Per Christum

Below is an English translation of an Easter poem of Venantius Fortunatus from the 6th century. You may recognize that that the hymn “Hail Thee Festival Day” is based on this poem. The poem uses the metaphor of spring to describe the resurrection, and is very beautiful.

The seasons blush
varied with the flowery, fair weather,
and the gate of the pole
lies open with greater light.
His path in the heaven
raises the fire-breathing sun higher,
who goes forth on his course,
and enters the waters of the ocean.
Armed with rays
traversing the liquid elements,
in this brief night
he stretches out the day in a circle.
The brilliant firmament
puts forth its clear countenance,
and the bright stars show their joy.
The fruitful earth pours forth its gifts
with varied increase,
when the year has well returned its vernal riches.
Soft beds of violets paint the purple plain;
the meadows are green with plants,
and the plant shines with its leaves.
By degrees gleaming brightness of the flowers comes forth;
all the herbs smile with their blossoms.
The seed being deposited,
the corn springs up far and wide in the fields,
promising to be able to overcome the hunger of the husbandman.
Read the rest of this entry »

One of my great interests/hobbies is to visit Catholic churches. One of the reasons why I like visiting churches is because I like church architecture and sacred art. Admittedly, I don’t like all architectural styles. In general, I prefer traditional church architecture over modern architecture.

Another thing I like to do is to travel. Unfortunately, I’m not able to travel much so I have to be content with looking at pictures of churches from around the world.

Anyway, for those interested, I have compiled this list of five metropolitan cathedrals which correspond to the top five nations in terms of the number of Catholics in that country. When I say “metropolitan cathedral”, I’m referring to the chief church of a nation. Read the rest of this entry »

Blessed Bronisław Komorowski - 1889-1940
Polish secular clergyman, killed in the Nazi concentration camp of Stutthof. One of the 106 Polish martyrs beatified by Ven. John Paul II in Warsaw June 13, 1999.

Blessed Miguel Gómez Loza, 1888-1928
Martyr of Mexico

 

Britney Spears has had her Kabbalah tattoo removed.

The ‘Toxic’ star had a Hebrew tattoo on the back of her neck bearing one of the 72 words for ‘God’ found in the texts of Kabbalah, a mystical off-shoot of Judaism.

However, when the 26-year-old singer was spotted out shopping in Los Angeles earlier this week, it was clear she has had the tattoo removed. (SOURCE)

Don’t take this as a sign of the end times or a new direction for Per Christum.  Britney watching will not become a sport here…  Before today I wasn’t sure if she spelled her name with an “e” or an “a”… (And no worries, I can’t tell Lindsay Lohan and Hillary Duff apart… My roommate ran into Jessica Simpson today - in town for a wedding - and all I could say was “How did you know which one she was?” Apparently “She’s the hot one,” and she is “shorter than you would think,” I digress…)

At any rate, did it ever occur to Britney that when getting involved in Jewish spirituality and mysticism that getting a tattoo in Hebrew for the name of God is tacky to begin with… but the general Jewish consensus on tattoos since the forced tattooing of Holocaust victims in the Nazi Concentration Camps made it doubly inappropriate?

No, probably not. In Hollywood trendy is trendy.

 Prayers for Miss Spears…  May we hope this is that much less of the influence of the cult of the trendy? We are of course obligated to pray that she become involved with the religion of the original Madonna.  Let’s do.

The Russian Orthodox Church in Communion with Rome was a rather small body that existed openly for only a few decades just before and after the Bloshevik Revolution. Totally drive underground, there are today just a handful of Russian Orthodox parishes that have made their desire for communion with Rome known, and gone under the omophor of the Latin ordinaries in Russia.

I for one would very much like to see the restoration of an exarch (bishop) for them, but at this time the Vaticak Ostpolitik is such that appeasing the Patriarch of Moscow is the order of the day. The Patriarch who rails against the presence of Latin bishops who serve diocese that serve the 600,000 Latin Catholics who are descendents of the 3 million Catholics found in the Russian empire before the Revolution.

(My thoughts on +++ALEKSY II another day - for now it will suffice to say he would do well to remember who built St. Catherines RC Church in Moscow…)

Blessed Leonid, pray for us.

Posted by Shawn Tribe over at the New Liturgical Movement…

The caption referred to it as “The Nun’s Church”.

Am I alone in thinking that this church - in its pictured condition - would be a vast improvement over a number of chapels in use today? I wouldn’t mind to see Sr. Joan Chittister have one just like it!

Such a baby face!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Patron of Polish Scouts
Born January 22, 1913(1913-01-22)Chełmża, German Empire
Died February 23, 1945 (aged 32)Dachau concentration camp

Blessed Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski (b. January 22, 1913 in Chełmża - February 23, 1945 in Dachau) was a Polish priest, scout and is patron of Polish Scouts. Arrested by the Gestapo on October 18, 1939 he was imprisoned in the German concentration camps Stutthof, Grenzdorf, Sachsenhausen and Dachau where he died.

Stopping by the website http://www.websitepulse.com/help/testtools.china-test.html one is able to enter the address of any website and find out if the website is banned in China where the state still filters as best they can. Most of the blocked content is - by all accounts - blocked due to having “problematic words and phrases” I believe. As far as I can tell each and every web address isn’t tediously reviewed by some functionary serving in “People’s Revolutionary Interweb Council”…

That being the case, I am happy to report the content of PC makes it inaccessible in the People’s Republic of China. I wish the content of PC were available to the fine folks of the Middle Kingdom… All things considered though, I am honored.

I had hoped my blogging efforts, in addition to being recreational, would on occasion direct our 12 faithful readers to check out some other cool sites and resources and maybe learn about some of ASimpleSinner’s favorite saints and beati…

To be a danger to the Revolution, really, that is just the icing on the cake! We stand humbly along side some remarkably good company. Maybe I am just a huge reactionary nerd, but I have been bragging all day long that I am banned in China. Their loss!

It would be a major coup if the 12 readers of PC could crack the mystery that so far has stumped the brain trust of eminent church ladies, liturgy nerds, a seminarian, a son (or daughter?) of St. Dominic, and an army of loyal Shriners like myself.

But mostly I just want to know what the heck is going on myself.

…but I like what I see.

The Ratzinger Effect: more money, more pilgrims – and lots more Latin

Cardinal Sergio Sebastiani, head of economic affairs at the Holy See, said that the “remarkable increase” in both donations and numbers of pilgrims showed that there was “a symbiosis, a mutual sympathy between this Pope and Christian people everywhere”.

Presenting the Holy See’s annual budget yesterday, Cardinal Sebastiani noted that not only had it closed last year with a surplus of €2.4 million, partly thanks to diocesan donations, there had also been a “huge jump” in “Peter’s Pence”, the annual church collections given directly tothe Pope to use for charity, from $60 million (£30 million) in 2005 to $102 million. “The days when people talked of papal bankruptcy are past,” said Marco Tosatti, Vatican correspondent of La Stampa.

John Paul, who is on the road to sainthood, continues to be an attraction: with up to 35,000 pilgrims filing past his tomb in the crypt of St Peter’s every day, the Vatican is considering moving the tomb into the Basilica.

Record numbers attend Benedict’s weekly audiences, and seven million people a year now visit St Peter’s, a rise of 20 per cent. Similar increases are recorded for pilgrimages to Catholic shrines at Assisi, Lourdes, Fatima in Portugal and Madonna di Guadalupe in Mexico. “This is a Ratzinger phenomenon,” reported La Repubblica. Read All…

H/T: A Conservative Blog For Peace