And now,for your consideration..

..That hymn from a while ago. I got some guesses through e-mail, but no one could get it exactly right. The fact that I'm posting it today should make it blatantly obvious what the text is based on.
The author too, is still un-guessed.

Tonight.

At 7:30 PM: Sung vespers, benediction, and Te Deum in thanksgiving for benefits of the past year, at Our Lady of Lourdes.

x3

It's already the third snowfall of the season. At least this one isn't very deep at all.

From the Divine Office

"Glorificamus te,Dei Genitrix,quia ex te natus est Christus; salva* omnes qui te glorificent."
"We Glorify thee, O Mother of God, For of thee Christ was born:save* all who glorify thee"
Magnificat antiphon, Dec.30.


I know. Yikes."Salva omnes". I know this particular antiphon has variants and some exact matches in 14th-15th century breviaries (usually at matins though), so I'll just read it as one of the many pre-17th century texts that match S.Louis de Montfort's incarnational marian theology

Corde Natus ex Parentis..

Like I said, this is one of my favorite Christmas hymns, and the official Latin edition of the modern Roman breviary gives it as the hymn for first and second vespers of the feast of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. (Arguably the oldest Marian feast of the kalendar, and certainly one of the most profound and beautiful of the church's year.)
I'm still using my vesperal, only now, it's onto Christmastide. All of this office is taken from the older liturgical books, including the rather tricky and yet, quite beautiful (both musically and textually) antiphon "O admirabile Commercium", and the magnificat antiphon "Propter nimiam caritatem suam". The latter I've sung in my head so many times, that I have no problem with it.
I'm using it as a text for my meditations as I prepare for my total consecration on the feast day. It's been 33 days, and I hope I've done it right. If not, a short day of devotion tomorrow will hopefully make up for it!

No, you have'nt made a mistake.

I'm trying out three different templates for the next nine days or so. (I found the link for them here. Thanks sir!) (Oh yeah: Go there! When I get my links and stuff back up, he'll be there.)
Feedback is appreciated. I'm actually not too keen on going back to a light text on dark background, as I find it hard to read, but you take the bad with the good. Besides, there's two others.


And can I thank*whoever's responsible for making me think that this operating system does'nt open compressed files without WinZip, when It does? And can I thank the creator of one of the templates I was going to pick,but who did the HTML wrong and neither my brother or I** could fix it? (And he makes templates and Gaia profiles, so he knows quite a bit about coding.)

*Totall no0b at coding, so yeah, the Undertstatement of the Year and all that.


**Insert Kanye West/Taylor Swift interruption joke HERE.

And now,

A musical Interlude.

The world's most underrated composer..

...Is Sir Charles Villiers Stanford.I mean, not his church music (Like his well-played magnificats), but his symphonies, And his wonderful piano concerti. I heard one of his symphonies on Sirius about two months ago, having never heard anything but a few of his choral works, and I got hooked.
Too bad though.

More Goodness.

From the divine office:
"Sancta et intácta Virgo Deum nobis génuit, téneris indútum membris, quem lactáre méruit: omnes ipsum adorémus, qui venit salváre nos."

"The holy and intact Virgin hath borne for us God, endued with tender members,whom she hath merited to suckle:Therefore, adore we all him, who hath come to save us."

-Magnificat antiphon, Vespers of the Holy Innocents.

Ritual Notes.

This is midnight mass and Christmas day.

Midnight:
There were less poinsettias than last year, and I could see the relics among them on the high altar.There were carols before mass (Including my two favorites: "See Amid the Winter's snow", Away in A Manger" sung to 'cradle song', and "Of the Father's Love Begotten".) The vestments were the same set as last year. (The set identical to this one), the cope of which set was worn during the procession.The creche was blessed and a short few minutes of prayer said before it before the procession. The hymn was "Hark! the herald angels sing", with some glorious organ improvisations before and after the last verse. versicle and collect at the high altar, then the ministers put on their maniples, the celebrant his chasuble, and mass began.

I just want to say that I almost died every time the choir sang a portion of the mass. The gloria and the benedictus were the best. (And it was the first time I've ever heard the long version of the gloria, either in life or a recording. And one more comment: How exactly does Haydyn define "Brevis"? The sanctus and benedictus required the priest to wait before continuing the mass, I'll give him that the Kyrie was a good length, but he more than made up for it.)

Going on:

Fr.Joseph gave the homily, and sat in choir with someone else who I've seen around,but don't know.At the offertory, 'Adeste,Fideles" was sung after the offertory antiphon, and the offertory was taken up at the 'orate,fratres'.There were six red torchlights at the consecration. Fr.Joseph helped to give communion, so it went faster than last year.Mozart's "Laudate dominum" and "O magnum mysterium".The blessing was sung, and the recessional was "Joy to the world". The postlude was one of Bach's preludes on "In dulci Iubilo" (There are three, and I don't know which BWV number if was yet.)
I only have one very selfish and Wrong comment: The church was full, and with all the people inside,(Ergo,soft surfaces) the acoustics got deadened. So that lovely reverb we usually get to shape the choral and organ music and make it sound ethereal was gone.

That said, not only was it great, but it was shorter than last year by at least 15-20 minutes, even with a Haydyn mass setting.)

Christmas day:

Not as many people as at last night. In fact, most of the servers did'nt come. The mass was still nice though: The chasuble stole, and maniple from last night's set, and the M.C. wore a surplice matching the celebrant's alb.The processional was the same as from last night, all the propers were sung (No cutting of the introit this year) the mass setting was "de angelis" with credo III .The responsorial psalm was okay I guess, but the alleluia was great. At communion (Of the Father's Love Begotten" was sung after the proper antiphon and psalm. The recessional and postlude were the same as last night.

Christmas day.

A sermon of S.Leo the Great

"Dearly beloved : Unto us is born this day a Saviour. Therefore let us rejoice. Sadness should find no place amongst those who keep the Birthday of Life. For as of this day Life came unto us dying creatures, to take away the sting of death, and to bring the bright promise of joy eternal. And no one is excluded from sharing in this our gladness. For all mankind hath one and the same cause thereof, to wit, that our Lord, the Destroyer of sin and death, because he findeth no one free from condemnation, is come to set everyone free. Rejoice, O saint, for thou drawest nearer thy crown! Rejoice, O sinner, for thy Saviour offereth thee pardon! Rejoice, O Jew, for Messias is come. Rejoice, O Gentile, for God calleth thee to life! Now is come the fulness of time, fixed by the unsearchable counsel of God, when the Son of God took upon him the nature of man, that he might reconcile it to its Maker. Now is come the time when the devil, the inventor of death, is met and beaten in that very flesh which hath been the field of his victory.

When the Almighty Lord entered this field of battle against the devil, he did so in great and wondrous fairness. For against our cruel enemy he opposed not the armament of his uncreate Majesty, but the lowliness of our flesh. He brought against him the very shape and the very nature of our mortality, with this difference only, that he was without sin. For his birth is not like that of the ordinary run of men, of whom there is the saying : No one is clean from stain, not even the day-old babe. In this birth alone no desires of the flesh had place. In this birth alone no consequence of sin had part. A Virgin of the kingly lineage of David was chosen to be the Mother who grew heavy with the sacred Child. She was chosen to conceive this divine and human offspring in her body because already she had conceived him in her soul. And that the unwonted events ordained by the counsel of God might cause her no alarm, she was taught them beforehand when the Angel announced that what was to be wrought in her was of the Holy Ghost, and that to become the Mother of God was not to forego her virgin modesty.

