Eamon Duffy & the Loss of the West

It is my conviction ... that no substantial gulf existed between the religion of the clergy and the educated élite on the one hand and that of the people at large on the other. I do not believe that it is helpful or accurate to talk of the religion of the average fifteenth-century parishioner as magical, superstitious, or semi-pagan. Nor does it seem to me that the most interesting aspect of late medieval religion lay in the views and activities of those who, like the relatively small number of Lollards, rejected its central tenets and preoccupations. The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries of England witnessed a period of massive catechetical enterprise on the part not only of the bishops and parochial clergy, whose responsibility it mainly was, but also on the part of members of religious orders and private individuals, like the printers Caxton, Wynkyn de Worde, and Richard Pynson. The teachings of late medieval Christianity were graphically represented within the liturgy, endlessly reiterated in sermons, rhymed in verse treatises and saints' lives, enacted in the Corpus Christi and Miracle plays which absorbed so much lay energy and expenditure, and carved and painted on walls, screens, bench-ends, and windows of the parish churches. It is true that the wealthy and literate had increasing access to and interest in types of spirituality previously confined to the monastery. Yet within the diversity of medieval religious options there was a remarkable degree of religious and imaginative homogeneity across the social spectrum, a shared repertoire of symbols, prayers, and beliefs which crossed and bridge even the gulf between the literate and the illiterate.

- Eamon Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars
Traditional Religion in England 1400-1580
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In my opinion, it was precisely this "shared repertoire of symbols, prayers, and beliefs" that built and maintained the best of Christendom in England until Henry's break with the Papacy in the early 1530s to the Elizabethan "Settlement" of religion.

The slide to present-day mayhem in the west was, thus, inevitable without these milestones and markers of true transcendence. The scattering of Christendom brought us to the brink. The hope for the old west is the Catholic Church still.

Nonsense on Stilts

Dominicans charitably destroy secular humanists and other postmodern hangers-on. Read with a snifter of brandy preferably. Savor. Learn. [h/t: Mark Shea]

Small, Drooling Invaders in USA

Creative Minority Report tells of fact finding trip by EU researchers: America is filled with tiny people wearing diapers and speaking no discernible language!

“You know,” said one scientist from Germany. “I haven’t seen one of these very small people anywhere in the European Union in years but if history is correct then this could be a species known as infantus terriblus. We believed them to be extinct.”

So, 4 Imams and an Evangelical Go ...

A fellow by the name of Bruce Fisk received what four imams considered top flight Islamic "evangelization". If you read his account, pay close attention to your feelings as you are winged so high above the ground by their arguments that you feel it isn't safe to jump.

Should he have argued with them from his Evangelical point of view?

How would one talk with them about the need for a Savior? Grace? Forgiveness? A Divinity who is perfect love and does not welcome the bloodshed of unbelievers? [h/t: New Advent]

Parrish

Princess Parizade Bringing Home the Singing Tree
Maxfield Parrish (1906)

Team Hoyt - Happy Father's Day

h/t: Dirty Harry's Place

Monasteries Rebuilt Culture

[I]T WAS THE GREAT MONASTERIES, especially those of Southern Germany, Saint Gall, Reichenau and Tegernsee, that were the only remaining islands of intellectual life amidst the returning flood of barbarism which once again threatened to submerge Western Christendom (in the 9th and 10th centuries A.D.). For, though monasticism seems at first ill-adapted to withstand the material destructiveness of an age of lawlessness and war, it was an institution which possessed extraordinary recuperative power.

Ninety-nine out of a hundred monasteries could be burnt and the monks killed or driven out, and yet the whole tradition could be reconstituted from the one survivor, and the desolate sites could be repeopled by fresh supplies of monks who would take up again the broken tradition, following the same rule, singing the same liturgy, reading the same books and thinking the same thoughts as their predecessors. In this way monasticism and the monastic culture came back to England and Normandy in the age of Saint Dunstan from Fleury and Ghent after more than a century of utter destruction; with the result that a century later the Norman and English monasteries were again among the leaders of Western culture.

- Christopher Dawson

For the Renewal of Christendom +

Are you seeking and willing to work at bringing about a renewal of Christendom? I invite you to visit the website of Corpus Christianum.

Corpus Christianum is an international Private Association of the Faithful, open both to men and women, dedicated to praying for a renewal of Christendom.

Guided by a Catholic chivalrous spirit and Marian in character, Corpus Christianum members daily pray for the following key points:

* The renewal, unity, and spread of Christendom
* The Supreme Pontiff and all priests/religious
* The protection of Christians around the world
* The restoration of the family
* The conversion of sinners and the sanctification of all people

We are looking for courageous souls who are willing to take up the standard of Christ the King! We invite you to review the association's Statutes for more information about the organization and its obligations.

