I'm still working on my icon, and other thoughts for Thursday.

I discovered a new artist, Quint Buchholz.

Don't care.

I'm almost finished with the icon and then I need to apply a first coat of varnish before gilding.  I normally gild before painting, but this time I'm doing it last.  Then I will do the calligraphy and final varnish, mount it in the tabernacle frame, and it will be ready for presentation, I hope.  I've never prayed so much over an icon, never labored so long, and yet it doesn't 'show'.  I think I'm so slow with it because I don't want to let it go, I don't want to not paint and pray with it.  I'm also wondering if it will be my last real icon.  

Then, today, a friend sent me a card with a Quint Buchholz painting, and I thought, 'bears need to keep working, no matter what'.

Online stuff.

I decided people take things too seriously... myself included.

No one cares what we think, although every time we post something it registers somehow in the consciousness of those who read it.  So if you're always posting negative opinions and reports, and worse, engaging in detraction or calumny, at the very least, you stain the conscience of your readers.

No one cares.

I think that is something to keep in mind.  Especially when it comes to blog posts.  On Facebook a guy announced today that he's sorry but he's changed his mind about Pope Francis.  In other words he now has doubts about him because the Pope hasn't answered the dubia.  That's fine.  I hope he works that out.  We all have doubts about a number of things from time to time.  I don't know this man personally, but just because he has doubts doesn't make him a bad man.  I just don't care, and I wonder why it's important for him to post about that - because many people don't care.

Now if your doubts cause you to question the faith, that can be a problem - but that too can be worked out.  If your doubts cause your readers to doubt, that's not good.  The best thing to do when you come upon posts like that is just to move along.  Maybe it's just me that doesn't care - so ignore my advice - like you just don't care.

Why do we bother one another with this stuff?  Posts like that remind me of what Isaiah said to Ahaz: "Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you also weary God?"  

Are things not confusing enough?  Do we not complain enough as it is?

I do not need to defend the Pope or the Cardinals or the encyclical or the dubia.  It's not necessary for my salvation.  Critics claim many souls are at stake ... that's commendable to be concerned for the salvation of souls.  So how much penance and prayer are you doing.  Because that is what Heaven asks for.  Penance, penance, penance.  Judging the Pope and the Magisterium and fellow Christians is not our call.

Who cares what I think?

No one.  But you lose me when you start on the Pope.  We'll know when we know - until then, trust God.  People accuse people like me of ultramontanism, but I'm pretty sure they are the ultramontanists, because they desire a Pope who fits their conception of what a Pope should be.  If they had the Pope they want, they would be lapping at his feet, in the same way Trump supporters defend everything he does.

So anyway.  No one cares, but here is what I think.  I wrote it in an email response to a friend:

I think the Pope allows many controversial issues to be discussed and debated openly in order for the truth to shine forth.  Catholic teaching cannot change, despite the fact dialogue with non-Christians and unbelievers may add to the confusion surrounding contemporary moral issues.  Yet that is where Cardinals and Bishops enter in - it is their shared responsibility with the Pope to clarify and correct misunderstandings. The way they've gone about that lately seems more divisive than clarifying however. If it was really any of my business, or if I were Burke and his buddies, I would simply develop a solid catechesis around Amoris and present it, with all due respect for the Holy Father, and not as a correction or contradiction to the Pope, but more at the clarification they want to see. In my opinion the Holy Father's lack of response testifies to the fact he has no intention of changing doctrine but rather desires a more pastoral approach to those who have fallen away who feel they can't be part of the Church because of their irregular state in life.

It's all over my head though, and as I told my friend, I can't defend my theory, more importantly, I don't need to be right.   I can be wrong - I'm happy to be wrong.  I don't need to be right.

I'm more concerned about salvation, and the obstacles to that.  Some day, before I die I would like to arrive at a place of genuine detachment from the world, along the lines of what St. Teresa of Avila wrote:   

"Now that I am out of the world, with companions holy and few in number, I look down on the world as from a great height, and care very little what people say or know about me."

Song for this post here.

Immigration fears and the 'Islamic Takeover' ...

"You become responsible forever for what you've tamed."

- The Little Prince

I see all the headlines online...

Fears that the migrant-refugee problems signal the end of Britain, or Germany, or France, or all the white people in the United States, seems to be a big problem these days.  You people read the news and discuss all of this in the church basement Argument of the Month meetings, so I'm not doing a big post about it.

