It's raining vocations. . .

The Dominicans are raking in the vocations!

Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, OP addresses the provincial assembly of St Joseph's Province, USA:

"In the end, God is sending us these vocations because the Dominican charism is urgently needed in the Church today. I would stand behind every word of my "Dominican moment" presentation at the provincial assembly in 1999. Our tradition is constituted by a unique convergence of qualities: 

1) optimism about the rationality and fundamental goodness of the natural order; 

2) an abiding certitude that divine grace and mercy are sheer gifts, unmerited and otherwise unattainable; 

3) a healthy realism about the peril of the human condition apart from this grace and mercy; 

4) a determination to maintain a God's-eye-view of everything that exists and everything that happens; 

5) an appreciation of the inner intelligibility of everything that God has revealed about himself and us; 

6) a wholly admirable resistance to all purely moralistic accounts of the Catholic faith; 

7) an unfailing devotion to the Eucharist and the Passion, combined with an unshakable confidence in the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary; 

8) a zealous willingness to preach and teach about all this, in season and out, because we are convinced that the world is dying to hear it and dying from not hearing it; 

9) and, internally, a commitment to liturgical prayer, to study for the sake of the salvation of souls, and to a capitular mode of governance* in a common life consecrated to God by poverty, chastity and obedience. 

This is a powerful combination, and the Church really does need us to be true to it now more than ever."

* Dominican priories and provinces are governed by elected Chapters of friars who then elect local and provincial leadership and set policy.  All elected offices in the Order--from Master of the Order to the local prior--have term-limits.

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Coffee Bowl Browsing

The Left spent eight years laying the blame for everything from socio-economic injustices to natural disasters on Bush, making the President of the U.S. the nexus of all causes and responsible for all effects:  ". . .unfortunately for President Obama, [this move] has become a nihilistic genie who cannot be put back into a bottle."

B.O.'s Labor Dept celebrates:  $863 billion for "green job" creation!  Woo-Hoo!!  Then wonders:  now, can someone Out There tells us what a "green job" is? 

An exemplary bishop shows the whole Church how to handle the potentially explosive issue of openly gay Catholics serving at Mass.  The key?  Be a pastor/teacher and not a legal client. 

The inevitable evolution of the Culture of Death:  nurses admit to murdering patients.

On two sorts of fundamentalism banging together their equally thick skulls.

Will B.O. abandon our only reliable Middle East ally at the next U.N. Security Council?  Probably.  Fortunately, the U.N.S.C. is largely irrelevant to reality.

Italian police tapping the Pope's phone calls?  Yes, but it's not as bad as it sounds.  Yet.

Former Anglican bishop proclaims, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if there were as many sexualities as there are human beings?"  Needless to say, the ex-bishop is divorced and currently playing with his new found homosexuality.

Get Religion dissects the latest pathetic attempt by Madonna-wanna, Lady GaGa, to shock and appall the bourgeois.  Of course, all she's really doing is playing to her highly trained, equally debauched cheerleading squad of Hollywood suckups and NYT readers.  Should Catholics be outraged?  No.  Brats want attention when they pitch fits.  Just chuckle quietly to yourself, shake your head, and continue on with your life.

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A new design

A new look for HancAquam. . .what do you think?

Blogger was no longer offering a way to customize the older templates, so it was either stay with the old design forever or make a change.


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Itinerancy & the Wish List

After a flurry of much appreciated activity on the Wish List, I'll be closing the link soon.  

I will once again become the classical itinerant friar in about nine days, moving from Rome to Mississippi to Texas to Oxford and back to Rome.

Hoping that books could keep up with an ever-shifting shipping address is probably not a good idea.

Besides, the overwhelming generosity of my book benefactors has given me more than enough material to keep me out of any serious trouble over summer!  Well, let's hope so anyway.

There's a sizable stack of books sitting at my parents' house in Mississippi.  They've been thoroughly impressed by this example of Catholic largess!  It's always a good thing to have the Baptist parents of a Catholic priest impressed by his fellow Catholics.

Mille grazie!

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Coffee Bowl Browsing

Fascinating ruling from a Maryland court on the constitutionality of a law that makes fortune-telling illegal.  This decision is fascinating--to me anyway--because the ruling hinges on whether or not fortune-tellers are involved in fraud. 

"Illegal aliens" vs. "Undocumented workers."  Once again our political betters among the leftist elite demonstrate their faith in the ability of language to create reality.  As usual, its a cynical ploy.

Evangelical roundtable discussion on illegal immigration:  "Is there a 'Christian position' on illegal immigration? Would it be un-Christian to expel illegal immigrants who have built their lives in the United States?"  As I understand the Church's position, the State is morally obligated to enforce all legitimately enacted laws.  Catholics are morally obligated to follow these laws so long as they coincide with the natural law.  The question seems to be whether or not immigration laws are consistent with the natural law.

Why aren't the Hollywood glitterati who flocked to the Gulf of Mexico after Katrina clogging Interstate 10 to get there now as millions of gallons of oil gush into the Gulf?  That's easy.  Their guy is in the White House now.

Violence against a Tea Party demonstration in NC.  The video was removed from Youtube.  I wonder why?  Could it be because the story violates the "Tea Pariters are the Violent Extremists" meme of the MSM?  Or is it that the puncher is a black union activist and the punchee a white Tea Partier?  You can see the video here.

