Ember Days

Have you ever wonder what Ember Days are? Before I started going to the Traditional Mass, I had never heard of Ember Days. Here, copied from my Church bulletin, and posted for your education and edification, is a little explanation of what Ember Days are and how they are traditionally celebrated:

Ember Days

The autumn Ember Days fall on Wednesday, September 23; Friday, September 25; and Saturday, September 26.

Four times a year, the Church sets aside three days to focus on God through His wonderful creation. These "Ember Days" (from Quatuor Tempora in Latin) take place around the beginnings of the four natural seasons, and are each kept on a successive Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. These days are spent fasting and partially abstaining (voluntary since the 1983 Code of Canon Law) in penance, in thankfulness for the gifts God gives us in nature, and beseeching Him for the discipline to use them in moderation. In the Old Testament, the Jews fasted weekly on Tuesday and Thursday, but Christians changed the fast days to Wednesday (the day on which Christ was betrayed) and Friday (the day on which He was crucified) and added Saturday (the day He was entombed). Ember Days are days favoured for priestly ordinations, prayers for priests, First Communions, almsgiving and other penitential and charitable acts, and prayers for the souls in Purgatory. Because of the days' focus on nature, they are also traditional times for women to pray for children and for safe deliveries.

Did I mention

...that I am taking a 12 week course in pharmacology for medical credits? Every year, in order to maintain my paramedic license, I have to get 20 continuing medical education credits; courses which are usually supplied by my employer. But due to our strike, which is in its sixth month and still unresolved, it is up to each individual employee to seek out courses and upgrade their credits. So, you see, my absence from this blog is justified! I have been hitting the books, and I know you probably don't want to hear about drugs and their interactions, receptor sites and pharmacodynamics, so I won't bore you with the details.

Just wanted to let you know I have been busy!

How things change!

It's been almost three years since I started this blog, and in the two and a half years since I posted a web counter, we have had more than 126,000 visitors to this site from over 165 countries.

The early focus of this blog was on my desire to attend the Latin Mass, and the frustrations of all the liturgical abuses and modernism of the Novus Ordo Mass. Many of my earlier posts reflect this. Most I have left up, but some I have taken down. Now that I have been going to the Latin Mass for two years, I find my focus has changed more towards the traditions of the Church, like showcasing the sacred religious art of centuries past, much of which you can find here. Likewise, the Blessed Virgin spotlights many of my blog entries, as the case should be with the name of Salve Regina.

I find when I visit other blogs where the author is decrying the liturgical abuses they are exposed to, that it seems like a distant memory to me of all I have left behind. After two years of High Masses and great sermons, unlimited availability to the confessional, and the best spiritual advice of my life, I have to sometimes remind myself that there are still places where tradition is stifled. The Latin Mass is a sacred shelter from all that; a refuge that provides much spiritual comfort while dispensing the grace to grow in awareness and understanding of the Catholic faith. It is a blessing to have access to such a sacred, reverent and holy Mass.

Glorification of the Cross

Monday is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in both the new and old calendar. Try to make it to Mass.

Chaplet of Divine Mercy in Song

Because, according to Saint Augustine, when you sing, you pray twice.

Name this Saint

Here's a challenge for you - can you name this saint who was a Bishop? His feast day was historically on Sept 8, but no longer appears on either the new or old calendar. He was a great Apostle of Bavaria, and a native of Chartres in France. He lived alone in a cell close to a chapel for fourteen years. He was sought after for spiritual counsel, with many miracles making his holiness well known.

A tradition relates that on his way to Rome, a bear killed his pack horse, and this saint's servant placed the Bishop's pack on the back of the bear, and the bear proceeded to carry the pack all the way to the Eternal City.

Who is he?

Imagine

...if he had been a victim of what he supports.



This prolife ad is taken from CatholicVote.org

Two things

Here's two quick tidbits of information meant to help you grow spiritually:

This, according to St. Alphonsus, when you feel remorse for a sin that has already been confessed, it is a sure sign it has been forgiven. Let it go.

This, according to my priest, (a great confessor!) Always confess one mortal sin from your past each time you go to confession. Even though it has already been confessed and forgiven, doing so helps you to become humble.

The new header

Did you notice the new header? It will stay up for the month of September, since it is a scene of the birth of the Virgin Mary. This fresco was painted in 1486 by Domenico Ghirlandaio. Notice the angels dancing in the upper windows, delighting in the birth of Mary. Below them, the Latin inscription reads: Thy birth, O Virgin and Mother of God, brings joy to all the world.