The only thing I'd like to say is that in a strange way, it seems to me, we are experiencing a phenomenon of poetic justice.  All the nations and peoples exploited and colonized by Western Imperialist powers finally may be doing penance and taking responsibility for past crimes.

What goes around, comes around.

British in Aden

Gays in the Vatican: There has to be a story here ... maybe even a conspiracy theory connection?

Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, second from left, 

and his husband Gauthier Destenay 

arrive at the Vatican 

for an audience with Pope Francis. 

 They were welcomed by 

Prefect of the Pontifical household

 Georg Gänswein.

Have we found the gay lobby?

Just kidding!

Seriously, I think it's nice that the Prime Minister of Luxembourg brings his husband to work.

The only thing I'm thinking may be notable about this story is that the Vatican will reject a gay ambassador's credentials, but when it comes to a head of state, they can't do that.

I don't get it.

Song for this post here.

Newly discovered stuff.

Daniel Mitsui's blog, here.

He's a wonderful artist.

I rediscovered him on Amy Welborn's blog, here.  She writes a lot, and well.  Her boys are fortunate to have such a wonderful mother.  What a fascinating life.

I have to get out more.

I've had it with Pope Francis.

Pope Francis sat in the crypt of Milan Cathedral 

before the Most Blessed Sacrament:

"He did not kneel, sat, 

not once did he remove his pileolous

 and assume an attitude of prayer"

Yeah - who's the lazy one now?!

He turns on you.

Today's homily is nothing but another insult - a direct attack on me - when he talks about the slothful complainer:

The Gospel story at the heart of Pope Francis’ reflection tells of a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years. He was lying at the side of a pool called Bethesda with a large number of ill, blind, lame and crippled who believed that when an angel came down and stirred up the waters the first to bathe in the pool would be healed. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him: “Do you want to be well?” 

When Jesus, the Pope pointed out, asked that strange man if he wanted to be well, instead of saying “yes” he complained there was on one to put him in the pool while the water is stirred up and that someone else always got there before him. His answer, Francis said, was a complaint, he was implying that life had been unjust with him. “This man, the Pope noted, was like the tree planted along the bank of the rivers, mentioned in the first Reading, but it had arid roots, roots that did not reach the water, could not take nourishment from the water”. 

The Pope said this is clear from his attitude of always complaining and trying to blame the other. 

“This is an ugly sin: the sin of sloth” he said.  Pope Francis said this man’s disease was not so much his paralysis but sloth, which is worse than having a lukewarm heart. - Source*

Pick, pick, pick.  Always pointing out sin.  Why can't he ever say anything nice about the lazy complainers on the peripheries?

What?

Male Makeup Alert.

Burke and Francis: Together again!

Keep your chins up!

Yes, but notice the priest at the left in this photo...

He's 96 but looks much younger. Why? The 'slight tan' of Jergen's Natural Glow Moisturizer. (And maybe a little help from a top of the line men's makeup brand.) Notice the subtle hi-lighting on the brow bone above the eye, giving lift to the eyes. I picked up on that right away.  Looking more closely, I noticed the slight tan w/shading below the chin - to lessen the effect of the sure to get priestly double chin - from looking down at his Psalter all the time.  Add in a bit of shadow at the cheek bone to define and thin the face, dramatized with a dab of highlighter across the bone, top of the forehead, and down the nose. Crown the head with the very subtle highlighting of the hair-weave to capture that youthful look... And voila - he knocked off 30 years and he's back contending for a curial position.

Fathers, look your best.

What?

Song for this post here.

Catholic Fundraising in Lent ...

Flooding my mailbox.

I don't care what anyone says, religion is a business.

When a church - e.g. the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of the Snows, National Shrine of St. Therese, or any other mega-church sends out unwanted gifts such as calendars, cards, holy oil, plastic rosaries, with a check-off of suggested donations* for the unwanted gift as well as an enrollment form for inclusion in the prayers and Masses offered - with a vigil light option - and a computer generated personalized letter to make me feel special - I call that a fundraising business strategy.  Just like other secular charities who send you nickels, dimes, pennies, and sometimes a dollar bill, while requesting a minimum return donation starting at $75-, if you spend that much money to ask me for funds, go away.  Keep your gifts and your small change and get a Go-Fund Me page.  Businesses hire and pay people to make money for them.

I've given to these charities, once or twice - but now I get multiple mailings and their gifts, my name is also rented to other religious fundraisers.  It's too much.  I've decided to give to charities who do not do that - who do not run seasonal, liturgical-cycle, fundraising campaigns with gifts and awards.

