Archive for Culture
Opera Company of Philadelphia “Hallelujah!” Random Act of Culture
Posted in Catholic, Culture, People, Tradition, Video with tags Culture, Hallelujah Chorus, Macy's, opera, Random Act on November 4, 2010 by JoannPervasive Darkness – Everlasting Light – Benedict XVI
Posted in Catholic, Christian, Culture, Faith, Pope Benedict XVI with tags atheism, atheist, Benedict XVI, Catholic, Christian, Culture, Faith, liberal, materialism, Pope, Pope Benedict XVI, Third World on June 14, 2010 by JoannSometimes the blindness of those who forgo God leaves me speechless. There is simply too much to say about God, Life and Eternity that silence and prayer must suffice, especially when you know that no one is actually asking the questions that might turn on the lights and light up their life.
Here is an email I received that begs God’s grace and an answer:
“By the way, besides my atheist status I am a full out Liberal ready to take everyone’s extra money to feed hungry children so watch out!
I get in as much trouble for my Liberal Democrat status as my non faith in mainstream religion. I am spiritual and giving but don’t recognize religion as something that works for me. That’s the difference. So many people proclaim their loyalty and belief in a god but are not good people, I try to be good without the need of a god’s blessing or promise of eternal life. In other words, I try to be good for nothing…… joke here.”
I thought I would answer by bringing in the Big Guns for the really Big Picture:
From Jesus of Nazareth by ‘Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI:
“At the heart of all temptations… is the act of pushing God aside because we perceive Him as secondary, if not actually superfluous and annoying, in comparison with all the apparently far more urgent matters that fill our lives, constructing a world by our own lights without reference to God, building on our own foundation, refusing to acknowledge the reality of anything beyond the political and material, while setting God aside as an illusion that is the temptation the threatens us in many varied forms. Moral posturing is part and parcel of temptation. It does not invite us directly to do evil; no, that would be far to blatant. It pretends to show us a better way, where we finally abandon our illusions and threw ourselves into the work of actually making the world a better place. It claims moreover to speak for true realism; what’s real is what’s right there in front of us, power and bread. By comparison, the things of God fade into unreality, into a secondary world that no one really needs.
God is the issue. Is He real, reality Itself or isn’t He? Is He good or do we have to invent the good ourselves? The God question is the fundamental question, and it sets us down right at the crossroads of human existence. What must the Savior of the world do, or not do that is the question the temptations of Jesus are about.”
Alfred Delp, a German theologian, executed by the Nazi’s said:
“Bread is important. Freedom is more important, but what is most important of all is unbroken fidelity and faithful adoration.”
Benedict XVI continues:
“When this ordering of goods is no longer respected, but turned on its head, the result is not justice or concern for human suffering the result is rather ruin and destruction even of material good themselves. When God is regarded as a secondary matter that can be set aside temporarily, or permanently, on account of more important things, it is precisely these supposedly more important things, that come to nothing. It is not just the negative outcome of a Marxist experiment that proves this, the aid given by the West to developing countries has been purely technically and materially based. It has not only left God out of the picture but has driven men away from God. and this aid proudly claiming to know better is itself what first turned the Third World into what we now mean today by that term.It has thrust aside indigenous religious , ethical and social structures and filled the resulting vacuum with its technocratic mindset. The idea was that we can turn stones into bread; instead our aide has only given stones in place of bread. The issue is the primacy of God.”
The Visitation – Feast or Frustration?
Posted in Culture, Faith, Mother of God with tags Child, Culture, Elizabeth, Faith, Fiat, Jesus, John theBaptist., liife, Mary, Mother of God, pregnant, Visitation on May 31, 2010 by JoannToday is the Feast of the Visitation. The Anchoress’ God is Not Sophisticated Enough and David Mills’ Spirituality Without Spirits got me thinking about of this Feast day in the light of the thinking or befuddled thoroughly modern Woman of our Day.