More on Stephen Hawkings' attempt to use a strictly materialist scientific method to answer a metaphysical/existential question.  The question, "Why is there something rather than nothing?" cannot be answered by science.

A report on Haitian voodoo.  I believe that the human fascination with magic is directly related to our deeply planted desire to live sacramentally.  Turning to magic/voodoo/occult practices is a disordered attempt to satisfy this desire.

Rocket propelled chainsaw. . .built for terrorists, works on Zombies too!

Birds and the Bees (Computer Geek version 2.0)

Why I wear a beard. . .

Military humor. . .

Sacred Heart homily (2007)

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus: Ez 34.11-16; Rom 5.5-11; Luke 15.3-7
Fr. Philip N. Powell, OP
Serra Club Mass (Church of the Incarnation)

What does it mean to “boast of God”? Paul tells the Romans that b/c they are reconciled to the Father in Christ Jesus that they may boast of God. Are we to brag about His power? His mercy? Are we to talk him up like a presidential candidate? Or are we lifting Him up so that we might be lifted up as well? Rising in glory with Him? These all seem a little self-serving. A little too much like pride slopping over the edges of vanity and spilling out into self-promotion. Such publicity—especially for personal enlargement—does little to strenghten the source of legit boasting: a Christ-shaped heart pounding out the loving blood of service and sacrifice. Our Good Shepherd rescues us from the rugged gullies and the dark forests and brings us back to level ground and light. It is precisely his love for us that sends him out in search of just me or just you. With great joy he finds us lost and celebrates our return. That joy, that elation at the return of just one lost soul is the burst of holy fire, the BANG! of the Spirit that shakes our own hearts, lets us feel his pleasure at giving his Father one more broken spirit. So full are we then with the light and warmth and glow and crackle and silk smooth love of Christ’s sacrifice that our own hearts are set apart, consecrated for holy duties, becoming that place in us out of which we serve and serve and serve. The Good Shepherd knows his sheep because his sheep pump his blood; his sheep hold his sacred heart in their bodies and feel the pounding of all the love he can pour in. He died for us while we were still sinners. Still sinners. He died for us confident that our own hearts—tabernacles made to hold his presence—would come alive with his blood. The Psalmist says this morning, “Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life.” Can you say that? Listening to the thump of the shepherd in your heart, can you say that goodness and kindness will follow you…everyday of your life? If not, do not boast of God. Do not claim His presence or patronage. If your heart will burst with goodness, then boast! Tell it all to the world! Boast of His words, deeds, and what He has done for you. Boast your witness until the conflagration of all sacred hearts.

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Children's homily for the Sacred Heart (2007)

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus: Ez 34.11-16; Rom 5.5-11; Luke 15.3-7
Fr. Philip N. Powell, OP
DECAT Mass (St. Rita)

[NB. This homily was written for and preached to about 250 fifth graders who are finishing up their time in the diocese's DECAT program (a summer program for academically gifted children attending Catholic schools). The sound is weird b/c I was moving around a lot. Also, this is the first time I have ever preached w/o reading my homily. . .] 

PODCAST!

Having grown up Baptist in the deep south, it took me a long time to get used to this Catholic habit of venerating holy body parts: the arm of Aloysius, the head of Agnes, the chipped up bones of Martin, Dominic, Ignatius. Pieces of clothing or keepsakes like glasses or bookmarks seemed perfectly fine. But taking a saint’s pinkie bone and locking it in a gold trimmed, vacuumed sealed glass case for safe travel around the world…well, that’s just creepy. Spending time in Rome didn’t help me being any less creeped out either. Made it worse in fact! There’s a church there made of nothing but human skulls and thigh bones. It seems like every church has a Holy Body Part in a box and some have the whole body! Now, here we are today honoring the sacred heart of Jesus. What exactly are we honoring? And why?

Let’s answer these questions with this one: what is the link between Jesus’ sacred heart and this morning’s biblical image of Jesus as a good shepherd? To start an answer to this question and the two previous questions, we need to know what the heart is and does in our Catholic spirituality. Historically, the heart for our faith is a symbol of the whole person, the person made whole by God, brought to the fullness of healing, and set right in holiness. All of the various images of the heart bear this out: the pierced heart of Mary, showing us her grief; the crowned heart of Jesus, showing us his triumph over death in heaven, and so on. The heart is also a mystical image of our covenant with God. Think of your heart as a tabernacle, a holy vault where you keep your promises to God and He keeps His to you. Your heart then is that place in your soul where you are closest to God, most intimate with the Holy Spirit; your heart is the center of our very being, the source of your life.

Now, I have to tell you what your heart isn’t, or better yet how the word “heart” gets used in our popular media and why that use doesn’t apply to us here. How many of you have heard Disney characters tell the story’s hero: “Just follow your heart! Feel your way along!” I heard Yoda say this to Obi Wan Kenobi just yesterday afternoon. I groaned out loud and switched the channel back to Mythbusters. At least they were blowing up raw chickens with nitro. The idea that the “heart” rules our deliberations, governs our passions, and serves as an infallible guide to our decision-making isn’t all that crazy if (IF!) we remember that God governs the heart. But Hollywood generally means that we should just do what we want to do and use the excuse “I was just following my heart” to justify whatever mess we cause in acting irrationally.

