A Child That is Yours and Yet is Mysteriously a Stranger

There is nothing more thrilling in this world, I think, than having a child that is yours, and yet is mysteriously a stranger. You are the gate through which it came into the world, and you will be allowed to have charge of it for a period; after that it will leave you and blossom out into its own free life, and there it is, for you to watch, living its life in freedom. It is like a strange plant which you have brought home, planted, and can hardly wait to see how it will turn out.

Agatha Christie, An Autobiography

Someone asked me recently how it felt to cooperate with God to create your child. I never thought of it like that at the time because I wasn't Catholic or even Christian. 

We have two wonderful daughters and I love seeing the way they have blossomed out into their own lives. I watch our little grandson with the same interested anticipation that I had with our girls. We are often complimented and given much credit for how they have turned out. I hardly ever know how to take that because I feel it is more a matter of simply nurturing what was there already.

As always, my favorite Agatha Christie said it perfectly in her extremely readable autobiography quoted above.

The Litany of the Counsel of the Saints VI

Magnificat has this wonderful litany in month leading up to All Saints' Day. We've reached the end of it!

If any of these meditations spoke to you, take the time to look up a bit more about that particular saint. You might find a new friend to help you to a closer relationship with Christ.
This litany is a meditation on what some of the saints have spoken or written. As we listen to these saints, we pray for a deeper personal participation in their sanctity. This litany represents only a small sampling of the vast communion of the saints. Feel free to add your favorites to it. One option is to sing the litany and its response.

R. (Saint's name), pray for us

Saint John Eudes: "With his own hand God the Father has impressed on Mary's heart a perfect semblance of the divine qualities of his love." R

Saint Claude de la Colombiere: "My Jesus, let me live in your heart and pour all my bitterness into it where it will be utterly consumed." R

Saint Paul of the Cross: "The soul whom God wants to draw to deepest union with him by means of holy prayer must pass through the way of suffering during prayer." R

Saint Alphonsus Liguori: "We must love God in the way that pleases him, and not just in a way that suits ourselves." R

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton: "O Jesus, sure joy of my soul, give me but a true love of you. Let me seek you as my only good." R

Claude de la Colombiere

Saint John Vianney: "the soul can feed only on God; only God can suffice it; only God can fill it; only God can satiate its hunger. Its God is absolutely necessary to it." R

Saint John Neumann: "Though God hates sin more than any other thing, he loves us poor miserable sinners. He ardently desires the welfare of our souls as if his own happiness depended on it." R

Saint Therese of Lisieux: "You alone, O Jesus, could satisfy a soul that needed to love even to the infinite." R

Saint Bernadette Soubirous: "O Mary, Mother of Sorrows, I am the child of your sorrows. My tender Mother, here is your child, who can do no more. Have pity on me." R

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini: "Stretch every fiber of my being, dear Lord, that I may more easily fly towards you. May your Spirit, which once breathed over the chaos of the earth give life to all the powers of my soul." R

 

Detail of St. Therese a photograph
taken in the courtyard of the monastery of Lisieux
Easter Monday, April 15, 1894.

Saint Maximilian Kolbe: "Shall the urge for complete and total happiness, inherent to human nature, be the only ned to remain unfulfilled and unsatisfied? No, even this longing can be fulfilled by the infinite and eternal God." R

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross: "Holy realism has a certain affinity with the realism of the child who receives and responds to impressions with unimpaired vigor and vitality, and with uninhibited simplicity." R

Saint Katharine Drexel: "May your faith be increased so as to realize the fact that you are never alone, wheresoever you may be, that the great God is with you, in you." R

Saint Faustina: "Jesus, I trust in you." R

Saint Pio: "If the soul longs for nothing else than to love its God, then don't worry and be quite sure that this soul possesses everything, that it possesses God himself." R

Saint Damien: "In the face of the too real dangers that surround me I repeat: 'Lord, I have placed all my hope in you. I will never be confounded.'" R

Padre Pio

The Litany of the Counsel of the Saints V

Magnificat usually has this wonderful litany in the month leading up to All Saints' Day. There will be a posting of part of this litany throughout October.

This litany is a meditation on what some of the saints have spoken or written. As we listen to these saints, we pray for a deeper personal participation in their sanctity. This litany represents only a small sampling of the vast communion of the saints. Feel free to add our favorites to it. One option is to sing the litany and its response.

