Cardinal Hickey Laid to Rest

Story from the Washington Post

Bishop William E. Lori, who was one of Hickey's top aides for more than 18 years, offered a more personal story.

About 14 years ago, while the two were driving to a funeral in Southern Maryland, Hickey began quizzing Lori, then his secretary, about that day's schedule.

"His questions were precise, numerous and preoccupying," Lori recalled. "My answers were fuzzy, sparse and preoccupying." Before he knew it, Lori was speeding past a police car. When the officer pulled him over, Cardinal Hickey "caught the patrolman's eye and said, 'Officer, book him!' " The police officer let Lori off.

Mmmmm sleepy

Well, last night was really fun! It was, of course, the night for the infamous Athens Halloween block party. I went as a witch - dumb, last-minute costume, but it worked! Other than a couple boys who were rather aggressive (with the encouragement of my so-called friends! He he he:)) it was a fun night. We went home pretty early (I'm one of those people that gets really quiet in crowds) so I don't know if things went bad later that night, but everything seemed under control on Court Street while we were there.

As far as costumes go, I counted one "Pope," one "Bishop," nine "priests," one "pregnant nun" and innumerable other "nuns." What's funny is that most real nuns today (sadly) don't wear habits. And many of the "priests" were in cassocks, and hardly any real-life priests wear those, either, nowadays :( Luckily, a lot of the newer, growing religious orders DO require habits and cassocks.

In case you were wondering what a cassock looks like, here's a photo. The priests are from the FSSP, one of those neato new religious orders. In America they are called the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

Saint of the Week

St. Charles Borromeo

Feastday: November 4

Patron Saint of Learning and the Arts



Charles was the son of Count Gilbert Borromeo and Margaret Medici, sister of Pope Pius IV. He was born at the family castle of Arona on Lake Maggiore, Italy on October 2. He received the clerical tonsure when he was twelve and was sent to the Benedictine abbey of SS. Gratian and Felinus at Arona for his education.

In 1559 his uncle was elected Pope Pius IV and the following year, named him his Secretary of State and created him a cardinal and administrator of the see of Milan. He served as Pius' legate on numerous diplomatic missions and in 1562, was instrumental in having Pius reconvene the Council of Trent, which had been suspended in 1552. Charles played a leading role in guiding and in fashioning the decrees of the third and last group of sessions. He refused the headship of the Borromeo family on the death of Count Frederick Borromeo, was ordained a priest in 1563, and was consecrated bishop of Milan the same year. Before being allowed to take possession of his see, he oversaw the catechism, missal, and breviary called for by the Council of Trent. When he finally did arrive at Trent (which had been without a resident bishop for eighty years) in 1556, he instituted radical reforms despite great opposition, with such effectiveness that it became a model see. He put into effect, measures to improve the morals and manners of the clergy and laity, raised the effectiveness of the diocesan operation, established seminaries for the education of the clergy, founded a Confraternity of Christian Doctrine for the religious instruction of children and encouraged the Jesuits in his see. He increased the systems to the poor and the needy, was most generous in his help to the English college at Douai, and during his bishopric held eleven diocesan synods and six provincial councils. He founded a society of secular priests, Oblates of St. Ambrose (now Oblates of St. Charles) in 1578, and was active in preaching, resisting the inroads of protestantism, and bringing back lapsed Catholics to the Church. He encountered opposition from many sources in his efforts to reform people and institutions.

He died at Milan on the night of November 3-4, and was canonized in 1610. He was one of the towering figures of the Catholic Reformation, a patron of learning and the arts, and though he achieved a position of great power, he used it with humility, personal sanctity, and unselfishness to reform the Church, of the evils and abuses so prevalent among the clergy and the nobles of the times. His feast day is November 4th.

From Catholic Online.

Ohhhhhhh I'm gonna go crazy!

It's just sooooo cuteeeee! I could eat the baby puppy, that's how cute he is! How convenient that he is already on a hot dog bun! Just kidding ... Oooooo, I wanna kiss him, and squeeze him, the little itty-bitty cutie!!



And look at this one! Who needs journalism? I'd like to get the same degree this lady has!



Does the baby need his fooooood? Ohhhh yes, he does!

Aren't you lucky to be subjected to my annoying high-pitched baby talk not only in real life but in my blog, too? :)

Okay ... gotta stop typing in "puppies" on Google Image Search ...

Har har har

Sooooo. I'm apparently only six miles out of the "Valley of Depression." I wonder if that has anything to do with my fast-approaching Stats test results. The fact that I end up in Wealthville is encouraging, however. And how about that "Bog of Eternal Marriage?" Since in Heaven "they neither marry nor are given in marriage" does that refer to me being a cloistered bride of Christ? ;) I know, I knooooow that's not what they mean by "eternal," but I just couldn't resist! Actually, "Eternal Bog" sounds rather depressing ...

Margaret Patricia Kostendt Highway Valley of Depression 6 Family Farm 16 Confusion Lane 41 Bog of Eternal Marriage 123 Wealthville 338 Please Drive Carefully

Username:

Where are you on the highway of life?

From Go-Quiz.com

AUUUUUUGH

Bush Says His Party is Wrong to Oppose Gay Civil Unions

George, George. You're really working hard to lose my vote, aren't you? Alas, you've already got it (darned absentee ballots!) I'm just kidding. Sort of. I still hope he wins. Four More Years!!!!

"Episcopal neopaganism"

The Freaks Are at It Again! Here's an excerpt:

There are those who doubt that paganism has penetrated the Episcopal Church. If you're among them, check out this "Women's Eucharist," the text for which comes from the Worship Resources section of the ECUSA Women's Ministries Web site:

A Women’s Eucharist: A Celebration of the Divine Feminine

We gather around a low table, covered with a woven cloth or shawl. A candle, a bowl or vase of flowers, a large shallow bowl filled with salted water, a chalice of sweet red wine, a cup of milk mixed with honey, and a plate of raisin cakes are placed on the table ...

