Must Read Blog Post!

Head on over to the Crescat and read Kat's post, "Fifteen years later and silent no more...". This is one of the bravest and best things I have read on the Net!

Would You Like Some Whine With That?

Yes, tomorrow is/ought to be Ascension Thursday. This means that it is time for my 18th Annual Whine On Moving The Ascension (tm). As usual, the Famous Father Z (tm) beat me to the punch on this with his usual wit and erudition. But that will not deter me, I will throw in my three cents worth.

First, the Ascension is a historical feast. It is not a conceptual or doctrinal feast like Christ the King, Corpus Christi, or Trinity Sunday. These days are not tied to a particular time. (Though I don't like moving Corpus Christi for other reasons.) Moreover, it has a particular temporal relation to Easter; forty days. The historicity requires that it be celebrated on Thursday.

Second, if it is important enough to celebrate it is important enough to celebrate it on the correct day. The argument that more people can celebrate it on Sunday is a load of _____. We make things far too convenient for people; part of our convenience society. Religious should be difficult in some respects and require sacrifices and inconvenience. (This ties in to the wimpification of Lent.) And those who honestly can't attend are excused anyway.

This beings me to my third point. This is yet another retreat. The practice of our religion is being pushed out of the public square and we let it happen! We let and even encourage the separation of Christian life from everyday life. No more! If it inconveniences some folks, big freakin' deal. I suspect this is more about lazy priests than anything else. God forbid that we should have two Sunday schedules in a week. Yeah it is tiring, but that is the job.

In short, give us back our holy days on the proper day. And I pray that next year I won't have to do the Nineteenth Whine.

(P. S. The last few years have been better because in the Extraordinary Form I can celebrate Ascension Thursday.)

Happy Mother's Day!

Love you Mom!

Lost Sheep.

Recent events have caused me to reflect upon how much I hate loosing sheep, whether it be to another parish, another church, or that other church known as cafeteria Catholicism. My secretary remarked, "Wow, you really take it personally." Damn straight I do. This isn't just my job, it is my vocation. And if that weren't enough, there is always the knowledge that I will be held accountable by the Lord for each and every soul entrusted to my care on the Day of Judgement.

There isn't much I can do about folks going to another parish. People move or personalities do not mesh. Occasionally, well more than occasionally, I stick my foot in my mouth or failing in my duty. I also know that I don't fit the modern stereotype of the priest.

When folks leave for another church, thankfully an infrequent event, I always wonder what I could do to better teach the Faith and help the folks deal with their doubts and questions. It is enormously frustrating that many people won't come to you, or someone, with their doubts, questions, and concerns. And when people leave for a stupid reason like romantic love or business, I just wish I could pound some sense into them.

The hardest are the Cafeteria Catholics; those who think that they can be their own Pope or really their own God. Here we find the mystery of sin. A mystery which goes back to Lucifer. I will not serve. Or I will only serve when convenient and in accord with my own desires. And what infuriates me is that they are always able to find a priest and fellow 'Catholics' to encourage and enable them. Father Flapdoodle says it is OK.

I suppose the most difficult thing is recognizing that it really isn't about me at all. Everyone has free will whether I should think they should or shouldn't. And everyone will receive their due reward whatever I do. God has decreed it, so I must accept it. We have to realize how powerless we are. I am no Saint Jean Marie. All that I can do is do my job as best I can, learn from my mistakes, and get out of God's way.

That being said I miss my lost sheep. I pray for them and ask that the Lord return them.

Stupid Liturgical Tricks: Eliminating The Penitential Act.

When do we not need to acknowledge our sins? Well, according to the 2002 Missal at weddings. Wouldn't want to make such a happy time a downer by recognizing our sinfulness and need for forgiveness. Can't have it on Ash Wednesday either. After all, we already do the ash thing, we don't want people to feel bad about themselves do we? Or funerals, can't have a penitential act at funerals. People might start thinking about sin and next think you know they will start praying for the dead instead of celebrating their lives.

Seriously, one of the great faults of the modern age in the lack of a sense of sin. Do wedding parties not sin? Do brides and grooms not need to kneel before God and ask for his forgiveness before they receive the awesome sacrament which makes them an icon of the love between Christ and His Church?