Wherefore, dearly beloved, let us give thanks to God the Father, through his Son, in the Holy Ghost : who for his great love, wherewith he loved us, hath had mercy on us ; and even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, that in him we might be a new creature, and a new workmanship. Let us then put off the old man with his deeds. And, having obtained a share in the Sonship of Christ, let us renounce the deeds of the flesh. Acknowledge, O Christian, thine own dignity, who hast been made partaker of the divine nature, and change not back my misdoing into thy former baseness. Bethink thee whose Body it is whereof thou art made a member, and who is its Head. Be mindful that he hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us into God's light and God's kingdom."

Merry Christmas!

Though, apparently not for the Holy Father. I wonder if it was the same lady as last year?
With the pope walking round down on the ground like that, among the crowds, this kind of stuff is an inevitable evil. Oh well, there's nothing that can be done about that. (except for the Solution that Must Not Be Mentioned.)I just sang first vespers (among much distraction. Thanks mom and brother.) I spent most of Monday and Tuesday making garlands for the house (Only real greenery will do! Besides, since the pine,boxwood,and holly come from Cobbs Creek, it's free.) and I spent last night and this morning cleaning and hanging decorations. I decorated my home altar after None, with a gold tablecloth, the usual four candlesticks, and two candelabras. Minus the votive lites, there's 12 candles there. And I have two vases with pine, holly, red and white roses, paperwhites, red poppies, and some little white berries. (I'm avoiding poinsettias this year at all cost.)
And I just heard the choir at King's College, Cambridge, singing Advent Lessons and Carrols on Sirius. Gawd, it's awesomeness X2. The
I'll say matins at home, and be at Lourdes for the procession and high mass at 12:00 midnight.
Also:
A guy from Verizon was suppossed to come today to install a new line, but never showed. So around three, my dad called Verizon to find out why. Turns out, the man came past at 8:30 A.M. (And I was up at 7) to see if he fing the electrial box. He saw that my neighbor's dogs were in the lot nextdoor, and so he left without talking to us or even letting us know that he came by. Wow. What happenned? Did he see dogs and say "Goody! Now I get the whole day off! Sure, I could knock on the door and see if the box is even back there in the first place, then go through the house to the backyard, but that would take, like, effort."

P.S. :

Here's your festal music:

In Dulci Iubilo, S.Karg-Elert

Solemn Vespers, Brompton Oratory.

O Magnum Mysterium, Tomas Luis de Victoria

And the piece de resistance, the great one, the long-waited for thing:

Kyrie, Missa 'O magnum Mysterium', T.L. de Victoria. Sung by Westminster Cathedral Choir, my favorite Catholic choir.

Vigil of Christmas.

"Crástina die delébitur iníquitas terræ: et regnábit super nos Salvátor mundi."
"Tomorrow the iniquity of the earth shall be done away, and the Saviour of the world shall reign over us."
Third antiphon, Lauds.

"And the Lord of hosts shall make unto all people in this mountain, a feast of fat things, a feast of wine, of fat things full of marrow, of wine purified from the lees. And he shall destroy in this mountain the face of the bond with which all people were tied, and the web that he began over all nations. He shall cast death down headlong for ever: and the Lord God shall wipe away tears from every face, and the reproach of his people he shall take away from off the whole earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And they shall say in that day: Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord, we have patiently waited for him, we shall rejoice and be joyfull in his salvation. "

"Compléti sunt dies Maríæ ut páreret Fílium suum primogénitum."
"Complete are the days of Mary to give birth to her first-born son."
Benedictus antiphon, lauds.

"Festína, quæsumus, ne tardáveris, Dómine Iesu, ut advéntus tui consolatiónibus sublevéntur, qui in tua pietáte confídunt. Qui vivis."
"Make haste, we beseech thee, O Lord Jesu, that they may be lifted up by the consolations of thy coming, who confide in thy mercy."

Today's collect for the office.....

...Is probably the most beautiful of the advent season:

"Deus, qui hominem delapsum in mortem conspiciens, Unigeniti tui adventu redimere voluisti: praesta, quaesumus, ut qui humili eius incarnationem devotione fatentur,ipsius etiam Redemptoris consortia mereantur."

O God, who beholding man fallen into death, didst will to redeem him by the coming of thine only-Begotten: grant us, we pray thee, that as we profess his Incarnation with humility and devotion,we may likewise merit the fellowship the very same Redeemer."

Thank you, Consilium.

...........................

........Unfinished, and found in this condition in my house.
OH WELL.

YOU! HEY YOU!

YEAH! YOU OVER THERE!

I DEMAND that you inform me where I may view and download free,-royalty free stock images/photos to use as photo references! And it has to be the really free ones,not just royalty free ones. If could afford to pay for them, I'd just get an account at Dreamstimes or iStockphoto.

So do it.
DO IT NAOW!!111!!!elenty-one!!!11!!


Please?

I just want to thank...

...Peaceful Revolution on Gaia, a friend from the ED-M&R forum, whose request to me make an avi art of a couple, made me learn how to draw curly hair.
Now, I need to learn how to color it.

Advent IV.

Well, technically that was Advent III, but anyways....
I spent my weekend at The Monastery last weekend. I helped to set up a nativity scene on the roof of the porch (which, by the way disappeared under the two feet of snow we got over the weekend.) after vespers (which had the O antiphon and magnificat sung in it's original language to the gregorian tune. I wonder if they know that they're using the Clementine Vulgate version of the magnificat and not the Pauline Nova Vulgata?) and dinner, I went with Br.Dominic to see Fr.James, Fr.Matthew and brother David practice for the high mass (Which, if you don't mind me plugging again, is a solemn high mass, Hayden Mass in Bflat, with the long version of the gloria.) Seems like it'll be even better than last year, with a procession, station and collect (Again, like they do Here.) before the mass. The next morning, after the Saturday salve and mass at Lourdes, I had a short class on spiritual direction with Fr.Joseph. I spent most of the rest of the day working the office chants for Christmas day. Fr. Joseph, the cook, and I trudged through the snow to Lourdes for the anticipated mass, and not counting me (Because I was serving) there was a grand total of five people in the church when mass started. The numbers grew to twelve by communion. I went home after vespers and dinner. (And spent most of Sunday shoveling snow, spreading salt, and trudging to Walgreens to pick up prescriptions.)

Vespers.

(My vesperal for Advent)

I've been meaning to make a recording of myself singing Sunday vespers, for critique and observation. So far, there's been a problem every time. But I'll either try one of the O antiphons this week, or vespers next week.

I just started reading....

....The above manga, which despite some occasional strong language and the first panel of the first chapter*, is actually kind of funny. I do wonder exactly what Saruno expects Sawamatsu to do for him. Sawamatsu does'nt seem like the baseball type. I mean, so what if he has basic knowledge of what's going to be on the test.Is that really that helpful for a beginner?

*It's rather like Air Gear. You might not know it has some pg-13 pages at first,but you can't get past the first page or so without having enough warning to skip some pages because of the light E.

Hmm....

It's been a while since I read Katekyo Hitman Reborn! I don't even know what chapter I was on. It was just after they lost to Shouichi and he claimed the rings, but whats-her-name refused to allow him to have them. Because he was unable to use them without her, he tried to convince her to change her mind, but she refused, and he attacked, but the Vongolas protected her. That was the last chapter I read, whichever chapter it was.

I DO, however, remember which chapter I last read in Eyesheild 21. It 'Perfect player', where the Devilbats realise that Shin is so perfect that he's unstopable, and even Raimon can't catch a pass without Shin intercepting it. They failed an onside kick,and then whats-his-name who's been on the bench all season is pulled into the game as their secret weapon.

And in other news, my mother dragged me shopping with her last night and one of the stores gave me an allergy attack, Now I'm going to miss Br.Gerard's final vows.
Thanks, mom.

Oh yeah, I forgot.