The chalice of sweet red wine is raised and a woman says,

"Blessed are you, Mother God, for you have given us the fruit of the earth. Red as blood, warm as life itself, sweet and intoxicating as love. We thank you for wine. We bless you for the power of this drink to remind us of our own power. We praise you for the strength and beauty of our bodies, and for the menstrual blood of womanhood. We embrace the mystery of life which you have entrusted to us, and we pray for the day when human blood is no longer shed and when woman’s blood is honored as holy and in your image."

The cup is passed hand to hand and all drink from it.

The cup of milk and honey is raised and a woman says,

"Thank you Mother God for the abundance of life. Thank you for the rich, full, pleasing, and life giving milk of our bodies. Thank you for the children who drink from our breasts for they bring sweetness to our lives. We drink this cup as your daughters, fed from your own bosom. May we be proud of our nurturing and sustaining selves. May we honor our breasts as symbols of your abundance. Thank you for the milk and honey of your presence with us."

The cup is passed and shared by all.

Now, in the Catholic Church, the wine becomes literally, really and truly, the Precious Blood of Christ. So when the Episcopagans talk about menstrual blood ... ew, sorry, shouldn't have said that. Uncalled for. But these people piss me off/make me laugh/make me cry.

This is too bad because there are a lot of Episcopalians who are good Christians and don't deserve to be tainted by their association with this silliness/blasphemy. Ahk.

UPDATE: Liturgy? What Liturgy?

Here's the originial page. Ha ha, they tried to get rid of it! Yay for Google Cache!

What a nasty day

The weather was good, but schoolwork was not pleasant at all. I had a Statistics test today that I thought I was super prepared for, but after taking it I'm not sure that I did well at all. Pretty sure I fudged it, actually. Not a good feeling after studying so much. I just had a bit of a mind-blank when I looked at all those complex, difficult-seeming questions. Maybe I'll pull off a B ... I needed an A, what with my previous two 70 percent test scores, but I'll take what I can get ...

Not to mention the fact that the normal room where we take it, Morton 201, was double-booked with a Chemistry exam. The fellow in charge of chemistry proctoring was standing in front of the door with his arms folded, as though to say, "Come and try, you punks." Dr. Bashaw was there and she looked rather bemused. In the end we poor victims of the Stats monster were made to divide up and head off into several different classrooms to take our test. Rats.

I was just looking at that last sentence, and I'm not sure that "our test" shouldn't be "our tests." Sigh. In my experience, the Precision Language class gives one no confidence; it merely imparts the ability to second guess one's own writing at every turn.

Ah well. Tomorrow will be better. I'm done at 11! Yippee, skippee!

And I'm going to Confession this weekend. Must think about what I have to say ... argh.

I should be studying Stats

But whatever!

Interesting tidbits:

From the Best of the Web Today (Yay for the WSJ!)

Dems Gone Wild

- A Sarasota [Fla.] man was arrested on an aggravated assault charge Wednesday after he was accused of trying to run down U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris and a group of supporters with his car," the Associated Press reports. Harris, of course, was Florida's secretary of state when Al Gore tried to steal the 2000 election:

A silver Cadillac sped toward the group at a Sarasota intersection Tuesday evening, then swerved at the last minute before driving off, according to police. Witnesses gave the car's license plate number to police, and they tracked it to Barry M. Seltzer, 46.

"I intimidated them with my car," Seltzer told police. "I was exercising my political expression." The Smoking Gun has a copy of the police report and Seltzer's mug shot.

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are

Conservatives at UCLA held a "Coming Out Day" Monday, "to galvanize and mobilize conservatives for next week's election," in the words of the head of the Bruin Republicans. Not everyone was pleased, reports the Daily Bruin:

Some students felt naming the event Coming Out Day was inappropriate since it appeared to have been taken from a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender event and used in a manner different from what it had been originally intended.

"The title Coming Out Day undermines the purpose of the LGBT community's Coming Out Week. This event makes a mockery of the entire community," said Miguel Chavez, a third-year history graduate student.

Not all UCLA gays are as humorless as Chavez. Ronni Sanlo, director of LGBT Campus Resource Center, tells the paper: "Imitation is the sweetest flattery, and LGBT Coming Out Week must be very effective for another organization to want to copy it. It's a great idea."

Should we have one of those at OU? Where we are outnumbered something like 9 to 1?

And via Bettnet.com:

``These things were supposed to help us repel the 12 anarchists who never bothered to show for the DNC,'' the cop explained. ``Oh, we were ready for them. We had a hundred guys for every anarchist.

``Terrorists, we can handle,'' he said. ``What we haven't quite figured out is how to deal with 80,000 drunken (expletive). It would be nice if we could just spray them all with some kind of general tranquilizer that would put them to sleep. Next day, they'd wake up, hungover and late for class.''

The fancy term is ``celebratory rioting.'' For a cop who was there, it's no more - and no less - than the havoc caused by ``the unspanked generation.''

``When we went through this 30 years ago,'' he said, ``at least the issues held some weight, some import . . . civil rights, Vietnam . . . I'm sorry, but `Yankees Suck' just doesn't hold the same gravitas. You follow procedure and announce: `In the name of the commonwealth, I order you to disperse!' And these fools just laugh at you . . . these fools who passed MCAS and the SATs, allegedly. These fools who are our future leaders.''

Read the entire piece on the "Sox WON! rioting" in the Boston Herald.

BUNNIES!!!!! ON TV!!!!

The Re-Enacted by Bunnies in 30 Seconds people (AngryAlien.com) are going to have a special Halloween event on Starz (which channel I don't think OU gets) this weeekend! You can see the somewhat-amusing-just-on-its-own trailer here. Ohhhh. I wish I could see it. What is the dumb tag line? "I wanna see Starz!" Cringe.