Today Is Waplurgisnacht.

Which brings to mind several things:

1) I need to stop by the store and purchase some telephone polls, rope, and a few cords of wood. Today is a great day for a witch hunt. We can make s'mores!

2) Today is the anniversary of the suicide or murder of Adolf Hitler. (It depends on which account you believe.) Remember to smack an Austrian in commemoration of the paper-hanging son-of-a-bitch.

3) Say a prayer to St. Pius V, that through his intercession Pope Benedict's efforts at reform will bear rich fruit.
 

Happy Quasimodo Sunday!

Though, I prefer real Modos myself.

Coon Chicken Inn. Hey, lighten up!

When my late grandmother first told me about these places, I thought she was joking. But then there was an article about them in the local paper. (The first one was in  Salt Lake City. Doh, between that and Rocky Anderson, I am ashamed of my home town.) What in the hell were people thinking? How could this ever been considered acceptable? Fortunately, by the late 1950s people could see them for what they were and when the owners retired they were closed. (Read about them here.) Such a think could never happen today.

But wait a minute. In Fells Point, Maryland, there is the Ale Mary's Bar. The light-hearted fun includes, holy water font snack bowls, a monstrance on the bar, and a 'Chalice Club' (yes, member can drink beer from chalices.) Just light-hearted fun, no blasphemy here, move along. In fact, when owners were confronted by rightfully offended Catholics, they said we should lighten up. Sure, it's all in good fun when the holy is mocked and holy objects are desecrated. (BTW, where did they get these objects? Far more care needs to be given unwanted liturgical objects. Any bishops out there listening?) I forgot it is OK to mock Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. No one is required to have sensitivity for that. But should anyone open "Shylock's Kosher Deli" or "Towelhead Felafel Hut", well you know.

Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing...

joins the action figures.

The Proper Posture For Man Before God Is On His Knees.

From Pope Benedict's Holy Thursday Homily (Zucchetto Spin to the Famous Father Z):

Before reflecting on the content of Jesus’ petition, we must still consider what the evangelists tell us about Jesus’ posture during his prayer. Matthew and Mark tell us that he “threw himself on the ground” (Mt 26:39; cf. Mk 14:35), thus assuming a posture of complete submission, as is preserved in the Roman liturgy of Good Friday. Luke, on the other hand, tells us that Jesus prayed on his knees. In the Acts of the Apostles, he speaks of the saints praying on their knees: Stephen during his stoning, Peter at the raising of someone who had died, Paul on his way to martyrdom. In this way Luke has sketched a brief history of prayer on one’s knees in the early Church. Christians, in kneeling, enter into Jesus’ prayer on the Mount of Olives. When menaced by the power of evil, as they kneel, they are upright before the world, while as sons and daughters, they kneel before the Father. Before God’s glory we Christians kneel and acknowledge his divinity; by that posture we also express our confidence that he will prevail.

Palm Sunday Observations.

--"Pueri Hebrorum" is way better than "The King of Glory Comes". (Especially after Stephen Colbert's dance number.)
--The longer options for the Mass readings are always better.
--People will always come out for free stuff.
--Palmagami (the art of folding palm fronds into crosses and other religious symbols) is an under appreciated art form.
--Saying "Crucify Him" in the Gospel reading is really bad. However, it is far worse when we do it by our sins.
--I need to thank whoever releases all those Catholics who only show up two or three times a year.

One More Time.

"Listen up you primitive screwheads!"