Last Sunday I went to the pre-Christmas concert at S.Charles Borromeo Seminary with some of the brothers. I loved every minute of it! The schola cantorum has vastly improved since I last heard them two years ago. There was polyphony, choral music, a few medieval carols, and the typical British Romantic composers. The skit was Hi-larious, and the readings were great. The only thing is that the organ was bit underpowered and so there was a delay between it and the schola, and we were sitting very close to a speaker, so the choir sometimes got drowned out.
But other than those two quibbles, I loved it.

Now I feel guilty for not going the past two years.

HEY GUYS.

I'm back to working on art. This is a work-in-progress (I'm drawing it for a friend from school) , but you can guess who this is.

Guess what!

The President still does'nt know what he's doing.

Wow shock! Apparently after snubbing the Brits, giving horrible and vain gifts, greeting heads of nations with undue respect (Then denying it), and then there was thing with the Pope, he still hasn't learned basic diplomacy.
Isn't it common courtesy to have lunch with someone who's giving you a gift when they invite you, let alone a head of state who's giving you a prestigious award?He's snubbed the very people who are giving him the award in the first place by canceling dinner with the prize Committee. And it gets worse: He's even looked down on an exhibition in his own honour.
This really isn't a surprise. The American people voted in someone who they knew didn't have the experience to be president, something that was shown within the first months of his presidency when he began recapitulating the failed government and military expansions and overspending of the Bush era with extreme prejudice. One would hope that he might akcnowlege that he hasn't really earned a prize for peace (Something the nation will acknowledge for him.) Indeed,if anything, He's demerited it by his policies .
But I suppose he's got some super-secret really good reason for accepting it.

HEY GUYS.

Advent reading.

I've been reading through this, and it's some great stuff.

Crunch.

It's a busy night tonight. I'm supposed to be meeting some of the Mercedarians for dinner tonight for Br.Justin's final vows, then back to get dinner warm for the family, then vespers, then the mass at Lourdes, then back home to do some housework that needs to be done by tomorrow.* I might not have time to change for mass, so I might have to wear my church clothes there.

Which should have been done last Friday, but I'm a procrastinator.

Festal Music.

Sanctus, Missa 'Vidi speciosam', T.L. de Victoria.
Tota pulchra esMaria, Chant.

Happy Feast day!

"Truly,thou art blessed among women, for thou hast changed Eve's curse into a blessing; and Adam, who hitherto lay under a curse, has been blessed because of thee.
TRULY, thou are blessed among women, for through thee the Father's blessing has shone forth on mankind, setting them free of their ancient curse.
TRULY, thou are blessed among women, for through thee thy forebears have found salvation. For thou wert to give birth to the Savior who was to win them salvation.
TRULY, thou are blessed among women, for without seed thou hast borne, as thy fruit, Him who bestows blessings on the whole world and redeems it from that curse that made it sprout horns.
TRULY, thou are blessed among women, for, though just a woman by nature, thou wilt become, in reality, the Mother of God. If He whom thou art to bear is truly God made flesh, then rightly do we call thee, Mother of God, for thou hast truly given birth to God. Amen."

-Saint Sophronius of Jerusalem

Blest Guardian of all virgin souls,
Portal of bliss to man forgiven,
Pure Mother of Almighty God,
Thou hope of earth and joy of heaven!

Fair lily found among the thorns,
Most beauteous dove with wings of gold,
Rod from whose tender root upsprang
That healing Flower so long foretold.

Thou tower against the dragon-foe,
Thou star to storm-tossed voyagers dear;
Our course lies o'er a treacherous deep,
Thine be the light by which we steer.

Scatter the mists that round us hang;
Keep far the fatal shoals away;
And while through darkling waves we sweep,
Open a path to light and day.

O Jesu, born of Virgin bright,
Immortal glory be to Thee;
Praise to the Father infinite,
And Holy Ghost eternally. Amen.

-Hymn of vespers.

Br. Justin takes his vows tonight!

And now,

A musical interlude.

*Good analogy*

This.
I realise that I would never make a good parish organist. Not because of talent, but because of another reason.
You know that guy, Abe Takawa? Yeah, I'm kind of like him. In that, in order to make sure that things go well, I like to be in charge. It would be great If I picked what was done, and people just say okay. Kinda of the way he hates it when pitchers shake their heads at him, I don't like it when I work hard on something and it gets thrown out last minute for something "Better" (Quotation marks on purpouse.) Like him, I have a short temper, but unlike him, I know how to have a semblance of patience 99.9% of the time.

Now, I'm surprised that I've been asked to play again. Hopefully next time, They won't throw out all but two of the things I came to play and make me learn new stuff 20 minutes before the mass.

Ritual Notes. (I+II Sundays of Advent)

I forgot to do last Sunday's report.

Anyway, There were four servers,celebrant and M.C. No entrance hymn, instead, the antiphon 'Ad te levavi" from the graduale simplex was sung during the procession and incensation.(The altar was again incensed as if it were'nt free-standing.) The mass setting was the one on the Kyriale appointed for Advent and Lent, but the Kyrie was 'de angelis'. The alleluia was the familiar triple version from the Liber Cantualis. I was surprised that the credo (Credo III) was sung. I though we did'nt do that, but now with it sung,we're only one ceremony short of a full high mass. Francis Xzavier Witt's setting of the proper offertory, "Ad te levavi" was sung during the offertory, followed by the hymn "Sleepers, wake".
At communion, the antiphon and psalm from the graduale simplex were sung, followed by ''Cast thy burden upon the Lord," Felix Mendelssohn.
The recessional was "When the king shall come again."

Advent II.

Five servers were scheduled, and one came. So You can guess who ended up serving.
The prelude was "Wachet Auf'', BWV 645
. All the chants were taken from the simle gradual.The vestments were violet with violet, gold, and rose orphreys, and a maniple was worn. The credo was sung again, and after the intercessions, hay and straw for people's creches were blessed. At the offertory, after the proper chant, "Sleepers, wake " was sung again. at commuion, after the proper chant, 'Veni, veni Emmanuel" was sung. One of the brothers made an announcement about his final vows next Saturday evening at 4:00 pm, and after the blessing, "On Jordan's Bank, the Baptist's cry" was sung. The postlude was BWV 543.

This is most certainly true.

"There is occasional poetry in modern hymns, but the intrusion of any hymn as a substitute for the proper liturgy is like interposing Barnby's 'Sweet and Low' in the middle of a performance of the Meistersingers, or reciting a poem of Tennyson between the scenes of Othello. To omit the distinctive note of the propers is to dull the distinctive note of Mass and disintegrate the harmony which blends the epistle and gospel to the permanent office."

Kenneth Ingram, The Pilgrimage of Mass, pg.26

Replace "Barnby's 'Sweet and Low'" with a popular song (Say, Billy Talent's "Fallen leaves") and "Tennyson" with a popular book (Say, maybe a manga or something by Patricia Cornwell) and the point is made even better.

And now,

A musical interlude.

I was planning to go to evensong at St.Thomas while I was in New York, but my mother made that impossible. I'd really like to know if they got rid of their Skinner. Not only was it a Skinner, but it was voiced by G.Donald Harrison too. A real gem, and they're planning to get rid of it for a Casavant. Shame really.

OMGOMGOMGOMG *Dies*

(click for full size!)

Funimation has the first ten or so episodes of Oofuri in their website!
*Dies again* This'll tide me over while I save for the box set, which I'm happy to say, is still at the store! It's mine! as soon as I can pay for it.
And it's been a while since I drew some fanart. I'm thinking either Hanai or Tajima. Tajima is my favorite character (For obvious reasons. I' like to think we're very much alike, even If I don't have his hitting accuracy.) Hanai, well, he's Hanai. That's a good enough reason.

