December 24, 2008
Merry Christmas
(SDG)
A Christmas Carol
by G.K. Chesterton
The Christ-child lay on Mary's lap,
His hair was like a light.
(O weary, weary were the world,
But here is all aright.)
The Christ-child lay on Mary's breast
His hair was like a star.
(O stern and cunning are the kings,
But here the true hearts are.)
The Christ-child lay on Mary's heart,
His hair was like a fire.
(O weary, weary is the world,
But here the world's desire.)
The Christ-child stood on Mary's knee,
His hair was like a crown,
And all the flowers looked up at Him,
And all the stars looked down.
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February 05, 2008
Today Is Fat Tuesday, So Tomorrow Is . . .
(Jimmy Akin)
Ash Wednesday!
You guessed right!
And since tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, be sure to beef up (no pun intended) on all the must-know Lent information by reading up on it in the
ANNUAL LENT FIGHT.
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December 31, 2007
Theotokos
(Tim Jones)
From my blog Old World Swine;
Tomorrow - January 1st - is more than just the beginning of a new
calendar year in the West. It is, much more significantly, the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God.
The USCCB site gives the SCRIPTURE READINGS for the day.
From the Council of Ephesus, 431 A.D. -
"We confess, then, our lord Jesus Christ,
the only begotten Son of God perfect God and perfect man of a rational
soul and a body, begotten before all ages from the Father in his godhead,
the same in the last days, for us and for our salvation, born of Mary the
virgin, according to his humanity, one and the same consubstantial
with the Father in godhead and consubstantial with us in humanity, for
a union of two natures took place. Therefore we confess one Christ,
one Son, one Lord. According to this understanding of the unconfused union,
we confess the holy virgin to be the Mother of God because God the Word
took flesh and became man and from his very conception united to himself
the temple he took from her"
Posted by Tim Jones in Liturgical Year, Mary | Permalink | Comments (34)
December 25, 2007
Blessed Christmas
(Tim Jones)
I have been hunting around the internets for some truly great nativity paintings. Doing any kind of internet search involving the word madonna requires an iron stomach, but I did find a few I want to share. I discovered (again) how truly difficult such paintings are to pull off. Even the masters struggled with the subject, in my opinion. By far, most nativity paintings I wouldn't care to hang on my wall. Some of these can be viewed at the Art Renewal Center. You can also by a high quality reproduction of anything in their vast online collection.
God bless all on this Holy Day.
Franz Von Rhoden
Raphael's Sistine Madonna
Sassoferrato
Wm. Bougereau
Posted by Tim Jones in Liturgical Year | Permalink | Comments (24)
August 15, 2007
The Assumption of Mary
(Jimmy Akin)
Don't forget it's a holy day of obligation (in the United States; in other countries, your mileage may vary)!
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March 15, 2007
Michiganders, What's On Your Menu Friday?
(Jimmy Akin)
I was glad to see Catholic News Service run
about a practice that I've heard about before, and that I believe has shown up here on the blog about before, but which I haven't seen the paper trail on: the local practice of eating muskrat on Fridays during Lent.
I'm always a little cautious about reports of local exceptions like this and whether they are still allowed. I want to be able to see the documentation rather than just taking someone's word or taking the word of an old written source that may not reflect current Church law.
The article linked above doesn't provide what I'd like in the ideal--a quotation from a legal document issued by one or more dioceses in Michigan. It doesn't do that because--apparently--there isn't such a document. That's okay (legally), though, because canon law recognizes the possibility of custom attaining the force of law, and it seems to me that in this case that's the current basis for the Michigan muskrat exception. In other words, unless someone produces a legal document that we don't currently know about, it looks like the faithful in some areas of Michigan are allowed to eat muskrat on days of abstinence, according to legitimate local custom.
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March 09, 2007
Lent Resources From The Holy See Itself
(Jimmy Akin)
The Holy See's web site has really improvedin recent years. They still need to get rid of that text-obscuring background, and it's still poorly organized and hard to navigate, but at least they're starting to get a lot of useful resources on the site.
Take, for example,
THESE EXCELLENT RESOURCES FOR LENT.
I wish I'd known about these at the beginning of Lent, 'cause I would have advertised them then, but they're still really cool and could add a bunch to your celebration of Lent.