I know that I am a dork

However, while I was perusing Cyberhymnal.org (Yes, as I said, I am aware that I am a grade A-1 dork) I came upon this lovely 15th century hymn - This Endris Night. The melody is lovely.

Since Lyndsey asked (he he he) I will tell everyone why I like hymns so much: First of all, they are a form of prayer - "He who sings prays twice"; secondly, you can remember the melodies without a lot of effort (and laziness seems to be my number one priority nowadays, much to the dismay of the poor people who have to grade my Statistics assignments); and thirdly, we sing so much cruddy music in Church on Sunday that I suppose I am just starving for the good stuff. St. Paul's in Athens is really quite bearable in this regard - the opening and closing hymns are usually classics, while the Communion hymns and the hymns during the presentation of the gifts are usually modern liturgical lounge music. Besides which, the choir is quite excellent.

St. Mary's back home, however, is quite atrocious - at least on the few times I have been obliged to go there in the last few months - with sappy melodies, NO rhyming stanzas, drums, recordings, rock music, and a lady playing the piano who "directs" the music with her head. I have nothing against drums, recordings and rock music, per se, but it's not something I care to hear at Mass.

At all.

The sad thing is, the Episcopalians, who are just plain old Protestants, (I don't mean to slight Protestants!) are the ones singing Palestrina, Beethoven's Mass in C, Mozart's Requiem Mass, or Bach's Mass in B Minor. Arrrrgh! DO WE UNDERSTAND THIS? These great composers wrote Masses which we could be using, instead of being slowly tortured to death by "Gather Us In."

Rant off.

Anyway, I'm way into "the hymn thing." An observant reader would note that on my Christmas Wish List on the right, I have listed the "Adoremus Hymnal", which is completely bereft of any nasty lounge songs masquerading as respectable music. Hint, hint, Betsy. It's under "All I want for Christmas ..." Hint, hint ;)

Mark your calendar

100% Lunar Eclipse!

From 9 to 11:30 Wednesday night - And we'll have clear skies in Athens, too, I believe!

Y'all better look, there won't be another one until 2007. I'll be graduating. :: Seizes up in panic ::: No growing up!!!!

Press Release From NASA

More on Cardinal Hickey

Nice tribute from National Review Online.

Photo tribute from the Washington Post.

James Cardinal Hickey, Requiescat In Pace



Story from the Washington Post

Cringe

Today at Mass, I didn't go to up to Communion since I hadn't confessed the night before. It always is upsetting because when we get to the middle of the Mass I start thinking, "Oh it will be so wonderful to receive Him" and then I remember: "No, moron, you don't get to today." Next week will be better ...

There was a letter from all the Bishops of Ohio promoting "Yes" on State Issue 1, which would amend the Ohio Constitution to ban gay marriage. Our priest has always seemed like a straight-and-narrow, one-of-the-good-guys type and he certainly had no problem reading it to us. After Mass, however, when he was waiting at the door to shake our hands, somebody came up to him and asked him, in a nasty voice, if he had read John Courtney Murray's theology on this issue - "separation of church and state." I only heard this much because I was already on my way out of the doorway - besides which, I wasn't real eager to sit there and listen to someone lay into a priest for teaching what the Church teaches. Now that I think about it, I should have maybe stopped and tried to defend not only my priest, but also Father Murray, who would be appalled at the idea of his name being used that way.

FYI: Father John Courtney Murray, S.J., was an American theologian whose work on freedom and liberty greatly enhanced the discussions at Vatican II. It is a totally facile argument to claim that he would be in favor of abortion or same-sex marriage or any other cause for which his theology is often hijacked. You can read more about him here.

On a positive note, the lady sitting behind me introduced herself to me after Mass. She was very friendly, and it's always nice to "know" some more people at church.

I am highly amused!

Via A Saintly Salmagundi:





It's a neato calendar they sell, of course!

Saint of the Week

ST. CRISPIN

Died: 286

Feast Day: October 25

Patron Saint of cobblers, glove makers, lace makers, lace workers, leather workers, shoemakers, tanners, weavers




Sts. Crispin and Crispinian

Martyrs of the Early Church who were beheaded during the reign of Diocletian; the date of their execution is given as 25 October, 285 or 286. It is stated that they were brothers, but the fact has not been positively proved. The legend relates that they were Romans of distinguished descent who went as missionaries of the Christian Faith to Gaul and chose Soissons as their field of labour. In imitation of St. Paul they worked with their hands, making shoes, and earned enough by their trade to support themselves and also to aid the poor. During the Diocletian persecution they were brought before Maximianus Herculius whom Diocletian had appointed co-emperor. At first Maximianus sought to turn them from their faith by alternate promises and threats. But they replied: "Thy threats do not terrify us, for Christ is our life, and death is our gain. Thy rank and possessions are nought to us, for we have long before this sacrificed the like for the sake of Christ and rejoice in what we have done. If thou shouldst acknowledge and love Christ thou wouldst give not only all the treasures of this life, but even the glory of thy crown itself in order through the exercise of compassion to win eternal life." When Maximianus saw that his efforts were of no avail, he gave Crispin and Crispinian into the hands of the governor Rictiovarus (Rictius Varus), a most cruel persecutor of the Christians. Under the order of Rictiovarus they were stretched on the rack, thongs were cut from their flesh, and awls were driven under their finger-nails. A millstone was then fastened about the neck of each, and they were thrown into the Aisne, but they were able to swim to the opposite bank of the river. In the same manner they suffered no harm from a great fire in which Rictiovarus, in despair, sought death himself. Afterwards the two saints were beheaded at the command of Maximianus.

From Catholic Encyclopedia.

See also biography from the Catholic Forum.