*Shiver*

I just realised that I've regularly been going about without remebering to keep at least three pictures on the page. Remedy above. And yes, it's the Nishiura crew from my favorite baseball manga. It's actually the very picture I saw in...some anime magazine ho's name escapes mem that got me interested in this series.
I wish I had it at a higher resolution so that it could be my desktop backgroud, but alas, I can't find one.

My Set List.

Because I'm playing the organ for the first Friday mass this week.

Entrance: Come, thou long expected Jesus (Stuttgart)
Mass setting: Mass I
Offertory: Veni, veni Emmanuel (Cello and organ)
Communion: Variations on Creator alme siderum,
O food of exiles lowly (Innsbruck)
Recessional: Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates. (Truro)
Postlude: Aria in C minor, J.S.Bach, OR Improvisations on Veni, veni emmanuel. (I have'nt decided which.)
And speaking of Truro:This is awesome.
Wow. That man is talented!
I really, really, really want to do the O salutaris to Winchester new and the Tantum ergo to All saints, but I'd need to ask permission for that.

Leading by example.

Benedict XVI Celebrating ad orientem at an altar that can be used facing either direction.
Take note, hopefully this will be common.

And now,

A musical interlude.

And for the record, Korn and that song= Awesome Sauce.

How to have a double standard.

In four easy steps.

1) See a really bad policy of a president you don't like.

2)Criticise it, and call for it to be rescinded.

3)See the same really bad policy from a president you like

4) Say nothing and pretend it'll go away.

This, of course, is'nt totally true though.
Some democrats and former supporters of the Obama administration have been totally honest and turned back on him (Even Michael Moore.....sort of.) We are'nt seeing the same outrage and disgust that people of all persuasions had under the Bush administration, not yet, but at least the left is learning that their boy is pretty good at back-peddling on campaign promises and repeating Bush-era policies (with extreme predjudice!) While keeping up the semblance of having, well, basic governing skills I guess.

A Christmas Prayer.

"HAIL and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing col. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires,through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ and of his blessed Mother. Amen."

To be said 15 times daily from the feast of S.Andrew (November 30th) until Christmas. It is piously believed that whoever does so will obtain what is asked.

*Cough cough*

I've been lurking HERE for a while now, So I've decided to sidelink it now.
NOW GO THERE.
If you don't, I'll send my Gemini Elf to take 1,000 hit points and send your Mystical Beast Cerberus to the graveyard. (And if you get That reference, you Win the Day, but only if you prove it.)

And now,

A musical interlude.

Ritual Notes. (Christ the King.)

They can now say that their maxim is "Libretto by Bugnini, ceremonial by Fortescue."

They have a new big thurible. It's not the brass,enamel-encrusted,50-pound monster that comes out five times a year, but something lighter. All the candles were lit.
There were six servers: Crucifer, acolytes, thurifer, and boat bearer, and an extra server who came but wasn't supposed to. And the chasuble was this one.
There wasn't an entrance hymn, instead , Charpentier's "Prelude to the Te Deum" was played during the procession. The introit, Dignus est Agnus was sung suring the incensation of the altar, which had genuflections rather than bowing, and altar was'nt walked around. The mass setting was "De Angelis", except for the gloria which was Hassler's.
We sat during the gloria, as (At least, as I've been told) They do at Westminster Cathedral.
At the offertory,the offertory chant was sung, followed by Groller's "O Sacrum Convivium", and the hymn "The King of Love my Shepherd Is." The altar was incensed in the same way, and then the priest and the people, as we've been doing this year.
Because of time restraints (I suppose), from the Te igitur to the communicantes, part of the canon was said quietly under the sanctus, but the rest was said aloud.
The communion antiphon was from the Graduale, but with a psalm sung and the antiphon actually used as an antiphon. The song of praise was the popular choral version of the "Christus Vincit", with verses by the men of the choir. When the antiphon was first sung, it was by the women of the choir on simple diapasons. It was sung again chorally Organo Pleno, with the 16' Pousaune and 32' Contre Bourdone in the pedal.
The dedication of the human race to Christ the King was recited after mass,and the recessional was "Crown him with many crowns" with the last verse sung chorally and the 32' Contre Bombarde shaking the foundations and walls.
The postlude was BWV 541.
All in all, great work, all of it.

All good things must end.

Yes, and now I'm Devastated. Heartbroken. There's a hole in my heart where my lifeblood used to be. Wherefore all this sad talk?
Yuyu Hakuso is over. No more. Finished.Done. No more chapters. That's it.

No, I'm not overreacting. Yuyu Hakusho was one the only series I found when I first got interested in anime/manga that I actually kept up with.(That was back in 03', when the show used to run on Toonami, just before The Big O. That was the good ol' days, before CN became another Disney Channel clone.) It's like losing a friend. Or a pet. No, more like a firend actually.
And worse, it had a confusing ending. What happenned? Did everyone die and get blown to bite-sized smitherines? Did he press the right button? Is Tupac really alive in Cuba somewhere? Okay, that last one was random. But still, I did'nt get it at all.
Now the only series I still follow from then is Shaman King, others having ended or gotten boring.
I don't know what I'll do with my life now. How can I simply replace all those years of having the gand around? How can I call friends Kuwabara when now, no one will know who that is?(Or rather was?) Oh wait- I found a replacement.
But it'll never be the same. [cry/sob/emo]

I just saw the worst vampire movie ever made.

No, it wasn't......that series that dare not speak it's scream inducing name.

My brother convinced me to watch The Lost Boys yesterday on G4. It was awful. Maybe that's just because it was from the 80's and almost everything was wrong with the 80's, but it was really stupid. And the bathroom scene with the dog? What's up with that? What sane vampire goes after his own brother, or what sane human being sees someone being attacked by a dog and says "What are you doing to my dog!!??" Um yeah, I'm getting killed by him. I thought that was somewhat obvious.
And everything written here about it is completely true.
The only redeeming quality is the soundtrack.

Guess what? Guess what?!

Guess what!?

This week, I finally, for real, got started on the pilot chapter for the manga that I'm writing. I'm lazy, and I have no imagination, so I spent all summer and fall thinking about writing it, but never actually doing it. Well, eventually I'll let you guys see it .

And now,

A musical interlude.

And if you know what show that's a reference from, you Win the Day.

But I know that none of you will.It's too old of a reference. You'd have to be an American kid from the early 1990's to get it.

It's a contradiction of terms!

Why can't you people see it!? There's a simple reason why there's no such thing as a so-called "black conservative". The black community's most embarassing, irrelevant, and annoying socio-political commentator spells it out for you: Real Black people are Democrats.
We should be glad he finally came out and said it. I mean, black politicians have known this for years, but never said it. Our comedians, however, like Wanda Sykes (who used to be funny but got all political and annoying these days.) have been saying this for years. Jesse Jackson is a joke, and it's only natural that a clown like him would finally hatch onto it.

Meanwhile, I'll enjoy my newfound caucasian idgntity. I always wondered why I could'nt dance, but now I know why. (Ba-dum-ching!) the only problem is that now, I don't qualify for that scholarship money to go to school next semester now. And I'll have to change the name of this blog too. I'm no longer The Token Black Guy, because I'm not black anymore, so Eddie Murphy's joke does'nt fit anymore.

It it just me, or this seriously Ironic?

I'm talking about the soon to come translation for the Roman Missal.

The chief objection to the new missal is that it's too hard for people to understand. It uses big words, it doesn't use everyday common speech. They claim you need a Masters in English and a Latin degree to understand it, and that those who aren't educated will be left out.

