I'm Not So Interested in Cars ...

... though we definitely will be checking out the movie. Tom's been waiting for a year for it. However, I am interested in Paris, fine food, restaurants, and Brad Bird's brilliant humor. This is the Pixar movie I'm waiting for.

Scientific Concept of Beauty, Part III

Continued from yesterday.

Brilliance is the third element in science's view of the beautiful. Augros and Stanciu explain that "a theory with this quality has great clarity in itself and sheds light on many other things, suggesting new experiments. Newton, for example, astounded the world by explaining falling bodies, the tides and the motions of the planets and the comets with three simple laws." George Thomason adds that "in physics, as in mathematics, it is a great beauty if a theory can bring together apparently different phenomena and show that they are closely connected; or even different aspects of the same thing." This is exactly what Einstein did with his theory of general relativity, and it helps to explain his religious attitude toward the universe, and why he marveled at its comprehensibility, namely, that the human intellects can make sense of it and understand it.

Evidential Power Of Beauty by Thomas Dubay

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Forecast: Sunny

You Are Storm

Exotic and powerful, Storm descended from a line of African priestesses. Emotions can effect your powers, but you are generally serene. Powers: controlling weather, creating winds that lift you into flight, generating lightning

Which of the X-Men Are You?

Via Discernment Dilemma.

Mad Scientists, Diet Coke, and Mentos

Boys will be boys after all and it don't get much better than this!

Via Steven Riddle, who knows what I love to see!

Scientific Concept of Beauty, Part II

Continued from yesterday.

The second scientific element is harmony. Albert Einstein went so far as to assert that "without belief in the inner harmony of the world there could be no science." This harmony is a satisfying accordance and combination or differing elements making up a whole or found in a whole. There will likewise by symmetry as a solid scientific theory "will harmonize many previously unrelated facts." Werner Heisenberg adds that "the symmetry properties always constitute the most essential features of a theory." We obviously have here what philosophers have through the centuries called proportion: in actuality the two ways of speaking are identical. Science, like metaphysics, sees the universe saturated with beauty.

Evidential Power Of Beauty by Thomas Dubay

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Novena of Confidence to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

O Lord Jesus Christ, to your most Sacred Heart I confide this intention. Only look upon me, then do what your love inspires. Let your Sacred Heart decide. I count on you. I trust in you. I throw myself on your mercy. Lord Jesus, you will not fail me.

(Mention your request)

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in you.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I believe in your love for me.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, your kingdom come.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I have asked you for many favors, but I earnestly implore this one. Take it, place it in your open heart. When the Eternal Father looks upon it, he will see it covered with your Precious Blood. It will no longer be my prayer, but yours, Jesus. Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you. Let me not be disappointed. Amen.

This is my very favorite novena. There is something about this especially, "When the Eternal Father looks upon it, he will see it covered with your Precious Blood. It will no longer be my prayer, but yours, Jesus" that is such a beautiful thought to me. I began it tonight for a special intention for a friend.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Blogger Status

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

This morning, a hardware problem we had been struggling with over the past several days suddenly worsened. As a result, and to stave off future downtime, we have had to take Blogger down for an extended period of time as we address the problem. We will continue to update this blog and the homepage with more information.

Update: We've brought up new hardware which has allowed us to restore the site. We try hard to avoid downtimes of this length and apologize for the inconvenience.

Blogger Status

I've got news for them ... inconvenient isn't the word and it ain't over yet. Let's see if this gets posted or disappears into the ether.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Scientific Concept of Beauty, Part I

... So we ask: What, according to our best scientific minds, are the traits of this omnipresent splendor in our universe? The most concise and clear answer to this question that I have seen occurs in the study by Robert Augros and George Stanciu, The New Story of Science. We can do no better than to summarize their thought and add a few of our own reflections.

