Murphy

Yesterday we welcomed Murphy to the family. Below, Murphy meets Tippy and Sophia.

Sophia Takes a Friend for a Spin

Polycarp

One of the great joys I have as a Catholic is the Church's direct connection back to the original apostles and their immediate successors through an unbroken line of succession that passes through time, the rise and fall of empires, and the general waxing and waning of all things temporal. Today we see an example of this as we celebrate the feast of Polycarp, bishop and early Christian martyr, who was a friend and disciple of the Apostle John. St. John lovingly and ardently recorded Christ's bread of life discourse in Chapter 6 of his gospel, revealing the gift of Christ's True Presence in the Holy Eucharist that would sustain Christians, as the Jews were sustained by manna, until His return (He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him. St. John 6:57). From our Lord, to St. John, then to Polycarp and Polycarp's disciple Irenaeus, we see from the earliest times the fundamental teachings of the Catholic faith being passes on through Tradition long before there was ever a canon of New Testament writings. Read Irenaeus describing his discourses with Polycarp back in the first century:

I remember the events of that time more clearly than those of recent years. For what boys learn, growing with their mind, becomes joined with it; so that I am able to describe the very place in which the blessed Polycarp sat as he discoursed, and his goings out and his comings in, and the manner of his life, and his physical appearance, and his discourses to the people, and the accounts which he gave of his intercourse with John and with the others who had seen the Lord. And as he remembered their words, and what he heard from them concerning the Lord, and concerning his miracles and his teaching, having received them from eyewitnesses of the 'Word of life,' (1 John 1:1) Polycarp related all things in harmony with the Scriptures.

These things being told me by the mercy of God, I listened to them attentively, noting them down, not on paper, but in my heart. And continually, through God's grace, I recall them faithfully. And I am able to bear witness before God that if that blessed and apostolic presbyter had heard any such thing [heresy], he would have cried out, and stopped his ears, and as was his custom, would have exclaimed, O good God, unto what times have you spared me that I should endure these things? And he would have fled from the place where, sitting or standing, he had heard such words. (Eusebius 5.20.5-7)

And then Irenaeus, in the direct footsteps of the Apostle John through Polycarp describing the Early Church's belief in the True Presence of our Lord in the Eucharist at Holy Communion:

2. But vain in every respect are they who despise the entire dispensation of God, and disallow the salvation of the flesh, and treat with contempt its regeneration, maintaining that it is not capable of incorruption. But if this indeed does not attain salvation, then neither did the Lord redeem us with His blood, nor is the cup of the Eucharist the communion of His blood, nor the bread which we break the communion of His body. For blood can only come from veins and flesh, and whatsoever else makes up the substance of man, such as the Word of God was actually made. By His own blood he redeemed us, as also His apostle declares, "In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the remission of sins." And as we are His members, we are also nourished by means of the creation (and He Himself grants the creation to us, for He causes His sun to rise, and sends rain when He wills). He has acknowledged the cup (which is a part of the creation) as His own blood, from which He bedews our blood; and the bread (also a part of the creation) He has established as His own body, from which He gives increase to our bodies.

3. When, therefore, the mingled cup and the manufactured bread receives the Word of God, and the Eucharist of the blood and the body of Christ is made, from which things the substance of our flesh is increased and supported, how can they affirm that the flesh is incapable of receiving the gift of God, which is life eternal, which [flesh] is nourished from the body and blood of the Lord, and is a member of Him? even as the blessed Paul declares in his Epistle to the Ephesians, that "we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones." He does not speak these words of some spiritual and invisible man, for a spirit has not bones nor flesh; but [he refers to] that dispensation [by which the Lord became] an actual man, consisting of flesh, and nerves, and bones, that [flesh] which is nourished by the cup which is His blood, and receives increase from the bread which is His body. And just as a cutting from the vine planted in the ground fructifies in its season, or as a corn of wheat falling into the earth and becoming decomposed, rises with manifold increase by the Spirit of God, who contains all things, and then, through the wisdom of God, serves for the use of men, and having received the Word of God, becomes the Eucharist, which is the body and blood of Christ; so also our bodies, being nourished by it, and deposited in the earth, and suffering decomposition there, shall rise at their appointed time, the Word of God granting them resurrection to the glory of God, even the Father, who freely gives to this mortal immortality, and to this corruptible incorruption, because the strength of God is made perfect in weakness, in order that we may never become puffed up, as if we had life from ourselves, and exalted against God, our minds becoming ungrateful; but learning by experience that we possess eternal duration from the excelling power of this Being, not from our own nature, we may neither undervalue that glory which surrounds God as He is, nor be ignorant of our own nature, but that we may know what God can effect, and what benefits man receives, and thus never wander from the true comprehension of things as they are, that is, both with regard to God and with regard to man.
(Against Heresies, Book V Ch II)

