Worth a Thousand Words

Jaffa

Can you tell I have a thing for photos of old, winding, narrow streets in exotic parts of the world? Taken by Theocoid at Is My Phylactery Showing where you can see other interesting photos of Israel. Just click through on the link.

Get The Brothers Karamazov Audiobook Free

I got the email also but hadn't investigated yet ... Worthwhile Books did and I will let her announce it for me ... thanks hopeinbrazil!

Christianaudio.com is offering The Brothers Karamazov as a free audio book this month. (Although abridged, it's still 19 hours!) You may have to register to get the book, but it's worth it. They send occasional e-mails about special deals, but never hound you to buy from their site. I have listened to several of their free offerings over the past year and they are well done. The link is here. And the coupon code is DEC2009. Enjoy!

Marcella Hazen Fans Will Like Amarcord. Others? It Depends.

Read my review of Marcella Hazen's memoir, Amarcord, at Meanwhile, Back in the Kitchen.

Two Good Cookbooks to Give for Christmas ... That Do More Than Give Recipes

The first of these is A Taste of Heaven: A Guide to Food and Drink Made by Nuns and Monks (my review is here). Author Madeleine Scherb gives an overview of locations in the U.S. and Europe and accompanies it with recipes. The greatest treasure in the book from my point of view is that Scherb doesn't look at these places simply as purveyors of excellent food and drink. She is careful to consider each place as a whole, for not only what they can offer our bodies but also our souls. Necessarily this includes Catholicism as that is the basis for the religious life in these places. However, Scherb does an excellent job of providing each person with food for thought no matter their religious leanings.

It was a review book but someone on my Christmas list has got one coming ... and I bought that with my own hard earned dollars.



The second is The Pioneer Woman Cooks. All anyone need do if they want to get an idea of recipes and how they are presented in the book is go to this spot on her blog. We're talking about basic, down home food presented step-by-step with a humorous patter included. What sets this cookbook apart is that it also takes us into Ree Drummond's world as the wife of a cattle rancher and mother of several rambunctious youngsters. Her gorgeous photography sets the scene with wild mustangs, cattle (of course), the ranch itself, and those who work it. You can get a feel for those here. Or, if you don't believe me then just mosey over to The Anchoress's place where she's been doing more than reading from this book ... she's been wowing her family at dinner time.

I bought my own copy of this book and, as with the book above, also have it in mind for Christmas gifts.

Well Said

From my quote journal.

It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness;

He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you;

He is the beauty to which you are so attracted;

it is He who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise;

it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life;

it is He who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.

It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.

Pope John Paul II

Santa Claus? Nope. Meet Grandpa Frost and the Snow Maiden

Check out those costumes ... so elegant (I really, really want a blue coat like the Snow Maiden's). Read all about them at Voices From Russia where I think we can all see that Barbara-Marie and I have a lot in common.

Worth a Thousand Words

A Romanesque lion guarding the Allegheny County Courthouse

It was difficult to choose a favorite from Father Pitt's two year anniversary display of photos. Click through and see which of his photos you like best.

Well Said

From my quote journal.

Lord, how they've changed things in our "parlors" these days. Christ is one of the "family" now. I often wonder if God recognizes His own son the way we've dreamed him up, or is it dressed him down? He's a regular peppermint stick now, all sugar-crystal and saccharine when he isn't making veiled references to certain commercial products that every worshipper absolutely needs.

Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

Upsy Daisy!

Rum Daisy that is. A gorgeous pink drink that is delicious from the first sip.

Advent

Interior Of The Mezquita Cathedral Virgin Mary Icon

Everybody knows, even those of us who have lived most unadventurously, what it is to plod on for miles, it seems, eagerly straining your eyes toward the lights that, somehow, mean home. How difficult it is, when you are doing that to judge distances! In pitch darkness, it might be a couple of miles to your destination, it might be a few hundred yards. So it was, I think, with the Hebrew prophets, as they looked forward to the redemption of their people. They could not have told you, within a hundred years, within five hundred years, when it was the deliverance would come. They only knew that, some time, the stock of David would burgeon anew; some time, a key would be found to fit the door of their prison house; some time, the light that only shows, now, like a will-o'-the-wisp on the horizon would broaden out, at last into the perfect day.

This attitude of expectation is one which the Church wants to encourage in us, her children, permanently. She sees it as an essential part of our Christian drill that we should still be looking forward; getting on for two thousand years, now, since the first Christmas Day came and went, and we must still be looking forward. So she encourages us, during advent, t take the shepherd-folk for our guides, and imagine ourselves traveling with them at dead of night, straining our eyes towards that chink of light which streams out, we know, from the cave at Bethlehem.