The Visitation recalls that Mary is inspired by God to visit her older cousin Elizabeth now in her sixth month, carrying John who would one day be called the Baptist and be precursor to Mary’s own Son, now gestating in the paradise that is her womb. What wonders are unfolding in the secret of these holy wombs. Elizabeth prophetically greets the Mother of her Lord. Her child leaps at the Christ’s presence. Mary affirms Elizabeth’s utterance with her Magnificat. Mary exclaims with all humility and awe the saving works of God who at her “Fiat” is now enfleshed within her humble willing being.
Can the women of our age appreciate these moments in time and history? Has the history of our age made it impossible to grasp them beyond quaint story and mere myth. How can a thoroughly modern, maybe “spiritual” woman relate? An untimely pregnancy – Mary’s or Elizabeth’s; how would the average working woman, school girl or college graduated woman proceed? Would wonder and awe best describe our modern attitudes.
The Anchoress writes:
“You can also safely assume that you’ve created a “spirituality” based on your own conscience (or your subconscious self) when it turns out that all God really wants of you is for you to do what makes you happy. Oh, and “love and forgive and stuff.”
David Mills writes:
“We want the spiritual-ish, because God made us to want him yet we do not want to want him, and we do not want him on his terms. If our hearts are restless without God, as St. Augustine argued, they can be tranquillized with substitutes, of which “spirituality” is easier to find and much less costly than the alternatives. Drugs and drink are bad for you, and wealth and sex are hard to get, and achievement takes work.”
Mary and Elizabeth were unabashedly “religious” woman who had the living faith of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They loved God with all their hearts, and souls and beings. Their faith made demands on them, touched the hearts and minds and when “choice” entered their mental framework, it was prefixed with the word’s of Deuteronomy, “Choose life then that you may live.” The “spiritual” Woman of Today is she free or frustrated? Does she know Who is present in the gift of a child?
Divine Mercy – Proof vs. Faith – A Study in Contrast
Posted in Catholic, Christ, Christian, Culture, Faith, Just Thinking Out Loud with tags Catholic, Christ, Christian, Culture, Darkness/Light, Divine Mercy, Faith, faithfu., faithless, Faustina, Just Thinking Out Loud, magisterium, pride, synic on April 14, 2010 by JoannIn life God gives us time to probe the wounds:
H/T Julia : Golgotha of Jasna Gora – Artist: Jerzy Duda Gracz
Pride, the one man Magisterium speaking for this Age:
(Speaking of Santa Claus) as unbelievable as those tales are from the north pole, the tales from Jerusalem leave it in the dust. Snakes that can talk, the Universe built from nothing in 7 days flat, procreation without copulation, walking on water, building a single ship to accommodate 3 million animals (1,589,361 species times two), turning water into wine, feeding 5000 people with a couple small fish a few loaves of bread, rising from the dead, etc… It certainly flies in the face of reason based on everything I’ve seen in this world, but it is firmly believed by at least a billion big humans on the planet tonight. Just because it is the person’s will and desire to make it true, sadly does not make it truth. I don’t doubt there is much more to this world than what we can see, hear, smell, feel, etc…. Quantum physics has gone much further and deeper than regular old atoms/matter… There are most likely many more dimensions than the four that we experience. I don’t even doubt the power of prayer or other group-think exercises.. I wholeheartedly support many of the values espoused by many of the religions of the world. I just am not buying the unbelievable stories sans proof and with so much proof against.
As to the four last things…
death — empirically it’s looming for all of us, no way around it.. is it final? not too sure — if consciousness survives to go another round, it probably has a more scientific multi-dimensional explanation.
judgment / heaven / hell — empirically haven’t seen any evidence of these, but it sure sounds like a good concept for a king to control a kingdom in the here and now. If I were the man behind the curtain, I’d be telling my subjects all about the this stuff to make sure they didn’t cause too many problems for me.”