R. (Saint's name), pray for us

Saint Angela of Merici: "Strengthen, O Lord, my senses and my affections that they may not stray into any betrayal of trust." R

Saint Francis Xavier: "God our Lord knows the intentions which he in his mercy has wished to place in us, and the great hope and confidence which he in his goodness has wished that we should have in him." R

Saint Ignatius of Loyola: "As long as obedience is flourishing, all the other virtues will be seen to flourish and bear fruit." R

Saint Teresa of Avila: "Be joyful for there is someone who loves your God as he deserves, who knows him as her only Son." R

Saint John of the Cross: "You considered/That one hair fluttering at my neck;/You gazed at it upon my neck/And it captivated You." R 

Saint Aloysius Gonzaga: "As God is above all created things, honors, possessions, so should our internal esteem of his Divine Majesty surpass our esteem or idea of anything whatever." R

Theresa of Avila, Peter Paul Reubens

Saint Philip Neri: "My Jesus, if you want me, cut the fetters that keep me from you." R

Saint Robert Southwell: "Jesus, possess my mind with your presence and ravish it with your love, that my delight may be to be embraced in the arms of your protection." R

Saint Isaac Jogues: "My hope is in God, who needs not us to accomplish his designs. We must endeavor to be faithful to him." R

Saint Peter Claver: "Man's salvation and perfection consists in doing the will of God, which he must have in view in all things, and at every moment of their lives." R 

Saint Vincent de Paul: "But for divine grace in would be in temper hard and repellent, rough and crabbed." R

 

St. Vincent de Paul

 

Mirror, Mirror on Halloween

In this 1904 Halloween greeting card, divination is depicted:
the young woman looking into a mirror in a darkened room
hopes to catch a glimpse of her future husband.

I didn't know there used to be Halloween greeting cards! I like the shadow of the witch on the wall behind her ... just for fun or a sly commentary on those who practice divination, however innocent seeming?

Wait a minute, what were we talking about? — Memento

Most of this review is from 2005 when we originally watched this movie. After rewatching it I thought I'd highlight it again. Back then no one knew who Christopher Nolan was. Now everyone does and it is interesting to see him break out with techniques and themes that we are much more familiar with in 2024. Plus — it's a super good movie.

This possibly may be the definitive film noir. We follow Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) as he tracks down the man who raped and murdered his wife. However, Shelby was left with permanent short term memory loss as a result of an injury when trying to defend his wife ... and thereby hangs a fabulous piece of movie making as well as a fascinating story. He can't make new memories so how can he investigate a crime? Or even keep track of his own life?

Director Christopher Nolan takes us through the movie backwards, beginning at the end and working his way to the beginning in short jumps of time. We are just in the dark as Shelby when he wakes each morning thinking, "Where am I? Hotel room ... ok ..." and begins to regain his place in time with the aid of body tatoos, polaroids with notes jotted on them, and various friends (or are they?) he encounters. At first the jumps cover comparatively long time periods to give us the knack of following the movie. Towards the end when we are in the rythym, the jumps become shorter and shorter as the essence of the mystery is revealed. 

When Leonard points out that memories lie and only documented facts can be trusted, he is right. He goes on to prove that point in a most unlikely way during the movie. But one must be sure they are not manipulating themselves, whether consciously or unconsciously. In some ways it is a fascinating look at one's capacity to lie to oneself and, ultimately, in how we deal with guilt ... whether we are consumed by it or whether we can accept reality as it is and move on to a better future.

There were a few plot holes but they may be forgiven considering the complexity of this piece. Indeed, they may be my own deficiency because this movie was moving so fast by the end (beginning?) that it occasionally was hard to think back and put various pieces in their proper places. Nonetheless it is still really wonderful.

The Litany of the Counsel of the Saints IV

Magnificat usually has this wonderful litany this month leading up to All Saints' Day. There will be a posting of part of this litany throughout October.

This litany is a meditation on what some of the saints have spoken or written. As we listen to these saints, we pray for a deeper personal participation in their sanctity. This litany represents only a small sampling of the vast communion of the saints. Feel free to add our favorites to it. One option is to sing the litany and its response.

R. (Saint's name), pray for us

Saint Gregory the Great: "We have been truly set free from subjection to sin because we are united to him who is truly free." R

Saint Maximos the Confessor: "God made us so that we might become partakers of the divine nature and sharers in his eternity, and so that we might come to be like him through deification by grace." R

Saint Bede the Venerable: "We should rejoice that the Lord deigns to visit our hearts, and that he deigns to illumine this Passover of our good actions by his benevolent presence." R 

Saint Bernard: "In the measure that grace's kingdom is extended, sin's power is weakened." R

Saint Dominic: "I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you more effectively than during my life." R

Saint Francis of Assisi: "May I feel in my heart, as far as possible, that abundance of love with which you, Son of God, were inflamed." R

Saint Anthony of Padua: "Let us pray that the Lord Jesus Christ pour his grace into us by means of which we ask for and receive the fullness of true joy. R 

Saint Clare: "Live and hope in the Lord, and let your service be according to reason." R

St. Dominic in Prayer, El Greco

Saint Thomas Aquinas: "The life of man consists in the love that principally sustains him and in which he finds his greatest satisfaction." R

Saint Catherine of Siena: "When we love something we don't care what sort of abuse or injury or pain we might have to endure to get it; we are concerned only with satisfying our desire for the thing we love." R

Saint Bernardine of Siena: "If we but recollect the name of Jesus, it is to fight with confidence -- for this name subjects all the fury of our enemies to us." R

Saint Catherine of Genoa: "God lets the soul share his goodness so that it becomes one with him. The nearer the soul comes to him, the more it partakes of what is his." R 

Saint Thomas More: "The brothers of the patriarch Joseph could never have done so much good with their love and favor as they did him with their malice and hatred." R

Thomas is girded by angels with a mystical belt of purity
after his proof of chastity.
Painting by Diego Velázquez.

