What Does The Prayer Really Say?
W D T P R S

Our friend Cacciaguida (one of the best online handles I have ever seen) has an interesting post about GOP VP candidate Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) – who she is, what she has done, and what people are saying about her.



My very favorite line picked up from LadyBlog:

I had the honor today to say Holy Mass (Novus Ordo) for the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time at the Church of St. John in St. Paul, Minnesota, where my friend of many years Fr. Geo. Welzbacher is the parish priest.  His Pastor’s Page each week is just about the only one I have ever seen on a weekly basis worthy of both the name and of close attention.

Mass at St. John’s is in English with the Novus Ordo, and versus populum, but reverently served by altar boys and there is a communion rail at which 99% percent of the people kneel and receive upon the tongue.

In any event, with not terrible long notice, I did manage to gasp out a sermon today since it was Sunday and, well, people expect that sort of thing on Sunday’s.

[podcast_display]

Another resource. 

 

 08-08-31: 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time - sermon [20:01m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I just picked this up from The Inn At The End Of The World, and I find it ironic, for reasons I shall explain forthwith.

Saturday, August 30, 2008
How To Tell When You’ve Read Too Much Patrick O’Brian

Instead of answering the wife with a perfectly sensible 21st century American "no, thanks", you say "Never in life, my dear".

As I was swooping down into St. Paul in my hurtling car, I concluded my hearing of Simon Vance reading Blue At The Mizzen on Blackstone Audiobooks.  

You must give yourself the pleasure, before death, of listening to the whole series read by this estimable gentleman.

Also, I know what "gralloch" means and I say things like "progidious great mew", "belay there!", and occasionally even write things like "Shall I tell you something?", which and it’s a common phrase in the book, ain’t it?  I have also slid into thinking of some less than pleasing people less as … well… some of the things you might hear from the foremast jacks as, indeed "reptiles".  A fitting description for some people I know. 

But I digress…

The dear knows that I also have recently been the recipient of gifts from the wishlist sent by generous readers.  Kind souls sent me a cookbook based on recipes from the series, done with regard both for historical accuracy and modern feasibility, which and it’s called Lobscouse and Spotted Dog: Which It’s a Gastronomic Companion to the Aubrey/Maturin Novels. 

Sometime this winter, I shall have to attempt Spotted Dog, or a Sea Pie.

I also received A Sea of Words, Third Edition: A Lexicon and Companion to the Complete Seafaring Tales of Patrick O’Brian (and I attest that it included "gralloch") and also Harbors and High Seas, 3rd Edition: An Atlas and Georgraphical Guide to the Complete Aubrey-Maturin Novels of Patrick O’Brian, Third Edition.

You could start your seafaring and societal adventures by listening, if you wish, to Master and Commander [UNABRIDGED – Audio CD). 

You’ll clap on, mind you, so have a care.

I worked through the whole series by checking them out through the public library by interlibrary loan: I use that service so much in a month that they have put me on a library diet for interlibrary items: I must now start tapping a friend’s card!  As well as that may be, howeverso much I should give you joy to have the series on disks, it would be dear, to be sure.

If you think that movie based on episodes in the books was good, wait’ll hear them read by a master with true command of the language and of differentiating voices according to class, character and regional accent.

If you do decide to get the disks, however… how I would hope you do, for I shall soon hear of you kicking up Bob’s a dying once you’ve started, let me know and I will put up direct links to help you… and me.

I’m thinking of starting over again!

I recently had the pleasure of a guest for about a week at the Sabine Farm.  And when there are guests, I cook.

The Sabine Farm has been quite lovely these days, with cool morning, warm days, and – for a while yet – prolonged evenings.