Also any literary readers will recall the famous "St. Crispin's Day Speech" made in Shakespeare's Henry V:


KING. What’s he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin;
If we are mark’d to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God’s will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God’s peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man’s company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call’d the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say “To-morrow is Saint Crispian.”
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say “These wounds I had on Crispian’s day.”
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb’red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

Saturday Blah

So, tonight I had numerous interesting messages on my "phone machine." He he he, most amusing, gals :) I didn't go to Confession, so no Communion for me tomorrow. That makes me really sad :( But it would make me more sad (not sadder! See, I'm learning) to make a sacrilegious Communion. I'm going to go next week, of course ...

Ooooo good music!

Tonight was quite cool, as we went to see Chris Graham again, this time at the Donkey cafe. The music was just as good as last time, and Lauren got singled out from the stage for her Wondrous Knitting (In Public!). For the record, I agree with Mr. Graham that we should get more people to knit in public places.

"Lyndseeeeeeey, I wish we were older!..." And I forget the rest of the lyrics. ;)

Promised post on exorcism!

Here we go. It's mostly just an array of little tidbits on the topic. Sidenote: It's my understanding that one should avoid addressing the devil directly, especially if one is not a priest. And also, apparently, 71% of Americans believe that the devil exists, a number which has been ticking up lately. Interesting ...

Interview with the Chief Exorcist of Rome, Father. Gabriel Amorth (Highly recommended!)

On the Medal of Saint Benedict (I have one of these!) From EWTN.com

This old and powerful sacramental deserves an in-depth treatment, as it gives a kind of practical incarnation of the main purpose of this book. This medal has long been regarded as especially efficacious in protecting its wearers against demonic attacks, and securing a number of special graces. Let us take a closer look at the inscriptions on its two sides.

On the front of the medal we find St. Benedict holding a Cross in one hand, and the Rule of St. Benedict in the other. At his sides are the words "Crux S. Patris Benedicti" ("The Cross of the Holy Father Benedict"), and below his feet: "Ex S M Casino MDCCCLXXX" ("From the holy mount of Casino, 1880"). On that date, Monte Cassino was given the exclusive right to produce this medal, and special Jubilee indulgences were added. Still on this front side of the medal we find inscribed in a circle the words:

"Ejus in obitu nostro presentia muniamur" ("May his presence protect us in our hour of death").

The reverse side of the medal is where the real exorcistic force reveals itself. In the center is a Cross. The Cross, which St. Benedict so loved and often used as a powerful exorcism, is the sign before which even Dracula shrinked. The vertical beam of the Cross bears the letters C.S.S.M.L., and the horizontal beam, the letters N.D.S.M.D. These are the first letters of the words:

CRUX SACRA SIT MIHI LUX, May the Holy Cross be a light unto me,

NON DRACO SIT MIHI DUX. And may the Dragon never be my guide.

The four large letters at the corners of the Cross, C S P B, stand for CRUX SANCTI PATRIS BENEDICTI: The Cross of the Holy Father Benedict.

We are not through yet. In addition to the "Pax" ("peace") motto at the top, we find the following letters in a circle around the margin of this side: V.R.S.N.S.M.V.: S.M.Q.L.I.V.B. It almost looks Masonic; except, of course, the Benedictines are quite willing to tell you what the letters stand for, and they are enough to make any secret society get the shakes:

VADE RETRO SATANA; NUNQUAM SUADE MIHI VANA.
Get behind me, Satan; Never suggest vain thoughts to me.

SUNT MALA QUAE LIBAS;
The cup you offer is evil;

IPSE VENENA BIBAS!
Drink the poison yourself!

This richly indulgenced medal can be worn around the neck, or be attached to one's Rosary, or simply kept in a pocket or purse. The pious intention of wearing such an object, together with the Church's powerful blessing and intercessory power, make it into an unspoken prayer which has been shown to be of great help in maintaining holy purity, bringing about conversions, protecting against inclement weather and contagious disease.

Recommended prayer against Satan, composed by Pope Leo XIII:

St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou O prince of the heavenly host
By the power of God cast into Hell Satan
and all the evil spirits that prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.

The true story behind "The Exorcist" (click)

And did you know Mother Theresa underwent an exorcism late in her life?

Hack hack (cough) hack

Ahhhhhhhh. This is difficult. I have a Statistics project due tomorrow, and I am not quite certain how to do it - mostly certain, mind you, but not compeletly. In my never-ending always-vain quest for perfection, I went to the Math Lab drop in hours at the library. Of course the fellows on duty had no clue about SSPS even though in the lousy homework packet it says they would be giving demonstrations. Crud.

Ahhhhhhhh. I'll live. I didn't get a chance to blog on exorcism again today but I promise I will tomorrow, barring the Second Coming or any large dorm fires.

OH ... MY ... GOD

Absolutely hilarious: The Silence of the Domes

Thanks for the tip, Shanana!

I love, love, love how on Free Republic they refer to Edwards as "The Silky Pony."

The Voices In My Head Part Deux

Well, as it turns out, I didn't spend any money at the library sale because by the time I got myself over there this Sunday it was over. But I was planning on spending the big bucks (that I don't have). Alas, methinks it was a triumph of the Lazy Angel rather than the Prudent Angel ...

However I had managed to get myself very excited about the prospect of reading new books, so I was a little bit bummed that I missed it. And as I was walking home ...

PRUDENT ANGEL: See, it all worked out for the best.
IMPRUDENT ANGEL: WHAAAAAT? She didn't get to spend money!
PRUDENT ANGEL: Exactly.
IMPRUDENT ANGEL: AUUUUUUUUGGGGH!!!

Hmmm. Maybe I'm a schizophrenic. Or maybe, I need an exorcist!



Paging Fr. Karras ... I swear, it's not a mental disorder ...


I think I'll have a little more on exorcism later today or tomorrow. It's such an interesting, not to mention POD topic! ;) It creeps me out even to write about it, though, so I'm going to go over to the little font I have in my room and apply some holy water!

Hooray! Fireworks! Ballooooons!

