God bless her soul!

This is beautiful. This is the love of God.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/thehealthnews.html?in_article_id=371201&in_page_id=1797

According to Father...

Using the theme from today's reading (preparedness for the end of the world and whatnot), our priest said this today at the end of the Mass to promote the doughnuts and coffee being offered in the basement...

"You never know when the end of the world will come, so you better get yourself a doughnut now!"

Amen.

Happy All Saints, for real!

For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

For the Apostles’ glorious company,
Who bearing forth the Cross o’er land and sea,
Shook all the mighty world, we sing to Thee:
Alleluia, Alleluia!

For the Evangelists, by whose blest word,
Like fourfold streams, the garden of the Lord,
Is fair and fruitful, be Thy Name adored.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

For Martyrs, who with rapture kindled eye,
Saw the bright crown descending from the sky,
And seeing, grasped it, Thee we glorify.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
All are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of glory passes on His way.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
And singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost:
Alleluia, Alleluia!

William W. How

Happy All Saints!

I'd like to dedicate this particular post to my four patron saints, plus St. Katharine Drexel, who my church is named after! (We're the first church in the world named after St. Katharine, as our bulletin so proudly proclaims...) She was a pretty awesome lady, filthy rich by means of her filthy rich parents, but she spent it all creating schools and the like. She was especially dedicated to the black and Native American populations. For instance, she founded Xavier University in Louisiana, which was the first black university in the nation (or something like that, I'm not quite sure).

In the first picture, you can see Patron #1, Saint Joan of Arc, who was also my Confirmation saint. I admire her greatly for many reasons. When I was little, it was because she kicked butt and had a sword. Now, I also admire her piety, obedience, bravery, and total submission to God above and beyond whatever weapons she may have possessed. All the same, I still think it's cool that she was leading armies and stuff... Catholic girls rock.

Next and less predictable is Patron #2, Saint Dismas who has the great honor of being the only saint canonized by Jesus himself. I'm too lazy to look it up right now, but the story about "the good thief" is somewhere in the Gospel of Luke. He rebukes Gesmas, the author thief, for being a jerk, and then asks Jesus to remember him in His kingdom. Jesus then says something along the lines of, "Today you will be with me in Paradise." St. Dismas, so commonly overlooked, has become a comforting patron for me and I have an extra special devotion to him.

Next is Saint Lucy, shown here with her weird little eye plant, who was the Confirmation saint of two of my best friends. I look up to her because sometimes I think about how nasty it would be to have your eyes gouged and I absolutely marvel at her dedication to God to bear all that bravely. Plus, my seventh grade CCD teacher handed out saint cards on the last day, and I got Saint Lucy. I'm a sucker for seeing the Hand of God in little things like that, so ever since then she's been my Patron #3. Going along with that theme, St. Gerard is another saint I pray to, because once our youth group was visiting this old church and the priest there handed out saint medals, and I got one with St. Gerard on it. So, I guess he's sort of an unofficial Patron #5. To tell the truth, I have a lot of saints and blesseds I pray to off an on more frequently than others, but I'm dedicating this to my "core."

Finally comes my Patron #4, St. Augustine of Hippo, whom I adopted as a patron a.) because he's a scholarly sort of guy, and b.) because he started his life off as much less than a Christian but then changed his whole life around and became a Father of the Church. I respect that. As with St. Dismas, I have a great love for the themes of repentence, forgiveness, and redemption of the notorious sinner. (For example, I hated A Tale of Two Cities until in the end Sydney Carton sacrificed his life to save Darnay and then I was this huge Sydney Carton fan because he was redeemed by his sacrifice and I thought that just rocked.) As for the scholarly bit, when I first got into reading about theology and religious stuff, I decided that he'd be a good patron saint, and that was even before I decided that maybe I'd like to be a professor of theology. Then I decided that would really rock, and I found my choice of patrons even more appropriate.

So anyway, a very happy All Saints to everyone! (I know it's tomorrow, but I just got back from a vigil Mass so it's on my mind...)

Papal Bull

I was organizing my notebooks today, and I came across this little drawing completed during a long and boring history lecture, in which my friend and I were sparring pictorally about our respective religions. She's Lutheran, I'm Catholic, and we always debate and make fun of each other. People get worried when they hear us, or we tell stories, but we're both really good friends and don't "fight" in a mean or intolerant way... we're just both really interested in theology (she wants to be a minister, and I'd like to be a theology professor), and it's fun for us! Anyway, she came back with this... (To which I added the horns and tail.)