Rosy-fingered dawn will typically develop in this guise:



For me, my morning fast break is generally pretty simple, some toast and espresso or very strong filtered dark roasted coffee, but – when there are guests – I will often do more.  Here we have some tomatoes from the garden and a small piece of steak, grilled, and a mess of eggs scrambled with some fines herbes, whole wheat toast and various sauces, when desired to zip it up.  I have a couple that are nearly worthy of the flames of eternal perdition, and which tend to evoke a very sincere act of contrition, but they weren’t set out for this crew.

Supper.  

For the Feast of St. Augustine I picked a passel of pacchino, very zippy small savory tomatoes, and lots of basil, along with sprigs of green fennel seeds, sauteed them over extreme heat in a cold press olive oil from California, through the Olive Press this time I think, put it over linguine into which I had cut pieces of fontina cheese, since it melts nicely.  Adding just a dash of the water from the pasta, with the bit of starch and moisture created a smooth background for the tomatoes and fresh herbs. 



We managed to get it down.

Then I produced the coniglio in umido.  I had only kalamata olives to work with, but they were abundant.  After browning the whole rabbit, cut up, with the innards of course, I added white wine and springs of rosemary, again the green fennel seeds, sage parsley and thyme.  At the end I put in some few strips of bell peppers, of varied color, part green part red.  About half way into the hour or so of cooking time, I added the olives.  It was all done on the stove in a large cast iron skillet.  In the meantime, I had soaked some peeled sliced potatoes in salt water and, then, dried off, stirred through with olive oil, salt and chopped rosemary and put them in the oven at 400F to brown.  Which they did.  And which we ate with the rabbit.



A meal like this needs a cigar, afterward, with the necessary port, etc.  Here is a fine Macanudo with a splendid ash, which has developed nicely in the Sabine humidor.  They were a gift of the inimitable Fabrizio when he came to visit in June.  Penjing looks on with approval, as does Irohamomiji.



The day ends with a nice view and compline.  The Sabine Chapel is nice when lit up.

Graciously hear us, O Lord,
when we call upon You,
and grant unto our supplications a calm atmosphere,
that we, who are justly afflicted for our sins,
may, by Your protecting mercy,
experience pardon.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Fr. Blake informs us that now Fr. Aaron Spinelli has been ordained!  He is a friend from Rome and a fine fellow.

The diocese of Arundel and Brighton rejoiced today at the ordination of Father Aaron Spinelli to the priesthood.Father Aaron is from the parish of our Lady of Ransom Eastbourne and rejoices in his Phillipino and Sicilian origins.It was a joy to see his mother and father with tears of joy (sorry no pics).

I received a copy of a letter sent out by His Excellency Most Reverend Donal Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, DC to the priests of the Archdiocese.

It is, I believe, his response to the remarks of Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Meet The Press on Sunday 24 August.

The Archbishop speaks of what St. Augustine said, what the Catholic Church teaches, what science indicates and what the duties of pastors of the Church are regarding preaching the sanctity of life.

I hope you would consider using this Sunday’s liturgy as an opportune time to present to the Catholic faithful of this archdiocese a number of elements of our Catholic faith. ...

This is an opportune time simply to reaffirm with all of our Catholic faithful and others who may be interested in what the Church has to say that abortion is and has always been considered a serious evil, that the destruction of innocent human life at any stage is wrong and that it is the task entrusted to the bishops of the Church to proclaim and whatn necessary clarify this constant teaching.

 



Gigantic WDTPRS kudos to Archbishp Wuerl!

The Mulier Fortis is spreading scandal.   This is starting to get amusing... er um… really serious.  o{]>:¬(

She posted this on her blog, 

Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa… ... Oh dear, what have I done? I may have led other traddy womyn astray! I wonder if that’s an excommunicable offence?

Ekurlowa must be seriously traddy… she not only understands Latin, she can blog in Latin too!

She wants to join me as a traddy womynpriest. To that end, she suggests sending the following petition to the Bishops. It’s in Latin verse, so we shall have to enlist the services of Fr. Z to find out what it means…

Sooo…. what did she read that has worried her?

