Recta Ratio

But they gave the Number 12 ranked Eagles a scare. I checked the score, and BC had a comfortable 17-0 lead. Then I checked back, and the score was 17-14! The Eagles put another touchdown on the board, and won 24-14. Way too close for a Division 1AA team!

Labels: Football Weekend Report

Not at peak anywhere, yet, according to the latest report.

Labels: Annual Cycles

If you get up to New Hampshire, don't miss a stop at Hart's Turkey Farm Restaraunt.

they are are a critical road junction in Meredith, right off Lake Winnipesaukee.

Labels: Annual Cycles

You will want to know about Granda Liturgical Arts.

And King Richard's

Neither caters exclusively to traddie tastes (they'd starve if they did), but both can do trad.

Labels: Restorationists

They finally clinched. Odd that a team that has had the best record in Major League Baseball for about 90% of the season took so long to clinch their division.

Now the battered and worn out regulars can sit down for a couple of days, and let the rookies play. Clay Buchholz, who threw a no-hitter this month, will not be on the playoff roster because of a "fatigued shoulder." That is a pretty bitter pill to swallow for the young man.



Let's hope there will be more champagne showers for Red Sox players, coaches, fans, and owners as October progresses!

Labels: Boston Red Sox

Gillibrand has it.

Labels: Restorationists

For a long time, the image below was the most popular image when you did a Google image search for "recta ratio." Because I featured it a while back.

The Last Trump has sounded, Christ sits in majesty judging the living and the dead. St. Michael is holding the scales. Demons and angels are fighting for souls The souls of the blessed are being ushered into Paradise, while those of the eternally damned are undergoing their never-ending torments.

One of the demons is spreading open the legs of a man he is holding upside-down, and is holding a flaming sword, which he apparently intends to insert in a certain part of that damned soul's anatomy.

Since Medieval and Renaissance artists (you could research and write a great scholarly dissertation on how earthly sin and eternal punishment were linked in Catholic art) linked the torments of the damned with their primary sins on earth, wanna guess which sin this one is going to be punished for forever and ever? Give you a hint: every spring, there is a parade and other activities in which the city of Boston takes pride in and celebrates this sin (and it is also one of the four sins crying out to heaven for vengeance).

Labels: Restorationists

Today is Michaelmas, the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels.

Saint Michael, perhaps the greatest of the Archangels, is the protector of the Church.

Michaelmas was a quarterly rent day in England and Ireland. It is the start of the university term at both Oxford and Cambridge. Presents and feasts featuring geese were very much the custom at this time of year.
Check here and here for Michaelmas customs.

Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in proelio, contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur: tuque, Princeps militiae caelestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo, divina virtute, in infernum detrude.
Amen.

Saint Michael the Archangel,
Defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the
Wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him,
We humbly pray.
And do thou,
O Prince of the Heavenly Host,
By the Divine Power,
Thrust into Hell
Satan and all the other evil spirits
which prowl about the world,
Seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

St. Michael protecting a newly deceased soul from the clutches of demons lurking by the deathbed.

Saint Michael also has another important duty. He is the principal usher of newly deceased souls to heaven. Medieval Books of Hours, as part of the Office of the Dead, often included a deathbed scene, where the soul of the just-departed leaves the body, and St. Michael has to fight off various demons who try to snatch the soul and carry it off to Hell. St. Michael is, therefore, one of the saints whose intercession is customarily invoked for a happy death, along with Our Blessed Lady, St. Joseph, and St. Peter.

And of course, St. Michael is believed to be the one who will measure the worthiness of souls at the Last Judgment, as seen in this detail from Memling's Last Judgment triptych.

Here is a site with prayers to Saint Michael, including the variations of the basic prayer above.

Labels: Restorationists

Since the month of September is dedicated by Holy Mother the Church to the Seven Sorrows of Our Blessed Lady, September's installments of Our Blessed Lady's Saturday are likewise dedicated. Next week, we begin October, which is dedicated by the Church to the Holy Rosary, which makes October also a themed Marian month. And I have enough Our Lady of the Rosary images and prayers to get us through next month.

The Rosary of the Seven Sorrows

The Rosary of the Seven Sorrows consists of 7 groups of 7 beads, with 3 additional beads and a Crucifix. Say each of the sorrows below followed by 7 Hail Mary's. The 7 groups of 7 Hail Mary's are recited in remembrance of
the 7 Sorrows of Mary:

1. The prophecy of Simeon.
2. The flight into Egypt.
3. The loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple.
4. Mary meets Jesus carrying His cross.
5. The Crucifixion
6. Mary received the Body of Jesus from the cross
7. The Body of Jesus is placed in a tomb.

3 Hail Mary's are added in remembrance of the tears Mary shed because of the suffering of her Divine Son. These are said to obtain true sorrow for our sins.
The concluding prayer follows:

V/. Pray for us, O most sorrowful Virgin.
R/. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, we now implore, both for the present and for the hour of our death, the intercession of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Thy Mother, whose holy soul was pierced at the time of Thy passion by a sword of grief. Grant us this favor, O Saviour of the world, Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, forever and ever.
Amen.

