Recta Ratio

O pure, immaculate, and likewise blessed Virgin, who art the sinless Mother of thy Son, the mighty Lord of the universe, thou who art inviolate and altogether holy, the hope of the hopeless and sinful, we sing thy praises. We bless thee, as full of every grace, thou who didst bear the true God and true Man: we bow low before thee; we invoke thee and implore thine aid. Rescue us, O holy and inviolate Virgin, from every necessity that presses upon us and from all the temptations of the devil. Be our intercessor and advocate at the hour of death and judgment; may we be delivered from the fire that is not extinguished and from the outer darkness; may we be made worthy of the glory of thy Son, O dearest and most clement Virgin Mother. Thou indeed art our only hope most sure and sacred in God's sight, to Whom be honor and glory and majesty and dominion for ever and ever, now and in the world of worlds. Amen.

By the Voice of Thy Blood, O Jesus! I would press Thee, solicit Thee, importune Thee, though Thou seemest to reject my supplications. I will not leave Thy bleeding feet until Thou hearest me. Too many graces, too many mercies have come from Thy Blood, for me not to hope, even to the end in its efficacy. Then, O Jesus! by the Precious Blood seven times shed for the welfare of men, by each drop of that Sacred Price of our redemption, by the tears of Thy Immaculate Mother, I conjure Thee, I supplicate Thee, hear my earnest prayer. (Here, specify your request). O Thou, who during all the days of Thy mortal life, consoled so many sufferings, healed so many infirmities, raised so often a sinking courage; Thou will not fail to have pity on a soul who cries to Thee from the depths of her anguish! Oh, no, it is impossible! Another sigh from my heart, and from the wound in Thine own, there will flow to me, upon a wave of Thy merciful Blood, the grace so ardently desired. O Jesus, Jesus! hasten the moment when Thou wilt change my tears into joy, my sighs into thanksgivings. Holy Mary, Source of the Divine Blood! I conjure Thee not to lose this occasion of glorifying the Blood which made Thee Immaculate. Amen.

Ok, it's not the same as the real thing. But I'm a July baby, and I love my fireworks.

Nothing could be more American than watching fireworks on July 4th. Yet, for many in remote areas, this is not practical. Your town may not be putting on a display this year because of budget constraints. Or you might not be able to get to the nearest fireworks display. This year, many communities are cancelling fireworks due to nervousness over drought conditions, as well.

It is a tradition here at Recta Ratio to link to virtual fireworks displays you can enjoy in the comfort of your own study. So turn off the lights, crank up the volume on your speakers, plug some John Phillips Sousa, some Handel Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks, and some Williamsburg Corps of Fifes and Drums into the CD player, pour yourself some wine, and put some more mustard on that hot dog!

I always link to Hogpainter's fireworks display. For the record, I recently figured out that this is a guy who paints motorcycles. So "hogs" are motorcycles. Live and learn.

And try this one.
But you activate it by left-clicking the mouse within the field.

I like this one, too.

This one allows you to watch fireworks over the White House and over New York City, or at a carnival or baseball game.

This one over New York Harbor reminds me of the one 25+ years ago (can it be that long?) when the Statue of Liberty was newly rehabbed and President Reagan came for the show and watched from the deck of USS Iowa. We surely need another Reagan now to set the country going again.

Happy Independence Day!

For those men who signed the Declaration of Independence on July 2nd, 1776, the odds did not look very good. Public opinion polls, if they existed, probably would have told them that only one-third of the population favored the course upon which they were about to embark. One-third was indifferent. One-third opposed independence. The men gathered from the thirteen colonies in Philadelphia, even without polling, probably had a sense that this was the case.

The army which would be the primary instrument of winning independence was scarcely disciplined, poorly uniformed, badly armed, and ill-supplied with food and ammunition. Pay was a promise (which, in fact, was mostly ignored 7 years later). Its generals had no experience commanding larger bodies of troops than a battalion.

True, there had been some victories. Boston had been rendered untenable for the enemy, and he had evacuated it. Fort Ticonderoga had fallen to a surprise attack, and supplied the heavy artillery that had led the British to evacuate Boston. Montreal had been captured, though that invasion force had been stopped at Quebec, and even now was building an anti-invasion fleet on Lake Champlain. The delegates in Philadelphia probably did not know it, but an enemy invasion of Charleston, SC had been averted a few days before.

But there had also been defeats. Despite inflicting heavy losses on the enemy, Bunker Hill had been captured. The attempt to capture Canada had failed miserably.

