Which Version of Dante I am Reading ... and Why

Dr. Steve asks:

Can you tell me which translation of Dante you're reading? Did you give that issue much thought?...

I actually did give this a great deal of thought. The library had translations by Anthony Esolen (the newest translation of Dante if I am not mistaken), Allen Mandelbaum, C.H. Sisson, Jefferson Butler Fletcher, Charles Eliot Norton, and John Ciardi.

The library must have wondered if I was doing a research paper because I checked them all out and then took a look at the first chapters to see which seemed to be the easiest to read. John Ciardi won, hands down. And his rhymed which won many points as some of the other translations did not and I wanted a sense of poetry even while understanding that it would not equal the original.

Then I looked at the notes and, again, John Ciardi won. He had ... would you call them "headnotes" (?) ... which came at the beginning of each Canto to give a sense of what one would read. This was followed by thorough end notes in which he not only clarified many points obscure to us today, but also would not his "work arounds" to make a rhyme happen and then give the exact translation as it would have read.

This is not to say that the other versions weren't good. It is just that Ciardi's felt most like something I would have a chance of continuing to read. As has proven to be the case. I read a canto every morning although it took me a while to fall into that rhythm.

The sad thing is that I have had the library's copy for about a year, renewing it online every three weeks and it has never been requested by anyone else. I know this because if it was, then I would not have been allowed to renew it. Ah well.

Also, I would be remiss in not mentioning the book that made me truly interested in reading the Divine Comedy in the first place. That would be Inferno by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. You can find a partial review here and more thoughts about it here. It is highly recommended, especially to any science fiction lovers (such as The Anchoress' sons!).

Lent "Re-Branded" as Christian Ramadan

As if we needed proof that Western culture is on a long down-hill slide in some places.

Dutch Catholics have re-branded the Lent fast as the "Christian Ramadan" in an attempt to appeal to young people who are more likely to know about Islam than Christianity. ...

"The image of the Catholic Lent must be polished. The fact that we use a Muslim term is related to the fact that Ramadan is a better-known concept among young people than Lent," said Vastenaktie Director, Martin Van der Kuil.

Read it all here. Via John C. Wright.

"It may be gross. It may seem creepy."

Sarah at Mary's Aggies has a good analogy. Go read it all, but here's a bit to intrigue you.

... God comes to us eager and willing to work. He longs to clean out our hearts – even those places we often pretend don’t exist or the ones we have long since tried to forget are there. He bends and reaches and sees trash we aren’t even aware of. He doesn’t tire of his work. He longs to make us whole.

You may be tired. You may be timid. You may be eager to leave this task for another time. It may be gross. It may seem creepy. It may be tempting to leave this project before it is completed.

But let him in. Give him full reign to clean up your heart.

Yep. There are many ways God may want to do this work. In my own life, it began most fully in this Lenten season with going to confession last Saturday. I didn't want to. I was eager to leave this task for another time. No one would see it. Except God and me.

If you haven't been for a while, I can't recommend it enough.

Let him in.

Lenten Reading

• Sarah has just finished reading one of my favorite books, Adventures in Orthodoxy by Fr. Dwight Longenecker. I don't know if she chose it specifically as Lenten reading but it is Lent and she did just finish reading it. So that counts. Go check out her review of a really wonderful book you probably never heard of that both The Curt Jester and I really love.


• Darwin Catholic continues his Lenten tradition (it's the second year so that makes it tradition) of commenting on Dante's Divine Comedy. His first post answers the question, "Why read Dante for Lent? Why read Dante at all?" As someone who is very slowly working her way through Dante and has made it to the beginning of Paradisio ... it has changed how I think about my life and sin. Consider that I began reading Dante to cross it off my reading list and then think about how it might change your life ... or go see what Darwin has to say.


• Woodward at Thursday Night Gumbo tells us what he's reading and invites us to tell him what we're reading.