For contemporary science the first trait of beauty is an elegant simplicity. In this context simplicity refers to an essential purity, a freedom from superfluities, useless accretions, and needless complications. Einstein's theory of gravitation possess this grace and proprietary, whereas competing theories do not, and thus "none of them are taken seriously." Astronomer Roger Penrose commented that "no rival theory comes close to general relativity in elegance or simplicity of assumption." For the scientist simplicity implies both completeness and economy: "It must take into account all the facts and must include only what is necessary. Nothing lacking, nothing superfluous." Notable in the field of mathematical physics, Henri Poincare commented that "it is because simplicity and vastness are both beautiful that we seek by preference simple facts and vast facts." We notice in this requirement for valid scientific discoveries, namely that they be elegantly simple and yet vast, the classical philosophical traits of the beautiful: unity and wholeness.

Evidential Power Of Beauty by Thomas Dubay

I came to this book with a great deal of trepidation, knowing Dubay's reputation for high level theological thinking. I was surprised and pleased to find that I had inadvertently prepared myself, at least in part, to follow his train of thought by reading two very different books.

The first was Aristotle for Everybody by Mortimer J. Adler. Although presented in their own beautiful simplicity in mentally "bite-sized" chapters this book was a challenge for me. However, I retained enough that when Dubay began talking about various philosophical concepts, especially that of "form," I was able to follow with relative ease.

The second was The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel which I reviewed for Spero News. Whether one agrees or not with the beliefs of the scientists interviewed for that book, one can't help but come away with a certain understanding of how they see and define beauty within the discipline of science. Again, I didn't realize that I had absorbed something of that understanding until I encountered it in the pages of this book but it did smooth the way for me somewhat.

I am still working my way through this and may hit the really difficult concepts later on. Also, I don't wish to give the impression that you must have a lot of preparation to even begin reading this book. It is merely interesting to me that I recognized these concepts as building blocks learned from previous reading.

You can go on to Part II here.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Having Christ as Our Cornerstone

A Christian, who will have built his life upon the cornerstone who is Christ, has his own personality, his own way of seeing the world and its happenings. He has a scale of values very different from that of the pagan, who does not live by faith and who has a purely worldly conception of things. A weak and lukewarm Christian faith, however, which exerts very little influence on ordinary life, can provoke in some people that kind of inferiority complex which manifests itself in an immoderate desire to "humanize" Christianity, to "popularize" the Church, to make it somehow seem to conform to the value-judgments prevalent in the world at a given time (J. Orlandis).

That is why, as well as being immersed in our secular activities, as Christians we need to be immersed in God, through prayer, the sacraments and the sanctification of our daily work. We need to be faithful disciples of Jesus in the middle of the world, in our ordinary everyday life, with all the constant effort and hard decisions this entails. In this way we will be able to put into practice the advice Saint Paul gave to the first Christians in Rome when he alerted them to the risks of accommodating themselves to the pagan customs of the day: Do not be conformed to this world (Rom 12:2). Sometimes this refusal to conform will lead us to row against the current and run the risk of being misunderstood by many of our contemporaries. The Christian must not forget that he is leaven (Matt 13:33) hidden in the lump of dough that has to be fermented by him...

Jesus of Nazareth continues to be the cornerstone of every man's life. Any building constructed without Christ is raised in vain. Let us think as we finish our prayer, whether the Faith we profess is coming to bear more and more influence on our existence, on the way we view the world and mankind, and on the way we behave.

In Conversation With God Vol 3

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

The Mark of the Beast ... 616

Rose filled us in on this recently, thanks to her thorough theology teacher. However, rather than write it all, I will rely on Rick Lugari's post, via Jay Anderson. Suffice it to say that whatever it is the numerology signified Nero and I think we're way past worrying about him.

However, if you really want to get into the spirit of the day, check out these surprising facts about 666. Here are my favorites:

6. The world did end on June 6, 2006, but on that date according to the Julian calendar. So, like 10 days ago. Didn't you notice? There were dragons and fire and everything.

10. If you call the telephone number 666-666-6666, you get Satan's house. His Infernal Majesty becomes particularly irate when contacted by telemarketers during the dinner hour.

11. Speculation that the "mark of the Beast" will take the form of bar codes or computer chips is incorrect. The mark of the Beast is actually conferred by Livestrong bracelets.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Happy Catholic in Your Ears at TWICC

Father Roderick, that priest who must never sleep because he is always podcasting, has a group venture launched ... TWICC: This Week in the Catholic Church. It has an interesting combination of folks including Greg and Jennifer from the Rosary Army Podcast; George Leite from Catholic Rockers and Fr. Bill Holtzinger from St. Anthony’s podcast.