But there's a blatantly obvious contradiction of facts here. The vast majority of churches made of working or lower-class people, many of whom don't have a great deal of education use what type of bible? The King James, of course. A translation containing such easy to understand passages as:

"For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse."
(Rom.1:20)
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life,and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life."
(John 5:24)
"For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant by many thanksgivings unto God."
(II Cor.9;12)
" I speak as concerning repreach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold ( I speak follishly) I am bold also."
(II C or.11:21)
" Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines, for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein."
"For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error."
Etc, etc.
A translation containing such common place words as "expediency","straitly", "quickeneth" "determinate", "beseech", "gainsaying", "wot", or "Behooveth".
Unless they think that Catholics are dumber than protestants, in which case I could provide numerous examples of "Hard words" from various childrens missals and childrens prayer-books, and even some things copied from a service sheet from Philly's own historically black parish, S.Peter Claver.
But either way, I think the point stands: The group of people they think will be lost with the new translation are using (and have been using) the very langage they object to!
And another anecdote: I was once looking through a hymnal published by GIA, and noticed that in almost all the gospel hymns they had included, the 'thees', 'thys' and other old words I remember from childhood had been removed. Apparently it's good enough for the people who came up with the music, (Who, Surprise! tended to be black people without a great deal of education.) but it's too hard for educated suburbanites.

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.

. Her feast day November 27th, her novena starts tomorrow, and her national shrine is right here in Philadelphia. So no surprise that her feast is now on the proper calendar for the Archdiocese of Philly. Here's the proper office for the feast, or at least parts of it, according to the 61' breviary.

At First Vespers:
From the common of the Bessed Virgin except the following:

1 Ant. Tota pulchra es, Maria, et macula originalis non est in te.
2 Ant. Vestimentum tuum candidum quasi nix, et facies tua sicut sol
3 Ant. Tu goria Ierusalem, tu laetitia Israel, tu honorificentia populi nostri.
4 Ant. Benedicta es tu, Virgo Maria, a Domino Deo excelso prae omnibus mulieribus super terram
5 Ant. Trahe nos, virgo immaculata, post te curremus in oderum unguentorum tuorum.

V.Sigum magnum apparuit in caelo
R.Mulier amicta sole et luna sub pedibus eius.

Magificat Ant.: Qui me invenerit,inveniet vitam, et hauriet salutem a Domino.

Collect:
Domine Iesu Christe,qui beatissimam Virginem Mariam matrem tuam ab origine immaculatam
innumeris miraculis clarascere voluisti:
Concede,ut eiusdem patrocinum semper implorantes,gaudium consequamur aeterna.
At Laudes:
Everything from first vespers, except:
Benedictus Ant: Ait Dominus ad serpentem: Inimicitias ponam inter te et mulierem, et semen tuum et semen illius: ipsa conteret caput tuum, alleluia.

At II vespers:
All from first vespers except:
Magnificat ant: Sancta Maria, succere miseris,iuva pusilanimes, refove flebiles: ora pro populo, interveni pro clero, intercede pro devoto femineo sexu: sentiant omnes tuum iuvamen, quicumque celebrant tuum sanctum Patrocinium.

More Goodness.

So It looks like we will be having another solemn high mass in the older form for midnight mass.
From what I hear from a good friend of mine who recently joined the choir, they won't be using Hassler's lovely polyphonic mass setting. This year's will be a Hayden mass, complete with orchestra. They don't know it, but they're becoming more like Clem's every year. ( They also use a mass setting by Hayden for midnight mass.)

Best.Week. Ever.(So far)

Yes, it has.
First, I found the will I was looking for. That's good. The house is a bit further away from Lourdes than I would have liked (I'm no longer within walking distance) But it's a better neighborhood, close to a mall, the R5 and 52, and Saint Joe's.

Then, I got a call from one of the places I applied to for a job. Out of the 15 or so different stores and chains I applied to, about 0.00% bothered to contact me and say I did'nt get the job. Actually, most never even told me they were'nt interested in an interview. Well, the lady called yesterday and told me to come Wednesday for my interview. I've basically got the job because the lady is my older sister's friend from Way back.

And then of course, I spent the weekend over at the monastery again. On Friday, I went over to S.Charles seminary with one of the brothers to sit in on some classes. It was actually great fun,and one of the professors turned out to be someone I usually see at Lourdes.
Oh, and I'm beginning to notice a strange pattern of disasters everytime I come. Last time, there was'nt any heat, and this time a pipe broke and the bathrooms could'nt be used.

And today, I was using my dad's old laptop that he gave to me to make a set of altar cards. I was playing around with the programs, and for fun, I clicked the Firefox icon. And it worked. My brother said the wireless card was broken, but it's not. It's working! I'm back online!

I quit playing Vierne's Callion de Longpont. I've been playing it by ear, because the music department at the Free Library downtown is closed because of asbestos. I got most of it done. but I don't know how to play the ending. I need sheet music for that, and I don't have it for now. So instead, I'm going to learn Bach's famous Passacaglia from the Passacaglia and fugue in C minor. I used to know it, but it's been at least two years since I played it, and even then, I never got the last six variations done.

I have good news...

....And I have bad news. And I have a question.

A co-worker of my mother was recently left a house, following the death of her mother. Now, the woman doesn't need the house, and she's willing to just Give the house to my mother. The house is in Wynfield, and apparently is quite nice, and could be ours for a measly $500. That's the good news.

The bad news is that the lady gave the will to my mother to look over. And mom lost it. She lost the will that would give us a new house in a nice neighborhood. We've looked about, tore up the house, taken everything out of it's place, and no sign of it.

So, I have a question: Is it possible for us to get a copy of the will? Note, however, that we don't remember the name of the lawyer who helped to draw up the will.

I'm hiring myself out..

I've been trying since the end of June to get a job, and so far, no luck at all. I've applied to some eleven different chains, and three small businesses without so much as a phone call saying I didn't get the job.
So I've decided to hire out my talents .
Now, I've only really got three talents that could pay: I can draw, I can sing,and I'm an amateur organist.
Now, I won't trust myself to be an organist. Most of what I practice are improvisations in the French style, and I can play one English mass ordinary,three Latin, and a few hymns. Besides, I can't be an organist in a Roman Catholic church. It's too much greif.

So, I've decided that I'll try to find some poor writer who wants to publish a comic or manga, but doesn't have an artist. I've spent all summer trying to think of a concept for a manga with no luck, unless I want to do one about MMA. * So I'll polish my style, put together my protfolio, and hopefully make some extra bucks to save up.


*I think I might do that one.

You know what I've noticed?

I think I get 99% of my political news and commentary from the internet. I realised that I have no clue what's going on, other than Chris Christy being governor of Jersey, and that's only because it's local.
Hopefully, with this intermittent internet, I can get some clue what's going on in congress with....everything.

Anime/Manga/Comic news.

*Drool drool drool*
OOfuri has FINALLY been licensed in the U.S.! The English title is "Big Swing!", which I assume roughly correlates to the series' full Japanese title. Volumes one and two are at the FYE at the Gallery, but at $60 each, it's out of the question. And don't you DARE go out and buy it from me! I'm saving up for it, and if it's gone, I'll find you and deal with the situation, um shall I say Expediently.

I really, really want to find out more about Dokaben. It's a little old, but I like the art. I don't know if it's been scanlated anywhere, but I hope so. I'm not totally sure what it's about.
And due to my computer crisis, I've missed up the release dates of basically every manga volume I want. I know Noora is at volume eight, and I think Fairy Tail volume seven got released somewheres in October.

Lastly,I've fallen in love with American comics again. I thought I was done with them, but I'm addicted to Teen Titans and Thor. I'm still too afraid to actually visit a comic shop, but perhaps someday, I'll work up the gumption to go buy one of the volumes I'm currently drooling over.