• The Anchoress just received Questions and Answers: Pope Benedict XVI and also The Greatest Gift; The Courageous Life and Martyrdom of Sister Dorothy Stang. She has a bit about them. I also received these but haven't had a chance to crack the covers yet.

I am reading two books which I began long before Lent but got sidetracked from by other books. Part of my overall Lenten resolution to focus and simplify is to finish these excellent books!

• The School of Prayer: An Introduction to the Divine Office for All Christians by John Brook. Interestingly Brook partially presents this introduction to promote ecumenism for he points out that praying from the Psalms makes Protestants feel right at home in the practice. This book not only tells about the divine office, but has an explication of the psalms commonly prayed so that we more easily find Christ in them.


• Beginning to Pray by Anthony Bloom. This book is written with complete simplicity but yet somehow contains depths that one thinks of for some time afterward. Let's just begin with this ... "If you look at the relationship (us and God) in terms of mutual relationship, you would see that God could complain about us a great deal more than we about Him. We complain that He does make Himself present to us for a few minutes we reserve for Him, but what about the twenty-three and half hours during which God may be knocking at our door and we answer 'I am busy..."

Also, thinking ahead for Easter reading recommendations, I am reading a couple of review books ... sci-fi and fantasy, both of which I am thoroughly enjoying I will put links here so you can take a look if you are interested. Reviews will come when I have finished the books which I do not anticipate being long as I am finding these riveting and that makes me read even faster.

• Seven Archangels: Annihilation by Jane Lebak


• Infinite Space, Infinite God edited by Karina and Robert Fabian

Heavens to Betsy!

Was that my Catholicism bursting out all over the place at the end of Fausta's blog radio talk? I believe it was. Let me just scoop that up and put it away ...

A very interesting conversation about men and women and all that jazz. In which I start talking and then can't shut up ... so it's all normal, right?

It will be posted here on iTunes or at Fausta's blog a little later.

Worth a Thousand Words

Classic Chevrolet via Flickr Cream of the Crop.

More Blog Talk Radio

Fausta, Siggy, and others who I am not sure about (maybe Laurie Kendrick?) will be on Fausta's blog radio show at 11 a.m. Eastern (10 a.m. Central, which would be my time zone). The call in number is 646-652-2639.

The link for Blog Talk Radio is here at Fausta's. I don't understand a thing about how it works but I do know that it is podcast later so you have a variety ways to listen if you are interested. I also am not sure what we're talking about but they always come up with something interesting and I never seem to be at a loss for words. Not sure if that is a good or a bad thing!

Anyway, tune in!

The Two Pronged Attack of Deception

Yesterday's readings were familiar to most of us. Specifically, the OT featured Adam and Eve being tempted by the cunning serpent while as is always the case in the first Sunday of Lent, the NT showed us Jesus being tempted by the devil. (See the readings here.).

There are many ways that these can be viewed, of course. However, what it really boils down to is what was talked about by Fr. L. yesterday.

First, the facts are put in doubt.

Second, the motivation is put in doubt.

Think about that when you are reading the pieces of conversation featuring the serpent or the devil. Then apply it to the larger world. This works on so many levels and from so many sources, whether human or supernatural. Yet it goes back always to the very first case of temptation and deception.

First, the facts are put in doubt.

Second, the motivation is put in doubt.

I especially thought of the quite surprising number of people I have encountered lately who have doubts and questions about the Catholic Church and the magisterium's authority. Some are merely questioning, some are defiant, however all have either left the Church or are in the process of coming back. I thought of all the reasons that people question the Church, including my own journey down the road to reading myself into agreement with Church teachings.

First, the facts are put in doubt.

Second, the motivation is put in doubt.

I am not saying that we should not question. Far from it. We were given our intelligence for a reason. It is through questioning that I wound up in the Church and later came to a greater appreciation of all She offers. However, we must be sure that we are not being led down the garden path by a subtle twisting of truth that leads us to suddenly change how we look and trust ... Read Eve's response to the serpent ... and see how differently she looks at the tree after that conversation.

