Feast of the Archangels

I love this hymn because it not only informs us about the archangels, it shows how they can work in our lives to bring us closer to God.

We honor you with hymns of praise,

O great Archangels, on this feast,

whose glorious light in vast array

reveals your rank in heaven’s court.

O Michael, Prince of heaven’s host,

whose flashing sword no foe can foil,

by your right hand give strength and pow’r,

that grace from God may do its work.

O Gabriel, whom God once chose

to herald myst’ries from on high,

help us to love and choose the paths

that ever shine with holy light.

O Raphael, draw near to us

and all who seek their heav’nly home;

drive from the body all disease

and bring true health to mind and soul.

And you, O dazzling angel hosts,

draw near and bring your heav’nly aid,

that we may find eternal joy

and blessing in your company.

All honor to the most high God,

the Father, Son, and Paraclete,

whom angel choirs with one accord

extol in song for evermore. Amen.

Liturgy of the Hours, Matins Hymn: Festiva vos archangeli

St. Michael the Archangel

St. Gabriel the Archangel

St. Raphael the Archangel

All art by Deacon Lawrence Klimecki 

The liturgy for today celebrates the feast of the three archangels who have been venerated throughout the history of the Church, Michael (from the Hebrew Who is like God?) is the archangel who defends the friends of God against Satan and all his evil angels. Gabriel, (the Power of God), is chosen by the Creator to announce to Mary the mystery of the Incarnation. Raphael, (the Medicine of God), is the archangel who takes care of Tobias on his journey.

In Conversation With God : Feast Days July - December

I have a special fondness for angels and it is a sign of my Catholic geekiness, I suppose, that I got an excited "Christmas morning" sort of thrill when I realized today's feast.

I read for the first time about angels when we were in the hospital with my father-in-law after his stroke. That made a big impression on me at the time. I always attribute the miracle that happened to the Holy Family but the angels are divine messengers and so have their place in it as well. Because of that I always have remembered that we can call not only on our friends for intercessory prayer, but also on angels for intercession and help. The prayer to St. Michael is one of my favorites.

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray. And do thou, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl around the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Some more on angels.

You should be aware that the word "angel" denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels.

From a homily by Pope Saint Gregory the Great

Read more about angels at Catholic Culture.

Goodbye summer girl

Goodbye summer girl
by Calligraphy in the view

Smile has remained in the mind as impression.

Vivid image will be rumination.

I will meet her again?

Go to the link for the remaining photos, haiku (translated from Japanese), and calligraphy.

A Movie You Might Have Missed #106 — The Great Battle

FIGHT TO THE DEATH.

Kingdom of Goguryeo, ancient Korea, 645. The ruthless Emperor Taizong of Tang invades the country and leads his armies towards the capital, achieving one victory after another, but on his way is the stronghold of Ansi, protected by General Yang Man-chu, who will do everything possible to stop the invasion, even if his troops are outnumbered by thousands of enemies.

AWESOME. 

After watching enough Indian and Korean movies eventually you realize how much important history we never even heard of. Such as the Battle of Ansi Fortress in the 600s - an 88 day seige of a Korean fortress by the Chinese Tang emperor. Will the noble defenders hold out agaonst the thousands and thousands of Chinese invaders? 

This was a fairly accurate depiction as it turns out once we researched it. It made for great movie viewing.

The Blue Grotto in Capri

The Blue Grotto in Capri, Jakob Alt

Gathering Saffron

Saffron crocus flowers, represented as small red tufts,
are gathered by two women in a fragmentary Minoan fresco

I really love ancient art connected to the ordinary way of life, especially in food.

Some of the best reading in the world is found in cookbooks

Some of the best reading in the world, Mrs Appleyard says, is found in cookbooks. She ought to know because she began to read them as literature long before she took to wielding the egg beater. There have been frequent periods in Mrs. Appleyard's life when she was on short rations. Her doctor has told her to lose three hundred pounds and she has. No, she has not vanished in the process She is still moderately substantial. She has merely lost thirty pounds ten times. During those periods when her too, too solid flesh was melting, she has learned to sublimate her yearnings for chocolate cake and lobster Newburg by reading cookbooks. She has fortunately discovered that she can get a pleasantly stuffed feeling by moving her eyes rapidly from left to right over menus that begin with twenty assorted appetizers and end with Baked Alaska.

Louise Andrews Kent, Mrs. Appleyard's Kitchen

Amen, amen. And we may include Mrs. Appleyard's Kitchen in that wonderful reading.