Sorry - I just got a pile of stuff in the mail again today.

So anyway.

Remember - the Missionaries of Charity do not even engage in fund-raising.  From an interview with Mother Nirmala, M.C.:

Q: What about financial means: food, medicines, material goods?

Sister Nirmala: Absolutely nothing is lacking. God provides-- everywhere in India as well as abroad. You know, that is the promise of God for us. When Mother started the society and Mother was called, she did not start on her own, Jesus called her to start this congregation. He wanted her to be poor and the poorest of the poor. He wanted her to be empty-handed and serve the poorest of the poor free. It is such a paradox, isn't? He said: I will provide. That was Mother did, and that is what we are continuing to do: trusting in God's Providence, serving the poorest of the poor, free. And God does it. His promise is fulfilled every day. All we need to do is to keep being faithful to our commitments, to answer the call of God, everything else follows.

Q: But Sister, what would you tell those people who are so afraid of lacking the "indispensable?
things every day, or those who want to possess more material things?

Sister Nirmala: Trust in the Lord and do your best. Let the kingdom of God in your lives and he will provide everything.

Q: How does the Order cope with all the financial and economical demands?

Sister Nirmala: By trusting in God, and he is providing. We never ask for things. People just come and give. Everywhere they want to carry out fundraising activities, we say: "Please don't
fund-raise; we don't want to use Mother's name. No."
We want people acting on their own. We want their spontaneous collaboration. But if somebody is going around fundraising in Mother's name, we don't accept it. We want to depend on God's providence--only. - Source

*If you don't respond you often get a follow up letter asking where your donation is.

Jesus said, "You are seeing him" ...

Think of this after Communion, when you look into your soul, and see Him who dwells there.

While I've been offline: There have been reports Martin Luther has been rehabilitated ...

I'm against it.

Michael Voris and Church Militant have a new look ...

Solemnity of the Annunciation

Hail Mary!

Full of grace!

Seeking to know knowledge that cannot be known, the Virgin cried to the ministering one: Tell me, how can a son be born from a chaste womb? Then he spake to Her in fear, only crying aloud thus: 

Rejoice, initiate of God’s ineffable will: Rejoice, assurance of those who pray in silence! Rejoice, beginning of Christ’s miracles: Rejoice, crown of His dogmas!
Rejoice, heavenly ladder by which God came down: Rejoice, bridge that conveyest us from earth to heaven! Rejoice, wonder of angels sounded abroad: Rejoice, wound of demons bewailed afar! Rejoice, Thou Who ineffably gavest birth to the Light: Rejoice, Thou Who didst reveal Thy secret to none! Rejoice, Thou Who surpassest the knowledge of the wise: Rejoice, Thou Who givest light to the minds of the faithful! Rejoice, O Bride Unwedded!

Traditional Feast of St. Gabriel Archangel

Russian icon of the Pre-Annunciation

According to the apocryphal Protoevangelion of James, the Blessed Virgin first heard the greeting of the Angel while she was fetching water from the well, frightened, she returned home.  The scene is often depicted in iconography depicting scenes from the life of the Virgin.

In the Protoevangelion of James, there is first a “pre-annunciation” scene, in which Mary goes to the well to fetch water. There she hears a voice saying: “Greetings, favoured one. The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women.” Mary looks around but does not see anyone. Frightened, she goes back inside and, “taking up the purple, she sat down in her house and began to spin.”

The angel then appears visually to her, telling her initially not to be afraid: “You have found favour in the sight of the Lord of all.”

The Annunciation story then continues along the same narrative outline found in the Gospels according to Saint Matthew and Saint Luke until the author returns to the story of Mary’s role in weaving the temple veil: “And she finished the purple and the scarlet and took them up to the high priest.” - continue reading here.
 

At the moment when the the Angel of the Annunciation revealed himself, the Virgin is depicted weaving the veil of the Temple - in purple and red - the liturgical colors for Lent and Holy Week.

This is the Annunciation scene that appears on the “royal doors” of the iconostasis of almost every Orthodox church.

Mary is depicted either standing or sitting, with purple or red skeins falling from her fingers. The threads Mary is holding reveal that she wove the Temple veil that later was rent from top to bottom when Christ died on the cross. Her acceptance of God’s will in this and in all things is represented by her upraised and open hand or, in some cases, by placing her hand upon her heart.

Saint Andrew of Crete, in his Great Canon, sang to her: “As from purple silk, O undefiled Virgin, the spiritual robe of Emmanuel, His flesh, was woven in thy womb. Therefore, we honour thee as Theotokos in very truth.” - ibid

The Kids Are All Right

Our Lady kept her promise.

