Japanese Bookplates

Via Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie

These are adorable.

Heresies - past, present, and future

The Church is not merely armed against the heresies of the past or even of the present, but equally against those of the future.

G.K. Chesterton

That's what divine planning will get you — total coverage.

Automobile Bookplate

Automobile Bookplate from the Antioch Company
via Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie
where you may find a 2-part series on car bookplates

Edward Penfield, His Book

Bookplate of Edward Penfield

I really love bookplates. I don't use them myself (so many books, so few bookplates) but I love the feeling they communicate that people have for their books.

Remembering

Is not remembering precisely the retaining of corporeal things in an incorporeal manner?

Romano Guardini, The Conversion of Augustine

Wow. Blew my mind and yet it is such a simple idea. Body and soul working together.

An Unwelcome Guest

Vittorio Reggianini, An Unwelcome Guest

A Movie You Might Have Missed #103 — One Life

Based on the true story of British humanitarian Nicholas Winton, the film alternates between following 79-year old Winton reminiscing on his past, and Winton at 29 who makes it his mission to help predominantly Jewish children in Czechoslovakia to flee in 1938–39, just before Hitler invades.

A really well done movie about an incident in WWII which should be known better. It really emphasized for me the cost of war to the innocent. As Nicky says, "That bloody Hitler."

Most of all, we realize the power of good to make a difference. And that's the point we should live by.

May is Mary's Month

William Bouguereau (1825-1905)
L'innocence [Innocence]

The May Magnificat

May is Mary's month, and I

Muse at that and wonder why:

Her feasts follow reason, Dated due to season --

Candlemas, Lady Day;

But the Lady Month, May,

Why fasten that upon her, With a feasting in her honour

Is it only its being brighter

Than the most are must delight her?

Is it opportunest And flowers finds soonest?

Ask of her, the mighty mother;

Her reply puts this other

Question: What is Spring? -- Growth in everything --

Flesh and fleece, fur and feather

Grass and green world all together;

Star-eyed strawberry breasted Throstle above her nested

Cluster of bugle blue eggs thin

Forms and warms the life within;

And bird and blossom swell In sod or sheath or shell.

All things rising, all things sizing

Mary sees, sympathising

With that world of good Nature's motherhood.

Their magnifying of each its kind

With delight calls to mind

How she did in her stored Magnify the Lord

Well but there was more than this:

Spring's universal bliss

Much, had much to say To offering Mary May.

When drop-of-blood-and-foam-dapple

Bloom lights the orchard-apple

And thicket and thorp are merry With silver-surféd cherry

And azuring-over greybell makes

Wood banks and brakes wash wet like lakes

And magic cuckoo call Caps, clears, and clinches all --

This ecstasy all through mothering earth

Tells Mary her mirth till Christ's birth

To remember and exultation In God who was her salvation.

Gerard Manley Hopkins

The Feast of St. Joseph the Worker

St. Joseph with the Infant Jesus, Guido Reni
via WikiPaintings

We celebrate two feast days for Joseph: March 19 for Joseph the Husband of Mary and May 1 for Joseph the Worker.

There is much we wish we could know about Joseph -- where and when he was born, how he spent his days, when and how he died. But Scripture has left us with the most important knowledge: who he was -- "a righteous man" (Matthew 1:18).

Catholic Online

I love St. Joseph. He was the quiet man of action. Those are my kind of guys.

Happy Birthday, Dear Tom

This doodle looks like it would be the scene for a wonderfully romantic birthday evening, doesn't it?

Perfect for Tom (and me) then!

Tom has chosen Strawberry Shortcake. Ok. To be honest, I suggested it (knowing his tastes) and he liked the idea so much that he never bothered trying to think of anything else.

I have taken to baking the cake from Tres Leches Cake in 9" pans. Then you horizontally cut the layers so that you've got four thin layers of cake. Macerate 48 ounces of strawberries with plenty of sugar. Construct with layers of strawberries, syrup, and freshly whipped cream. Delicious.

