Man in the Moon

Oh, Man in the Moon, oh, Man in the Moon!

Why did you disappear so soon?

Too soon for some; for others, too late.

I think that it must be my fate

to keep my eyes upon the sky,

that I might see you by and by.

The beginning

“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.”

--T.S. Eliot

"The Lair of the Catholic Cavemen" on ad orientam

The link is: The Lair of the Catholic Cavemen

Love is visible

" Contact with the visible manifestations of God's love can awaken within us a feeling of joy born of the experience of being loved. But this encounter also engages our will and our intellect. Acknowledgment of the living God is one path towards love, and the “yes” of our will to His will unites our intellect, will and sentiments in the all-embracing act of love."

-- Pope Benedict XVI in "Deus Caritas Est".

Quis es Deus?

Today is Michaelmas Day, the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Michael the Archangel on the site of the Roman Circus. In Hebrew, Saint Michael's name means, "Who is like unto God?". He is mentioned several times in Holy Scripture; here are two quotations:

"At that time shall Michael rise up, the great prince, who standeth for the children of thy people." --The prophet Daniel in his twelfth book, speaking of the end of the world

"And there was a great battle in heaven; Michael and his angels fought with the devil."--Apocalypse, 12:7

For those who would like to learn more about angels, please follow this link:

http://insightscoop.typepad.com/2004/2009/09/the-12-most-important-things-to-know-about-angels.html (Thanks to Carl Olson at Ignatius Inside Scoop.)

One more link will take you to Human Life International's pro-life site and its excellent "Saint Michael the Archangel Prayer Campaign" for the conversion of abortionists. It is : http://hli.org/st_michael_prayer.html/

Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in proelio,

contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium.

Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur: tuque, Princeps

militiae coelestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos,

qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo,

divina virtute, in infernum detrude. Amen.

Saint Michael the Archangel , defend us in the day of battle:

be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil.

May God rebuke him, we humbly pray: and do thou, Prince

of the heavenly host, by the power of God thrust down to hell Satan

and all wicked spirits who wander through the world for the

ruin of souls. Amen.

Moonlight

"The moon is but a candle-glow

That flickers thro' the gloom:

The starry space, a castle hall:

And Earth, the children's room,

Where all night long the old trees stand

To watch the streams asleep:

Grandmothers guarding trundle-beds:

Good shepherds guarding sheep. "

from Vachel Lindsay's The Light o' the Moon

Shine through

"It is not enough to appear good and honest: one must truly be so. And the good and honest person is one who does not obscure God’s light with his own ego, does not put himself forward, but allows God to shine through."

--Pope Benedict XVI, in his homily this morning for the feast of Saint Wenceslaus

The Flower of Mending

When Dragon-fly would fix his wings,
When Snail would patch his house,
When moths have marred the overcoat
Of tender Mister Mouse,

The pretty creatures go with haste
To the sunlit blue-grass hills
Where the Flower of Mending yields the wax
And webs to help their ills.

The hour the coats are waxed and webbed
They fall into a dream,
And when they wake the ragged robes
Are joined without a seam.

My heart is but a dragon-fly,
My heart is but a mouse,
My heart is but a haughty snail
In a little stony house.

Your hand was honey-comb to heal,
Your voice a web to bind.
You were a Mending Flower to me
To cure my heart and mind.

--Vachel Lindsay

Stolen kisses

Return them all, you must--

the kisses which you took from me.

Please give them back, 'tis just--

the ones you've kept so happily.

I'll stand beside the gate,

and wait for you to give

what you took eagerly.

I cannot count them all, it's true;

but you will bring them back,

won't you?

At Mass

"No doubt tomorrow I will hide

My face from you, my King.

Let me rejoice this Sunday noon,

And kneel while gray priests sing.


It is not wisdom to forget.

But since it is my fate,

Fill Thou my soul with hidden wine

To make this white hour great.


My God, my God, this marvelous hour

I am Your son, I know.

Once in a thousand days, Your voice

Has laid temptation low.

--Vachel Lindsay

Loved

"The world is filled with folly and sin,

And Love must cling, where it can, I say:

For Beauty is easy enough to win;

But one isn't loved every day”

--Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton

Love is never lost...

“Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart.”



--Washington Irving

Teach your children well

What every American should know:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZBTyTWOZCM&feature=player_embedded



(Thanks to Allen J. Troupe and The American Catholic for this post.)

Not a toy

Here is a link to a very good explanation of why we need the beauty, truth, and goodness which can only be completely found in the Catholic Faith:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KrkU-XsNbU&feature=player_embedded


(Thanks to Carl Olson of Ignatius Insight Scoop for the lead.)

The key

"Memories are the key not to the past, but to the future."

--Author Unknown

Our Lady of Fatima

View the trailer from the new film about the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, due to be distributed by Ignatius Press: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVKG71HwfPA

"In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph."

The eternal corrective...

