. I will only give the Enlgish translation, though the original is in Latin with a little Greek. The Latin can be found here.

V/. O my people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I afflicted thee? Answer me.
V/. Because I led thee out of the land of Egypt, thou hast prepared a cross for thy Savior.

C/. O holy God!
O holy God!
O holy strong One!
O holy strong One!
O holy immortal one, have mercy on us.
O holy immortal one, have mercy on us.

V/. Because I led thee out through the desert forty years: and fed thee with manna, and brought thee into a land exceeding good, thou hast prepared a Cross for thy Savior. C/. O holy God!...

V/. What more ought I have done for thee, that I have not done? I planted thee, indeed, My most beautiful vineyard: and thou hast become exceeding bitter to Me: for in My thirst thou gavest Me vinegar to drink: and with a lance thou hast pierced the side of thy Savior. C/. O holy God!...

V/. For thy sake I scourged Egypt with its first-born: and thou hast scourged Me and delivered Me up.

R/. O my people, what have I done to thee? or wherein have I afflicted thee? Answer me.

V/. I led thee out of Egypt having drowned Pharao in the Red Sea: and thou hast delivered Me to the chief priests. R/. O my people...

V/. I opened the sea before thee: and thou with a spear hast opened My side. R/. O my people...

V/. I went before thee in a pillar of cloud: and thou hast led Me to the judgement hall of Pilate. R/. O my people...

V/. I fed thee with manna in the desert; and thou hast beaten Me with whips and scourges. R/. O my people...

V/. I gave thee the water of salvation from the rock to drink: and thou hast given Me gall and vinegar. R/. O my people...

V/. For thy sake I struck the kings of the Chanaanites: and thou hast struck My head with a reed. R/. O my people...

V/. I gave thee a royal sceptre: and thou hast given to My head a crown of thorns. R/. O my people...

V/. I exalted thee with great strength: and thou hast hanged Me on the gibbet of the Cross. R/. O my people...

Adoremus Crucem Domini!

So, it's Lent

2005-02-17T16:33:00.000-06:00

I know it's Lent, and that some of you have maybe stopped using the computer or updating blogs or what have you for the duration, however I thought maybe we could discuss some of the aspects of the penitential season.

Obviously, there are the two major fast days, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Not only do we abstain from eating meat on these days, but we also restrict the amount we eat (one full meal and up to two other smaller meals not exceeding the amount of the full meal). Fridays throughout Lent are also days of abstinence.

Some give up other things, too, such as computer usage, sweets, movies and other entertainment, etc. Some also add practices during the season, such as more time in front of the Blessed Sacrament, an extra Rosary for the day, etc.

These practices, both the obliged and unobliged, are to help us unite ourselves more closely with Our Lord's Passion, to place ourselves often at the Foot of the Cross, and to help us recall in our bodies (through hunger, unfulfilled desire for trivial things, etc) Our Lord's Redemptive Act.

That's the basic outline, a bit late in the season already (I apologize). Could anyone, in a new post, maybe outline the history of this practice, or add to my very sketchy and meager account?

Below is the Vespers hymn from the Divine Office. I include it here, not only because I think it a beautiful hymn, but as a prayer I think it outlines very well why we "do" Lent. The translation is mine. If it's really bad, I'm sorry, and please post a better translation.

Audi, Benigne Conditor
Nostras preces cum flentibus
In hoc sacro jejunio
Fusas quadragenario

Scrutator alme cordium
Infirma tu scis virium
Ad te reversis exhibe
Remissionis gratiam

Multum quidem peccavimus
Sed parce confitentibus
Ad nominis laudem tui
Confer medelam languidis

Concede nostrum conteri
Corpus per abstinentiam
Culpae ut relinquant pabulum
Jejuna corda criminum

Praesta, beata Trinitas,
Concede, simplex Unitas,
Ut fructuousa sint tuis
Jejuniorum munera. Amen.