OK. Back to Jesus’ sacred heart and the Good Shepherd. Here’s what Christ wants for you and from you. What he wants for you is a life of holiness lived in service to others. There is no holiness for the Christian without service to others. Let me say that again: if you do not serve others—help other people when they need your help—you cannot grow in holiness. God loves you and His love for you is perfected (made complete, whole) in you when you use your talents and gifts for the benefit of others. Your job is to become Christ for other people—doing what he did, teaching what he taught, and preaching what he preached. You can do this with your brains, your hands, your back, with music, words, paints, numbers, motherly talents, fatherly talents, with technology, without it, in an office or a church, with song, dance, a poem or a novel, whatever gift God has given you to improve on: use it, use all of them, for others. That’s what Jesus wants for you.

What does he want from you? Christ is the Good Shepherd, his heart is holy, his relationship with His Father is perfect. Everything that Christ is as a person is wholly perfect in God the Father and the Holy Spirit. There is nothing we can give Christ or do for Christ that will add to his perfection. All we can do is multiple his love in the Church. So what he wants from us is to be good shepherds ourselves. To be men and women with strong hearts, clear vision, peaceful souls, and welcoming arms. Sometimes the shepherd has to redirect the flock from danger. Sometimes a sheep wanders away and must be brought back. Sometimes the wolves chase the flock and the shepherd has to defend his sheep. Each of us is responsible for the flock in his or her own way. Make sure your heart, that place in your soul where you keep the covenant, is ready for the challenge, ready to break free and get to work for God’s greater glory!

Paul writes to the Romans: “The love of God has been poured out into your hearts through the Holy Spirit…God [has proven] his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Notice here: Christ did not wait for us to stop sinning before he died for us. He died so that we might be freed from sin. The Good Shepherd came running after us. We don’t have to find him. He has already found us. Now, we walk around with the tabernacle of God’s love, with hearts brightened by the Spirit’s fire.

Do what you must to perfect your gifts and talents. And a huge part of that perfection will be using your gifts and talents for the benefit of others. Some would say to you that you are too young to be thinking about giving your life to a gift or a talent or a service. I say: now is precisely the time to take on a passion, to pick up a call to do something heroic, to do something holy and to be a saint. When it comes to God perfecting His love in you, why would anyone choose to wait until later?

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Coffee Bowl Browsing

Ahhhh, the stench of progressive tolerance and inclusion in the morning. . .

The man who gave us the Pentagon Papers says, "Obama is deceiving us."

Is B.O. "the alien in the White House"? 

Do feminists disparage conservative women at their peril? 

The BP oil spill did not happen b/c of Reaganesque de-regulation.  It happened b/c BP imprudently climbed in bed with Big Government.  The media are being prevented from reporting on the effects of the spill by BP and local/federal government officials.

Primary victories show that the political thuggery of unions is really just bad performance art.

An example of judicial prose from back when judges studied classical rhetoric.  Good stuff!

Judicial activism across the ideological spectrum.  This is not surprising.  Few people, believing their ideas to be true, and given the power to implement them, would resist the temptation to do so.

If pictures can speak a thousand words, then the doctored photos printed by Reuters scream, "We hate Israel!"

Stephen Hawking uses a false dichotomy between faith and reason to push for the superiority of science in human endeavors.  Hawkins laughably claims that faith relies on authority alone while science relies on reason.  Any anti-global warming scientists out there try to get published in Nature lately?  Hawkins is a victim of what I call "alethic hubris" in my thesis.

Satan appeared in a church one day and said to an elderly man in the front pew. . .

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Dissertation topic

Several HancAquam book benefactors have asked about the topic of my doctoral dissertation.   They want to know what sort of academic work they are helping to fund!

My license thesis took on the problematic relationship between science and religion, arguing that a critical realist epistemology and a healthy dose of humility when making truth-claims on both sides represents the best way for the two ancient contestants to make peace.  I used the work of physicist-priest, John Polkinghorne, as my principle inspiration for this argument.

My dissertation topic will leave philosophy of science behind and take up the recently revived question of religious skepticism and divine hiddenness.  The question being asked:  if God wants us to believe that He exists, why doesn't He reveal Himself in such a way that disbelief would be unreasonable and culpable?  IOW, as it stands, our knowledge of God allows disbelief to be seen as reasonable and inculpable, both logical and blameless. 

I hope to focus on the philosophical implications of divine revelation, paying particular attention to how a Christian understanding of divine love entails that God remain hidden in order to honor human freedom.  Unfortunately, most of the work done on this question has been done by Anglo-American analytical philosophers, i.e. not Thomists or continental philosophers.

This wiki entry provides an excellent overview of the issues and lots of external links to primary and secondary sources.

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Coffee Bowl Browsing

A journalistic series to follow:  how the academy is used to push leftist propaganda using tax-payer money.

Not just torture but experimental torture. . .If these allegations are true, then heads need to roll!

I recently saw the movie, Unthinkable.  An American military expert in nuclear arms has converted to Islam and used his expertise to plant several nuclear bombs all over the country.  The dramatic tension of the movie revolves around a race between an FBI agent and an outlawed Army interrogator to persuade the terrorist to disclose the location of the bombs.  The agent uses humane techniques.  The interrogator tortures.  The movie does a good job of laying out the moral dilemmas of torture in the often-cited "ticking bomb" scenario used by proponents of torture.