A Summary of St. Polycarp's Life and Death
ST. POLYCARP, Bishop of Smyrna, was a disciple of St. John. He wrote to the Philippians, exhorting them to mutual love and to hatred of heresy. When the apostate Marcion met St. Polycarp at Rome, he asked the aged Saint if he knew him. "Yes," St. Polycarp answered, "I know you for the first-born of Satan." These were the words of a Saint most loving and most charitable, and specially noted for his compassion to sinners. He hated heresy, because he loved God and man so much. In 167, persecution broke out in Smyrna. When Polycarp heard that his pursuers were at the door, he said, "The will of God be done; " and meeting them, he begged to be left alone for a little time, which he spent in prayer for "the Catholic Church throughout the world." He was brought to Smyrna early on Holy Saturday; and, as he entered, a voice was heard from heaven, "Polycarp, be strong." When the proconsul besought him to curse Christ and go free, Polycarp answered, "Eighty-six years I have served Him, and He never did me wrong; how can I blaspheme my King and Saviour?" When he threatened him with fire, Polycarp told him this fire of his lasted but a little, while the fire prepared for the wicked lasted forever. At the stake he thanked God aloud for letting him drink of Christ's chalice. The fire was lighted, but it did him no hurt; so he was stabbed to the heart, and his dead body was burnt. "Then," say the writers of his acts, "we took up the bones, more precious than the richest jewels or gold, and deposited them in a fitting place, at which may God grant us to assemble with joy to celebrate the birthday of the martyr to his life in heaven!"

Reflection for St. Polycarp.—If we love Jesus Christ, we shall love the Church and hate heresy, which rends His mystical body, and destroys the souls for which He died. Like St. Polycarp, we shall maintain our constancy in the faith by love of Jesus Christ, Who is its author and its finisher.

Emendemus in melius

Liner Notes:
Emendemus in melius is the most famous of Morales' more than 100 motets, made known to generations of music students by its appearance in the Historical Anthology of Music. The work is in a five-voice texture with the cantus, altus I, tenor and bassus moving in free imitation and occasional homorhythmic writing in a contrite text of repentance. The altus II, however, adds the touch that demonstrates the composer's mastery: six entrances of a contrasting text and melody that graphically remind the sinner of mortality.

The Importance of Lex Orandi in Religion and Culture

Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, the old Latin adage meaning the law of prayer is the law of belief (or even more roughly translated, you believe how you pray), is something the Church has always keenly understood. This is why when there are attacks on the Church to undermine her belief, the first thing the enemy does is go right to her heart, the Mass. It happened with Luther's rebellion in the Sixteenth century, albeit more dramatically by those that broke from Luther as the heresy continued to fragment. It happened in reformation England as Cranmer and company quickly figured out the surest way to change the belief of the people was to change the Mass. At least many in England, even in the face of brutal anti-Catholic persecution, would have none of it and would go to the scaffolds rather than set foot in Cranmer's service. Then we arrive at the 1960's where the enemies who have gotten within the Church herself, set to destroy the faith, usurp a pastoral council and shortly thereafter in the so-called spirit of that council craft a man-made "New Mass" that would be forced down the throats of Catholics worldwide. This New Mass would not be oriented toward Catholic doctrine, but something different. These Judas priests, and, God help them, that is how they must be regarded, took many cues from Cranmer. The two rebellions are eerily similar in their details, from communion given in the hand, the presider/priest facing the people, the service in the vernacular, and other parallel changes. At least in England, those who had the Faith would not stand for it, though the brutality of the government would force the faithful underground as in the days of the catacombs. Where were the Catholics in the pew in 1970 when altars were being smashed, beautiful sacred images lovingly made for the Glory of God to adorn His house thrown in the dust bins, and parishes banalized with decor that was reminiscent of a disco hall or a cheap hotel? The answer is multi-faceted and nuanced, but the short answer is the triumph of 1789, the liberalism of the French Revolution, within the Church, perpetrated by weak churchmen, some blatantly malicious and some simply unwitting. I do not mean to delve into this particular topic here as it is deep and already well studied and documented by great defenders of the faith such as the late Michael Davies, Romano Amerio, Hamish Fraser, Dr. Deitrich Von Hildebrand, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and many others.