Indeed.

Lamentation of the Traddies

For all you traddies out there! (I just had to post this after attending a very liberal Novus Ordo Mass this weekend)

From the archives of The Cassock and Cotta:

In illo tempore, the Three Roman Traddies came unto a parish church, and began to offer worship to the Most High. And behold, several instrumentalists brought in drums, electric guitars and stereo speakers of wood, two cubits in length, and a cubit in breadth, and a cubit and half in height.

And one of the Three, who was called Norman, spoke to the two, saying: "Speak to the instrumentalists of the parish, that every man that offereth of his own accord, they shall take with them no extra microphone, for it is an abomination unto Us Traddies."

And another Traddie, who was called Michael, spoke thus: "Of the drums that are unacceptable in Our sight, they may play, but not when We offer sacrifice. Of the jazz guitars that are unacceptable in Our sight, they may play, but not when We offer sacrifice. Of the praise-and-worship activities that are unacceptable in Our sight, they may play, but absolutely not when We offer sacrifice.

"Of the microphones attached to stereo speakers, yea even those that are as large as Our oxen, they may use, but not when We offer sacrifice, neither may they carry them into the sanctuary therein. And behold, even as I have said, it has come to pass."

Thus spake the third Traddie, who was called Kenny: "For We judge what is proper and what is improper to the liturgy, saying first that chant is most suitable, then they shall have their silly songs. But of the silly songs, the laws are these: that they may not play them ad nauseam, neither may they rehearse before the liturgy and distract everyone from prayer. And if they deceive by playing the instruments softly, they shall not have their silly songs."

"Hold not your hands in the air, for it is as if you are suffering rheumatism. Only hold thyself still, still I say. For no person doubts that you are able to lift your hands in the air. Lo, how iniqitous this sight is in Our sight."

"Strike ye yourselves at the breast during the Confiteor, for there is no law against this. Kneel ye at the Creed. Verily, I say to thee, kneel ye at the Creed."

And behold, the instrumentalists began speaking among themselves, saying: "These men must be of a different liturgy."

And the Three knew what they were saying among themselves, whereupon the Three said unto them, "Amen, Amen We tell you most solemnly, there was no guitar in the liturgy before 1962. Leave the sacred liturgy alone, for what has the Church done to thee, that thou must afflict it thus with thy drums and guitars, raping Our ears?"

And behold, those who tried to introduce drums and guitars were thrown to the desert, where there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Human Life International's Statement on the Passing of Senator Edward Kennedy

I know I said I was gone for the weekend, but this is a must read:

Spirit & Life®
"The words I spoke to you are spirit and life." (Jn 6:63) Human Life International e-Newsletter Volume 04, Number 27 | Friday, August 28, 2009
..................................................................................	www.hli.org
Human Life International's Statement on the Passing of Senator Edward Kennedy We must, as a matter of precept, pray for the salvation of heretical Catholics like Senator Edward Kennedy, but we do not have to praise him let alone extol him with the full honors of a public Catholic funeral and all the adulation that attends such an event. There was very little about Ted Kennedy's life that deserves admiration from a spiritual or moral point of view. He was probably the worst example of a Catholic statesman that one can think of. When all is said and done, he has distorted the concept of what it means to be a Catholic in public life more than anyone else in leadership today. Obviously we don't know the state of Senator Edward Kennedy's soul upon death. We don't pretend to. We are told by the family that he had the opportunity to confess his sins before a priest, and his priest has said publicly he was "at peace" when he died. For that we are grateful. But it is one thing to confess one's sins and for these matters to be kept, rightfully, private. It is another thing entirely for one who so consistently and publicly advocated for the destruction of unborn human beings to depart the stage without a public repudiation of these views, a public confession, as it were. It is up to God to judge Senator Kennedy's soul. We, as rational persons, must judge his actions, and his actions were not at all in line with one who values and carefully applies Church teaching on weighty matters. Ted Kennedy's positions on a variety of issues have been a grave scandal for decades, and to honor this "catholic" champion of the culture of death with a Catholic funeral is unjust to those who have actually paid the price of fidelity. We now find out that President Obama will eulogize the Senator at his funeral, an indignity which, following on the heels of the Notre Dame fiasco, leaves faithful Catholics feeling sullied, desecrated and dehumanized by men who seem to look for opportunities to slap the Church in the face and do so with impunity simply because they have positions of power. It is not enough for Kennedy to have been a "great guy behind the scenes" as we have seen him referred to even by his political opponents. It is also not praiseworthy to put a Catholic rhetorical veneer on his leftist politics that did nothing to advance true justice as the Church sees it or to advance the peace of Christ in this world. Every indication of Senator Kennedy's career, every public appearance, every sound bite showed an acerbic, divisive and partisan political hack for whom party politics were much more infallible than Church doctrines. Whatever one's political affiliation, if one is only "Catholic" to the extent that his faith rhymes with his party line, then his Catholicism is a fraud. As the Scriptures remind us, there is a time for everything under the sun. This, now, is the time for honesty about our Faith and about those who are called to express it in the public forum. If we do not remind ourselves of the necessity of public confession for public sins such as Senator Kennedy was guilty of, then we are negligent in our embrace of the Faith and we are part of the problem. As Pope Benedict has reminded us recently, charity without truth can easily become mere sentimentality, and we must not fall into that error. A Catholic show of charity for the family must not eclipse the truth that is required of all with eyes to see and ears to hear. Senator Kennedy needs to be sent to the afterlife with a private, family-only funeral and the prayers of the Church for the salvation of his immortal soul. He will not be missed by the unborn who he betrayed time and time again, nor by the rest of us who are laboring to undo the scandalous example of Catholicism that he gave to three generations of Americans. Sincerely, Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, President, Human Life International