Also, I contributed my first attempt at truly "talking" the talk, a variation of my Surprised by Jesuits post. So if you want to hear what I sound like just hop over and download it or listen on your computer.

Thanks to Father Roderick for this idea. It was really interesting to try the podcasting. For one thing, Tom proved you can podcast using Garage Band and the free podcasting kit that comes with it. It isn't many people who can boast their own techie to edit out the worst of the barking dogs ...

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Recognizing Truth

Error is often presented decked out in the noble garments of art, science or freedom ... But faith has to be, indeed is, stronger than error. It is the powerful light that enables us to see, lurking behind what appears to be good, the evil that lies hidden beneath the surface of an otherwise good literary work, of a beauty that conceals ugliness. It is Christ who must be the cornerstone of every building.

Let us ask Our Lord for his grace so that we may live in a way totally compatible and utterly coherent with our Christian faith. In this way we will never think of our faith as a limiting factor -- I can't do this, I can't go there. Rather it will be a light that enables us to recognize the reality of things and events, without ever forgetting that the devil will try to make an ally of human ignorance, (which cannot see the complete reality contained in this ordinary work or in that doctrine) and of the pride and concupiscence that all of us drag along behind us. Christ is the crucible that assays the gold there is in all human things. Anything that does not stand up to the testing clarity of his teaching is a lie and deceptive, even though it may be adorned with the appearance of some attractive good or perfection.

In Conversation With God Vol 3

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Tender, Loving Care ... This Doesn't Sound Right

Especially when I read that quote (gag me). However, when I read the actual description ... well, I think it might be me after all. Especially in the routine, routine, routine part.

Your type is:
isfj —The “Tender Loving Care” Mother

“I want my children to feel they have an ally, someone who knows them completely. I want to be a haven for them.”

• Gentle and kind, the ISFJ mother provides her children with generous amounts of tenderness, affection, and the comfort of daily routine. Her aim is to “be there” for her children, physically and emotionally. She is sensitive to their feelings, offering closeness, understanding, and quiet support.


• Loyal and devoted, the ISFJ mother has a strong sense of duty and consistently puts her children’s needs first. She delights in taking care of the little things that matter to a child, making each one feel loved and special.


• To provide her family with security and warmth, the ISFJ mother tends to the practical and domestic, aiming for a smooth-running household and an attractive home. She also observes and conveys the value and importance of family traditions.

Find your mothering style.

Via that "love of learning mother," a.k.a. Mrs. Darwin.

Rose Thought Her Heart Was Going to Stop ...

... last week when they had some extra time in theology and she happened to walk by her teacher's desk where she was reading a ... blog. As Rose whispered to her friend, it was the worst sight possible. Her teacher was reading Happy Catholic! Oh, the horror, the embarrassment!

Luckily, I was able to put her fears to rest by saying that I'd sent the school an email complimenting that teacher and so copied her on it. Whew! She had only followed the link in the email and wasn't reading it independently.

Although I was stoked by the fact that the teacher actually could see the blog at school. Usually it is blocked as all blogs are to keep questionable materials away from young minds. Maybe I've written so many nice emails they unblocked it?

Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin

El Greco. Visitation. c. 1607-1614.

From the moment when Mary conceived the Son of God, filled with the Holy Spirit, wherever she went, there is also the presence of Jesus and the Spirit. Just look at what Elizabeth immediately experienced as soon as her very young cousin set foot in her house and greeted her. I have no idea of the timbre of Mary's voice, but I know well the efficacy of her presence. And this is not the only first for Elizabeth who has had many others: she is the first who, in the presence of Mary, is filled with the Holy Spirit; she is the first to exalt Mary on account of her maternity: "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb!"; she is the first to recognize in Mary the Mother of God, calling her "the mother of my Lord"; she is the first to announce an evangelical beatitude: "Blessed is she who has believed."...

About Mary - She is the true and enduring Ark of the Covenant, that is, the dwelling place of God; actually she is more, because it is she from whom god assumed our human nature to live in our midst as our brother. To welcome Mary is the way to receive Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The first beatitude of the Gospel, "Blessed is she who has believed" is the beatitude of faith; to it corresponds well the last beatitude proclaimed by the risen Christ to Thomas: "Because you have seen and yet believed!" (Jn 20:29). Mary is the model of those who believe without having first seen.

