http://www.cornellsociety.org Unity in charity, diversity in truth Sat, 17 May 2008 03:57:04 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en For the last three days of Pentecost, we enter into those Gifts that relate to the cognitive power, and the first of these is the Gift of understanding. This is the Gift by which the intellect penetrates and grasps those holy things that could not be grasped without the special ... http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/05/the-gift-of-understanding/ For the modern English-speaker, the Gift of counsel is somewhat badly named, because for us counsel is something that one person gives to another. Evidently the Latin consilium also had this as a possible connotation, because St. Bonaventure mentions it as one possible meaning of the word. It is not, ... http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/05/the-gift-of-counsel/ The Gift of courage (also sometimes called the Gift of fortitude) is initially curious in that it is the only Gift to actually be the duplicate of a natural virtue. Courage is of course included among the four cardinal virtues, together with prudence, temperance and justice. So, given that courage ... http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/05/the-gift-of-courage/ There is some disagreement among the Doctors regarding the Gift of piety. St. Augustine lays out the different possible meanings of the term pietas in The City of God when he explains that, "Piety most properly has been understood to be the worship of God, which the Greeks call theosebiam, ... http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/05/the-gift-of-piety/ Taking the Gifts in ascending order, fear of the Lord is the first among them. It happens also to be the Gift about which the Scholastics had by far the most to say, probably in part because it seems a bit counterintuitive at first to denote fear as a Gift. ... http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/05/the-gift-of-fear/ So, I'm finally back from my trip to the Northeast. It's a little sad to see that no one decided to post in my absence... though I happen to know that at least some of our contributors have had good excuses for lying low. It was certainly a pleasure to ... http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/05/happy-pentecost-2/ In preparation for an academic conference I've been going through some texts from the Doctors of the Church concerning marriage. Among the many enjoyable aspects of this activity is the amusement to be had in reading some of the silly ideas the medievals had about sex and human reproduction. Mind ... http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/05/poking-some-good-natured-fun/ The Doctor and I enjoyed a rare and special honor last week. We got to see the movie Expelled in the same theatre where it was seen by the infamous Richard Dawkins! (But I wonder which of us enjoyed the film more?) It wasn't something I was dying to see, ... http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/04/stirring-the-muck/ In Honor of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus May 2nd, 2008 at 6:30 PM Presented by The Oratory of the Sacred Heart at The Church of the Guardian Angel 193 Tenth Avenue at 21st Street Manhattan C, E trains to 23rd Street Station M23 Bus to 10th Avenue For information: (917) 535-2054 flier here http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/04/first-friday-tlm-in-nyc-may-2nd/ I don't normally read recent scholarship in sociology (nor even in theology for that matter -- most of my theological reading is restricted to the works of the long-deceased) but I was referred to William Portier's Here Come the Evangelical Catholics by a good friend from college, and when she ... http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/04/untitled-2/ As befits a Prince of the Church, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos will be welcomed at the Cathedral west door in full cappa magna before processing to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel to pray; he will then vest in the sanctuary whilst the Cathedral choir sings. Pontifical High Mass will then be celebrated ... http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/04/hoyos-to-celebrate-pont-sol-high-mass-in-westminster/ Apologies for my long absence here... I was sorry to be away from the blogosphere for the exciting event of the Holy Father's visit to America, but the Doctor and I were on a house-hunting trip and had little access to the internet. (We're packing our bags and moving north ... http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/04/from-the-choir-loft/ In connection with this story I was reading at Rorate Caeli about the EU's denial of special visa preference to Christians desirous of leaving Iraq, I thought that these comments from our regular correspondent in Turkey were interesting: Last Sunday at Mass, I met another Iraqi family traveling through Turkey - ... http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/04/an-observation-on-christians-and-iraq/ I think that there were some nice statements in the address to the United Nations on Friday, but nothing that right now stands out in my mind. Or, to be most frank, I find the whole United Nations thing so disgusting, and all the more so because it's mired ... http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/04/thoughts-on-b-in-a-day-three/ I didn't get a chance to watch any video today, but I did read the Pope's various addresses. The strongest and most interesting words from the homily at the Mass at the Nationals ballpark were these about the Sacrament of Penance - heck, even calling it the Sacrament of ... http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/04/thoughts-on-b-in-a-day-two/ I wanted to share some of my impressions after watching a good bit of the coverage of the first day of Pope Benedict's visit to America. First of all, I should mention that EWTN has a nice page where you can view the various events (with the stupid Windows ... http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/04/thoughts-on-b-in-a-day-one/ For any who are (or could be) in the area of Knoxville, TN, you should check out this event next Sunday afternoon. I'll just give you the press release (removing a few superfluous paragraphs explaining what the Traditional Latin Mass is); the website doesn't seem to be working at the ... http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/04/solemn-high-mass-in-knoxville/ The USCCB has a very informative website dedicated to the Pope's upcoming visit to the United States (he arrives on Tuesday night, at Andrews Air Force base). This is the link for his itinerary. The itinerary is surprisingly detailed (at least I thought so); details like "The Pope ... http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/04/peace-is-our-hope/ From Angelus Press: Archbishop Fulton Sheen! Also, be sure to check out our excellent collection of titles by Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Bishop Sheen will help you strengthen your spiritual life with these selections, all of which can be found on our new page dedicated to Fulton Sheen. You will find ... http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/04/censoring-uncle-fulton/ I came across this while doing a very unrefined search on the web for "Cicero's epistles". It's from a two volume work published in 1848 and written by Andrew Steinmetz, History of the Jesuits: From the Foundation of their Society to its Suppression by Pope Clement XIV. It ... http://www.cornellsociety.org/2008/04/the-education-of-a-jesuit/