Hear, oh Good Creator
our prayers we make with tears
in this sacred fast
of forty days

Kind Searcher of hearts
You know the infirmities of men
exhibit to those who turn to You
pardoning grace

We have sinned much
we admit, but spare us
for the praising of Your Name
and confer healing on our weakness

As we spend ourselves in abstinence
grant that through this fast
we may abandon in our souls
the food of sin

O Blessed Trinity, Simple Unity,
hear us and grant that
the offerings of fasts to You
may be fruitful for us. Amen.

Theology of the Body

2005-02-05T13:45:00.000-06:00

I'm sure you've all heard about this in the last bit... Not only is it that series of talks by the Holy Father, but it is also what the Church has always taught regarding sex, gender and life. So, how do we get the so-called "cafeteria Catholics" to become more fully Catholic and embrace these teachings, too?

New contributor

2005-02-04T15:04:00.000-06:00

I would like to thank Greta for inviting me to post on this blog.

My own blog is called The Green Flash where I also discuss things Catholic.

I'm not sure when or how often I will be posting, but I will certainly be around!

God bless you all!

Blessed Anna Schaeffer

2005-01-29T16:14:00.000-06:00

I need to tell you all about this wonderful blessed, but these two links do it better than I. I include the first, for those of you who read German, and so that you can have a picture.

German site
English biography

Pray for her canonization.

BCN Recommends.... books, movies, etc.

2005-01-24T16:06:00.000-06:00

The Saints post got such a good response, that I thought we could here also recommend books and movies about the Saints that we have enjoyed. If the synopsis comes from another website, please be kind enough to link it.

Introduction!

2005-01-22T06:19:00.000-06:00

Greta just invited me to be a Big Catholic Nerd with you guys and gals, so I thought it'd be appropriate to introduce myself. My name is Jenny, but most people call me JVD. I'm currently in my second year of an MA program in French lit at Illinois State University, and I graduated from FUS with my BA in French and Theology. I love God, ice cream, obscure female medieval mystics, and 20th Century Catholic literature. I met Greta on a retreat the other day, and I guess she was impressed by my Catholic nerdiness.

Prayer

2005-01-12T23:30:00.000-06:00

I have always been pretty astounded by the many ways in which Our Lord Himself has taught us to pray in the Gospels...

There's communal prayer, which takes two directions:
the first: in the Temple and synagogues. Pretty standard prayer for us... Mass every week and on Holy Days. We also see this manifest in the Divine Office.
the second: in groups. Like at the Last Supper or when Our Lord prayed with the Apostles in the Garden. This seems to be less standard for Catholics, but then some of us, I'm sure, belong to a prayer group or Rosary group or something, and then there's grace before and after meals, etc...

Then, there's private prayer. This prayer is as varied as the individual members of the Church, but seems to have location as a more defining feature.
the first: desert prayer. This can be like when Our Lord went out into the desert to pray, alone with God, apart from the world. We can manifest this by separating ourselves from others, like going into our rooms, or on retreat...
the second: by oneself in public places, like when Our Lord went up to the Temple by Himself. We can do this, too, by making Holy Hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament (in or out of the Tabernacle), or sitting in a park, or praying while waiting in lines...

These are just the physcial settings, of course. There are four reasons why we pray, as well:
thanksgiving
adoration
petition
reparation

the first is obvious: God is God! He created everything! So, let's thank Him for all of it!
the second: again, God is God! He is AWESOME! Let's fall down and just give Him all the worship we can!
the third: we need stuff; we are human and frail and find even ourselves lacking in everything, grace, love, stuff... God is God! He can give us what we need, so let's ask Him! Of course, what we think we need and what God knows we need are two different things...
the fourth: this is related to the third. we are human, and not only do we have failings that we are aware of, but we also fail in ways don't realise until after we have failed, and sometimes never do. Either way, God is Love! Let us go to Him and ask for forgiveness of our sins. We do this in two ways, as Catholics. The first is through Confession, we "whisper into the ear of Christ" and the priest, as Alter Christus, gives us absolution. This is not only one way of seeking reparation, but the first step in this type of prayer. The second is to pray that we do not fall into the same sins, or any sins, again, and to pray for those we have hurt by sinning, and to ask God's forgiveness specifically, since all sin hurts Him the most.

All four types of prayer are in Holy Mass.

