Please Pray

Some acquaintances of my family in upstate New York are really suffering right now. Their daughter (8 or 9 years old) has Ewing's Sarcoma cancer. She endured nearly a year of painful treatments and separation from siblings (the hospital is 2 hrs away) only to have the cancer manifest itself once again this Lent. You can read her story here.

Militant Error

To enlighten.

To horrify.

To inspire.

On this feast of the Annunciation, let us implore the Queen of Heaven to crush the loathsome serpent, who is manifesting himself once more through the followers of Islam!

Festive Cookies

Another of our favorite Easter traditions is baking cookies with these lovely Springerle molds from House on the Hill, where you can also purchase flavor oils of amazing flavorfulness. We only have the Almond oil, but we have also made the Lemon and Vanilla recipes with regular cooking extracts. All of them turned out yummy and they look so exquisite! I will post pictures of the cookies too, if they don't disappear before I snap a picture.

Holy Week Project

My sister recently learned how to decorate eggs in the Eastern European fashion. Tonight she will impart the coveted knowledge to the rest of our family and we plan to devote several nights to extravagant artistry.

St. Patrick's Breastplate

This is one of my favorite prayers. It makes a wonderful morning consecration. There are many versions out there, but I prefer this one:

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of Doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of sun,
Brilliance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak to me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to secure me,

Against snares of devils,
Against temptations of vices,
Against inclinations of nature
Against every one who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in a crowd.

Christ to protect me today
Against poisoning, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So there may come to me abundance of reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I sit,
Christ when I lie,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every one who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness
Toward the Creator.

Salvation is of the Lord,
Salvation is of the Lord,
Salvation is of Christ.
May Thy Salvation, O Lord, be ever with us.

Behind the Times

I meant to post this over the weekend. Better late than never I always say:

"Lord, Thou hast prevented him with blessings of sweetness: Thou hast set on his head a crown of precious stones. He asked life of Thee and Thou hast given him length of days for ever and ever."
Psalm 20:4-5
Gradual from the Feast of St. Joseph

All that Glitters is not Gold

Someone finally states the obvious.

Guardians of Latin

I discovered this group a long time ago and forgot to post about them. These days, I have Latin on the brain, and I came across them again. Here is a sampling from their constitution:

Familia Sancti Hieronymi
Constitutio

Sub tutela Beatissimae Virginis Mariae, Dei Matris almae,
et sub protectione omnium Angelorum et Sanctorum, et
sub speciali invocatione

SANCTI HIERONYMI

quem nobis in Patronum ac patrem seligimus spiritualem,
cum fuerit Summo Pontifici sincerrime deditus
Fidei Catholicae defensor acerrimus
in exponendis Sacris Scripturis doctor eximius
vitae spiritualis verbo et opere magister praeclarus
atque Latinitatis Ecclesiasticae auctor uberrimus,
in festo Beatissimae Virginis Mariae de Monte Carmelo
die 16 mensis Julii A.D. 1989 nos infrascripti condidimus consociationem quam

FAMILIAM SANCTI HIERONYMI

appellare voluimus

Caput I ) DE CONSOCIATIONIS FINE

Cujus consociationis membra fieri possunt omnia fidei Romanae Catholicae homines, qui una nobiscum in hunc finem sibi constituendum consentiant, ut

1.Sincerum amorem erga Summum pontificem et filialem oboedientiam
erga ejus Supremum Magisterium Ecclesiasticum profiteantur;
2.Vitam spiritualem quae ad intimam cum Deo unionem conducit
secundum tot Sanctorum doctrinam et eorum vestigia sequentes
intense et fideliter colant;
3.Linguam Latinam vivam, Romanae Ecclesiae propriam, sedulo
studio et cotidianis exercitiis ita discere satagant, ut tandem
facile et expedite tum Latine scripta legere, cum et cogitare
et loqui et scribere Latine valeant.