Go over to Levabo oculos meos.  Here it is, with my simple corrections of spelling:

Feminarum personant saepius clamores:
sumusne servitio sancto digniores?
Quaesumus te, optime antistites domne
te petentes feminas ordinare omnes.

Ubi nunc invenies zelum animarum? -
matronarum cordibus atque puellarum!
Paenitentem audient, lacrimas abstergent,
statim pro consilio ad amicam pergent.

Et quam pulchre possumus Missam celebrare,
pretiosis vestibus corpus adornare,
illa aureos capillos, ista habet nigros
vestimento virido atque rubro dignos.

Introibit tenera ad altare Dei,
quaesumus, considera gravitatem rei:
quam libenter venient Missam audire
(et spectare, clara res) juvenes et viri!

Ordinare feminas Anglicani solent,
feminae catholicae ordinari volunt:
Aut tu putaberis malus et obscurus
ignorans et rigidus, severus atque durus!

I said that bloggers must unite in a cause.   The cause is keeping the Communion – pro-abortion Catholic politician issue in the public eye.

Diane of Te Deum Laudamus is doing a great service by aggregating the response made by US bishops to Speak Pelosi’s incredible remarks on Meet the Press.

The list of bishops issuing personal statements is growing. I found more and will update this list, as I get them. Check for updates! St. Augustine would be proud (and his feast day is tomorrow). Most of these links are direct to the respective diocese.

• Archbishop Chaput and Bishop Conley of Denver
• Cardinal Egan of New York (probably the strongest statement)
• Archbishop Donald Weurl of Washington D.C.
• Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia and Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport on behalf of the USCCB (on USCCB homepage)
• Bishop Sheridan of Colorado Springs
• Bishop Zubik of Pittsburgh (on homepage)
• Archbishop Neinstadt of St. Paul, MN (on homepage)
• Archbishop Gomez and Bishop Contu of San Antonio, TX (on homepage)
• Bishop Samuel Aquila of Fargo, ND
• Bishop Farell of Dallas, TX NEW
• Bishop Murphy of Rockville Centre (Long Island) NEW
• Bishop Listecki of LaCrosse, WI NEW (added Aug 30)

Please! Pray for our Bishops! May God give them the courage to do all that they must to prevent others from being led into scandal.

I highly recommend that you check in at the following blogs daily for updates. I can’t keep up with the many posts they are making.

• Blog of Fr. Z
• Blog of Tom Peters – American Papist

UPDATED: Some other great writeups on the topic of politicians and Catholicism:

• Biden’s Bishop Says He Cannot Speak in Catholic Schools (NEW)
• Pope Pelosi at the gate
• Pelosi gets unwanted lesson in Catholic theology (WTOP News)
• Pelosi defends comments on beginning of life as more bishops warn against them George Weigel about Obama, Pelosi, Biden on human life (Fr. Z)
• Fox News Forum: The Speaker Blew It! Nancy Pelosi and the Catholic Church on Abortion (Lauren Green)
• Italian Journalist Sandro Magister: Obama’s Pick for Vice President Is Catholic. But the Bishops Deny Him Communion
• What Makes a Speaker Catholic? (Kathryn Jean Lopez – National Review)
• Pelosi’s Abortion Statements a Scandal Says EWTN Program Host (Christian News Wire)
• Fr. Z: BLOGGERS UNITE! Keep shaping the conversation on pro-abortion Catholic politicians.

Here is a part of a column I wrote for The Wanderer to which you ought be subscribing.
_______________

This Sunday’s dense Collect survived the scissors and paste-pots of the Consilium during the 1960’s and lived on in the post-Conciliar Missale Romanum: it is the Collect for the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time.  This prayer, used for centuries, in the Sacramentarium Hadrianum, a form of the ancient Gregorian Sacramentary.

COLLECT (1962MR):
Tua nos, quaesumus, Domine, gratia
semper et praeveniat et sequatur,
ac bonis operibus iugiter praestet esse intentos.

