Vital spark of heav'nly flame!Quit, O quit this mortal frame:Trembling, hoping, ling'ring, flying,O the pain, the bliss of dying!Cease, fond Nature, cease thy strife,And let me languish into life. Hark! they whisper; angels say,Sister Spirit, come away!What is this absorbs me quite?Steals my senses, shuts my sight,Drowns my spirits, draws my breath?Tell me, my soul, … Continue reading Poetry – “The Dying Christian to His Soul”
Author: DBreitenbeck
Words of the Saints: St. Patrick
From his Confessio: "So be amazed, all you people great and small who fear God! You well-educated people in authority, listen and examine this carefully. Who was it who called one as foolish as I am from the middle of those who are seen to be wise and experienced in law and powerful in speech … Continue reading Words of the Saints: St. Patrick
Reflections on St. Joseph’s Day
Today is the Feast of St. Joseph; the man who taught God to be a man. Wading into the theology and imagery here would be intense work, so I’m going to limit myself to one subject (well, kind of). More and more it seems to me that God works in fractals: patterns repeated all the … Continue reading Reflections on St. Joseph’s Day
Friday Flotsam: Being Sick, Pope, and More Thrawn
1. I caught a bad cold last weekend which knocked me out entirely for two days and now is settling into a general, lingering annoyance. This led me into some very bad days for depression as well, partly because I tried to use the time to write only to find that, one way or another, … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Being Sick, Pope, and More Thrawn
St. Patrick’s Breastplate
The Taming of St. Patrick
Wise tyrants don’t forbid: they tame. An oppressor with a surfeit of honesty or a deficit of cunning will proclaim that the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day is to be forbidden under pain of law in the hopes that the name of Patrick and the fruits of his labor shall eventually be forgotten and the … Continue reading The Taming of St. Patrick
Low-Effort Blogging: Unskippable
Because I'm still sick, I'm doing some extra low-effort blogging right now. In this case, here are some videos of a now-ended series called 'Unskippable', which is basically Mystery Science Theater 3000 for cheesy video game cut-scenes. It was a charming series, with the two laid-back-sounding hosts providing easy-going humor (as I recall, there's very … Continue reading Low-Effort Blogging: Unskippable
The Power of Nerves
I found a few videos showing just how effective standing your ground can be. Against an Elephant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8R50nvv5gc A gorilla: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KujmrcF0ZxU And a bear (the second video then provides a an explanation of what's going on): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atZqRbpb5gg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb2skHOryJI I'd have more to say here, but I'm currently in a cold-induced haze that leaves very little … Continue reading The Power of Nerves
Poetry – “A Servant When He Reigneth”
“For three things the earth is disquieted,and for four which it cannot bear.For a servant when he reigneth,and a fool when he is filled with meat;for an odious woman when she is married,and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.”(Proverbs 30,21-23) Three things make earth unquietAnd four she cannot brookThe godly Agur counted themAnd … Continue reading Poetry – “A Servant When He Reigneth”
Words of the Saints: St. John Henry Newman on Modernism
From one of future-Cardinal Newman's Tracts for the Times (written while he was still an Anglican) “Surely, there is at this day a confederacy of evil, marshaling its hosts from all parts of the world, organizing itself, taking its measures, enclosing the Church of Christ as in a net, and preparing the way for a … Continue reading Words of the Saints: St. John Henry Newman on Modernism
Serpent's Den 