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