The Most Important Issue?

My mom today, just sort of randomly while we were watching the news, said something along the lines of, "There's this article in [something] that I want you to read. You know dad and I debate politics quite a lot, and I don't really know what your politics are, but I know you support the current administration's pro-life stand. But, there are much more important issues in the world."

I kept my silence for the sake of domestic tranquility; I'm still just happy that she let me go to the March for Life with my church last January -- she very nearly didn't. She's not Catholic or really anything, and we don't see eye to eye on some things, but in order to "honor thy mother and father" I decided it's best if it's something we don't discuss much. Maybe that's wrong. I don't know.

But I was thinking about it, and I don't think she's right. I think abortion may very well be the most pressing moral issue of our day. Okay, there are other terrible, terrible, terrible awful things in the world and understand me that I'm not trying in any way to discountenance a single one of those issues. There's still slavery and all sorts of murder and prostitution and I don't even know what else but the world, in short, has a lot of issues. But here in our own country we kill millions of babies. Babies, who can't defend themselves. We are a society that allows the murder of children. And that isn't "the most important issue?" Let's say these babies weren't even unborn... they were all, say, somewhere up to 12 months of age. There are two presidential candidates. One says that we should be able to kill the babies, one says that's wrong. I don't care if the first candidate has better policy on every other issue, from foreign relations to economics to the environment. If they support baby-genocide, THEY DON'T GET MY FREAKIN' VOTE! DO YOU HEAR THAT, ALL YE POLITICIANS? IF YOU KILL OUR PRECIOUS CHILDREN, YOU DON'T GET MY VOTE! Technically, I'm not 18 yet, so no one gets my vote, but sometime soon.

I think maybe non-pro-lifers don't understand our position. Don't they realize that we honestly believe that actual living babies, precious wonderful beautiful little defenseless children, are being cruelly murdered? That mothers are killing their own children? Then, don't you think they'd understand where we're coming from? Don't think that, at least, they'd stop trying to convince us that other things are more important? I just don't know. It depresses me -- it makes me want to cry. A lot of things in the world do. Pray and pray and pray and pray and pray for those babies and their mothers and the cause and everyone supporting murder.

At the same time, I think my mom was a little off base saying that I "support the current administration," because in my mind, Bush has failed miserably. He says he's pro-life, but he hasn't done nearly enough about it. Current Supreme Court nomination, case in point. Plus, although abortion is my #1 issue, I don't like most everything else he's done, either.

Just remember... pray like there ain't no tomorrow!

A Bit Delayed

Yesterday, October 1, marked two important dates! Number one, the feast day of St. Therese of Lisieux (of the Child Jesus). Her autobiography, Story of a Soul is highly, highly, highly recommended reading, although it will make you feel like absolute trash. Whenever I'm reading any really good spiritual fare, two things happen. First of all, I get really depressed. It makes me realize how far I have yet to go. I have a bad habit of comparing myself to people around me, and going to public high school it's very easy to make myself out to be a saint. But I'm working on this whole pride thing, and reading about St. Therese is one good way to bring you back down to earth. And luckily, the second thing that happens when I read good things is that I'm inspired to get my butt in gear. Currently, I'm on The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, and boy... I'd better get a-workin'! (I love reading it though, because every other sentence I feel like he's talking directly to me, because he's constantly dealing with things I stress over all the time.)

Sometimes when I get especially angsty, I just have to remind myself of that children's song wisdom, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so," because there's no functioning without that knowledge. Things get too overwhelming for me when I just think about how worthless I personally am, without thinking about how much Jesus loves me anyway. I'm a spiritual leper, but my Lord isn't afraid to touch me. That isn't to say He doesn't want me to get better, but He doesn't want us to live in constant fear and disgust of ourselves, even if that's what we deserve, because otherwise we'll obscure His message in our own hearts.

Second date, the five-year anniversary of the canonization of St. Katharine Drexel, who my church is named after! Indeed, we're the first church in the world named in honor of St. Katharine Drexel, as our bulletin so proudly proclaims! She had a special concern for blacks and Native Americans, as well as in general the "poor and marginalized of our society" as our parish prayer says. So, woot, woot, St. Katharine. Pray for us!