CONGREGATION DE CULTU DIVINO ET DISCIPLINA SACRAMENTORUM
Prot. N. 569/00/L
Dear Father:
March 14, 2000
This Congregation for Divine Worship has received your letter sent by fax in which you ask whether it is in accord with liturgical law to remove the Holy Water from the fonts for the duration of the season of Lent.
This Dicastery is able to respond that the removing of Holy Water from the fonts during the season of Lent is not permitted, in particular, for two reasons:
1. The liturgical legislation in force does not foresee this innovation, which in addition to being praeter legem is contrary to a balanced understanding of the season of Lent, which though truly being a season of penance, is also a season rich in the symbolism of water and baptism, constantly evoked in liturgical texts.
2. The encouragement of the Church that the faithful avail themselves frequently of her sacraments and sacramentals is to be understood to apply also to the season of Lent. The "fast" and "abstinence" which the faithful embrace in this season does not extend to abstaining from the sacraments or sacramentals of the Church.
The practice of the Church has been to empty the Holy Water fonts on the days of the Sacred Triduum in preparation of the blessing of the water at the Easter Vigil, and it corresponds to those days on which the Eucharist is not celebrated (i.e., Good Friday and Holy Saturday).
Hoping that this resolves the question and with every good wish and kind regard, I am,
Sincerely yours in Christ, [signed]
Mons. Mario Marini Undersecretary

This Lent, Let Us Fast From Stupidity.

Anita from V for Victory has an awesome post on the stupid concept of fasting from holy things. In parishes throughout the U. S. (and no doubt other place as stupidity know no boundaries), the faithful are being deprived of one of prime sacramentals of the Church, namely Holy Water. This in spite of the fact that Rome has made it clear that this is only to be done between the Mass of the Lord's Supper and the Easter Vigil. In parishes throughout the U. S. (and no doubt other place as stupidity know no boundaries), children are being denied the Sacrament of Baptism in spite of the fact that we are instructed to baptize children as soon as it is practical. In parishes throughout the U. S. (and no doubt other place as stupidity know no boundaries), Lent is being twisted to promote radical environmentalism and a liberal political agenda instead of being used to draw the faithful closer to Christ.

I propose that we fast from these destructive, useless, and stupid innovations and embrace a traditional, Catholic Lent. Just sayin'.

Don't Roll Over For Komen.

Many of us are feeling like we were played by Komen today: because we were. Don't accept this passively. If you donated money to them, call them and DEMAND a refund. If you have to, cancel the check or credit card charge.

New Orthometric Initiative!

FIRST FRIDAY FAST AGAINST FAKE SCIENCE AND BUREAUCRATIC OVER-REACH.

Index Of Fobidden Hymns (Gather, Pt. XI).

This includes the hymns for funerals.  Notice how they just assume that the deceased is just going to go to Heaven. No prayers for them are necessary at all. It also includes songs for "Penance and Reconciliation". No a peep about the Sacrament of Confession. It is a microcosm of what is wrong with theology.

Numbers 851-900:

854-I Know That My Redeemer Lives: HH.
859-The Hand of God Shall Hold You: HH, P. It just assumes the deceased is going to Heaven.
860-I, the Lord: SIGV. No, He is the Lord. You are the creature.
861-Song of the Exile: HH.
864-Song of Farewell: SWTR. (Just use "In Paradisum".)
867-Wherever You Go: HH.
869-We Will Serve the Lord: HH.
875-Jesus, Heal Us: HH.
880-Deep Down in My Soul: HH.
882-Healer of Our Every Ill: HH.
883-Ashes: H, HL. "To create ourselves anew"? I don't think so.
884-I Want to Call You: HH, NAU.
892-God of Eve and God of Mary: C, DO.

And that's it for "Gather". Keep your eyes open for a wrap-up post.

C=Castrated, DO= Dubious Orthodoxy, DMWP=Don't Mess With Perfection, DS=Dan Schutte, DTD=Done To Death, EP=Ex-Priest, G=Germanophobic, H=Heretical, HH=Haugen&Haas, HL=Hella Lame, LC=Leftist Crap, NAU=Not About Us, P=Presumptuous,  PC=Politically Correct,  SIGV=Singing In God's Voice (i. e. we are not God), SWTR= Stick With The Rite, TMV=Too Many Verses, WIG=Where is God?

Devil Dog's Dog And Frog.

(Yes, I know it is likely a toad. But toad doesn't rhyme with dog.)

Devil Dogs' Dog.

Dad's unit adopted a pack of stray dogs while in Vietnam. They even built the dogs their own bunker for when they came under fire. Here is one of them.

Photo Project.

I have started scanning my dad's slides from Vietnam into the computer. A man who served with dad is going to help me identify who and what they contain. Most of them I have a general idea about, but this one I know the story. Dad stepped on a punji stick. Fortunately, his boots had a steel insert in the sole, but one of them cut into the side of the boot, as you can see here.