At the very first apparition of Our Lady at Fatima, she promised to bring the children to heaven, Jacinta and Francisco first, then Lucia ...  Pope Francis has officially recognized the miracle attributed to the intercession of two Fatima children - Blesseds Francisco and Jacinta Marto. - VR

The promise of Our Lady - at the very first apparition.

On Sunday May 13th 1917 the children were pasturing their flock as usual at the Cova da Iria, which was about a mile from their homes. They were playing when suddenly a bright shaft of light pierced the air. They described it as a flash of lightning. It was not really lightning, but rather the reflection of a light that approached little by little. Frightened by the flash, the children looked around at the sky that was clear and bright without the least spot of a cloud. No breeze stirred, the sun was strong, and there was no hint anywhere of a storm that might be responsible for a flash of lightning. The children, however, thought that they had better head home in case it might start raining. As they descended the hill. Another flash of lightning took them by surprise. Panicky with fear, they took a few steps and looked towards the right. There, standing over the foliage of a small holmoak, "a lady dressed all in white, more brilliant then the sun, shedding rays of light, clear and stronger than a crystal glass filled with the most sparkling water, pierced by the burning rays of the sun". The lady spoke to them and said: "Fear not! I will not harm you." "Where are you from?" the children asked. "I am from heaven" the beautiful lady replied, gently raising her hand towards the distant horizon. "What do you want of me?", Lucia asked. "I came to ask you to come here for six consecutive months, on the thirteenth day, at this same hour. I will tell you later who I am and what I want. And I shall return here again a seventh time." Lucia said : "Do you come from heaven...and will I go to heaven ?" " Yes, you'll go". "And Jacinta?" "As well" " And Francisco?" "Him too , but he will have to say many rosaries". In the end Our Lady asked : "Do you wish to offer yourselves to God, to endure all the suffering that He may please to send you, as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and to ask for the conversion of sinners?" "Yes, we do." said the children. "You will have to suffer a lot, but the grace of God will be your comfort. "Then she opened her hands with a loving gesture of a mother who offers her heart. From it an intense light departed that seemed to go through them. The vision vanished telling them : "Recite the rosary every day to obtain the peace for the world and the end of the war." And She disappeared.

Today it was announced that the Holy Father approved the miracle necessary for the canonization of Blessed Jacinta and Francisco, ahead of his visit to Fatima scheduled for May 13.  Perhaps he will canonize them at that time, and wouldn't it be great if he waived the requirements for Lucia, and canonized her with them?

I came across a rather sobering account of Sr. Lucia's conversation with Fr. Lombardi* (not the Vatican press secretary) regarding hell and the loss of souls.  Sr. Lucia wrote:

The existence of Hell arouses disputes. Sister Lucia wrote, a few years before her death on February 13, There is no shortage of unbelievers in the world who deny these truths, but they are no less true for being denied. Their disbelief does not save unbelievers from the horrors of Hell, should a life of sin lead them there. ... At Fatima, (God) sent us His Message as one more proof of these truths. This Message recalls them to us, so that we do not let ourselves be fooled by the false doctrines of unbelievers who deny them, or of deceivers who distort them. To this end, the Message assures us that Hell is a fact, and that the souls of poor sinners end up there." (Calls from the Message of Fatima, 2003, ch. 14)

Later Interview with Sr. Lucia on Hell

The following is a rare interview with Sister Lucia [the Fatima visionary who died in 2005], by Father Lombardi. It was recorded in the Vatican weekly "Osservatore della Domenica" February 7, 1954. 

Fr. Lombardi: "Tell me, is the 'Better World Movement' a response of the Church to the words spoken to Our Lady?" 

Lucia: "Father, there is certainly a great need for this renewal. If it is not done, and taking into account the present development of humanity, only a limited number of the human race will be saved." 

Fr. Lombardi: "Do you really believe that many will go to Hell? I hope that God will save the greater part of humanity." [He had just written a book entitled: Salvation for Those Without Faith] 

Lucia: "Father, many will be lost." 

Fr. Lombardi: "It is true that the world is full of evil, but there is always a hope of salvation." 

Lucia: "No Father, many will be lost." 

Father Lombardi remembered that Lucia had seen Hell and added: "Her words disturbed me. I returned to Italy with that grave warning impressed on my heart." - Source

Detail: The Secret of Fatima - Vision of Hell

*Fr. Lombardi and the Better World Movement.