Perhaps I should say the above Google looks perfect for a celebratory evening since we will not be alone.

We've got a wonderfully participatory family with babies and 4-year-olds and grown kids and so forth and so on. It will be a real party!

Notes on Mark: Witnesses and Death Customs

Resurrection of Jairus's daughter.
Etching by E.F. Mohn after G.C. von Max.

MARK 5:35-39
The number of witnesses that Jewish law considered to be necessary for legal purposes was three. Jesus always used Peter, James and John ... those closest to him.

Jesus did not want more than these three Apostles to be present: three was the number of witnesses laid down by the Law (Deut 19:15). "For Jesus, being humble, never acted in an ostentatious way" (Theophilactus, Enarratio in Evangelium Marci, in loc.). Besides these were the three disciples closest to Jesus: later, only they will be with him at the Transfiguration (cf. 9:2) and at his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (cf. 14:33).

The Navarre Bible: St. Mark

The scene of unrestrained grief that would have greeted Jesus and his disciples as they entered really would have been an uproar. Here are a few of the details about mourning customs at the time.

Jewish mourning customs were vivid and detailed, and practically all of them were designed to stress the desolation and the final separation of death. The triumphant victorious hope of the Christian faith was totally absent.

Immediately death had taken place a loud wailing was set up so that all might know death had struck. The wailing was repeated at the grave side. The mourners hung over the dead body, begging for a response from the silent lips. They beat their breasts; they tore their hair; and they rent their garments...

Flute players were essential. Throughout most of the ancient world, in Rome, in Greece, in Phoenicia, in Assyria and in Palestine, the wailing of the flute was inseparably connected with death and tragedy....

When death came, a mourner was forbidden to work, to annoint himself or to wear shoes. Even the poorest man must cease from work for three days. He must not travel with goods; and the prohibition of work extended even to his servants ... It was the custom not to eat at a table, but to eat sitting on the floor, using a chair as a table. It was the custom, which still survives, to eat eggs dipped in ashes and salt.

There was one curious custom. All water from the house, and from the three houses on each side, was emptied out, because it was said that the Angel of Death procured death with a sword dipped in water taken from close at hand. There was one peculiarly pathetic custom. In the case of a young life cut off too soon, if the young person had never been married, a form of marriage service was part of the burial rites. For the time of mourning the mourner was exempt from the keeping of the law, because he was supposed to be beside himself, mad with grief.

The Gospel of Mark(The Daily Bible Series, rev. ed.)

 ===== 

Sources and Notes Index   

Christ and St. Mary Magdalen at the Tomb

Rembrandt (1606–1669)
Christ and St Mary Magdalen at the Tomb
via Wikipedia

I really felt as if I'd featured enough religious art lately. But I just couldn't resist it for a couple of reasons.

Why did Mary Magdalene mistake Jesus for a gardener? The hat and trowel, of course! And the angels lounging around look like high schoolers on break. What a wonderful way to exercise one's imagination on both scriptural accounts and the actual historical event.

TV You Might Have Missed #13 — Hwayugi (A Korean Odyssey)

A stylish urban fantasy about the Monkey King, a powerful immortal banished to the human world, and a young woman who can see ghosts and spirits. Their intertwined destinies and a contract made years ago lead them to clash and become allies, battling evil and exploring themes of fate, love, and redemption.

This urban fantasy was tons of fun. We really grew to love these characters. I especially enjoyed watching Son O Gong (Monkey) behaving in such a monkey-like fashion as he ignored what anyone wanted but himself and acted on whichever whimsy occurred to him. 

This is a very loose riff on the Chinese classic novel Journey to the West about a Buddhist monk on pilgrimage accompanied by protecting deities atoning for their sins. It  certainly broadened my horizons as I wound up reading The Monkey King, Vol. I and 2, graphic novels by  Chaiko Tsai looking for a few clues as to the characters or symbols from that story. You don't have to know anything about Journey to watch the show, but it does make it more fun to be able to identify a few things such as the Geumganggo.