Oh, and Happy Respect Life Sunday! Pray, pray, and pray some more for an end to the genocide of the unborn in American society! And you know, do more than pray too, but never forget our most powerful weapon...

Lucky Me!

Background: My favorite hymn tune in the whole wide world is St. Columba, which has yielded such hits as "The King of Love My Shepherd Is" and "Breathe on Me, O Breath of God." The other day in church, I opened to song I didn't know. It looked reasonable, being pretty old and not from one of those three-letter companies that so commonly produce songs I hate (and a couple I like, to be fair). Then our organist started playing, and I recognized immediately not the song listed but St. Columba. So we sang ol' Charlie W's words (O for a Heart to Praise My God), to the coolest tune in the history of awesome songs. Boo yeah!

In other news, I'm joining my church's choir this coming Thursday. Our organist, who also happens to be the choir leader, won me over with mention that he'd like to do some simple Latin chant... oooh, Latin. Oooh, chant. Oooh, hundreds of years of tradition and kick-butt awesome Catholicism. Another cool thing is that our choir, unlike so many these days, actually has a home in the choir loft! Alas, because it is a small and generally old choir, that means that very few people know it exists. However, I have hope for the future.

I'm our organists new biggest fan. I don't know who the old one was, but he's all about trying to get our parish to be more faithful to the guidelines for liturgical music, and incorporating some of the traditional stuff. To begin with, we're already pretty good about being very proper with ceremony and respecting the dignity of Mass, but I'm impressed that he's going to keep on working on it...

In other less Catholic news, I totally got my license yesterday. Whoo independence!


O for a heart to praise my God,
A heart from sin set free,
A heart that always feels Thy blood
So freely shed for me.

A heart resigned, submissive, meek,
My great Redeemer’s throne,
Where only Christ is heard to speak,
Where Jesus reigns alone.

A humble, lowly, contrite, heart,
Believing, true and clean,
Which neither life nor death can part
From Christ who dwells within.

A heart in every thought renewed
And full of love divine,
Perfect and right and pure and good,
A copy, Lord, of Thine.

Thy tender heart is still the same,
And melts at human woe:
Jesus, for thee distressed I am,
I want Thy love to know.

My heart, Thou know’st, can never rest
Till Thou create my peace;
Till of mine Eden repossest,
From self, and sin, I cease.

Fruit of Thy gracious lips, on me
Bestow that peace unknown,
The hidden manna, and the tree
Of life, and the white stone.

Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart;
Come quickly from above;
Write Thy new name upon my heart,
Thy new, best name of Love.

God Bless Cananada...

Full Name: Cananada (Ca-na-nuh-da)

Population: 3 (all have other residences in the surrounding area)
Location: Wheatfield Drive (sewer)
Borders: bordered on all sides by the United States of America
Area: generously, 1 square meter
Terrain: top of a sewer
Government: Duumvirate (it's real, look her up!)
Duumvirs: Emperor Trevor Smyth Nikolai, Caesar Pinkus [yours truly] (Mr. Pants, Crown Prince and heir apparent)
Chief Resource: Caribou (subterranean)
Exports: Cananada t-shirts, postcards
Other economic activity: guided tours
Religion: 2/3 of the population is Catholic, 1/3 United Methodist. But... 100% of the duumvirate is CATHOLIC, baby!
Flag description: solid blue
Military: 100% of the population has martial arts training
History: Founded by two adventuresome young people with big dreams, big hearts, and a very itty bit of land. But, much has come from this tiny land, in the spirit of Liechtenstein. The first major military battle occured several months ago, when several inches were stolen by the imperializing American street-pavers. The people of Cananada haven't forgotten this atrocity committed on their soil and vow revenge.
Future outlook: While the Honorable Duumvirs are passing away in approximately twelve years, the rule of Cananada will be passed on to the Crown Prince. In the meantime, Cananada is set to enjoy a perpetual Golden Age. The people have hopes of possibly a "Cananada Pride Parade," and have even entered the running to host the 2080 Olympics, hoping to have aquired at least enough land for a stadium by then.

I don't want to brag or anything, but we've even got the Vatican beat as smallest sovereign nation in the world... Vive il Papa!