This is elegance. This is a lovely prayer to sing. Latin’s flexibility, made possible by the inflection of the word endings, allows for amazing possibilities of word order.  Latin permits rich variations in rhythm and conceptual nuances.  For example, the wide separation of tua from gratia in the first line is a good example of the figure of speech called hyperbaton: unusual word order to produce a dramatic effect. It helps the prayer’s rhythm and emphasizes tua gratia.    The use of conjunctions et and ac is very effective, as we shall see below.  

The juxtaposition of praeveniat with sequatur reminds me of a prayer I used to hear at my home parish, now greatly missed.  The Tuesday night devotions there, which featured the Novena of Our Mother of Perpetual Help by St. Alphonsus Liguori (+1787), always included: “May the Lord Jesus Christ be with you that He may defend you, within you that He may sustain you, before you that He may lead you, behind you that He may protect you, above you that He may bless you. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

Let’s drill into vocabulary.  The adjective intentus, means “to stretch out or forth, extend” as well as “to strain or stretch towards, to extend.”  Think of English “tend towards”. The packed Lewis & Short Dictionary states that intentus is also “to direct one’s thoughts or attention to.” 

Folks, looking at a word like this should convince any of you with children that they must study Latin.  A firm grip on Latin will give shape to their ability to reason and provide insights into the meaning of our English words.  Roughly 80 percent of the entries in an English dictionary reveal roots in Latin. Over 60 percent of all English words have Greek or Latin roots. This is over 90 percent in the sciences and technology. Some 10 percent of Latin vocabulary merged into English without an intermediary language such as French.  Words from Greek origin often entered English indirectly through Latin.  Give your children, and yourselves, this splendid tool.

Latin has several particles that join parts of sentences and concepts together: et,  – que, atque or (ac), etiam, and quoque.  These little words all basically mean “and” but they have their nuances. For example, et simply means “and” while - que (always “enclitic”, i.e., tacked onto the end of a word) joins elements that are closely enough associated that the second member completes or extends the first.  Another conjunction, atque (a compound of ad and – que) often adds something more important to a less important thing.  The useful Gildersleeve & Lodge Latin Grammar points out that “the second member often owes its importance to the necessity of having the complement (- que).”  Ac, a shorter form of atque, does not stand before a vowel or the letter “h” and is “fainter” than atque. Ac is much like et.  Briefly, etiam means “even (now), yet, still”.  Etiam exaggerates and precedes the words to which it belongs while quoque is “so, also” and complements and follows the words it goes with. There are some other copulative particles or joining words, but that is enough for now. 

Let’s nitpick some  more.  Our Collect has two adverbs, semper and iugiter.  Semper is always “always”. Iugiter, however, means “always” in the sense of “continuously.”  A iugum is a “yoke”, like that which yokes animals together.  Iugum (English “juger”, a Roman unit for land measuring 28,800 square feet or 240 by 120 feet), is probably so named because it was plowed by yoked oxen.  Moreover, Iugum was the name of the constellation Libra, the Latin for “scale, balance”.  Ancient scales had a yoke-shaped bar.  Thus, libra is also the Roman the weight measure for “pound”.  Ever wonder why the English abbreviation for a pound is “lbs”? 

The iugum was the infamous ancient symbol of defeat.  The Romans would force the vanquished to pass under a yoke to symbolize that they had been subjugated.  Variously, iugum also means a connection between mountains or the beam of a weaver’s loom or even the marriage bond. 

Today’s adverb iugiter means “always”, in the continuous sense, because of the concept of yoking things together, bridging them, one after another in a unending chain.  We get this same word in the famous prayer written by St. Thomas Aquinas (+1274) used at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament which is the Collect for Corpus Christi:

“O God, who bequeathed to us a memorial of Thy Passion under a wondrous sacrament, grant, we implore, that we may venerate the sacred mysteries of Thy Body and Blood, in such a way as to sense within us constantly (iugiter) the fruit of Thy redemption.” 

