Motel 6 Feast of St. Anne Line AND The Trouble With Jesuits, Part 16!

From the website of the English Martyrs School


Saint Anne Line (died 27 February 1601) was an English martyr who was executed during the reign of Elizabeth I for harbouring a priest. Her date of birth is unknown, but she was the second daughter of Willam Higham, of Essex, a strict Calvinist, and was, together with her brother William, disinherited for converting to Catholicism. On February 3rd 1583, she married Roger Line at St Clement Danes Church. He was a young Catholic who had been disinherited for the same reason. Roger Line and young William Higham were arrested together while attending Mass, and were imprisoned, fined, and finally banished. Roger Line went to Flanders, where he received a small allowance from the King of Spain, part of which he sent regularly to his wife until his death around 1594.
Around that time, Fr. John Gerard (A JESUIT) opened a house of refuge for hiding priests, and put the newly-widowed Anne Line in charge of it, despite her ill health and frequent headaches. By 1597, this house had become insecure, so another was opened, and Anne Line was, again, placed in charge. On 2 February 1601, Fr. Francis Page was saying Mass in the house managed by Anne Line, when men arrived to arrest him. The priest managed to slip into a special hiding place, prepared by Anne, and afterwards to escape, but she was arrested, along with two other laypeople.
She was tried at the Old Bailey on 26 February, and was so weak that she was carried to the trial in a chair. She told the court that so far from regretting having concealed a priest, she only grieved that she "could not receive a thousand more."

The Deacon That Made Milwaukee Famous

 Apparently, Deacon Sandy sustained quite a bit of deserved criticism for this video and took it down...but not before intrepid  Catholics got a hold of it. They probably also sing that song about it being hard to dance with the devil on your back.

Islamic Outreach, Part XXXIII

From an earlier post on this blog:

Pope Francis spoke to the diplomatic corps and amongst other things, said, "Hence it is important to intensify dialogue among the various religions, and I am thinking particularly of dialogue with Islam."

Meanwhile...

From the UK Daily Mail:
 
A Fatwa has been issued against living on Mars by clerics who say that trying to set up home there would be un-Islamic.
The fatwa – or ruling – was issued by the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment (GAIAE) in the UAE after the Mars One organisation announced that it would try and establish a permanent human settlement on Mars.
The committee argued that an attempt to dwell on the planet would be so hazardous as to be suicidal and killing oneself is not permitted by Islam.


Apparently, that last part about killing oneself is not permitted by Islam has not yet filtered down to the congregation.

How do you feel about this, Angry Martian Guy?

The Trouble with Jesuits, Part 15... with a Bonus Franciscan!

 From the Washington Post:

 Nun, 83, and two other activists guilty of intent to injure national security at nuclear complex

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — An 83-year-old Catholic nun and two of her fellow peace activists were found guilty Wednesday of intending to harm national security when they intruded in July onto the Y-12 National Security Complex, a nuclear-weapons production facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

After hearing two days of testimony and arguments, and then deliberating for nearly 2¹ / ₂ hours, the jury of nine men and three women also found the defendants guilty of damaging more than $1,000 in government property at the Y-12 site — where they cut through four chain-link fences and spray-painted biblical messages of nonviolence on a building that warehouses an estimated 400 tons of highly enriched uranium, the radioactive material used to fuel nuclear weaponry.

 

 From the BBC:

Sister Megan Rice, 84, (Ed. She graduated from Boston College, a JESUIT school) and two other protesters cut fences and entered the Oak Ridge, Tennessee, facility, which processes and stores uranium.

“Please have no leniency with me,” Sister Megan told the court at Tuesday’s hearing in Knoxville.
“To remain in prison for the rest of my life would be the greatest gift you could give me.”

I wish you had received you gift. Sister is a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity which means she is either a  Secular or Regular Third Order.

The Catholic Encyclopedia explains:

Third Orders signify in general lay members of religious orders, i.e. men and women who do not necessarily live in community and yet can claim to wear the habit and participate in the good works of some great order.

The Crayola Feast of Fra Angelico, February 18

I knew he was a painter, but I had no idea he was:

1) a saint, and
2) the Patron Saint of Painters!

An Italian painter of the early Renaissance, Guido di Pietro (1395-1455) was a member of the Dominican community in Fiesoli, Italy. Fra is a contracted form of the Latin word frater, which was the title for a friar.