One thing I'd especially like to compliment is their inclusion of a whole series of mp3 files of Lenten music that you can listen to online or--via a simple right-click--download and listen to on your computer or mp3 player. Even if they are all in Italian, music can touch the heart across the langauge barrier.
THEY ALSO HAVE MP3S IN LATIN HERE.
(It's after writing sentences like that that I find myself contemplating explaining to a medieval ecclesiastic the concept of downloading a Latin mp3 from the Vatican web site. They'd never have guessed that the Holy See would be doing this one day.)
Enjoy!
Posted by Jimmy Akin in Liturgical Year | Permalink | Comments (17)
February 21, 2007
Ash Wednesday
(Jimmy Akin)
Here's the law from the Church's official legal documents . . .
From the Code of Canon Law:
Can. 1249 The divine law binds all the Christian faithful to do penance each in his or her own way. In order for all to be united among themselves by some common observance of penance, however, penitential days are prescribed on which the Christian faithful devote themselves in a special way to prayer, perform works of piety and charity, and deny themselves by fulfilling their own obligations more faithfully and especially by observing fast and abstinence, according to the norm of the following canons.
Can. 1250 The penitential days and times in the universal Church are every Friday of the whole year and the season of Lent.
Can. 1251 Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
Can. 1252 The law of abstinence binds those who have completed their fourteenth year. The law of fasting binds those who have attained their majority, until the beginning of their sixtieth year. Pastors of souls and parents are to ensure that even those who by reason of their age are not bound by the law of fasting and abstinence, are taught the true meaning of penance.
Can. 1253 The conference of bishops can determine more precisely the observance of fast and abstinence as well as substitute other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety, in whole or in part, for abstinence and fast.
From the apostolic constitution Paenitemini by Pope Paul VI:
III. 1. The law of abstinence forbids the use of meat, but not of eggs, the products of milk or condiments made of animal fat.
2. The law of fasting allows only one full meal a day, but does not prohibit taking some food in the morning and evening, observing—as far as quantity and quality are concerned—approved local custom.
NOTES:
1. In the U.S. the conference of bishops has removed the requirement to abstain outside of Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and the Fridays of Lent.
2. Having completed your fourteenth year means that you've had your fourteenth birthday (your first year is the year before your first birthday).
3. Having attained your majority means that you've turned 18.
4. The beginning of your sixtieth year is your fifty-ninth birthday.
5. The law of abstinence thus binds everyone who has turned 14 and hasn't yet died and left the jurisdiction of the earthly church.
6. The law of fast binds those from 18 to 58 years old.
7. The laws of fast and abstinence do not bind those who have a medical condition that would materially interfere with their performance. Medical conditions that would interfere with fasting are fairly easy to think of (e.g., type 1 diabetes; people whose doctors have put them on a special diet that requires a certain number of calories or that requires ignoring calories). It is harder to think of conditions that would nullify the requirement to abstain, though, since protein is available from so many sources other than meat.
8. Beverages, even calorie-laden beverages (milk, OJ, coffee with cream, protein shakes) do not violate the law of fast. "Food" means solids food, not drinks (which count as "drink"), though disproportionate consumption of caloric beverages violates the spirit of the fast.
9. Non-nutritive or non-digestible things taken to curb hunger (e.g., water, dietary fiber) do not violate the law of fast. Medicine also does not violate the fast. The fast is from food (solid nourishment; technically, solid macronutrients), not other things (water, other beverages, fiber, medicine, vitamins).
10. You often hear the law of fast summarized this way: "You can have one full meal plus two smaller meals as long as they do not add up to a second meal." THIS IS FALSE. The law (from Paenitemini, quoted above) doesn't say anything about what the two smaller portions of food add up to. What the law says that you can have "some food" twice, and "some food" is clearly less than a "full meal," but it doesn't say anything about how much the two instances of "some food" add up to.
Obviously, the less the "some food" amounts to, the more in keeping with the spirit of fast it is, but the law does not require or encourage people to scruple over how much "two smaller meals" add up to. That's dumb, anyway, since people do not generally eat three, equally large meals (in terms of calories or volume), making it impractical to try adding up the two lesser quantities of food.
A more helpful way of thinking of it (and a way more in keeping with the way the law is written) is to think of one full meal and two snacks, a snack being something less than a meal.
11. All the above applies to Catholics who are members of the Latin
Church. Members of other churches sui iuris (e.g., Maronites,
Chaldeans, etc.) have their own law in these areas (which is what "sui
iuris" means in Latin).