The female lead was the weakest actress and her story was also the weakest but the engaging side stories more than made up for that problem. Of course, we were invested in the main romance/fighting evil story but you just can't resist the sweet and zany cast of demon characters masquerading as humans —  including an octopus prince in a pop star's body, a friendly and sweet zombie who willingly lives in the fridge, the loyal dog secretary, or a winter deity who runs (of course) an ice cream stand.

And there was plenty of romance. With Monkey wearing funky fur coats.  Of course.

I enjoyed this as much as Tale of the 9 Tailed, even though in some ways they are very different.

Four Footed Lovers

Via Bumble Button

My little children in Christ, my joy and my crown

Masaccio. Baptism of the Neophytes

I speak to you who have just been reborn in baptism, my little children in Christ, you who are the new offspring of the Church, gift of the Father, proof of Mother Church's fruitfulness. All of you who stand fast in the Lord are a holy seed, a new colony of bees, the very flower of our ministry and fruit of our toil, my joy and my crown. ...

St. Augustine, Sermo 8

I love how tenderly this is expressed.

Remember, Easter continues until Pentecost, which is June 8 this year. Keep the celebration going!

Feast of Divine Mercy

Sunday After Easter Sunday

During the course of Jesus' revelations to Saint Faustina on the Divine Mercy He asked on numerous occasions that a feast day be dedicated to the Divine Mercy and that this feast be celebrated on the Sunday after Easter...

Concerning the Feast of Mercy Jesus said:

Whoever approaches the Fountain of Life on this day will be granted complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. (Diary 300)

I want the image solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter, and I want it to be venerated publicly so that every soul may know about it. (Diary 341)

This Feast emerged from the very depths of My mercy, and it is confirmed in the vast depths of my tender mercies. (Diary 420)

On one occasion, I heard these words: My daughter, tell the whole world about My Inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment.* [our emphasis] On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will I contemplate My love and mercy throughout eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy. (Diary 699)

Yes, the first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to our neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to absolve yourself from it. (Diary 742)

I want to grant complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My mercy. (Diary 1109)

As you can see the Lord's desire for the Feast includes the solemn, public veneration of the Image of Divine Mercy by the Church, as well as personal acts of veneration and mercy. The great promise for the individual soul is that a devotional act of sacramental penance and Communion will obtain for that soul the plenitude of the divine mercy on the Feast.

More about this feast day

Easter Friday: Here are the beginnings of creatures newly formed

Icon of the Resurrection

Here, then, is the grace conferred by these heavenly mysteries, the gift which Easter brings, the most longed for feast of the year; here are the beginnings of creatures newly formed: children born from the life giving font of holy Church, born anew with the simplicity of little ones, and crying out with the evidence of a clean conscience. Chaste fathers and inviolate mothers accompany this new family, countless in number, born to new life through faith. As they emerge from the grace giving womb of the font, a blaze of candles burns brightly beneath the tree of faith. The Easter festival brings the grace of holiness from heaven to men. Through the repeated celebration of the sacred mysteries they receive the spiritual nourishment of the sacraments. ...

Easter homily by an ancient author,
via the Liturgy of the Hours

I loved this because it took me back to when I, too, was newly formed and coming into my new life in the Church.

Feast Day — St. Mark the Evangelist

Mark the Evangelist by Il Pordenone

We can get a lot of information about Saint Mark simply by reading the gospels and the Acts of the Apostles.

The thing I'm most interested in is that the gospel he wrote actually comes from having been St. Peter's interpreter and going on the road with him. The people asked him to record St. Peter's teachings. No wonder there are such vivid details in it. This is as close as you can get to being straight from the horse's mouth.