Preparation for the Solemnity of the Annunciation

An archangel was sent from heaven to say to the Theotokos: Rejoice! And beholding Thee, O Lord, taking bodily form, he was amazed and with his bodiless voice he stood crying to her such things as these: Rejoice, Thou through whom joy will shine forth: Rejoice, Thou through whom the curse will cease! Rejoice, recall of fallen Adam: Rejoice, redemption of the tears of Eve! Rejoice, height inaccessible to human thoughts: Rejoice, depth undiscernible even for the eyes of angels! Rejoice, for Thou art the throne of the King: Rejoice, for Thou bearest Him Who beareth all! Rejoice, star that causest the Sun to appear: Rejoice, womb of the Divine Incarnation! Rejoice, Thou through whom creation is renewed: Rejoice, Thou through whom we worship the Creator! Rejoice, O Bride Unwedded!

Prayer to the holy Archangel Gabriel 

Saint Gabriel the Archangel, I venerate you as the Angel of the Incarnation, because God specially appointed you to bear the messages concerning the God-Man to Daniel, Zechariah, and the Blessed Virgin Mary. Give me a very tender and devoted love for the Incarnate Word and his Blessed Mother, more like your own.

I venerate you also as the “Strength from God”, because you are the giver of God’s strength, consoler and comforter chosen to strengthen God’s faithful and teach them important truths. 

I ask for the grace of a special power of the will to strive for holiness of life. Steady my resolutions; renew my courage; comfort and console me in the problems, trials and sufferings of daily living, as you consoled our Savior in his agony and Mary in her sorrows and Joseph in his trials. I put my confidence in you.

Saint Gabriel, I ask you especially for this favor: (mention your request). Through your earnest love for the Son of God made man and for his Blessed Mother, I beg of you, intercede for me that my request may be granted, it it be God’s holy will.

Pray for us, Saint Gabriel the Archangel. That we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.

Limited Use: Social Media

I closed my Tumblr, privatized Facebook, will most likely close the Etsy shop, and cut back on this blog.

I'm amazed at the time wasted writing about stuff that is essentially none of my business.

How stupid to have written so much about myself, and worst of all - other people.

"How can you believe when you accept praise from one another?"

Many people who live online, writing their blogs, judging and condemning others - even going so far as to judge the Pope, have lost their faith.  Some may be mentally ill or terribly deluded, but they are all endangering their salvation and leading others astray, even to the loss of faith.  Others who oppose these people do the same thing - responding with hostility, daily criticizing the bigotry of conservatives - political or religious - they are obsessed with being 'right'.  Perhaps this Scripture can be applied to them - to all of us: "You traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves." [Matt. 23:15]

People online look for affirmation, praise, agreement and esteem - and some expect to be financially compensated for that - like money-changers in the Temple.

John of the Cross, quoting Isaiah wrote, "He who praises you deceives you."

“Today, let us ask the Lord for the grace to understand this, seventy times seven. Let us ask for the grace to be ashamed before God. It is a huge grace. To feel ashamed of our sins and then receive forgiveness and the grace of generosity to give it to others, because the Lord has forgiven all, so who am I to not forgive?” - Pope Francis

 

Remembering Blessed Alberto Marvelli

Blessed Alberto, pray for us.

He reminded me that today is his birthday.

I did a drawing of him once.

St. Joseph, A Righteous Man

St. Joseph does not want to expose us to shame ...

He quietly arranges things for us
   which otherwise seem impossible.
He removes our fears
   with the assurance of his protection.

“He is the man who doesn’t speak but obeys, the man of tenderness, the man capable of carrying forward the promises so that they might become solid, certain; the man who guarantees the stability of the Kingdom of God, the paternity of God, our sonship as children of God. I like to think of Joseph as the guardian of weaknesses, of our weaknesses too: he is able to give birth to so many beautiful things from our weaknesses, even from our sins.” - Pope Francis

Solemnity of St. Joseph

O St. Joseph whose protection is so great, so strong,
so prompt before the Throne of God,
I place in you all my interests and desires.
O St. Joseph do assist me by your powerful intercession
and obtain for me from your Divine Son
all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord;
so that having engaged here below your Heavenly power
I may offer my Thanksgiving and Homage
to the most Loving of Fathers.
O St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you
and Jesus asleep in your arms.
I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart.
Press him in my name and kiss His fine Head for me,
and ask Him to return the Kiss when I draw my dying breath.
St. Joseph, Patron of departing souls,
pray for us.
Amen 

Keep going to St. Joseph ...