As a Catholic man raising a family and fighting by the sublime duty of my baptism and confirmation to restore all things in Christ, I often think about the Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi because the mortal senses of man are connected to his soul. Certainly everyone is familiar with the saying "the eyes are the windows of the soul." For my family, our whole reason for being where we are comes down to Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi by the Grace of God. As I have said before, we are blessed to be in a community that is fighting and holding fast inside the "devastated vineyard," as Von Hildebrand described it. It is exhilarating to know that even when, through the folly and treachery of man, the Church is steered in a bad direction, that Christ, by His promise, does not abandon her. He cannot -- it is His body, His Church. And we are seeing the signs of this promise now with some of Pope Benedict's efforts at restoration which would have seemed unbelievable just a few years ago. Much to the consternation of the enemy, the Ancient Mass is now free from a decades old ruse that it had been outlawed. The Gates of Hell will indeed never prevail, although it might get ugly at times. How often throughout the centuries has the Church reflected the Glory of the Resurrection followed by the humiliation of the Passion and then the Resurrection again. The Church lives the life of Her Lord over and over again in time. The time in which we live may be her greatest Passion.

With our situation here in upstate New York, we are in a position where the Lex Orandi is completely Catholic, hence the Lex Credendi follows at the religious level. But there is another grave danger, and one that needs our utmost vigilance. That is the culture in which we are all immersed, the one that we have to make our living in, and breath in no matter where we go. It is constantly being hammered in through our ears and eyes with endless flashing lights and beating sound. Is this Lex Orandi of the modern culture from God or, more importantly, oriented to God? Of course it is not. Therefore it represents a terrible danger to the faith and will erode the faith and degrade the mind unless it is kept in check. Part of the answer to why there wasn't a significant Catholic uprising after the 1970 missal, in my estimation, is partly because Catholics were lulled to sleep by a decadent culture. We need to remember as we fight for the restoration of the Church and for the reign of Christ the King over nations again that the Lex Orandi is vital in two places, in the Church and the continuity of our worship to that of the preceding twenty centuries where the Lex Orandi produced countless great Saints, and our lives outside of the Church's walls in prudently working in and interacting in a culture that is not turned toward the Prince of Peace, but rather the Prince of Darkness. Yes, we must ardently work to restore our churches, but we must also restore life around those churches -- Catholic culture, beginning in our homes and working out from there until we here Ave Maria playing at the gas pumps instead of the latest ear popping bubble gum from Hannah Montana. Come Holy Ghost!

Father Hewko's sermon on the dispositions of the Centurion and exegesis of that Scripture passage today was very well done. There is a bonus at the end with a discussion on paternity and fatherhood. Enjoy!


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Lost in Traffic Patterns

Pictured above is something called an Abstract Factory Pattern, used in my field to solve specific software engineering problems. That, I can understand. What I cannot seem to understand is this crazy commute plan that we have going up to the girl's school. It changes every day, involves different personas, swapping and leaving cars, small to large, from Nicholville to Massena, and timing that would impress a Navy SEAL. I did a run this morning. I really don't know how Leslie and the other commute ladies keep it all in their heads. Just tell me where I need be and that is all I want to know -- it is all I can handle! Kyrie Eleison!

The health in the household seems to be stabilizing again, thankfully. From a family perspective, there is nothing much else to report. Thomas' first tooth poked through yesterday.

Father Hewko's sermon for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany is posted in the sermon links.

St. Agnes

Still recuperating from viral attacks on the digestive track, but I wanted to post something today for St. Agnes. I will get Father's last sermon up before week's end -- I promise.

