Our Lady of the Holy Rosary

Funny how the English translation of things sometimes misses the mark. In the English office the description of the feast says, "The celebration of this day invites all to meditate...." The Latin uses the word "incitat," which means something more like the English cognate "incite." According to the online Latin Dictionary and Grammar Aid, http://www.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/lookup.pl?stem=incit&ending=o, "incito" means, "to put into rapid motion, urge on, hasten." This seem stronger to me than "invites." Are the translators afraid of enthusiasm?

The Divine Office

When I came down from my shower this morning my eight year old boy was praying Morning Prayer using the Christian Prayer book I bought when I was a senior in college. My eleven year old daughter will often come down in the morning and ask whether I've prayed yet and whether she can join me. My college kids quote from the office on their Facebook pages.  Oddly, and without much encouragement on our part, all our children love to pray the office (except the four-year old).   

I am very happy about this.  It makes me realize how much what we hand on to our kids is informal and, in a sense, unintentional.  My kids appear to have notice, whether consciously or not, that the office is my favorite form of prayer and that my wife loves to pray it as well.  

The  daily prayer of a Christian should be biblical (esp. the Psalms) and ecclesial.  I also believe in devotions, but the best of these (like the Rosary) is also biblical and ecclesial (strong ecclesiastical approbation, even if not the official prayer of the Church).  Litanies fall in this category, and the Angelus.  As I've mentioned before, I always take a Bible to Eucharist Adoration. Note: I don't think that Bible reading should be the focus of adoration, contemplation of the Face of Jesus should be, but the Bible can help us move into contemplation.  The Word helps us see the Word. 

Oh.  I like to sing praise songs. 

The Neighbours

When I was a kid they used to show this film (16mm) during the homily at Mass.  I think it is great.  Not sure whether the GIRM at that time allowed films during the homily, though.  

Lilles blog correction

I got the wrong url for the second of the blogs of Anthony Lilles in the post below. The one called Beginning to Pray can be found here.

Ouch!

I "backed up" my files the wrong direction. Lost a week of work. Fortunately, the one file that I could not afford to lose survived. I am not sure why, but I sure am grateful to the One who is looking out for my best interests.

He also must want my blood pressure to go up.

Anthony Lilles' Blog

Anthony actually has two blogs, Fire in the Night and Beginning to Pray. The first is more about contemporary issues, the second about spirituality, Lilles' specialty. Both are excellent. I especially like these thoughts about prayer. They help us get around the question, "What do I get out of prayer?"

Most people look at prayer as principally a psychological and therapeutic exercise. They do not normally see prayer as something that actually changes time. But prayer is not simply psychological or therapeutic. It is interpersonal, in the Body of Christ for the glory of the Father and the salvation of the world.

Because the prayer of Christ is always effective, Christian prayer is effective to the degree it is in union with Him and the desires of his heart. It is his desire that all things, including time itself, should be offered in thanksgiving to the Father for the salvation of the world. The reality is, Christians, as members of the Body of Christ, make time pregnant with grace whenever they pray. When we pray, this grace-filled time becomes part of our offering to the Father in Christ. [Emphasis mine]

Lilles is academic dean and professor at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver.

Online course discount

To help promote my online  classes, homeschool connections is offering a $15 off coupon. This is just for my classes and can be used for 1, 2 or all 3 as well as by multiple family members. So, a family with 2 high school students who both wanted to take all 3 courses would save $90!  Plus the Spiritual Writers class still has an early enrollment discount.

The coupon code is k2w3sc

It's good until September 1st.

• Literature: Tolkien & Fairy Stories
• Theology: The Mass Explained
• Theology: Catholic Spiritual Writer

Typography, by Taylor Mali

A great poem with which I totally, like, agree? 

Land o'Lakes?

Or Bishop Darcy:

Rejecting the infamous 1967 “Land O’ Lakes Statement” by which Catholic college leaders declared independence from the Church, Bishop D’Arcy declares firmly, “There is no Catholic identity apart from the affiliation with the Church.”

(From Cardinal Newman Society)