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I meant to post this earlier, but the darnedest thing kept happening… my laptop kept getting possessed whenever I attempted to post.
But of course, the mere mention of St. Catherine of Siena and Pope St. Pius V would strike anger and fear into the forces of Hell! ;)
St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) is the Patron Saint of Lay Dominicans (as you probably gathered from the icon and inscription in the sidebar). She is also a Doctor of the Church, counselor to popes, mystic, stigmatist, and whole-hearted spouse of Christ.
Pope St. Pius V (1504-1572) promulgated the reforms of the Council of Trent. He is perhaps best known for exhorting the people of Europe to pray the Rosary for victory over the invading Turks. The Christian forces won a miraculous victory at the Battle of Lepanto. I’ve heard it said that the custom of popes wearing white began with Pope St. Pius and his Dominican habit.
Also, I thought I would take this occasion to say that I shall make my temporary profession as a Lay Dominican next month, 17 May! I’m so excited about giving myself more fully to the Church and the Order of Preachers! I pray that I may do them both honor!
St. Catherine of Siena and Pope St. Pius V, ora pro nobis!
Today is not only a personal anniversary for me, but it’s also the memorial of two of my favorite Saints: St. Louis-Marie de Montfort and St. Gianna Beretta Molla!
I feel a very close kinship to both of these Saints. St. Louis-Marie is a third order Dominican, though a priest, not a layman. St. Gianna is just an outstanding example of a modern Catholic lady, a wife, a mother, and a professional, not to mention a powerful pro-life advocate.
It’s been truly a great blessing to have such wonderful Saints with whom to share this day which, especially in previous years, has been quite difficult and painful.
Today actually begins a whole little chain of Dominican Saints’ days–tomorrow is St. Catherine of Siena’s day, and Thursday is Pope St. Pius V’s day!
Today’s the 4th anniversary of Patrick’s death.
But it’s pretty much an ordinary day for me.
I guess that’s a good sign.
I’m pretty happy with it, anyway.
I still would rather he were here, but that’s not how it is. And so much has happened since then… I have more than enough to think about and keep me busy.
He’d want me to keep on moving forward.
After all, moving forward is moving toward being reunited someday.
That will be good.
But we must be faithful to today too, and as I said, I’m pretty happy with today.
:)
I’d just like to take this moment to say that the 2 books I’ve recently mentioned–Taming the Restless Heart and Keep it Simple–are actually books I picked up a while back for $2 each online at Sophia Institute Press.
Yes–$2 each (plus shipping).
What’s even better is that Sophia Institute Press is still offering a selection of $2 books! They have some different ones than when I ordered.
These are good books. I’ve always liked SIP’s books. They’re such a joy–very portable, very easy to read, nice typeface and layout. And they specialize in preserving some older and perhaps forgotten classics, which is a mission very dear to my heart. I try to support them whenever I can. Hopefully you will too, if you don’t already! :)
It is now apparent that the Lenten Lesson is going to extend far beyond Lent. Actually, I’m starting to realize that it’s probably going to be a life-long lesson.
I picked up another small book from my shelf: Keep it Simple by Bishop Emmanuel de Gibergues (Sophia Institute Press, 2000; an abridged edition of Simplicity According to the Gospel, originally published in 1914).
And guess what it’s about:
Simplicity, or purity of intention, consists in keeping before yourself, in all your thoughts, words, and acts, one and the same end, one and the same object–namely, the pleasing of God, or, more accurately, the doing of His will.
OK, I get it! I need to learn to better orient myself toward God and His holy will.
No doubt due to some measure of egoism, I truly didn’t realize that I had so much to learn about this.
Then I read the chapter called “Recognize the Signs of Simplicity.” There are four signs of simplicity:
1. Indifference to your own success
2. Joy in the success of others or in their spiritual progress
3. Attachment to the will of God
4. Neither to desire nor to court the praise and approbation of men for the good that you do
He briefly talks about and gives examples of each of these.
I winced more than once.
Fortunately, I’m getting to the part where he teaches you how to increase the virtue of simplicity in yourself, to become more attentive to God, and how you can learn this virtue from Christ, from Mary, and from the Holy Spirit.
Which is good because right now, I feel like the Holy Spirit is doing His bang-me-over-the-head thing!
Seriously, I really do get it! Please stop?
Mary Ann Glendon, former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, refuses to be the token good Catholic sharing Obama’s stage at Notre Dame’s 2009 commencement ceremony.
Just in from Catholic World News:
Glendon declines commencement honor from Notre Dame (Subscribe to RSS Feed)
Apr. 27, 2009 (CWNews.com)
Mary Ann Glendon has announced that she will not accept the Laetare Medal–the highest honor conferred by the University of Notre Dame–at this year’s commencement exercises.
