An Aid To Memory

Today is the Feast of the Visitation, when the Blessed Virgin Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. It was during this visit that, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth told Mary: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb (Luke 1:42b, Douay-Rheims).

At this visit Mary also uttered the hymn now known as the Magnificat (named for the first word of the Latin version). This hymn is traditionally used in the Church’s Vespers (evening prayer) services. It is a worthwhile hymn and prayer even for those unfamiliar with Vespers. The text is below:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, 
and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

The promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever.  Amen.

Image from: http://www.catholicculture.org/lit/calendar/day.cfm?date=2004-05-31

Saintos (understandably anonymous at this point) is blogging about his journey from a contemporary-style Protestant church to the Catholic Church. He is still on the journey, unsure of the outcome perhaps. His blog is creatively titled Luminous Miseries, and contains the insights of a Protestant becoming Catholic.

I really relate to what he posts, as I have been on a similar path myself, going from Protestant to Catholic. In some ways, I would love to visit where he is, to be discovering Catholic devotion, the saints, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Church History for the first time. I remember how amazing (and yet conflicting at the same time) the discovery of the Catholic faith was. Oh the newness and excitement of discovering such a rich tradition! Please keep him in your prayers and visit his very well-designed/well-written blog.

Image of the wedding of Cana (a luminous mystery) from: http://www.udayton.edu/mary/meditations/luminous.html

I have decided not to get too personal on this blog for the last few months. The reason is that opening up my personal life on here has resulted in a degree of confusion for my regular readers, since I feel comfortable sharing the good things, but (for obvious reasons) am reluctant to speak of break-ups and the bad things (and spare others any embarrassment). Therefore I just figured I would suspend speaking of the good things so as to not have to explain any changes or negative results that may come. However, after I thought about it, I realized that I really value this blog as a personal and theological venue.  So I have decided to speak about personal things again, perhaps on a more limited basis than before. I thought quoting a song would be appropriate to describe this past weekend, when I hung out with my new girlfriend Jennifer and her friends. I chose this song:

if the weather was inclement
I’d have told you in a minute
you can rest your worries here
anytime you want to dear
and if it’s moving way too fast
well there is this looking glass
the future and the past
are breaking down in all this sunshine

you ought to know i guess
it’s a different sort of day
when you walked by in that dress

and she’s not an ordinary girl
she’s a million miles away
in an extraordinary world
and i guess i’d have to say
come whatever come what may
i just pray to reach you
where it hurts the most
hold you just a little closer

with the blue sky over my head
and it’s so plain to everyone
the street is beat
and there’s a lot of nothing to be done
here’s a loyal heart
has yours once ever been broken?
and all the loudest words it seems
are the ones that don’t get spoken

color me impressed
you could say i’m in deep
yeah more or less

and she’s not an ordinary girl
she’s a million miles away
in an extraordinary world
and i guess i’d have to say
come whatever come what may
i just pray to reach you
where it hurts the most
hold you just a little closer

Extraordinary Girl by Bill Mallonee

Today is Trinity Sunday, when the Church celebrates the most Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Trinity is ultimately a mystery. This does not mean we can not begin to grasp it, or that it is simply confusing. I have heard mystery described like this (forgive me for not recalling who said this): Mystery is not a brick wall to run up against, but an ocean in which to dive. Such is the Trinity and all of the mysteries of the Church. Their meaning is not attached to our being able to fully explain them.

Also, Fr. Al Kimel has has posted an excellent Trinity quote by none other than my patron saint, and defender of Nicene Trinitarianism, St. Hilary of Poitiers. The image is Rublev’s famous icon of the Trinity. Happy Trinity Sunday!

The Pontificator is renouncing his Anglican orders and becoming Catholic. When my brother showed me this post this morning I about fell out of my seat. The Pontificator (i.e. Fr. Al Kimel) was instrumental in my own conversion to the Catholic Church, and his postings on his blog have been far more Catholic and insightful than you see out of even most Catholic blogs. I am extremely excited today. The Catholic Church has certainly gotten one of the  best. We need priests and scholars like him: faithful, critical, a full appreciator of our Eastern and Western heritage, and a lover of good liturgy. Congratulations Fr. Al! I am very excited.

Coming soon from the same forces that brought you Ancient and Future Catholics, Church Year.Net, Totus Tuus, Ancient and Future Catholic Musings, and Winterr’s Words comes stperegrine.net, named after the patron saint of cancer patients.