  Remember, O most chaste spouse of the Virgin Mary, 

that never was it known 

that anyone who implored your help 

and sought your intercession were left unassisted.
 Full of confidence in your power 

I fly unto you and beg your protection.
 Despise not O Guardian of the Redeemer

 my humble supplication in my powerlessness, 

but in your bounty, 

hear and answer me. Amen.

    O dearest St. Joseph, 

I consecrate myself to your honor and give myself to you, 

that you may always be my father, 

my protector and my guide in the way of salvation.

Take all my concerns 

into your most pure heart.

Forgive me for squandering

the graces you have obtained for me.

You see well how unfaithful

and inconstant I am.

Forgive me.

Help me once again, 

grasp me,

and do not let me go.

Be with me living,

be with me dying,

obtain for me a favorable

judgment from Jesus,

my merciful savior.

Amen.

Go to Joseph.

   Remember, O most chaste spouse of the Virgin Mary, 

that never was it known 

that anyone who implored your help 

and sought your intercession were left unassisted.
 Full of confidence in your power 

I fly unto you and beg your protection.
 Despise not O Guardian of the Redeemer

 my humble supplication, but in your bounty, 

hear and answer me. Amen.

    O dearest St. Joseph, 

I consecrate myself to your honor and give myself to you, 

that you may always be my father, 

my protector and my guide in the way of salvation.

Take all my concerns 

into your most pure heart.

Be with me living,

be with me dying,

obtain for me a favorable

judgment from Jesus,

my merciful savior.

Amen.

Thank you.

S. Salvador de Horta

San Salvador, pray for us.

In a week ...

God knows all about you ...

“Do not be surprised if you fall every day and do not surrender. Stand your ground bravely and you may be sure that your guardian angel will respect your endurance. A fresh, warm wound is easier to heal than those that are old, neglected, and festering, and that need extensive treatment, surgery, bandaging and cauterization. Long neglect can render many of them incurable. However, all things are possible with God (cf. Mt. 19:26).” St. John Climacus

Was Kellyanne Conway's toaster bugged?

Kellyanne Conway's housekeeper demonstrates how a toaster can be bugged.

In this exclusive video, Mrs. Piedad Figueroa, Kellyanne Conway’s housekeeper, demonstrates why this toaster will not work properly, due to the hidden bugging device inside. A device which self destructs upon discovery to escape detection and/or to destroy forensic evidence of surveillance.

The name of the rose and other religious dubia ... curiositas.

It's a fun past time, maybe a cool hobby, it could even be the beginning of a great career in writing and film making - if your're good at it, but it's just intrigue and conspiracy theories, leading to speculation and even gossip, while the pursuit of such knowledge may even involve the vice of curiositas ... Although I may be wrong.

Rather than some outdated holdover from the Middle Ages, the vice of curiositas is alive and well. Indeed, one might go so far as to say the Internet made it again a defining vice of our time.

For the medieval schoolmen, curiositas (let us stick to the Latin to avoid contemporary connotations) did not concern knowledge in and of itself, but rather the pursuit of knowledge. Thomas Aquinas thought that knowledge is in and of itself always good, since any act of knowing “feeds” truth to the intellect, which brings the intellect, and hence the soul, ever closer to perfection. Yet Aquinas thought the pursuit of knowledge could sometimes be wrongful, much in the same way as bread retains its nourishing value even if wrongfully pursued by a gluttonous eater on a full stomach. The analogy is apt—Aquinas believed in such a thing as an intellectual appetite—but a limited one. After all, the glutton sins because he eats beyond satiety. But we do not usually acknowledge the existence of a point of intellectual satiety beyond which we must not go. How can knowledge be pursued wrongfully, indeed sinfully?

In his Summa Theologiae, Aquinas points to several ways. Gossiping, or endeavoring to know about another’s private affairs. The man who seeks knowledge just so he can take pride in what he knows also engages in curiositas. Then Aquinas borrows Jerome’s harsh words against those who pursue frivolous knowledge, thereby neglecting their duties: “We see priests forsaking the gospels and the prophets, reading stage-plays, and singing the love songs of pastoral idylls.” There is also the man who pursues what far exceeds his understanding, falling into systematic error and hence no knowledge at all. Finally, there is the man who loses sight of the ultimate end of pursuing knowledge, indeed of any pursuit, God.