How we "do" these types of prayer in our daily lives besides are up to us. Let us keep one another in prayer, and ask those who have gone before us in the Faith, our elder brothers and sisters, the Saints, to continually ask Our Lord for the graces we need to this.

Favorite Saint?

2005-01-08T18:30:00.000-06:00

I thought we might be able to get some dialogue going here, so I would like to pose this question, and maybe all of us could tell a little about why and the like...

Who is your favorite saint, or who are your top three? Tell us a bit about them, a short biography of sorts, and then maybe an anecdote or reason why you like them so much.

I think in this way we would be able to learn about more the saints and then we could discuss, through further posts, the various emphasis on prayer, Christian living and history that they had to us in particular and to the Church in general.

Hi, everyone!

2004-12-13T10:35:00.000-06:00

I'm Brian Carl, from Saint Louis University. A few of you know me already. For those who don't, I'm Gregg's sponsor at the Cathedral. I'll be monitoring his activities here, making sure he doesn't say anything heretical. You too, Ale. Just kidding. Kinda.

Anyways, I'm a senior, studying philosophy and classical studies, and I'm planning on graduate studies in philosophy. My major interest is in St. Thomas (which is, I think, why Gregg agreed to let me sponsor him). I'm engaged to Katy Willis, a wonderful girl from Alabama. She's currently a junior here at SLU.

I look forward to getting to know all of you. After finals, I'm sure I'll have thoughts of some kind about something or another... right.

Stored up thoughts, Part I - A literal Genesis and Evolution?

2004-12-13T08:43:00.000-06:00

It my opinion, the most common error made regarding the Book of Genesis by many Christians is that it's a choice between believing in the authority of the Book and believing in the theory of evolution as a biological explanation for life on Earth. Many Christians will rush to do what they see as taking the side of Scripture and reject that evolution has explanatory power for the existence of life on Earth. These are the so-called six-(or seven-) day Creationists. The other side, and the more erroring side, is those who accept evolution and reject the authority of Scripture--saying that Genesis was rather culturally influenced, or that Moses was just stuck in a period without real science, etc.

I think most Catholics would agree that both sides are wrong in believing that the dichotomy is such. The Catholic Church, which has for two millenia upheld the infallible authority of Holy Writ, has accepted the theory of evolution as at least an acceptable view for explaining what particular means God used to bring about life on Earth. (This excludes, of course, the immaterial soul of human beings--which will be useful later in this post.) For most who wish to accept both, what they will generally say is this: The theory of evolution, bolstered by a century or so of serious scientific inquiry is correct and Genesis, also, is correct, but metaphorically so. "Adam" and "Eve" must refer, collectively, to our human ancestors who evolved all together, and so forth.

Now, let me enumerate a number of doctrinal problems with such a position:

1) Church teaching states that sin and death entered mankind through the sin of one man, Adam. If "Adam" is just an abstract collection of individuals, then this seems problematic. Did all of "Adam" fall through the sin of a single member? Why would those who obeyed God's will be punished for the action of their relative and from whom they were not descended? Adam and Eve, in the story, are both morally liable.

2) Evolution on its own cannot explain how Adam and Eve would have originally existed in a state of dignity. Immortality, impassibility, perfect harmony with nature, etc. is not the stuff Darwin is made of. Rather, we would expect many of the things we see today: Cancerous diseases and sinful inclination towards sexual activity, for example.

3) Some parts of Genesis seem very hard to symbologize into talking about evolution. God making man out of the dust--sure. But what about God making Eve out of Adam's rib? This seems trickier.

4) Evolution cannot explain things like the immaterial and subsistent soul. Our soul no more evolved than did St. Michael or St. Gabriel!

What's the answer then? I think we can actually have our cake and eat it too. Every Catholic can agree to this: Scipture should always be interpreted literally where possible. If this means that it can be interpreted literally everywhere, great!

Now, take 4. The soul did not evolve. This means that the soul was added at some specific point in time to make humans from some proto-human. This means, first of all, that there was no graduation between proto-human and human, as there was between, say, proto-whale and whale. In the latter case, it's more like moving from a grain of sand to a dune of sand. However, there is a qualitative difference between having a rational, immaterial, subsistent soul and not having it. This destroys the implication that evolution would necessarily mean that several humans came about at once, or that we could say there was a "first" human.