R.A. Knox, Sermon on Advent 1947
quoted in In Conversation with God, Vol. 1, Francis Fernandez

With Advent the liturgical year begins in the Western churches. Before Christmas we spend time in contemplation and preparation for the coming of Christ on three levels: as memorial of his incarnation as the babe in Bethlehem, to his coming with grace in our souls, and in looking forward to when he comes as the Judge at the end of time.

Those who celebrate Advent do so with various private devotions during this time. Some read a specific book to think about, some go to regular adoration, some try to avoid excessive focus on Christmas preparations, and such things. I have signed up for our church's weekly Monday Advent adoration which is being offered for the first time.

As well, although this is more of a new liturgical year thing, I received my 2010 patron saint selection from Enbrethiliel who came up with a saint that I surely should have noticed from my regular reading of her blog ... but, naturally, didn't. So he had to go to these lengths to get me to pay attention: San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila.

I knew nothing about this saint but got very excited when my first search showed he was a martyr in Japan. I have a special devotion to the Asian Church, especially to the persecuted Chinese Church. The more I read, especially about the crazy coincidences that led San Lorenzo to his ultimate fate, the more I related to this man who was trying to go one place but followed God to another which he never would have imagined. Isn't that the story for all of us? Although hopefully not with such a literal martyrdom ...

Enbrethiliel has written more about San Lorenzo here, here, and here (scroll down).

Manhattan Declaration

A Call of Christian Conscience

Christians, when they have lived up to the highest ideals of their faith, have defended the weak and vulnerable and worked tirelessly to protect and strengthen vital institutions of civil society, beginning with the family.

We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:

1. the sanctity of human life
2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife
3. the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

179340 signatures in support as of the time I signed it ...and growing!

Sign the declaration...

Weekend Joke

A little late for Thanksgiving, but I like them anyway.

Which side of the turkey has the most feathers? The outside!

Can a turkey jump higher than the Empire State Building? Yes. A building can't jump at all!

What sound does a space turkey make? Hubble, Hubble, Hubble!

If the Pilgrims were alive today what would they be most famous for? Their age!

Why do turkeys always go, "gobble, gobble"? Because they never learned good table manners!

If a big turkey is called a gobbler, what do you call a little turkey. A goblet.

What happened to the Pilgrim who was shot at by an Indian? He had an arrow escape

Worth a Thousand Words

Part of a beautiful photo-essay at Paula's House of Toast. Please go see her entire contemplation for yourself.

Well Said

From my quote journal.

It is all too easy for us to treat the Pharisees as embodying all that is worst in humankind. But in fact they were most probably the best men of their time, the most religious, the most devoted to the will of God, the most eager to express their loyalty to him in obedience to his every word, the most determined never to compromise with the world around them. But as St Paul came to see it in retrospect, they were exposed to a fatal flaw: the trouble with their outstanding righteousness was that, all too easily, it could be viewed precisely as their righteousness. It was a righteousness that could be measured, so that, at a certain point, you could say that you had now achieved it. This meant it could all too easily come adrift from the original inspiration in devotion to God and become self-sufficient, an end in itself.

Father Simon Tugwell, Reflections on the Beatitudes

In Thankfulness on This Day

Because Thanksgiving itself, like our traditional meal, has much that we should think about every year, I am reposting this. Just as I cook the same dishes every year with heartfelt love for those who will be eating it, so this offers genuine thankfulness, even as it is a reposting!

Have a blessed day with your families as we enjoy the many riches God has bestowed on us. I truly have so much to be thankful for, much more than I could list here, which fall under the broad categories of God, Catholic Church, family, country, and friends (because that corny stuff is also the real stuff of life). Not the least of which is the blogging community and all the people who drop by here. A special thanks goes especially to the many people who emailed Thanksgiving greetings which I haven't had a chance to respond to yet.

I have two offerings. One is modern, an editorial from recent years that touched me.

The other is something I have posted every Thanksgiving. I like seeing what Abraham Lincoln had in mind for the holiday (before I go dive into that turkey, pie, and football ... GO Cowboys !). I'll be off the computer until Friday ... or possibly even Saturday.

So without further ado, I present to you ...

Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863

It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord.

We know that by his divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world. May we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown.

But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.

Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.

Bugging Out of Here ...

... until after Thanksgiving, though I will have my annual Thanksgiving posting up tomorrow.