Why? Well, I had the idea this afternoon while researching scientific journal articles on various cancer treatments. I also remembered that some of the folks who run the above-mentioned sites have lost close loved ones to cancer. I thought, "why not have a Catholic-based informational site dedicated to information, research, support, prayer, and forums related to cancer and even general health issues?" I talked to Jennifer and she thought it was a great idea.

This is just beginning, and the main page links to blogs and sites for the time-being, while we think of a fancy name. Anyway, I am hoping to get it off the ground shortly. While it is Catholic in mission, I hope it is helpful to everybody. In the future I will hopefully be writing more and asking for material and articles.

First, I want to point everyone to an article that Jonathan has written that explains the sacrament of reconciliation, one of the most meaningful and misunderstood of the sacraments that’s for sure. Personally, I find the sacrament to be very helpful in my spiritual growth, even if I don’t happen to require it to take communion that week. I’ve been waiting for him to write this for awhile.

Second, I wanted to announce my link over to a new blog, Totus Tuus. It’s not a brand new blog, but in the same way a store often has a grand opening once it’s gotten settled in, I thought I would link over after Jennifer had gotten more material up. Please welcome her to the Catholic blog world. I think you will enjoy her posts.

Image from: http://www.twoheartsdesign.com/images/clipart/catholic/reconciliation/

Yesterday was Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. I woke up at 6:30AM and spent most of the day in Northern Ohio and was on the road during normal Mass times so I went to Mass on Saturday evening, a practice I personally do not love by any means, but it is a nice option when travel, etc, prevents Sunday morning attendance. I enjoyed the Mass greatly, especially since we finished with Salve Regina, and included some great hymns to the Holy Spirit. Saturday evening and all-day Sunday were just truly amazing days, for reasons I may explain later (since I have taken a “don’t get too personal” approach to this blog since February). It is fitting that Pentecost 2005 is the start of an important new part of my own life, with all due respect to the holy apostles, whose experience of the Spirit and divine office are far beyond my own.

As I was running outside this afternoon, I was reminded of summer’s entrance and what comes with it. Every year around this time I have to be careful to avoid one of nature’s greatest scourges: poison ivy. Actually, poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac all have the basic effect, but poison ivy gets the blame. A good friend of mine is currently battling an outbreak, and I sympathize. I have had numerous nearly total body outbreaks. In high school I got it so bad that it covered my entire calves, and I remember having to practice football in the hot summer with socks pulled up to my knees while the oil oozed from the sores.

The oil in poison ivy responsible for its effects (urushiol oil) is so potent that one ounce of it could cause everyone in America to break out. There is just no real good way of treating or preventing poison ivy, save avoiding contact with it, which is difficult for those like me who like to run and hike outside. I usually avoid an area of the local state park we call "the pines" because poison ivy grows on and around the trail. That is too bad because it’s an intriguing area of the park that smells like Christmas year round.

As far as treatment goes, as I said, not much works. Sure, some of the products relieve the symptoms, but in general you just have to wait it out. I have tried various home remedies as well, and nothing really works. I just have to be very careful and avoid it like the plague and wash well after any potential exposure. However, I got a few patches in late April that disappeared in a few days. I scrambled to think what I might have been taking or doing to reduce the outbreak. The only thing I am doing differently this year is taking Stinging Nettle (whose white blooms fill the forest in the late summer) capsules for my allergies. Of course, it all could just be a coincidence or maybe it wasn’t even poison ivy to begin with. Remember "leaves of three, let it be!"

A year ago this time I was exploring the Catholic Church more seriously than I ever had. While I wasn’t confirmed until August I was nearly Catholic at this point. Some of my friends had already either converted or reverted (including Charles and David M.). My conversion story details much of the early struggle I felt last May. It was about this time last year that I started swimming across the Tiber. If there is such thing as "confirmation of desire" then May 2004 was when I had it. Surprisingly I didn’t blog at all during May. I did however do so in June, and my posts reveal a genuine tiredness of dealing with protesting, fighting, and Protestant divisions. I had assumed so many false things about the nature of churches that it took me awhile to finally end up where I belong. Oh well, humans learn slowly I suppose. It took me awhile, and the ride has been rocky at times, but I am glad to be home within the Catholic Church.

The image on the left is of the Assumption of Mary, the feast day on which I was received into the Church and confirmed.