LET THE ANNUAL LENT FIGHT BEGIN!
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January 22, 2007
A Day Of Penance
(Jimmy Akin)
Universal law provides that the days of penance in the Latin rite are every Friday of the year and the whole season of Lent (canon 1250). But universal law isn't the only kind of law. There is also particular law, or law that applies to particular territories or groups of people within the Latin rite.
Such as the diocese of the United States.
It may come as a surprise to some, but today--Monday, January 22--is a day of penance according to the particular law of the Latin rite in the United States.
According to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal:
In all the dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion, and of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life. The Mass "For Peace and Justice" (no. 21 of the "Masses for Various Needs") should be celebrated with violet vestments as an appropriate liturgical observance for this day (GIRM 373).
The law does not require fasting or abstinence today, though a person may do these if he chooses. Strictly speaking, the law does not require that individual Catholics perform penance as a matter of obligation on this day, but it's certainly in keeping with the spirit of the day to do it voluntarily.
For those from other nations--or those who are simply wondering why January 22 was picked--the answer is that it's the anniversary of
THE EVIL DECISION.
Please pray for an end to abortion.
ONE BISHOP SPEAKS.
(CHT to the reader who e-mailed.)
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January 12, 2007
Lenten Penance Suggestions
(Jimmy Akin)
A reader writes:
I am attending RCIA this year, and with Lent fast approaching, my sponsor and I are trying to come up with an appropriate penance.
There are a number of caveats, however, that are making this a challenge. I am a single parent of a daughter who is a few years old (just baptized recently!); I work full-time; and I attend school part-time. I rarely watch television (because the programming appalls/bores me) or eat out (because I simply can’t afford to). I suffer from depression related to a medical condition for up to a week each month. Last year, I determined to say the Rosary everyday. While it was enlightening to do so, it may not have been the wisest choice; I didn’t realize that it was all Sorrowful Mysteries through Lent, so I was in a funk for a month after Easter.
My boyfriend jokes that my lifestyle is so Spartan that it seems there’s nothing to give up; certainly, the only things are to diligently start or stop doing something. The only trick is figuring out what that ought to be.
First of all, I want to say that it is wonderful to hear how God is moving in your life, in spite of the difficulties you are facing right now.
Concerning Lenten penances, you should be aware that, except for the fast and abstinence that will be required after you become Catholic (unless your medical condition interferes with them), it is not mandatory that you "give up something for Lent." This is a common and praiseworthy custom, but not a requirement.
Here's how the Code of Canon Law describes what Catholics do on penitential days, like those in Lent:
Can. 1249 The divine law binds all the Christian faithful to do penance each in his or her own way. In order for all to be united among themselves by some common observance of penance, however, penitential days are prescribed on which the Christian faithful devote themselves in a special way to prayer, perform works of piety and charity, and deny themselves by fulfilling their own obligations more faithfully and especially by observing fast and abstinence, according to the norm of the following canons.
If you want to do something special for Lent, you could add something--prayer, acts of piety, acts of charity--rather than giving something up. Indeed, your decision last year to say the Rosary would be an act of adding a prayer (though you can take it easy on yourself regarding the mysteries if you choose to do that again; the sorrowful mysteries are not mandatory in Lent, and if you find they exacerbate your depression, you can say the joyful or glorious or luminous ones instead). If you would prefer to do something else, you could also choose to say some other prayer or do a little Scripture reading or study the Catechism a little in preparation for becoming Catholic.
One thing that the canon above mentions as a form of self-denial is striving to fulfill one's duties more faithfully, and you could simply try to apply yourself a little more in your daily situations.
Given the depression that you face, I would consider doing something to resist the depression, such as thinking about the blessings that you do have in your life (like your daughter!) and thanking God for them. Or you might decide to try to go out of your way to get your daughter to smile or laugh, thus bringing joy to her and making you feel good, too.
Also, don't feel that you have to commit to just one thing for the whole of Lent. If you find that whatever you choose isn't benefitting you, or benefitting you that day, then feel free to switch to something else, or simply skip it that day. These voluntary penances are meant to encourage us gently to grow in holiness, and if you find yourself being unduly burdened by them, it is a sign that you need to let up on yourself or switch to something else.
I hope this helps, and God bless you as you approach your reception into the Church!
20
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