St. Agnes was born in Rome during the beginning of the third century. She was brought up as a Christian and grew to be a very beautiful young woman. By the age of twelve, Agnes was already receiving suitors for her hand in marriage. And already by the age of twelve, Agnes had developed a deep spirituality that directed her to devote her life to God as a consecrated virgin.

Several of the suitors who Agnes turned away became bitter at her and turned her in to the authorities as a Christian. The political atmosphere at the time was very charged, and the Diocletian persecution was well under way. Agnes was arrested and thrown into a house of prostitution to await her death. All who came to look lustfully upon Agnes lost their sight, but many had their sight restored by her intercessory prayers. At last Agnes was sentenced to death. Her body was taken away and buried in a catacomb that later came to bear her name.

Under the reign of the Emperor Constantine, a basilica was built in her honor near her tomb. For centuries, two lambs have been brought to the church and blessed every year. The lambs are then reared in a cloister. When they have grown into sheep, their wool is used to make 'palliums' which are special stoles the Pope sends to archbishops to wear on their shoulders as symbols of the sheep carried by the Good Shepherd.

St. Agnes, whose name means both purity and lamb is the patron of Christian virtue confronted by political and social violence and her life was commented on by many of her contemporaries.

"This is a virgin's birthday; let us follow the example of her chastity. It is a martyr's birthday; let us offer sacrifices; it is the birthday of holy Agnes: let men be filled with wonder, little ones with hope, married woman with awe, and the unmarried with emulation. It seems to me that this child, holy beyond her years and courageous beyond human nature, received the name of Agnes (Greek: pure) not as an earthly designation but as a revelation from God of what she was to be."

~ St. Augustine

"Today is the birthday of a virgin; let us imitate her purity. It is the birthday of a martyr; let us offer ourselves in sacrifice. It is the birthday of Saint Agnes, who is said to have suffered martyrdom at the age of twelve."

~ St. Ambrose

Temporary lag in posting as we work through the latest stomach flu in the house. I will have Father's Sunday sermon posted shortly.

At Calvary We Stand

Courtesy of the great Defender of the Faith and cause of Tradition, Mr. Michael Davies (RIP):

Msgr. Klaus Gamber, one of the greatest liturgists of this century, asks in his book, The Reform of the Roman Liturgy, a very pertinent question concerning the motivation of the reform which followed Vatican II, but was in no way mandated by the Council:

Was all this really done because of a pastoral concern about the souls of the faithful, or did it not rather represent a radical breach with the traditional rite, to prevent the further use of traditional liturgical texts and thus make the celebration of the "Tridentine Mass" impossible - because it no longer reflected the new spirit moving through the Church?

Thanks be to God, the Tridentine Mass is not simply "the most beautiful thing this side of heaven" but the Mass that will not die. Just as the faithful of Milan refused to allow the Ambrosian Mass to be replaced by the Roman Mass, so the faithful of the Roman Rite have refused to abandon the Mass that is redolent of the liturgy "of the days when Caesar ruled the world and thought he could stamp out the faith of Christ, when our fathers met together before dawn and sang a hymn to Christ as to a God." Its renewed use is spreading throughout the world with every day that passes, and each year, more and more young priests are ordained who are resolved to celebrate Mass only according to the Missal of St. Pius which is as certain to be the Mass of our children as it was the Mass of our fathers.

Collect for the Feast of St. Pius V
O God, who for the overthrowing of the enemies of Thy Church, and for the restoring of the beauty of Thy worship, didst choose blessed Pius as supreme Pontiff: grant that we may so cleave unto Thy service, that overcoming all the snares of our enemies, we may rejoice in Thy eternal peace.

Pius XII's Secret Network to Save Jews from Concentration Camps

After the war, Pope Pius XII was declared a 'Righteous Gentile' by the Jews. Even more significant, in 1945, the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Israel Zolli, converted to the Catholic Faith. In an interview, Zolli was asked:

"Then you believe that the Messiah has come?"

"Yes, positively," replied Zolli. "I have believed it many years. And now I am so firmly convinced of the truth of it that I can face the whole world and defend my faith with the certainty and solidity of the mountains."

"But why didn’t you join one of the Protestant denominations, which are also Christian?"