It's a Catafalque!

Photos here.

It was a very nice mass.The music was Cristobal Morales' setting of the requiem, except for the tract, dies irae, sanctus and agnus, and the libera me. Jacques Arcadelt's Ave Maria was sung at the offertory, and William Byrd's well-known setting of the Ave Verum was sung at the ablutions. Before mass, the organist played one of bach's chorales using the flute celeste and tromba with the tremulo one the antiphonal organ. The postlude was BWV 549. All the flowers and reliquaries had been removed, as had the carpets in the sanctuary.

Requiem aternam....

I'm using my brother's wireless today, and I have lots of news. 

Firstly, They are having a high mass of requiem on All Souls Day, November 2nd at 7:00 PM. Tell your friends and spread the news!This'll be the first non-novus ordo requiem I'll have attended in about two or three years. I'm wondering if there will be unbleached candles.

Also, we're having a parish mission on the 26th-27th. The last one was great, Hopefully this year's preacher will be as good as the last one.

Last week I started my aspirancy with These Guys. I spent the weekend at the monastery. It was great, cold weather and a rather unfriendly pet cat notwithstanding.I was given a tour of both the monastery and S.Charles' seminary on City Line ave.  Both have wonderful libraries.

These Guys now have weekly solemn vespers using the Liber Usualis. I went on the feast of the Maternity of the B.V.M., and it was good, if a bit shaky. Somehow, I forgot to bring my Liber with me, but I'll bring it next time.

And speaking of chant,I learned some of the requiem propers and the propers for Christ the King. Both have rather simple introits, but the gradual of the requiem mass threw me off halfway through.

And getting back to the main topic, I have questions for anyone who might know the answers:

1) Is it permissible to have reliquaries on the altar during a sung requiem, or do they have to be removed? What about flowers?

2)Is the catafalque obligatory for requiems on all souls day, or is it just optional?

3)If not, do you still have the absolution after mass, even without the catafalque?

This is a Post about the Rosary.

The Secret of the Rosary,S.Louis Marie de Montfort.

"To commend his own love towards us, and to bring to nought the wisdom of men, God was pleased to take flesh of a woman, albeit a virgin, that he might bring like against like, heal by opposites, pluck out the poisonous thorn, and blot out mightily the handwriting of our sin that was against us. Eve was a thorn, Mary is a rose. Eve is a thorn that pierceth, Mary is a rose that charmeth all the senses. Eve was a thorn that fixed death into all, Mary is a rose that bringeth health to all. Mary was a white rose through her virginity, and a red rose through her love. She was white in her flesh, red in her mind ; white in that she followed the path of grace, red in that she trod down sin ; white by the purity of her affection, red by the mortification of her body ; white by her love for God, red by her compassion for her neighbour.

The Word was made flesh, and dwelleth even now among us. He dwelleth in our memory. He dwelleth in our thought. He hath come down even unto our imagination ; and how sayest thou doth he so? By lying in the manger, by nestling in his Mother's breast, by preaching upon the mountain, by remaining all night in prayer to God, by hanging upon the Cross, by turning pale in death, by going down free among the dead and triumphing in hell, by rising again the third day, by shewing to the Apostles the places of the nails, the marks of his victory, by ascending up into heaven while they all beheld him―of which of these things think we not with truth, with godliness, with holiness? If I think of any of these, I think of God, and he is my God through them all. To think of these things I have decreed to be wisdom, and to set forth the memory of their sweetness I have judged to be prudence. The rod of Aaron the Priest brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds ; but these things are the almonds of that Rod which came forth out of the stem of Jesse, the Rod whereof sprang the flower, a Rod which was raised in Mary into places higher than the earthly tabernacle, higher indeed, even into places higher than angels, since she received the Word into herself out of the very heart of the Eternal Father."

Sermon of S.Bernard, abbot.
And for fun, a Sarum Office of the Rosary.

Well, is'nt that something?

"-1568 AD-ITALY- The Rosary prayers - Ave - are now approved and incorporated into the reformed Roman Breviary by Pope Pius V with the bull Consueverunt Romani Pontifices. This followed their usage by the Mercedarians (1514), the Camaldolese (1515) and the Franciscans in (1525)"

(Source)
So when you use the Hail Mary in the Liturgy of the Hours, you know who to thank. I wonder if they know this? (Well, they probably know Now.)

Pater noster, qui es en cieux...

(Photo Credits)

Some readers might know that have an interest with medieval life,especially devotional practices, and one thing I've always like are medieval Paternosters ,now known to us as rosaries. Their paternosters were quite different than our modern rosaries, because the rosary as a prayer hadn't yet been standardised. So you find three-decade rosaries of seven beads each, or six-decade rosaries of five-beads, etc. Most consisted of two decades of a certain number of beads, with a 'Gaud' bead used for the paters and glorias, and smaller beads of a different color used for the Aves.
The archetypical medieval rosary, the one you see so many pictures of seems to usually be of red coral or glass with bone or rock-crystal gauds, strung on a silk cord and either a tassel at one end and a medal or cross at the other, or a tassel on both ends.

Since don't know where to buy one of these, and I've always wanted one, I decided to make one myself. Since my mother has a large collection of old, broken and ruined jewelry, the materials were free, and I was able to make three paternosters.

The first one is the only one I really like and will probably use. It's made of large black agate Aves with alternating rock crystal and amber gauds, a silver tau cross, and a black tassel. It's heavy,but easy to use, and it's one of the rare rosaries that don't look like they're being marketed to suburban teen-age girls who still listen to Avril Lavine**

The other is the stereotypical rosary with red glass Aves, clear glass gauds, a plain silver cross on one end and a medal on the other. The beads are kinda small, so the whole thing is small, and the medal does'nt match.(It's gold-plated.) I would really rather have the medal and a tassel, but there isn't another tassel.

The third is'nt nice, but I had extra beads. It's made of rock crystal Aves and gauds with a brass greek cross on one end and nothing on the other end,while I look for my miraculous medal.


*She's a traitor. She claims she never sang punk, when we were all there when the albums came out. She never had any problem with being punk, but now she wants to be poppy and her music is unworthy of listening. A pox and all that.

Hey guess what! Hey guess what?

Hey, guess what?!
I broke my computer again!
I think this is my fifth time breaking it. Well, I somehow ruined the sound hardware on my laptop. The battery is shot too, and the space-bar has been sticking. My dad is trying to convince me to eventually just get another laptop, but this one is only two years old, and except for the screen, the keyboard,the sound, and occassional preventable crashes , it's fine! It's the fastest in the house and has the most memory So I refuse to give it up

How to destroy your religious order...

..in three easy steps:
1)Embrace secularism
2) Make your religious life no different than practical atheism
3 ) Proclaim that the ensuing decline and death of your order is a good thing.

Sic transit, sic transit...

This is great!

We have a parish in Cleveland!

It really sounds interesting!

You want These people in charge of your healthcare?

"The late-payments episode is the latest in a string of embarrassing cases of VA failures for the nation's veterans.

Earlier this year, it was discovered that three VA medical centers failed to properly sterilize endoscopes, exposing 10,000 patients to infections including the HIV virus.

Last month, the agency sent letters to 600 veterans erroneously telling them they had been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease.

Last year, the VA was embroiled in numerous scandals involving tests and medical experiments on veterans in which officials failed to follow certain standards."

(Source)

These are the people?h

Wake me up when the government becomes less bureaucratic, irresponsible, and incompetent.

