I think a large reason why the world is in the state that it is in is because we Christians have lost the art of doing penance. Our predecessors, even those of a mere century ago, would have regarded us with utter contempt in this regard. I mean, we’re the kind of people who consider … Continue reading Ash Wednesday: The Importance of Being Miserable
Faith
Words of the Saints: St. Francis Meets the Sultan
The same sultan submitted this problem to [Francis]: “Your Lord taught in his gospels that evil must not be repaid with evil, that you should not refuse your cloak to anyone who wants to take your tunic, etc. (Mt 5,40): All the more Christians should not invade our land!”. And Blessed Francis answered: “It seems to … Continue reading Words of the Saints: St. Francis Meets the Sultan
Words of the Saints: St. Augustine on Beauty
"Question the beauty of the earth, question the beauty of the sea, question the beauty of the air, amply spread around everywhere, question the beauty of the sky, question the serried ranks of the stars, question the sun making the day glorious with its bright beams, question the moon tempering the darkness of the following … Continue reading Words of the Saints: St. Augustine on Beauty
Words of the Saints: St. Thomas Aquinas on Revelation
From Summa Conta Gentiles, Book one, Chapter Five, on why it's fitting for some things to be accepted as revelation (emph. mine: St. Thomas didn't often use bold typefaces): "Again, this truth needed to be proposed to man as an object of faith so that he may have truer knowledge of God. For we only … Continue reading Words of the Saints: St. Thomas Aquinas on Revelation
Words of the Saints: St. John Henry Newman on Miracles
The below comes (now, try to stay with me) from one of the appendices of Cardinal Newman's Apologia pro Vita Sua, in which, to respond to the criticisms of Charles Kingsley, he quotes at length a passage in an earlier work of his discussing miracles. The words below are from that passage: "There is in … Continue reading Words of the Saints: St. John Henry Newman on Miracles
Christmas
No flotsam this week. Instead here's the poem 'Christmas' by Sir John Betjeman: The bells of waiting Advent ring,The Tortoise stove is lit againAnd lamp-oil light across the nightHas caught the streaks of winter rainIn many a stained-glass window sheenFrom Crimson Lake to Hookers Green. The holly in the windy hedgeAnd round the Manor House … Continue reading Christmas
Friday Flotsam: Free Thinking, a Review, and the End of the World
1. One of my co-workers has a sticker on his computer that says ‘Danger: Free Thinker’. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, and he seems like a decent guy, but in my experience legitimate ‘free thinkers’ (to the extent that such creatures exist) do not proudly identify themselves as such. ‘Free thinker’ or ‘think … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Free Thinking, a Review, and the End of the World
Flotsam: Councils of the Church and On Underestimating God
1. Moving on Tuesday, so most my time is taken up in packing. Fortunately, I've been doing it in increments for months, so there isn't a whole lot left to be done. Mostly it's a matter of deciding how to pack up the delicates and deciding what will be needed between now and then. 2. … Continue reading Flotsam: Councils of the Church and On Underestimating God
Proclamation of the Assumption
Found this on another site today: a window onto another world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJcSyaRU0kc
Thought of the Day
"Who, thinkest thou, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath appointed over his family, to give them meat in season. Blessed is that servant, whom when his lord shall come he shall find so doing. Amen I say to you, he shall place him over all his goods. But if that evil … Continue reading Thought of the Day
Serpent's Den 