Rest in peace, crew of the Columbia
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. Also, may their families be comforted in this time of sorrow.

Another thank you
Mrs. von Huben was kind enough to link to me simply because I was crazy enough to post the lyrics of I'm My Own Grandpa in one of her comment boxes.

Thank you
to Lane Core, for his kind mention and link to my blog.

You've heard of Judge Learned Hand ? Well, meet Judge White Hand...
Unbelievable. Perhaps it was a case of mistaken identity, but the priest was acting in an attempt to defend the Eucharist from desecration. That deserves applause, not condemnation. And what planet is this judge from, anyway, that she thinks she has the right to say who receives the Eucharist ?
Also, I wonder if the media would cover someone being refused Communion because he or she insisted on kneeling in order to receive ?
What's saddest of all.... a bishop siding with these people. Yes, I have learned to expect the worst from Bishop Gumbleton, but still....

The Feast of St. John Bosco
is today.There is information on him here. I'm rather fond of him, as he reminds me of my own patron and founder St. Philip Neri. This quote in particular is very Philippian :

Enjoy yourself as much as you like -- if only you keep from sin.
Saint John Bosco

This reminds me of St. Philip's famous rejoinder to one of his older followers ( I believe it was Venerable Caesar Baronius), when the latter complained that the teenagers who hung around the Oratory were too noisy and boisterous. "As long as they keep away from sin, I wouldn't mind if they chopped wood on my back !"

Catholic nerdiness, redux
A few more examples....
When a friend comes back from a trip to Europe, the first thing you ask is what shrines he visited.
You tend to think of cities in Europe in terms of saints and places associated with them, not regular tourist attractions. ("To heck with Buckingham Palace ! I want to see Tyburn !" )
I'm not sure if this one belongs more under "Catholic Nerd" or "Tolkien Geek"...
You occasionally pray the Sign of the Cross in High Elven. ("Essenen Atarwa, ar Yondova, ar Ainasúleva. Amen. ")

The Feast of Blessed Sebastian Valfre, C.O.
is today. There is information on him here. Many thanks to the Toronto Oratory for this article.
Here is a quote from him:
" When it is all over, you will not regret having suffered; rather you will regret having suffered so little, and suffered that little so badly."

'Christian Bookstores'
Mrs. Kropp comments on why 'Christian' bookstores don't carry Catholic materials.
. How come "Christian" stores don't include Catholic materials? Because they aren't "Christian" stores, they're Protestant.

That's mostly true, I'd say, except that the 'Christian' bookstores around here do sometimes carry a tiny smattering of Catholic materials. We're just too numerous to be ignored, I guess.
What really floored me once was when I walked into a 'Christian' bookstore to kill some time while waiting for a movie to start. I found no Catholic books at all- but I found a whole shelf of Orthodox materials. It included books defending icons, books arguing for the necessity of Sacred Tradition, and hefty tomes of the Fathers on "the Holy Theotokos" . Hmm. I guess they figured as long as it isn't Catholic , it must be acceptable. (BTW, I did not inform the owners about just what they were carrying on their shelves !)

Great minds do think alike !
Mrs. von Huben apparently thought the same thing I did when she saw this news item- this is like that bizarre old Guy Lombardo song. Unfortunately, this type of weirdness is now medical news rather than screwball comedy.

The 'patron saint of the Internet' controversy goes on
Ms. Welborn links to this article . The article and the website don't even mention St. Isidore of Seville, whom I think would be a fine patron. Heck, somebody already wrote a prayer to invoke his intercession before surfing !

The Sign of the Cross
Fine post over at Ad Orientem, on the Sign of the Cross. Here's a verse by the Venerable Newman on the topic.

The Sign of the Cross

Whene'er across this sinful flesh of mine
I draw the Holy Sign,
All good thoughts stir within me, and renew
Their slumbering strength divine;
Till there springs up a courage high and true
To suffer and to do.

And who shall say, but hateful spirits around,
For their brief hour unbound,
Shudder to see, and wail their overthrow?
While on far heathen ground
Some lonely Saint hails the fresh odour, though
Its source he cannot know.

Oxford.
November 25, 1832.

Saddened, confused, and troubled....
by this article : Tolkien son's child abuse shame . I had heard about a while ago, but this article has far more disturbing details than anything I had seen before, making it seem somewhat more credible than the tiny, two-paragraph reports I have seen previously. Two things puzzle me though. First off, the newspaper claims that the reason it didn't publish about the story before was because they were threatened with a lawsuit. However, now that Fr. Tolkien is dead, the 'truth can be told'. Excuse me ? Does the fact of someone being dead mean that they are less protected by libel laws than the living ? Is this some peculiarity in the British legal system I haven't heard of ? Secondly, I was also a bit put aback by the claim that while there was enough evidence to go to court, the matter was not pursued because Fr. Tolkien was too ill. Being sick means you won't get charged with child abuse ? The whole thing just doesn't jibe.
Of course, I know I'm not exactly impartial. This isn't the sort of thing one wants to believe about any priest, let alone one who also happened to be the eldest son of one's favorite author. And if it is true, the victims deserve as much sympathy as all abused innocents do. But something about it just doesn't completely convince me as yet.

Yet more on Fr. White..oops, I mean Fr. Quinlan...
Good Lord, but does this priest need prayer. And counsel. And a dressing-down by his bishop, though I've been told that's unlikely to happen.
I am annoyed by the headline of the Virginian Pilot article. "Fool for Christ" is a title used of St. Francis of Assisi and my own patron St. Philip Neri. Applying it to this disturbed soul cheapens it radically.
There's a fisk of the Pilot article over at Magisterial Fidelity .

Today is the Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas
There is information on him here. Special prayers for all the Dominicans out there on this feast of such an outstanding member of their Order. This includes, of course, the gentleman at Disputations.

Due to the weather
and some other factors, my blogging was nil yesterday and will be limited to this single post today. I should be back in gear tommorow.