Recta Ratio

Well, it is more like just exposing the utter flapdoodle that passes for thought on the part of Lewis' critics.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe opens today, and I expect that it will knock Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire out of the No. 1 slot at the box office (though I suspect both will do well through New Year's).

Dom Bettinelli has a new address.

From The Word Among Us.

Restore the Church is closing.

"Labradoodle" photographed in Newton this morning by the Boston Globe

Several inches expected during the day. The snow is heavy and wet, and walking is extremely treacherous in spots where the property owners have not done their duty to keep up with the snow, and make very liberal use of salt and melting crystals.

That is a particular problem for folks like me, with two trick knees. So, while it looks nice, I'd really rather not have snow at all.

Namely the inexcusable practice of "Catholic" Charities in setting up adoptions of children by gay "couples."

Well, as of yesterday, there has been no decree of suppression issued for Holy Trinity. It appears that the Archdiocese is biding its time, waiting for the results of earlier suppression appeals, and trying to avoid the bad publicity of kicking the Cardinal Medieros Center, a day shelter for homeless people over the age of 45 that operates downstairs at Holy Trinty, out in the middle of winter (not that the Archdiocese has been particularly sensitive to bad publicity in the past).

As a result, the Administrator has Oked liturgical planning into January. A High Mass is tentatively scheduled for noon on Sunday January 1st (Feast of the Circumcision).

Keep your prayers coming for a change of heart on the part of Archbishop O'Malley. There is really no good reason to close Holy Trinity as the home of Boston's Indult Mass. The only two reasons possible are greed for the real estate Holy Trinity is sitting on, and malice towards the traditional Latin Mass.

In fact, if the Archbishop were fully just, and of one heart with our Holy Father Pope Benedict (who has often expressed his regard for the Latin Mass, for beautiful liturgical music, and for traditional church architecture, and is almost certain to greatly expand availability of the Latin Mass in the very near future), he would make Holy Trinity an oratory dedicated to the Latin Mass, with an expanded liturgical schedule, adoration, confirmation classes, and its own pastor, perhaps Father Higgins (a diocesan priest who is a regular "guest celebrant" for High Masses, pictured above saying Midnight Mass some years ago), or a priest from the FSSP or Institute of Christ the King.

Closing Holy Trinity is the surest way to strengthen the SSPX in the Archdiocese. And at a time when the Vatican is negotiating with the SSPX to bring them back into the fold, it would be unwise to take any action locally that would unduly strengthen that group, or make its adherents more intransigent, which closing Holy Trinity certainly would, as many would jump ship to the SSPX chapel in protest.

On December 9th, 1979, Archbishop Fulton Sheen, famous for his refreshingly orthodox radio and television ministry, died.



Photos from This Is the Mass

Here is the offical website for Archbishop Sheen's Cause for Canonization.

Read about Archbishop Sheen's Wartime Prayerbook, which is made available to members of the armed forces for a minimal donation.

Here are just some of the recipes available in the files section of Recta Ratio: The Yahoo Group:

Rose Cakes
Chocolate Ravioli Filled With Raspberry
Orange Pistachio Lace Cookies
Triple Espresso Brownies

Blue Cheese and Spiced Walnut Terrine
Bologna Cake
Marscarpone, Grape, and Pistachio Truffles
Toad In the Hole

Smoking Bishop Punch
Samuel Johnson's Choice
Ginger Beer
Flip

Galliano Cake
Jam Roly Poly
Simnel Cake
Rum Gingerbread

Butter Rum Cashews
Chocolate Pizza Candy
Sugar Plums
Turkish Delight

Almond Soup
Cold Cherry Soup
Cream of Peanut Soup
Legal Seafood's Clam Chowder

Cherry Slump
Spotted Dog
Tipsy Laird
Black Forest Trifle

Game Pie
Hassenpfeffer
Haggis
Irish Spiced Beef

Brandied Peaches
Champ
Nottingham Yam Pudding
Tomato Aspic

Boiled Cider Pie
Cream Pie
Molasses Pie
Ricotta Pie

Mouth watering? Join and explore.