Chinese Computer Geeks Riot!  Inmates at an internet addiction camp stage a coup.

Dealing with binge drinking among college students.  Yes, we need to lower the legal drinking age to 18.  History tells us that prohibitionist solutions tend to make problems worse.

Excuse Maker-in-Chief tells grads not to make excuses. . .a linked list of his excuses included.

Is abortion a form of demon sacrifice?  In a manner of speaking, yes, it is.

Deconstructing the iPhone:  a Heideggerian analysis

Graphic representations of information. . .using beautiful designs to convey complex info.

Great quotes about writing from writers.  My fav:  "Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them."  --Flannery O'Connor

The infamous Robotic Facial Hair defeater in all arguments.  Use with caution.  Assembly required.

An ad for a poker magazine:  can you pull off this bluff?  I don't think so.

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Altar girls: permissible but not prudent

That the Holy Father has given permission for the use of altar girls tells us that the practice cannot be illegal or sacramentally invalidating. 

The question is whether or not it is prudent to ask girls to serve. Given what we know about 1) the reluctance of boys to take on roles that girls are encouraged to take; 2) how altar service leads to priestly vocations; and 3) the feminist agenda behind how altar girls came out--it seems to me that it is not prudent to invite young girls to serve in a parish setting.

Whether we like it or not, young boys do not rush to take on roles that girls are encouraged to take.  If 40 years of feminist indoctrination pushing the idea that equality means sameness hasn't convinced 10 y.o. boys that girls' role aren't icky, then I don't know what will convince them.  There is almost nothing more important to a 10 y.o. boy than to be seen as "not a girl."  We can argue ourselves into the dirt about how wrong this is, but we might as well stand outside at dawn and argue with the sun that it ought to be rising in the west!

There is ample evidence that altar service often leads to priestly vocations.  Since priests are indispensable to the ministry of the Church, we can't set aside the practice of all-male altar service simply b/c boys ought to know better.  

Those who pushed hardest for female servers in the 70's and 80's did so out of a philosophical and political agenda alien to the Church's understanding of the essential differences btw men and women.  The most damaging element of this agenda is the idea that ministers are merely functional; that is, there is nothing more to ministerial service than performing a function during a sacred service.  If a girl can "do the job," let her do it.  This notion is fine for all secular jobs, but ministerial service is not merely functional; it is also sacramental.  The early proponents of female servers often claimed that their stand was "prophetic" and would help Catholics "get used" to the idea of women on the altar when the Church finally got around to ordaining women as priests.  This exact argument was made in the Episcopal Church--that opposition to female priests was rooted in an aesthetic discomfort--and look at what's happened to that venerable institution.

So, girls serving the altar is permissible but probably not prudent, especially in a parish setting.

As I noted in an earlier post, I have asked women to serve Mass at the University of Dallas.  This came about primarily b/c none of the men I asked would serve.  There were several reasons the guys gave for not serving, but the most prominent was, "Sorry, Father, but I haven't been to confession."  This same reason was often given by both men and women when asked to serve as EMHC.  At one point in my last semester at U.D. I started postponing the start of Mass until I had all the help I needed.  I had to do this four or five times--postponing the start of Mass up to 20 mins!--before my message got through. 

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The Rainbow Bishop

The Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church recently sent a pastoral letter to her people defending TEC's radical innovations to the catholic faith.  GetReligion has the story, along with some questions that the media haven't asked.


If you are interested in the complex ecclesial issues behind this letter (and that hideous cope), check out Chris Johnson's take.

Coffee Bowl Browsing

Americans aren't buying the anti-Israeli/pro-Hamas spin of the MSM's coverage of the flotilla fracas.  Good on them.

Lots of pics and reports on the recent Stop the Mosque at Ground Zero rally. I'm not entirely sure what I think about this issue.  Not all Muslims are terrorists.  Nothing--that I know of--requires Muslims to be violent in the propagation of their faith.  But I can certainly understand why the families of 9/11 victims would be peeved.

Is there a "pedator-priest" problem in the Catholic Church? No.

Is being anti-Catholic essential to being English?  I hope not!  If I forced to renounce my American citizenship, I would immediately apply to become a subject of Her Majesty, the Queen.  My third choice?  Refugee status in the Vatican City State.

As a reasonably educated person with a deeply held sense of fairness, I realize that Wal-Mart is not always good for the local businesses it usurps.  However, as a Partisan Redneck with limited funds, I say, "Leave Wal-Mart alone!"

Fr. Z. tackles the thorny issue of female altar servers at a celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass.  I've never celebrated the E.F.--probably never will--so I don't have a dog in this fight.  If I were a parish priest, I would not allow female altar servers for all the reasons normally given for this exclusion.  However, as a university chaplain, I frequently asked young women to serve.  The difference?  Boys are put off serving when girls are allowed to serve.  I hope this isn't a problem for college-aged men.  And I wish it weren't a problem for the boys!

Q:  do the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip need humanitarian aid?  A:  Not if infant morality rates are any indication of humanitarian need.

B.O.'s failure to promote an essential American value:  religious freedom.

The inevitability of a persecuted Catholic Church. . ."the gates of hell shall not prevail. . ."

Gangster hermeneutics:  Robert Frost as Poetic Thug 

On lying to children about the culinary habits of rhinos.

40 sayings from Nietzsche that promise to rock your world.

You know you wanna hear this guy's story!