A Voice of Faith speaks:
“There is no soul more wretched than I am, as I truly know myself, and I am astounded that divine Majesty stoops so low. O eternity, it seems to me that you are too short to extol the infinite mercy of the Lord!
Once, the image was being exhibited over the altar during the Corpus Christi procession (June 20, 1935). When the priest exposed the Blessed Sacrament, another choir began to sing, the rays from the image pierced the Sacred Host and spread out all over the world. The I heard these words: These rays of mercy will pass through you, just as they have passed through this Host, and they will go out through all the world. At these words, profound joy invaded my soul. (Sr. M. Faustina Kowalska – St. Faustina canonized April 30, 2000, Divine Mercy Sunday, the Sunday after Easter 2000)
Happy Didgeridoo to You!
Posted in audio, Culture, Just Thinking Out Loud, Music with tags audio, Australia, Culture, Didgeridoo, instrument, Just Thinking Out Loud, Music on April 13, 2010 by JoannA didgeridoo has entered the life of the Anchoress by way of her son. She may never get the rest she craves. Here’s why!
Life After Death: The Evidence
Posted in audio, Christian, Culture, Just Thinking Out Loud, People, Video with tags audio, Christian, Culture, Dinesh D'Souza, Just Thinking Out Loud, Life After Death, People, Reflections, Video on April 13, 2010 by JoannHappy Easter! In Appreciation “Take & Eat”
Posted in Catholic, Christ, Christian, Church, Culture with tags Catholic, Christ, Christian, Church, Communion of Saints, Culture, Darkness/Light, Easter, Fr. Dan Butler, gratitude., Jesus, Prayer, Priesthood, priests, RIP, sacrament on April 4, 2010 by JoannHappy Easter Everyone!
This glorious morning, we will celebrate the Mass of Easter. After hearing the sermons and summonings of Lent, after fulfilling our “Easter Duty,”and after a week of holy preparation and solemn Liturgies, Easter is splendidly here. It is Jesus , Who has been at the center of our preparation. Jesus, the Christ, our Lord!
Throughout this time,who else has enabled us to fulfill the mandate of Christ, “Take and eat!” Who is it that have heard our confessions and blessed us in His Name, and in His Person? It is those upon whom He breathed His peace, empowered to forgive and sent forth with His authority, His holy priests, ministering His holy sacraments.
Thank you holy Fathers, faithful Fathers, faith-filled Fathers! It is into your care that Jesus entrusted His flock. We. a flawed People, yet a royal priesthood, a kingly, and prophetic People, thank you, our flawed in your humanity, and yet gloriously appointed and anointed Priesthood. Happy, holy Easter, dear Fathers. May you be forever blessed!
Judge Speaks on Murphy Case – Shame on NY Times
Posted in Catholic, Christian, Church, Culture, News, Opinions, Political with tags Catholic, Christian, Church, Culture, judge, Murphy, Must Read, News, NY.Times, Opinions, Political, Ratzinger, sex abuse on March 30, 2010 by JoannThank you Anchoress: Murphy Case – NY Times Never Talked to Judge
Thank You Fr. THOMAS BRUNDAGE, JL
Setting the record straight in the case of abusive Milwaukee priest Father Lawrence Murphy
Then-presiding judge for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee gives first-person account of church trial
By Fr. THOMAS BRUNDAGE, JLC
For CatholicAnchor.org
To provide context to this article, I was the Judicial Vicar for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee from 1995-2003. During those years, I presided over four canonical criminal cases, one of which involved Father Lawrence Murphy. Two of the four men died during the process. God alone will judge these men.
To put some parameters on the following remarks, I am writing this article with the express knowledge and consent of Archbishop Roger Schwietz, OMI, the Archbishop of Anchorage, where I currently serve. Archbishop Schwietz is also the publisher of the Catholic Anchor newspaper.
