Whiteface Expedition

Our local League of Christ the King tries to organize healthy social events for the youth of our parish.   Recently, our esteemed Officer Kraengel led a mini-expedition up Whiteface mountain followed by a folk concert and pizza.

Albert the Great

There are few men in history who have earned the title "The Great". Saint Albert, my adopted patron, is one of them and today is his feast day. He was gifted with one of the greatest minds of all time and was a precursor in a way to many great minds who would follow.

He was known as the "teacher of everything there is to know," was a scientist long before the age of science, was considered a wizard and magician in his own lifetime, and became the teacher and mentor of that other remarkable mind of his time, St. Thomas Aquinas.

St. Albert the Great was born in Lauingen on the Danube, near Ulm, Germany; his father was a military lord in the army of Emperor Frederick II. As a young man Albert studied at the University of Padua and there fell under the spell of Blessed Jordan of Saxony, the Dominican who made the rounds of the universities of Europe drawing the best young men of the universities into the Dominicans.

After several teaching assignments in his order, he came in 1241 to the University of Paris, where he lectured in theology. While teaching in Paris, he was assigned by his order in 1248 to set up a house of studies for the order in Cologne. In Paris, he had gathered around him a small band of budding theologians, the chief of whom was Thomas Aquinas, who accompanied him to Cologne and became his greatest pupil.

In 1260, he was appointed bishop of Regensberg; when he resigned after three years, he was called to be an adviser to the pope and was sent on several diplomatic missions. In his latter years, he resided in Cologne, took part in the Council of Lyons in 1274, and in his old age traveled to Paris to defend the teaching of his student Thomas Aquinas.

It was in Cologne that his reputation as a scientist grew. He carried on experiments in chemistry and physics in his makeshift laboratory and built up a collection of plants, insects, and chemical compounds that gave substance to his reputation. When Cologne decided to build a new cathedral, he was consulted about the design. He was friend and adviser to popes, bishops, kings, and statesmen and made his own unique contribution to the learning of his age.

He died a very old man in Cologne on November 15,1280, and is buried in St. Andrea's Church in that city. He was canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1931 by Pope Pius XI. His writings are remarkable for their exact scientific knowledge, and for that reason he has been made the patron saint of scientists.

Our Children Need Good Music

“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” - Plato

Listen to the first piece (below), Vois Sur Ton Chemin (See Upon Your Path). Even if you do not understand a word of French, the song touches you through the music. This is why judging music goes beyond lyrics if it is a vocal piece. In most cases, the music will either lift the soul or draw it down -- lyrics will play a supporting role. I am not an expert on music. I played brass instruments growing up, had a little music theory and a couple of music appreciation courses in college. Musical training is not necessary for discernment. Consider your state of soul and where your mind is when listening to various pieces of music. Music penetrates deeply and moves you in ways that you do not even perceive. On the spiritual level, any piece of music, be it sacred or secular, is either bringing you closer to God or drawing you away from Him.

A Gem from Fr. George Rutler on Extreme Vegetarianism

I was delighted to read the Manichaean ramblings of Danel Paden, director of the Catholic Vegetarian Society (“Letters,” June 2003). It confirmed my theory that fanaticism in Western society alternates between nudism and vegetarianism, both of which contradict the order of grace.

As an optimist, I happily trust that Paden confines his extreme commitments to vegetarianism.

Taste is one thing; it is another thing to condemn meat eating as “evil” and permissible only “in rare and unfortunate circumstances.” Paden disagrees with no less an authority than God, Who forbids us to call any edible unworthy (Mark 7: 18-19), and Who enjoins St Peter to eat pork chops and lobster in one of my favorite revelations (Acts 10: 9-16). Does the Catholic Vegetarian Society think that our Lord was wrong to have served up fish to the 5,000, or should He have refrained from eating the Passover Lamb? When He rose from the dead and appeared in the Upper Room, He did not ask for a bowl of Cheerios, nor did He whip up a meatless omelette on the shore of Galilee.