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
We beg, O Lord, that Your grace
may always both go before us and follow after,
and hence continuously grant us to be intent on good works.

On the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time you who frequent parishes where only English is used will hear the following lame-duck version from

ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
Lord,
our help and guide,
make your love the foundation of our lives.
May our love for you express itself
in our eagerness to do good for others.

Yes… I did a double-take too.  This version, a perfectly wonderful little prayer for use on a grade school playground, is really how ICEL rendered today’s Collect.  The new draft translation being prepared will be more accurate.  How long will some members of certain bishops conferences strive to block its completion?

Back to happier things: copulative particles!  It is important not to get overly picky about particles or exaggerate their nuances.  Still, today these conjunctions could be important.  That et…et is a classic “both…and” construction. But our Collect has et…et…ac….   The et…et joins praeveniat and sequatur. That pair of verbs is followed by an ac.  The author was providing more than a simply change of pace.  While ac is not a very strong conjunction, the variation leads to a logical climax of ideas.  This is why I add “hence” to my literal version. 
u
As you read or, better yet, listen to the prayer being sung, attend to that tua gratia (“your grace”), underscored by means of hyperbaton.  First, that “tua gratia” can be an ancient form of honorific address, as used today in some countries for nobility and certain prelates: “Your Grace”.  So, in speaking of the gift, we speak of God Himself. Moreover, tua gratia is the subject of all the verbs.  We beg God, by His grace, always to be both before us and behind us.  We pray for this in order that we may always be attentive to good works.  Our good works bound up in His grace. 

We rely on grace so as not to fail in the vocations God entrusts to us.  God gives all of us something to do in this life.  If we attend to our work with devotion He will give us every actual grace we need to accomplish our tasks.  He knew us and our vocations from before the creation of the cosmos, and thus will help us to complete our part of His plan, so long as we cooperate. Living and acting in the state of grace and according to our vocations we come to merit, through Jesus Christ’s Sacrifice, to enjoy the happiness of the heaven for which God made us.   

In our prayer we recognize that all good initiatives come from God.  When we embrace them and cooperate, it is He who ultimately brings them to completion.  He goes before.  He follows after. Our good works have merit for heaven only because God inspires them, informs them, and brings them to a good completion.  He works through us, His knowing, willing, loving servants.  The good deeds are truly ours, of course, and therefore the reward for them is ours.  But God freely shares with us His merits so that our works are meritorious.  

Today’s Collect stresses how important our good works are for our salvation.  They are manifestations of God’s grace, indeed, of God’s presence.  We pray God will lavish His graces on us.  In turn, we should be generous with our good works.

Here is some work I did a while back on the Collect for the Mass for the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time.  It was originally in The Wanderer.

COLLECT - (2002MR):
Deus virtutum, cuius est totum quod est optimum,
insere pectoribus nostris tui nominis amorem, et praesta,
ut in nobis, religionis augmento, quae sunt bona nutrias,
ac, vigilanti studio, quae nutrita custodias.

With small differences this Collect is based on a prayer in the ancient Gelasian Sacramentary, subsequently in the 1962 Roman Missal on the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost.  In the Anglican Church’s 1662 Book of Common Prayer for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity (The Alternative Service Book of 1980 for Pentecost 17) we find: “Lord of all power and might, who art the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of thy name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of thy great mercy keep us in the same.”

17th century English schismatics got it right.  Can’t we?  But what will you hear on Sunday?

ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
Almighty God,
every good thing comes from you.
Fill our hearts with love for you,
increase our faith,
and by your constant care
protect the good you have given us.

ARRRGHHH!
 
What does the prayer really say?  Your indomitable Lewis & Short Dictionary explains that insero means “to sow, plant in, engraft, implant.”  I really like that “graft”, chosen also by the Anglicans of yore.  Going on, optimum does not mean “perfect”, but rather “best.”  I think we can get away with “perfect”, given that we are applying “best” to what God has. 

