Right Wing Nation

This comment is obviously a parody of mainstream Christ-free Christianity.
Our non gender specific guardian,
Who art in a safe and non judgemental cocoon,
Hallowed by thy preferred choice of nomenclature.
Thy contitutional republic, come,
Thy mission statement reach fruition,
On our commune, as it is the Sustainable Ecosystem,
Give us this day our non exploitive,organic bruschetta with balsamic reduction,
And forgive us […]

I not only did not blog here much during Lent (and not at all during Holy Week). I didn’t keep up. Having done a cursory read-through, I see that I missed a great deal.
However, the real point is that my priorities have shifted. I am more interested in faith, prayer, and worship than I am […]

Finish “lunch,” eat, back to help clean the church, choir practice at 5, Great Vespers at 6. The schedule:
Sat: 11-Apr
Lazarus Saturday Liturgy: 9:00 AM
Choir: 5:00 PM!
Vespers: 6:00 PM
Holy Week
Sun : 12-Apr
Divine Liturgy: 10:00 AM
Bridegroom Matins of Holy Monday: 7:00 PM
Mon: 13-Apr
Presanctified Liturgy: 9:00 AM
Bridegroom Matins of Holy […]

From Damian Thompson’s blog:
Peter51: you are a homicidal liar out to confuse what is sufficiently clear. The Catholic Church did not “force” a nine-year-old girl to have twins; the Catholic Church does not have a penis and does not produce fertilizing sperm. The child’s stepfather had and did. Sorry to have to introduce you to […]

It’s just depressing. Every time you’ve seen what you’re sure must be the st00pidest a member of the genus homo can possibly stoop, an even st00pider dolt comes along. Let’s do a retrospective, starting with this bong-sucking dolt.
It seems that a single teacher at a Catholic school in New York got pregnant, and told her […]

Grace Prep High School, here in Centre County.
We believe in academic rigor.
Awful!
We believe that schools should be efficient enough to teach your kids in the 30-40 hours per week of class time.
Disgusting!
We believe it is the school’s privilege to help them discover their spiritual gifts and to show them who God meant them to be.
Un-American!
We […]

From Fr Z (a link to the text of the bill is in the comments).
Yesterday, Connecticut Judiciary Committee of the Connecticut State Legislature
introduced bill #1098/2009 that directly attacks the Roman Catholic Church (please see attached copy of it). Should it pass, the bishop and pastors will be deprived of any administrative, financial and legal […]

“The Orthodox are the only Christians who write basso profundo church music, or need to.”
–Leon Podles, The Church Impotent: The Feminization of Christianity

From Rachmaninoff’s Vespers:

O Gladsome Light of the holy glory of the Immortal Father, heavenly, holy;
Blessed Jesus Christ, now that we have come to the setting of sun, and see the light of evening,
we […]

Fr. Z watches BSG !
Give me a minute to wrap my head around that.

A voice from the unheard voices of the Christians of the Middle East who have been witnessing to faith in the Saviour since His incarnation in their midst.
An Arabic Christmas Carol (Byzantine Hymn of the Nativity)
Today is born of a virgin He who holds the whole creation in His hand.
Today is born of a […]

Handel. Sir Colin Davis, London Symphony Orchestra and the Tenebrae Choir.

Madrigale, He Shall Purify:

Charpentier, Magnificat (St. Luke 1:46-55).

Magnificat anima mea Dominum,
et exsultavit spiritus meus in Deo salvatore meo,
quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae.
Ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes,
quia fecit mihi magna, qui potens est,
et sanctum nomen eius,
et misericordia eius in progenies et progenies
timentibus eum.
Fecit potentiam in brachio suo,
dispersit superbos mente cordis sui;
deposuit potentes de sede
et exaltavit […]

Pergolesi, Salve Regina, sung by Andreas Scholl:

Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae,
vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve.
ad te clamamus
exsules filii Evae,
ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes
in hac lacrimarum valle.
Eia, ergo, advocata nostra, illos tuos
misericordes oculos ad nos converte;
et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,
nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.
O clemens, O pia, O dulcis Virgo Maria.
Ora pro nobis sancta […]

It’s a good thing I decided to search online to see if the parish had a webpage so I could check the schedule, or I would have driven to where the church used to be for Midnight Mass.
They moved.

The Gospel According to St. John, 1:1-14.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light […]

Our secular selection, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Judy Garland from Meet Me in St. Louis:

Indiana University’s own Straight No Chaser, Silent Night:

Carol of the Bells:

Il Divo, O Holy Night

Domingo and Pavarotti:

Gregorian Christmas Day Mass, monks of the Abbey of Our Lady of Assumption, São Paulo, Brazil. As the monks process into the church […]

“All Iraqis today are Christians.” -Iraqi Interior Department spokesman.

Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming! Frederica von Stade and the American Boys Choir:

We now have anti-incense whiners at the parish. The priest felt it necessary to announce the — and I do quote — “smoke-free” Masses for the Christmas season.
Had I been the Monsignor, I would have told the whiners, “The Baptist church is that way.”

The Crescat held a Catholic kitsch contest. Some of my favorites include the glow-in-the-dark holy water bottles, the St. Sebastian pin cushion, and the Magic 8-ball Jesus. The categories are, appropriately, Someone’s going to hell for that and I’d buy that for a buck. There is a picture for every entry. It’s well worth seeing […]

The Abbot at The Virtual Abbey has a continuing series of food and recipes: Eating at the Abbey. Great recipes. Even greater pictures.

Veni, Veni Emmanuel is a synthesis of the great “O Antiphons” that are used for Vespers during the octave before Christmas (Dec. 17-23). These antiphons are of ancient origin and date back to at least the ninth century.
Zoltan Kodaly, arr.:

Looking at the “Catholic vote.”

Maybe the one must see of the entire election season. One of the most powerful ads I’ve ever seen, from Catholic Vote. Beautifully done, moving, and very powerful.

Just not in the way they think:
Everybody had heard the rumors, spread on The Atlantic and DailyKos websites, that Palin’s fifth child, Trig, born last April, was not really hers — that Trig was really Palin’s 17 year-old daughter’s child, and Palin faked pregnancy to cover up her daughter’s condition. None of that was true, […]

If these idiots had any clue about conservatives, they’d realize that every smear they spread about Palin or her family is driving voters to McCain.
Tennessee Guerilla Woman, who is no moderate (boy, is that the understatement of the decade) is really pissed off:
The ‘progressive’ men are actually counting the months of the woman’s pregnancies! That’s […]

continues, now that I know that yes, people do make and eat sorghum in Pennsylvania. Since I have to go across town to Mass fairly soon (it’s the Feast of the Assumption), I can hunt on the way back.
There seems to be a lack of small groceries here. But there’s that place down by Mt. […]

There are some interesting results in the Pew Religion report. Hey, let’s play Jeopardy.
Ready? Here we go.
Of this group, 21% believed in God (6% believed in a personal God, 12% in God as an impersonal force, and 3% don’t know).
What are Presbyterians?
No.
What are Methodists?
No. And you?
I give up, Alex.
What are atheists. Atheists.
I don’t think that […]

I really have to start reading about pages on blogs. I just discovered Brutally Honest, and Rick says this in his about page:
My current confused spiritual state was probably affected (if not birthed) in some way by my stint as a potential ordinand of the Episcopal Church in 1998. During that two year Ordination Exploration […]

Technorati: orthodoxy, orthodox christianity, roman catholicism, anglicanism, episcopalianism
Back in the early 80s, I lived in Louisville (that’s pronounced lou-a-vull, for those who don’t know, not lou-is-ville or lou-ee-ville; that’s why those bumperstickers say “I heart lou-a-vull”), where I was a chef. While there, I was, for some reason, surrounded by Episcopalians […]

Aslan gives himself as a sacrifice

Aslan is resurrected

I’m afraid I got a late start cooking. I slept until 4:30 — unheard of for me (I have an internal clock that wakes me at 3:30 every morning. I haven’t slept as late as 4:30 in months.) I started the stock yesterday and simmered it for about eight hours, then put it in the […]

This week we have to issue joint awards, both to World Net Daily for putting a mouthbreather spin on the story, and to the parents named in the story. Pagan Christmas ritual pressed on young kids:

In the spirit of that earlier post, I’d like to respond to this, from the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler:
Muslim leaders condemn Pope’s speech, want apology
Uhm, “Who could possibly care?” Alex?

One thing that bothers me is that it certainly seems that every time I read a Christian blog, the author drinks the “Socialism is Christian” kool-aid. Given that most churches also partake of the Stalinist beverage to some extent (that includes Rome and to a lesser extent, the Orthodox), I suppose this shouldn’t be surprising. […]

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible;
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all worlds, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, […]

+Glory to Thee, our God, Glory to Thee.
O Heavenly King, Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere present and fillest all things, the Treasury of good things and Giver of life: Come, and abide in us, and cleanse us from every stain, and save our souls, O Good One.
+Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal: […]

I don’t blog much about religion, because it’s something that to me is deeply personal, and out of respect for readers of different faiths. But I’m going to make an exception today to that policy.
God or the Girl is on right now (TiVO) — and believe it or not, it is actually pretty good (and […]