Are you a psycho-killer?  Take the test!

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Chevron 10 encoded!

You have to be three different kinds of Nerds to get this. . .

Coffee Bowl Browsing

Continuing fallout from the anti-Semitic rantings of the Left's favorite "journalist."  Imagine, if you will, Rush/Beck/Hannity/etc. declaring on national TV:  "Blacks back to Africa!  Out of the US!"  

Her co-author quits.  High school cancels her graduation appearance.  Heh.  Apparently, the only people who aren't offended by her naked racism are her fellow-lefty travelers in the MSM.

Papal visit to the U.K. is in a "state of chaos"?  What's going on up there?  If I were the suspicious type I'd say someone in the Church up there wants to keep the Holy Father's away from his people.

Different Franciscans, different habits:  what do the differences mean?  A venerable OP friar told me once that OP's wear the capuce (the "hoodie") as a sign of perpetual permission to leave the convent in order to preach.  By contrast, a monk would wear the capuce as a sign that he had permission to be out of the monastery.

Our post-American Commander-in-Chief skips out on D-Day celebrations to attend his second party this week.  Can Nov. 2012 come fast enough?  Are Dems sabotaging The Won?  Naw.  He's doing well enough on his own.

And in other democratic news. . .I mean Democrat News. . .they really don't want to give their employers another chance to yell at them if it means their butt-chewing will end up on Youtube.

"W" is still a powerhouse!  Two years out of the White House and he can cause radical Islamic terrorists to beat up Israeli troops and make those troops kill civilians.  Wow.  If I had that kinda power, I could pass the French exam!

The Church of England continues its suicidal slide into total evangelical irrelevance.   What's next?  Muslim bishops? 

This chipmunk does NOT need acting classes.

Math nerd pie. . .yes, even math nerds need the occasional pastry-fix.

Statistical proof that you are less likely to be killed in the Iraqi War Theater than you are in D.C.

Signs for our (illiterate) times. . .

The best kind of sarcasm?  Zen sarcasm!

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23rd of 25! Could be better, could be worse. . .

Eric Sammons at The Divine Life has tallied the top 25 most subscribed-to Catholic blogs on Google Reader. The results:

(1) What Does the Prayer Really Say?: 4841
(2) Whispers in the Loggia: 4685
(3) Charlotte Was Both: 3053
(4) Conversion Diary: 1817
(5) New Advent Blog: 1429
(6) Creative Minority Report: 1248
(7) Patrick Madrid: 1173
(8) Standing on my Head: 1156
(9) The Hermeneutic of Continuity: 1053
(10) Damian Thompson: 954
(11) Rorate Caeli: 933
(12) The New Liturgical Movement: 892
(13) Ask Sister Mary Martha: 867
(14) Mere Comments: 811
(15) Catholic and Enjoying It!: 796
(16) Ignatius Insight Scoop: 749
(17) By Sun and Candlelight: 712
(18) Catholic Cuisine: 648
(19) The Shrine of the Holy Whapping: 643
(20) Testosterhome: 638
(21) Happy Catholic: 607
(22) The Crescat: 573
(23) Domine, da mihi hanc aquam!: 521
(24) Shower of Roses: 481
(25) Wildflowers and Marbles: 474

See the list of the Top 200 Most Popular Catholic Blogs over at my main website.


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Two more pics

For Moniales. . .per a request!

Fr. Alfred Wilder, Thomist philosopher-theologian of the Southern Dominican Province.  Fr. Wilder presided at the conventual Mass this morning for the last time in his 37 year teaching career here at the Angelicum.  He is headed back to the U.S. this summer.

Santa Croce. . .

Unexpected discovery:  the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, a.k.a. Opus Dei U.

Helpful signs for Santa Croce students. . .

A quick guide to the local fauna.

Advertising Opus Dei style!

At the Campo

A wide selection of coral jewelry available at the Campo.

Arciconfraternita S. Maria Dell'Orazione E Morte, (Confraternity of St Mary of the Oration and the Dead)Indirizzo:

A stone etching on the outside of the church above, a place to put donations for candles for the dead.





















Another etching with a slot for donations.

On to Campo de Fiori!

Fr. Benedict appears to be in a subjunctive mood for our outing.

The Largo Argentina. . .part of the ruins of Pompey's grand theater and market complex. 

Foundation of one of the temples in the Largo Argentina ruins. 

Church of St Barbara. . .this is supposed to be the site where the Senators murdered Julius Caesar on the steps of Pompey's new Senate House.

Market day at the Campo de Fiori.  This is where you wanna be if you like to cook with fresh ingredients.

The campo's notorious ex-Dominican friar and heretic, Giordano Bruno.

Coffee Bowl Browsing

Israelis are damned by the Left. . .no matter what they do.  So, they should ignore the predictable whining and moral equivocating and protect themselves. 

Why is planning for the pope's trip to the U.K. in Sept in such a mess?  Could it be that the "Spirit of Vatican Two Peace Bong Hipsters" the bishops' conference has running the show would rather the Ole Geezer just stay in Rome?

Oops. . .Elena Kagan's paper trail is exposing her to be anything but the Judicial Blank Slate B.O. is presenting her to be. 

Is it legal to videotape police officers while they are doing their job?  Yes, it is.  Just don't let your film making interfere with an arrest.  I think good cops would welcome the scrutiny b/c it helps them keep their depts. clean.