"Because protesting is not attesting. I do not intend to embarrass anyone by asking: ‘Why wait 1,500 years to protest?’ The Catholic Church was recognized by the whole Christian world as the true Church of God for 15 consecutive centuries. No man can halt at the end of those 1,500 years and say that the Catholic Church is not the Church of Christ without embarrassing himself seriously. I can accept only that Church which was preached to all creatures by my own forefathers, the Twelve who, like me, issued from the Synagogue.

"I am convinced that after this war, the only means of withstanding the forces of destruction and of undertaking the reconstruction of Europe will be the acceptance of Catholicism—that is to say, the idea of God and of human brotherhood through Christ, and not a brotherhood based on race and supermen, for ‘there is neither Jew nor Greek; neither bond nor free; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’

The End of the Epiphany Season

L'Epiphanie from DICI on Vimeo.

Epiphany Octave: The Baptism of Our Lord

Leonardo Da Vinci's Baptism of Jesus

But do ye all, as many as are made glad, by the gift of regeneration, and make your boast of that saving renewal, show me, after the sacramental grace, the change in your ways that should follow it, and make known by the purity of your conversation the difference effected by your transformation for the better. For of those things which are before our eyes nothing is altered: the characteristics of the body remain unchanged, and the mould of the visible nature is nowise different. But there is certainly need of some manifest proof, by which we may recognize the new-born man, discerning by clear tokens the new from the old. And these I think are to be found in the intentional motions of the soul, whereby it separates itself from its old customary life, and enters on a newer way of conversation, and will clearly teach those acquainted with it that it has become something different from its former self, bearing in it no token by which the old self was recognized. This, if you be persuaded by me, and keep my words as a law, is the mode of the transformation. The man that was before Baptism was wanton, covetous, grasping at the goods of others, a reviler, a liar, a slanderer, and all that is kindred with these things, and consequent from them. Let him now become orderly, sober, content with his own possessions, and imparting from them to those in poverty, truthful, courteous, affable— in a word, following every laudable course of conduct. For as darkness is dispelled by light, and black disappears as whiteness is spread over it, so the old man also disappears when adorned with the works of righteousness. You see howZacchæus also by the change of his life slew the publican, making fourfold restitution to those whom he had unjustly damaged, and the rest he divided with the poor— the treasure which he had before got by ill means from the poor whom he oppressed. The Evangelist Matthew, another publican, of the same business with Zacchæus, at once after his call changed his life as if it had been a mask. Paul was a persecutor, but after the grace bestowed on him an Apostle, bearing the weight of his fetters for Christ's sake, as an act of amends and repentance for those unjust bonds which he once received from the Law, and bore for use against the Gospel. Such ought you to be in your regeneration: so ought you to blot out your habits that tend to sin; so ought the sons of God to have their conversation: for after the grace bestowed we are called His children. And therefore we ought narrowly to scrutinize our Father's characteristics, that by fashioning and framing ourselves to the likeness of our Father, we may appear true children of Him Who calls us to the adoption according to grace. For the bastard and the supposititious son, who belies his father's nobility in his deeds, is a sad reproach. Therefore also, methinks, it is that the Lord Himself, laying down for us in the Gospels the rules of our life, uses these words to His disciples, "Do good to them that hate you, pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you; that you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. " For then He says they are sons when in their own modes of thought they are fashioned in loving kindness towards their kindred, after the likeness of the Father's goodness.
-St. Gregory of Nyssa (4th Century)

What exactly is the End of our Techno-Gluttony?

The endless cycle of idea and action,
Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to God.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of heaven in twenty centuries
Brings us farther from God and nearer to the Dust.

-T.S. Eliot

Sermon Posted

Blogging is slow, I know and I apologize to my one reader :). Alas, life must come before the blog and our family has been quite busy these last couple of weeks. Andrew returned to La Salette Academy early last week, the girls put on a wonderful Epiphany presentation yesterday at school, and the beat goes on as we charge toward the middle of January.

Father Hewko's sermon yesterday on the Feast of the Holy Family took up the topic of married saints. He used two as an example, one you will recognize, but the other was more obscure and quite edifying. For your listening pleasure and spiritual benefit:


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Cultural Suicide

Western civilization is being contracepted and aborted out of existence. The statistics and prognosis are sobering to say the least. The result: our children and grandchildren will be living in a Muslim dominated world. In light of this, Western society continues to thumb its nose at God and the natural law. What we reap from society's contempt for children, where even the killing of unborn children is protected by law, will be bitter indeed.