Our Lady of Mercy/Ransom/Clemency X2

"In the Virgin Mother is exemplified both the contemplative and the active life, of which same the Evangelist Luke has written in the passage concerning the sisters Martha and Mary. For what, do we imagine that Martha's serving was blamed, whom the cares of hospitality had engaged, who had received the Lord Himself into her house? How could she be rightly blamed, who was gladdened by so great a guest? If this be true, let men give over their ministrations to the needy; let them choose for themselves the better part, which shall not be taken from them; let them give themselves wholly to the word, let them long after the sweetness of doctrine; be occupied about the saving knowledge; let it be no care to them, what stranger is in the street, who there is that wants bread, or clothing, or to be visited, to beredeemed, to be buried; let works of mercy cease, earnest heed be given to knowledge only. If this be the better part, why do not all do this, when we have the Lord Himself for our defender in this behalf? For we do not fear in this matter, lest we should offend His justice, when we have the support of His judgment.

And yet it is not so; but as the Lord spoke so it is. It is not as you understand, but it is as you ought to understand it. So mark; You are occupied about many things, when one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the better part. You have not chosen a bad part; but she a better. And how better? Because you are about many things, she about one thing. One is preferred to many. For one does not come from many, but many from one."

- S. Augustine of hippo, sermon 27 de Verb.Dom.

"O holy Mary, help thou the suffering, strengthen the faint-hearted, comfort the sorrowful ; pray for the people, plead for the clergy, entreat for all women dedicated to God; let everyone that keepeth holy-day in thine honour know the benefit of thine intercession."-Magnificat antiphon, first vespers.

happy Second Feast Day/External Solemnity/Sunday within the Octave!

(Celebratory Music.)

I don't Get it.

I really don't.

I mean, nobody got mad when Bush did it. Okay,so what if he did'nt. Back in my day,teachers regularly gave out tests outlining the president's policies,beleifs,and how much much we needed him and his policies. Daily we got a lesson on how to support the president in those things. I mean,don't we all remeber those take-home worksheets back in fifth and six grade? It's perfectly normal!I remember I was talking to a friend of mine from Cambodia, and she said they do it all the time there. And in China and Guatemala.

Can people please stop gang-raping fallacies?

Why does it seem that no one knows what a No True Scotsman actually is? People are generalising it so that if you ever say that no real 'X'does 'Y', you're fallacious. This is wrong on so many levels and only proves that they don't know what a Scotsman fallacy is.
People seem to forget that this type of 'reasoning' needs to be ad hoc. Keep this in mind as I go. Secondly, in most cases of it, the meaning of a term is re-defined to exclude specific cases of something. Specific cases.Scotsman fallacies are a form of moving the goalposts.Re-defining a term to exclude people or behaviours that you don't like. Thirdly, it doesn't apply where the status of the subject is predetermined by other actions or behaviours.

When people distort this argument,they forget (Or who knows, maybe occasionally ignore) the first two parts of what constitutes a Scotsman fallacy. Thus, they may claim that any definition whatsoever that excludes any cases of something is a Scotsman fallacy. This is demonstrably false. Once something is defined as 'X', it's definition conversely serves as a definition of what is not 'X'. Whatever is the opposite of 'X', or fails to have the qualities of 'X' cannot be 'X'.
For example, if we define books as sewn or otherwise attatched together leaves of material, containing written or printed words, pictures, graphs, or other information, we likewise define what is not a book. (If it's not sewn or otherwise attatched together leaves of material, containing written or printed word, pictures, graphs, or other information, it's not a book.)
Therefore, if my friend Jeanne tells me that she has a book consisting of a single sheet of paper with a picture of Kierkegaard, she can't accuse me of ad hoc reasoning or a Scotsman fallacy when I tell her that what she has cannot be a book. The reasoning for it not being a book was not ad hoc.

People who don't know what they are doing tend to forget that it doesn't apply where the status of the subject is predetermined by other actions or behaviours.
(Which is really only a subset of the above argument.)
If what constitutes being 'Y' is determined by something or someone doing or being something, if someone or something fails to meet that predetermined condition, be it an action, behaviour, or whatever, then they aren't 'Y'
For example, it is predetermined that a natural born U.S. citizen is born either:
a) In the united states.
b) Abroad, to two U.S. Citizens.
c)Abroad, to one U.S.Citizen.
So, if we have Gertrude, who was born in France to French parents, under no accepted, pre-determined definition of 'American citizen' is she one. This is because, simply put, no naturally born American citizen is born abroad to two non-American parents.
In the same vein, it is pre-determined that a teacher has obtained a degree and has taught for some time.So if Gertrude claims to have been a teacher for 46 years, but never went to college and hasn't taught anyone, she isn't actually a teacher by the accepted definition of a teacher.

Do ya got it? It's not really that hard if you make some attempt to understand it.

Celebratory music.

Ave Maris Stella, Marcel Dupre.

Incidentally, I improvised on that same hymn yesterday. Oh, and I want to save up for one of of these.

Happy Feast Day!

Dei mater Virgo
absque casu stella
pulchra tamquam luna
utque sol electa

Nostras audi preces
tu,quae captivorum
miserata questus
conteris catenas

O ter fausta dies
flamine qua tuo
sedulum pro votis
recreasti petrum!

O nimis profundius
caritatis ardor!
sic a culpa solve
quos a iugo solvis

Agit iste grates
Ordo, quem benigna
voce demonstrasti
consecrandum tibi

Tuo, diva parens
gratos reple zelo
ut sequamur corde
ore quod vovemus

Ei laus qui simplex
Personisque Trinus
contulit Mariam
nobis in Parentem.Amen.

-hymn of Vespers, solemnity of Our Lady of Mercy.
Interestingly,I found this site, which gives the mass for the day, which includes the sequence I posted a while ago.
It seems it passed over into the new missal.

I'm beginning to suspect...

.........That someone might be a bit of a media whore. You know, it's like an attention whore,but with more social communications. I mean,really:

"In the New York Times alone, according to the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University, the number of stories on the Obama administration that have appeared on the front page through mid-August of this year totaled 119,678 column inches. That's 9,973 column feet of Obama coverage on the Times front page alone."

Could'nt that have been spent on more important stories?
Or, how about:

"As of mid-August, Obama submitted to a total of 66 television interviews, dramatically outstripping his two predecessors, according to Martha Joynt Kumar, director of the White House Transition Project at Towson University in Maryland.

During the same period of their own presidencies, President George W. Bush gave 16 television interviews and President Bill Clinton gave just six."

But advertising works I guess.

GO HERE.

NOW. D<

Update:

On my dad's condition. he's undergoing more chemo at U-Penn, and he'll be there for three more weeks. My brother and I spent Sunday afternoon with him, and he explained to us some things, including a surgery he's getting soon. I only saw snippets of the Phillies game because the Iggles were playing. I'm still not sure if the cancer is in remission yet,and I don't have carfare to get to the hospital, so it's only phone calls. hopefully he'll be strong enough to talk on the phone tomorrow. (The first few days after he gets his treatments, he gets real weak.)

Sorry for the rather sparse blogging today and yesterday. I've had some rather bad headaches. It's making me miss some good articles and news.

How to delude one's self in two easy steps.

1) Listen to something a politician says.

2) Decide that it means the opposite of what it says.h

Case in point, everyone's favorite ambassador to Malta ,Douglass Kmiec. For him,if someone has a rule saying not to support a person who supports X, you can support that person and still be following the rule. Indeed, the person can by word and deed show that they virulently support X, but you can claim that they don't even support it At All. Not At All.
This is a real relief. I was beginning to think that I'd have to be, you know, cognizant and logically consistent. Now I see that there's a way to get around all that nasty "Cognitive Dissonance."

*Death by music*

*Death by music*

I'm wondering...