The Meaning of Life

No, sorry, I'm not here to illumine your life and solve all your problems for boundless eternity, I'm just quoting from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. Just a note, though... when I watched it, I had a friend who had seen it before serving as a strict censor, so I didn't see any of the bad parts. Rumor has it that it gets pretty morally offensive, so even though it is quite hilarious in bits, I'm not necessarily recommending it. Unless you have your own private censor, too. Boy, though, do I ever love the Pythons.

Anyway, since this is a religiously themed blog, here's a pretty sweet prayer, courtesy the aforementioned Pythons.

Chaplain:

Let us praise God!
O Lord, you are so big.
So absolutely huge.
Gosh, we're all really impressed down here, I can tell you.
Forgive us, O Lord, for this, our dreadful toadying
And barefaced flattery
But You are so strong and well, just so super.
Amen.

(I took out the bits where the congregation pretty much just repeats the prayer back after him.)

Refreshing!

http://www.navhindtimes.com/stories.php?part=news&Story_ID=08209

Now that is the sort of headline I like to read. It's depressing, sometimes, when all you can find in the news about Catholicism is abuse, bankruptcy, corruption, schools and parishes closing, the shortage of priests and religious, liberals demonstrating for same sex marriage, female clergy, contraception, and any number of other things that just aren't going to happen in THIS church (see Jesus' words on the likelihood of the gates of Hell prevailing against His Church for reference, Matthew 16:18).

All the same, I wasn't sure I agree with Bishop Marx.

Interviewed yesterday by Cologne’s WDR television, Bishop, Rev Reinhard Marx commented: “In these past 2,000 years, not everybody has kept the ten commandments. Not even the Pope or the bishops! Who can keep all the commandments?”

...

“The important thing is that Jesus is our friend — but he is a demanding friend,” said Rev Marx. ‘It’s nothing new that all people can’t live up to all these goals, which are sometimes uncomfortable.”

Okay, Fact #1: We're all miserable sinners. Fact #2: He's right, technically, that no one will live up to all the standards Jesus gave us. However, I think that in the context of the article (I can't speak for what he really meant), the Bishop makes it sound as if it's not our fault, or that it's not that big of a deal. People need to be confronted with their sin. And those people who walk around with the Pill in their pocket can't be allowed to keep on with it just because no one in the past has been able to keep the Commandments perfectly -- we can't allow ourselves to become complacent just because Jesus loves us, this we know, 'cause the Bible tells us so.

In reality with God's grace we can lead lives which are holy and pleasing to God -- Jesus is "demanding" because He knows that's true. Sure, we know we're going to fall short sometimes or more likely most of the time, but that isn't any sort of an excuse. Our weakness is on account of our sin, not the other way around, because everyone can turn to God and He can give us strength that undermines the power sin holds over us.

Now, with a prayer for all of those who "turned red-faced and giggled" when asked if they lived by what the Pope preaches (and the Church teaches), and one for myself because I know I have my own challenges to overcome, I'm off to face the day!

Happy Assumption, Everybody!

http://www.uscg.mil/hq/chaplain/graphics/Catholic/Assumption.jpeg

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death!

And Saint Therese agrees

After my post of a few days ago about CCD, I came across a passage in St. Therese of Lisieux's autobiograpy, The Story of a Soul. Here she goes:

"Those innocent souls were like soft wax on which any imprint could be stamped--of evil, alas, as well as of good. I understood the words of Jesus: 'If anyone hurts the conscience of one of these little ones, he had better have been drowned in the depths of the sea.' Many, many souls would become most holy if they had been properly guided from the very start."

My Old Arch-Nemesis, CCD

After I was Confirmed in 8th grade, the church wisely decided that I must be as equipped as I'll ever be to deal with all of the challenges that could corrupt my faith and of course, perfectly knowledgable about everything that could be useful to me in my spiritual journey. Never mind that I was about to enter what could prove to be the most challenging and corrupting time in my life -- after 8th grade, they just don't want to deal with us little snots, especially not in CCD. So we are turned loose, usually with a vague recollection that there are something like six or seven sacraments, give or take a few, chrism is a holy oil, and that those darned do-gooding seventh graders won the canned food drive again.

Well, perhaps I'm being too harsh. Although I was severely bored out of my mind, I payed attention in CCD most of the time, and came out with a very, very basic knowledge of some of the foundations of the faith. I left knowing the sacraments, a few miscellaneous prayers, and how to make a proper examination of the conscience and a rosary out of string. By the end, I was a few toothpick crosses and saint cards richer for the experience. But I think I got more out of it than most.