We surely must be wise and also pray for guidance to be able to discern when we come up against these deceptions in our lives.

Worth a Thousand Words

Shinagawa by Tokaido Goju-santsugi (found at Kyoto Daily Photo).

Now This Is Fun Design

Isn't this fun? Got it from Siggy who has lots of other great design graphics up also.

The Father is Very Fond of Us

I went to Confession yesterday. Usually I have thought about it, figured out and analyzed my sins, and then prepped my confession speech, so I am not at all worried about confession. I usually feel that this is the official stamp of absolution because God and I have already been discussing these issues indepth.

This time was different. Oh, I did the analyzing, the examination, the discussion with God. But I had a couple of new things on my heart, revealed to me through my ever-so-slow reading of Dante's confessions. When I saw some of the same things showing up in Purgatorio that I did in Inferno, I realized that there were examples lurking in my own soul that I doubtless should be taking more seriously.

Ok, so what?

So, these newbie realizations were some that I cringed from making out loud. In retrospect, I realized that this was because they'd ruin my "rep" with whichever priest heard my confession. Boy oh boy, is that silly. Not only are these sins the routine sort that any priest might hear many times a day, it was a true internal indicator of my pride, my dislike of appearing less in someone elses' eyes.

Which is just the sort of thing that I should be examining and bringing out into the clear light of day for applying balance in my soul ... and for asking God's help ... as well in in those particular "Dante-esque" sins.

Yesterday, no matter where I turned I couldn't forget confession, for which I blame thank my guardian angel who knew just what I needed.

Finally, I realized that, as someone I knew had told me long ago, "God and the angels watched you sin when you did it. You aren't telling anyone anything new, except maybe yourself."

Truer words were never spoken.

I came away from the confessional laughing at myself, with my sense of balance restored. The priest nodded at those sins I didn't want to mention and then concentrated on others that I was all too familiar with confessing. That which I dreaded mentioning was only new and completely embarrassing to myself. Gee, is it all about me or what? Not only did I get absolution, additional graces to help me continue the battle, but a good mirror into my soul.

All for free. What a deal. No wonder God want us to go regularly to confession. He's always wanted the best for us.

Which brings me to the article that inspired me to post all this.

... "Well, it's funny. I didn't, like, confess. I just talked to him. Told him what was going on. It was good. I decided that I didn't want to ask for absolution, though."

It seems our protagonist and his priest had enjoyed a lengthy back-and-forth about the nature of sin, what constitutes sin, and what role conscience plays in that definition. "Some of the things I've done, I know I'm going to do them again. I didn't mind confessing, but it seemed wrong to say an Act of Contrition when I'm not even sure I'm contrite. I know what the church teaches, but God knows everything; He understands my mind and heart. He knows I'm not out to defy him; I'm just living my life, and exploring and growing up. Me and Jesus, we're okay."

Apparently the priest enjoyed this. He told the un-penitent that he appreciated this thoughtful confession over the "lip-service" he so often heard. But there was the matter of absolution. "I don't know how to do a 'partial' absolution, and it seems pointless. Your venial sins are absolved in the Mass, anyway."

"I know," the young man agreed. "I'll just have to stay away from Communion until I can get this all sorted out."

The idea of anyone withholding himself from Communion for what could be years threw me, but he explained, "I'm not going to live a casual, sloppy faith. I believe God would rather have me play fair and be respectful than make a rote confession. So many people just mouth the right words and only half mean it -- as if you can game the system or fool God into thinking you're alright. Who's alright, anyway? Isn't that why God is merciful, because none of us is alright? I love the Eucharist; I won't treat it so carelessly. I can still make a spiritual communion. If it's true, the grace should be able to sneak in."

He had me there. ...

Go read all of this excellent reflection on confession.

The beginning puts me in mind of "A" who recently emailed me that he wasn't receiving communion because he "had to get things right with the Lord." Not what you expect to hear from a college sophomore but just the sort of total honesty that "A" lives his life by.

