Feast of the Purification of Our Lady

Happy Candlemas, everyone! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas season.

Unlike the Loop Trolley, Septuagesima is looming next Sunday.

Whispering in Your Ear

Don’t tell anybody, but I will share with you that if– if—-if the paradigm holds, and Mary hasn’t acted, and the antichrist hasn’t made his move, etc.,

Sharon and I, intentions in our hearts already, will walk the Camino Portugues in October or November.

Sssshhhhhhhh.

Cardinal Burke, I Willingly Accept Your Advice

From Lifesite News: Cdl Burke encourages Catholic faithful to renew their devotion through pilgrimages

“Pilgrimages bring us closer to our faith and thus bring us true peace. Not going on pilgrimages means losing contact with our salvation.” Cardinal Raymond L. Burke shared his thoughts and some personal reflections on the importance of pilgrimages which became a significant part of the Catholic tradition in the 4th century, when Christians traveled to different places that were part of Jesus’ life or the tombs of martyrs and saints.

Ten Years is a Blink in Realtime

Merry Christmas, dear Readers!  I was motivated by all of the end-of-decade (sic— the end of the teens will be next year at this time, don’t @me) recaps in the media these days to check out this little blog for posts from this day ten years ago.  You know, maybe to write about the very different scene we thought we had back then, compared to the reign of mercy terror we have now.  And the post below is what I found.  

After reading it, I thought I could have posted the exact post this year.  And you know what?  I will.  Happy New Year to you all:

_______________________________

As we end the calendar year, here within the Octave of Christmas and on the Feast of Pope St. Sylvester I (of whom I can never think without recalling Benson’s Lord of the World), ready to usher in the New Year tomorrow on the Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord, I thought I would put out a few lines.

1. I pray that all my readers are having a blessed and holy Christmas; I thank you for the many well-wishes and words of encouragement you have sent during the year. I thank those whom I annoy for sending me the many amusing comments that usually lift my spirits–and only occasionally dampen them– as well.

2. The end of the year is a traditional time of thanksgiving for the blessings of a loving, almighty God. So for myself, I thank Him most of all for His Being, His Love, and all that He does for us. It is pretty nice of Him to keep the world and all of us in existence, and He sent His only Son to suffer, die and rise to save us from sin. I thank God for His Holy Catholic Church, which is the means of the salvation of man. I am grateful for His Mother, and I thank her as well for all she does to assist me as I try to work out my salvation in fear and trembling. I renew my consecration of myself, my family, my work and all that I do to her. Mother, do with me as you will.

I thank God for the embarrassing bounty of spiritual and material blessings He gives me. My sainted wife, my beautiful children, the means to earn a living to support them, good friends, family and everything else.

I thank Him for our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, who just might be Benedict the Great one day. Summorum Pontificum is not his only achievement, but it would be enough, I think, to merit the title. I thank God for the many faithful sons and daughters in the priesthood and religious life whom I have been privileged to meet and get to know, often because of this ridiculous blog, especially for my spiritual director.

And I thank Him for the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. I credit the Institute with being the oasis of the faith in my life.

3. St. Francis de Sales Oratory will be singing a solemn Te Deum in thanksgiving for the past year today at 5 pm. The faithful who attend may receive a plenary indulgence, under the usual conditions of detachment from sin, sacramental confession, Holy Communion, and prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father.

Te Deum laudamus:
te Dominum confitemur.

Te aeternum Patrem
omnis terra veneratur.

Tibi omnes Angeli;
tibi caeli et universae Potestates;

Tibi Cherubim et Seraphim
incessabili voce proclamant:

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.

Pleni sunt caeli et terra
maiestatis gloriae tuae.

Te gloriosus Apostolorum chorus,
Te Prophetarum laudabilis numerus,
Te Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus.
Te per orbem terrarum
sancta confitetur Ecclesia,

Patrem immensae maiestatis:
Venerandum tuum verum et unicum Filium;
Sanctum quoque Paraclitum Spiritum.

Tu Rex gloriae, Christe.
Tu Patris sempiternus es Filius.
Tu ad liberandum suscepturus hominem,
non horruisti Virginis uterum.
Tu, devicto mortis aculeo,
aperuisti credentibus regna caelorum.

Tu ad dexteram Dei sedes, in gloria Patris.
Iudex crederis esse venturus.

(kneeling)Te ergo quaesumus, tuis famulis subveni:
quos pretioso sanguine redemisti.

Aeterna fac cum sanctis tuis in gloria numerari.
Salvum fac populum tuum,
Domine, et benedic hereditati tuae.
Et rege eos, et extolle illos usque in aeternum.

Per singulos dies benedicimus te;
Et laudamus Nomen tuum in saeculum, et in saeculum saeculi.

Dignare, Domine, die isto sine peccato nos custodire.
Miserere nostri domine, miserere nostri.

Fiat misericordia tua,
Domine, super nos, quemadmodum speravimus in te.
In te, Domine, speravi:
non confundar in aeternum.

(Translation, because it’s Christmas:)

We praise thee, O God :
we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.
All the earth doth worship thee :
the Father everlasting.