All the same, I think we have a crisis in our religious education programs, and I feel qualified to speak out on this issue as I have just recently emerged from the ranks of CCDers and then decided I would have to try and teach myself the faith, and have since grown tremendously in my understanding of, and appreciation of, Holy Mother Church. I recognize that not everyone is going to take the initiative to start reading Scripture and researching Church history and canon law, however. It's those people I'm really worried about. CCD isn't doing it's job. It starts out young, which is good, and feeds the kids some of the basics which they need to know.

But in my own experience, as the kids get older they get the same old stuff, taught without enthusiasm. They never experience the richness of Catholicism. The mystery, how the Church revolves around the sacraments and especially the Eucharist, the beauty, the holiness, the history. Instead, we memorize one line definitions. "Angels are invisible spirits and God's helpers." All well and good, but no one is going to catch fire for Christ because they can define "chrism," "Holy Orders," and "omnipresent." Especially as they get older, they need to understand why they believe all these things and what they really mean. It's so rarely related to Scripture or Sacred Tradition. Instead of teaching kids about the physics of genuflecting (albeit important), we need to lead them into a deeper reverence, holiness, and understanding that makes them want to drop to their knees in Jesus' presence.

Most of all, I don't think we should just dump kids after Confirmation. Instead, that's when we should really start giving them stuff to think about and challenging them to know their faith. After eighth grade, they can handle all the deep and mysterious things that makes Catholicism extraordinary. The classes can start to get more specialized: Catholic Sacramentality, Defending the Catholic Faith, Church History, Marian Devotion, Protesant Studies, Old Testament, Personal Piety, Catholic Morality in the Modern World, Catholic Social Teaching, Bible Study. Gah, teach them Latin, go to a Tridentine Mass, teach them to chant a bit, take them to Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, have them pray the Rosary. At the same time, take a leaf out of the Protestant book (even if it is a deficient book in so many ways) and find some way to claim these lives for Jesus. Play Evangelical and get these kids fired up. (Not in Mass, necessarily... to everything there is a time and place, and the craziness I've seen at Evangelical churches has no place in the reverence of Mass.) Make God relevant without watering Him down.

Even if they still get caught up in their lives and don't spend as much time with God as they should be, when they get older and faith starts becoming a grounding part of their lives, they'll be thankful they know so much about it. And when people ask them about God, and they can give good answers, or defend their faith -- they'll be thankful. I can invision all the CCD kids of my generation growing up and not being able to turn to their faith because they never experienced enough of it. That's how people get disallusioned with Catholicism -- it becomes boring and repetetive and empty because people don't understand what the sacraments really mean and aren't taught how to turn their hearts and minds to God.

At the same time, I know you can't just force faith on kids. And I know too that we don't have enough adults who could teach a lot of these courses, not having a good grip on some of the more weightier issues themselves. So maybe my dream world of submerging all the kids in some tougher theology isn't realistic. But there has to be something better than just letting kids free. Most of them don't even come back for Youth Group once they've been "liberated" -- so we shouldn't go liberating them so quickly. So, you don't want to brainwash the kids, that's fine. But if you don't at least lay a foundation and make an impression on the kids first, the secular world is going to step right up... and it has no qualms with brainwashing.

Another problem I see is that, in most cases, for this to stick it really needs to be reinforced at home. No matter how much we throw at them in CCD, if their parents let them leave it at the door when they get home, we'll have problems reaching these kids. (I was sort of an exception to this rule -- although my parents are both good people, Catholicism is not something you'll find a lot of in our house. No prayer or grace before meals, no religious pictures. My room is the only one with a crucifix. No talk about God or faith or Jesus. Still, day by day I'm getting deeper and deeper into my faith and, as I study, I fall more and more in love with it.) But for the most part, we also need to reach the parents and make them realize how important this is to their children and somehow get them on our side, too. We can take over the world for God and His Church if only we could reach the children and their parents.

If we want more "devout" Catholics, instead of those Cafeteria Catholics everyone's always talk about, we need to revamp how we're teaching our children. Starting at home and reinforced at religious education, we need to start giving these kids more of their own faith.

They deserve it, and I can guarantee they'll love it.