When God gave souls to the first humans, He did so, logically, in one of two ways: He gave the soul to one particular creature and made it a human or he gave the soul at once to more than one particular creature. A priori, we have no way of deciding between these two options. However, Scripture tells us that there was a single first man, Adam. Using the above principle, we should then say that God gave a soul to a single creature and his name was Adam. This solves tensions 1 and 4, I hope!

How about 2? This could be disposed of in a number of ways. First, it could be that God miraculously led evolution to genetically dispose Adam and Eve towards having virtuous inclinations and not developing things like cancer or other diseases. When they fell, he messed up their genes such that they had these things. Hence, that is why we are as we are. I think this has problems. First of all, it seems a bit suspicious that when God messed up our genes as punishment, he made it look like we evolved -- and in fact, left a lot of stuff in our genes that our likely predecessors had. This would seem to pointless deceptive.

Another way of thinking about it is to say that Adam descended directly and continuously from some purely material animals. However, in the state of dignity, the Grace Adam and Eve received from being in the presence of God preserved them from the effects of these. In regards to things like inclination to sin, we must surely admit that God's grace is sufficient to preserve us from these. Further, we must admit that it is sufficient to preserve us from disease and the like, too. Mary would never have died a natural death, yet she was fully the daughter of Sts. Joachim and Anne, fallen creatures themselves who died naturally (I think? Correct me if I'm wrong) or would have died naturally at any rate. The difference, of course, is that Mary was born without original sin--which, remember, is primarily a loss of grace. She was, indeed, in the words of the Angel, "full of Grace". The same argument works if we use the Resurrected Blessed, too.

Two objections, which I think at least potentially can be solved at this point:

(a) Why would God not change the genes of humans to such that they didn't need grace to not have the ill effects of them? It would seem odd.

(b) Going from having an animal soul to a rational soul seems like a big step. Could something capable of having a rational soul really have evolved on its own?

As to (a): God foreknew the Fall. He wanted to punish Adam and Eve when they fell. Therefore, he set them up in such a way that their punishments would already be there when they lost their Grace. Nothing seems immediately problematic about this view.

Also, consider, we say "gene Y is for X" only functionally. A gene doesn't actually SAY what it's for, we figure out what it's "for" by observing what it does. As much as I hate to cite him, Richard Dawkins pointed out that it's really as accurate to say that there exists a gene for buying Volvos (if wanting to be safe is something genetically influenced) as to say that there exists a gene for blue eyes. If Adam and Eve's genes didn't actually cause these effects, we shouldn't really say that there were genes "for cancer" or "for uncontrollable sexual drive", should we?

As for (b), my friend Kevin thinks that the brain is structured in such a way that it is very adaptive. This is why people can grow up in all sorts of cultures and the stuff they absorb will seem as if it's hard-wired into their brains. He thinks maybe the brain is even adaptive enough to deal with having an immaterial soul attached to it. I don't know if this has metaphysical problems or not, but it's a possibility.

If not, I don't find anything wrong with saying that God just intervened and guided evolution for a little bit. This should be the last theory accepted, though; we should assume one that allows it to work through some secondary means if possible. As St. Thomas says, God uses indirect means whenever possible.

So, after a long discussion, that seems to dispose of 2). Now onto 3!

I think this tackles a lot of it. However, it does not tackle all of it. Stuff like Eve being made from Adam's rib seems difficult to tackle--however, I don't know what to make of it on either account. Moses must be trying to tell us more here than just that God historically took Adam's rib and turned it into a woman. I'm not sure what he's trying to tell us. Perhaps a commentator can expand. In any case, I don't see any in principle reason for thinking that anything in Genesis is inexplicable with the sort of reasoning as above.

Comments, please!

Tradition

2004-12-10T07:33:00.000-06:00

It is a constant surprise to me how many Catholics do not know anything about our Tradition, nor does it seem like many of them care. Do they know it is one of the two pillars of our Faith? Do they realise we can trace it back to Adam? Do they know?!!?