"Autumn is the eternal corrective. It is ripeness and color and a time of maturity; but it is also breadth, and depth, and distance. What man can stand with autumn on a hilltop and fail to see the span of his world and the meaning of the rolling hills that reach to the far horizon?"

--Hal Borland

A kiss

"A kiss, when all is said, what is it? A rosy dot placed on the "I" in loving; "Tis a secret told to the mouth instead of to the ear."

--Edmund Rostand

Musical interlude for an Autumn afternoon

Parsley to take away bitterness
Sage for strength
Rosemary for faithfulness, love, and remembrance
Thyme for courage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfqpAWPx6T4

Leaves of Autumn...

"The winds will blow their own

freshness into you,

and the storms their energy,

while cares will drop away from you

like the leaves of Autumn."

-- John Muir

Autumn twilight

This very evening I did spy

a lemon sliver in the sky:

the moon affixed above the trees,

above the stillness of the breeze.

There were no clouds to mar the sight,

there was a coolness to the night.

I knew at once what I must do:

I'd write these words to share with you

the wondrous vision which my eyes

beheld tonight in Autumn skies.

And now you see that it is true:

this is the poem I wrote for you.

The beauty of it all...

"There is a harmony in Autumn, and a luster in its sky, which through the Summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been."

--Percy Bysshe Shelley

A sacredness in tears

“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love.”



--Washington Irving

Blind with stars...

"Without a wish, without a will,

I stood upon that silent hill

And stared into the sky until

My eyes were blind with stars and still

I stared into the sky.”

--Ralph Hodgson

Our Lady of La Salette

" The clothing of the Most Holy Virgin was silver white and quite brillliant. It was quite intangible. It was made up of light and glory, sparkling and dazzling. There is no expression nor comparison to be found on earth. The most Holy Virgin had a yellow pinafore.
What am I saying, yellow? She had a pinafore more brilliant than several suns put together. It was not a tangible material; it was composed of glory, and the glory was scintillating, and ravishingly beautiful.
The crown of roses which she placed on her head was so beautiful, so brilliant, that it defies imagination. The different colored roses were not of this earth; it was a joining together of flowers which crowned the Most Holy Virgin.
The Most Holy Virgin was tall and well proportioned. She seemed so light that a mere breath could have stirred her, yet she was motionless and perfectly balanced. Her face was majestic, imposing. The voice of the Beautiful Lady was soft. It was enchanting, ravishing, warming to the ears.
The eyes of the majestic Mary appeared thousands of times more beautiful than the rarest brilliants, diamonds, aand precious stones. They shone like two suns; but they were soft, softness itself, as clear as a mirror.


The Holy Virgin had a most pretty cross hanging around her neck.

The Holy Virgin was crying nearly the whole time she was speaking to us. Her tears flowed gently, one by one, down to her knees, then, like sparks of light they disappeared. They were glittering and full of love. I would have liked to comfort her and stop her tears."


--Translated words of Melanie Calvat to whom Our Lady appeared on September 19, 1846 as officially recognized by the Church. The text of Our Lady's message remains shrouded in secrecy, though devotees of Our Lady of La Salette include many popes, saints, and theologians.

Our Lady of La Salette, pray for us.

Vision

"I saw an angel in the marble and I chiseled until I set her free."

--Michelangelo

Summer is gone...

"Come, said the wind to
the leaves one day,
Come o'er the meadows
and we will play.
Put on your dresses
scarlet and gold,
For summer is gone
and the days grow cold."

(A Children's Song of the 1880's)

If our lives were shining...

"There would be no need for sermons, if our lives were shining; there would be no need for words, if we bore witness with our deeds. There would be no pagans, if we were true Christians."



-Saint John Chrysostom

Song for September

Leaves are falling,

Autumn is calling

the Summer away.

Nights are longer,

soon to be stronger

than the days.

Summer is ending,

a new beginning

is on the way.

The lesson is learned:

time cannot return.

Life is change.

Our Lady of Sorrows

THE SEVEN SORROWS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

I. The prophecy of Simeon

II. The Flight to Egypt

III. Loss of Child Jesus

IV. Jesus carries His Cross

V. The Crucifixion of Jesus

VI. Jesus is taken down from the Cross

VII. The Burial of Jesus

Virgin most sorrowful, pray for us.

Love carved upon the Cross!

"For if there is a testimony of the love of God for us, it is certainly Our Lord Jesus Christ crucified on the Cross for us. What more could Our Lord have done, what more could God have done, than immolate Himself on the Cross for us, to redeem us from our sins? Shall we be insensible to the sacrifice of Our Lord, of the Son of God? One can still find marked on old crucifixes of another age these words: “Can you say that I have not loved you, when you see Love carved upon this Cross?” Love carved upon the Cross! That is the crucifix: love manifested, love alive upon the Cross. Thus one can understand the desire that all holy souls have felt ever to have the crucifix before them, to find in the crucifix the support of their spirituality, the source of their spiritual life."