I will limit my comments, because of judicial oaths I have taken as a canon lawyer and as an ecclesiastical judge. However, since my name and comments in the matter of the Father Murphy case have been liberally and often inaccurately quoted in the New York Times and in more than 100 other newspapers and on-line periodicals, I feel a freedom to tell part of the story of Father Murphy’s trial from ground zero. Read more »
Taking the Church Down – A Story of Disception
Posted in American, Church, Culture with tags abuse, American, bias, Catholic Church, Church, Culture, deception, Mainstream Media, sexual on March 29, 2010 by JoannThe secular agenda has at its core a hatred for the Catholic Church. The Church speaks with the authority of its God-given mandate and the Enemy uses his peons in the world to strike at its heel in anticipation of the moment that its Founder will crush his head. Until then, no holds are barred in this open aggression. A world under the influence of sin and license falls easy prey to the secular media, a favorite arm for deception and bias.
George Weigel writing for First Things: Scoundrel Time(s)
The sexual and physical abuse of children and young people is a global plague; its manifestations run the gamut from fondling by teachers to rape by uncles to kidnapping-and-sex-trafficking. In the United States alone, there are reportedly some 39 million victims of childhood sexual abuse. Forty to sixty percent were abused by family members, including stepfathers and live-in boyfriends of a child’s mother—thus suggesting that abused children are the principal victims of the sexual revolution, the breakdown of marriage, and the hook-up culture. Hofstra University professor Charol Shakeshaft reports that 6-10 percent of public school students have been molested in recent years—some 290,000 between 1991 and 2000. According to other recent studies, 2 percent of sex abuse offenders were Catholic priests—a phenomenon that spiked between the mid-1960s and the mid-1980s but seems to have virtually disappeared (six credible cases of clerical sexual abuse in 2009 were reported in the U.S. bishops’ annual audit, in a Church of some 65,000,000 members).
Yet in a pattern exemplifying the dog’s behavior in Proverbs 26:11, the sexual abuse story in the global media is almost entirely a Catholic story, in which the Catholic Church is portrayed as the epicenter of the sexual abuse of the young, with hints of an ecclesiastical criminal conspiracy involving sexual predators whose predations continue today. That the vast majority of the abuse cases in the United States took place decades ago is of no consequence to this story line. For the narrative that has been constructed is often less about the protection of the young (for whom the Catholic Church is, by empirical measure, the safest environment for young people in America today) than it is about taking the Church down—and, eventually, out, both financially and as a credible voice in the public debate over public policy. For if the Church is a global criminal conspiracy of sexual abusers and their protectors, then the Catholic Church has no claim to a place at the table of public moral argument.
Read the rest here.
Palm Sunday and Political Correctness Run Amuck
Posted in American, Catholic, Christ, Christian, Culture, Religion, Tradition, Video with tags American, Catholic, Christ, Christian, cross, Culture, Faith, martyr, palm, Palm Sunday, political correctness, Reflections, Religion, Tradition, Video on March 28, 2010 by JoannThe young maker of this video has been taught well. He bends over backwards not to offend anyone of any other religion who might happen upon this video instruction. He says at the beginning (profusely), “It’s pure entertainment; nothing else!” After transforming the palm frond into a cross, he ends with, ” Don’t take this as anything against your religion; just pure entertainment; no stuff like that.”
Not that it is this young man’s intention, but now that this symbol of the Faith and the palm (distributed to the faithful as a reminder of our fickleness and unfaithfulness) have been devalued to the level of a pass-time, society must be all the better for it; right? The “entertainment” value of the Cross having been established, actually, does emphasize how quickly nice people forget and dissimilate. Little chance here that this young man will die a martyr. Little does he know what he’s missing. Jesus and the message the Cross, does offend and divide.
War of Words – What’s In A Name?
