A Deo et Rege

Actually a "supertrailer," meaning a 9 minute preview of the new movie, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." It looks like good stuff.

Hat tip: Mark Shea

Allegedly when Pope Clement VIII’s advisers asked him to declare coffee an instrument of the devil (since it was popular with Muslims) he replied:

"The devil’s drink is so good…we should cheat the devil by baptizing it."

Amen brother. I couldn’t have put it better myself.

Keep in mind that some religious groups forbid their members to drink coffee (the Mormons come to mind). Reason #1705 it’s great to be Catholic: papal approval of coffee!

Image from Clip’s Ahoy (free clipart)

Iesu Rex Admirabilis

O Jesus, King most wonderful!
Thou Conqueror renowned!
Thou Sweetness most ineffable!
in whom all joys are found!

When once Thou visitest the heart,
then truth begins to shine;
then earthly vanities depart;
then kindles love divine.

O Jesu! Light of all below!
Thou font of life and fire!
surpassing all the joys we know,
and all we can desire.

May every heart confess Thy name,
and ever Thee adore;
and seeking Thee, itself inflame
to seek Thee more and more.

Thee may our tongues for ever bless;
Thee may we love alone;
and ever in out lives express
the image of Thine own. Amen.

From the Roman Breviary, Translation: Fr. Edward Caswall (1814-1878)

More Christ the King information:

All About Christ the King
Christ the King Prayers (source of above hymn)
Reflections on Christ the King

Photo by Jonathan Bennett taken at Our Lady of Lourdes, Euclid, OH

First, Ohio State beat Michigan, which for anyone who knows college football rivalries is a pretty major event for an Ohioan.

Second, and to me even more important, mass was amazing today. We had a guest priest, Fr. Antoine Thomas of the  Congregation of St. John. One of his main goals is getting children interested in Eucharistic adoration and it seems from his sermon, calling all Catholics to the fullness of sacramental life within the Church. He started off his homily by asking us whether we would be sheep or goats mentioned in today’s Gospel reading! He then noted that those who go to confession and adoration regularly would have less to worry about it! True words indeed. He tried to impart a reverence and awe for the Body and Blood of Christ, not only through his words, but through the way he celebrated mass. For one, he used the Roman Canon and invited all to kneel for a few minutes after the conclusion of communion. I mentioned last week how much I love my new parish and this just confirms it. God bless Fr. Antoine and his ministry. I think I just saw today a formula for spiritual renewal of the Catholic Church in the USA.

Ok, spiritual heat. Carmel and I are thinking of joining the Militia of the Immaculata. Basically this involves totally consecrating ourselves to Mary "as a means of spiritual renewal for individuals and society." Although consecration to Mary may sound unusual to non-Catholics and even Catholics, as the Militia webpage notes:

Marian consecration is a formal act of self-giving that does not stop at Mary, but is Christ-directed. It is really consecration to Jesus. The MI’s mission is "To Lead Every Individual With Mary to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus."

The idea of the militia comes from St. Maximilian Kolbe and originated at a conventual Franciscan seminary (interesting since my favorite shrine is run by conventual Franciscans). The organization has been officially designated by the Church as an "international public association," something shared by only two other groups.

So, pray for us as we prepare for consecration. We’re thinking about doing it on December 12th, feast of Our Lady of Guadeloupe. Visit the MI website and you may want to do this as well.

Militia of the Immaculata National Center

Totus Tuus!

Photos by Jonathan Bennett (from Lourdes Shrine, Euclid, OH)

For starters, I think I’ve found my new parish. I’ve been attending several places, but I think this church is wonderful. They have classes on answering fundamentalists, practice perpetual adoration, teach Theology of the Body to their youth group, and prayed for an end to the evils of abortion during mass. Also, there’s a Speedway on the route and they have pumpkin spice creamer! Ok, that doesn’t matter in choosing a parish, but it’s a nice perk.

I went to confession at this parish and the priest gave me an unusual penance: to rejoice. He asked me if I’d ever been resentful and of course I said "yes." He explained how to resent means to "feel again" and how easy it is to dwell on the negatives and soon they fester out of control. Instead he asked me to dwell on joyful experiences. He reminded me that joy is a gentleman and won’t intrude in my heart unless I put it there. A joyful heart rarely falls into sin that results from despair. At first I thought it was an odd penance, but the more I dwelt on it, the more convinced I became that for me this was the perfect penance. In my life sometimes being joyful is more difficult than saying 1,000 Hail Marys.

When thinking about joyful moments in my life, I used the joyful mysteries of the rosary as a model. I prayed and tried to remember moments where I had heard good and happy news (the Annunciation), spent time with loved ones (the Visitation), celebrated life in general (the Nativity), lived out my Catholic Faith (the Presentation), and when things looked bad, God turned them to good (the Finding in the Temple). It really helped me think of joyful moments in my life. 

Praise God for his Church and her ministers of salvation.

I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart; I will declare all your wondrous deeds.
I will delight and rejoice in you; I will sing hymns to your name, Most High. (Psalm 9:2-3, NAB)

Photo by Jonathan Bennett; taken at Our Lady of Lourdes shrine, Euclid, OH

Well happy belated Martinmas day anyway since it was actually yesterday. Some traditions even believe that Martinmas begins November 11th at 11:11am. The festival of St. Martin marks not only the traditional beginning of winter in some European countries, but also the start of the Christmas season. In this vein, "St. Martin’s summer" is a way of speaking of what Americans call an "Indian summer."