Four days of sunshine (I hope)

And speaking of cooling off, I am off to the lake for four days. Back on Tuesday. Have a good weekend, everyone!

What's your caption?

From the combox - Mother Superior said to cool off!

On a different note

If you ever text while driving, watch this enactment of what could happen to you:

Numbering your sins

Wisdom 11: 21 ...But thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight.

Tomorrow on my day off, I have to work an eleven hour shift for free. That's right; I have to get up early, drive to work and put in eleven hours for free. Why? It's some kind of a scheduling anomoly where I was assigned ten hour shifts instead of the usual twelve, (through no fault of my own) so now I have to pay back the hours that I "owe" to my employer. Most of my co-workers show up and then book off sick without ever having to turn a wheel when this happens to them. That way, they still get credited for the "owed" hours, (after all they did show up for the shift). Then they go home and enjoy what was supposed to be their day off to begn with.

I think that is stealing as well as lying, and I will not be following their example. As much as I don't want to work for free for an employer that:
1) claws back seventeen cents on every dollar I make
2) makes me work an eighty hour work week but pays me for only seventy hours
3) claws back a good portion of my overtime earnings (ie. I get paid 1.5% for OT but only see 1.2% of it because they keep the rest in a process they call "factoring"

I still, in spite of the above unfair practices, will not be "sick" tomorrow. Why not? Sure, it would be a sin, but I could just go to confession after, right? Wrong!

According to Scripture and many of the saints, God has fixed for each of us the number of our days, the degrees of health and talent which will be given to us, and so has He determined the number of sins He will pardon; when this number is completed, He will pardon no more. Citing Scripture, Saint Alphonsus Liguori tells us in his book Preparation for Death that God witheld His vengeance against the Amorrhites (Genesis 15:16) "for as yet the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full ." Saint Alphonsus compares the number of our sins to a harvest, that when it is ripe, God will pluck it. Then the holy Doctor goes on to warn us that one more sin may be the one that causes us to reach that pre-determined limit that God has set upon us and cause God to remove His mercy from us:
Ecclesiasticus 5:4 Say not: I have sinned, and what harm hath befallen me? for the most High is a patient rewarder. 5 Be not without fear about sin forgiven, and add not sin upon sin.

It's tough to be Catholic. We always have to take the high road, but that is the surest way to heaven.

No Internet, no news

I have been without Internet at my house for the past three days. Today the fix-it guy came and patched up the outside cable so now it's all up and running again. It's amazing how everything comes to a standstill without the Internet. No news, no blogging, no banking. I sure got a lot done around the house, though!

I'm off to work shortly - I have my second night shift, then I have four glorious days off. This morning, for the last call of my shift, I got to bring around an unconscious diabetic and restore him to a normal functioning level. That's always a good way to end any shift. Everyone is happy and no one is hurt or requires hospitalization. 200 ml of D10W infused through an IV does wonders for the unconscious diabetic. Thank God he had someone there to call 911.