Posted in American, Culture, Culture of Death, Politics, Pro-life with tags abortion, American, choice, Culture, Culture of Death, life, name, NPR, Politics, Pro-life, rights on March 26, 2010 by JoannNPR staff memo quoted by La Shawn Barber in NPR Drops ‘Pro-Life for’”Abortion Rights Opponents’:
NPR News is revising the terms we use to describe people and groups involved in the abortion debate.
This updated policy is aimed at ensuring the words we speak and write are as clear, consistent and neutral as possible. This is important given that written text is such an integral part of our work.
On the air, we should use “abortion rights supporter(s)/advocate(s)” and “abortion rights opponent(s)” or derivations thereof (for example: “advocates of abortion rights”). It is acceptable to use the phrase “anti-abortion”, but do not use the term “pro-abortion rights”.
What’s in a name? Barber points us to: “How the Public is Manipulated” which gives us a heads up and out of the sand noting:
It Makes a Pro-Abortion Assumption that the Debate is About Abortion Rights, Not Abortion It Plays Word Games with the Word “Rights” It Ignores the Fact That Abortion Can Exist Without Abortion Rights It Assumes the Negative It Ignores the Concept of a Right to Life It Affirms the Concept of a Right to an Abortion
Barber makes some points of her own for the mainstream media:
- Refer to abortion supporters as “right to life opponents”
- Refer to gun control supporters as “gun rights opponents”
- Refer to “hate speech” backers as “speech rights opponents”
- Refer to racial preferences advocates as “constitutional rights opponents”
Write me if she missed any.
Blurring the Line Between Life and Death
Posted in American, Culture, Culture of Death, Defending Life with tags American, Culture, Culture of Death, death, Defending Life, Easter, life, Passover, PVS, state, Terri Shiavo, vegetative on March 26, 2010 by JoannTerri Schiavo died on March 31st, a week from today. Next week will mark the 5 year anniversary of that murderous action/event, indicating a turning point . Next week also begins Holy Week leading to Easter. It also marks the beginning of Passover, starting Tuesday, March 30th. It is a good time to consider: Are we to value human life by its utility or because God has have placed His life in us? Passover is about God delivering His people from Slavery and setting them/us free for Life. Easter celebrates the victory of Life over Death, Christ’s victory. Terri’s death brings both into focus.
Writes Dr. Daniel Eisenberg, M.D. in The Death of Terri Schiavo: An Epilogue:
Blurring the line between life and death, and between medical data and morality, her death signifies a disturbing turning point for American society.
Terri Schiavo did not die of PVS; she died of starvation and dehydration
Terri Schiavo died on March 31, 2005, after lasting 13 days without food or water. Her life and death had a profound impact on the American psyche and brought to the forefront the unresolved debate regarding how we treat severely disabled people and who should be their surrogate decision-makers. There is reason to be disturbed by the role that physicians play in molding public opinion regarding end of life issues, because their expertise is generally in medicine and not ethics.
A letter from a neurologist in complete disagreement with Dr. Eisenberg prompted him to respond:
He (the neurologist) states:
…I find myself in sharp disagreement with Dr. Eisenberg. The article refers to PVS as a “cognitively impaired” condition. In fact, there is no cognition whatsoever in someone who is in a persistent vegetative state. Modern aggressive emergency care developed over the last several decades, has allowed us to resuscitate patients with what would have been terminal hypoxic brain injury (what happened to Terri Schiavo). Unfortunately, the entire brain cortex becomes nonfunctional in these people and we are left with a functioning brainstem that allows for reflex eye movements, facial movements etc. PVS patients can even track a moving object in their field of vision because collicular function of the intact brainstem reflexively guides these eye movements. It is all too easy to imagine sentience in the PVS patient because, as humans, so much of our communication is nonverbal and cued by facial and eye movements.