A Day of Fasting and Prayer for Peace in Israel

We ask that on Tuesday, October 17, everyone hold a day of fasting, abstinence, and prayer. Let us organize prayer times with Eucharistic adoration and with the recitation of the Rosary to Our Blessed Virgin Mary. Although most probably in many parts of our dioceses circumstances will not permit large gatherings, it is possible to organize simple and sober common moments of prayer in parishes, religious communities, and families.

Cardinal Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem has put this call out for today. Read the whole thing here.

Snap-Apple Night

Snap-Apple Night, painted by Daniel Maclise in 1833,
shows people feasting and playing divination games on Halloween in Ireland.

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan.

Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie.

But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits. Jake had enemies, and now they're coming after Charlie.

As you'd expect, this was tons of fun. I especially enjoyed the way Charlie's common sense and regular life experience gave him an edge in dealing with rival super villains.

I will say that the beginning seemed a bit slow, mostly because we already knew the "surprise" that was revealed in slow stages to Charlie — that his uncle was a super villain. I mean to say, it's in the title. And the book blurb. So I was a bit impatient over how slowly this was unrolled for us.

However, the pace picked up once those first few chapters were over and he'd followed the cat. It's perfect for those moments when you just want popcorn for your brain.

A Cloud and Landscape Study by Moonlight

A Cloud and Landscape Study by Moonlight, Johan-Christian-Clausen Dahl

This seems so evocative of autumn and also the upcoming celebration of Halloween.

The Litany of the Counsel of the Saints III

Magnificat usually has this wonderful litany this month leading up to All Saints' Day.  There will be a posting of part of this litany throughout October.

This litany is a meditation on what some of the saints have spoken or written. As we listen to these saints, we pray for a deeper personal participation in their sanctity. This litany represents only a small sampling of the vast communion of the saints. Feel free to add our favorites to it. One option is to sing the litany and its response.

R. (Saint's name), pray for us

Saint Athanasius: "It is the Father's glory that man, made and then lost, should be found again' and, when done to death, that he should be made alive, and should become God's temple." R

Saint Ephrem the Syrian: "O Jesus, in that hour, when darkness like a cloak shall be spread over all things, may your grace shine on us in place of the earthly sun." R

Saint Charles Borromeo: "The candle that gives light to others must itself be consumed. Thus we also have to act. We ourselves are consumed to give a good example to others." R

Saint Catherine De' Ricci: "You have been reborn with him through a holy desire to live a new life, looking at yourselves as reflected in his life." R

Saint Cecilia: "To die for Christ is not to sacrifice one's youth, but to renew it. Jesus Christ returns a hundred-fold for all offered him, and adds to it eternal life." R

St. Cecilia, Guido Reni

Saint Leo the Great: "Let us be raised to the one who made the dust of our lowliness into the body of his glory." R

Saint Patrick: "I arise today through the strength of Christ with his baptism, through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial, through the strength of his Resurrection with his Ascension." R

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque: "All my pleasure in this land of exile is that of having every other kind of suffering found on the cross, deprived of every other consolation except that of the Sacred Heart." R

Saint Louis Grignion de Montfort: "In Mary alone, by the grace of Jesus Christ, man is made godlike as far as human nature is capable of it." R

Saint Benedict: "What is more delightful than this voice of the Lord calling to us? See how the Lord in his love shows us the way of life." R

Saint Columba: "Loving Savior, inspire in us the depth of love that is fitting for you to receive as God." R

Saint Benedict of Nursia by Fra Angelico

Excusing Hatred Against Jews

 Here's a solid chunk of the first piece of the Pillar's newsletter about attitudes toward Jews in this war between Hamas and Israel. This is what strikes me too. I am praying for peace. I am going to fast on the Oct. 17 day of fasting and prayer that has been called for. While all that's happening, do go read the whole thing that this extended excerpt came from.

My view is undoubtedly colored by all of this, but there are still some things I think can be seen clearly enough.

You can have your own opinions on the proportionality and even morality of Israeli policies and actions in Gaza over the decades.

And you can pray, like me, that somehow the Israeli government and military might be dissuaded, even now, from visiting total and indiscriminate revenge on the people of Gaza.

But no one celebrates the deaths of civilians in Gaza. When a bomb claims the life of a Palestinian mother or child, crowds do not gather in the streets of Paris and Vienna to revel in their deaths. After the attacks last weekend, in which murder and rape and carnage were livestreamed on social media, no one demanded a worldwide “day of rage” to legitimize and support Israeli violence.

They do gather and celebrate and seek to legitimize it all, though, when Jews are killed. Not Israelis, Jews.

People who celebrate such things are not motivated by grievance, or a frustrated sense of justice, but by hatred — hatred not of a system, or a circumstance, or a government, or even a nation. It is hatred of a people.

It is a hatred so deep and fierce and bitter that it moves them to shout victory slogans at the violent desecration of women and the literal slaughter of actual infants.