What England Lost - Mary's Dowry

"Not one hundred (in the United States) hate the Roman Catholic Church, but millions hate what they mistakenly think that the Roman Catholic Church is."

- Archbishop Fulton Sheen

For any who might not be under the sway of the anti-Catholic historians and would have minds sufficiently open to undertake an understanding of the true history of England, an invaluable and succinct form can be found in Hiliare Belloc's Europe and the Faith, chapter 5, "What Happened in Britain?"

An irrational and warm feeling of oneness with England won't bring Mary's Dowry back to one's imaginary, misty thoughts of chivalry, nobility, and Christendom. That only existed insofar as England was one with Christendom that was wholly one with the Catholic Church. It began breaking down with the Tudor revolution and we see its barren, ugly results today.

Ratio Studies in Tolerance

Question: Has any study been carried out to gauge the ratio English bobbies (a) inhibit their arrest of murderously seething Scimitar imams to, for example, (b) charging a teen who draped a flag over his speakers in the rear window? Might said bobbies build a head of resentful steam at having their hands tied regarding the former and therefore really lay into the latter, disproportionately?

Juuuuuust wondering.

Ad Hoc Priests of Primitive Sacred

Attempt to incite violence in the name of the Scimitar. A rather well made 5-minute video. Remember well: Look for the structure of events, not the ostensible messages and themes if you are to understand the crisis of cultures today.

Question: When is a jacket that reads "Soldier of Islam" acceptable, but a jacket that reads "Crusader" unacceptable? Answer: When one wears either in a politically correct, multiculturalist western nation, of course. The day is coming when Chivalry will be a necessity among Christian men. [h/t: Pastorius @ IBA]

May I Have Another, Sir

Spence lauds a WSJ editorial, "$4 Gasbags", then succinctly lists the way bloomin' multiculturalist naïveté just INVITES troubles for the US of A here. Sigh. Talk about legends of the fall.

Vote Culture of Life

McCain Meets Privately with Fr. Pavone - Says Constitutional Right to Life Applies to Unborn.

The first issue addressed by McCain was abortion. He said that the "noblest words ever written" were "the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." McCain believes that those words "apply to the unborn." He reminded the Philadelphia Catholics of his pro-life voting record, adding that he would "maintain that commitment" if elected president.

Too Good to be True

A Japanese firm develops a car that runs on water.

Eucharist and the Evangelical Life

Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley, Ofm. Cap. delivered the address at the Eucharistic Symposium and Congress in Quebec, June 11th – 13th, 2008.

... In a world of political correctness and “inclusivity” these ancient practices seem peregrine and even harsh. Yet the awareness of the sacredness of the Eucharist evoked an awe and reverence in the faithful even before they approached the Eucharist. Indeed many sinners have found motivation to overcome their vices because of their desire to receive the sacrament of the Eucharist. Even before we are repulsed by sin and evil we are attracted by grace and beauty.

This attitude so beautifully expressed in Francois Mauriac’s book on Holy Thursday is dismissed by those who would encourage everyone to receive communion without examining themselves. It is what Bonhoeffer described as a cheap grace.

However, where believers are aware of their need to be spiritually prepared for the Eucharist, the call to conversion is part of the experience of the Eucharist. Jesus washes the feet of the Apostles in part to denote the cleansing and repentance that must be in preparation for participation in the Eucharist.

The practices of fasting from all food and drink from midnight and weekly confession as preparations for the Eucharist were still the custom in my youth. There was a great awareness that the way we lived before the Eucharist and how we prepared was very important. Eucharistic consistency was generally understood.

The call to conversion that opens the Gospel is complemented in the Mass by the Penitential Rite. We present ourselves before God and before the community acknowledging our need for forgiveness and reconciliation. Jesus says clearly in the Gospel that before we offer our gifts on the altar, we must be reconciled with our brothers and sisters. We need to wear the wedding garment of grace and mercy.

The Gospel Life begins with a longing for the Holy, a hunger for God, and a sense of the transcendent. This is different from the modern culture’s addiction to entertainment and sense of entitlement. We must approach the Eucharist like Moses drawing near the burning bush, with a sense of wonder and awe. At the same time we have a sense of our own unworthiness in the presence of God’s boundless and gratuitous love, like Peter who throws himself at Jesus’ feet and says: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” And the Eucharist is a greater miracle than the miraculous draught of fishes ...

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