Liturgiam authenticam 51 states that “deficiency in translating the varying forms of addressing God, such as Domine, Deus, Omnipotens aeterne Deus, Pater, and so forth, as well as the various words expressing supplication, may render the translation monotonous and obscure the rich and beautiful way in which the relationship between the faithful and God is expressed in the Latin text”.   Today the priest invokes God as Deus virtutum, an expression in St. Jerome’s Latin Vulgate Psalter (Ps 58:6; 79:5 ff; 83:9; 88;9) often translated as “God of hosts.”  Don’t confuse “host” as “army, multitude” with the wheat wafer used at Mass.  Virtutum is genitive plural of virtus,“manliness;  strength, vigor; bravery, courage; aptness, capacity; power” etc.  Jerome chose virtutum to render the Hebrew tsaba’, “that which goes forth, an army, war, a host.”  Tsaba’ describes variously hosts of soldiers, of celestial bodies, and of angels.   In the Sanctus of Mass and in the great Te Deum we echo the myriads of angels bowed low in the liturgy of heaven before God’s throne: Holy, Holy, Holy LORD GOD SABAOTH …. God of “heavenly hosts” or, as ICEL put it in 1973, God “of power and might”.  I think “O mighty God of hosts” conveys what LA 51 is saying we should have. 

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
O mighty God of hosts, of whom is the entirety of what is perfect,
graft into our hearts the love of your name, and grant,
that by means of an increase of the virtue of religion,
you may nourish in us the things which are good,
and, by means of vigilant zeal, guard the things which have been nourished. 

Notice that we pray to God for an increase in “religion.”  I take this to refer to the virtue of religion.

Last week I wrote about the difference between “values” and “virtues”.  Let’s make more distinctions.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines “religion” in the glossary toward the back of the newer English edition: a set of beliefs and practices followed by those committed to the service and worship of God. The first commandment requires us to believe in God, to worship and serve him, as the first duty of the virtue of religion (cf. also CCC 2084 and 2135).   The Angelic Doctor says in his mighty Summa (II-II, 81, 1) that religion is the virtue by which men exhibit due worship and reverence to God as the creator and supreme ruler of all things.  We must acknowledge dependence on God by rendering Him a due and fitting worship both interiorly (e.g., by acts of devotion, reverence, thanksgiving, etc.) and exteriorly (e.g., external reverence, liturgical acts, etc.).  The virtue of religion can be sinned against by idolatry, superstitions, sacrilege, and blasphemy.  We creatures must recognize who God is and act accordingly both inwardly and outwardly.  When this at last becomes habitual for us, then we have the virtue of religion.  A virtue is a habit.  One good act does not make us virtuous.  If being prudent or temperate or just, etc., is hard for us, then we don’t yet have the virtue.  This petition in the Collect follows immediately from our desire that God “graft” (insere) love of His Holy Name into our hearts.  We move from the title of God the angels and saints never tire of repeating in their everlasting liturgy in heaven: HOLY, they say, HOLY, again and again forever, HOLY.  Then we beg for all good things to be nourished in us by God as He increases in us the virtue of religion leading to the proper interior and exterior actions that necessarily flow from recognizing who God truly is and who we are. 

This Sunday’s Collect has images of armies.  I think it not a stretch to imagine also orchard or vine tending.  On the one hand, the God of hosts guards the good things we have.  On the other, this same mighty God is grafting love into us and then nourishing it so it can grow.

Did any of you catch in the incredible collection of "Beheading of St. John the Baptist" paintings and images over at The Crescat?

On the feast of Decollation of John the Baptist, yesterday – which I consider one of my feast days – she out did herself, having found twenty some different representations.

