Please pray...
for the Fathers of the London Oratory. Two of their number, Rupert McHardy and Michael Lang, are to be ordained to the priesthood today. (I'm not sure if it has happened already or not- it was due at 3:00 pm, but that's the time in England, of course, and I have no idea what time that was or will be here. )

Lest we forget...
Lane Core posts some verses, in memoriam, here.
I managed to find a bit of appropriate verse myself.

For the Dead
(A Hymn.)

by Venerable John Henry Newman, C.O.

Help, Lord, the souls which Thou hast made,
The souls to Thee so dear,
In prison for the debt unpaid
Of sins committed here.

Those holy souls, they suffer on,
Resign'd in heart and will,
Until Thy high behest is done,
And justice has its fill.
For daily falls, for pardon'd crime,
They joy to undergo
The shadow of Thy cross sublime,
The remnant of Thy woe.

Help, Lord, the souls which Thou hast made,
The souls to Thee so dear,
In prison for the debt unpaid
Of sins committed here.

Oh, by their patience of delay,
Their hope amid their pain,
Their sacred zeal to burn away
Disfigurement and stain;
Oh, by their fire of love, not less
In keenness than the flame,
Oh, by their very helplessness,
Oh, by Thy own great Name,

Good Jesu, help! sweet Jesu, aid
The souls to Thee most dear,
In prison for the debt unpaid
Of sins committed here.

The Oratory.
1857.

The Feast of St. Ambrose Barlow, O.S.B., Priest and Martyr
There is information on him here.
It is also the feast of St. John Gabriel Perboyre, C.M., Priest and Martyr, whose death paralleled that of Our Lord to an astonishing degree, down to his being betrayed for thirty silver coins.

Due to Real Life...
the blogging may be light for a couple of weeks.

On September 9, 1855
Venerable John Henry Newman, C.O., preached a sermon, of which the following notes survive:

Life of the Soul

1. INTROD.—Gospel [Luke vii. 11-16—raising to life of the son of the widow of Naim].

Our Lord's miracles are especially typical—(1) leprosy—heresy; (2) demoniac—cleansing the soul from the evil spirit; (3) blind—John ix.; (4) loaves—so this.

2. It brings before us the natural state of man—state of the whole world [typified in it].

3. What is meant is, not that man may not have natural powers, but [being lacking in] spiritual, that left to himself, he will know nothing of the unseen world. In one sense, then, the world is alive, in another dead.

4. It is in this sense that the soul is dead. Now if dead, observe the greatness of that death. (1) Dead men are without sense or feeling: so the soul as to heavenly things, motives, objects, etc. (2) [A dead body provokes] fear and odiousness: so the [dead] soul in the sight of angels and Almighty God.

5. (3) As to the outward form [of the dead] it is the same [as the living], and this suggests much. (i) Imitation—Christianity in the world. (ii) Simulation, because they know more than they do, and pretend from shame. (iii) [Souls that are dead may still have] actual grace, [and] habits formed under it.

6. Yet in God's sight [they are] dead. Now consider Eph. ii. [see vv. 4 and 5].

7. Now reflect on all this—the terrible state of the world—in detail; here, there and everywhere. Yet, as dead men do not know they are dead, neither does the world.

8. On Christ, the sole source of life, from today's gospel—Gal. ii.

9. On the love which life implies.

Evil...
Simply evil.

Link courtesy of Envoy Encore.

I've added...
two blogs to the bloglist.

The Feast of St. Peter Claver, S.J., Priest
is today. There is information on him here. Prayers for all those who are enslaved today would be most appropriate.
It is also the feast of Blessed George Douglas, Priest and Martyr.

The blog...
is working again !

A lucky person out there...
turned up a lost letter from the Professor.

Link courtesy of TheOneRing.Net

Blogger is being weird !
It won't publish for me ! Aaaugh !

As I blogged last year...
September 8, 1843 was the day Venerable John Henry Newman tendered his resignation from the Anglican ministry.

On September 8, 1872, Venerable Newman, now an Catholic, a priest and an Oratorian, preached a sermon, of which the following notes survive:

'The Riches of His Glory'

1. INTROD.—The epistle [Ephesians iii. 13-21].

2. Do you understand St. Paul's words, 'The riches of his glory,' etc.?

3. We have here a glimpse of what heaven is. 'Eye hath not seen,' etc.

4. It was the support of St. Paul against the world.

5. The world has its 'depth' and 'height,' etc. Illustrate deep science, high power, glory, etc.

6. It is this which makes the world the false prophet; it preaches and seduces us with false maxims.

7. It is grievous to say, but it must be said, that almost all we read, the periodical press, is in this respect a false prophet.

8. The devil said he had 'all the kingdoms of the earth.' Things good under bondage of evil.

9. Therefore God gave us the Church—as the true Prophet to bring the glories of heaven before us.

10. All sacraments, etc., with this object.

11. So Scripture a revelation of the next world—especially our Lord's person.

12. And so the saints and their history—a whole family round our Lord.

13. This is the reason why we are allowed to think so much of our Lady; why she is given us to employ our thoughts. Protestants say we make too much of her. Now which is best, to think too much of her, or of the world?

Yikes !
This is the Cathedral of my diocese. It's about a block away from the Oratory, and the Fathers sometimes celebrate Mass there. I walk past it a good deal. I suppose I'm blessed not to have gotten conked on the head by falling stone !

Link courtesy of HMS Blog.

The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
is today. There is information on it here.

Mary is "Sancta Maria," the Holy Mary
by Venerable John Henry Newman, C.O.