I just voted for the first time - absentee. I got my ballot in the mail today and I figured I'd get right to it :) Of course I voted for Bush. I'm not in love with him on a lot of issues, but to my way of thinking he's tons, loads better than Kerry on what matters most.

There were an awful lot of judges. Luckily a lot of them had websites, so I could check them out. I also phoned home to ask how to vote on one of those zoning issues, he he he. What this means is my mother essentially got to vote twice. Have children! Increase your vote power! Whoooooo hooooo!

It was more complex than I thought it would be. I even had a few hanging chads on the back of the ballot when I was through, but I got rid of them!

I guess I'm an adult now for sure. Blah. I think I got a paper cut.

Year of the Eucharist

Pope opens Year of the Eucharist with a solemn Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. Yay, maybe there will be more Eucharistic Adoration this year! Who wants to come to St. Paul's with me on Saturday? :)

Diamonds are a girl's best friend

Or else, her daddy's wallet is.

Looky at this great design-your-own-ring site:

Design Your Own Engagement Ring

Liz had me make one but I lost the link and I don't want to do it all again - it's kind of depressing, they're too expensive for me to buy on a whim. And, note: It says engagement ring, so I would have to swindle (I mean, seduce. I mean, charm) Mr. Gullible (I mean, Mr. Right) into getting me one. I'm just kidding, I would take whatever ring Mr. Right would give me. But I have to find him, if I'm ever meant to find him and his generous heart.

Ick, I'm feeling really sticky and materialistic. I'm not really this way, just when I get diamonds in my eyes ;) I'm probably (definitely) more "gimme" than I should be.

Thanks to Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam and The Curt Jester for linking to me!

Tina, Come Get Some Steak

Leslie and I (yay for good grammar! Which I have a test in on Tuesday!) went to see Napoleon Dynamite at Movies 10 on Friday. It was pretty funny in a "stupid" sort of way - as Leslie very aptly pointed out, about half the movie involved either Napoleon sighing, or the characters staring at each other or some object. The end result is that now I really have an urge to say, "GOSH! You're an idiot" to people.

Honest to goodness, it is a veritable minefield of repeatable lines. There are more dumb-funny lines in Napoleon than there are flakes in California (which means, a lot). The International Association for the Promotion of Obscure Inside Jokes is going to have an awards ceremony wherein the DVD of Napoleon Dynamite will be enshrined on an IAPOIJ mahogany pedestal -

All right, enough ;) The weather has definitely taken a turn for the colder this last week, and I am still walking around in my windbreaker ... ah well. No snow yet. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so we'll see what's what.

I've got to get back to studying. Not only do I have an Hellish Grammar Exam on Tuesday, I also have a Logic exam an hour later. My life is not pie. Not even close. More like the mush you get when you take the pie out of the oven before it's done baking.

Yes. My life is under-cooked pie.

My cold is all better, or mostly. My eyes have really been bothering me lately. Yesterday I wondered how I would handle it if I went blind, and I tried walking around my teeny little room with my eyes shut. Childish and painful, childish and painful, what was my brush doing face-up on the ground? Ouch.

You can't tell I'm avoiding studying for Grammar, can you? I haven't been to that library sale yet. Maybe I will go. On the pretense of studying. Yes, I can't stay here to work, I have access to the Internet in my room and it is distracting me ... yes. ;)

Oh, and VOTE PEDRO!! Leslie, you know what I'm talking about!

Template Go Boom

Or at least that's what it seemed like to me. Woe is me (or is it woe is I?), I was fiddling around with the old HTML and I accidentally deleted certain parts and had to do emergency surgery on my poor little blog. As you can see the color scheme is quite different and I went ahead and messed with the links and images and stuff ... it looks sort of blah to me. Oh well. I'm too tired to figure out how to put it back right now, so if anyone liked it a whole lot better the other way, say so and I'll be glad to take care of it tomorrow ...

Saint of the Week

Over time I have developed a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus - I have a picture in my dorm room - and I have always been interested in this saint. I have to admit that at first, my fascination was caused less by Jesus' appearences to her and more by the simple fact that although she died in 1690 (more than 300 YEARS AGO), her body has never decayed.


Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
1647 - 1690
Memorial, October 17
Invoked against polio, loss of parents





(Incorrupt Body of St. Margaret Mary)



See her bio from Catholic Online.

What a weakness it is to love Jesus Christ only when He Caresses us, and to be cold immediately once He afflicts us. This is not true love. Those who love thus, love themselves too much to love God with all their heart.

From the writings of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Twelve Promises of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary for those devoted to His Sacred Heart:

1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will establish peace in their families.
3. I will console them in all their troubles.
4. They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of their death.
5. I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source of an infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.
9. I will bless the homes where an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored.
10. I will give to priests the power of touching the most hardened hearts.
11. Those who propagate this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be effaced.
12. The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under my displeasure, nor without receiving their Sacraments; My heart shall be their assured refuge at that last hour.


from Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque's vision of Jesus

From Catholic Forum.

TRAGEDY

They did not have toppings for ice cream tonight at the dining hall! They (the monsters) had the tray out, all right, but the overhead lamp was off, the little compartments were bereft of their chocolatey goodness, and there was a sign saying "There will be no toppings tonight. Sorry for the inconvenience." Diners forced to take topping-less ice cream! Sophomore girl with unmanageable hair collapses from chocolate withdrawal and suffers nervous breakdown! Film at 11!

In other news, I got a 70 on my Stats exam. Another one. Rats.

Bad but Funny

Play the Nun Smiting Game!

Via Fr. Sibley at A Saintly Salmagundi.

Also cool:

Papal Cab

Which comes via the Shrine of the Holy Whapping.

I also recommend

Fly Guy

The INFAMOUS Helicopter Game

Attention, Students: Do not play if you have, or intend to have in the near future, a life or a viable college career.