Holy Day!

This year the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God is a Holy Day of Obligation in my diocese! But only because it falls on a Sunday. Suppressed/transferred holy day rant delayed until Ascension Thursday next.

Action-Figure-Palooza!

Filling the hole in my soul left by my mom selling my GIJoes at a garage sale in September 1980.

Afterburner with Bill Whittle: Three Years Under Obama

Random Liturgical Gripes.

Liturgist Animus Against Penance What is up with that? It seems that the liturgical establishment is pushing for the elimination of the penitential rite act whenever they can. Funeral Mass? Eliminate it. Ash Wednesday? Eliminate it. Nuptial Mass (in the new Missal)? Eliminate it. I seem to remember reading that Bugnini suppressed it in the first draft of the Mass of Paul VI. Add to the post-conciliar transformation of Advent from a penitential season to one of joyful expectation (whatever that means). There seems to two ideas at work here. First, there can be too much penance and that joy and penance are mutually exclusive. Bunk and double bunk. Penance is joyful in that it draws us closer to Christ. There is also the ancient Christian principle that worship and celebration must be preceded by penance. I guess these are the same types that think we can't have crucifixes because we are 'an Easter people'.

Apostles' Creed in place of the Nicean-Constanipolitan. I love the 2002 Misale Romanum and its new English translation. However, I don't think the option to use the Apostles' Creed is a good idea. We need more specificity about our Faith, not less.


Advent Police. My first year at the seminary, the Ice Queen (tm) decreed that there would be no Christmas decorations at all during Advent. (I think she was descended from Burgermeister Meisterburger.) It made for the most depressing December EVER! Jesse Trees just don't cut it. I hear more and more of similar bans. Get a grip folks. I understand the desire to appreciate the Liturgical Season of Christmas, but get a grip folks. Saying Merry Christmas does not destroy Advent and neither do Christmas lights and trees. This problem can addressed by the gradual introduction of Christmas decorations culminating on December 25th and by leaving them up until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Liturgical Puritanism in not the answer.

(Later addition) Liturgical Newspeak.  "Eucharistic Liturgy", "Reconciliation", and "Gathering Space (or any 'space' for that matter)", I am thinking of you! The liturginazis hate traditional terminology. While the Mass is a Eucharistic Liturgy, it is not the only one; see Benediction and a Communion Service. Confession is only Reconciliation if one is guilty of a mortal sin. Our churches are more than just 'spaces' for worship. Just stick to the traditional terms and everyone will know what you are talking about.

Index Of Forbidden Hymns (Gather, Pt. X).

Numbers 801-850:

801-For the Life of the World: HH, NAU, DO, LC.
808-We Are God's Work of Art: HH, NAU.
810-You Are God's Work of Art: HH, NAU.
813-Song of the Chosen: NAU, DO.
815-You Satisfy the Hungry Heart; DTD Please give me an article!
816-Let Us Be Bread: DO, SIGV.
817-Jesus, Wine of Peace: HH, DO, SIGV.
821-Bread of Life, Hope of the World: DO. Excuse me, lead us to the Father.
824-I Myself Am the Bread of Life: SIGV.
825-As the Grains of Wheat: HH, DO.
827- Bread for the World: DO.
828-I Am the Bread of Life: SIGV.
831-Take and Eat: SIGV.
833-Now in This Banquet: HH, DO.
842-Take and Eat This Bread: SIGV.
844-Without Seeing You: HH.
845-The Song of the Supper: DO.
847-Song of the Body of Christ: HH, H, NAU. We come to share HIS story....We come to know His rising from the dead.
849-Table Song: HH, DO.

Why am I not surprised that there are so many problems with the "Eucharist" songs.

C=Castrated, DO= Dubious Orthodoxy, DMWP=Don't Mess With Perfection, DS=Dan Schutte, DTD=Done To Death, EP=Ex-Priest, G=Germanophobic, H=Heretical, HH=Haugen&Haas, HL=Hella Lame, LC=Leftist Crap, NAU=Not About Us, PC=Politically Correct,  SIGV=Singing In God's Voice (i. e. we are not God), SWTR= Stick With The Rite, TMV=Too Many Verses, WIG=Where is God?