This sounds like a rant, and it partly is, but due to a recent experience, I'm just taken aback by this. How do we remedy it, other than this little slice of the web and our personal dealings with others? Any suggestions?

Fighting the Good Fight

2004-12-05T11:53:00.000-06:00

Not to make this too localized, but there is a statue of St. Louis IX, King of France, in front of the Art Museum in St. Louis, Missouri. It's huge and majestic and probably the only blessed object outside of the museum walls itself in the whole of Forest Park. Last night I drive through the park with a friend and stopped to see it.

The statue itself is a pretty standard one of this great saint, he is astride a horse with his sword in his hand, raised so that it looks like a Cross.

It reminded me of how we are to fight for Our Lord and Our Lady, always at the ready, with the Sign that Conquers always before us.

Any thoughts?

Martyrdom

2004-11-23T01:44:00.000-06:00

I have often wondered if I would really be willing to die for my beliefs... I pray that if I were put to such a test, the Holy Spirit would give me the courage and I would accept that grace.

Today is the feast of Blessed Miguel Agustin Pro, who was a Jesuit priest from Mexico. Given the persecution of Catholics in the 20's, he was ordained in Belgium and returned to Mexico to administer to the needs of the Catholics there. He's like a modern day St. Edmund Campion. He was discovered and shot by the government in 1927. He worked his whole life to make Christ King of Mexico, and "Viva Cristo Rey ([Long] Live Christ the King)" were his last words.

I pray that whatever it is we do, we do for love of Christ the King. May we, even in our being, be for Him.

Feast of the Presentation of Mary

2004-11-20T18:06:00.000-06:00

The feast of the Presentation of Mary is one of those beautiful feasts that have been handed down to us by Tradition...

It is said that when Our Lady was three years old, Sts. Joachim and Anne brought her to the Temple, because they had promised God that if they had a child, he would be dedidacted to Him. Keeping with their promise, they brought their child, Our Lady, to Jerusalem, so that she could live in the Temple. This was not an altogether uncommon practice; the girl children would live in a special part of the Temple, with widows, and pray and keep the Temple clean, until they were of marriageable age, or for however long the family had promised. Tradition also tells us that when Our Lady, at the age of three, approached the Temple steps, she left the helping hands of her parents, and ran up all the steps by herself! There she lived until she was fourteen years old.

There are obvious ties to religious life here, but also the importance of "praying without ceasing."

St. Agnes of Assisi

2004-11-18T22:36:00.000-06:00

Her life, briefly illustrated below, was one of great simplicity and obedience. It all brings up more in the discussion on living a Christian life...

The story of St. Agnes is intimately wrapped up in the life of her sister, St. Clare. She listened to her sister talk about Holy Poverty. She saw St. Clare transformed under the tutelage of St. Francis. Then, late one night, she saw her sister leave, dressed in her finest clothes and jewelry, go out the door of the dead, to marry her Beloved. St. Agnes' heart ached to follow her sister, but she was so young. She did follow, however, two weeks later. She joined her sister at the local Benedictine monastery, where they were given shelter for a time. Her family was furious! Her father and her relatives went to the monastery where she was and dragged her out by her hair! Her father was about to strike her with his sword, and his arm fell lifeless at his side. The others tried to pick her up, but St. Clare came out in her defense, and they discovered that St. Agnes had suddenly become so heavy, they couldn't lift her! They gave up; God had beaten them. He wanted Agnes for Himself... She later went on to help found several houses of Poor Clares, and was with her sister when St. Clare died. The nuns under her care often marvelled at her holiness, which was marked by great simplicity and humility. She died, like it says in the previous post, three months after her sister.

So, what does this have to do with living a Christian life? Plenty. It was through St. Clare's example that St. Anges came to know how she was to serve God. It was through her role as Mother Abbess, that many nuns were strengthened and encouraged in their vocations. Even her family came to see how good it was to live the Gospel...

Living the Gospel is the vocation of every Christian. Of course, not all our jobs are the same, but to be as Christ-like as possible is the ends.