--from a sermon of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, 14 September 1975, at Ecône, Switzerland

Perfect charity

"I understand now that perfect charity consists of enduring the faults of others, of not being at all astonished at their weaknesses, of being edified by the smallest acts of virtue which one sees them practice."

--Saint Therese of Lisieux

Forgiveness

"To pardon an injustice received is to heal the wound in your own heart."

--Saint Vincent de Paul

Ennio Morricone lauds Gregorian chant and criticizes contemporary church music

To read the story, please follow this link:


Ennio Morricone lauds gregorian chant and criticizes contemporary church music

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We shall know one day

The sky leans dumb on the sea,

Aweary with all its wings;

And oh! the song the sea sings

Is dark everlastingly.

Our past is clean forgot,

Our present is and is not,

Our future's a seal'd seedplot,

And what betwixt them are we?

We who say as we go,

"Strange to think by the way,

Whatever there is to know,

That shall we know one day."

--from Dante Gabriel Rossetti's The Cloud Confines

Harvest- home!

"On earth we sang harvest-songs as the wheat came into the barn and the barracks were filled; you know there is no such time on a farm as when they get the crops in; and so in heaven it will be a harvest-song on the part of those who on earth sowed in tears and reaped in joy. Angels shout all through the heavens, and multitudes come down the hills crying, "Harvest-home! harvest-borne!"

--Thomas De Witt Talmage

Let not hope be distraught...

"Ah! let not hope be still distraught,
But find in her its gracious goal,
Whose speech Truth knows not from her thought
Nor Love her body from her soul. "

--from Dante Gabriel Rossetti's Love-Lily

Autumn Flowers

I must have dreamed you,

although I can't be sure.

It didn't seem that way before

when you were real as day,

or as a Summer sky;

and I could feel you near me.

But that was long ago.

The seasons changed;

the scenes were rearranged,

and I can't see you anymore.

It's all so very strange,

and I am trying to recall

what I remember about you.

I wonder if it's true that

you were never there at all.

A Merry Heart...

O Lord, give me a good digestion as well as something to digest.

Give me health of body as well as the sense to keep it healthy.

Give me a holy soul, O Lord, which keeps its eyes on beauty and purity,

So that it will not be afraid on seeing sin.

Give me a soul that knows nothing of boredom, groans, and sighs.

Never let me be overly concerned for this inconstant thing that I call me.

Lord, give me a sense of humour,

So that I may take some happiness from this life and share it with others. Amen.

--Saint Thomas More

Ebb and flow...

"He who ceases to learn, who does not every day keep up an ebb and flow, so to speak, between intelligence and certain knowledge to be acquired, will become an ignorant person."

-St. Peter Julian Eymard

"Where are those whom I have entrusted to you?

Our children are treasures entrusted to us by God Himself. How will we answer Him when He asks us what we have done with them? Here is a powerful sermon from a courageous priest which begs the question, "Where will my children spend Eternity?" The link is:

http://patrickmadrid.blogspot.com/2009/09/what-will-you-say-when-god-asks-where.html

May God give us the courage to fulfill our sacred duty as parents. And may Our Blessed Mother protect us all.

(Thanks to Patrick Madrid and his excellent blog for this information.)

The Blessed Sacrament

"From the very beginning I fell in love with the Blessed Sacrament and by the mercy of God have never fallen out."

-- J.R.R. Tolkien

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Tota pulchra es Maria et macula non est in te.
Virgo purissima, ora pro nobis.

A great thing is love...

"A great thing is love--a great good in every way: which alone lightens all that is burdensome, and bears equally all that is unequal. For it carries a burden without being burdened, and makes all else that is bitter sweet and savory."


--from The Following of Christ

Hidden paths...

"Still round the corner there may wait

A new road or a secret gate,

And though I've often passed them by,

A day will come at last when I

Shall take the hidden paths that run

West of the Moon, East of the Sun."

--J. R. R. Tolkien

Walking...

"If I could not walk far and fast, I think I should just explode and perish."

--Charles Dickens

When you arise...

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is
to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

- Marcus Aurelius

Keep to your principles

"Change your opinions; keep to your principles; change your leaves; keep intact your roots."

--Victor Hugo

The moon and the star

There I am and there you are,
up in the sky--the moon and the star.
You call to me: I answer you.
Oh, tell me--can you hear it, too?
How strange it is, in darkest night,
to see it all in clearest light!
I hear your voice upon the air;
I turn to you, but you're not there.
By now I shouldn't be surprised:
you've disappeared before my eyes.
But you are never far away;
for sure as night will follow day,
up in the sky--that's where we are.
You are the moon and I am the star.

Somnambulation

"My father says that almost the whole world is asleep. Everybody you know. Everybody you see. Everybody you talk to. He says that only a few people are awake and they live in a constant state of total amazement."

--from Joe vs. the Volcano