Most significant was what was coming. As the delegates debated independence, they knew that the British army that had left Boston was en route from Halifax, probably heading for New York. If their spies were accurate, that army would rendezvous with another escorted by an even larger fleet. Large numbers of British and German troops had driven the American Northern Army from Canada, and were poised to drive down Lake Champlain. These troops who would confront their own tattered, inexperienced army were the best Europe could field. British troops who had conquered an empire just 15 years before would be joined by excellent troops from Brunswick and Hesse Cassel, Frederick the Great's best allies. The enemy was supported by professional artillerists, and by a navy that was (despite peacetime decline and corruption) still, ship-for-ship, the best in the world. Thousands of their fellow countrymen would be happy to take up arms alongside the British army. To make matters worse, the Indian nations were ready to take up arms on behalf of the King, raising the prospect of burned farms, scalped settlers, and women and children abducted into captivity among the savages.

The men in Philadelphia must have found the prospect of declaring independence a daunting task. In the next three months, the most likely outcome was that the British army would take New York, flatten their own army, and then march on Philadelphia to hang them for treason. Their property would be taken from their families. At best they would become fugitives constantly on the run from British authorities.

But the best of them had a vision for the future, and strong reasons to feel the need to break with the past. The vision was that they would govern themselves, as they actually had for the most part, until the Imperial government decided to tap America for revenue to pay for keeping the peace with the Indians. John Winthrop's vision of a city set upon a hill remained a strong one, and merged with Locke's ideas about government, and newer ideas coming from Adam Smith about how an economy ought to be allowed to develop. A unified vision of a new nation which would serve as a beacon of liberty for all nations emerged, and was in the forefront of the minds of the men in Philadelphia. They had in this synthesis of ideas and in adapting to conditions on the American frontier, become a new nationality in need of a new nation.

And yet, despite all the obstacles, it was the vision that prevailed, and not the balance of forces. It is that vision that we celebrate today. John Adams, who did more than anyone to push the cause of independence through Congress, wrote to his wife that July 2, 1776 (the day the Declaration was approved):

"...Will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverence by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more."

May it always be so.

Today is the feast in the 1970 ordo of one of my primary patrons, Saint Thomas the Apostle.
His feast in the Traditional Ordo, which I follow personally, is in December, just before Christmas. But this gives me a chance to celebrate one of my primary patrons twice a year.

Saint Thomas, please pray for us!

Photo courtesy of John Sonnen at Obis Catholicus I had neglected to note the other day when I first saw it, that the Holy Father has approved the statement of heroic virtue for Archbishop Fulton Sheen, and thus moved him up the ladder towards canonization. No longer a mere Servant Of God, he is now properly referred to as Venerable Fulton Sheen. Excellent! I hope to live to see his canonization.

Those who follow the 1970 Ordo observed the Visitation some time ago. But for those of us who follow the traditional Ordo, July 2nd is always the Feast of the Visitation. My guess is that the 1970 Ordo observes the Visitation when it would have begun, while the traditional Ordo observes it at the time it would have ended.



My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit rejoiceth in God my Savior.
For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty hath done great things for me, and holy is His Name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He hath shown strength with His arm:
He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their hearts.
He hath pulled down the mighty from their thrones,
And hath exalted those of low degree.
He hath filled the hungry with good things;
And the rich He has sent, empty, away.
He hath helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to His posterity, forever.

Consecration to the Precious Blood O Jesus, fairest of the children of men, Thou whom I see crushed beneath the weight of my sins, covered with wounds, Thy hands and feet pierced with nails, Thy side opened with a lance, I adore Thee and recognize Thee as my Lord and my God and as my beloved Redeemer. Pierced with grief at sight of the Blood flowing from Thy wounds for the redemption of souls, I feel irresistibly urged to consecrate myself to the worship of this regenerating Blood and, by an exemplary life, to atone for all the profanations of this Divine Blood and for those which It still receives daily in the veins of Thy Sacred Body present mystically on the altar. By this consecration which I beg Thee to accept, O my Savior, I desire to spend my whole life in proving to Thee my gratitude and my love by paying frequent homage to Thy Precious Blood and by propagating this devotion as far as is in my power. I desire every pulsation of my heart to be a renewal of this consecration, a constantly repeated act of love for this redeeming Blood, a perpetual offering of Its merits in behalf of sinners and all the souls dear to me, and a hymn of unceasing praise in union with that of the Saints and all the blessed in Heaven: "To the Lamb who redeemed us in His Blood, be honor and glory and benediction forever." O Mary, Mother of the Divine Redeemer, obtain for me the grace of adoring fervently throughout my life the Blood of thy Divine Son and of singing forever Its mercies in Heaven. Amen.