Climate Science's Bad Rep:  ". . .climate science is facing reputational meltdown similar to the Roman Catholic church's over allegations of child abuse and the British parliament's following the scandal over MPs' expenses."  Sorry.  Not buying the comparisons.  First, Catholics have always freely confessed that we are limited beings constantly struggling with sin and failure.  Second,  everyone expects politicians to be money-grubbing ego-maniacs.  However, Global Warming Cultists have been anything but humble in their preaching and unexpectedly greedy for tax dollars. 

Ten Strange Texts

More Legal Firearms = Less Violent Crime. . .so says the FBI. 

Unpacking and debunking some of the persistent myths dramatized in the new film, Agora.   I've seen the movie and it is exactly what we've come to expect from contemporary pagan portrayals of Christians in history.  Christians are anti-intellectual, anti-art/music, anti-science, anti-female, blahblahblah. 

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More Turista pics (links added)

Duh?  I think you know this one.

Constantin's Arch right next to the Coliseum.

The Capitoline Museums

Church & State: The V.E.M. and Basilica di Santa Maria in Ara coeli

Il Turista (links added)

I played tourist today. . .here are just a few of the pics I took:

Down the Salita del Grillo toward the via Cavour.  The wall on the right is one of the walls of Trajan's Market.

Vespasian's Forum of Peace.  They still use the inside of this structure for concerts.  To the right of this structure is the Basilica of Cosmas and Damian.

Guess. . .?

Part of the Old Roman Forum

Statue at the Capitoline Museums.

Trajan's Column with St Peter on top

Fishy Background

Who's that fishy in the window. . .of your laptop? One of the sample pics that came with the Window's OS.

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Yet more pics

Proof that I can clean my desk!

(NB.  This pic has been up for almost 12 hrs and I've not rec'd one appreciative comment from Scuba Becky, MightyMom, or my Lovely English Lady Friend!  What's a friar gotta do?  Mop the floor?!!)

University building for deans' offices and classrooms. 

Two Angelicum students heading off to take exams. . .

A few more pics

The Priory Chapel at the Angelicum

Pics from Angelicum's Eucharistic Adoration

Inside SS. Domenico e Sisto for Adoration after the 2010 annual Eucharistic Procession.

Nuns enough for ya?  Adoration after the Procession.

(Pic credit:  Fr. Benedict Croell, OP)

More Rome pics

 The Angelicum's courtyard. . .the trees on the right are orange trees.

The Angelicum's backyard. . .which is really an orchard:  orange, lemon, apple, pear, etc.

Rome Pics

I went down to the V.E.M. this morning to watch the National Day parades. . .but it was too crowded to see anything. 

So, I snapped a few pics.

This is La Chiesa dei Santi Domenico e Sisto. . .and the entrance to the Angelicum.  I had just missed getting our resident gypsy, Maria, in the pic.

Coffee Bowl Browsing

President Thin Skin:  "In Obama's eyes, he is always the aggrieved, always the violated, always the victim of some injustice."  What else could he think given that his entire career has been one long series of exceptions being made by guilty white liberals? 

Even Mother Nature is weary of his speechifying.

Alternative narratives to the "Evil Israeli Soldiers Slaughter Innocent Peace Activists" meme being pushed by the lefty media.  Some commentary on this P.R. disaster.  Predictable condemnations of Israel.

What if the euro/E.U. collapses?  What would it mean for the U.S.? 

Oops!  An inconvenient truth about the anti-illegal immigrant law in AZ. . .CA citizens support it.

Licensing journalists?  An idea that only Big Brother could love.  Watch the MSM fall all over themselves loving this idea.

A hole to the center of the Earth?  Is this the doorway through which the Apocalyptic Hordes of Zombies will shamble? 

Yea, that was my reaction too!

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What's a friar to wear?

Question:  Just curious, is there any regulation regarding what Dominican friars wear under the habit? 

Answer:  Nope.  The specifics of the habit itself are spelled out in the constitution, but what we wear underneath the habit is not.  I wear shorts and a tee-shirt (even in winter) b/c of my tendency to overheat.  I've seen jeans, black dress pants, PJ's, undertunics, khakis, clerics.  Traditionally, we wear white socks and black shoes.  However, you will see friars wearing everything from sandals to cowboy boots.  By tradition, the habit is not to be decorated with pins, buttons, etc.  Dominican bishops may wear the habit with their pectoral cross over the capuce.  In Europe, you will sometimes see friars wearing the black skull cap.  Jewelry is not forbidden, but you rarely see anything too conspicuous.  Younger friars have taken to wearing a simple metal band on their left ring finger as a sign of consecration.  Earrings would be frowned on!  Before 1968, friars had to have permission to wear a beard.  Since I'm headed back to Texas in a few weeks, I may test the waters on wearing a pistol on my belt. . .   ;-)

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Rosaries for the novices

Generous benefactors have offered the purchase rosaries for our novices as simple profession gifts. . .

Can anyone suggest a good place in the U.S. to buy nice but not outrageously expensive rosaries to be worn with the OP habit, i.e., sturdy, fifteen decades?  

Is there a Dominican monastery in the U.S. that makes rosaries?  It would be a double gift if the rosaries could be purchased from our own nuns!

Mille grazie!