King's Cake

The hunt was on this evening for the bean (representing the Child Jesus) planted somewhere in the King's Cake. Winner and king for the day this year: Mom.

Feast of the Epiphany

The loving providence of God determined that in the last days he would aid the world, set on its course to destruction. He decreed that all nations should be saved in Christ.


A promise had been made to the holy patriarch Abraham in regard to these nations. He was to have a countless progeny, born not from his body but from the seed of faith. His descendants are therefore compared with the array of the stars. The father of all nations was to hope not in an earthly progeny but in a progeny from above.


Let the full number of the nations now take their place in the family of the patriarchs. Let the children of the promise now receive the blessing in the seed of Abraham, the blessing renounced by the children of his flesh. In the persons of the Magi let all people adore the Creator of the universe; let God be known, not in Judaea only, but in the whole world, so that his name may be great in all Israel.


Dear friends, now that we have received instruction in this revelation of God’s grace, let us celebrate with spiritual joy the day of our first harvesting, of the first calling of the Gentiles. Let us give thanks to the merciful God, who has made us worthy, in the words of the Apostle, to share the position of the saints in light, who has rescued us from the power of darkness, and brought us into the kingdom of his beloved Son. As Isaiah prophesied: the people of the Gentiles, who sat in darkness, have seen a great light, and for those who dwelt in the region of the shadow of death a light has dawned. He spoke of them to the Lord: The Gentiles, who do not know you, will invoke you, and the peoples, who knew you not, will take refuge in you.


This is the day that Abraham saw, and rejoiced to see, when he knew that the sons born of his faith would be blessed in his seed, that is, in Christ. Believing that he would be the father of the nations, he looked into the future, giving glory to God, in full awareness that God is able to do what he has promised.


This is the day that David prophesied in the psalms, when he said: All the nations that you have brought into being will come and fall down in adoration in your presence, Lord, and glorify your name. Again, the Lord has made known his salvation; in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.


This came to be fulfilled, as we know, from the time when the star beckoned the three wise men out of their distant country and led them to recognise and adore the King of heaven and earth. The obedience of the star calls us to imitate its humble service: to be servants, as best we can, of the grace that invites all men to find Christ.


Dear friends, you must have the same zeal to be of help to one another; then, in the kingdom of God, to which faith and good works are the way, you will shine as children of the light: through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with God the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.

St. Leo the Great, Pope, Fifth Century Anno Domini

Also, happy birthday wishes to Mom Hickman today, and a few days belated happy birthday to Mom Rogers. What a joyous time of the year for a birthday!

Twelfth Night

It is Twelfth Night, the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany. I have a few interesting notes on the Three Kings, courtesy of Fisheaters:

How do we know there were three? We don't know that from Scripture, but tradition relates that there were three, and that there were three gifts mentioned supports this notion as well. Tradition says, too, that these three men were representative of the three ages of man and of the three "racial types" of man, the three families that descended from Noe's three sons (Sem, Cham, and Japheth). According to tradition, Caspar was the young, beardless, ruddy descendant of Ham who brought frankincense. Melchior was an old, white-haired, bearded descendant of Sem who brought gold. And Balthasar was a bearded black descendant of Japheth, in the prime of his life, who brought myrrh (see the works of the Venerable Bede).

Tradition also has it that the kings were baptized by St. Thomas, and they are considered Saints of the Church. Though their feasts aren't celebrated liturgically, the dates given for them in the martyrology are as follows: St. Caspar on 1 January; St. Melchior on 6 January; and St. Balthasar on 11 January.

The cathedral in Cologne, Germany contains the relics of the Magi, discovered in Persia and brought to Constantinople by St. Helena, transferred to Milan in the fifth century, and then to Cologne in 1163. Their trip to Cologne -- said to have taken place on three separate ships -- is the genesis of the carol "I Saw Three Ships".

Therese's Birthday

A few pictures from Therese's birthday the other day:

Happy Birthday, Thérèse Marie!

Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus

He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. For which cause God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above all names: That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father. Phil. 2

Sermon for the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus

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Feast of the Circumcision: Happy New Year!