Dr. Eisenberg responds:
His assessment of the persistent vegetative state is succinct and it is accurate. To the best of our medical understanding, we presume that a person in a persistent vegetative state has no cognition whatsoever. I never gave much credence to those who argued about the rehabilitation potential of Terri Schiavo. Not because I did not believe it to be true (I have no way of knowing), but because it really does not make a difference to outsiders like myself. CT scan results, Glascow Coma Scales, and following balloons are really only of interest to neurologists and family members who need to arrange for the best possible care for the patient.
As a society, what we must concern ourselves with are two questions: What is the significance of being so terribly impaired that there is no cognition and how should such people be treated? It is here that the doctor falls woefully short in his analysis. While I am sure that his credentials are impeccable and his understanding of neurology is excellent, he completely misunderstands the role that physicians should play in society’s evaluation of end of life issues (as we will discuss) and he clearly does not appreciate where medical knowledge ends and morality begins.
Neurologist’s letter continued:
Nevertheless, the activity of our cerebral cortex is what distinguishes our very “humanness”. If the cortex is dead, then the human individual is dead. . . If the cortex is destroyed, personhood ceases. PVS is an abomination of life –in essence a human shaped colony of cells with no sentience — a glorified cell culture. . .Thankfully, I have not seen this irrational preservation of “life” at all costs in this situation since my training in the early 1970′s. . . Patients with PVS and end-stage Alzheimer’s disease routinely have IV’s and feeding tubes removed in the United States every day.
Dr. Eisenberg responds:
The opinions expressed above are very widespread in the medical community today. Variations of these views are espoused by many of the physicians with whom I have discussed this topic. For this reason, they cannot be lightly brushed aside. Please understand that the issue is not autonomy (which is an independent and important issue), but the definition of life. Is the cerebral cortex what makes us human and is it true that “if the cortex is dead, then the human individual is dead”?
Of course not. My physician critic clearly has stepped beyond the bounds of medicine into the realm of philosophy, and that is the problem. As any physician knows, there is neither a state in America nor any sane physician in the world who would declare that someone who is in a persistent vegetative state is dead. If PVS really equals death then why bother pulling the feeding tube? Just bury the patient with the feeding tube still in place! The doctor’s comments are clearly hyperbole, and represent a very insidious type of bias that leads people to equate PVS with death.
People want to feel “good” about the killing they allow whether by deeming a fetus ‘not a real living person’ or a person in a persistent vegetative state ‘as good as dead.’ In matters of morality, the doctor steps beyond the data and expertise of his training to play God. Dr. Eisenberg asks “why the medical knowledge of the physician seem to translate into skill in evaluating the value of life?”
Dr. Eisenberg reminds us:
“The belief that medicine can determine which lives are worth preserving was an intrinsic part of the pre-Nazi German medical establishment (see “Why Medical Ethics“). In the late 1920′s and early 1930′s:
“a number of prominent German academics and medical professionals were espousing the theory of “unworthy life,” a theory which advanced the notion that some lives were simply not worthy of living. . . If Mengele himself (an infamous physician who performed murderous experiments on live concentration camp inmates) became a cold-blooded monster at the height of his Nazi career, he certainly learned at the feet of some of Germany’s most diabolical minds. As a student Mengele attended the lectures of Dr. Ernst Rudin, who posited not only that there were some lives not worth living, but that doctors had a responsibility to destroy such life and remove it from the general population. His prominent views gained the attention of Hitler himself, and Rudin was drafted to assist in composing the Law for the Protection of Heredity Health, which passed in 1933, the same year that the Nazis took complete control of the German government. This unapologetic Social Darwinist contributed to the Nazi decree that called for the sterilization of those demonstrating the following flaws, lest they reproduce and further contaminate the German gene pool: feeblemindedness; schizophrenia; manic depression; epilepsy; hereditary blindness; deafness; physical deformities; Huntington’s disease; and alcoholism.
I ask again: Are we to value human life by its utility or because God has have placed His life in us?
Read more here.
Bart Stupak Caved! Bye Bye Baby!