Glendon–the Harvard Law professor who recently stepped down from her post as US ambassador to the Holy See–has indicated that she decided to decline the Laetare Medal because of her concerns about the commencement address that will be delivered by President Barack Obama. In an April 27 letter to Father John Jenkins, the president of Notre Dame, she wrote that a prospect “that once seemed so delightful has been complicated” by the Obama appearance and by Notre Dame’s response to criticism from the American bishops.
In her letter Glendon expressed dismay that Notre Dame chose to honor the President despite his clear public stand against Catholic principles on key moral issues. She also voiced her discomfort with the university’s suggestion that her own speech at the commencement exercises might counterbalance the Obama appearance. A commencement celebration, she said, “is not the right place, nor is a brief acceptance speech the right vehicle, for engagement with the very serious problems raised” by Notre Dame’s decision to invite Obama in defiance of clear guidance from the US bishops.
The full text of Glendon’s letter follows:
Dear Father Jenkins,
When you informed me in December 2008 that I had been selected to receive Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal, I was profoundly moved. I treasure the memory of receiving an honorary degree from Notre Dame in 1996, and I have always felt honored that the commencement speech I gave that year was included in the anthology of Notre Dame’s most memorable commencement speeches. So I immediately began working on an acceptance speech that I hoped would be worthy of the occasion, of the honor of the medal, and of your students and faculty.
Last month, when you called to tell me that the commencement speech was to be given by President Obama, I mentioned to you that I would have to rewrite my speech. Over the ensuing weeks, the task that once seemed so delightful has been complicated by a number of factors.
First, as a longtime consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, I could not help but be dismayed by the news that Notre Dame also planned to award the president an honorary degree. This, as you must know, was in disregard of the U.S. bishops’ express request of 2004 that Catholic institutions “should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles” and that such persons “should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.” That request, which in no way seeks to control or interfere with an institution’s freedom to invite and engage in serious debate with whomever it wishes, seems to me so reasonable that I am at a loss to understand why a Catholic university should disrespect it.
Then I learned that “talking points” issued by Notre Dame in response to widespread criticism of its decision included two statements implying that my acceptance speech would somehow balance the event:
• “President Obama won’t be doing all the talking. Mary Ann Glendon, the former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, will be speaking as the recipient of the Laetare Medal.”
• “We think having the president come to Notre Dame, see our graduates, meet our leaders, and hear a talk from Mary Ann Glendon is a good thing for the president and for the causes we care about.”
A commencement, however, is supposed to be a joyous day for the graduates and their families. It is not the right place, nor is a brief acceptance speech the right vehicle, for engagement with the very serious problems raised by Notre Dame’s decision—in disregard of the settled position of the U.S. bishops—to honor a prominent and uncompromising opponent of the Church’s position on issues involving fundamental principles of justice.
Finally, with recent news reports that other Catholic schools are similarly choosing to disregard the bishops’ guidelines, I am concerned that Notre Dame’s example could have an unfortunate ripple effect.
It is with great sadness, therefore, that I have concluded that I cannot accept the Laetare Medal or participate in the May 17 graduation ceremony.
In order to avoid the inevitable speculation about the reasons for my decision, I will release this letter to the press, but I do not plan to make any further comment on the matter at this time.
Yours Very Truly,
Mary Ann Glendon
Could this finally get through to Father Jenkins and others who think there’s no problem with honoring pro-abortion people at Catholic schools and who disobey our bishops in the process?
Whatever happens, I am very happy about Mrs. Glendon’s response. We, and the world, need to see Catholics in public life who act with integrity and faith. The opposite is becoming too much the rule and the standard… the very low standard. Thank God for Mrs. Glendon’s good example. May many be inspired to follow it.
[UPDATE] American Papist has a good compilation of ND news.
This sort of keeps up the theme of concentrating on God:
“Brothers, I do not think of myself as having reached the finish line. I give no thought to what lies behind but push on to what is ahead. My entire attention is on the finish line as I run toward the prize to which God calls me–life on high in Christ Jesus. All of us who are spiritually mature must have this attitude.”
~ Philippians 3: 13- 15
I have such a bad habit sometimes of thinking that I am already at the finish line… or even across it. That makes me prey to all sorts of nonsense… like worrying over the past. Or worrying period.
Sometimes I need to be taken down a peg or two or ten. I need to see things as they really are–that is the real meaning of humility. I need to be reminded that I still have plenty of spiritual growing up to do.
Who better than St. Paul to do that? :)
I had this little book sitting on my shelf and thought it would be helpful right now: Taming the Restless Heart by Father Gerald Vann, OP (Sophia Institute Press, 1999; originally published in 1947 as His Will is our Peace).
