I wondered when this Servant of the White Hand would crawl out of the woodwork...
Matthew Fox is making odd public statements again. Thank God he's no longer doing it as a representative of the Church. The paragraph which really gets me is the last one.
"The bad news is, our institutions are failing us right and left," he concludes. "The good news is: What a moment for creativity. We should let these old institutions die ... and take what's worthwhile and give birth to new institutions that address life with creativity and love."
"Letting the old institutions die"... as if he and his dissenting friends didn't do their very best to poison the Church from within.... The man even dares to use the wonderful words "creativity and love", which properties are the attributes of God, in order to advance his agenda of destruction. "The words of this wizard stand on their heads... In the language of Orthanc help means ruin, and saving means slaying, that is plain. " ("The Voice of Saruman", The Two Towers, J.R.R. Tolkien)

UPDATE: I should have put in that I found this link courtesy of Amy Welborn . I'm sorry. I was in something of a hurry earlier today.
FURTHER UPDATE: I fixed the link. Sorry, Nihil Obstat .

Well, I blogged Genesis One in Quenya already...
So here is the Lord's Prayer in Sindarin...

Ádarem egor aerlinn na-Eru Phainadar

Ádarem i ne menel,
aer ess lîn aen,
árdh lîn tolo,
iest lîn aen ne menel a ned amar.
Si anno i mast vîn órui ammen
ah ammen aranno raegath vîn
be arannam an raegdain vîn,
ah ú-dogo na-vael ammen
dan leithio ammen ed ulug!
Amen.

This wonderful translation was done by Ryszard Derdzinski. I found it at
Gwaith-i-Phethdain .

Feast of St. Albert the Great
Dominican, bishop, Doctor of the Church, and teacher of his better-known pupil St. Thomas Aquinas. Here is more information on him. Other bloggers who have mentioned him are Gerard Serafin, Lover of Christian Art ,
Bill White , and John. (The direct links for Lover of Christian Art and John do not seem to be working, so you may need to scroll to find the posts.) Since he is the patron of scientists, I thought
this article would also be appropriate. Thanks to Christine for the link.

Of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar
by St. Robert Southwell, S.J.
The angels’ eyes, whom veils cannot deceive,
Might best disclose that best they do discern;
Men must with sound and silent faith receive
More than they can by sense or reason learn;
God’s power our proofs, His works our wit exceed,
The doer’s might is reason of His deed.

A body is endued with ghostly rights;
And Nature’s work from Nature’s law is free;
In heavenly sun lie hid eternal lights,
Lights clear and near, yet them no eye can see;
Dead forms a never-dying life do shroud;
A boundless sea lies in a little cloud.

The God of Hosts in slender host doth dwell,
Yea, God and man with all to either due,
That God that rules the heavens and rifled hell,
That man whose death did us to life renew:
That God and man that is the angels’ bliss,
In form of bread and wine our nurture is.

Whole may His body be in smallest bread,
Whole in the whole, yea whole in every crumb;
With which be one or be ten thousand fed,
All to each one, to all but one doth come;
And though each one as much as all receive,
Not one too much, nor all too little have.

One soul in man in all in every part;
One face at once in many mirrors shines;
One fearful noise doth make a thousand start;
One eye at once of countless things defines;
If proofs of one in many Nature frame,
God may in stranger sort perform the same.

God present is at once in every place,
Yet God in every place is ever one;
So may there be by gifts of ghostly grace,
One man in many rooms, yet filling none;
Since angels may effects of bodies shew,
God angels’ gifts on bodies may bestow.

Whew !
I republished my archives, and they came back. Thanks for the tip, Shawn !

What gives ?
OK, what happened to my archives ?

Great article
Thanks to Tom Abbott for blogging this .

That last post brought this to mind...
If you really want to see how a pre-school protest should be done, try here. (Note: If you don't know The Silmarillion, you won't get it.)

Now this is strange ......
Lady of Shalott blogged on this story. I'm somewhat less of a hawk than many in St. Blog's, but all this is doing is making the peace movement look stupid. How clueless can parents and teachers get ?