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Coffee Bowl Browsing

Check out the new theology blog run by Sean DeWitt (a former student of mine) and Paul Bechter.  Sean and Paul are seminarians at Holy Trinity Seminary in Irving, TX. 

Finally!  That preachy-leftist courtroom drama, Law and Order, is being canceled. 

Is B.O.'s dream dead?  "The new world order as envisioned by Obama in January 2009 was, I think, supposed to look something like the following: A social-democratic America would come to emulate the successful welfare states in the European Union."  Unfortunately, for Obama, the E.U. experiment in socio-economic engineering has failed miserably.  The one economic truth that wealth-redistributionists can't quite seem to grasp is that in order to give The Many the wealth of The Few, The Few have to be able to generate wealth.  But redistributive economic policies discourage wealth generation.  No wealth, no redistribution.

Thoughts on our legal drinking age.  I was 19 when the age was raised to 21.  I think 21 is too high.  When U.D. students come to Rome for a semester in their sophomore year, they are legally old enough to drink in Italy.  They seem to handle it quite well. 

Peggy Noonan:  "The president, in my view, continues to govern in a way that suggests he is chronically detached from the central and immediate concerns of his countrymen." 

The New Atheists make a lot of ideological hay with the Church's handling of Copernicus and Galileo.  Mark Shea helps us with some of the myths.  I would also recommend the book, Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion.  This is a serious academic anthology published by Harvard Univ Press but written for an educated general audience.

If you are Catholic and subscribe to TIME Magazine. . .it's probably time to cancel your subscription.  Yet another hit piece on the Holy Father. 

Bill introduced in Congress to repeal ObamaCare.  Will the GOP leadership screw this up?  Probably.

University faculty unions?  Academic faculties harbor some of the most pampered do-nothings in the universe!  Why would they need to unionize?  Prediction for fifty years out:  the only place students will be able to get a serious liberal arts education will be small, independent Catholic colleges. 

Proof that Big Nanny Statism can be thwarted. 

Dissecting the Sestak/White House job offer scandal. . .crime and cover-up?

Italian police arrest notorious gay activist priest on charges of child sex abuse.

"I'm spiritual but not religious" is relativistic nonsense disguised as profundity. 

This sad, then funny, then sad again. . .

Grand Unification Theory of Cutlery. . .I hope Burger King doesn't see this.

Sesame Street goes emo. . .

Kids answer the tough questions about romance, marriage, and parenthood.

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Clarification on my K.C. post

There seems to be some confusion about my recent post on the Knights of Columbus controversy.  So, let's make sure my thoughts are clear. . .

The Knights of Columbus helped me pay for my novitiate medical insurance.  They contributed to several service projects I organized while at U.D.  I have a great deal of respect and admiration for the Knights and their work. 

I was asked by readers to respond to a very particular question:  given the K.C.'s policy on not allowing local/state chapters to expel members who take public stands against Church teaching, should we consider resigning?

My answer was and still is:  sure, consider it. . .but stay on and fight as long as your conscience allows it.  In no way does my answer indicate a lack of respect for the Knights or an ignorance of the tremendous good that they do. 

However, if the K.C. policy is morally wrong, no amount of good work will make it right.  IOW, appeals to their long tradition of public service and dedication to the Church are irrelevant to the question of whether or not local and state chapters should be allowed to expel Knights who oppose Church teaching in ways that cause scandal. 


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The Knights of Columbus: to stay or go?

Dr. Jeff Mirus has it exactly right on the Knights of Columbus controversy:

It may be true that the first step toward a just social order is clear Catholic teaching by the clergy. But the second step is the day’s own trouble for the laity, the application of Catholic teaching in all the concrete dimensions of daily life. It is laymen who are expected to draw the lines that may not be crossed—not in terms of what the Church teaches, but in terms of the proper response when that teaching is ignored and our culture is subverted by those who participate in social and political life. It is laymen who are called to make it clear that if you want to be honored in our circles, you cannot campaign against what we stand for. And if you do, you will be corrected. And if you refuse correction, you will no longer be able to enjoy our company, our camaraderie, our sympathy and our support. 

The whole article is here.  I am especially impressed by Dr. Mirus' emphasis on the responsibility of the laity in defending Church teaching.

I would emphasis one essential flaw in the KC's defense of their policy:  critics of the policy are not asking the KC's to conduct investigations into the beliefs of every Knight in order to determine whether or not he is orthodox.  The problem comes when Knights who are also public figures take stands against Church teaching.  A Knight is a pro-abortion state governor not only risks his immortal soul by supporting abortion, he risks being held eternally responsible for those who may be lead to believe that since a Knight is pro-abortion, abortion must an acceptable practice in the eyes of the Church.

Whether or not any individual Knight should resign in protest against this policy boils down to a prudential judgment:  will my resignation bring about a change in the policy?  My choice would be to stay and fight.  Work to change the policy through normal channels.  There's always the chance that this will become a losing battle.  Then you would have to make another judgment:  am I giving my consent to the policy by remaining? 

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When theologians play at being scientists (and vice-versa)

The two links below will take you to proof that the relationship between science and religion--when improperly understood--can lead to confusion in both science and religion.  