November 19

2004-11-18T21:22:00.000-06:00

St. Agnes of Assisi
1197-1253

St. Clare's sister who was also her first follower. St. Agnes not only followed St. Clare in life, but followed her into death. St. Agnes passed away three months after St. Clare.

All-powerful and ever-living God, You choose the weak in this world to confound the powerful. When we celebrate the memory of Saint Agnes, may we like her remain constant in our faith. Amen.

St. Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-1231)

2004-11-16T20:13:00.000-06:00

St. Elizabeth is one of my absolute favorite saints. She was younger than me when she died, but the life she led, one would think she lived to be 100. She was married to Ludwig of Thuringia in Germany when she was 14. They had three children. Ludwig died in the Crusades in 1227. The following year, she became a Third Order Franciscan. Her life was dedicated to the poor, dressing simply like them and giving them bread everyday. Her husband's family did not like her giving to the poor and tried to stop her, locking her up sometimes when she tried to take bread to the poor. One day, as she was going out with bread hidden in her apron, she was stopped by her in-laws and told to show them what was in her apron. When she opened her apron, there were only roses! How could they stop her from going out, when all she had were flowers? She folded them in her apron, and when she got to the gate where the poor were waiting, there was bread! Things like this happened for her all the time, and it infuriated her in-laws. Eventually, they threw her out of the castle! When those who had been in the Crusades with her husband returned from the Holy Land, her in-laws were forced to let her back in, because her son was the rightful heir to the throne. She then established a hospital at the base of the mountain upon which the castle was built and served the sick herself, until she died at the age of 23 (almost 24)!

There are people like this, those who accomplish so much for Our Lord in such a short time, that really make me sit back and take a breath. I have done so little, if anything at all, and here is St. Elizabeth, having a family, being a Third Order, and founding a hospital, all before the age of 24. I wish I had her dedication, fortitude, fervor, and generosity.

I guess this is one of the many ways the last post could be answered, along with any number of saints' lives we can read about. Mother Teresa (Beneway, not of Calcutta) used to tell me that if I don't become a saint, it's my own damn fault. When I asked her how I go about accomplishing that enormous task, she said, "Go to the Sacraments. Do what you do for Love of God and the Blessed Mother. And learn from the best school around, in front of the Blessed Sacrament." Seems like a start, but I'm way behind St. Elizabeth already!

Living, now not I, but Christ in me.

2004-11-12T01:21:00.000-06:00

I know, it's a big presumption on my part, quoting St. Paul and applying it to my own life. I do so to introduce the next topic...

St. Teresa of Avila said in her autobiography, "My soul began to get used once more to the good habits of my childhood, and I saw what a mercy God does to those whom He puts in the company of good people" (Autobiography. trans. John Cohen. pg.29). This got me thinking about several things. The following two ancedotes and the question I will pose after deal with living a Christian life.

I have recently come back to the Sacraments, as some (at this point all) who read this know. Coming back to the practice of prayer and living the sacramental life has been quite enlightening for me. Growing up, being the consummate nerd that I am, I said the Rosary at least once a day, read parts of the Divine Office when I could, and constantly read about the Saints and Church history. I'm starting to get back into that, which only reinforces to me the sort of life I am called to live. Before this, the nearly two years that I stayed away from the Sacraments, my life had no meaning, no purpose, no direction. Then, I met Gregg and Ale. :) At first, I thought they would be similar to the other CL and CLA people, secularly good, really smart, and very much grounded in this world. As they changed and grew in Faith, I found that I wanted to come back to the Sacraments. Being around them helped me to see how lonely for Our Lord and Our Lady I was, and how despondent that lack of relationship was making me. How good God is in His Mercy to send me the two of you!

Today, I had a long conversation with a woman who is considering leaving the Church. She does not "feel a sense of community" or of acceptance in her parish, she said. She is willing to give up Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament to find this fellowship. She regards "fellowship" as more important than the Sacraments, and physical relationships more than any other kind. I did not know how to respond to her. While we spoke, I prayed for her, but I also thought how fortunate I am to have the parents I have, who made sure I knew what the Church taught, despite what they're going through now; how grateful I am for the friends that I have, and the help they have given me at the times in my life I have needed it the most.