The virtue Aquinas opposes to curiositas is not humility, but studiousness, that is, knowledge pursued well. Neither does Aquinas condemn empirical observation or even the pursuit of difficult subjects, so long as one possesses genuine ability. - Luis Pinto de Sa

Q. Where's the basement?

A. Downstairs.

H/T to DB for the inspiration of this post. 

3/13/13

Fatima Pope

Where are all the Fatimist soothsayers?  Sacred numerologists, where art thou?

Pope Francis is still Pope.  He became Pope on March 13, 2013.  3/13/13: and he dedicated his papacy to Our Lady of Fatima, and, and, and, and?

So anyway, happy anniversary Holy Father Pope Francis!

Oh.  And Pope Benedict really resigned willingly, he made up his own mind all on his own.

I told you stop calling here

and don't ask me again - and

quit making things up about

Fatima as well.

The man that got away ...

Pier Vittorio Tondelli called chastity 

“a mystic virtue for those who have chosen it 

and perhaps the most superhuman use of sexuality."

A man can do it. 

God was graciously was putting Christians in my life who weren’t mean-spirited. They were very loving, but there was still a question that tortured Carneal: could he really be a Christian and a practicing homosexual? 

“What really kept me in turmoil is I would listen to the conservative Christian side and the liberal Christian side and both spoke with such authority. So many times I would sit in my car and beat on the steering wheel and cry, and sob, and beg God for answers,” said Carneal. 

“It was really taking a toll on my mental and emotional state. I finally just walked away from that life. I walked out of the bars. I stopped hanging around a lot of my gay friends. I stopped hanging around liberal Christians. I just started immersing myself in God’s word. That’s really where I started to get answers and peace about where God really stands on this issue,” said Carneal. 

Carneal then embraced celibacy and says he has been at peace ever since.
“I didn’t know that celibacy was an option. When I found out there were a lot of LGBT individuals who were walking away from that life and were giving their lives to Christ and choosing the path of celibacy because they wanted to please God, that really gave me hope,” said Carneal. - Source

A time comes, and a man can do it.  He might fall, but he gets up and keeps going.  He can get back up.

-source-

Time after time.

If you fall I will catch you - I'll be waiting 

Time after time.

“If a Christian wants to move forward on the road of Christian life he must fall, just as Jesus fell. It is the way of humility, yes, it also means he must take humiliation upon himself just as Jesus did”. - Pope Francis

Cicero uses the word “virility” to express character and vigor of soul... some thoughts about virility.

How can a man combat effeminacy in a genderless culture?  

"St Augustine, with extraordinary perceptiveness, described the nature of sin as follows: 'self-love to the point of contempt for God'. It was self love which drove our first parents toward the initial rebellion and then gave rise to the spread of sin throughout human history. The book of Genesis speaks of this: 'You will be like God, knowing good and evil', in other words, you yourselves will decide what is good and evil.

The only way to overcome this dimension of original sin is through a corresponding 'love for God to the point of contempt for self'. This brings us face to face with the mystery of man's redemption, and here the Holy Spirit is our guide. It is he who allows us to penetrate deeply into the 'mystery of the Cross' and at the same time to plumb the depths of evil perpetrated by man and suffered from the very beginning of history. That is what the expression 'convince the world about sin' means, and the purpose of this 'convincing' is not to condemn the world. 

If the Church, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can call evil by its name, it does so only in order to demonstrate that evil can be overcome if we open ourselves to 'love for God to the point of contempt for self. This is the fruit of Divine Mercy..." - John Paul II, Memory and Identity

And so this makes you sad, you say?

Sadness, or self-pity, is the twin sister of acedia. They are similar in some respects, but not identical. The sad person finds relief more easily, whereas the one besieged by acedia is trapped. Sadness is a temporary, part-time experience, but acedia is global and permanent. In this sense it is opposed to human nature. 

The chief symptoms of this devilish “scourge that lays waste at noon” are inner instability and the need for change (with wandering fantasies of a better place), excessive care of one’s own health (with special emphasis on one’s food), escape from manual work (with laziness and inactivity), uncontrolled activism (under the appearance of charity), neglect of the monastic practices (reducing observance to a minimum), indiscreet zeal in a few ascetic exercises (with extreme criticism of one’s neighbor), generalized discouragement (with the beginnings of a depression). - Dom Bernardo Olivera, OCSO

Effeminacy

St. Thomas includes effeminacy under the vices opposed to perseverance. It is from the Latin mollities*, which literally means “softness.” Mollities is the verb used in 1 Corinthians 6:9 which deals with the sexual sin of sodomy. It involves being inordinately passive or receptive. What St. Thomas means by persevering is when “a man does not forsake a good on account of long endurance or difficulties and toils.” An “effeminate man is one who withdraws from good on account of sorrows caused by lack of pleasures, yielding as it were to a weak motion.” Thomas states that this effeminacy is caused in two ways. First, by custom, where a man is accustomed to enjoy pleasures and it is, therefore, more difficult for him to endure the lack of them. Second, by natural disposition, less persevering through frailty of temperament, and this is where Thomas compares men with women, and also mentions the homosexual act of sodomy, and the receiver in this act as being effeminate or like a woman. 

