Seamus Heaney: R.I.P.

The great Irish poet, Seamus Heaney, died yesterday.  R.I.P.

Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995, Heaney's first book, The Death of a Naturalist, was published in 1965.

From the Glanmore Sonnets:

VIII

 

Thunderlight on the split logs: big raindrops   

At body heat and lush with omen

Spattering dark on the hatchet iron.

This morning when a magpie with jerky steps   

Inspected a horse asleep beside the wood   

I thought of dew on armour and carrion.

What would I meet, blood-boltered, on the road?   

How deep into the woodpile sat the toad?

What welters through this dark hush on the crops?   

Do you remember that pension in Les Landes   

Where the old one rocked and rocked and rocked   

A mongol in her lap, to little songs?   

Come to me quick, I am upstairs shaking.   

My all of you birchwood in lightning.

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But will they try the haggis?

Those Nashville Dominican Sisters are popping up in the oddest places. . .

SCOTLAND!

Bishop Hugh Gilbert of Aberdeen has welcomed the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, popularly known as the Nashville Dominicans, to his diocese. 

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Blackfriar Films!

Check out Blackfriar Films!
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We forget the lessons of history. . .to our peril.

German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, visited the Dachau concentration camp and pledged, "Never again."

Glad to hear that. 

What does she have to say about the genocide of Coptic Christians in Egypt?

As Merkel spoke, Copts and other Christians in Egypt were reeling from a wave of attacks more savage than any in modern Egyptian history. Islamist mobs across the country torched scores of churches — some more than 1,000 years old — along with convents, monasteries, and Christian-owned homes and businesses. A Franciscan school near Cairo was looted and burned, said Sister Manal, the principal; then she and other nuns were paraded through the streets “like prisoners of war” to the jeers and abuse of the mob.  

Read the whole thing.
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Dominican Sisters. . .

Another great Dominican story!

This time the sisters get the spotlight. . .specifically, the Mater Eucharistiae Dominican Sisters of Ann Arbor, MI.

Recently, I found myself uncharacteristically glued to a game show because of a group of religious sisters. The Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, captured my imagination as they walloped through the American Bible Challenge this spring. I found myself voting every day and reminding my husband that I had a show I wanted to watch.

Now. . .we need a story on the Nuns and the Laity and we'll have a complete picture of Dominican life.

The Shrinking Ample Friar

Some good news. . .

I've lost 12lbs. since the second week of July!

My plan: no carbs at breakfast or lunch. Regular meal w/o desert in the evening. No snacking. Lots of water.

The breakfast/lunch portion of this plan is very easy. The seminary cafeteria provides lots of options, including an excellent salad bar with fresh mixed greens and fruit. They usually put out cold, sliced chicken or beef.

The problem days are Saturday and Sunday when I'm "on my own" at the priory. Oy.

So, by Christmas I hope to be under 250. 

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Dominicans at Work: the Western Province

A few weeks ago, Jeff Mirus of Catholic Culture posted a good article on the Dominican friars of the Eastern Province (USA). 

He follows that nice piece with one on the Western Province!

One interesting bit that I didn't know:  "The Western House of Studies is the only one in the United States where the brothers can learn not only the reverent celebration of the liturgies of the post-Conciliar period but also the old Dominican rite. To me, this recalls that saying of Our Lord’s, 'Every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old' (Mt 13:52)."

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Participation in the Apostolic Witness

A reminder to all the Preaching Clergy in the Church out there from the U.S. bishops:

 

Preaching is nothing less than a participation in the dynamic power of the apostolic witness to the very Word that created the world, the Word that was given to the prophets and teachers of Israel, and the Word that became flesh.

This amazing bit of homiletic theology comes from the bishops' new document on preaching, Preaching the Mystery of Faith.

We discussed it briefly in my homiletics class this morning.  

Preaching is not about the Cult of the Preacher. . .or about Father's personal agenda. . .or about saying as little as possible in order to avoid offending the Big Donors. . .or a report on Father's latest visit to the shrink. . .or a platform for spouting New Age nonsense and heresy.

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Mendicant Gratitude

A big Mendicant Thanks to the generous soul who sent me copies of Paul Helm's books, Faith with Reason and Faith & Reason.  These two were lost by Poste Italiane when I moved back to the U.S. from Rome.

Also, my thanks for Making Sense of Nietzsche and Experiments Against Reality. Both will be helpful in my upcoming seminar.

There was no packing invoice with these books, so I can't thank y'all by name; however, like all my Book Benefactors, you will go on my daily prayer list!

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