Hell Abolished, God Adopts Gold Sticker System

... As reported at last week’s press conference, after reading a book on self-esteem in children, the Lord realized that all “Children of God” could benefit from immediate positive reinforcement.

“As it turned out,” the Lord said, “tossing sinners into Hell was seriously damaging their self-esteem.”

“This just goes to show that you’re never omnipotent or omnipresent enough not to learn a thing or two from time to time,” the Archangel Gabriel said. “Do we serve a great God or what?! What a guy!”

Support for the initiative came from at least one surprising source.

“This initiative couldn’t have come soon enough,” said the original Prince of Darkness, Satan, who wept openly at the press conference. Satan wore a “Nice try!” sticker, “If I’d had one of these way back when, things could have been different. A lot different.”

In the first phase of the initiative, angels were dispatched to Earth with hundreds of thousands of rolls of stickers. Whenever a human was “caught in the act” of doing something terrific, such as praying, helping another, reading the Bible, or working for peace, the angels were charged to present the human with a sticker. ...

A "news article" that is simultaneously hilarious as well as scathing commentary. Do go read it all. Not easy to pull off, but philangelus from Seven angels, three kids, one family does it perfectly. This just makes me even more interested in reading her new book, Seven Archangels: Annihilation.

Weekend Joke

From Rose, via BL Live (their in-school news show).

How do you get Pikachu on an elevator?

You Pokemon.

Godspy is Back! Woohoo!

They've been on hiatus which I have found quite frustrating ... but they've redesigned and looks better than ever. So what's new and what's the same? That scoop is here.

The first thing I read was The Pope of Hope by David Scott. It reminded me of just how much I loved Benedict's latest encyclical and of what good Lenten reading it would be. Also, of just how much I enjoy reading David's writing.

I'm looking forward to exploring more of the new look and articles this weekend.

Just a sec, let me get that little spot on the inside of your monitor ...

Just click here and that'll take care of it ...

Worth a Thousand Words

Fox Puppy taken by that photographic genius, Remo Savisaar
(Click through on the title link to go to the blog and see more of his amazing nature photography.)

Bittersweets

When cruelty and holidays collide, the weak-willed find solace in self-pity and comfort foods. And now, Despair Inc. is pleased to announce that we've combined BOTH into a radical new offering.

Introducing Bittersweets® - The Valentine's Candy for the Rest of Us.

From the good folks at Despair.

We should all be so corny ...

... as John Wayne as he talks about what he wants for his new baby girl.



Via Libertas where they rightly point out that today's sense of entitlement stops modern stars from a similar sense of gratitude and love of country.

Protecting the Church's Freedom in Colorado

Colorado HB 1080, pushed by the Anti-Defamation League after failing in a similar attempt last year, presents itself as an effort to bar discrimination. But the so-called “discrimination” HB 1080 targets is actually the legitimate freedom of religiously affiliated nonprofits to hire employees of like faith to carry out their mission. In practice, HB 1080 would strike down the freedom of Catholic Charities to preferentially hire Catholics for its leadership jobs if it takes state funds.

Of course, Catholic Charities can always decline public funds and continue its core mission with private money. In the Archdiocese of Denver, we’re ready to do exactly that. But the issues involved in HB 1080, and the troubling agenda behind it, are worth some hard reflection. ...

Archbishop Charles Chaput has a very good column in First Things discussing the church versus state situation in Colorado.

Abortion Changes You

... Over the years I’ve heard many heartrending stories about abortion. Although each story is unique, a common thread moves through them all—abortion changes you. Yet there is no forum to help abortion participants—and the people who are closest to them—explore this tragic truth. Although abortion has touched many of us, we rarely share our personal experiences regarding it.

This is what led me to write a book that shares some of the stories I’ve heard. There was also a need for a safe space for people to tell their stories, explore the ways abortion has impacted them, and find resources. We created AbortionChangesYou.com to fill this need. ...

Abortion Changes You is a new outreach that will be launching nationally in a few months. Go explore the site. It looks very interesting.