Let us not forget that the Lord Himself called St. John the greatest man born of woman.  There is a tradition that he was forgiven the guilt of Original Sin before He was born, at the sound of Mary’s voice when she came to visit Elizabeth and John lept in her womb.

Here is a sample, from Onorio Marinari, but I suggest you go over an browse.



And here is one she missed.

Since women are much in the headlines today for less than traditional roles, I thought to look up what the fascinating painter Artemisia Gentileschi did with the theme.   She has interesting interpretations of scenes involving women, such as Judith cutting of the head of Holofernes, or Susanna in the garden with the leachers. 



Notice the cool regard. 

Hmmm,...

She reminds of the new VP candidate regarding the head of the target of her anti-corruption campaigns back in Alaska.

Folks, we mustn’t forget the grand scale of scandal committed by Speak of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Meet The Press.

News cycles are short these days.  It would be easy to let this scroll off the public screen.

So, bloggers should do their best to keep this story fresh until there are real consequences.

To that end, I direct your attention to something that American Papist posted.  He has an entry with some good reactions to Pelosi’s remarks.

This especially caught my eye:

Father Thomas Williams:

The most disturbing element of Speaker Pelosi’s comments, however, was not her historical fudging, her disingenuous misrepresentation of Catholic moral teaching or her implicit adoption of cafeteria Catholicism. It was her insouciant dismissal of the moral significance of abortion. She said that in the end, it didn’t matter when life begins anyway. Her exact words were: “The point is, is that it [when life begins] shouldn’t have an impact on the woman’s right to choose.” No matter when human life begins, a mother’s right trumps a baby’s, and that right includes the choice to destroy the child. This is irreconcilable not only with Catholic morality, but with the most basic natural ethics.

Pundits and liberal commentators have predictably accused the bishops of playing politics and using Speaker Pelosi’s comments to further the agenda of the Republican party. Any objective observer knows this is not the case. If Speaker Pelosi didn’t want a response, she should not have forced the bishops’ hands. And if the Democrats’ star running back steps out of bounds, it’s not the referees’ fault for calling it.

Speaker Pelosi can campaign for abortion all she likes, but to do so as an “ardent, practicing Catholic” is to invite a stiff correction. Americans still value truth in advertising, and know that words have meanings. “Catholic” means pro-life.

Take a moment to vote for WDTPRS for the Bloggers Choice Award… if you haven’t done so already, ... pretty please?

Thanks!

“But Father! But Father! Where? How?”

Left side-bar.

I am in a movie theater for some R&R and working on my phone during the commercials. Can you believe it? Commercials! I hate commercials!

“But Father! But Father! Isn’t this….”

Okay. Right. I’ll stop.

I am irritated by something I have heard over the last couple days.

The pols and newsies keep talking about the anniversary of "giving women the right to vote" in the USA.

No!

Women always had the right to vote.  

Their right to vote was finally recognized.

We must avoid, in discussing human rights and government, falling into the trap of thinking that the state grants rights.

We have rights because our Creator made us in His image and likeness. 

They are written into our being.

We grant the state its rights and obligations.

Perhaps the new GOP VP candidate, Sarah Palin (R-AK) will be available to explain to Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) when human life begins.

And I bet she knows what "gralloch" means, too!

Our friend Fr. Ray Blake over in Brighton has a wonderful photo:

I saw this in a sacristy over the summer, and was impressed! There is nothing quite like old time religion.

UPDATE: We now have the video!

Neil Cavuto of Fox News just interview the Archbishop of Denver, His Excellency Most Reverend Charles Chaput.  He spoke about Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s serious errors about the beginning of human life made last Sunday on Meet The Press.  He also clarified why pro-abortion Catholics are in serious error and should not receive Holy Communion.

Here is the audio.

Perhaps we can hunt up the video too.

 

 08-08-28 FNC Cavuto & Archbp. Chaput on Pelosi [4:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 08-08-28 FNC Cavuto & Archbp. Chaput on Pelosi: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download