St. Philip Post- Part Twelve
His Canonization

While the canonization process began incredibly quickly, with the first part starting in August of 1595, the devotion of the people of Rome to "their saint' was not to be held back by the slow movement of an official process. Pictures of "Saint Philip" or "Blessed Philip" were everywhere, and later some said that Philip was canonized 'the old-fashioned way', by popular acclamation rather than by official decree. Nevertheless the official canonization process continued. Hundreds of people came forward to testify about answers to prayer and miracles obtained through Philip's intercession. Finally, on March 12, 1622, Philip Neri, along with Ignatius Loyola, Francis Xavier, Isidore the Farmer, and Teresa of Avila, was declared a saint. The running joke among the folk of Rome was that the Holy Father had canonized "a saint, and four Spaniards."
St. Philip Neri was not a man to devise grandiose plans or far reaching schemes for reform. He simply did what he was called to do in the city where God had called him to be. Yet it is arguable that St. Philip, the gentle priest with the kindly words and the sunny sense of humor, was far more successful in reforming Rome than any stern preacher or rigorous legalist could possibly have been. So far reaching was his influence that more than two hundred years after his death, when an Englishman by the name of John Henry Newman, newly come to the Catholic faith and searching for a spiritual home for himself and his followers, asked Pope Pius IX
for the name of the holiest priest in Rome, it was St. Philip who came to the Holy Father's mind. St. Philip Neri is known as "the second Apostle of Rome", for as St.Peter (and St. Paul) first established the Faith in that city, St. Philip, through his own great love of God, helped to make the Faith live there again in the hearts of its people.
For more information, see the following sources:
St. Philip Neri - Fr. V.J. Matthews, C.O., TAN Books and Publishers
Apostle of Rome:St. Philip Neri 1515-1595 - Meriol Trevor, Macmillan
Philip Neri: The Fire of Joy - Fr. Paul Türks, C.O., Alba House

St. Philip Neri Quotes:
"The great thing is to become Saints."
"What we know of the virtues of the Saints is the least part of them."
"Never say, 'What great things the Saints do', but 'What great things God does in His Saints.' "
"Paradise, paradise ! "

Odd little idea....
The amazing Mark Shea began to use the Tolkienean term 'servants of the Lidless Eye" for the Radtrad crowd. Today I was letting my mind wander while I rode the bus, and I began to ponder: what term could we use for the other crowd... the relativist, new morality folks ?
Bits from a particular speech jumped into my head:
'The Elder Days are gone. The Middle Days are passing. The Younger Days are beginning... our time is at hand...But we must have power, power to order all things as we will, for that good which only the Wise can see.... We can bide our time, we can keep our thoughts in our hearts, deploring maybe evils done by the way, but approving the high and ultimate purpose...There need not be, there would not be, any real change in our designs, only in our means.'
('The Council of Elrond', The Fellowship of the Ring)
These are the words of the traitorious Wizard, Saruman, saying, in more modern terms, that fighting evil is hopeless and we need to compromise with it, that new times call for a new morality, that maybe evil things will happen but they aren't really evil as long as we finally reach our goal. In other words, what is known now as 'relativism'.
Therefore I am proposing 'the servants of the White Hand' as a Tolkienian descriptive for the Call to Action folks and such. Does that sound too weird ? It makes sense to me, but I haven't got a clue whether anybody else will get it. Ah, well, I'll toss it out here anyhow. What's a blog for if not to throw out odd ideas sometimes ?

St. Philip Post- Part Eleven
The Last Years

By the time he was an elderly man, Philip's reputation for sanctity had spread far and wide, despite the opposition he had faced at times and his endeavoring to keep his sanctity hidden by his sense of humor. High-ranking officials in the Vatican continued to go to the famous priest for Confession or advice. Attempts were made to give Philip various posts, from important canonries to a cardinal's hat, but he refused all of them. Philip had never had much interest in grand schemes or church politics. For him, day-to-day ministry was what was most important. Even in his last years, when he was often ill, he could still be seen walking the streets of Rome, encouraging people to holiness in their daily lives.