My Great-Grandfather.

I found some very interesting information on my great-grandfather in the Google book "Pianos and Their Makers" by Alfred Dolge.

Born at Berlin, Germany, in 1869, he had the benefit of that thorough training for which the schools of Germany are renowned. After passing through the grammar and manual training schools, he continued his studies of the higher branches at the evening and Sunday school, where he acquired all the knowledge of mathematics, drafting, etc., necessary to become a competent piano constructor. Under the personal tutelage of the well-known piano maker Eduard Werner, of Berlin, Richtsteig mastered in the course of lime all the details of piano making. Competent to earn his own living, he came to America in 1888 and engaged with Bush and Gerts, of Chicago. In order to perfect himself more particularly in the art of scale drawing, he bided his time for an opportunity to study under Henry Kroeger of Steinway fame. He remained at Kroeger's factory in New York for one year, when he was induced to assume the foremanship in the finishing department of his old employers, Bush and Gerts, of Chicago.

In 1898 he accepted the position as designer and constructor for the Starr Piano Company, of Richmond, Ind., where he designed scales for upright and grand pianos, including a concert grand. Eminently successful in these efforts, he became desirous of starting in business for himself. Opening business at Milwaukee, in 1905, he experienced all the trials and tribulations of the beginner, until he found in Edmund Gram a man congenial to him, filled with his own ideals, and possessed of the same ambition to build a piano of the highest order. Under the name of Gram-Richtsteig Company a partnership Gramwas formed in October, 1908. By the close of 1908 fifty pianos had been disposed of; the year 1909 closed with sales of two hundred fifty pianos, which number was doubled in 1910 and again doubled in 1911, so that larger manufacturing facilities had to be provided for. Richtsteig did not aim for a sky-rocket success; he knew that he had to train and educate men to build the artistic piano which he had designed. Deft handling of tools is not sufficient to make artistic pianos; the men must know the why and wherefore. To train his men properly, Richtsteig started the first technical school for piano makers in America, at his Technical factory, in 1908. The proposition was accepted with enthusiasm Scho°I by the young men in his employ. Only men who had practical experience in piano building were admitted. The tuition was free, Richtsteig devoting his evenings to teaching his men the fundamental laws of piano construction.

He soon had a sufficient force of thoroughly educated artisans, which enabled him to increase the output of his factory to keep pace with the ever-growing demand. The superior qualities of the Gram-Richtsteig piano were quickly recognized by the trade and the instrument was accepted as one of the leaders.

The thorough piano maker, Richtsteig, had succeeded in constructing a piano comprising all that modern methods suggest, and had embodied in it many original ideas which enhanced the durability and reliability of the same, yet he was not contented. He knew that all piano manufacturers were laboring under the difficulties presented by the delicate adjustment of the action parts, which would easily get out of alignment, because of the continual change in the atmosphere from dry to wet, and vice versa. F. C. Billings, a piano tuner, had Kail Action invented a metal flange in place of the commonly used wooden frame gange, furthermore a metal frame with steel angle rails to prevent the usual warping and twisting of the ordinary wooden rail. Richtsteig took up these inventions and commenced to put them to most severe tests, improving the construction and application until he was satisfied that with these improvements the obnoxious warping of rails or loosening of flanges would be a fault of the past. The use of these metal frame actions with brass flanges in the Gram-Richtsteig piano was hailed with enthusiasm by piano dealers and attracted the attention of piano makers to such an extent that a corporation, with Max Richtsteig as president, has been formed to manufacture these patented metal actions for the piano trade at large, under the name of Gram-Richtsteig Metal Frame Action Company.

Need Another Reason To Drop "The Salt Lake Tribune"?

How about that they continue to publish bigoted anti-Catholic crap like this?

P. S. Make sure you tell them why they are being dropped. 

Index Of Forbidden Songs (Gather, Pt. IX).

Numbers 751-800.