And yet this goes largely excused among us - however much we might bluster about some things being supposedly unacceptable.”

What Are Ghosts?

Without our action or invitation, the dead often do appear to the living. There is enormous evidence of "ghosts" in all cultures .... We can distinguish three kinds of ghosts, I believe. First, the most familiar kind: the sad ones, the wispy ones. They seem to be working out some unfinished earthly business, or suffering some purgatorial purification until released from their earthly business. These ghosts would seem to be the ones who just barely made it to Purgatory, who feel little or no joy yet and who need to learn many painful lessons about their past life on earth.

Second, there are malicious and deceptive spirits -- and since they are deceptive, they hardly ever appear malicious. These are probably the ones who respond to conjurings at seances. They probably come from Hell. Even the chance of that happening should be sufficient to terrify away all temptations to necromancy.

Third, there are bright, happy spirits of dead friends and family, especially spouses, who appear unbidden, at God's will, not ours, with messages of hope and love. They seem to come from Heaven. Unlike the purgatorial ghosts who come back primarily for their own sakes, these bright spirits come back for the sake of us the living, to tell us all is well. They are aped by evil spirits who say the same, who speak 'peace, peace, when there is no peace'. But the deception works only one way: the fake can deceive by appearing genuine, but the genuine never deceives by appearing fake. Heavenly spirits always convince us that they are genuinely good. Even the bright spirits appear ghostlike to us because a ghost of any type is one whose substance does not belong in or come from this world. In Heaven these spirits are not ghosts but real, solid and substantial because they are at home there: One can't be a ghost in one's own country.

That there are all three kinds of ghosts is enormously likely. Even taking into account our penchant to deceive and be deceived, our credulity and fakery, there remain so many trustworthy accounts of all three types of ghosts - trustworthy by every ordinary empirical and psychological standard - that only a dogmatic prejudice against them could prevent us from believing they exist. As Chesterton says, "We believe an old apple woman when she says she ate an apple; but when she says she saw a ghost, we say 'But she's only an old apple woman." A most undemocratic and unscientific prejudice.

Peter Kreeft, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Heaven

As we head closer to Halloween, this seems like a good topic. And so interestingly told as is everything that Peter Kreeft writes.

Reading Devotions to Grandfather

Reading Devotions to Grandfather, Albert Anker

This is just so sweet. The earnest concentration of the young reader, the half-asleep grandfather. I love it.

Couldn't Quit Listening — Third Eye by Felicia Day

Once upon a time, in the magical land of San Francisco, there lived a not-so-ordinary girl named Laurel Pettigrew. She was supposed to be the Chosen One. The plan was simple: she would vanquish the great evil Tybus in an epic battle. But destiny had other ideas, and Laurel's performance in the whole heroics department was a colossal flop.

Now, instead of being a legendary hero, Laurel's the resident pariah of the magic realm. Until a girl looking for a hero comes along some secrets that might just give Laurel a shot at redemption and a chance to rewrite her destiny.

Ever since seeing The Guild webseries I've been a Felicia Day fan. Here she combines tropes of fantasy quests where a Chosen One must vanquish the ultimate villain. When the Chosen One fails and winds up reading tarot cards in a seedy part of San Francisco is when the fun begins.

Whether you want something light and fun that will make you laugh or are just having a bad day, this is the book to pick up. It's quick, fun, and well acted by a star cast including Neil Gaiman as the Narrator, Wil Wheaton as the evil one's local enforcer, and Sean Astin as a less-than-complete vampire.  My favorite character was the morbid high school counselor who is otherwise normal but tailor-made for Frank the vampire. Just thinking about their courtship puts a smile on my face.

Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves, Edward Okuń

 It has gotten just a touch chilly for our morning walks. We won't have autumn colors until next month probably, but that's what paintings are for!

The 2024 Schedule is Here for A Good Story is Hard to Find

 We've got mystery, a novel from Japan, sci-fi, Shakespeare, a deal with the devil, and much more! We are proud to present the 2024 schedule for A Good Story is Hard to Find!

• Jan. 9 — Guest - Kim Lawler - book or movie TBD
• Jan. 23 — The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman 
• Feb. 6 — Bholaa
• Feb. 20 — The Hedge Knight by George R. R. Martin 
• March 5 — Soul (Pixar) 
• March 19 — The Rosary by Romano Guardini 
• April 2 — Father Stu 
• April 16 — Passage by Connie Willis 
• April 30 — Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 
• May 14 — Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi 
• May 28 — Dum Laga Ke Haisha 
• June 11 — Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance by Tobias Buckell 
• June 25 — The Bridge on the River Kwai 
• July 9 — Christy by Catherine Marshall 
• July 23 — Little Miss Sunshine 
• Aug. 6 — The Charwoman's Shadow by Lord Dunsany 
• Aug. 20 — King Lear by Willy Shakes 
• Sept. 3 — Til We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis 
• Sept. 17 — Mulk 
• Oct. 1 — Midnight Mass, Ep 1-3 
• Oct. 15 — Midnight Mass, Ep 4-7 
• Oct. 29 — The Wolf-Leader by Alexandre Dumas 
• Nov. 12 — Green Book
• Nov. 12 — To Know Christ Jesus by FJ Sheed 
• Dec. 10 — North by Northwest

Now those are some good stories!