 Pope John Paul II beatified Fra Angelico on October 3, 1982, and in 1984 declared him patron of Catholic artists.

Here's some of his work...

Fiesole Triptych

 

St. Lawrence Distributing ALms

Annunciazione 

 

 

 

 

For It's 1, 2, 3 What Are We Prayin' 4?

Father Uriel threw us a curveball when he read Eucharistic Prayer IV last Sunday, and now Father Z is taking a poll. Here are the results so far:

At Ordinary Form Mass on Sundays and holy days

• I hear Eucharistic Prayer II (the shortest one) most often (45%, 938 Votes)
• I hear Eucharistic Prayer III most often (20%, 424 Votes)
• I attend only Extraordinary Form or Eastern Rites (16%, 341 Votes)
• I hear Eucharistic Prayer I (the Roman canon) most often (15%, 319 Votes)
• I hear some other Eucharistic Prayer not listed (2%, 43 Votes)
• I hear Eucharistic Prayer IV most often (2%, 16 Votes)

 We heard Eucharistic Prayer II when Father Junker came to visit, and I have no idea what that was that Father Brown did. Father Uriel usually does III, except at daily Mass when I is used. 

No word which Eucharistic Prayer they use at the Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community.

Lee and Carol Ann Breyer, a married priest couple co-preside at MMOj

 

Saint Scholastica, Pray for Them!

We invoke the name of the saint who is invoked against storms to help those threatened by bad weather!

Paul J. Kim in Cape Girardeau on THURSDAY, February 20

Pass the word to the youngsters. He's not my cup of tea, but I understand why kids would like him!

Church Music

I wonder what this means for St. Andrew's bluegrass Mass? 

Shut Up, I Explained

 Have you ever heard of the United Nation's "Free and Equal" campaign? Me neither but it is a "global outreach" aimed at fighting "anti-gay violence and repression". According to CBS News, the goal of the initiative is to “change public attitudes around the world on [LGBT] issues that have bitterly divided the U.N.’s own member states.”

To quote Stephen Kokx:

 
"To show the global community that it should support the project, the U.N. has enlisted the help of Desmond Tutu. While expressing his admiration for the measure, which is really just a global re-education program aimed at indoctrinating developing countries with secularist thinking, Tutu said that “I would not worship a God who is homophobic…I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place.”"

OK, he's a lunatic, but guess who one of the new spokesperson is for the "Free and Equal" campaign? You'll never guess...

To paraphrase Ralph Kiner, "If Mother Teresa were alive today, she'd be spinning in her grave."

Amazing Grace

You can sing the lyrics of Gilligan's Island instead! Remember that next time we hear it at Mass!



Then you can sing "Amazing Grace" to the music of "House of the Rising Sun".

Islamic Outreach, Part XXXII - St. Valentine's Day Edition!

From an earlier post on this blog:

Pope Francis spoke to the diplomatic corps and amongst other things, said, "Hence it is important to intensify dialogue among the various religions, and I am thinking particularly of dialogue with Islam.

Reuters reports:

"Supporters of Islami Jamiat Talaba, a student wing of Pakistan’s religious and political party Jamaat-e-Islami, shout slogans to condemn Valentine’s Day during a protest at the University of Peshawar February 14, 2014. A student was injured in the clash on Friday after the rival groups fought over whether or not to mark the event, local media reported."

 Three students were injured today after Islamists attacked a group celebrating Valentine’s Day. The Islamists threw rocks and torched a dorm in the rioting against immoral behavior.:

What do think, angry Muslim Guy? 

Why is Mary Crying?

Probably because of something you did.

From Yahoo News:

JERUSALEM (AP) — Hundreds of people have flocked to a small town in northern Israel to view a statue of the Virgin Mary that residents say "weeps" oil.