The vice of delicacy for Thomas considers those who cannot endure toils, or anything that diminishes pleasure, and thus delicacy is a kind of effeminacy. Thomas quotes from Deuteronomy 28:56, “The tender and delicate woman, that could not go upon the ground, nor set down her foot for softness.” It may be true that some cultural prejudices are being revealed here with this comparison because a vice is a vice, whether it is found in a man or a woman, but it is also true that some vices are more perverse or disordered when found specifically in men or women. Effeminacy is more pronounced in a man than a woman because women are more susceptible to this vice. Just as the vice of drunkenness is more pronounced or perverse when found in a woman than a man. - Homiletic and Pastoral Review 

*A bit of trivia on mollities ...

18th-19th century male brothels were known as 'Molly-houses' - molly derives from mollities. Curiously, Miss Molly referred to an effeminate or homosexual male.  Which begs the question, what did Little Richard know and when did he know it?  What?

Molly-houses were often considered 

as brothels in legal proceedings.

 A male brothel, illustration by Léon Choubrac,

 included in Léo Taxil's book 

La prostitution contemporaine, 

1884, pg. 384, Plate VII.

(Friends of St. Therese

will remember Leo Taxil 

as the fraud who deceived

the Carmel of Lisieux.)

Reassessing recent posts and thinking out loud ... 

So anyway.  Recently I received a link to an article on Camille Paglia's assertion that androgyny signals the demise, and/or collapse of Western civilization - or at least that was the impression I received from the Rod Dreher article.  Interestingly enough, I came across a comment on the post which reminded readers of a sort of history of effeminacy throughout European culture, citing tights and powdered wigs, and so on.  I'm making a gloss on the whole conversation to save time, but it certainly is not a new vice - the problem in our day is convincing the amoral that it is indeed a vice - even for the 'genderless' if you will.  

The game changer in our day is that gender theory-ideology has become pervasive and widespread, and the 'prophets of doom' are correct in recognizing the threat to culture.  As the Polish Bishop Pieronek noted a few years ago, “The ideology of gender presents a threat worse than Nazism and Communism combined.”  Even Camille Paglia is right when she asserts that "androgyny becomes prevalent 'as a civilization is starting to unravel. You find it again and again and again in history.'”  It's not the apocalypse however.  We do not need to panic or run for the hills, as it were.

It seems these reports, lectures, blog posts, and so on, excite fear and dread in many people, creating a sort of 'the sky is falling' mentality - leading to despair, or at least discouragement - and a whole lot of mistrust and confusion.  People freak out.

What is lacking is faith, conversion, repentance, prayer, and confidence.  The world revolves and the cross remains the same.  The Church stands and has lived through tremendous persecutions, cultural changes, era changes, societal revolutions and evolutions, and so on. God is in charge.  Today in the Gospel, after the Transfiguration, Jesus tell the disciples, "Rise and do not be afraid."  What lay before them after that miraculous event was the Passion of Christ.  His disciples will not be cheated out of their participation in it.  That must be our attitude I think.  We need to cultivate virility and virtue in ourselves.  We need to believe God, to trust Him, to listen to Him, to follow Him.

I came across something this morning from Jeremiah.  It seemed to me a warning against fear and cowardice in the face of change, in times of upheaval, and in that fear of alienation and annihilation:   "... but of you I will not make an end.  I will chastise you as you deserve, I will not let you go unpunished.  [...]  I will restore you to health; of your wounds I will heal you, says the Lord." - Jeremiah 30: 11-17  For me at least, that passage is helpful in these days of misunderstanding and discouragement, when so many clamor and protest the evils they perceive without recognizing that even in chastisement, the Lord is full of mercy and love.   

I may not have expressed that very well, so pay no attention to me and my personal meditations and thinking out loud.

The Mystery of Light ...

Chaste, purifying light.

Silent awe.