May 25, 1595, the Feast of Corpus Christi, seemed to be a typical day for the now aged priest, filled with many confessions, Mass, and many, many visitors. Several people who visited actually commented on how well Philip looked; yet he made several remarks that indicated that he would die very soon. In the early hours of the morning, May 26, 1595, Philip Neri, who had turned hundreds of people in all walks of life to God, went to his reward, surrounded by the community he loved.

After his death, Philip was laid out in his priestly vestments in the Chiesa Nuova. The funeral filled the church to overflowing, as a huge crowd, many of them people Philip had helped in various ways, tried to get in. The flowers around the body disappeared as people took them as relics. They were replaced, but soon the replacementswere gone as well. That evening, an autopsy was performed on Philip's body. The doctors found that the ribs over his heart had been bent back, as if they had been broken. This seems to have been fortunate, in that Philip's heart was found to be far larger than the norm, with the arteries from it about twice the normal size. The heart was so large that the doctors determined that if the ribs had been in place, Philip's heart would have been damaged when it beat against them.

The next day, Philip's body once again lay in the Chiesa Nuova. The church was filled with constant streams of people all day. In the evening, Philip was to have beenburied in a simple wooden coffin in the crypt of the Chiesa Nuova. However, many people, including several cardinals, objected to this, expecting a quick canonization. The coffin was instead placed over the first arch in the nave of the church. A special chapel was built for it to the left of the high altar, and this is where Philip's body has rested until this day.

St. Philip Neri Quotes:
"We must not be behind the time for doing good, for death will not be behind his time."
"In visiting the dying, we should not say many words to them, but rather help them by praying for them."
"We must die at last."
"Human language cannot express the beauty of a soul which dies in a state of grace."

Feast of St. Martin of Tours
Here is a link to information on him. I am blogging on him not only because he is the patron of the parish where I was baptized and received my First Holy Communion, but also because a particular tale about him is one of my favorite saint stories.
Martin was alone at prayer one day, when suddenly he saw a brilliant light. Standing before him was a young man, shining with what seemed to be the glory of Heaven. The man stated, "Martin, I am Jesus Christ, come back to judge the world, and it has been my good pleasure to appear to you just before I do so."
Martin asked. "Sir, may I see your hands and feet ?"
The man extended his brilliant hands.
Martin, puzzled, asked, "Sir, where are the holes ?"
And the figure disappeared, leaving the room freezing cold and filled with a hideous stench.
( I believe I first came across this in a book by Fr. George Rutler, but if so, it was years ago, and any inaccuracies are mine.)

By Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman, C.O.
Holy Communion
1. My God, who can be inhabited by Thee, except the pure and holy? Sinners may come to Thee, but to whom shouldst Thou come except to the sanctified? My God, I adore Thee as the Holiest; and, when Thou didst come upon earth, Thou didst prepare a holy habitation for Thyself in the most chaste womb of the Blessed Virgin. Thou didst make a dwelling place special for Thyself. She did not receive Thee without first being prepared for Thee; for from the moment that she was at all, she was filled with Thy grace, so that she never knew sin. And so she went on increasing in grace and merit year after year, till the time came, when Thou didst send down the Archangel to signify to her Thy presence within her. So holy must be the dwelling place of the Highest. I adore and glorify Thee, O Lord my God, for Thy great holiness.

2. O my God, holiness becometh Thy House, and yet Thou dost make Thy abode in my breast. My Lord, my Saviour, to me Thou comest, hidden under the semblance of earthly things, yet in that very flesh and blood which Thou didst take from Mary. Thou, who didst first inhabit Mary's breast, dost come to me. My God, Thou seest me; I cannot see myself. Were I ever so good a judge about myself, ever so unbiassed, and with ever so correct a rule of judging, still, from my very nature, I cannot look at myself, and view myself truly and wholly. But Thou, as Thou comest to me, contemplatest me. When I say, Domine, non sum dignus—"Lord, I am not worthy"—Thou whom I am addressing, alone understandest in their fulness the words which I use. Thou seest how unworthy so great a sinner is to receive the One Holy God, whom the Seraphim adore with trembling. Thou seest, not only the stains and scars of past sins, but the mutilations, the deep cavities, the chronic disorders which they have left in my soul. Thou seest the innumerable living sins, though they be not mortal, living in their power and presence, their guilt, and their penalties, which clothe me. Thou seest all my bad habits, all my mean principles, all wayward lawless thoughts, my multitude of infirmities and miseries, yet Thou comest. Thou seest most perfectly how little I really feel what I am now saying, yet Thou comest. O my God, left to myself should I not perish under the awful splendour and the consuming fire of Thy Majesty. Enable me to bear Thee, lest I have to say with Peter, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!"

