When I was a kid, I really enjoyed reading history. Usually, I wasn't reading the history that I was supposed to be reading in the classroom. I really didn't do that well in school until I served two hitches in the Marines and then decided to get out and go to college. Grade school and high school? Homework, schmomework!
Today is the Feast of St. Michael and the Archangels, also known as Michaelmas. I like the sound of that calendar name for today's feast and the knowledge that this day used to be a huge festival marking the beginning of Autumn (which is my favorite season). I actually hope that this day is still celebrated extravagantly somewhere on the planet. Next year, send me an invitation, or some Michaelmas recipes (and history!) or something.
Why do I believe in angels? Because they are real. See, Our Lord said so, and he never told a fib. What follows is a brief poem penned by a favorite of mine to help me get into the spirit of this day.
St. Michael in Time of Peace, by G.K. Chesterton
Michael, Michael: Michael of the Morning,
Michael of the Army of the Lord,
Stiffen thou the hand upon the still sword, Michael,
Folded and shut upon the sheathed sword, Michael,
Under the fullness of the white robes falling,
Gird us with the secret of the sword.
When the world cracked because of a sneer in heaven,
Leaving out for all time a scar upon the sky,
Thou didst rise up against the Horror in the highest,
Dragging down the highest that looked down on the Most High:
Rending from the seventh heaven the hell of exaltation
Down the seven heavens till the dark seas burn:
Thou that in thunder threwest down the Dragon
Knowest in what silence the Serpent can return.
Down through the universe the vast night falling
(Michael, Michael: Michael of the Morning!)
Far down the universe the deep calms calling
(Michael, Michael: Michael of the Sword!)
Bid us not forget in the baths of all forgetfulness,
In the sigh long drawn from the frenzy and the fretfulness
In the huge holy sempiternal silence
In the beginning was the Word.
When from the deeps of dying God astounded
Angels and devils who do all but die
Seeing Him fallen where thou couldst not follow,
Seeing Him mounted where thou couldst not fly,
Hand on the hilt, thou hast halted all thy legions
Waiting the Tetelestai and the acclaim,
Swords that salute Him dead and everlasting
God beyond God and greater than His Name.
Round us and over us the cold thoughts creeping
(Michael, Michael: Michael of the battle-cry!)
Round us and under us the thronged world sleeping
(Michael, Michael: Michael of the Charge!)
Guard us the Word; the trysting and the trusting
Edge upon the honour and the blade unrusting
Fine as the hair and tauter than the harpstring
Ready as when it rang upon the targe.
He that giveth peace unto us; not as the world giveth:
He that giveth law unto us; not as the scribes:
Shall he be softened for the softening of the cities
Patient in usury; delicate in bribes?
They that come to quiet us, saying the sword is broken,
Break man with famine, fetter them with gold,
Sell them as sheep; and He shall know the selling
For He was more than murdered. He was sold.
Michael, Michael: Michael of the Mustering,
Michael of the marching on the mountains of the Lord,
Marshal the world and purge of rot and riot
Rule through the world till all the world be quiet:
Only establish when the world is broken
What is unbroken is the word.
Likes Michaelmas
Roast Goose!
That ol' Chesterton sure could wield a mighty pen.
Now, this feast day would not be complete without a prayer asking St. Michael the Archangel to pray for us and for the Church. Happily, I also found this excellent video presentation of Pope Leo XIII's original prayer to St. Michael. Composed sometime between 1884 -1898 (I couldn't find the definitive date), the original prayer is both longer and more soul satisfying than the short version that I am used to seeing.
I'd be much obliged if you would pray it along with me now with a special intention for my brother in Christ, Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani.
In the United States, the first Monday of September is a federal holiday celebrating the contributions and dignity of workers. Nothing gets done without them! But on this day we stretch the weekend out a little longer, wrap up our summers, and have one last barbecue. And here, since its a Monday, I get to throw together some songs celebrating us working stiffs too!
It's another Gearhead Feastday folks: the 24 Hours of LeMans. About an hour into the race, there was a horrific crash between Allan McNish's Audi TDI (yeah, the fastest cars are diesels) and a Ferrari from the Sports Car class. Thanks be to God that no one was seriously hurt.
But take a look at the video and ask yourself this: how did this Audi not continue on it's path over the wall and into the spectators? Actually, the car was over the tire wall. How did it seemingly defy the laws of physics and fall harmlessly back onto the warning track?
No—I don't see Iron Man standing there to push it away from the trajectory it was following. Do you? Take a look,
It's no secret that I'm a gearhead, unless you just stumbled in here today for the first time. If it is fast, I like it! I don't care whether we are talkin' cars, boats, planes, go-karts, even the pine-wood derby. You name it.
Speed, and the drivers with the skills to thread the needle and run across the razors edge, and win, is a testament to the wonderful human creature that God created.
Did you know the Church has a Patron Saint of Joy? He's St. Philip Neri. Today is his feast day.
Friends from our parish invited me to attend a Mass tonight at 7 o'clock to celebrate. We joined dozens of worshippers at the New Brunswick Oratory of St. Philip Neri, including five Oratorian priests, one Oratorian brother, and 14 secular Oratorians.
Beautiful and unexpected (and new!) to me was that the community tonight admitted six freshly minted Secular Oratorians. We Catholics are accustomed to praying for vocations; how stunning to see the those prayers come to fruition.
Even Joe Six-Pack, USMC can appreciate a wedding like this one. The pomp, the circumstance, the sacredness of the institution of marriage upheld. I mean, this is the wedding imagery of the Holy Scriptures brought to life for the world! What's not to like?