Note: There are actually a lot of good aspects of CCD at my own church, even if I did come out sounding more critical than I am. Today, I was helping out with our first graders -- they were learning how to say the Hail Mary and the Our Father, and today we made rosaries out of blue beads and string. (That actually led to some rosary violence...but we set that straight.)

There was also a video that was sort of long for little kids -- it said an entire five decades of the rosary, and by the end some of the kids were squirming. At the end, the lady on it said, "Okay, let's do that again!" and one little kid exclaimed with utmost horror, "Oh, no!" All the same, by the end you could tell they really had their Hail Marys down... small victories!

I was telling my group just to start saying a single decade of the rosary every day or before they go to bed and think about one of the mysteries, because, as beautiful as the rosary is and as much as I hope they come to cherish this beautiful prayer and devotion someday as they get older, it is extremely long for little kids, especially first graders.

God bless little kids; they sure are cute.

St. Michael's Cathedral, Toronto

While I was on a mission trip with my youth group in Toronto a few weeks back, I went wandering with three friends of mine to look for a church that I saw out of the corner of my eye driving to our hotel. Well, I saw the steeple, at least, and it looked like it belonged to a much cooler structure, so I was dying to go find it.

We did find it, and were impressed to see the rather beautiful (if not hugely impressive) St. Michael's Cathedral. We walked around it, but it was closed and under construction. We wandered back the next day, however, to find it open and went inside. It was gorgeous on the inside, but we couldn't stay long (or take pictures!) as Mass was starting.

Again, not knowing much about architecture or really anything else for that matter, I can't tell you a lot about the church. Although the sign said that it was built in the style of the 14th Century English Gothic period, if that means something to you! Someday, I swear, it will mean something to me...

Boy, churches rock. In my fantasy world, everyone should look at them and say, "Wow, if some people make such beautiful buildings to praise this God they're talking about, how much more wonderful and awesome this God must be! Whoo Christianity!" But I understand that you could then apply that to any other building: "Wow, if some people make such beautiful Parthenons, how much more wonderful and awesome Athena must be! Whoo Greek paganism!" But that doesn't change the fact: churches rock.

Is it mean-spirited of me to want all the pretty churches in the world to be Catholic? Because every time I see a cool church, I immediately think, "Oh, let it be one of ours..." I'm the same with people, though. "Oh, let them be one of ours..."

I'm definitely biased in favor of Catholicism, but I really don't see the problem with that.

Cool European Churches

This is a picture of St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest, Hungary, which my friend Kristine took on a recent trip of hers to Europe. She went with American Music Abroad and played concerts in cool places and spent the rest of the time wandering around looking at castles and houses and churches and eating desserts with great names like "Heisse Liebe" (Hot Love for those of you without a working knowledge of the noble German language.)

I would love to go to Europe solely for the cathedrals and basilicas and other awesome churches. I could spend hours just looking at the art and the architecture and being unable to identify any of it by name but loving it all the same. Hey, I'm taking Humanities this year (11th grade), so maybe by the end I'll be able to throw out some art styles and sound almost like I'm well-cultured. Then again, to be cultured in this country really doesn't take much effort...

Anyway, the inscription on the front of the basilica is "EGO SUM VIA VERITAS ET VITA," which is "I am the way, the truth, and the light" from John 14:6. (I guess Latin doesn't have articles... but Latin is one thing that I am rather clueless about, as the Latin teacher at my high school is pretty crazy. I still managed to get her for German I, however... And let me tell you, German has too many articles, and they're always changing case on me. Gah, it's crazy!)

I love churches so much. I even like looking at Ugly Churches, if only because it makes looking at those really stunning marvels of God's Glory In Architecture all the more stunning. My head turns at every steeple I pass... I would love to see the great churches of Europe.

I'd like to be an architecture major in college and start a movement towards building pretty churches that reflect the majesty of our Heavenly Father. I think we owe God the best of everything we create, and I think that the little brick boxes that pass as churches today aren't living up to their full potential. But, I'm biased, and if I had my way only the churches I think are pretty enough would be built.

Oh, I wish I had my way...

Tridentine Mass

The other day, I got the wonderful opportunity to attend my very first Tridentine Mass. I'd been looking forward to this ever since Bishop Rhoades authorized the weekly celebration of a Latin Mass. I went with my best friend and her mom, who remembers the days of old when it was alwasy in Latin.

