Category: Fun
Lenten Reading
In years passed, I’ve generally adopted a reading program as part of my Lenten observance. For several years, I read the Desert Fathers. This year, despite a friend bequeathing me a copy of the Philokalia, I’m looking for something else. I’ve started a thin little volume by Bishop Athanasius Schneider called Dominus Est - It is the Lord! I’m about […]
» Read moreThe Professor!
On this day in 1892, J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The Professor is 123 today! All around the world, at 9pm local time, the Tolkien Society and the Professor’s many other devotees will celebrate his birthday with a toast to “the Professor”. I will join in, and I encourage you to do the same. The Professor’s writing, […]
» Read moreJolly Old Saint Nicholas
Happy Saint Nicholas Day! How Saint Nicholas was transmogrified into Santa Claus, I’ll never know. “Jolly Old Saint Nick” was by all accounts a thin man, most famous for giving gifts to prostitutes and punching heretics. That whole “eight tiny reindeer” thing seems like a bit of a come down. Wait, prostitutes? Well, almost. That was their father’s plan, since […]
» Read moreThese Wounds I had on Crispian’s Day
Happy Feast of Saints Crispin and Crispinian! Enter the KING WESTMORELAND. O that we now had here But one ten thousand of those men in England That do no work to-day! KING. What’s he that wishes so? My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin; If we are mark’d to die, we are enow To do our country loss; and if […]
» Read moreHe Just Never Stopped Preaching
Everybody knows a guy who just won’t shut up. Sometimes it’s not even that he has something to say, or that he likes the sound of his own voice. Sometimes these are the folks who are genuinely frightened by silence. Sometimes, they just don’t know how not to talk. If those folks had a patron saint, it would no doubt […]
» Read moreBlessing of the Animals at Holy Rosary in Tacoma
My parish of Holy Rosary will hold a Blessing of the Animals on Saturday, October 4 from 10:00 to 11:00 AM in celebration of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Holy Rosary is located just north of I-5 overlooking downtown Tacoma, at 424 South 30th Street. You can’t miss it. Everyone is invited to bring their animals, as Holy […]
» Read moreMeanwhile, in the Vatican…
Saint George and the Dragon
“Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” (G.K. Chesterton) Today’s feast is of the great martyr, Saint George. Pious legends of dragon slaying notwithstanding, George was a soldier of the Roman army who was killed during the persecutions of Diocletian in the early […]
» Read moreLaudes Creaturarum
On Earth Day, I’m reminded of the great Canticle of the Sun, written by Saint Francis of Assissi in about 1224. It is, of course, this verse that comes to mind: We praise You, Lord, for Sister Earth, who sustains us with her fruits, colored flowers, and herbs. Although it’s now known as Canticle of the Sun, the author’s original […]
» Read moreThe Professor!
Aia María quanta Eruanno i Héru as elye · aistana elye imíca nísi · ar aistana i yáve mónalyo Yésus : Aire María Eruo ontaril á hyame rámen úcarindor sí ar lúmesse ya firuvamme : násie : (The Ave Maria in Quenya, translation by J.R.R. Tolkien) On this day in 1892, J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The […]
» Read moreIn Elder Days
Professor Tolkien’s works embody his deep and abiding Catholic faith and worldview. Today in the calendar of Middle Earth, we celebrate the Dwarven (lunar) New Year. When on this day both the Sun and Moon may be seen in the sky together, it is called Durin‘s Day. Durin J.R.R. Tolkien The world was young, the mountains green, No stain yet […]
» Read moreA Face for Radio
So yesterday amid the Papal hoopla and huzzahs, my old friend Rev. Bryan Dolejsi invited me to be a guest on his radio show. Father Dolejsi is the Director of Vocations for the Archdiocese of Seattle, and his show, called “Vocation Radio” is broadcast on Sacred Heart Radio several times a week. So we munched on the pizza ordered by […]
» Read moreThe Professor!
On this day in 1892, J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The Professor is 121 today! All around the world, at 9pm local time, the Tolkien Society and the Professor’s many other devotees will celebrate his birthday with a toast to “the Professor”. I will join in, and I encourage you to do the same. The Professor’s writing, […]
» Read moreWhat Christmas is All About
Happy Saint Nicholas Day
How Saint Nicholas was transmogrified into Santa Claus, I’ll never know. “Jolly Old Saint Nick” was by all accounts a thin man, most famous for giving gifts to prostitutes and punching heretics. That whole “eight tiny reindeer” thing seems like a bit of a come down. Wait, prostitutes? Well, yes. Here’s what the Golden Legend has to say: And it […]
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