Is Miyazaki's last thing, Ponyo,is it still showing anywhere in the Philadelphia area? It was at the Ritz near the Bourse,but I'm not sure.h

Oh yeah: ART SHOP.

In the same vein...

..Of Lovely Listings,which I already follow, I found threough them another hillarious website showcasing people Failing at their jobs: Cake Wrecks.
Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest.

Purgatorian Society.

Saved for November.

*Sigh*

Well, I'm back from "choir practice".It didn't go the way I'd hoped. We started by teaching the kids how to pronounce the whole of the Latin Ordinary. Perfect. Not a vowel mispronounced nor a consonant wrongly stressed. So we started to teach them how to sing the ordinary. I did it musical phrase by musical phrase, and it went well. But it went downhill from there.
First, it was decided that instead of teaching the music phrase by phrase, we would do the music in one body, singing all the phrases in sucession. Then it was decided that I would lead the music by singing instead of playing the organ. That took all of 20 minutes. All the hymns I chose were wrong, so we spent the next 20 minutes practicing Christmas hymns, an Easter hymn, three marian hymns, and a random hymn.
Maybe I'm just too strict. I really had planned to do everything ordered and in succession. It turned into a random free for all, so now a week before the mass,we have no hymns, no psalm, 1/3 of an ordinary, and no acclamation. I asked for at least four people to meet once a week, or once a month to go over the music with me. I got a few volunteers, with a few other people promised. It's ambitious, but I still hope to teach them the hymns I picked, and if they can't sing, some basic voice training.
hopefully, it'll all work out.

It's today.

It's TODAY.

Still no luck.

Still no luck finding any information about volumes 2-4 of Toto!The Wonderful Adventure. It's gone. My only choices are:
1) Go buy it back in New York
2)Go buy it in Allentown
3)Keep looking for a reasonable price online
4)Never buy it and be condemnned to forever live without understanding the story.
Also, Border's express at the Gallery (Of all places) has some of the earlier volumes of the mighty Thor (I can't rember which, I only skimmed it. I DO remeber that it involved Thor and Loki on a ship,impending death from pillars/dragons, and Loki getting kidnapped.) They also have some volumes of Teen Titans (Which I can't find ANYWHERE in this city, unless I'm willing to go to North Philly,which I'm not.) I'm serious.
In a bookshop.
In a mall.
They're there.
Still can't find any volumes of Green Arrow anywhere besides Atomic City. *Sigh*

Modern liturgy.

A little treat for those of us who like more modern, innovative liturgies to drawn in the people of God.
And an Antidote. (which is also the 1969 Roman Missal)
Or if you want to do it The Right Way™, An Antidote.

Why isn't this there?

For some strange reason,I have a link to deviantArt, but no link to my actual profile. That's retarded in so many ways,and I can only blame Te Boogie myself for it. So yeah, if you feel like seeing the collected works of a craptastic artist, go to:
My deviantArt Page.

*Dies of excitement*

I can't beleive he's going to be here.
Olivier Latry!
Olivier Latry!
In Philadelphia!
At only $28 dollars a ticket!
I can afford that!
So it's a Posisbility!
Why do I keep using exclamation points!
It's getting stupid!
[/nerdout]

This is how to do it wrong.

When someone walks away with the host.
She did the right thing going after the lady who walked away.

Novena to Our Lady of Mercy.

Starts today.

"Blessed be Thou, O Mary, the honor and the joy of Thy people! On the day of Thy glorious Assumption, Thou didst take possession of Thy queenly dignity for our sake; and the annals of the human race are a record of Thy merciful interventions. The captives whose chains Thou hast broken, and whom Thou hast set free from the degrading yoke of the Saracens, may be reckoned in the millions. We are still rejoicing in the recollection of Thy dear Birthday; and Thy smile is sufficient to dry our tears and chase away the clouds of grief. And yet, what sorrows there are still upon the earth, where Thou Thyself didst drink such long draughts from the cup of suffering! Thou alone, O Mary, canst break the inextricable chains, in which the cunning prince of darkness entangles the dupes he has deceived by the high-sounding names of equality and liberty. Show thyself a Queen, by coming to the rescue. The whole earth, the entire human race, cries out to Thee, in the words of Mordochai: “Speak to the King for us, and deliver us from death!” (Esther 15: 3)

(State your request here)

Let us Pray. O God, Who through the most glorious Mother of Thy Son wast pleased to give new children to Thy Church for the deliverance of Christ's faithful from the power of the heathen, grant, we pray Thee, that we who affectionately honor her as the Foundress of so great a work, may, by her merits and intercession, be delivered from the slavery of sin and the eternal flames of Hell. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the Unity of the Holy Ghost, One God, forever, unto ages of ages. Amen."

*Want!*

BOOK.

In retrospect it makes sense.

Really,would any of us notice nearly a million people marching, rallying,and protesting outside of our place of work?I surely wouldn't!
And neither did the white house.
And of course, they've never even heard of the group of people who were protesting either.
Part of me is happy about this, and part of me wonders how they could be so clueless and obtuse as to not know a thing about these people.I can't help but think of a certain rather protected 18th century French monarchy that I learned about in middle school that did the same thing. (BTW,how did that turn out for them?We never finished the class.)

Oops.

Okay.I've given up looking for that letter from Fr.Carey. What day and time was that meeting supposed to have happenned?I know it was on a Saturday, but that's all I know.

Roodmas.

"Christ the holy Cross endur'd, burst the gates of hell in twain, and in might and majesty rose on easter morn again."*

-First antiphon,Lauds.

"as many as are of the works of the law, are under a curse. For it is written: Cursed is every one, that abideth not in all things, which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that in the law no man is justified with God, it is manifest: because the just man liveth by faith. But the law is not of faith: but, He that doth those things, shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written: Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus: that we may receive the promise of the Spirit by faith."
Galatians 3:10-14.

"For let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man. He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. For which cause God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above all names: That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father. "
Philippians 2:5-11

V.O Glorious Cross! *On thee did triumph the King of the Angels!
R. And our sins did washed in his blood.
Collect of the day:
O God,who didst will thine only-begotten Son to to endure the Cross for the salvation of the human race:Grant we beseech thee, that as we have acknowledged its mystery on earth, we may receive its redemption thereof in heaven.

*It's interesting that this antiphon actually rhymes in the Latin edition: "Crucem sanctam súbiit, qui inférnum confrégit; accínctus est poténtia, surréxit die tértia"
Very few of these medeival rhyming texts survived into the new breviary.

*Insert Yu-gi-Oh! reference here*

Still not done with the race card.

"The Democrats have become like the "Church Lady" on Saturday Night Live "Could it be ... Racism?" The joke goes that the charge of racism is used anytime a liberal is loosing an argument, unfortunately this is way too accurate. The race card has become like the boy who cried wolf which undermines when there is actually the evil of racism. You can impugn the judicial capability and intelligence of Justice Thomas all day long - just don't dare oppose a Democrat who just happens to be black."

Rather like religious fundamentalists and the waning years of the Bush administration, the democrats have become a caricature of themselves. I wish I could chalk it up to reactionary ultra-conservatives, as they pretend most criticism of them comes from,but the daily blunders, rash speech,bad manners, and illogical arguments that the left (especially those in the Obama administration) make so that rather than watching an episode of Eyshield 21,I'd rather watch C-SPAN just teh lulz.

Motet.

I was looking for videos of Westminster Cathedral choir, and I found this. Westminster is my all-time favorite Catholic choir,and you should be able to see why.Compare their singing to the first version.It's not as sharp, much smoother. (But still brighter than your typical English cathedral choir.) It's very rich and full,quite strong.I really like this Marian motet, even if it is french romantic music and not the proper stuff.
That said, this is a really simple piece,as you can see by looking at the score.