About us - Perhaps we have not yet understood who Mary is; the various firsts of Elizabeth are our help and guide. To delude ourselves into thinking we can have Jesus and the Holy Spirit without going through Mary is not in conformity with the way established by God. Faith, not sensibility, tells us that salvation begins by welcoming Mary.

Father Gabriele Amorth, via Magnificat magazine. Father Amorth is the Chief Exorcist of Rome, Italy, and the author of four books about the Blessed Virgin Mary.

I love thinking about this because it is just the way that my friends and I are with each other. Rushing to each other to share joys and sorrows. It is a very "womanly" thing to do and not only does it exemplify all the things in the above excerpt but it shows Mary's and Elizabeth's humanity to me when they rejoice for each other's good fortune in being blessed by God.

Tags: Catholicism, Christianity

Lost Podcast Scoop

A few things from listening to the producers on the finale wrap-up podcast.

• They weren't sure if it came across but it was supposed to be clear that when the magnetic surge was allowed to happen was the only time that the island was visible. Interesting eh?
• They also have been lobbying to remove reruns during the season and show the episodes in blocks. Beginning next September the show will run 6 episodes which will run until the beginning of November and end in a mini-cliffhanger. Then they will go off the air for about twelve weeks and come back in February. After they come back the show will be on straight through with 17 straight episodes to the finale with no repeats.
• For those of us who missed the monster in the last part of the show (and I know that I was one of those people) they give us the enigmatic statement, "There's a good chance that you guys saw the monster this year but just didn't realize that you were looking at the monster...by the end of next year you will realize what that means."
• A fundamental rule on Lost is that they don't introduce anything until they know how it will resolve. (So much for the theories that they are seeing what their fans say and writing the show based on feedback.)

The Power of Advertising

Lest anyone doubt it, consider the reaction of one of Rose's friends upon hearing that Hannah and Rose landed jobs at Target. "Cool! I wish I had a job somewhere great like that!"

Rose was dumbfounded. "Debbie works at an amusement park and gets to go on the rides free after each shift. Now that is a great job!"

Thanks to their truly inspired ad campaign, Target is the "in" place for Hannah's friends to shop. Tom and I admire that campaign. It is endlessly inventive and somehow they manage to keep changing the styles while retaining the overall feel so that it is instantly identifiable. Obviously it is doing a good job at changing public perception. Too bad for Hannah and Rose that we have been teaching them to see through ads since they were tiny ... they know Target is simply a discount store.

I wonder if Debbie would think the mandatory drug test within 24 hours of getting the job was glamorous also. The time limit meant that Tom had to hustle Rose down there promptly when they opened this morning so that she could make it to her last finals this morning on time. An interesting way to end the school year if nothing else ...

Of Knitting and Kings

On January 30, 1649, King Charles I thought so highly of a particular knitted bodice that he wore it to the scaffold on the day of his public execution so that it might be recorded for posterity in the inevitable paintings of the event. London was covered in about six inches of snow on that day, and the king was anxious to keep warm so that he would not shiver in the cold and be thought a coward.

Knit Bits: 2006 day to Day Calendar

Surprised by Jesuits

MY LIFE WITH THE SAINTS
by James Martin, SJ

An elderly Jesuit who had spent many years in "the missions" smiled slyly when I mentioned the last rationale.

"You know," he said, "part of coming to know the international Society is discovering that Jesuits from other countries can be just as much of a pain in the ass as the American ones!"

In my six years as a Catholic I have heard one consistent thing about the Jesuits which is accurately echoed by the excerpt above. They always seemed to be the progressive trouble makers in any story, unless there was a stalwart traditional Catholic Jesuit in which case he was the target of the other trouble making Jesuits. More often than not when I had personal encounters and arguments spirited discussions about Catholic doctrine with other much more progressive people they would cite being taught by Jesuits to "question everything" as their authority. I found this just plain annoying when I had struggled my way through many questions of my own to get precisely to the traditional Catholicism that they had been handed on a platter and seemed to be spurning. None of this added up to making me very open to the way that Jesuits practiced the Faith.