One of the things I'm grateful for is y'all! Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone ... and if you are not an American then find a few extra things and stop to give thanks for them. While you're at it, then have a piece of pie!

A Thumping Good Read: Crown of the World

“I will not wear a Crown of Gold where my Master wore a Crown of Thorns.”
—attributed to Godfrey de Bouillon, upon being offered the crown of Jerusalem

Some time later, Godfrey awoke. He had no memory of going to sleep, but his mind was much clearer. Clearer…except for an image and a thought on the edge of his memory. He had been dreaming, dreaming very vividly, and he had dreamt something about…

Godfrey tried to call the images into his mind:

Conrad and Adelaise…and me. Jacques was there too, but not with the rest of us. And old Otto of Freising. He was telling something to Adelaise and me…

Godfrey’s heart ached, but he could recall no more. The dream faded, and Godfrey let it go wearily.

How long has it been?

It was still dark, still night. He was lying on some torn piece of cloth next to the fire. Someone was sitting next to him. His vision was a little blurry, but he stared for a few seconds and it cleared. It was Humphrey. Humphrey still looked battered and wounded, but there was a broad grin on his face.

“I was bloody right, Templar.”

Godfrey frowned, but quickly went back to staring. Frowning hurt.

“About…what?” he managed.

“You do have some of Godfrey de Bouillion in you.”

Godfrey smiled weakly. “I’m not a saint…only crazy.”

“It seems to me,” said Humphrey, “most of the saints had a touch of madness in them. I think it’s a sign that God loves them.”

Godfrey tried to laugh, but it came out as a weak gurgle.

“If you are mad,” continued Humphrey, “we need more madmen. A few more fools like you and we’d have had the Ishmaelites running.”

Godfrey could remember now what had happened. You fool, he thought with a sinking heart, You’ve gotten yourself too deep in for even Blanchefort to get you out now.

He had been waiting with the knights of Tripoli. He had at last convinced Jacques that it would be wrong to fight, so the two of them were waiting at the rear. Godfrey had seen the infidels come, and had watched, shocked, as Tripoli began riding up and down, shouting out to his men.

‘Knights of Tripoli, do you know what the king wants you to do?’ Tripoli had roared, visibly angry. ‘He wants us to run! He wants us to flee, to try to deceive the infidels. Then his knights will crush the Ishmaelites and return to Jerusalem with tales of the cowardice of the men of Tripoli. What do you say to that?’

The knights of Tripoli had not approved of the king’s orders. Their uproar had drowned out Tripoli’s voice for a while, and Godfrey had caught only snatches of his speech. He caught words like ‘glory’ and ‘honor’ often. Finally the noise subsided, and Tripoli had ridden to the head of the line. All the men of Tripoli had waited in silence as Tripoli faced the infidels. Then the count had given the order to charge.

Godfrey had sat there on his horse, still not fully believing what he was seeing. The knights of Tripoli had surged forward towards the Saracens, leaving the rest of the army behind. A few minutes later, the knights of the Hospital had broken formation to charge, and then the knights of Ibelin. Jacques had made some insulting comment about the Hospitallers, but Godfrey had been too surprised to really notice.

So Godfrey had watched as a third of the kingdom’s knights charged up the hill, while the rest of the army sat and watched. He had kept looking up towards the king’s banner, to see if Amalric were going to come to their aid.

It was then that he had realized what was happening. To Amalric, this battle was no more than his bloody game of thrones. Tripoli and D’Aissailly and Ibelin had committed treason, so those three must die. If two thousand others must die with them, so be it.

Godfrey had grown angry at that, and in his anger had thrown caution to the winds. He still felt dizzy remembering it. He had spurred forward, drawing his sword and shouting incoherently. Then he began riding up to join the knights of Tripoli, forgetting any past resolution to stay out of the battle. As he rode up the hill, Godfrey had thought he was leaving them all behind, the king and the Army and Jacques, but to his surprise he had heard the sound behind him as others followed. By the time he had reached the top a dozen others had joined him, and most of the army was behind him. ...

Crown of the World is an exciting work of historical fiction set in the days of the Crusades when Christians held the Kingdom of Jerusalem ... and when that kingdom is slowly being lost. We follow Godfrey de Montferrat, a young Templar knight who truly has the goal of being a hero and a saint. We see him strive and fail and then try again to live as a true Christian should as he encounters all manner of people, places, and situations that are new to him.

