Perusing Romano Guardini’s The Rosary of Our Lady on the Third Glorious Mystery I found this little gem…
Her life must have been ineffable in its tranquility.
Guardini, Romano. The Rosary of Our Lady. (Trans. H. von Schuecking). New York: P.J. Kenedy & Sons, 1955, p. 85.
Furthermore…
When the Holy Ghost descended on the disciples, he equipped them for their mighty work. When at the same time he came to Mary, her work was already accomplished. All that remained to do for her was to bring her fuller understanding. From them on she must have lived in ineffable clarity, in indescribable peace.
Wow! Twice on one page! I understood them, too!!
"Ineffable" wasn’t tooo haaard after all.
I think I should start a subcategory called "Ineffabilis". People could post citations when they run into particularly apt uses of "ineffable".
And then we can explain them to Joe and Mary Catholic.
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Those among the liturgical elite who believe that Joe and Mary Catholic are too dumb to understand Big Words should be called the “Ineffable Party.” Know-nothingism is a great American tradition after all (along with the KKK, deep-fried Twinkies, and Oprah).
Fr. Philip, OP
Those bishops and other clerics who consider the word ineffable inappropriate for use in the Missal, themselves display an ineffable disdain for the intelligence of their flocks.
Guardini is one of the most graceful writers. You can linger over each sentence profitably. I never tire of him.
I’m sorry… what word is that? Never heard it before anywhere. What could it possibly mean? I can’t imagine. If only they taught vocabulary in schools!
This post is just full of big words. “Tranquility.” “Disciples.” “Descended.” “Subcategory.” I can’t understand any of it.
I have three recent sightings of a variety of controversial vocabulary posted at the following addresses:
http://causafinitaest.blogspot.com/2009/05/carefully-wrought-exercise-in.html
http://causafinitaest.blogspot.com/2009/05/ineffable-gibbet-triptych-has-finally.html
http://causafinitaest.blogspot.com/2009/05/further-ineffable-sightings.html
The man who says, “I am unable to describe what ‘ineffable’ means,” just did.
Since Prof. McInerny’s reaction to the recent fiasco, I have been reading his Fr Dowling novels. All the ones I’ve got to have “ineffable” in it.