And the files section also has tons of traditional Catholic prayers, traditional Catholic hymn lyrics, and Christmas Carol lyrics. Meanwhile, the photo albums are bursting with traditional Catholic images (most just links to images at other sites, but so many actually posted in the Group that I can't add another one without exceeding the Yahoo Group limit of 30 MB).

The "hanging santa" guy.

The solution is one that people 50 years ago would not have hesitated to respond with. You shun the guy. You don't say hello to him. You treat his children as if they had a loathsome disease. You don't allow your children to have anything to do with his. You ignore his wife. For all intents and purposes, you treat him as if he did not exist. You make life unpleasant for him. You exclude him from all neighborhood activities.

And some right-thinking person goes in, under cover of night, and eliminates his little hate display.

No courts. No ACLU. No lawyers. No cops. No press. And if he goes to the police once his little hate display is destroyed, no one saw or heard anything. That is one of the informal ways society functioned through in times gone by. That sort of social pressure has a way of keeping nutjobs in line. Conformity to social norms is a good thing. And society ought to do more informally to bring about conformity. That way, everyone gets along swimmingly.

The Holy Father's pet project, according to Sandro Magister, is to put Vatican II in the context of the entire tradition of the Church, and not as some sort of superdogma in and of itself.

It means an entire school of thought that has dominated a generation or two of clergy and churchy people has to be superceded. And that isn't easy, even when you are the Pope.

The fifth volume of his History of Christendom series will be published this winter. It is entitled The Revolution Against Christendom.

Francisco de Zurbaran, 1661.
In sacred art, it is often difficult to tell Immaculate Conception paintings from Assumptions.

V. O Mary, conceived without sin
R. Pray for us who have recourse to thee.

Today is a holy day of obligation.

Read about the Blue Scapular here (from Catholic Tradition).

Catholic Tradition also hosts a whole gallery of Immaculate Conception images. Plus Saint Pio's meditation on the Immaculate Conception.

And there is this from The Glories of Mary by Saint Alphonsus Liguori.

Annunciations carries the text of the Holy Father's homily for today.

From The Word Among Us.

Speaking of meditations, I happened upon Monsignor Knox's Lightning Meditations yesterday. The first three short (2 or so pages each) mediatations are Advent mediatations, keyed to the Gospel readings of the traditional Latin Mass.

About 25 new recipes added today to the Files section, including a new subfolder on Ice Cream, featuring many Christmas favorites: Rum Raisin, Peppermint Stick, Eggnog, and Rosemary Honey. Rosemary Honey? Well, it looked interesting. Sounds very Provencal.

Free to join, and I try to keep would-be spammers out as much as is humanly possible. Even a profile with a photo that makes the subject look like a young Gina Lollabrigida won't get them into Recta Ratio, if I suspect the intention is spamming.

As a nation, we must never forget the damage our own lack of preparedness caused us on that day, including the loss of more than 1,100 crewmen on the USS Arizona. Today at Pearl Harbor, survivors gathered to remember, yet again.

Even with September 11, 2001 fresher in our minds, the lessons of December 7th, and the heroism and patriotism of those who died there, must never be forgotten either.

From The Golden Legend

Saint Ambrose's Prayer Before the Eucharist

O loving Lord Jesus Christ, I a sinner, presuming not on my own merits, but trusting in Thy mercy and goodness, with fear and trembling approach the table of Thy most sacred banquet. For I have defiled both my heart and body with many sins, and have not kept a strict guard over my mind and my tongue. Wherefore, O gracious God, O awful Majesty, I, awretched creature, entangled in difficulties, have recourse to Thee the fount of mercy; to Thee do I fly that I may be healed, and take refuge under Thy protection, and I ardently desire to have Him as my Saviour, whom I am unable to face as my Judge.