Azuma Gorge

Azuma Gorge by Kawase Hasui

We don't have fall colors yet but this helps with my desire for them!

Laments for Israel

 I heard over the weekend about the barbaric attacks upon Israel but it was very briefly as bombings and military attacks. I had pressing family matters at the moment and also don't read news much online so it wasn't until I saw the paper yesterday morning that I learned more about the full extent of the aggression and the horrifying treatment of the innocent people there. 

Of course, I am praying for them wholeheartedly. I also was struck by the fact that I have been reading the many laments in the psalms as I slowly work my way through them. The more things change, the more they are the same. 

The psalms aren't a bad place to start when we don't have adequate words to beg God to protect the innocent and turn away evil.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. — Psalm 46:1

Mother's Ill

Mother's Ill by Gaetano Chierici

I found this at J.R.'s Art Place where he points out:

Notice how everyone seems to be after one another's food in this painting: the father is cooling down a spoonful for baby, but three other children are grabbing for it as well! And the boy seated on the floor is in imminent danger of having cats and chickens stealing his meal.

Kathal — A Jackfruit Mystery

When two prized jackfruits disappear from a politician’s garden, a spirited cop’s investigation takes an unexpected turn as she digs for the truth.

We all really loved this movie which follows Inspector Mahima Basor and her team as they pursue the ridiculous case of two stolen jackfruits. Everyone realizes it is a waste of resources but no one will say no to the politician. As you might expect there is a fair amount of humor but it is usually gentle and understated, which can be a rarity in Indian movies.

We learn a little about the team and what they care about — a dowry for a daughter, a promotion for a constable, a way to balance husband and career. And we meet other characters, most notably a village reporter who is hoping for a big story and dives into the jackfruit investigation. All are likable and even the villains aren't too heavy handed. 

The character development and plot twists were perfectly paced, and wove some serious topics very naturally into the story without heavy-handed moralizing. You don't have to be Indian to enjoy this light hearted film though I'm sure there are many little moments that we missed. 

The talented cast included some actors we have long enjoyed — Sanya Malhotra in Dangal and Badhaai Ho, Vijay Raaz in Monsoon Wedding and Gangubai Kathiawadi. All did a great job and I hope to see other movies with these actors especially the young constable and the local reporter.

Definitely recommended.

Rating — Introduction to Bollywood (come on in, the water's fine!)

October

October, Theo van Hoytema

The Bells

Because Halloween is this month! When better for bells and Poe! Read it aloud for best effect.

The Bells

by Edgar Allen Poe

I
Hear the sledges with the bells-
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens, seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells-
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.

II

Hear the mellow wedding bells,
Golden bells!
What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!
Through the balmy air of night
How they ring out their delight!
From the molten-golden notes,
And an in tune,
What a liquid ditty floats
To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats
On the moon!
Oh, from out the sounding cells,
What a gush of euphony voluminously wells!
How it swells!
How it dwells
On the Future! how it tells
Of the rapture that impels
To the swinging and the ringing
Of the bells, bells, bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells,bells,
Bells, bells, bells-
To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!

III

Hear the loud alarum bells-
Brazen bells!
What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells!
In the startled ear of night
How they scream out their affright!
Too much horrified to speak,
They can only shriek, shriek,
Out of tune,
In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire,
In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire,
Leaping higher, higher, higher,
With a desperate desire,
And a resolute endeavor,
Now- now to sit or never,
By the side of the pale-faced moon.
Oh, the bells, bells, bells!
What a tale their terror tells
Of Despair!
How they clang, and clash, and roar!
What a horror they outpour
On the bosom of the palpitating air!
Yet the ear it fully knows,
By the twanging,
And the clanging,
How the danger ebbs and flows:
Yet the ear distinctly tells,
In the jangling,
And the wrangling,
How the danger sinks and swells,
By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells-
Of the bells-
Of the bells, bells, bells,bells,
Bells, bells, bells-
In the clamor and the clangor of the bells!

IV

Hear the tolling of the bells-
Iron Bells!
What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!
In the silence of the night,
How we shiver with affright
At the melancholy menace of their tone!
For every sound that floats
From the rust within their throats
Is a groan.
And the people- ah, the people-
They that dwell up in the steeple,
All Alone
And who, tolling, tolling, tolling,
In that muffled monotone,
Feel a glory in so rolling
On the human heart a stone-
They are neither man nor woman-
They are neither brute nor human-
They are Ghouls:
And their king it is who tolls;
And he rolls, rolls, rolls,
Rolls
A paean from the bells!
And his merry bosom swells
With the paean of the bells!
And he dances, and he yells;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the paean of the bells-
Of the bells:
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the throbbing of the bells-
Of the bells, bells, bells-
To the sobbing of the bells;
Keeping time, time, time,
As he knells, knells, knells,
In a happy Runic rhyme,
To the rolling of the bells-
Of the bells, bells, bells:
To the tolling of the bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells-
Bells, bells, bells-
To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.