On Saturday I am planning on attending a Legion of Mary retreat put on at my FSSP parish. I have never been to one before, and really haven't met many of the parishioners at my church, even though I have been going there for almost two years now. So I am looking forward to it; I am sure there will be many graces from attending the retreat. I have learned how important it is to recognize these graces that God bestows on us daily, because more often than not, we let them slip away unused. It is good to make a daily prayer that we will recognize and use the graces that God most generously bestows on us every day. If anyone has a favourite prayer for this, please leave it in the combox.

If you lose the supernatural meaning of your life, your charity will be philanthropy; your purity, decency; your mortification, stupidity; your discipline, a lash; and all your works, fruitless. - Saint Josemaría Escrivá ; The Way.

Bill C-384

If Ms. Lalonde has her way, Canadian doctors will soon be able to routinely kill patients who suffer from severe physical or mental pain, or have a terminal illness. Read her private members bill here. Write to your MP and voice your concern! Find your MP using this link and your postal code.

Ms Lalonde`s Bill C-384 states that anyone over 18 years of age who suffers from sever physical or mental pain or is terminally ill can ask for and receive an assisted death, so long as they ask in writing twice and at least ten days apart. I can just see the vultures of death hovering over the patients they think are a strain on the health-care system, pen and paper in hand, coercing them to sign their “ìnformed” consent.

The government has no business deciding when people should die. Those who are suffering from depression and dementia are at extreme risk with this bill. They should be helped and protected, not walked to their grave.

There is a really good blog post here on this subject, complete with sample letters and other ideas you can implement to make a difference.

Saint Joachim

August 16 is the traditional feast day of Saint Joachim, father of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Joachim is believed to have been a native of Nazareth, and according to the Protoevangelium of James, Saints Anne and Joachim could not conceive a child, so Joachim went into the desert to fast and pray for forty days. An angel of the Lord then came to him and told him that his wife would conceive a child. There is a tradition that says Our Lady was conceived in a miraculous manner when Saints Anne and Joachim embraced beneath the Golden Gate at the Temple upon his return from the desert. It is believed that Saint Joachim witnessed the Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the Temple and that he died soon afterwards.

Note: the Protoevangelium of James is a very interesting read. The link I used is from New Advent and it is a fascinating one page story.

Artistic Portrayals of the Assumption of Mary

As promised, here is my artistic collection of images of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. Browse through them, and if you wish to take one for your own blog or files, please feel free. The beauty of religious art is like a prayer, and here is my prayer to the Blessed Virgin on her Feast of the Assumption. Clicking on each image will enlarge it for better viewing of the artistic details.



The Death of Mary, by Benozzo Gozzoli, 1484, transferred fresco, at Biblioteca Comunale, Castelfiorentino



The Assumption of the Virgin by Veronese?



Assumption, by Paolo Veronese, 1558, at Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice



By the same artist, another Assumption of the Virgin, by Paolo Veronese, 1586, oil on canvas, at Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice



Assumption of the Virgin by Martin Knoller 1774, oil on canvas, at Musée du Louvre, Paris



Assumption of the Virgin, by Juan de Valdes Leal, 1659, oil on canvas, at National Gallery of Art, Washington



Assumption of the Virgin, by Andrea Vaccaro, date unknown, oil on canvas, private collection


Assumption of the Virgin, by Vecellio Tiziano, 1516-18, oil on wood, at Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice



Assumption of the Virgin, by Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, 1735, oil on canvas, Musée du Louvre, Paris



The Assumption of the Virgin, Andre del Sarto, 1526-29, oil on panel, Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence



The Assumption of Mary, by Peter Paul Ruebens, 1512-14, oil on panel, at Mauritshuis, The Hague



The Assumption of Mary, by Palma Vecchio, 1512-14, oil on panel, at Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice



The Assumption of the Virgin, by Nicolas Poussin, oil on canvas, 1650, at Musée du Louvre, Paris



Unknown title, date and artist



Unknown title, date and artist



Unknown title, date and artist

Take up your cross

"Whenever you see a poor, wooden cross, alone, uncared for, worthless...and without a corpus, don't forget that that cross is your cross--the everyday hidden cross, unattractive and unconsoling--the cross that is waiting for the corpus it lacks: and that corpus must be you."

From St. Josemaria Escriva "The Way."