I read the entire thing, slowly, in maybe 2 hours. But boy did it pack a punch! And I really wish I had read it during Lent, because it’s all about keeping your eyes on God and keeping yourself in His presence… not turning in on yourself and your very limited resources… and not letting bad things get you down. It would have been a great “textbook” for my Lenten Lesson:
[The Lord] does not tell us that we must not work, must not plan ahead. He does not tell us that everything will be done for us. But He does tell us that we must not be always worrying and fretting and making a great commotion, as though we, and not He, were responsible for the universe.
Yeah… the Lenten Lesson! Well, reading this book really helped to reinforce the Lenten Lesson.
The book is written in a very clear, sort of conversational tone. It seems very much written for us ordinary layfolk–and Father Vann understands what we need! He doesn’t give us anything esoteric or complicated. In fact, he emphasizes the importance of starting with small steps and gradually, naturally building those small actions into lasting habits. He speaks of things very familiar to us all, such as the actions we do at Mass, our interactions with other created things–objects, animals, and other humans–and the power of the Our Father.
Even a small action like genuflecting can take on great significance with a bit of reflection and concentration:
To genuflect, to bend the knee: what does it mean? It is a sign of submission, of dependence, of loyalty and service, as of a subject to his king. It means: I recognize that You are the important one, not I. It means, in the words of the psalmist, “I am Thy servant, and the son of Thy handmaid.” It means, in short, “Thy will be done,” expressing precisely that union of our will with God’s which it is our object to achieve.
Now, we tend, of course, by force of habit, to make our genuflections rather automatically, unreflectingly; they become a matter of routine. But if we do that, we again miss a great opportunity.
In the first place, a genuflection is a sacramental. This means that if it is done with sufficient care and devotion in mind and will, it can be an occasion of actual grace for us; it can bring us nearer to God. And there is thus a sense in which, like the sacraments, although in a different way, it will effect what it signifies: it will lead to the bringing about in us of a deeper sense of that loving acceptance of God’s will which it expresses in symbolic form.
In the second place, we shall, if we are wise, form a conscious habit to counteract the effect of the unconscious effect of routine. We shall choose some phrase that, for us individually, expresses vividly and cogently the sense of worship and of creaturely concentration on God and the will of God,* and we shall make our genuflection deliberately enough to allow us to say the phrase in our hearts, with our eyes and our minds on Christ in the tabernacle, addressing the prayer to Him. And so we shall make His presence a reality to ourselves, until perhaps, in time, the sense of that presence becomes habitual with us even when we are not in the church…
* It could be, for example, the words of the publican: “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13); our our Lady’s “Behold the handmaid of the Lord” (Luke 1:38); or the words of the apostle Thomas: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28); or simply “Thy will be done.”
I just love how he delves into the meaning of that small gesture we so easily take for granted. I am definitely going to take a moment to offer a small prayer as I genuflect from now on!
I highly recommend Taming the Restless Heart for a brief but very inspiring spiritual pick-me-up.
From The Catholic Key Blog, via the NCRegister, we get this statement from Pres. Obama:
“It is the grimmest of ironies that one of the most savage, barbaric acts of evil in history began in one of the most modernized societies of its time, where so many markers of human progress became tools of human depravity: science that can heal, used to kill; education that can enlighten, used to rationalize away basic moral impulses; the bureaucracy that sustains modern life, used as the machinery of mass death, a ruthless, chillingly efficient system where many were responsible for the killing, but few got actual blood on their hands.”
O irony, thou art astounding.
I really don’t know what else to say.
Actually, yes I do: Lord, open his eyes!
Reading the news is starting to feel more and more like reading a dark, twisted farce. Only you can’t laugh because you know it’s real. It’s real and so matter-of-fact that it makes sane people like you feel like you’re going mad.
Just a lovely song that I first heard at my parish church during Communion, beautifully performed by our organist and soloists from the Gregorian chant choir.
The words are a brief but powerful medieval Eucharistic hymn, one of my favorites. From Wikipedia:
Ave verum Corpus
natum de Maria Virgine,
vere passum, immolatum
in cruce pro homine,
cuius latus perforatum
unda fluxit et sanguine,
esto nobis praegustatum
in mortis examine.Hail, true Body,
Born of the Virgin Mary,
Truly suffered, immolated
On the Cross for man,
Whose pierced side
Flowed with water and blood,
Let it be for us a foretaste [of Heaven]
In the trial of death.
This duet setting was written by the Welsh composer Karl Jenkins in 2004, for the Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel.
Here is Terfel singing it with the English bariton Simon Keenlyside:
And here is a live performance with Terfel and the Welsh mezzo-soprano, Katherine Jenkins:
