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Given my great love of literature, art, music, and so many other of the humanist, liberal studies which delight others in the academy, I sometimes sadden a bit that my own chosen field, physics, is less immediately delightful and often merely frustrating. But this morning I remembered this poem by George Meredith and was reminded that, in studying natural Philosophy, I at least am concerned with an arena that is wholly God’s, where His will is being worked out in all its delightful precision and beauty; and that is a consoling thought.
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Archive for February, 2007
God’s Will in Nature
A Lenten quote from Balthasar
God’s Face like a countenance beaming forth from the darkness: in order to see it we throw everything we possess into the fire — the world, our joys, our hopes. The flame leaps forth, consumes it all, and in its glow the beloved Face lights up. But the flame dies down, and we feed it with what little remains to us: honor, success, our will, the intellect, our temperament, finally our very self: absume et suscipe — “take and receive.” This is not simple self-giving but, increasingly, the knowledge that I am being taken, that I must surrender. Grace is everything: the moment of God’s appearing; grace also every sacrifice the fire snatches from me.
Standing on Ceremony
We have a question that I has hoped some of our readers might be able to help us with. It is perhaps known to some of you that a Nuptial Mass is forthcoming with regards to certain persons associated with this blog. What we’re interested in is the status of the Solemnization of Matrimony ceremony that appears in both the Angelus and Baronius Press 1962 Missals. Our FSSP priest offhandedly claimed that this ceremony was authorized only for use in Britain, and not in the United States. Indeed it is a much nicer ceremony (more ornate, more genteel, more English(?)) than the one found in the famous white Nuptial Mass Booklet Missals put out by the Ecclesia Dei Coalition. My question is simple: is this, in fact, correct? Is this form of Solemnization of Matrimony not approved for use in the US? And if so, isn’t it strange that the Baronius Missal (i.e. the FSSP’s “official” pew missal), which carries the Imprimatur of the Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska, contains a ceremony that cannot be used in his diocese? Obviously, we will use the American ceremony if it is the only one permitted, but we just wanted to make sure that is the case.
Mardi Gras
As a Mardi Gras gift to our readers, I thought I would post for them a recipe for a real Louisiana Chicken and Sausage Gumbo [pdf][doc]. But, of course, the most important thing about today is that tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, and it is imperative that Catholics take the season of Lent seriously. As Iosephus observed to me one time, it isn’t sensible to have a daylong bacchanalia to introduce the season where you don’t eat chocolate. Which is why I would like to encourage our readers to listen rather to the Church, whose traditional Fast for Lent is an excellent means of mortification of the flesh. It also has the benefit of being externally prescribed: one tends to be less inclined to spiritual pride when being obedient to the Church’s ideas about what makes for a fast, rather than constructing a fast for oneself. Anyway, here is the fast. Each day of Lent, a “fast and partial abstinence,” which means: two small meals: one ~4 ounces (= a bagel, two pieces of toast); one ~8 ounces; and one full-sized meal, with meat taken only at the full meal. On Fridays, the same fast proportions, but with no meat at all — full abstinence. Simple and effective. Give it a try! (A note: women often have commented to me that they eat less than this anyway. Fine! Just, for Lent, keep it up, but make sure you do it every day, and with partial abstinence and no snacking. It’s about obedience, not losing weight. In this vein, you may also want to read Iosephus’ fine words on Fasting from last Lent.)
Bertrand Russell gets something right
Generally speaking, the conventional wisdom about outsiders being able to see things that insiders cannot, fails to hold in matters of the faith. From St. Augustine’s time and before (though St. Anselm is generally credited with the insight) it has been recognized that faith is often a prerequisite to understanding. Many aspects of it will appear arbitrary or even crazy until the sensibilities are properly trained.
Nonetheless, it can be interesting at times to see what vestiges of truth penetrate the warped sensibilities of those who are entirely hostile to the faith. In this spirit, I offer a little excerpt from Bertrand Russell, one of the twentieth century’s rock star atheists. His book, Why I Am Not a Christian, is on the whole a disappointing read if you pick it up hoping for an invigorating challenge. Maybe some day I’ll get around to writing a post making fun of him. But he did have a way with words, and the book is peppered with memorable phrases. His essay On Catholic and Protestant Skeptics hones in on a point that I have made before in another form: the seeds of truth are often planted much more deeply in the soul than we ever expect. Even for those Catholics who are trying to lose themselves in the woods, the compass is still calibrated.
Armel and Co.
A photograph of our pilgrim, Armel, with his family, at his brother’s ordination (FSSP).
A Call for Better Lovers
I meant to post this on St. Valentine’s Day, but this whole new blogger business was giving me problems. Ambrosius ended up putting up a very appropriate post for the Day of Love, but now that the kinks are worked out I thought I’d offer mine as well… I could save it for next year, but by then I’ll be married myself and my husband might regard it as a personal criticism of him. This year I’m presumably safe.
I should warn you all at the outset that this does not come from an authoritative source. In fact, if anything, it comes from an anti-authoritative source; not only is the author an Anglican priest (or “priest” if you prefer), he is a hypocrite as well. In his book on marriage, from which I am about to quote, he says a number of nice things, including declaring divorce to be “a metaphysical impossibility”… but, after having six children with his wife and writing a book about it, he divorced her and remarried. Go figure. So take this or leave it as you like, but I found it thought-provoking nonetheless.
Stamford: Solemn Pontifical High Mass, Feb. 25
Omnibus et praecipue Stanfordensem, Connecticut colentibus: Word has come to us there will be a Solemn Pontifical High Mass at St. Mary’s Church, Stamford, on the First Sunday of Lent, February 25, 11:30AM, to be celebrated by Bishop Salvatore Cordileone, auxiliary of San Diego. Bishop Cordileone has been described to us as “one of the very soundest of our bishops”. If there is a good turn out for this Mass, it may well send a message to the bishops in the area that the old rite is here to stay and worthy of their patronage. We were also told that the Mass should be “glorious”. I hope that it is and we look forward to seeing the pictures!
Directions to the church:
God’s Delight in Man
One way in which human love manifests itself is delight in another person’s particularity: the peculiar joy experienced when a friend or relative does something so typical of himself, so expressive of his personality and even foibles, that we are reminded to recall to conscious consideration why it is we liked or even came to love this person in the first place. We may then ask: is this sort of delight shared by God? Is this a reflection, a human manifestation, of God’s delight in man?
At first, one is tempted to deny it. This sort of reminding is something that God does not need: He cannot forget, as we can, nor is His attention divided, as ours is. Continue reading
Suspicion, Sin, and Marriage
Listening yesterday to an interview with Dick Keyes on the latest CD of the Mars Hill Audio Journal (an excellent audio journal, albeit from a chiefly Protestant perspective) discussing contemporary cynicism and its poisonous effect on Christian life. Though the interview entire was quite good, Mr. Keyes made a fine side point that I thought worth sharing here.
Cynicism, in his estimation, is part and parcel of a contemporary unreal idealism that arises from a media culture celebrating convenience and selling perfection, coupled with a widespread loss of understanding of the effects of Original Sin. No better place, he went on, could this contrast between today and previous, more healthy, cultures be seen than in attitudes towards love and marriage.
Interview with Dr. Joseph Shaw
I was so fortunate as recently to obtain an interview with Dr. Joseph Shaw, Tutorial Fellow in Philosophy at St. Benet’s Hall, Oxford. I asked him both about Catholic traditionalism in Oxford and the UK as well as about his personal role in the traditionalist cause. I hope that this interview will be of general interest, but of especial interest to those of us who are in academia as coming from a fellow Catholic academic. Though I am proud to call Dr. Shaw a friend of mine, I began by asking him to tell our readers a little about himself:
I was born the sixth and youngest of Catholic convert parents in 1971, and was the only one of my family to endure the new order of Infant Baptism, an indignity to which I have not subjected my own offspring…. I was educated the old-fashioned way, i.e. in ill-heated boarding schools far from home (London) from the age of 8. From the age of 13 this was ‘Catholic’, but naturally I learnt little about the Faith there. Then I went up to Oxford, more by luck than for any other reason, where I have been studying and teaching since 1991: History (for a year), Politics and Philosophy (for the rest of my first degree), a year’s Theology, the BPhil (which is a two-years Masters in Philosophy) and the DPhil. That was great fun. After four years as a Junior Research Fellow in Wolfson College, I have returned to where I did my degrees, St. Benet’s Hall, to be in charge of the Philosophy teaching there. St. Benet’s is a small Catholic hall, effectively a miniature College of the University, with Benedictine monks, as well as lay students, in situ, which makes it an interesting place, although most people pass through Oxford without even hearing of it. It’s a great tribute to the University that it finds room for such an unusual institution; in fact the Dominicans, Jesuits and Capuchin Franciscans each have a similar Hall, which is a great foundation for Oxford’s Catholic life.
As the Latin Mass Society representative, I should imagine that you have your finger on the traditionalist pulse in Oxford. Would you give our readers some idea of the current state of things in Oxford as well as a précis of the history since the Council (as far as you know it)?
PHILIA
For those among our readers colentes latinitatem atque humaniores litteras, I wanted to pass along this announcement from the Reggie listserve about a program which will take place from 15 July to 22 July this coming summer in Naples, Italy.
I am happy to announce and invite you to the up-coming PHILIA (Fratria Iuvenum Latinitatem Investigantium Alentiumque) conference. This convention is expected to be the largest living Latin meeting in many years. PHILIA has secured beds for 200 participants, and over thirty professors and authors from around the world have already signed-up for pre-registration. Reggie has said he will be there for at least a day, but cannot stay because of the summer classes. Professors Terentius Tunberg, and Milena Minkova of the University of Kentucky will be among the participants. This conference will be unlike any of the other summer Latin conferences since there will not only be ample opportunities to speak and improve your Latin but there will also be papers, lectures, and debates organized (all in Latin) on many topics within the Humanities. We are extremely fortunate to have secured reduced prices in two dormitories and several beautiful meeting halls in the center of the city.
Correspondence from Armel
Though the usual scoffers scoffed, many of our readers were impressed by Armel’s pilgrimage, currently underway, from France to the Holy Land. He still seems to be doing well. I hope that he has been bolstered, even in some small way, by our prayers. Our Turkish correspondent was the recipient of some correspondence from Armel which seems to give a good picture of his positive attitude as well as his trust in Providence:
Hello,
Thank you for making me welcome in your home last week. God bless you and your family. I prayed for you and I hope God will listen to me, even if I am a sinner.
Now I am still in Ankara because I have to wait one week for my visa to Syria (actually, until next Wednesday, if all is OK). I live on Ataturk Boulevard next to the Italian embassy, with Turkish workers under tents since 3 days ago and until my visa comes.
It is OK: I could attend the Mass yesterday in the church of the Vatican embassy and I can pray every day.
The Turkish workers are very friendly.
Anyway, once more I thank you for your help last week and I go on praying for you. See you later.
Armel
Review: America Alone
In Mark Steyn’s very entertaining book, America Alone, the idea behind his central thesis is that demography is our best tool for understanding the course of future events. After demography, Steyn focuses on two other ideas: (1) the will, as in the will of a people to survive, and (2) the unsustainability of the socialized state. In Steyn’s view, America stands alone because of its birth rate in combination with the potential to summon the will to avoid the onset of something like the next dark ages.
Steyn likes to say that while demography isn’t everything, it’s a good 90%. It’s the demography of the developed world which threatens the next dark ages because the population of the developed world, unmolested by war, famine, or disease, is in decline. To put the point very simply, folks ain’t havin’ kids no more. This kind of decline is unprecedented in the history of the world; it is the ultimate manifestation of a culture of death, or more accurately, of a death cult. Everyone drinks the Kool-Aid and waits for the aliens - it’s horrifying when we see this on the news, but this is something akin to the reality across the entire developed world. Instead of Kool-Aid and cyanide, we’re being done in by abortion, contraception, selfishness, and a general lack of will to raise the next generation.
Is Gambling Sinful?
With the Superbowl coming up this weekend, I think it’s time to pose this gripping moral question: is gambling sinful?
I ask this partly because I feel confident that someone out there will pull from the shelf one of those delightful old manuals of morality that the Church doesn’t seem to publish anymore, and give us a concrete answer. I love those old manuals (even while considering them a tad bit less authoritative than, say, Scripture), so that’s always a treat.
But the question is at least mildly interesting. Evangelicals (and the conservative Bible-thumping Protestant groups of a younger America, from which present-day Evangelicals draw their inspiration) tend to condemn gambling in a fairly unequivocal, across-the-board sort of way. I remember getting in debates back in grade school about whether card-playing was permissible in any form, and a childhood friend of mine used to play gambling-free poker with her siblings. (And when her parents said gambling-free, they meant it: the kids would deal the cards, and then see who got the best hand. Oh, it was table-thumping fun, I can tell you.)
St. Louis-Marie de Montfort,
Pope St. Pius X,
St. Joseph,
St. Ambrose of Milan,
St. Thomas Aquinas,
St. Francis (and St. Clare),
St. Catherine of Siena,
St. Alphonsus Ligouri,
St. John Chrysostom,