Belief in divine creation is not the same as "intelligent design."  The Intelligent Design Movement attempts to change the nature of normal science in order to account for divine creation, all the while claiming that this change is true to the nature of normal science. (H/T:  Mark Shea)

A physicist corrects Jebbie theologian's confusion regarding quantum physics and transubstantiation. When theologians play at being scientists, like making the latest discoveries in physics foundational to theological discourse, they risk undermining the whole point of theology and making science into God.  (H/T:  Curt Jester)

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St. Philip Neri: the Roman Socrates

 Your One Stop Spot for All Things St. Philip Neri. . .

Basic biographical/historical info. . .NB. the entry under "Political Activity"

My favorite modern biography of Philip:  The Fire of Joy

St Philip Romolo Neri

A maxim a day keeps the Devil away!  Philip Neri sayings for everyday of the year.

EWTN: Philip Neri

Patron Saint Index with lots of links

Saint of the Day: Philip Neri, saint and joker

The Toronto Oratory

The London Oratory, Brompton

At Catholic Fire: Philip Neri, humorous saint

. . .and the Chiesa Nuova, Philip Neri's church in Rome. Only in Rome can you call a 16th century church a "new church"! Philip is buried in a side chapel there. I've visited frequently, asking for a better sense of humor for dealing with the enemies of the Church.

And today is my 46th birthday. My mother denies it, refusing to believe that she has a 46 year old son!  Though she did tell me on the phone recently that I am starting to look my age. 

I am often asked why a Dominican would choose "Philip Neri" as his religious name. I wish there were some mystical, mysterious story to tell. There isn't. When I was going through RCIA, my pastor urged us all to take confirmation names. He suggested that we look at the saints honored on our birthdays for inspiration. He reasoned that picking a name from a saint celebrated on our birthday would help us to remember to imitate that saint. I picked "Philip Neri" for no other reason than that May 26th is his feast day. When I joined the Order, we were told we could use a religious name. One of the brothers asked me my confirmation name and suggested that I make it my religious name. With just a little research into Philip Neri's life, I found quite a lot I wanted to imitate!  

Though I cringe when my name is shortened to "Fr. Phil," there is one diminutive of the great saint's name I don't mind. . .Philip's closest friends used "Pippo" as a term of endearment for him.  Here's an article by the French Oratorian, Fr. Louis Bouyer that includes a couple of funny stories about the saint.

Philip knew many of the great Dominicans of his day. He was a renowned preacher and confessor. He worked tirelessly among the spiritually defeated youths of Rome. He was a practical joker and an outrageous spiritual director. When he died, an autopsy revealed that his heart had grown too big for this body. An apt description of this saint of Christ's joy! Philip was canonized along with Theresa of Avila and Ignatius of Loyola.

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CAUTION! Praying is risky business

Feast of St Philip Neri

Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP

SS. Domenico e Sisto, Roma

Podcast

The ancient Greeks knew that asking the gods for favors was a dangerous business. They just might give you what you want. The same caution applied to the three wishes granted to those who freed genies from captivity. Choose your wishes very, very carefully. Though we no longer honor the Greek gods with our prayers nor believe that genies grant wishes, Christians still call on God for His help. We regularly petition Him to grant us the graces we need to survive and thrive. Since we are asking for help from an all-loving, all-knowing God, do we need to be careful when asking for what we need? St. Augustine thought so. He once famously prayed, “Lord, give me chastity and continence. . .but not yet.” Smart man. This prayer reveals both a desire for holiness and an awareness that holiness entails the radical transformation of the person praying. Augustine isn't asking for more time to sin; he's confessing his humility, his unworthiness for the gifts of chastity and continence. He simply isn't strong enough to honor these gifts as they deserve. Yes, be careful when you pray. Make sure you are ready for God's answer.

Case in point: James and John ask Jesus to grant them the seats of honor at his side. They want to be his Top Dog Apostles. Jesus replies to this foolish request: “You do not know what you are asking.” James and John are probably thinking about power and prestige; they want to be his heirs, successors to his throne. Jesus quickly deflates their dreams, “Can you drink the chalice that I drink. . .?” Of course, they say, “We can.” But they do not fully understand what drinking Christ's chalice means. To be the first among Christ's disciples means being the least of them all, the servant to all. It means taking a permanent demotion in status and power, stepping down the career ladder from Apostle to Slave. Not exactly what the ambitious brothers had in mind! If they had known themselves better, perhaps they would have exercised greater caution in asking for a sip from Christ's chalice. 

Knowing what to pray for requires a keen sense of discernment. You have to know your flaws, your strengths, your gifts. You have to be intimately acquainted with both God's overall purpose for you and how you will freely cooperate with this plan. Are you prepared to receive the grace you are praying for? Well, who isn't ready to get a gift?! Ask the many lottery winners in the U.S. who have seen their lives destroyed by money. Ask those who have achieved their dreams of political power only to see themselves corrupted nearly beyond redemption. Ask those who exercise incredible gifts of artistic creativity but eventually find themselves sliding down the drain to insanity and addiction. Asking for a gift is a easy. Getting it and using it wisely can be much, much harder.

So, what assurance do we have that the graces we need, once granted, won't drown us in sorrow and regret? Every grace we receive from God is perfected by serving others. Jesus says to his disciples, “. . .whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.” There is nothing spiritually dangerous about using God's gifts in the service of His people. No danger of pride. No danger of selfishness. No danger of remorse because you prayed for too much, too soon. We come to know ourselves best by coming to know God better and better in prayer. The best we can ask for is to serve, to be the least of all, the slave to all.

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