Argh. Do you know what I found out today? For the last couple weeks there have been about three large dumpsters sitting out in front of Biddle Hall, sort of kitty-corner to where I live in good old Lincoln. They sort of obstruct the path as it advances toward East Green Street, and you have to walk around them to stay on your way. This morning, I looked back, and I saw a notice on the side of the dumpster announcing that asbestos was present and that anyone working there should have a mask on. That's what they must be doing with Biddle, taking out the asbestos. I wondered why nobody was living there this year. I also wonder if they've gotten around to doing that with Lincoln. Cough, cough.

My cold is much better. I seem to have moved from the sniffling/runny nose stage to the headache phase.

Item!

Specifically, Items! Of things I forgot to mention in my last post :)

Item: I got my French test and my Grammar quiz back yesterday. I got a B plus on the French and an 86 on the Grammar. A lot better than I thought I was going to do, yet, I am not very pleased. I do not want to turn into your average "B" student after doing so uncharacteristically well last year. Gotta work harder, I guess.

Item: In Grammar class yesterday we had a speaker from Forbes magazine. He was a nice guy, but he was extremely professional, and as I think I've said before, I am not a top-of-the-line type girl and these really suave put-together people frighten me about my choice of career and whether I'm going to be able to compete with them. The whole "looking for a job" thing scares me, actually. It's good I get to put it off for a couple more years ...

Item: Last night at seven o'clock I and one of my friends from Grammar went to see Leonard Pitts, Jr. speak at Morton Hall. He is a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the Miami Herald. He loathes Bush and seems very liberal on some issues (gay rights, etc) but conservative on issues such as Affirmative Action. The theme of his lecture was that the country is not as polarized as the media makes it out to be, and that we are all really one mostly-in-agreement family that Cable TV and other media are trying to force into different, extremist warring groups with different labels. He used Gallop poll statistics for issues such as abortion, gay marriage, etc. to make his point. Of course, there are a lot of other polls that don't show such monolithic agreement on these topics.

It was a pretty good speech and I agreed with a lot of what he said about extremism and the media. Unfortunately when we began to discuss the upcoming election, he asserted that he had never seen the country as fiercely divided as it was over Bush vs. Kerry. He made special note of the level of "anger" prevalent in the campaign. I agree with this, but doesn't it completely undercut the earlier portion of his program? That we are really united? Isn't the presidential campaign a legitimate "issue" to be divided about? Augh. Too much. Maybe he made some subtle distinctions that I missed.

The Voices in My Head

BAD ANGEL: I know you saw it.

GOOD ANGEL: I didn't see anything.

BAD ANGEL: The sheet of paper stuck on the bulletin board in Porter Hall. It says that Alden Library is having their fall quarter book sale starting Thursday! Jackpot!

GOOD ANGEL: No, it's not.

BAD ANGEL: No?

GOOD ANGEL: No. We have no money.

BAD ANGEL: Yes, we do. She has about 500 smackers on her debit card.

GOOD ANGEL: She needs that money for the rest of the school year! For textbooks! For emergencies! For living!

BAD ANGEL: Well, she can ask her parents for help if she gets in a jam. Twenty dollars here, twenty dollars there won't make much of a difference.

GOOD ANGEL: She spent twenty dollars this last weekend. She can't keep this up.

BAD ANGEL: But think of what a great deal the sales are! So much cheaper than you would get at a bookstore! After skimming through a few hardbacks she can act all intellectual and hoity-toity! This is an invaluable opportunity!

GOOD ANGEL: I'm only thinking of what's best for her in the long run.

BAD ANGEL: Liar! You want to deprive her of classic, cheaply-available literature! You're a fiend!

GOOD ANGEL: No, YOU ARE. Literally.

BAD ANGEL: Whatever.

GOOD ANGEL: Well ... Let's admit that this is a prudential matter rather than a choice between good and evil.

IMPRUDENT ANGEL: As you like it.

PRUDENT ANGEL: If I have anything to do with it, she is not going to spend money on unnecessary books.

IMPRUDENT ANGEL: But she waaaaaants to.

PRUDENT ANGEL: She also waaaaants to hunt down the mathematician who wrote her Stats book and strangle him.

IMPRUDENT ANGEL: They could be selling a copy of the Summa, with commentary, and you would have her miss it.

PRUDENT ANGEL: MONEY MUST BE SAVED. THINK OF THE STARVING CHILDREN IN DJIBOUTI AND HOW SHE SHOULD BE SENDING THEM FOOD INSTEAD OF FERRETING OUT A WATERSTAINED DOSTOEVSKY.

IMPRUDENT ANGEL: Wellllll ... How about this: We'll just go and look at what they've got on offer. And if it's any good, we'll buy it. And if the selection stinks, we won't buy anything.

PRUDENT ANGEL: Deal. I'm tired.

(IMPRUDENT ANGEL, to self): He he he, what he doesn't know is that my definition of "good" includes trashy 70s era romance novels with sticky Hawaiian Punch-stained pages !

Another loss for good ... I mean, prudence. Another loss for my wallet!

Ahhhhh Stats!!!

Okay, deep breath. My stats exam is today at six o'clock, and I think I know what I'm doing. Emphasis on think. I spent about seven hours studying yesterday, all to no avail; Leslie (who is in the Stats Hell Class with me) and I were at the end of our respective ropes as far as figuring out the eminently damnable Chapter 12: T Tests. Today after French class, I went to the Academic Advancement Center to see if they could get my head on straight. Alas, their only tutor was a young woman who had had Stats in her first quarter of college, twelve years ago. She showed me what I was doing wrong with one of the T Test problems, though. When I got home I did the math with the formula she gave me, and it didn't come out correctly!

Curses, methinks!