To thee all Angels cry aloud :
the Heavens, and all the Powers therein.
To thee Cherubin and Seraphin :
continually do cry,
Holy, Holy, Holy :
Lord God of Sabaoth;
Heaven and earth are full of the Majesty :
of thy glory.

The glorious company of the Apostles : praise thee.
The goodly fellowship of the Prophets : praise thee.
The noble army of Martyrs : praise thee.

The holy Church throughout all the world :
doth acknowledge thee;
The Father : of an infinite Majesty;
Thine honourable, true : and only Son;
Also the Holy Ghost : the Comforter.

Thou art the King of Glory : O Christ.
Thou art the everlasting Son : of the Father.
When thou tookest upon thee to deliver man :
thou didst not abhor the Virgin’s womb.
When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death :
thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.

Thou sittest at the right hand of God : in the glory of the Father.
We believe that thou shalt come : to be our Judge.

(kneeling) We therefore pray thee, help thy servants :
whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood.

Make them to be numbered with thy Saints : in glory everlasting.

O Lord, save thy people :
and bless thine heritage.
Govern them : and lift them up for ever.

Day by day : we magnify thee;
And we worship thy Name : ever world without end.

Vouchsafe, O Lord : to keep us this day without sin.

O Lord, have mercy upon us : have mercy upon us.
O Lord, let thy mercy lighten upon us :
as our trust is in thee.

O Lord, in thee have I trusted :
let me never be confounded.

—————

Merry Christmas again, and a very happy and blessed New Year!

34 Days

Yes, it really has been 34 days since I’ve posted. That is probably a record, since I launched this little project in February 2007. And I am actually nearing in reality what I used to say jokingly: my “7 readers” might really be 7 readers.

But, dear 7, I might emerge for a bit and write what’s on my mind. I have left Twitter now, which in addition to being a guilty snarking pleasure for me, was both a near occasion of sin and a time-waster that kept me from writing here.

I haven’t quit thinking about the beepstorm that is the churchandworld ™; I just refrained from writing about it.

Not anymore. Not for a little while, at least. I hope those of you who have stuck it out until now enjoy it.

Blessed Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe to you all.

What Can I Say?

During our recent vacation to Vienna and Budapest, my daughters Anna and Clara made a series of videos encapsulating their European experience, each bearing the title, “Clara is Dumb”. I share the final entry with you, dear reader, here. Pray for me to be a better father.

Thankful

Back home safe and sound. Grateful to Divine Providence Who granted us safe travels and wonderful family time. Aware that not everyone can scratch that travel itch. Praying for safe arrival in that heavenly homeland that contains all beautiful places, more real than these shadows. Pray we all meet there. Pax.

Today we mixed some lesser sights with shopping and eating. The weather was a bit frigid, with gusty winds and intermittent snow. Yes, snow. We took the U-bahn to Karlsplatz, where I toured the Secession building, paying €10 to see some Klimt. The Beethovenfriese, specifically. Why a gorilla figures into the Ode to Joy I don’t know.

Then the not-surprisingly dead in February Naschmarkt, where we saw plenty of Morocco and Tunisia and not so much Austria. Next, we saw Karlskirche, where a Catholic has to pay €8 to enter a Catholic church, even if only to pray. Schönborn’s Amerika.

Then, we discovered the best way to avoid lines at the Prater is to ride the famous Riesenrad ferris wheel in a snow shower. Then it was on to Mariahilferstrasse for power shopping at the ladies’ insistence.

After that, we had a pricey but delightful dinner at Castelletto, with schnitzel, Italian fare, and the best gelato I’ve had outside of Italy. At last, an evening stroll down the Graben.

Bonus pics: Last night’s trip to the grocery store produced real Spanish chorizo and jamón serrano. A nice little treat.

Today, my son learned the hard way one of the lesser known laws in Vienna: if Sigmund Freud boards the U-bahn, he gets your seat:

One more day in the land of schnitzel!

Walking. It’s What We Do.

More Vienna today. The first photo is a poster near our apartment of our beloved president giving the Statue of Liberty the beating she deserves. After that, walking, shopping, hitting Peterskirche (where I was able to go to confession), touring the Hofburg (photos not allowed), and visiting Stephansdom, where we walked verically, 343 steps. Along the way, I was delighted to find that we haven’t escaped the Camino, as we twice encountered signs that we were on the Way of St. James. Wish I could keep going…

Holy Mass, Sachertorte, Fine Art, Holy Roman Emperors, and Ice Skating: One Family’s Day

I don’t know when this blog became my vacation journal, but I guess it was when I ran out of ways to describe the horrors of Francisdom. Anyway, checking in from Vienna:

We heard Mass at the Paulanerkirche (the real Mass, that is). Then on to the Hotel Sacher for Früstück and some apfelstrudel mit schlag, sachertorte and melange. Then a drag-the-kids-into-culture-at-any-price tour through the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Then a view of the treasury of the Austrian Emperors (no photos because my phone died), including Charlemagne’s crown, a relic of the true cross and holy lance, and scads of jewels. Then ice skating until my shins bled at the Wiener Eistraum, then the family platter from Wienerwald to save us all.

So, nothing much happened.