Since it’s also harvest time, the day has been associated with these types of celebrations, which traditionally include goose and wine. Some have considered this festival to be the start of a mini-carnival since Advent is only a few weeks away. The harvest connection has resulted in drawing parallels to Thanksgiving Day and St. Martin’s Day has been viewed as a sort of "Catholic" Thanksgiving.

Now, I love Thanksgiving Day and it’s one of my favorite holidays for the food, family, tradition, etc. However, it is ultimately a holiday that is Puritan in origin. It may not be a bad idea for Americans, especially American Catholics, to recover (or discover) a devotion to St. Martin and the celebrations surrounding his day.

Happy Martinmas!

Sources/more info

Feast of St. Martin (NB: site is a bit on the radtrad side, but doesn’t appear schismatic)
Thanksgiving Glossary (Part II) (about.com)

Photos (an attempt to capture the fall/harvest theme) by Jonathan Bennett

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI said Monday that ecumenical talks
with Lutherans had run into new challenges and called for greater
efforts at dialogue in the years before the 500th anniversary of the
start of the Protestant Reformation.

Continue Reading Pope Urges Better Dialogue With Lutherans (Seattle Post Intelligencer)

[This is good news and above all it’s honest ecumenism. Let’s pray for unity.]

From: http://cyborg.namedecoder.com/
Hat tip: Holy Fool

Since I attended mass yesterday evening (a habit I’ve been getting into), my Sunday has been largely free. I watched the Browns actually win for a change, which was excellent. I also enjoyed a pumpkin pie Dairy Queen blizzard for the first time in awhile. And oh yeah, I decided to go out and take some photos.

I live near some really beautiful places, but haven’t gotten much of a chance to actually explore those places. This is for various reasons, but largely because I’m busy and since I’m new to the area and don’t know many people, I have to “discover” these places instead of being told about them. Today, I decided to visit the lovely town of Chagrin Falls, which actually has a waterfall in the middle of town. I assume it is called Chagrin Falls too, but you can always count on these things.

It’s actually a quaint looking town, kind of like a small town environment that has been made a little touristy. I was mainly interested in the falls, but found the setting to be inspiring. It would be a nice place for a family afternoon or a quiet romantic evening. This day was dark, windy, and overcast. Pretty ugly, unless of course you’re photographing running water. Dark and overcast days are perfect for this because slower shutter speeds work well without the problem of too much light. I also got a chance to use my new tripod because with slower shutter speeds the camera tends to shake. There’s a basic photography lesson. Needless to say for an amateur photographer, this was an exciting moment.

After taking probably about 30 or so pictures and practically freezing to death in the process, I left the town and returned home. Oh, did I mention I got lost going to Chagrin Falls and coming home? It seems that some roads only have their numbers listed, not their actual names. Tsk tsk! I stopped and got some gas and had some great cappuccino. Oh yeah, the Browns won! Sorry, I just had to mention that twice. It’s nearly a miracle.

Photos of the falls by Jonathan Bennett

When lacking in ideas, link to others…

Kendall Harmon at Titusonenine reports how Gene Robinson Grinds Axes and Promotes Agendas while naturally claiming to do no such thing

Al Kimel asks what’s so catholic about Anglicanism?

Robb wonders about the value of a D.Min degree

Enbrethiliel asks What’s In A Name?

Katelyn Sills reports on a new lawsuit by the teacher fired from a Catholic school for helping women procure abortions

Charles proposes a new interpretation for Guy Fawkes Day

Jeff Miller discusses text messaging of the Virgin Mary in the Philippines

Carmel has some good quotes and a funny cat picture

The holy fool writes about Baptists Confessions on Bibles and Catholics

David on new liberal church architecture (parody)

That about does it for now. God bless.

I’ve often thought of those departed individuals who have no one to pray for their souls. It seems like such a tragedy. For some it’s because they’re simply not remembered by anyone. Others aren’t prayed for because the living simply don’t have time to remember. The third group would probably be those whose family members don’t believe in prayers for the dead. Yet, evidence (much of it physical) for this practice occurs in the very early Church. It’s interesting that most of the Protestant reformers continued so many medieval concepts while rejecting one as early as prayers for the dead (the issue of purgatory aside, although the dogma is not as developed as many assume). For example, Tertullian exhorts widows to pray for their husbands and Perpetua prayed for her dead suffering brother. The most interesting is the inscription of Abercius, a 2nd century Christian who had the following inscribed on his tomb: "…Let him who understands and believes this pray for [me]" (source).

Anyway, most of my relatives would fall into the third category. So, I feel a special duty to pray for them. If I (or my brother) don’t pray for their souls, no one will. During November, the month of all souls, I try to say an individual office of the dead for each of my departed friends and relatives at least once. For anyone interested, the office for the dead can be found online here. If this isn’t feasible, the prayer, "Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace" goes a long way.

Image by Jonathan Bennett from Our Lady of Lourdes shrine, Euclid, Ohio