Luckily Leslie remembered that Dr. Bashaw was having office hours today, so I hustled over to Porter Hall and talked to her. How I loathe talking to professors one-on-one, especially when I have a frizzy hair day (most days) and am sweating from scooting across the campus at one hundred miles an hour. Also, she seemed somewhat irritated, which I guess is understandable (there was another girl in her office begging for help) and really she was pretty patient with me. No nasty snappishness.

As it turns out, the AAC tutor was right and I was just screwing up the math. Whoo hoo. Sooooo I THINK I know what I'm doing now. Yep. Hmmmm ... I need an A pretty badly - I got a 70 on my last test - so say a little prayer that I at least don't bomb this one completely.

Sooooo Cuuuuute

I named this little guy Roch after St. Roch, the patron saint of dog lovers (see his Catholic Forum bio).

ROFL

(There's a lot of rascally material in this one, as you can see from the way Edwards is dressed)




I had a great time last night. Me and the girls - and also Lyndsey's boyfriend, Jimmy, who doesn't exactly fall in the "girls" category - went out to eat. We were intending on going to this place called Miller's Chicken but they closed just as we got there! So we went to KFC, which, believe it or not, was a new experience for me. When I got home I watched the Presidential debate, live color commentary by Shannon :) She sent me a link to the above new effort from the JibJab.com boys. Fantastique. Now to prepare for Stats test on Monday. Argh.

The Estatic Heresy

From Christianity Today online - an interesting piece on the increasingly prevalent idea that what matters most with regard to sacred matters is the "feeling" and "emotional" or "transcendent" effect - not, for instance, "theology" or even "truth" - or rather, feeling is the ultimate, final test for "truth." All in all a very troubling phenomenon in mainline and even Catholic churches today.

Excerpt:

Ten Differences
These two ways of understanding God the ecstatic and the orthodox underlie the theological division in mainline Protestant churches. These differences are not always clearly articulated, and many persons have vaguely adapted portions of each. When the matter is thought through, however, these two views differ in virtually every dimension of the Christian faith.

4. Ecstatic: The task of theology is to reinterpret the faith as relevant to new cultural contexts. The content of faith evolves since culture evolves.

Orthodox: The task of theology is first and foremost to clarify and preserve the faith once delivered to the saints and to transfer it intact to each succeeding generation. Certain aspects of revelation never evolve.

5. Ecstatic: Since personhood requires objectivity that is, a person over against us who can speak to us God is not personal so much as he is an energy to be experienced.

Orthodox: God is personal, revealing himself as God the Son who became objectively incarnate in the man Jesus, with whom one can have a relationship.

7. Ecstatic: Sacraments or ordinances express the identity and unity of the ongoing life of the church.

Orthodox: In liturgical traditions, sacraments are concrete means of supernatural grace by which God transforms his people. In the free churches, ordinances are the God-ordained means by which believers show their faith in God's saving acts. Both focus on God's action.

8. Ecstatic: All religions are ultimately one since the faith of each is an expression of the Holy or Ineffable in the concrete forms of a particular culture.

Orthodox: The particulars of a religion matter, and therefore, the religions are divided by their specific content.

Click to read the rest.

(Via A Catholic Blog For Lovers).

The Catholic Church has sometimes been criticized for sentimentality in its devotions or for paying too much attention to emotionally pleasing aesthetics, but I see much greater danger for this in the Protestant churches, in the Evangelical or Pentecostal ones - the "conversion" or "born again" experience that focuses on personal emotion, the altar calls, the emotive preaching (of course, these groups also tend to be firmly focused on the Bible and so introducing doctrinal looniness would be difficult). Transcendent, transcendent, transcendent. The mainline churches, which this article focuses on, have a much greater problem in that their idea of authority has much less stability than, say, a Catholic church has with the Magisterium and an Evangelical church has with the Bible, which can lead to the sort of difficulties that are currently ripping apart the Anglican communion and causing trouble for the ECLA, the Presbyterians, and the Methodists.

Saint of the Week

St. Francis of Borgia was related to the infamous Borgia popes - he was the great-grandson of one of the most notorious Renaissance popes, Alexander VI. Yes, Alexander indulged in many sins of the flesh before his papacy, and also was elected by a corrupt conclave. The fact that he failed to corrupt Catholic teaching, and that a wonderful saint like Francis could spring up out of all this sin just goes to show you the extent of the Providence of God and the Holy Spirit's protection of the Church.

Enough blather, here's his biography:


St. Francis Borgia



(What a sacrilegious bird! Francis looks kindly, though)
1510 -1572
Feastday: October 10
Patron Saint of Portugal, invoked against earthquakes
Francis was a young nobleman at the court of the King of Spain. He became a Duke when he was only thirty-three and lived a happy, peaceful life with his wife Eleanor and their eight children. But unlike so many other powerful nobles, Francis was a perfect Christian gentleman, a true man of God and his great joy was to receive Holy Communion often. This happy life ended when his beloved wife died. Francis did something that astonished all the nobles of Spain; he gave up his Dukedom to his son Charles and became a Jesuit priest. So many people came to his first Mass that they had to set up an altar outdoors, but his Superior tested him by treating him in exactly the opposite way he had been used to all his forty-one years of life. He who had once been a Duke had to help the cook, carrying wood for the fire and sweeping the kitchen. When he served food to the priests and brothers, he had to kneel down in front of them all and beg them to forgive him for being so clumsy! Still he never once complained or grumbled. The only time he became angry was when anyone treated him with respect as if he was still a Duke. Once a doctor who had to take care of a painful wound Francis had gotten said to him: "I am afraid, my lord, that I have to hurt your grace." The saint answered that he would not hurt him more than he was right then by calling him "my lord" and "your grace." It was not too long before the humble priest accomplished wonderful works for God's glory as he preached everywhere and advised many important people. He spread the Society of Jesus all over Spain and in Portugal. When he was made Superior General of the Jesuits, he sent missionaries all over the world. Under his guidance, the Jesuits grew to be a very great help to the Church in many lands. Through all such success, St. Francis Borgia remained completely humble. His feast day is October 10.