Labels: Restorationists

Father Zuhlsdorf has been running a poll on what to call it. For tactical reasons, I favored "Mass according to the Missal of Bl. John XXIII." Tactical reasons meaning that it drives liberals nuts to associate the traditional Mass in Latin with their icon Bl. Pope John XXIII, and how can any liberal criticize anything with John XXIII's name attached to it.

But my view did not prevail in the first round of the poll. Now, Father Z is down to 3 choices, and the favorite seems to be the Traditional Latin Mass, or TLM, which I guess is a good shorthand.

Labels: Restorationists

Indulgenced Prayer Before A Crucifix
The faithful who have met the general conditions for receiving and indulgence (after making a good confession and receiving communion and praying at least one Pater and one Ave for the intentions of our Holy Father) receive a partial indulgence if they recite the prayer after Communion before a crucifix. On the Fridays of Lent, the indulgence is plenary.

Behold, O good and most sweet Jesus, I fall upon my knees before Thee, and with most fervent desire beg and beseech Thee that Thou wouldst impress upon my heart a lively sense of faith, hope and charity, with true repentance for my sins, and a firm resolve to make amends. And with deep affection and grief, I reflect upon Thy five wounds, having before my eyes that which Thy prophet David spoke about Thee, O good Jesus: "They have pierced my hands and feet, they have counted all my bones."
Amen.

En ego, O bone et dulcissime Iesu, ante conspectum tuum genibus me provolvo, ac maximo animi ardore te oro atque obtestor, ut meum in cor vividos fidei, spei et caritatis sensus, atque veram peccatorum meorum paenitentiam, eaque emendandi firmissimam voluntatem velis imprimere; dum magno animi affectu et dolore tua quinque vulnera mecum ipse considero ac mente contemplor, illud prae oculis habens, quod iam in ore ponebat tuo1 David propheta de te, O bone Iesu: Foderunt manus meas et pedes meos: dinumeraverunt omnia ossa mea. Amen.

"They shall look upon Him Whom they have pierced."

Labels: Restorationists

I know my reorganization of my Photobucket account could ot have come at a worse time, since it broke the links to so many images of Our Blessed Lady that I have posted during this month of September, which is dedicated to her sorrows.

So, to make up for it, I will post a few of my favorite right now.



Photo by Robert Villaricca of the sensational Fotos Cofrades

Labels: Restorationists

Next month, Baronius Press will have the latest edition of the 1962 Missal, with the text of Summorum Pontificum available for delivery. This Missal is a huge improvement over what most people attending the traditional Latin Mass are using, 45 year old St. Joseph's Daily Missals. It has so many features that the old work-a-day St. Joseph's does not have, besides being updated with the 1962 Liturgy for Holy Week, and having Gregorian notation.

Also, don't miss their new edition of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin, also coming out next month.

They are coming out with the Latin-English Breviary next year.

Labels: Restorationists

Looks like peak color is a couple of weeks off yet.

Labels: Annual Cycles

Well, most have always known that there was something unbalanced and just plain weird about Christopher Hitchens.

But this encounter with Father Rutler proves it.

Labels: Restorationists

My collection of images of Our Blessed Lady is just getting out of hand. I had them all in a single sub-folder in Photobucket, with almost 1000 images in it. It was getting so that Photobucket could not handle requests to "View All," so that I could find something easily (instead of having to scroll through 24 pages of images).

So that sub-folder, along with all the other Virgin-Mary related albums, is being reorganized. Now, instead of having separate folders for Assumption, Annunciation, Pieta, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our Lady of Sorrows, Our Lady of the Rosary, it is all going to be in one sub-folder, but that subfolder will have its own subfolders.

Since I am moving images around and giving them new homes in sub-sub-folders, that means I have to break direct links to various Marian images that have appeared here. And that means you won't be able to see them.

I just repaired links to a few images that have appeared during the last week, but there is no way I will be able to go back and repair all of them. Sorry about that, but the reorganization was necessary.

Labels: Recta Ratio Housekeeping

Although two of my three football teams emerged victorious this weekend, pride of place goes to the Red Sox. The beat Tampa Bay (I know, it's only Tampa Bay) 2/3 this weekend, and clinched a playoff spot. No matter whether the Yankees overtake them now for the AL East lead. They are in the playoffs, with the Wild Card at least. One line of reasoning runs that it doesn't matter how you get into the playoffs, as long as you are there.

I think that they ought to be ashamed of their second-half performance, especially head-to-head against the Yankees, since they once led them by 14 or so games, but now only by 1.5 games. If they continue to play like they have, they will have their doors blown off in the first round of the playoffs, no matter who they face.

Boston College continued its triumphal march through its schedule. This weekend, it was Army, and the result was a 37-17 victory. They remain at No. 12 in the AP national rankings, and are 4-0. Next up, U-Mass.

The Patriots also continue to dominate. For them, the opponents this weekend were the divisional rival Buffalo Bills. The Pats cruised to a 38-7 romp. Of the games they have played, they have won 38-14, 38-14, and 38-7.