The Litany of the Counsel of the Saints II

Magnificat usually has this wonderful litany in the month leading up to All Saints' Day. There will be a posting of part of this litany throughout October.  

This litany is a meditation on what some of the saints have spoken or written. As we listen to these saints, we pray for a deeper personal participation in their sanctity. This litany represents only a small sampling of the vast communion of the saints. Feel free to add your favorites to it. One option is to sing the litany and its response.

R. (Saint's name), pray for us

 Saint Gertrude the Great: "Once again I give you thanks for your merciful love, kindest Lord, for having found another way of arousing me from my inertia." R

Saint Bonaventure: "God created all things not to increase his glory, but to show it forth and to communicate it." R

Saint Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi: "Who doesn't know what God is, should apply to Mary. Who doesn't find mercy in God, should apply to Mary. Who doesn't have conformity of will, should apply to Mary." R 

Saint Francis de Sales: "We must fight our battle between fear and hope in the knowledge that hope is always the stronger because he who comes to our help is almighty." R

Saint Jane Frances de Chantal: "Oh, how happy is the soul that freely lets herself be molded to the liking of this divine Savior!" R

Francis de Sales and Jane Frances de Chantal, medal 1867

Saint Irenaeus of Lyons: "The glory of God is man fully alive." R

Saint Agatha: "Lord Jesus Christ, you created me, you have watched over me from infancy, kept my body from defilement, preserved me from love of the world, made me able to withstand torture, and granted me the virtue of patience in the midst of torments." R

Saint Cyprian: "Our union with Christ unifies affections and wills." R  >

Saint Peter Julian Eymard: "Abide in the home of the divine and fatherly goodness of God like his child who knows nothing, does nothing, makes a mess of everything, but nevertheless lives in his goodness." R

Saint John Bosco: "What tenderness there is in Jesus' love for man! In his infinite goodness, he established with each of us, bonds of sublime love! His love has no limits." R

Irenaus, in Church of St Irenaeus, Lyon.

Psalm 39 — To Know Gladness

  If ... you wish to pray on your own behalf as the enemy prepares the attacks, there is all the more reason, in arming yourself for the battle, to sing the words of Psalm 39.

Athanasius, On the Interpretation of the Psalms

When discussing Psalm 38, I forgot to mention that we're down to the last four of the psalms of Book 1 of Psalms, The Laments of David (psalms 38-41). It hasn't escaped our notice that we've been working our way through many laments. So. Many. Laments. 

Then we'll be on to Book 2, which is the Triumphs of David! Huzzah! First though let's keep in mind that these last four laments seem to be an extended meditation on personal sin as the cause for divine judgment, the need for confession, the need for God's aid, and pleas for delivery from suffering. 

General thinking is that they were written by David and present his sufferings and trials when he is not yet delivered but is still confident that God will help him. It is worth keeping David's life in mind when reading these psalms. Of course, our lives are reflected here also and that is the more important part of any meditation.

I was struck, when reading this psalm and the commentaries, by how similar this is in some ways to Ecclesiastes. The psalmist talks about how fleeting life is, that "each man's life is but a breath. Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro." And so forth and so on.  

Never do we feel more like this than when we are in the depths of despair with no help or answers immediately forthcoming.

Were can the psalmist look for help? To God, of course!

Psalm 39 in a Franciscan manuscript

I've said plenty above but wanted to share this from St. Ambrose which really touched my heart.

39.13 To Know Gladness

Forgive Me. Ambrose. Forgive me, so that I need no longer be a pilgrim and a wayfarer. Forgive me so that I may be called home from exile. If you forgive me, before I go from this place, I shall no longer be an exile and a pilgrim. Once you will have forgiven me, I will not longer be in foreign parts. I shall be a fellow citizen of your saints; I shall be with my ancestors, who were pilgrims before me and are now truly citizens. I shall be a member of God's household. I shall not dread punishment but also merit grace through our Lord Jesus; with whom, Lord God, be praise to you, and honor and glory forever; now and always for ages of ages. Amen. (Commentary on Twelve Psalms 39.39.)

Psalms 1-50 (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture)

An index of psalm posts is here.

Give your servant Don eternal peace, O Lord

Yesterday, I was at a deathbed with my son-in-law when his father died. Truth be told, I would have felt very out of place, but I am lucky enough to be very good friends with his mother. I am extremely fond of my son-in-law but I just love his mother so much. When she told me there were mere hours left, I dropped everything to go support them. 

Therefore, I was privileged to be there both simultaneously mourning his passing and also cheering him over the final bit of his race to his Eternal Reward.

I ask your prayers for the soul of Don Edinburgh and in support of his grieving family.

Give your servant Don eternal peace, O Lord,

and let perpetual light shine upon him.

May his soul, as well as the souls of all the faithful dead,

rest in peace, thanks to God’s grace.

Amen.

Mississippi River

 

Missippi River - View from Fire Point

Since we were talking about time's river today, let's look at a river — here is the great Missippi in lovely Fall colors.