Of course, the Jesuits did have those aforementioned stalwart traditionals that I could admire. They had staunch supporter Karen Hall who I have admired for some time so I felt I could trust her judgment. I even have come across blogging Jesuits who seemed like pretty good guys. However, this really did not sway my overall judgment of cautious observation and keeping an arms length from anyone who seemed too swayed by this group with dangerous tendencies.

Then I began reading this book and it literally and seemingly effortlessly brought me back to a place with God that I had been floundering trying to reach on my own.

In a way my floundering was brought on by too much information. Reading around St. Blog's one will see various devotions to different orders and their own individualized sorts of prayer and living. These would be written about with such affection that it seemed only natural to give them a try. After some time I discovered that none of these served me very well. Not only that, but somehow I had forgotten how to pray in the way that I used to when it was so effortless and fruitful. Thus began a period of that "floundering," of trying to remember what it was that I used to do to see God in everything and to pray without worrying about the mechanics.

Worse still was the fact that without any motivation I really was caring less and less if I prayed at all. Oh, I knew that was the way back to God and that personal relationship that I should be trying to nurture. However, with so many other things to attract my attention, not least of all this blog, it grew harder and harder to carve out that private, personal time. Added to this was the fact that, once I had accepted God's existence, I always had seen evidence of Him reaching out to me through all the encounters of my day and the things in my life. However, I had read several cautions about this sort of faith and trusting too much to our imaginations and so had been pulling back from that also. In short, I didn't know what to think or how to connect any more.

Then, one of my very best friends generously surprised me with some books from my Amazon wish list and included My Life with the Saints. (If you're not reading her blog then you're missing some of the most sincere and insightful writing around.)

The initial interest that made me include this book on my wish list had waned and honestly I began reading it mostly because the other book she sent was a much more challenging looking read. However, I soon became caught up in Martin's excellent story telling. He wove the saints' stories around his own progress through answering a call to the priesthood and the personal challenges it entailed. I will vouch for his skill in communicating enthusiasm by telling you that I actually wrote one of Thomas Merton's books on my "to read" list after reading the chapter about Merton's life. I have always thought Merton was quite a whiner and this was the first account that made me interested in trying one of his books beside The Seven Storey Mountain which I loathed. (Please don't tell me all the reasons I am wrong about Merton ... I honestly believe that he has a lot of value for all his devotees. We can't all like everyone and I venture to guess that there are saints I love who many would not like.)

Where the personal aspect in this book came in, however, was when Martin began writing about Ignatius of Loyola and explaining the precepts of Jesuit prayer and theology.

In an Ignatian contemplation we attempt to place ourselves in a particular scene, often from the Gospels. In the story of the Nativity, for example, Ignatius asks us to imagine ourselves with Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem: "to see with the sight of the imagination the road from Nazareth to Bethlehem, considering the length and breadth, and whether the road is level or through valleys and hills; likewise looking at the place or the cave of the Nativity, how large, how small, how low, how high, and how it was prepared."

I don't know how to express what a sense of homecoming and joy I felt at reading this. It was how I had prayed from the beginning, imagining how the dew on the grass felt when Mary arose from traveling overnight on the caravan to Elizabeth's, how the sunshine would have hit both of them warmly as they embraced at the Visitation. This was right. This was me. It was cemented by Martin telling how he had been unable to get into using his imagination in this way.

"Isn't it all just in my head?" I asked. "Won't I just make the people in my fantasy do what I want them to do?"

"Not necessarily," he said.

I sat there, confused.

"Let me ask you something," David said. "Do you believe that God gave you your imagination?"

"Sure," I said.

"Don't you think that God could use your imaginations to draw you closer to him in prayer?"

Yes! And Amen!* Though in the back of my mind I was finding it tremendously ironic that the order whose spirituality seemed to speak to me most was one that I distrusted. But that is in line with my experience also. Not only do I know much less that I usually think but God often is making a joke out of it at the same time. Which came home again just a couple of pages later.

Theologians often describe Ignatian spirituality as "incarnational." In other words, while it recognizes the transcendence of God, it is also grounded in the real-life experiences of people living out their daily lives.