3. My God, enable me to bear Thee, for Thou alone canst. Cleanse my heart and mind from all that is past. Wipe out clean all my recollections of evil. Rid me from all languor, sickliness, irritability, feebleness of soul. Give me a true perception of things unseen, and make me truly, practically, and in the details of life, prefer Thee to anything on earth, and the future world to the present. Give me courage, a true instinct determining between right and wrong, humility in all things, and a tender longing love of Thee.

Much better post than mine
Dylan at Tenebrae.

On Pro-Life Voting
I'd like to reiterate some things I said in my "One Hundred Things About Me" posts.
"12. I absolutely, positively WILL NOT vote for anybody who supports the 'right' to dismember babies.
13. I have voted third party in the past when no pro-life candidate was on a major party ticket.
14. I have skipped voting in a particular race when no pro-life candidate was available at all."
Part of my reasoning is simple. People who support abortion on demand are for legalized slaughter of utterly innocent children. I would no more trust such a person with public office than I would trust a Nazi. Their very position on this issue makes their character, and thus their fitness for public office, so dubious in my eyes that I couldn't possibly make myself vote for them. I'm not claiming that this is the official teaching of the Church, or that people for whom other issues matter more than they do for me are completely off base. It's just that I cannot in good conscience vote for someone who favors abortion. I know that makes it easy for me to be accused of being simplistic, one-issue, or what have you, but it's where I draw the line. ( I include support for legalized euthanasia as well as abortion. Again, it's a disqualifying issue for me.)

St. Philip Post- Part Ten
Expansion to Naples

An important step was taken in 1584. One of the most noted of the Oratorians, Francesco Tarugi, was sent to on a trip to Naples for his health. While he was there, he preached as he had done at the Oratory. This preaching was so successful that various Neapolitans asked that more Oratorians be sent to them and a new Oratorian house founded. While Tarugi and others were enthusiastic, seeing this as a way of spreading the work of the Oratory, and even envisioning many other foundations to follow, Philip was hesitant. The Oratory in Rome itself was still a very young community. Dividing their strength so soon after the original foundation seemed to be risky, and Philip thought it unwise. On the other hand, Philip did not want to stand in the way if God wished a new foundation to be made. The majority was in favor of a new foundation in Naples, so it was established in 1586.
The relationship between the Roman Oratory and the Naples Oratory was to be somewhat stormy. The Naples house began introducing changes in its Rule, which would make the Oratory more like a religious Order than Philip desired, such as an enclosed novitiate and more emphasis on a tightly structured communal life. The change Philip objected to the most was making the members renounce their property and hold all things in common. So strong was his objection that when the Rule was finally codified, it included, at his insistence, a clause absolutely forbidding an Oratory to demand renunciation of property. Both houses weathered the storms, and Naples is now the second oldest Oratorian community in existence.

St. Philip Neri Quotes:
"The most beautiful prayer we can make, is to say to God, 'As Thou knowest and willest, O Lord, so do with me.' "
"Do not let a day pass without doing some good during it."
"We must avoid lies as we would a pestilence."
"One of the very best means of obtaining humility, is sincere and frequent confession."

Music at noon Mass
Processional Hymn: "Praise My Soul"
Offertory: "Comfort, O Lord, the Soul of Thy Servant" - William Crotch (1775-1847)
Communion: "Jesu, the Very Thought of Thee" - Edward C. Bairstow (1874-1946)
Recessional Hymn: "Rejoice, the Lord is King"

There is one particularly interesting thing about the Communion piece. While the words were written by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, they were translated by Fr. Edward Caswall, of the Birmingham Oratory.