Unfortunately, the Saint John's Prep Eagles were not up to par this weekend. The dropped out of the Boston Globe top 25 with a 35-7 loss to Everett High School. They had been ranked 15th before the loss.

Labels: Football Weekend Report

The Catholic Encyclopedia

Labels: Restorationists

A Lament For Walsingham
(to get this, it helps if you remember that Queen Elizabeth's primary anti-Catholic enforcer and spy was named Sir Francis Walshingham).

In the wracks of Walsingam
Whom should I chuse
But the Queene of Walsingam
To be guide to my muse?

Then, thou Prince of Walsingam
Graunt me to frame
Bitter plaintes to rewe thy wronge
Bitter wo for thy name.

Bitter was it, oh to see
The sely sheepe
Murdered by the raveninge wolves
While the sheepharde did sleep.

Bitter was it, oh, to viewe
The sacred vyne
Whiles the gardiners plaied all close
Rooted up by the swine.

Such were the worth of Walsingam
While she did stand
Such are the wrackes as now do shewe
Of that (so) holy lande.

Levell, levell with the ground
The Towres doe lye
Which with their golden, glit-t'ring tops
Pearsed oute to the skye.

Where weare gates noe gates are nowe,
The waies unknowen,
Where the presse of freares did passe
While her fame far was blowen.

Oules do scrike where the sweetest himnes
Lately wear songe,
Toades and serpents hold their dennes
Where the palmers did throng.

Weep, weep O Walsingam,
Whose dayes are nightes,
Blessings turned to blasphemies,
Holy deedes to dispites.

Sinne is where our Ladye sate,
Heaven turned is to helle;
Sathan sitte where our Lord did swaye,
Walsingam, oh, farewell!

From Eamon Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars

Labels: Restorationists

Nine years ago today, my mother died of pneumonia after a hernia operation, at the age of 75. She had been suffering from dementia for some years prior to that. My father had died at the age of 69 about 7 years prior to her death.

O God, Who hast commanded us to honor our father and mother, look in the tenderness of Thy mercy upon the souls of George, my father, and Kathryn, my mother, and forgive them their sins, and grant unto me the joy of seeing them again in the glorious light of everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

V. Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord.
R. And may perpetual light shine upon her.
V. May she rest in peace.
R. Amen.

An Irish boy was leaving,
leaving his own native home,
Crossing the broad Atlantic,
once more he wished to roam;
And as he was leaving his mother,
while standing on the quay,
She threw her arms around his neck
and these were the words she said:

A mother's love's a blessing,
no matter where you roam,
Keep her while she's living,
you'll miss her when she's gone;
Love her as in childhood,
though feeble, old and grey,
For you'll never miss your mother
'til she's buried beneath the clay.

And as the years go onward,
I'll settle down in life,
I'll find a nice young colleen,
and make her my sweet wife;
And as the kids grow older
and climb around my knee,
I'll teach them the very same lesson that
my mother once taught to me.

A mother's love's a blessing,
no matter where you roam,
Keep her while she's living,
you'll miss her when she's gone;
Love her as in childhood,
though feeble, old and grey,
For you'll never miss your mother
'til she's buried beneath the clay.

Labels: Requiescat In Pace

If today were not Sunday, in the Ordinary Mode of the Latin Rite, it would be the feast of St Pio of Pietrelcina, our most beloved saint of recent memory, good Padre Pio.




Saint Pio's Prayer After Communion

Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have Thee present so that I do not forget Thee. Thou know how easily I abandon Thee.
Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Thy strength, that I may not fall so often.
Stay with me, Lord, for Thou art my life, and without Thee, I am without fervor.
Stay with me, Lord, for Thou art my light, and without Thee, I am in darkness.
Stay with me, Lord, to show me Thy will.
Stay with me, Lord, so that I may hear Thy voice and follow Thee.
Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love Thee very much, and always be in Thy company.
Stay with me, Lord, if Thou wishest me to be faithful to Thee.
Stay with me, Lord, for as poor as my soul is, I wish it to be a place of consolation for Thee, a nest of Love.
Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close, and life passes: death, judgement, eternity approach. It is necessary to renew my strength, so that I will not fall by the wayside and for that, I need Thee.
It is getting late and death approaches. I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows. O how I need Thee, my Jesus, in this night of exile!
Stay with me today, Jesus, in life with all its dangers, I need Thee.
Let me recognize Thee as Thy disciples did in the breaking of bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion be the light which disperses the darkness, the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart.
Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to Thee, if not by Communion, at least by grace and love.
Stay with me, Jesus, I do not ask for divine consolation, because I do not merit it, but, the gift of Thy Presence, oh yes, I ask this of Thee!
Stay with me, Lord, for it is Thee alone I look for. Thy Love, Thy Grace, Thy Will, Thy Heart, Thy Spirit, because I love Thee and ask no other reward but to love Thee more and more.
With a firm love, I will love Thee with all my heart while on earth and continue to love Thee, perfectly, during all eternity.
Amen.

Labels: Restorationists