To Thee, O Lord, I show my wounds, to Thee I lay bare my shame. I know that my sins are many and great, on account of which I am filled with fear. But I trust in Thy mercy, of which there is no end. Look down upon me, therefore, with the eyes of Thy mercy, O Lord Jesus Christ, eternal King, God and Man, crucified for men. Hearken unto me, for my hope is in Thee; have mercy on me, who am full of misery and sin, Thou who wilt never cease to let flow the fountain of mercy.

Hail, Victim of salvation, offered for me and for all mankind on the gibbet of the cross! Hail, noble and precious Blood, flowing from the wounds of my crucified Lord Jesus Christ and washing away all the sins of the whole world! Remember, O Lord, Thy creature, whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy Most Precious Blood.

I am grieved because I havesinned, I desire to make amends for what I have done. Take away from me therefore, O most merciful Father, all my iniquities and sins, that, being purified both in soul and body, I may worthily partake of the Holy of Holies. Grant that my reception of Thy Body and Blood, which I purpose, unworthy though I am, may bring to me pardon for my sins, the perfect cleansing of my faults, the expulsion of all evil thoughts, and the renewal of pure feelings, the health and efficacy of good works, pleasing unto Thee, and a most strong protection both in soul and body against the snares of my enemies.
Amen.

Asking Mayor Menino to stay away from Catholic Charities event this Friday.

Actually the petition would be better advised to be addressed to "Catholic" Charities, asking them to dis-invite pro-abortion, pro-gay "marriage" Mumbles. But this is what we have to work with.

To make room for Moslem earthquake victims.

The property of Christians is just being expropriated for the benefit of Moslems. There is no other way to explain this.

I am now past just jeering at Islam as the "Religion of Peace" while it fails to play well with others every place it comes into contact with civilization. Every terrorist bombing, every time a Christian in the sudan is enslaved by Moslems, every act of aggression against Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism is now being noted, remembered, and will be paid back, by God if not by man.

Shortly after September 11th, Ann Coulter got into trouble (and was dropped from National Review) because she said that Islam is the enemy, not just an extremist branch thereof. Here we see a Moslem government, one that is ostensibly an "ally" of the US in the fight against al Qaeda (though, to be honest, parts of it are probably more pro-al Qaeda than anyone realizes) expropriating the property of Christians because they are Christians.

What more do we need to come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a "moderate" Moslem (except maybe a non-observant person raised as a Moslem living in a Western country who just wants to get along with his new homeland)?. Moslems are committed to the expansion of Islam. And they approve any measure that furthers that end. So is Ann Coulter's solution really such a radical response to this mortal threat to Western Civilization?

Every further proof that Islam is the problem, not just an extremist branch thereof, brings me closer to the point of supporting the Ann Coulter position.

An unthinkable omission for a product of Xaverian Brothers' St. John's Prep and Jesuit Boston College and Boston College Law School.

But Mark Sullivan did not fail to note it. He even provides a tres cool baroque image of the martyr that includes a skull.

The Nativity set, the oldest surviving one, was the work of Arnulfo di Cambio around 1290, and will be displayed this Christmas Season at Saint Mary Major Basilica.

At least Cardinal Law is not completely idle.

Hat tip to In Illo Tempore

Great post up at Der Tommissar's place.

Meanwhile, while we are over at Donegal Express, the Tommissar Family is about to expand again! Congratulations and God's blessings!

From The Cornell Society For A Good Time

A big problem for me, and St. Alphonsus' advice is helpful. Practically impossible, but helpful.

Today is the feast of probably the most popular saint in Christendom, the patron of children, young people, pwnbrokers, and those seeking marriage, Saint Nicholas of Myra.


This is what The Golden Legend has to say about St. Nicholas.

And The Saint Nicholas Center has everything you could possibly want to know about Good Saint Nicholas.


The modern Dutch Sinterklaas looks more like the original Bishop of Myra

Thomas Nast's 19th century American rendition

Haddon Sundblom's advertisements for Coca Cola completed the image of Saint Nicholas today.