And did you hear the wedding homily? No? Given this morning to a world-wide audience by Dr. Richard Chartres, Anglican Bishop of London, it is simply smashing!
If any man be devout and loves God,
Let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast!
If any man be a wise servant,
Let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord.
If any have labored long in fasting,
Let him now receive his recompense.
If any have wrought from the first hour,
Let him today receive his just reward.
If any have come at the third hour,
Let him with thankfulness keep the feast.
Before I was a Catholic, I never really gave a lot of thought to Palm Sunday. This morning we awoke to glorious sunshine, with nary a cloud in the sky. The previous few days had been cloudy, cool, and wet. But a day like today is how I always picture Palm Sunday in my mind's eye.
Yesterday I shared a movie with you about a saint who called himself "God's jackass." Leave it to G.K. Chesterton to write a poem for Palm Sunday from the point of view of the ass. From what I've found out, it was written before he converted officially to Catholicism.
Where did I find this poem? From none other than the good folks over at Universalis. You never know what you will find when praying the LOTH over there.
We are officially past the half-way point of the Lenten Season. Before you know it, it will be Holy Week. As a convert who entered the Church on Holy Saturday in the Year of Our Lord 2008, I'll never forget that experience.
Those who serve as sponsors for the Catechumens and Candidates never forget it either.
Today is a Feast Day (and all that this implies)! What better way to celebrate than with burgers and hotdogs on the grill followed by a movie about the greatest game ever invented? Is this heaven?
If it's still too cold to think of grilling where you live, than live vicariously through me and my family. We've been playing baseball since March 14th (my sons team is 5-1 so far) and enjoying every minute of it. Except it was a bit chilly yesterday (shiver me timbers!).
Today is the Solemnity of the Annunciation of Our Lord. Before I was a Catholic, I wouldn't have even known what that all means. Just another one of those big ol' words linked to Jesus's mom that everyone knew Catholics worshiped.
Mary, schmerry, I thought, God can do anything. If Mary would have said no, big damn deal.
Sort of like asking a girl to dance at a party and you get rejected."Sorry God, looks like she said No. Let me buy you a beer to help you put the flames out." Next candidate please. There's a lot of fish in the sea.
This afternoon my family will remove the lights from our Christmas tree, which now stands on our front porch, and haul the tree to the curb. Then our borough will collect it and grind it to mulch.
It is time for the tree to come down because this feast day, the Baptism of our Lord, marks the end of the Christmas season, and the beginning of Christ's public ministry.
Today is the Feast of the Epiphany, also known as Little Christmas. My family and I attended Mass last night at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, which serves the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. The parish is under the care of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, which, by the way, has a great website. The priest who celebrated the Mass, Father Joseph Scordo, O.P., delivered a magnificent homily about the meaning of this feast day. I want want to share his thoughts with you.
Have you ever heard of Emily Hickey? Me either, at least not until just now. Born in 1845, she is a child of the Emerald Isle, an Irish lass born in 1845 into a family fathered by a Protestant Minister of the Church of Ireland.
But somehow she decided to swim the Tiber and she was received into the Catholic Church in 1901. Prior to doing so, her literary talents were well known in her day, her poems being published in literary journals and such.
Today is the feast day of St. John, the "disciple whom Jesus loved." Jesus called him and his brother James the "sons of thunder," so they must have been quite a lively pair. This is a portrait of the young John painted by El Greco.
What follows is the citation on John from Jesuit Father Francis Xavier Weninger's book, Lives of the Saints. The subtitle to Weningers work is "Compiled from Authentic Sources" and here he helps me to better see the life of the only apostle and eyewitness of Our Lord that died a natural death.
Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. Three simple, but profound words. Three words that appeal to all mankind. Catholic words are these, albeit with a small "c." The impact that the Catholic Church, with a capital "C," has had on the arts, though, is enormous.
The Church has unswervingly held that mankind, and the works of his hands, and mind, are to be praised and turned to the benefit of all. Because to do so redounds to the Glory of God. Since the earliest of times, the Church has encouraged sacred art for this purpose. This isn't just my personal opinion either.
For some people, this time of the year is the worst of all. Why? Because Madison Avenue Stole Christmas. And we've even turned it into an arms race of sorts. The feast has lost much of it's religious significance because we have allowed it to be hijacked and our wallets held for ransom. This is one of those man-made disasters that I often ask you to pray about.
Today Catholic worshipers across the globe are commemorating the Solemnity of Christ the King. Pope Pius XI established this feast day in 1925 in the wake of what was supposed to be the "war to end all wars" as a way to combat secularism. We need this feast day now, more than ever.We end the liturgical year meditating on a King who died without a Kingdom in this world, a King assassinated by political authorities who found his message of love and redemption deeply threatening.
Today is the Feast of the Epiphany, also known as Little Christmas. My family and I attended Mass last night at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, which serves the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. The parish is under the care of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, which, by the way, has a great website. The priest who celebrated the Mass, Father Joseph Scordo, O.P., delivered a magnificent homily about the meaning of this feast day. I want want to share his thoughts with you. 
Today Catholic worshipers across the globe are commemorating the Solemnity of Christ the King. Pope Pius XI established this feast day in 1925 in the wake of what was supposed to be the "war to end all wars" as a way to combat secularism. We need this feast day now, more than ever.We end the liturgical year meditating on a King who died without a Kingdom in this world, a King assassinated by political authorities who found his message of love and redemption deeply threatening.