Posted in American, Anti-abortion, Catholic, Christ, Conservative, Culture, Culture of Death with tags abortion, American, Anti-abortion, baby, Catholic, Christ, Conservative, Culture, Culture of Death, deaths, fetus, funding abortion on March 22, 2010 by JoannSt. Patrick’s Day – Memorial
Posted in Catholic, Christian, Culture, Religion, Tradition with tags Catholic, Christian, commemoration, Culture, Music Video, Religion, St. Patrick, St. Patrick, Tradition on March 17, 2010 by Joann
The “Confessio” of St. Patrick
Through me many peoples have been reborn in GodFor the sun we see rises each day for us at [his] command, but it will never reign, neither will its splendour last, but all who worship it will come wretchedly to punishment. We, on the other hand, shall not die, who believe in and worship the true sun, Christ, who will never die, no more shall he die who has done Christ’s will, but will abide for ever just as Christ abides for ever, who reigns with God the Father Almighty and with the Holy Spirit before the beginning of time and now and for ever and ever. Amen.
Behold over and over again I would briefly set out the words of my confession. I testify in truthfulness and gladness of heart before God and his holy angels that I never had any reason, except the Gospel and his promises, ever to have returned to that nation from which I had previously escaped with difficulty.
But I entreat those who believe in and fear God, whoever deigns to examine or receive this document composed by the obviously unlearned sinner Patrick in Ireland, that nobody shall ever ascribe to my ignorance any trivial thing that I achieved or may have expounded that was pleasing to God, but accept and truly believe that it would have been the gift of God. And this is my confession before I die.
Romans 15:15-16; 1:9
God has given me the grace to be a minister of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles and to assume the priestly duty of preaching the Gospel
– so that the Gentiles might be received as an acceptable offering consecrated by the Holy Spirit.In my spirit I serve the Father by preaching the Gospel of his Son
– so that the Gentiles might be received as an acceptable offering consecrated by the Holy Spirit.
Prayer
God our Father,
You sent St. Patrick to preach your glory to the people of Ireland
by the help of his prayers may all Christians proclaim your love to all men
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.
Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, and in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
The Deer’s Cry Also known as “The Breastplate of St. Patrick” and “The Lorica” This powerful prayer was composed by Saint Patrick in the year 433. He was aware that there was an ambush to try to kill him and his group en route to the King’s court. It was during the march that they chanted the sacred Lorica or Deer’s Cry – later known as St. Patrick’s Breastplate. As the druids lay in hiding, ready to kill, they saw not Patrick and his men, but a gentle doe followed by twenty fawns. St. Patrick and his men were saved. “I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation. I arise today through the strength of Christ with his Baptism, through the strength of His Crucifixion with His Burial through the strength of His Resurrection with His Ascension, through the strength of His descent for the Judgment of Doom. I arise today through the strength of the love of Cherubim in obedience of Angels, in the service of the Archangels, in hope of resurrection to meet with reward, in prayers of Patriarchs, in predictions of Prophets, in preachings of Apostles, in faiths of Confessors, in innocence of Holy Virgins, in deeds of righteous men. I arise today, through the strength of Heaven; light of Sun, brilliance of Moon, splendor of Fire, speed of Lightning, swiftness of Wind, depth of Sea, stability of Earth, firmness of Rock. I arise today, through God’s strength to pilot me: God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me, God’s eye to look before me, God’s ear to hear me, God’s word to speak for me, God’s hand to guard me, God’s way to lie before me, God’s shield to protect me, God’s host to secure me: against snares of devils, against temptations of vices, against inclinations of nature, against everyone who shall wish me ill, afar and anear, alone and in a crowd. I summon today all these powers between me (and these evils): against every cruel and merciless power that may oppose my body and my soul, against incantations of false prophets, against black laws of heathenry, against false laws of heretics, against craft of idolatry, against spells of witches, smiths and wizards, against every knowledge that endangers man’s body and soul. Christ to protect me today against poisoning, against burning, against drowning, against wounding, so that there may come abundance in reward. Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ in breadth, Christ in length, Christ in height, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me. I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of Christ. May Thy Salvation, O Lord, be ever with us. Amen.” The “Confessio” of St. Patrick Through me many peoples have been reborn in God For the sun we see rises each day for us at [his] command, but it will never reign, neither will its splendour last, but all who worship it will come wretchedly to punishment. We, on the other hand, shall not die, who believe in and worship the true sun, Christ, who will never die, no more shall he die who has done Christ’s will, but will abide for ever just as Christ abides for ever, who reigns with God the Father Almighty and with the Holy Spirit before the beginning of time and now and for ever and ever. Amen. Behold over and over again I would briefly set out the words of my confession. I testify in truthfulness and gladness of heart before God and his holy angels that I never had any reason, except the Gospel and his promises, ever to have returned to that nation from which I had previously escaped with difficulty. But I entreat those who believe in and fear God, whoever deigns to examine or receive this document composed by the obviously unlearned sinner Patrick in Ireland, that nobody shall ever ascribe to my ignorance any trivial thing that I achieved or may have expounded that was pleasing to God, but accept and truly believe that it would have been the gift of God. And this is my confession before I die. Romans 15:15-16; 1:9 God has given me the grace to be a minister of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles and to assume the priestly duty of preaching the Gospel – so that the Gentiles might be received as an acceptable offering consecrated by the Holy Spirit. In my spirit I serve the Father by preaching the Gospel of his Son – so that the Gentiles might be received as an acceptable offering consecrated by the Holy Spirit. Prayer God our Father, You sent St. Patrick to preach your glory to the people of Ireland by the help of his prayers may all Christians proclaim your love to all men Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. – Amen. Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me. Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, and in danger, Christ in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger. “Prayer of Saint Patrick” by Colleen McNally-Harris
Update: Cause for Joy – What’s New
Posted in American, Bishop Alphonse Gallegos, Catholic, Christian, Church, Culture, Religion with tags American, Augustinian, Bishop Alphonse Gallegos, Bishop JaimeSoto, California, Catholic, cause, Christian, Church, Culture, invitation, mortal remains, recollect, Religion, Sacramento, saint on March 16, 2010 by Joann
You are invited!
March 27th,2010 Vigil 10am – Mass 12noon
That the Servant of God, Alphonse Gallegos,
an Augustinian Recollect and Auxiliary Bishop of Sacramento, California,
may ever remain close to his beloved flock,
and they can constantly ask his intercession,
his mortal remains will be transferred to a new tomb
at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe,
711 T Street, Sacramento, California,
on Saturday, March 27, 2010
after a solemn concelebrated Mass
to be presided by his Excellency Bishop Jaime Soto at 12 midday.
The vigil will start at 10:00 in the morning. The faithful are cordially invited to attend
this sacred occasion and to pray that the day may come
when this devoted son of Our Lady of Guadalupe
may be raised to the altars among the blessed and saints.
Eucharist – God With Us
Posted in Art, Catholic, Christ, Christian, Culture, Faith, Video with tags adoration, Art, Catholic, celebration, Christ, Christian, Communion, Culture, Eucharistic, Faith, Real Presence, Video on March 9, 2010 by JoannArt appeals to the heart on a level that challenges complacency and awakens awe. Hidden in His humility, He in proclaimed by those whose hearts beat with His, and are thus moved to reveal Him in their God- inspired creativity.
Evolution of Dance
Posted in comedy, Culture, dance with tags comedy, Culture, dance, humor, Video on March 6, 2010 by JoannOlympic sport-worthy! Free-style!
Sent from my iPod
Read my Lips!
Posted in Culture, News, Science with tags cell phone, Culture, lip-reading, News, Science, technology on March 5, 2010 by JoannSound bites of the future may be inaudible when spoken. The technology is on the way says German researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology with a lip-reading cell phone.