Man was made to eat flesh (Genesis 1: 26-31; 9: 1-6), with the exception of human flesh. I stand on record against cannibalism, whether it be inflicted upon the Mbuti Pygmies by the Congolese Army or on larger people by a maniac in Milwaukee. But I am also grateful that the benevolent father in the parable did not welcome his prodigal son home with a bowl of radishes.

Vegetarians assume an unedifying posture of detachment from the sufferings of vegetables that are mashed, stewed, diced, and shredded. In expensive restaurants, cherries are publicly burned in brandy to the applause of diners. It is not uncommon for people to submerge olives in iced gin and twist the peels of lemons. Be indignant, vegetarian, but not so selectively indignant that the bleat of the lamb and the plaintive moo of the cow drown out the whine of our brother the bean and the quiet sigh of the cauliflower.

Vegetables have reactive impulses. Were we to confine our diet to creatures that lacked sense and do not even respond to light, we could only eat liturgists and liberal Democrats.

The Rev. George W. Rutler
New York City

Culture Wars

I ran across a great talk presented by Br. Andre Marie, M.I.C.M titled Controversial Considerations on Culture.   In it, Br. Andre distinguishes between high, low and bad culture.  He makes the point that if a soul cannot 'detox' and make a break with bad culture that it will be impossible to hold the Catholic Faith.  Why?  Because bad culture is at variance with Catholic morals, decency and a proper social order.  In short, bad culture is antithetical to Our Lord Jesus Christ.

A Counter-Culture (bad culture) is the dominant culture today.  It is no surprise that it openly attacks and mocks Our Lord, the Church and Christian beliefs and practices in general. As important as it is to hold fast to the Traditional Mass and Sacraments, it is perhaps equally as important to get the cultural element right in Catholic family life.  The burden is on we parents to read, understand, and make the necessary hard decisions to weed out the bad and replace it with the good (and we must replace and not just take away).  Bad culture is probably the greatest threat to children, a happy and godly life here on earth, and eternal happiness in heaven later.

Download and listen to this talk by clicking the link above.  It is only $3.00.

Challenges Facing Catholic Parents Today

Dylan McDonald and his wife, Joanne, run a first-rate family apostolate in Northern New Jersey.   Here is an interview they gave a few weeks ago.  Dylan and Joanne address in particular the challenges and misunderstandings that often arise trying to raise a virtuous Catholic family from within the extended family circle itself.     

Challenges Facing Catholic Parents Today (Dylan and Joanne McDonald):

Serving at the Altar is the Highest Privilege, Boys

Restoring Pious Traditions - The Angelus

The Angelus Domini, shortened to "the Angelus," is the ringing of the church bell -- in three groups of three chimes with a pause in between each group, followed by 9 consecutive strokes -- at 6AM, Noon, and 6PM roughly, and its associated prayers, which spring from the monastic practice of praying the tres orationes at Matins, Prime and Compline. While the monastics said their prayers at the sound of the Angelus Bell, the faithful would stop what they were doing and say 3 Hail Marys in honor of the Incarnation. Later, since at least A.D. 1612, verses were added to these Hail Marys such that we get the form of the Angelus we have today (see below). During Paschaltide (the Easter Season), the humbling Angelus prayer below is replaced with the more celebratory, joyous Regina Coeli prayer at the direction of Pope Benedict XIV in 1742.

Some of the earliest bells used for this purpose, dating to the 13th and 14th centuries, still survive and are engraved with inscriptions attesting to their purpose. Some of these inscriptions are (from the Catholic Encyclopedia):

• Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum (Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee)  
• Dulcis instar mellis campana vocor Gabrielis (I am sweet as honey, and am called Gabriel's bell)
• Ecce Gabrielis sonat hæc campana fidelis (Behold this bell of faithful Gabriel sounds)
• Missi de coelis nomen habeo Gabrielis (I bear the name of Gabriel sent from heaven)
• Missus vero pie Gabriel fert læta Mariæ (Gabriel the messenger bears joyous tidings to holy Mary)
• O Rex Gloriæ Veni Cum Pace (O King of Glory, Come with Peace)

*Source: Fisheaters.com