It was held at the Cathedral Chapel of St. Lawrence, right by St. Patrick's Cathedral in Harrisburg. The church itself was pretty. Not knowing a whole lot about architecture, I can't tell you much about it, but it had really pretty stained glass windows and an elaborate sanctuary at the front of the church. It had a great churchy smell too -- wooden pews, burning candles, and the faint scent of incense left over from another mass.

Personally, I really liked it. It felt so... Catholic. We were sort of worried when we first went in, because we were the only three ladies there without a veil of some sort. We were early, though, and as time wore on quite a few others came without a head covering. They were saying the Rosary before Mass.

I was really just in heaven the whole Mass. Although the priest (FSSP) wasn't very loud and it was really hard to follow, especially for a first timer like myself, it was really beautiful. I liked his sermon, too -- there was nothing conciliatory about it. It elaborated on the Gospel, quoted about half the saints on record, and didn't try to dress sin and guilt up to seem better than it was. After it ended, I felt like I had something to think about and I felt challenged to examine myself and change my ways. It was pretty sweet.

And receiving Communion kneeling and on the tongue... I think it's more reverent than your average Mass these days. Oh, and the bells. And the altar servers. And the Latin. It really rocked, I tell you what. I appreciate that Mass for its reverence and mostly for its focus on God. When you go, you have no doubts why you're there. It's not for an hour of amusement. It's not for good music, good stories, or good company. It's to worship God.

Plus, it's really neat to think that you're participating in something that has been around in some capacity since the sixth century, and really didn't change much since the sixteenth century. The fact that you're worshiping in the same way countless saints and other holy people have worshiped down through the centuries... it really makes you feel good.

Unlike some people who really enjoy the Latin Mass, however, I'm okay with a well celebrated "New" Mass, too. I have a weakness for singing pretty hymns. I don't like most of what these "new fangled" liturgical composers have come out with -- it makes me want to retch, which isn't a feeling I like to associate with Mass. But really old music (say, Gregorian Chant and that sort) I like, and slightly newer music (in relation to chant -- up until the mid-ish 1900s or so) really drives me wild. As much as I disagree with Protestants on a lot of things, they have produced some pretty good music. I'm a Charles Wesley fan, m'self. Hymns drive me nuts with pleasure.

I just wish that there was more conformity in the celebration of Mass, and that priests and laypeople wouldn't try to change and water down the Mass to make it appeal to more people. If Protestants come to my church, I want them to feel lost. I want them to see the grandeur, the ritual, the beauty, the reverence, and the worship of Catholicism.

I wish the English translation of the Mass was better, too. Just reading the translation in the Latin Mass missal, I was struck by how much more beautiful and profound it seemed. I wish we would go back to some of the text translated from the Latin. I think the Novus Ordo has potential, but I think people take advantage of it.

We need to win back the Mass for God.

Amos, An Introduction

It recently came to my attention that I need to be able to ramble freely to myself somewhere about things, especially all things religious. I'm a Catholic, I love being Catholic, and I really feel like talking about Catholicism. So we'll see how it goes.

Hyfrydol, by the way, which I've chosen as the title of this blog, means "Good Cheer" in Welsh. I think it's appropriate because it's the feeling God gives me when I do His work, and it's the title of one of my absolute favorite hymn tunes. There are a bunch of different hymns set to this tune, but one of my favorites is:

Alleluia, Sing to Jesus (William C. Dix)

Alleluia! sing to Jesus! His the scepter, His the throne.
Alleluia! His the triumph, His the victory alone.
Hark! the songs of peaceful Zion thunder like a mighty flood.
Jesus out of every nation has redeemed us by His blood.

Alleluia! not as orphans are we left in sorrow now;
Alleluia! He is near us, faith believes, nor questions how;
Though the cloud from sight received Him when the forty days were o’er
Shall our hearts forget His promise, “I am with you evermore”?

Alleluia! bread of angels, Thou on earth our food, our stay;
Alleluia! here the sinful flee to Thee from day to day:
Intercessor, Friend of sinners, Earth’s Redeemer, plead for me,
Where the songs of all the sinless sweep across the crystal sea.

Alleluia! King eternal, Thee the Lord of lords we own;
Alleluia! born of Mary, Earth Thy footstool, Heav’n Thy throne:
Thou within the veil hast entered, robed in flesh our great High Priest;
Thou on earth both priest and victim in the Eucharistic feast.