It is a spirituality that reminds us that God speaks to us through prayer -- but also through our emotions, our minds, and our bodies. God can communicate through sexual intimacy, romantic love, and friendship. God can be found in Scripture and in the sacraments. God can show his love through your sister, your coworker, your spouse, your next-door neighbor, a teacher, a priest, a stranger, or a homeless person. Finding God in all things. And all people.

And through prompting a loving friend to give a book that leads someone back to the path she has wandered far from when she has lost her way. Just the way I experienced this morning and have recognized since God began calling me to him. Gosh darn it ... I think I have a Jesuit soul. For all the reasons I mentioned above, that ain't easy to admit, y'all!

For the first time in I don't know how long I was actually excited about prayer. I couldn't wait to get back to my "mind's eye" realizations, through God speaking to me through Bible flips. Just in case, I didn't get the point, today's morning psalm in Magnificat was one that Third Day had made into one of my very favorite songs, one that is on practically every Godmix playlist I make.

To you, O Lord, I lift my soul
In you, O God, I place my trust
Do not let me be put to shame
Nor let my enemies triumph over me

My hope is you
Show me your ways
Guide me in Truth
In all my days
My hope is you

I am, O Lord, filled with your love
You are, O God, my salvation
Guard my life and rescue me
My broken spirit shouts
My mended heart cries out...

Topping it off, with this song ringing through my head, I turned to the reading from Hebrews which spoke both to my feelings and to this book about saints which brought me to that point. It was to me that final push to point out that I was back on track.

Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. Because of it the ancients were well attested.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us 2 and persevere in running the race that lies before us.
Hebrews 11:1-2; 12:1

Of course, this is much more a personal testimony than a book review. I am not yet done but have had my eyes opened wide. Most likely that will not happen for most people reading this book. However, I can promise you a well told tale of Jim Martin's life and faith so far, always surrounded by that "cloud of witnesses" who watch, applaud, and help all of us on our way to our ultimate goal. You will find saints and people who are saintly but not yet accorded that spot on the calendar by the Church (such as Mother Teresa). You will find an inspirational story to help remind all of us that our searching is not in vain. If you are very, very lucky, you will find a nugget directed right at you that will help get you on track and turned in the direction you need to go.

*Updated
I occasionally have been surprised by my own imagination enough to realize that God uses it to get your attention. From the time that I was idly wondering whether I was making something up or whether a thought came from God and had, "YOU SHOULD KNOW MY VOICE BY NOW!" sternly thunder through my stunned mind ... to the time that I was imagining myself on the hillside listening to the Beatitudes when meditating on the Luminous Mysteries and was startled to suddenly see in my mind's eye Jesus looking over at me and saying, "Come little sister" and patting the ground next to him so that I would learn more about the Beatitudes that I found so boring and uninspiring. These are things that it never occurred to me to invent ...
Tags: Christianity

Memorial Day: All the Things I Never Knew

Today our nation celebrates Memorial Day. Originally called Decoration Day, the holiday started spontaneously in 1866, when a drugstore owner in Waterloo, N.Y., sought to honor those who died in the recent Civil War. Townspeople joined Henry Welles' cause to commemorate the fallen, and they decorated the graves with flowers, wreaths and crosses.Today our nation celebrates Memorial Day. Originally called Decoration Day, the holiday started spontaneously in 1866, when a drugstore owner in Waterloo, N.Y., sought to honor those who died in the recent Civil War. Townspeople joined Henry Welles' cause to commemorate the fallen, and they decorated the graves with flowers, wreaths and crosses.

In short order, others joined around the country and by 1868, according to the History Channel: "Children read poems and sang Civil War songs, and veterans came to school wearing their medals and uniforms ... Then the veterans marched through their hometowns followed by the townspeople to the cemetery." Soon enough, heroes from other wars were honored as well, and the day became Memorial Day.

Abraham Lincoln described our country, in his message to Congress in 1862, as the "last best hope of earth."
Dallas Morning News

Well, I never knew all that! Maybe I should have but better late than never eh?

If you want to look at a good way to connect this day to our faith, Way of the Fathers has just the ticket.

Here's a really touching post about the day from an American living in Saudi Arabia.