From Catholic Online.

Interesting Spam

Today my spam box had a rather strange message with the subject line,

charlottesville wear derisive celebrant contretemps scaup slain esther alabamian aloof

When I opened it (very wise eh) it had naught but the usual shhhhpeeeeel:

We carry the following and many others
P A R A C o D I N (V I C ò D I N)

C I A L I S
S O M A
V i a g r a
A m b i e n
L i p i t o r
V a l i u m
X a n a x

There is probably some computer techie reason for the odd subject line; it probably was meant to evade my spam filter (no cigar). Interesting word choice, though. "Celebrant?" Could it be a Catholic spammer? ;) God forbid.

Ugh. It seems like the last couple weeks have been nothing but me complaining about testing and the feared results of testing. Well, guess what, more of the same this week and next ... That means I'm short on time, but I'll try to fit blogging in in between my French exam and my stay in the mental hospital ;)

Ever wonder ...

About the "rules" on how a bride should dress? Well, here are some rules for a Catholic wedding, at least, from EWTN's massive library:

An excerpt:

A reader from Westminster, in England, points out that white is the usual color in the Western world because it usually signified the bride’s virginity. For this reason, in most Western cultures, a widow entering a second marriage would almost invariably eschew the formal bridal gown for simpler attire.

Our reader points out that in today’s world: “many brides come to the altar after a long period of cohabitation, often after bearing children.” The reader thus recommends that priests should encourage brides who arrive at marriage in this state to choose a less formal dress “out of modesty and honesty for herself, and through charity to those brides who approach their marriages in a pure state, that their traditional symbolic dress may not be debased or usurped.”

Click for the whoooooole thing

Much sadness, for it says that weddings are "not encouraged" during Lent and Advent. That sort of puts the kibosh on my fantasy Christmas wedding, doesn't it? Although it also says that "exceptions can be made." Ah well, best to work on finding the lucky bridegroom before picking out china patterns ... I suppose. Not as much fun, though!

St. Thomas Aquinas

Great piece on St. Thomas Aquinas: The Silence of Saint Thomas, by Joseph Pieper. Got this via A Catholic Page for Lovers, one of the very best sites I've ever stumbled onto on the net. I also highly recommend the blog, A Catholic Blog for Lovers. Great stuff!

I particularly appreciate finding this essay on St. Thomas Aquinas, because he is one of my favorite saints, yet there is so little one can deduce about his personality from his writing - very much unlike St. Augustine, as the article notes. So I'm very, very grateful. It also gave some interesting background on the torturous early days of the Franciscans and the Dominicans, and how they were not exactly welcomed with open arms throughout Christendom. Fascinating.

I am jealous

My brothers and my dad got to see the President, who was in Northeastern Ohio yesterday. My poor mother was at work! As you can see, they managed to get thisclose:





(Nice angle, Dad ;)



I will close by quoting my brilliant journopolisci Hudson chica, Shannon, who was the one who alerted me to the impending presidential visit in the first place. She was also at the rally and probably spent it chanting (screaming) "Four more years! FOUR MORE YEARS!!!" Or else, alternating between that and "Why's the rum gone?"

I forget who asked

But here is the line-by-line translation of the little "motto" up at the top above my dear St. Tony:

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts.

Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua

Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.

Hosanna, in excelsis

Hosanna in the highest.

Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini

Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in excelsis.

Hosanna in the highest.

From "The Mass - Text and Translation"

This is the part of the Mass called "the Sanctus" since it begins, duh, with the word "Sanctus." My Catholic friends will recognize this as the "Holy, Holy, Holy" we sing at Mass on Sundays - although we pause after "Lord" and instead of "God of Hosts" we sing, "God of power and might." Apparently this is an unfortunate mistranslation that worked its way in with the updating of the liturgy. See this article from Adoremus.

Sigh ... liturgical problems ... gurgle in throat ... as though choking ...

Ah. Remember, the hallmark of a Christian is joy ...

Not a bad night at all!

We went over to Gamertsfelder for Lyndsey's little partay around sixish. We got pizza, gave her some presents, and watched a movie or two. A good time was had by all, as far as I could see! Then we went ice skating. I was scared to death - me and slippery things do not get along well together. At all. The police have been called on at least four separate occasions to respond to domestic disturbances involving me and "slippery things." All right, enough of that. The point is, I was pretty sure that I was going to be spending most of the night on the ice ... Lying on it, not skating on it. Ohhhh look I said "lying" instead of "laying!" I used it correctly! I think! Take that, Grammar Class from Naziland! I think!

Anyway ... Now that I have mostly recovered from that particular manic episode ...

I only fell twice! Well, technically three times - on one occasion I fell twice as I was trying to get up. You can imagine how humiliating that was. However, by the end of the evening, I was doing sort of better - skating away from the wall for a few seconds, at least, before almost losing my balance and rushing back. Lyndsey, who was going on and on about what a horrible skater she was, did quite well! I saw her, she was fine! That liar, she said she was going to be hanging out in the penalty box all night. Lying liar ;) It was actually really fun, an adrenaline rush you might say. Even falling had its own thrill for me - when it did not utterly embarrass me, of course. If there was no one there but me and my friends I would have been a bit more daring and I wouldn't have minded falling at all. Not minded much, anyway!

I'll definitely go again! It was cheap fun for a Friday night!

New Month

So, it's October 1st. Aren't you pleased as punch? Lyndsey's birthday is tomorrow and she's going home for the weekend, so we're having our little get-together tonight. We're going ICE SKATING. I am sure this will be interesting, especially since I have never gone. Minor exaggeration. I did go when I was about six, but all I remember is being dragged around the rink screaming my head off. Never went back, of course ... ;) I'll tell you all the sure-to-be gory details tomorrow. LOL I'm sure it will be fun ...