752-Bless the Feast: DO All banquet, no sacrifice.
753-All Are Welcome: HH, DO, NAU Stay out of the light Carol Anne!
756-Morning Has Broken: DTD I really like this hymn, but the Cat Stevens connection is still too strong.
761-God of Day and God of Darkness: HH, C, DO Waste of a good tune.
769-My Lord Will Come Again: HH.
772-We Shall Rise Again: SIGV.
782-Hail Mary: Gentle Woman: DO, PC, EP. Salvation by estrogen.
788-Magnificat: HH.
796-Litany of Saints: SWTR.
799-Alive in Christ Jesus: HH.

C=Castrated, DO= Dubious Orthodoxy, DMWP=Don't Mess With Perfection, DS=Dan Schutte, DTD=Done To Death, EP=Ex-Priest, G=Germanophobic, H=Heretical, HH=Haugen&Haas, HL=Hella Lame, LC=Leftist Crap, NAU=Not About Us, PC=Politically Correct,  SIGV=Singing In God's Voice (i. e. we are not God), SWTR= Stick With The Rite, TMV=Too Many Verses, WIG=Where is God?

Yet Another Reason I'm Glad I dropped The Salt Lake Tribune (And You Should Too!)

The 'artist' is the same horse's ass who slandered the Pope last year.

Index Of Forbidden Songs (Gather, Pt. VIII).

Strap yourselves in folks! It's gonna be a bumpy ride. This selection includes the topics of discipleship, social concern, peace, unity, and gathering; all topics that are ripe for sneaking in leftism under the guise of Christianity. (Nota Bene: even though I was sorely tempted, this review was not composed under the influence of single malt--or even Ripple.)

Numbers 701-750:

703-Song of St. Patrick: HH. (Is there nothing that Marty will leave in peace?)
704-I Am for You: SIGV.
706-Never the Blade Shall Rise: SIGV.
708-I Danced in the Morning: HL, DTD, SIGV, H. Yuck and waste of a good tune.
709-We Will Drink the Cup: HH, NAU. "We are the Church, we are the body; we are God's great work of art!"--need to work on that self-esteem there buddy.
710-Adundant Life: HH.
711-The Harvest of Justice: HH.
712-On Holy Ground: DO.
716-Let Justice Roll Like a River: HH.
718-We Are Called: HH, NAU.
719-For the Healing of the Nations: DO, LC "Dogmas that obscure your plan"?
721-Voices That Challenge: HH, LC, PC. Cited in the dictionary under "politically correct".
728-Peace is Flowing Like a River: DTD.
729-Prayer of Peace: HH, DO. Based on a pagan prayer, nice.
731-Let There Be Peace on Earth: DTD, C (the alternative version).
732-World Peace Prayer: HH, DO. The refrain is from the Upanishads. Paganism--nice.
733-We Are Many Parts: HH, DTD.
734-No Longer Strangers: HH, NAU.
735-They'll Know We Are Christians: DTD.
739-Diverse in Culture, Nation, Race: PC, NAU.
742-Now the Feast and Celebration: HH, DO. Forgets the "not yet" part of "now and not yet".
743-Come to Us: SIGV.
744-Gather Us In: HH, DTD. This makes Baby Jesus cry.
745-What is This Place: H. This place is an icon of Heaven, doofus.
750-We Gather in Worship: DO. Universalist and Indifferantist. 

C=Castrated, DO= Dubious Orthodoxy, DMWP=Don't Mess With Perfection, DS=Dan Schutte, DTD=Done To Death, EP=Ex-Priest, G=Germanophobic, H=Heretical, HH=Haugen&Haas, HL=Hella Lame, LC=Leftist Crap, NAU=Not About Us, PC=Politically Correct,  SIGV=Singing In God's Voice (i. e. we are not God, SWTR= Stick With The Rite, TMV=Too Many Verses, WIG=Where is God?

Black Is Beautiful!

I love All Souls' Day. It is a great and comforting thing to pray for the poor souls. It is also a wonderful opportunity to witness against the de facto Universalism of the current age. AND, it is fun to make the LiturgiNazis heads spin around a la "The Exorcist" by wearing Black Vestments.