Diocese of Las Vegas UPDATE

From Eye of the Tiber:

VATICAN CITY––An official at the Vatican Press Office today announced that the Vatican was in preliminary negotiations with Las Vegas bishop Joseph Pepe to swap Michelangelo’s The Last Judgment with the world-renowned painting The Rise of the Sentients located inside Guardian Angel Cathedral in Las Vegas, Nevada. Monsignor Alexander Bader, a spokesman for the Sistine Chapel, told reporters earlier this morning that The Last Judgment, though exquisite in its own right, had “run its course.” “We do not doubt the beauty of Michelangelo’s piece,” Bader told reporters. “But the fact is that the wonderfully pure artistry and vibrant colors of The Rise of the Sentients, with its images of bare-chested sentients flying up, up and away to heaven or Krypton, call it what you may, lends itself to what the theme of our chapel ought to be…artwork communicating itself on an inner level, found not so much in the painting itself, as it is in the viewer…very much like our faith.” Bader did not disclose many specifics about the trade, saying only that it was officials at the Sistine Chapel that initiated the offer, and that thus far, Pepe has been reluctant to trade the piece. “Who could blame him? All I can say at this time is that Bishop Pepe has indeed denied our first offer. We are currently working on a proposal that could also include the Pieta, and possibly even the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.”

 

The Last Judgement by Michelangelo

Ugly People Dont' Go To Heaven....

And John White has the proof:

My kids love these books.  I love these books.  They’re great little books.  They’re great for teaching children that to get to Heaven, we need to love God and our neighbor, and lead lives of holiness.
And also…we need to look fantastic.
It’s true.  Although the saints led devout lives of service to the Church, and in some cases lived in extreme poverty and even solitude, it also looks like most of them probably found time to co-star in films with Fred Astaire, Grace Kelly, and quite possibly, Legolas.
Don’t believe me?

NPR Does Story About Nuns...Liberal Outrage Sure to Follow!

Great story this morning on Nation Public Radio about the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles in Missouri.  I love the fact that the musical director is Mother Cecilia. Here's cut form their last album, called Hymn to St. Joseph:

Pray for them Saint Cecilia (Patron Saint of Musicians)!

St. Cecilia by Jacques Blanchard 1600-1638

We Salute You, Diocese of Las Vegas!

From the Diocesan history page....

Although Nevada was the last of the 48 contiguous states to have its own diocese, the Church in Southern Nevada that now makes up the Diocese of Las Vegas had a long and colorful history before it was established in 1995.
The first Mass celebrated in the territory that was to become Nevada was on the Colorado River in 1775 near the present day Laughlin. It was offered by the explorer, Father Garces, OFM, of Mexico. In 1776, Father Dominguez, OFM and Father Escalante, OFM came from New Mexico, crossed the Virgin River and made the trip to present day Utah.

Before the conquest of this area by the United States, the territory was under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Mexico. The territory was a part of the Diocese of Sonora until 1840, when it was placed under the jurisdiction of Bishop Garcia Diego y Moreno, the first Bishop of California. Shortly thereafter it became part of the Diocese of Monterey in California, until the Archdiocese of San Francisco was established in 1853 under its first Archbishop, Sadoc Alemany.

Time passed, and FINALLY....

In 1995, the Holy See, in recognition of the tremendous growth taking place in Nevada, divided the Diocese of Reno-Las Vegas. Two new dioceses were established to support the northern and southern parts of the state: the Diocese of Reno and the Diocese of Las Vegas. The new Diocese of Las Vegas encompassed White Pine, Esmeralda, Nye, Lincoln and Clark counties, with a Catholic population of 250,000. Bishop Walsh was installed as the first Bishop of Las Vegas on June 28, 1995.

And the only thing UGLIER than the outside of their Guardian Angel Cathedral is the inside. And vice versa.

Jesus Saves...and Esposito Scores on the Rebound!

First, I heard an interview with Bishop Paprocki from the Springfield Diocese about his new book on EWTN radio (he has actually practiced with the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets). That's him on the cover.

Then Catholic News Service posted this article about Sister Helena Burns.

And all I can think about is Tony Esposito...

"I Can't Believe What I Just Saw!"

 I saw a butter cow once at the New York State Fair, and a cheese cow at the Wisconsin State Fair...but I've never seen a chocolate me.

From Answers.com:

Although there is no word for chocolate in original Latin, modern translation programs use the rules of word construction and archaic Italian to approximate one." Cioccolata- "chocolate"=the approximate word in Latin.

Today in History...February 8

From History.com:

Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty, the highest Catholic official in Hungary, is convicted of treason and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Communist People's Court. Outraged observers in Western Europe and the United States condemned both the trial and Mindszenty's conviction as "perversions" and "lynchings."