The Psalms speak of the greatness of living with others in unity (Ps. 132) , that it is precious in the sight of God. The Acts relate much of this, as well. My question then, how do I convey this in my life to others, that they would want and desire and need to remain in the embrace of Holy Mother Church if they are already in it, and come to Her, if they have not yet? I think I am called to do this through prayer and sacrifice, which is an apostolate in and of itself, but until that time, if it ever comes, and for those who have different vocations, is there a "best" way to do this?

St. Teresa's quote above reminds me how important it is to have those around you who are "working out [their] salvation in fear and trembling" too. Thank you! Sorry, this is long-winded and round-about.

Big Catholic Nerdy conversation last night

2004-11-10T15:23:00.000-06:00

So, last night I was having a conversation last night with Ale and the topic of the varying degrees of happiness of the saints came up. Most Christians think, at least implicitly, that everyone is as happy as everyone else in heaven--that is to say, maximally happy.

However, St. Thomas disagreed with this view, and it's almost certain that according to Church teaching, this view must have at least one exception: Mary, the Queen of all Saints. Thomas claimed that the happiness of some saints is greater than others due to the degree to which they have love for God and are united with him--the infused virtue of Love.

On the face of it, this doesn't immediately cohere with other propositions we hold as Catholics. As Ale pointed out, "All humans have the same form, and it's perfected in heaven. So, how can they be different in things like happiness?" Indeed, Thomas thought that Happiness simply was the perfection of one's nature--which is determined by one's form. If two people are to have different degrees of happiness, it would seem as if at least one must not be perfect or that they have different forms. I had been stumped by this question before too, so I decided to dig around in the Summa and see if we could find a reconciliation of these two notions.

We did eventually find the answer, and it relates to the nature of infused virtue. Unlike Aristotle, Thomas thought that there were two kinds of happinesses for humans, the natural and supernatural. Natural happiness is what Aristotle identified as the sole kind of happiness, the kind that was attainable by human nature. (Actually, it, too, is unattainable after the Fall, but before the Fall, humans were sufficient to attain that happiness.) However, no being, not even the angels (as Satan exhibits) are capable of the supernatural happiness on their own, for, as the name implies, it's not something that is natural to them. To even want the supernatural happiness--beatitude--God had to give you a special kind of grace, the infused virtue of Love. (It should be noted, while the virtue of Love does entail that we love all human beings and, in fact, almost of all of Creation, it is primarily about the Love of God.)

Love, unlike other virtues like Justice and Temperance, has no set bound determined by our natural. Like I said above, Love is something that is wholly supernatural. That said, Thomas argues that the form of all the virtues is Love--Love orders our souls and actions to always seek the good, without which we would be utterly lost. So, then, we are perfected and therefore happy to the extent that we love God and seek union with him. Further, since there is no basis in the substantial form of human beings for the "perfect" amount of Love since it is supernatural, there is no reason why some saints could not have more of it than others.

Now, that said, it still needs to be reconciled with at least a few other considerations. The first is that it would seem odd if a saint were to be lacking and desiring something more than he has. Isn't the point of Heaven that you have everything that you could possibly want? The second is Christ's parables of the vineyard workers who each work for varying amounts of time but yet all receive the same pay. This seems to indicate that the reward for the saved will be the same.

I think both of these can be solved by the same answer, and that through the parable. Thomas points out that there are two ways to talk about Happiness: the thing that is sought and the attainment of the thing sought. Now, since all humans have the same object of Happiness, namely God, it is clear that in the first since the reward is the same for all. However, it can differ in the second sense, one can have it attained to a greater degree than another. Re-employing the parable here again will be useful, I think. So, while all of the workers receive the same wage--"So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius."--this doesn't mean that the second sense of the term cannot account for a difference. Imagine that one of the workers just really valued the wage a whole lot, to the point where it made him dance around with joy. If this were the case, it would not be wrong to say that the worker received a greater reward than the others, even though the reward in itself was the same for all. This accounts for the first problem. Saints receive everything that they desire, however, some, like the Blessed Mother, just desire it more than others.

I think this solves all the potential problems. Comments appreciated!