.. we find Mark in Rome, this time helping Peter, who refers to him as my son Mark, thereby testifying to a long-standing close relationship. At that time Mark was acting as interpreter for the Prince of the Apostles, and this provided him with a privileged vantage-point which we see reflected in the Gospel he wrote a few years later. Although Saint Mark doesn't provide us with a record of the Master's great discourses, he makes up for it by giving us a particularly vivid description of the events of Jesus' life with his disciples. In his accounts we find ourselves once more in those little towns on the shores of the Sea of Galilee; we can sense the hubbub of the crowds of that follow Jesus, we can almost converse iwth the inhabitants of those places and can contemplate Christ's wonderful deeds and the spontaneous reactions of the Twelve. In a word, we find ourselves witnessing the events of the gospel as if we were actually there in the throng. Though his vivid descriptions the Evangelist manages to imprint on our souls something of the irresistible yet reassuring fascination that Jesus exercised on people, and which the Apostles themselves experienced in their life with the Master. Saint Mark in effect gives us a faithful account of Saint Peter's most intimate recollections of his Master: with the passage of the years his memories had not grown dim, but became ever more profound and perceptive, more penetrating and more fond. It can be said that Mark's message is the living mirror of Saint Peter's preaching.

Saint Jerome tells us that Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, wrote down his gospel at the request of the brethren living in Rome, according to what he had heard Peter preach. And Peter himself, having heard it, approved it with his authority to be read in the Church. This was without doubt Mark's principal mission in life — to transmit Peter's teachings faithfully.

In Conversation with God, Francis Fernandez,
Special Feasts: January - June

Easter Thursday: Litany for the Easter Season

Resurrection of Jesus, by Anton von Werner, Berlin Cathedral

 

A beautiful litany full of praise and joy. And, not too long. What could be better?

Litany for the Easter Season

Father of life, we give you praise and glory.
Christ is risen, alleluia!

You have given Jesus victory over sin.
Christ is risen, alleluia!

You have raised him from the dead.
Christ is risen, alleluia!

You have made his cross a sign of glory.
Christ is risen, alleluia!

You have made us sharers in your life.
Christ is risen, alleluia!

With Christ, you have buried us in death to sin.
Christ is risen, alleluia!

With him you have raised us to new life.
Christ is risen, alleluia!

He is seated with you in glory.
Christ is risen, alleluia!

He sends his Spirit to guide our lives.
Christ is risen, alleluia!

Jesus will come again in glory.
Christ is risen, alleluia!
Source

Russian icon, 15th century

Easter Wednesday: Via Lucis - Stations of the Resurrection for Easter

Nikolay Koshelev, Harrowing of Hell, 1900

 Via Lucis, The Way of Light substitutes meditations on the Stations of the Resurrection for the Stations of the Cross.

As with the Stations of the Cross, the devotion takes no fixed form, but typically includes for each Station a reading from Scripture, a short meditation, and a prayer. Where a series of pictures is used to aid the devotion, it takes the form of a procession, with movement from one Station to the next sometimes being accompanied by the singing of one or more verses of a hymn. (Wikipedia)

I first came across this practice in Magnificat, which typically features a version in their Easter edition.

For Easter meditation, this devotion parallels the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary just as the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) complements the Sorrowful Mysteries.

If you check the Wikipedia link there are a couple of different lists of meditative stations. As with the original Stations of the Cross, it is evolving as the practice is taken up by growing numbers of people. I like getting to see that happen, actually.

Note on the art
Just to keep that fluid Via Lucis meditation going, one of my favorite things to contemplate is when Christ brought salvation to the righteous who had already died but were waiting for this moment.  That is not part of any of the Via Lucis lists that you'll find but, hey, I don't always stick to the "assigned" mysteries when praying the rosary either.

Maybe it's because in the Divine Comedy. In Hell, Dante has several spots where the architecture and ground were ruined by Christ's coming and the resultant earthquake. I love that so much. (The Harrowing of Hell is complicated. You can read more here.)

 Harrowing of Hell

There is a lovely ancient homily for Holy Saturday which provides more food for thought on the Harrowing of Hell — since I wound up walking down that bit of road. It is what Christ says to Adam and is so moving. I love that Jesus essentially got there as fast as he could. 

Here's a little and you can read it all here if you scroll down to the second reading.

I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in Hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I in you; together we form one person and cannot be separated.