Standing to the side of time's river

My father passed away in 1991, but I remember the things he said to me, and they are present to me in a still powerful and formative way. I think it is an earnest of our immortality that we can stand to the side of time's river and let things long past continue to dwell in us; and not just as remnants, either. Who knows, but that some experience I have long forgotten will someday return and be a central and powerful part of my future days?

Anthony Esolen, Word of the Week essay: Time

I never would have thought of immortality this way but it is a striking image and acknowledgement of how our humanity interacts with time.

Grey Heron

 

Grey Heron, Remo Savisaar

Click through to see this lovely bird with many more details in the original blog post.

The Litany of the Counsel of the Saints I

Magnificat usually has this wonderful litany in the month leading up to All Saints' Day. There will be a posting of part of this litany throughout October.

This litany is a meditation on what some of the saints have spoken or written. As we listen to these saints, we pray for a deeper personal participation in their sanctity. This litany represents only a small sampling of the vast communion of the saints. Feel free to add your favorites to it. One option is to sing the litany and its response.

R. (Saint's name), pray for us

Holy Mary, Mother of God: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." R

Saint Gabriel the Archangel: "Hail favored one! The Lord is with you." R

Saint Joseph: [pause in reverent silence] R

Saint Joseph

Saint John the Baptist: "Jesus must increase; I must decrease." R

Saint Peter: "Lord, you know that I love you." R

Saint Paul: "We had accepted within ourselves the sentence of death, that we might trust not in ourselves but in God who raises the dead." R

The Beheading of Saint Paul by Enrique Simonet, 1887

The Gallery of HMS Calcutta

The Gallery of HMS Calcutta, James Tissot

Click on the link to see the painting larger. The detail on those gowns is really wonderful. Those were the days!

Cinderella (2015)

Kenneth Branagh's live-action Cinderella and the best of the live-action Disney remakes because they stuck to the story without trying to improve it for modern values.

Sumptuous, gorgeous, thoughtfully told, with surprising depth, charm, and a dash of humor. Perfect!

I was especially impressed with the moral underpinning and the way the evil stepmother's story subtly intertwines with Cinderella's by the end. Never has one had a better example of the reason to "have courage and be kind." This is so simple but so all encompassing that I've found it echoing through my head as I face difficult situations in my own life. I didn't expect to be motivated by Cinderella but that is the power of this telling of the classic fairytale.

I loved it long ago and loved it equally this time around. We showed it for my mother who hadn't seen it but who also loved it. I wasn't sure how my husband would take it, though he is always willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of my mom's enjoyment. However, he also really liked it as a skillful, respectful retelling of a classic fairytale and appreciated all the filmmaking.

October

October, Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry

Tilling and sowing are being carried out by the peasants, in the shadow of the Louvre - Charles V's royal palace in Paris.

University of Chicago

Till We Have Faces Discussion at Mythgard Academy

As I've mentioned before I'm addicted to Corey Olsen's free classes at Mythgard Academy.  He's the best of all the book podcasts that I listen to because he focuses on what the text is telling us, not on what we know will happen later in the book or getting sidetracked into tangential ideas.

I admit that I have skipped all of the Tolkien materials once they finished The Lord of the Rings. However, these have been interspersed among rich discussions of many wonderful books ranging from Dracula to Le Morte d'Arthur to Ender's Game to Watership Down. 

I'm extra excited that they have just begun Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis. It is a book that I struggle with but which nonetheless fascinates me. I've listened to various podcasts cover it but 20 minutes into the first episode I know that Corey Olsen is showing me the book from a point of view that I find irresistible. 

They're on a lot of platforms but I listen to the podcasts. Find out how to listen or watch here.

Let's Talk Angels

We've got angelic feasts coming up. Here's a post to get us in the mood ... that is a good run down of "angelic basics". I first wrote this in 2011 but it is just as good now.

+++++++++++++++++

I usually have some "mind's eye" angel thinking going on. During Mass I think about the fact that there are double the visible inhabitants, because we each have our guardian angel with us. I read somewhere that angels are always worshiping when the Host is consecrated ... I always have that mind's-eye vision of them prostrating themselves at that point. St. Josemaria Escriva always mentally greeted the guardian angel of the person and sometimes I remember to do the same. More important to me is to be sure to ask my guardian angel for guidance during the day ... according to St. Escriva, the more you "talk" to your angel, the more sensitive you are to any guidance.

I was fascinated by the entire concept of angels when I converted but wanted the real scoop ... not one of those cutesy "I met my angel" books that were popular at that time (2000). Wouldn't you know, Peter Kreeft (is there anything that guy can't write about?) has a wonderful book, Angels and Demons: What Do We Really Know About Them? Here is the quickest possible Angels 101 course from the first page of the book.

O.K., so I'm browsing through this book and wondering: why should I buy it? What can you tell me about angels in one page?