 During the proceedings, the prosecutors produced several documents implicating Mindszenty in anti-government activities. The Cardinal admitted that he was "guilty in principle and in detail of most of the accusations made," but he vigorously denied that his activities were designed to overthrow the Hungarian government. Nevertheless, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

 he case was significant in demonstrating the depth of the anticommunist movement in Hungary. In 1956, Mindszenty was released when a reformist government took power in Hungary. Shortly thereafter, Soviet troops entered Hungary to put down anticommunist protests. Mindszenty took refuge in the U.S. embassy in Budapest and stayed inside the embassy grounds until 1971. That year he was recalled by the Vatican and settled in Vienna, where he died in 1975.

The I Scream, You Scream Feast of St. Theophilus, February 6

 Reportedly a martyr, and mentioned in the legend of St. Dorothy (circa 300 A.D.).

 

 

 

Not to be confused with this guy:

 

Theophilus Thistle, the successful thistle sifter,

In sifting a sieve full of un-sifted thistles,

Thrust three thousand thistles through the thick of his thumb.

If Theophilus Thistle, the successful thistle sifter,

Can thrust three thousand thistles through the thick of his thumb,

See that thou, in sifting a sieve full of un-sifted thistles,

Thrust not three thousand thistles through the thick of thy thumb.

I Don't Think It Means What You Think It Means

"In a speech during Thursday morning’s National Prayer Breakfast, President Barack Obama acknowledged, “It’s also clear that around the world, freedom of religion is under threat.”

“No society can truly succeed unless it guarantees the rights of all its people, including religious minorities,” he added later."

Meanwhile....

The Little Sisters of the Poor, an organization run by Catholic nuns that provides assistance to the elderly poor, doesn’t qualify for the Obama administration’s exemption of “religious organizations” because they hire people of all religions. The government also says they can avoid being fined if they simply hire a third party to provide the health insurance. If the Little Sisters don’t comply with the mandate, they could be fined $4.5 million annually — “about a third of its budget,”

Why I May Not be Good For The "New Evangelization"

I saw the following headline in the New York Post this morning:

JUSTIN BIEBER SCOURED NEW YORK FOR POOLS TO GET BAPTIZED.

My first reaction was, 'PLEASE... NOT CATHOLIC"

And that is why I am bad at the new evangelization. Give me a break. It's bad enough we already have:

Durbin

Pelosi

Sebilius

 

Islamic Outreach, Part XXXI

From an earlier post on this blog:

Pope Francis spoke to the diplomatic corps and amongst other things, said, "Hence it is important to intensify dialogue among the various religions, and I am thinking particularly of dialogue with Islam.

 I am grateful they are taking it so well:

 The number of fatalities resulting from attacks in Nigeria on 26 January has risen to at least 138.
Islamist terror group Boko Haram, officially labelled a 'Foreign Terrorist Organisation' by the US government in November last year, is suspected to have coordinated the violence.
'Boko Haram' translates as 'Western education is sacrilege'. The group has ties to Al-Qaeda and is responsible for over 2,000 deaths in Nigeria since 2009. Its leadership has declared it aims to cleanse the country of Christians, eradicate Nigerian democracy and replace it with an Islamic state guided by Sharia law.
On Sunday, armed militants attacked a church in Adamawa State in the north-east of the country. They locked the doors before the end of the service and shot at the congregation, slitting the throats of those who tried to escape. They also detonated bombs before going on a four hour rampage, burning houses and taking hostages from the village.
Initial reports recorded 22 casualties. However, that number has now risen to 53, with dozens more wounded.

 

Il Papa is a Rolling Stone

Not to be confused with...

Ghent Altarpiece

  From The Guardian:

"Just about everything bad that could happen to a painting has happened to Hubert and Jan van Eyck's Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (also known as the Ghent Altarpiece). It's almost been destroyed in a fire, was nearly burned by rioting Calvinists, it's been forged, pillaged, dismembered, censored, stolen by Napoleon, hunted in the first world war, sold by a renegade cleric, then stolen repeatedly during the second world war, before being rescued by The Monuments Men, miners and a team of commando double-agents. The fact that it was the artwork the Nazis were most desperate to steal – Göring wanted it for his private collection, Hitler as the centrepiece of his citywide super-museum – has only increased its renown."

And now, thanks to the Getty Foundation, you can see it up close and in INCREDIBLE detail. ONE HUNDRED BILLION PIXELS WORTH! Go HERE.