Efforts are made from time to time to update Saint Nicholas' garb and image, but they are rejected by children themselves. Ironically, the young are the ones who insist that Santa looks like this, and nothing else. You can put black boots on him, rather than brown (but they have to be the same style). You can put a strip of white fur down the front of his coat. Sometimes he can wear a harness with sleighbells. And you can give him green mittens. But changes beyond that are rejected out of hand as unbecoming to Jolly Old Saint Nicholas.

Maybe Sundblom's vision has so much staying power because it is anchored in tradition. The red and white coat is an adaptation of a bishop's robes.

And maybe Sundblom's version of Saint Nicholas sticks in the mind because it complements the works of earlier work of Nast and that of Sundblom's more readily recognized contemporary, Norman Rockwell.



My Saint Nicholas Day treat for myself? A tall hot cocoa with a peppermint candy cane dissolved in it, and marzipan candies.

From The Word Among Us.
(as of 9:40 am, today's meditation was not yet up, but check in later)

They say lead with what you are feeling most strongly about.

Well, right now, while there are far weightier issues out there, both personal, secular and ecclesiastical, I am most exercised about the lousy, putrid, stinking, festering assignment my alma mater, Boston College, drew for its post-season bowl.

The Eagles, 8-3 in their first season in the ACC, are going to the MPC Computer Bowl in Boise, Idaho on December 28th. They will be playing hometown Boise State (9-3). That sucks.

Clearly, with an 8-3 record, we knew they were not going to the Rose Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, or the Orange Bowl. But they tied for first place in their new conference, ranked 19th in the country, had a winning record against conference foes in their first year playing ACC teams, and played well against good teams all season.

BC left a good comfortable berth in the Big East to be dissed this badly by ACC officials? While other teams and their fans will be basking in the sun and warm temperatures after Christmas, BC is exiled to frickin' Siberia.

Do BC fans have valid grounds for complaint? You bet. Thirty-six teams play in bowls after December 28th (the later the bowl, the more prestigious). Allow me to advert your attention to the fact that BC was ranked 19th in the country at the end of the season. Seventeen of the teams playing in bowls after BC's so-called bowl deserve to be there less than Boston College does.

Georgia Tech (7-4) plays Utah (6-5) in the Emerald Bowl December 29th. Oklahoma (7-4) plays on the 29th in the Holiday Bowl. Northwestern (7-4) plays December 30th in the Sun Bowl. In the Independence Bowl on December 30, South Carolina, 7-4, plays Missouri, 6-5. In the Liberty Bowl, on December 31st (a bowl BC has been in at least once in its Big East days) two 8-4 teams, Tulsa and Fresno State, play.

The college football establishment just spat in the face of Boston College, this year's team, its alumni, its fans, Boston, and New England. It is another manifestation of the stupidity of a "baowwl" mindset that makes the Patriots, winners of three of the last four Super Bowls, an underdog in many big games.

Now BC and I have many issues, not the least of which is that I think its faculty, course offerings, campus life, and student organizations need to be overhauled to make BC more like Christendom, Saint Thomas More, Ave Maria, and, yes, Notre Dame (which, though it continues to host dissident Father McBrien, is making strides to regain its Catholic identity). Even when BC is right about something, it is evident that not all is well at what is supposed to be a CATHOLIC university. But I fully support a good, successful athletics program, like every other son of Boston College. I think this year's team did well, and deserve much better than the mindless idiots running college football have doled out to them.

We had a trace of snow a day or two before Halloween, a few flakes in the air a couple of times since (including Thanksgiving morning), and a dusting yesterday (Sunday). Now the weather people are saying we could get a couple of inches in Boston tonight into Tuesday.

Well,that makes it feel more like December. November was pretty mild by New England standards.

From The Word Among Us.

Busy weekend combined with computer hassles prevented me from blogging these past couple of days. More than 2 days without a blog post! That must be some sort of Recta Ratio record.

BTW, I have noticed that the link for the daily Advent meditation does not change daily. So if I fail to post one day, you can just use the last link to the meditation, and it will bring you today's meditation.