1. They really exist. Not just in our minds, or our myths, or our symbols, or our culture. They are as real as your dog, or your sister, or electricity.
2. They're present, right here, right now, right next to you, reading these words with you.
3. They're not cute, cuddly, comfortable, chummy, or "cool." They are fearsome and formidable. They are huge. They are warriors.
4. They are the real "extra-terrestrials," the real "Supermen," the ultimate aliens. Their powers are far beyond those of all fictional creatures.
5. They are more brilliant minds than Einstein.
6. They can literally move the heavens and the earth if God permits them.
7. There are also evil angels, fallen angels, demons, or devils. These too are not myths. Demon possessions, and exorcisms, are real.
8. Angels are aware of you, even though your can't usually see or hear them. But you can communicate with them. You can talk to them without even speaking.
9. You really do have your very own "guardian angel." Everybody does.
10. Angels often come disguised. "Do not neglect hospitality, for some have entertained angels unawares" -- that's a warning from life's oldest and best instruction manual.
11. We are on a protected part of a great battlefield between angels and devils, extending to eternity.
12. Angels are sentinels standing at the crossroads where life meets death. They work especially at moments of crisis, at the brink of disaster -- for bodies, for souls, and for nations.

The Letter

The Letter (c.1890). Thomas Benjamin Kennington

First, I'd like a letter that gave me that expression. Second, I'd love that dress. Oh, who am I kidding? The dress is what I'd like first!

The sheep are insolent

[The Lord says:] The straying sheep you have not recalled; the lost sheep you have not sought. In one way or another, we go on living between the hands of robbers and the teeth of raging wolves, and in light of these present dangers we ask your prayers. The sheep moreover are insolent. The shepherd seeks out the straying sheep, but because they have wandered away and are lost they say that they are not ours. “Why do you want us? Why do you seek us?” they ask, as if their straying and being lost were not the very reason for our wanting them and seeking them out. “If I am straying,” he says, “if I am lost, why do you want me?” You are straying, that is why I wish to recall you. You have been lost, I wish to find you. “But I wish to stray,” he says: “I wish to be lost.”

So you wish to stray and be lost? How much better that I do not also wish this. Certainly, I dare say, I am unwelcome. But I listen to the Apostle who says: Preach the word; insist upon it, welcome and unwelcome. Welcome to whom? Unwelcome to whom? By all means welcome to those who desire it; unwelcome to those who do not. However unwelcome, I dare to say: “You wish to stray, you wish to be lost; but I do not want this.” For the one whom I fear does not wish this. And should I wish it, consider his words of reproach: The straying sheep you have not recalled; the lost sheep you have not sought. Shall I fear you rather than him? Remember, we must all present ourselves before the judgement seat of Christ.

From a sermon On Pastors by Saint Augustine, bishop,

Office of Readings, Liturgy of the Hours

I was really struck by St. Augustine's point about the sheep being so insolent that they sass the shepherd for seeking them out. We think of that insolent rejection of God as being something so modern. Yet there are plentiful examples in both the Old and New Testaments that this is an attitude as old as mankind itself. 

Of course, we need to be sure we do not become insolent. It is also a good reminder that I need to persevere with my loved ones who I wish to bring to the joy of knowing Jesus. They know not what they do, as Jesus said.

The Visit

The Visit, Abram Efimovich Arkhipov

He really captures the mood of happy excitement and enjoyment, doesn't he?

Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (Rocky and Rani's Love Story)

Rocky is a loud, showy Punjabi from a family who made their fortune making laddoos (sweets). Rani is a sophisticated, stylish television personality from a Bengali family. Brought together by a fluke because each loves their grandparents, they fall in love. Struggling to plan their future with such different backgrounds they do the only logical thing (from a Bollywood point of view) — live with each other's  families for three months to adjust to their cultures and backgrounds and to know if their marriage will survive. This leads to funny and interesting contrasts as each has something to learn and something to teach their "new" families.

Rocky Aur Rani is a three-hour long, dance loaded, romance loaded movie that leaves you smiling. It's been described as "delicious eye candy with a rebellious core" and nothing could be truer. Ranveer Singh as Rocky has never been more charming or energetic. Alia Bhatt makes the romance seem genuine. As well as the romance, the contrast between traditional and progressive values gives you something a little deeper than the fun and froth. 

Highly recommended.

NOTES FOR INDIAN MOVIE FANS:

Rocky Aur Rani also is a delightful blending of old and new. We couldn't appreciate it the way that it would strike Indian audiences but our limited knowledge still made us happy when we recognized callbacks to old Indian films. The music was composed by superstar Pritam as an homage to 1960s and 70s songs from Bollywood classics. Some of the actors were actually in those classics. We were especially delighted to see Dharmendra and Jaya Bachan (who we'd seen in the curry-western Sholay, as well as a few other films). 

Partway through, this suddenly struck me forcibly as a modern take on Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (K3G - my review). We watched it early in our Indian movie explorations and it didn't go down well for this American family. I'd forgotten most of the details but somehow that K3G vibe was there. Afterward, I remembered it was an early film for Rocky Aur Rani's director, Karan Johar. It's as if he was shaking off the cobwebs and bringing it into the present. I don't tend to love Johar's films, but this time — we thoroughly approved.