I am a sucker for good historical fiction, which I find all too often cannot match the heights now that were achieved by many writers of the past. This book was a pleasure to read as it strove before all to tell a good story without hitting the reader over the head with a Christian message. That message is necessarily part of any tale of the Crusades, especially one focused around a Templar knight and the author wisely allows it to be a subtext.

The author, Nathan Sadasivan, began the book when he was 15 and finished when he was 19. It does show a raw talent that leaves me interested in reading the rest of the proposed trilogy and, indeed, any other book that he may turn his hand to. He has a definite talent for translating history into adventure while still giving the reader something deeper to ponder.

However, due to the author's youth and inexperience, Crown of the World is not an unqualified literary masterpiece. There are far too many points of view with the reader being whisked from person to person, place to place, often without necessary context to help recall under what conditions one last encountered a character. Indeed, there is too little contextual information given as a whole. Although there are commentaries here and there from various points of view, it would have been good to have an omniscient narrator to assist tracking so many characters. These are also points that one hopes an experienced editor could have pointed out to a young author as the book was being prepared.

I would advise Sadasivan to take some time to read some of the excellent historic fiction available and to note techniques to smooth out delivery as one moves the reader through time with the story. My own favorites to recommend would include Kenneth Roberts who was acclaimed for his works about the American Revolution; Rafael Sabatini who incorporates a good feel for the time period without skimping on action or thoughtful characters, and (my absolute favorite) Samuel Shellabarger whose Prince of Foxes and The Captain from Castile are landmarks of accurate history combined with riveting adventure, memorable characters, and social commentary that holds up today.

This is all offered as constructive criticism for the author and is not intended to discourage readers. I truly enjoyed Crown of the World and plan on reading the rest of the trilogy as it is published. It does not take too much effort to overcome what I felt were distractions from an otherwise very good book. Truly it is an amazing book for a 19 year old to have written. It makes me think back to the first time I ever read Georgette Heyer's The Black Moth, written when she was 19 to amuse a sick brother. It showed great promise and was a highly entertaining work that presaged greater works to come as her potential blossomed. Crown of the World is no different in those respects. One may enjoy it for its own merits and for the promise that I hope will give us many excellent works of historical fiction in the future. Highly recommended.

This was a review book received from Arx Publishing where you may read an extended excerpt here.

Worth a Thousand Words

Twining Ornithopter
via Old Picture of the Day

Well Said

From my quote journal.

When we dismiss people out of hand because of their apparent woundedness, we stunt their lives by ignoring their gifts, which are often buried in their wounds.

We are all bruised reeds, whether our bruises are visible or not. The compassionate life is the life in which we believe that strength is hidden in weakness and that true community is a fellowship of the weak.

Henri Nouwen

The Basics

Image from Catholic Eye Candy

Today's Liturgy and Saints
Universalis: Today:

• Monday of week 34 of the year or Saint Clement I, Pope, Martyr or Saint Columbanus, Abbot and Missionary
• Tue 24 Saints Andrew Dung-Lac and his Companions, Martyrs
• Wed 25 Wednesday of week 34 of the year or Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin, Martyr
• Sun 29 Advent Sunday

Intercessions
With reverence and love, let us lay before our God the needs of the world: R:Hear us, O God our Savior!

For those who do not hold you in awe:
- grant that they might come to put their trust in your power and might. R

For those who fear to approach you in prayer:
- grant that they might come to know you as Father and Shepherd. R

For those who sense your mystery within the mysteries discovered by scientific study:
- grant that they might come to believe in you as creator of the universe. R

Who I'm Praying for Today

• Dr. Joseph's quick recovery to health
  
• My mother's peace as she moves forward without my father
• My father's soul
• Cyndie's quick healing and return to health
• Father Joseph Langford's health and ability to endure trials with grace, as per his own prayer.
• Matthew's brother's return to health after having brain tumors discovered
• For Matt, a young man who is dying and his family and friends
  
• An end to abortion and a reverence for life in all stages of age and health.
• Our priests and for vocations
  
• My patience, my ability to do an honest examination of shortcomings, my stepping out in faith even when I fear ... O Lord, grant me grace and ability
• Abortion providers, Lord open their eyes and hearts
• Strength, joy and peace for oppressed Christians in China, Asia, and the Middle East. Also that their oppressors may have their eyes opened to the truth. And for all those oppressed, actually.
• Plus a whole lot of previous intentions mentioned here and for the intentions mentioned around St. Blog's Parish. Although they are usually mentioned here for only about a week, the prayers continue as these intentions go into my prayer journal.