Prayer for the dead is one of the things that attracted me to the Catholic Church. Like so much about the Church, it just made sense. We need help, both Divine and human, to live the life of Faith here on Earth. We are not perfect and cannot be perfect. Few people die perfectly united to God. Without Purgatory, I would despair at the possibility of my own salvation. But we have it and have had it from Apostolic times. Christians have always prayed for the dead. It is part of our work as Christians; to aid and support our brothers in Christ on the other side of the veil.

It is definitely not something that fits in well with the Modern (or Modernist) mindset. The "loving thing" is assume that everyone is in Heaven. After all, God is forgiving and all merciful. There may be a Hell, but it is empty of humans. How many funerals do we hear this at? I have heard it a lot. (Even from preachers that wear miters.) It is a nice thought, but it does not jibe with reality. God is merciful, but also just and He respects our free will. He will not force His forgiveness and out sanctification on us. So yes, I think people do go to Hell and many of those who don't stand in need of purification before they are able to stand before the Face of God.

Black Vestments express this reality rather well. And that is exactly why the 'with it' crowd doesn't like them. They buy into Universalism. Black Vestments express both the human and Divine realities surrounding death. They respect the human need to mourn even with the sure and certain hope in the Resurrection of the Dead. They also respect the uncertainty and pious fear of the soul before the Divine Judge. Yes, violet works for this too, but I am a Latin traditionalist and love the black. White is just presumptuous.

And while we are at it, can we rework the Order of Christian Burial to better reflect orthodox theology?

"South Park" Forsees Occupy Wall Street.

In 2005, "South Park" aired the episode "Die, Hippie, Die", which prophesied the whole occupy (bowel) movement with eerie accuracy:

Cartman:	Ma'am, I need to clear out your giggling stoners and your drum-cricle hippies RIGHT NOW, or soon they're gonna attract something much worse!
Elderly Woman:	Ooooo.what's that?
Cartman:	The college know-it-all hippies.
	[The neighborhood, day. A red car pulls up to the curb. On the back window is a decal which says "University of Colorado at Boulder" Three men and three women step out of the car]
Driver:	[wearing green jacket] Wow, my friend Brittany was right. This is a really laid-back place.
Woman 1:	[wearing tan jacket] Yeah, this will be a great place to spend spring break. [Stan, Kyle, and Kenny approach them]
Kyle:	Hey, let's ask them. [the boys are wearing shoulder totes with magazines peeking out from them.]
Stan:	All right. [the two parties meet] 'Scuse me. [holds out a clipboard] Hello, we are selling magazine subscriptions for our community youth program. Would you like to help young people like us by purchasing a subscription of your choice?
Driver:	Oh wow, you guys shouldn't be doing that. Don't you know what you're doing to the world?
Kyle:	Wha- whataya mean?
Man 1:	[wearing a guitar over his back] You're playing into the corporate game! See, the corporations are trying to turn you into little Eichmanns so that they can make money. [the other man is busily eating chips]
Stan:	Who are the corporations?
Woman 2:	[a blonde with a psychedelic fish on her shirt] The corporations run the entire world. And now they fooled you into working for them.
Stan:	Are you serious?? We never heard that.
Driver:	We just spent our first semester at college. Our professors opened our eyes. The government is using its corporate ties to make you sell magazines so they can get rich.
Kyle:	Ugh! Those dirty liars!
Kenny:	(Sonofabitch!) [throws down his shoulder tote]
Man 2:	[has finished his chips] This is a really nice town you have here. That's why the corporations are trying to use you to take it down.
Stan:	Well... Well what do we do?
Driver:	Just hang with us for a bit. We'll fill you in on everything you haven't been told.

Random Thought....

while mountain biking (and neither falling, tipping, or crashing) and listening to my iPhone on random shuffle.

If I hadn't named my blog Orthometer, what would I have named it? (Click here for the story behind the name.)
--"Somewhere to the Right of Genghis Khan." As in, he is....
--"To the Mattresses" Yes, it is from "The Godfather." But, this could definitely be misunderstood.
--"Spores, Molds, and Fungi." I like this one the best.

This is what happens when I listen to German Opera, Monophonic Chant, Billy Joel, Stevie Nicks, and Steeleye Span.