Flitch of Bacon

Thomas and Ann Shakeshaft, awarded the Dunmow flitch in 1751,
being carried in procession through the town.
Etching by George Cruikshank. Wikipedia

The awarding of a flitch of bacon to married couples who can swear to not having regretted their marriage for a year and a day is an old tradition, the remnants of which still survive in Great Dunmow, Essex.

Okay, I never heard of this but it's fascinating to read about. And what is a flitch of bacon?

A flitch is the side, or a steak cut from the side, of an animal or fish. The term now usually occurs only in connection with a side of salted and cured pork in the phrase a flitch of bacon.

Who knew?

The Dark Meat of the Angel

Not that she is not enjoying the holiday [Spring Break] — as it is sometimes called. She really likes to see three helpings of mashed potato, thick slices of steak, and mountains of toasted angel cake with chocolate sauce systematically stoked into young furnaces. There was chocolate angel cake once: an innovation, a departure from tradition. Mrs. Appleyard had a read a rule in the paper. Even she is not proof against all human frailty.

It was Sally who summed it up politely.

"Thank you," she said. "I don't think I care for any more of the dark meat of the angel."

Louise Andrews Kent, Mrs. Appleyard's Year

This is such a charming and gently humorous book. I recently reread it as my pre-lights-out book. It was perfect for powering down before sleep.

St. Pio's Feast Day

I will stand at the gates of Heaven and I will not enter until all of my spiritual children are with me.

Today is St. Pio's feast day. I just love this guy, an Italian priest who knew how to throw his head back and laugh, who would scold a famous actress for being shallow, who suffered the stigmata for over 50 years, who knew (and could see) his guardian angel from the time he was a tiny child, who could bilocate and read souls, who was one of the greatest saints in living memory ... and who I share a birthday with (although his was 70 years earlier - May 25).

Finally I have found the original photo which attracted me to him when I was leafing through a book of saints in our church's library ... it communicates a sense of joy and light-heartedness that was striking. I thought, "Now there is someone I could talk to...that is what a real saint should look like."

Deacon Greg Kandra has, in years past, featured a 2009 homily he gave focusing on Padre Pio and tells this story which reflects the saint's fine sense of humor and irony.

One of my favorite stories about him happened during the early 1960s.

Italy was in crisis. The Red Brigade was sparking violence in Rome, and it was considered dangerous to travel around the country. For protection, people began carrying pictures of Padre Pio.

During this time, Padre Pio had to leave his village to visit Rome, and one of the other friars asked him, “Aren’t you worried about the Red Brigade?”

“No,” he said. “I have a picture of Padre Pio.”

Here is an extremely brief and incomplete look at the saint, which nonetheless is not a bad summary.

While praying before a cross, he received the stigmata on 20 September 1918, the first priest ever to be so blessed. As word spread, especially after American soldiers brought home stories of Padre Pio following WWII, the priest himself became a point of pilgrimage for both the pious and the curious. He would hear confessions by the hour, reportedly able to read the consciences of those who held back. Reportedly able to bilocate, levitate, and heal by touch. Founded the House for the Relief of Suffering in 1956, a hospital that serves 60,000 a year. In the 1920's he started a series of prayer groups that continue today with over 400,000 members worldwide.

You can read more about Padre Pio here.

Scott fearfully approached this book. Julie told him that "fearfully" does not mean what he thinks it means.

 Episode 388: Fearfully and Wonderfully: The Marvel of Bearing God's Image by Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey at A Good Story is Hard to Find podcast

Humility and the Devil

The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For, as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it.

St. Vincent de Paul

This is St. Vincent de Paul's feast day. I haven't written anything special about St. Vincent but I hope to remedy that deficit in the future!

Cats on a Red Cloth

Franz Marc, Cats on a Red Cloth

Lutter & Wegner

Lutter & Wegner, Edward B. Gordon

Lagniappe: Henry James and Chocolate Peppermint Cake

Henry James has remarked that there are two different types of intellectual pleasure‚ the pleasure of recognition and the pleasure of discovery. Of course he took five pages to say it, but that was the idea. Chocolate-peppermint cake embodies both pleasures: the surprise of finding that something lurks in the chocolate ambush and the pleasure of recognizing that it is actually a peppermint.

Louise Andrews Kent, Mrs. Appleyard's Kitchen

I love both Mrs. Appleyard's Year and Mrs. Appleyard's Kitchen so much. They have the homey quality that makes good comfort reading along with the clever humor that surprises you with its intelligence.