God alone can claim the attribute of holiness. Hence we say in the Hymn, "Tu solus sanctus," "Thou only art holy." By holiness we mean the absence of whatever sullies, dims, and degrades a rational nature; all that is most opposite and contrary to sin and guilt.

We say that God alone is holy, though in truth all His high attributes are possessed by him in that fulness, that it may be truly said that He alone has them. Thus, as to goodness, our Lord said to the young man, "None is good but God alone." He too alone is Power, He alone is Wisdom, He alone is Providence, Love, Mercy, Justice, Truth. This is true; but holiness is singled out as His special prerogative, because it marks more than His other attributes, not only His superiority over all His creatures, but emphatically His separation from them. Hence we read in the Book of Job, "Can man be justified compared with God, or he that is born of a woman appear clean? Behold, even the moon doth not shine, and the stars are not pure, in His sight." "Behold, among His saints none is unchangeable, and the Heavens arc not pure in His sight."

This we must receive and understand in the first place; but secondly we know too, that, in His mercy, He has communicated in various measures His great attributes to His rational creatures, and, first of all, as being most necessary, holiness. Thus Adam, from the time of his creation, was gifted, over and above his nature as man, with the grace of God, to unite him to God, and to make him holy. Grace is therefore called holy grace; and, as being holy, it is the connecting principle between God and man. Adam in Paradise might have had knowledge, and skill, and many virtues; but these gifts did not unite him to his Creator. It was holiness that united him, for it is said by St. Paul, "Without holiness no man shall see God."

And so again, when man fell and lost this holy grace, he had various gifts still adhering to him; he might be, in a certain measure, true, merciful, loving, and just; but these virtues did not unite him to God. What he needed was holiness; and therefore the first act of God's goodness to us in the Gospel is to take us out of our unholy state by means of the sacrament of Baptism, and by the grace then given us to re-open the communications, so long closed, between the soul and heaven.

We see then the force of our Lady's title, when we call her "Holy Mary." When God would prepare a human mother for His Son, this was why He began by giving her an immaculate conception. He began, not by giving her the gift of love, or truthfulness, or gentleness, or devotion, though according to the occasion she had them all. But He began His great work before she was born; before she could think, speak, or act, by making her holy, and thereby, while on earth, a citizen of heaven. "Tota pulchra es, Maria!" Nothing of the deformity of sin was ever hers. Thus she differs from all saints. There have been great missionaries, confessors, bishops, doctors, pastors. They have done great works, and have taken with them numberless converts or penitents to heaven. They have suffered much, and have a superabundance of merits to show. But Mary in this way resembles her Divine Son, viz., that, as He, being God, is separate by holiness from all creatures, so she is separate from all Saints and Angels, as being "full of grace."

Meditations and Devotions

On September 7, 1856
Venerable John Henry Newman, C.O., preached a sermon, of which the folllowing notes survive:

Love of Our Neighbour

1. INTROD.—Sometimes it is said that there is one, sometimes two, great commandments. Charity is the great commandment. Though properly the love of God, it involves love of neighbour.

2. We have not seen God. How are we to ascertain that we love Him? Feelings are deceptive. Thus, as by a test, by loving others, by love of man. And so St. John says, 1 John iv. [12].

3. First, we should love man merely as the work of God. If we love God, we shall love all His works. Undevout men walk about, and look round, and they never associate what they see with God; but everything is the work of God. And though we should not be superstitious, we should destroy nothing without a reason. Cruelty to animals [is] as if we did not love God, their Maker; nay, wanton destruction of plants.

4. Thus, even if mankind were of a different species, as fellow-beings [they would have] a relationship [to us].

5. But they are of our blood, Acts xiv. Adam [our one father].

6. And all involved in Adam's sin—the sympathy of sin, as all in sin, in misery and transgression, and in danger of ruin.

7. Hence Gen. xviii. , Ps. cxviii. 139. St. Paul, Rom. ix. [3] , Acts xvii. [26]. Our Lord weeping over Jerusalem. Missionaries to heathen countries, as St. Augustine who came here.

8. Of course, zeal for God also [moved these to heroism], but the sight of souls dying [more directly].

9. Still more if Christians, for then we are brought near to God. He who dwelt in solitary light once, now has round Him a circle of holy beings, so that we cannot love Him without loving them. Hence the glory paid to saints, as His garment.

10. Besides, we love the divine attributes and character in the saints: 'He who loveth God, loveth His brother also.'

11. This the condemnation of those who oppose the Church.

12. On the other hand—love of saints—love of our Lady as God's mother, [a] sign of predestination. She the great work [i.e. the greatest of God's works] and the glory of our race. Let us at this season beg her to make us full of that love of herself, and of all those who have God's grace, and of all whom God has made.

Some fine suggestions...
for prayer.

Link courtesy of Ales Rarus.

As if we needed more proof...
that Kerry and his handlers are clueless about the Catholic scene. He obviously knew zip about local university and the type of people it attracts. I noticed that the spokesperson of the pro-life group is a son of one of FUS's best-known faculty members.



Link courtesy of Amy Welborn.

The Feast of St. Regina, Virgin and Martyr
is today. There is information on her here.
It is also the feast of Blessed Ralph Corby and Blessed John Duckett, Priests and Martyrs.

Music at the Noon Mass, September 5
Processional Hymn: "Come, Holy Ghost"
Offertory: "Cantate Domino" - Giuseppe Pitoni (1657-1743)
Communion: "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say" - Thomas Tallis (1505-1585)
Recessional Hymn: "Alleluia! Sing to Jesus"

Sorry for the lack of posts....
I was unable to blog, since the library was closed for the holiday.