{"id":1089,"date":"2011-06-27T13:43:42","date_gmt":"2011-06-27T20:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=1089"},"modified":"2011-07-02T00:16:10","modified_gmt":"2011-07-02T07:16:10","slug":"of-weddings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/of-weddings\/","title":{"rendered":"Of Weddings"},"content":{"rendered":"

W<\/span>e were in Seattle for the weekend, attending my niece’s wedding. Since there were many out of town friends and relatives, the events surrounding the wedding itself stretched from Friday night through Sunday night.<\/p>\n

It was a beautiful wedding and a wonderful time all around. I wish the bride and groom every happiness in the world. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jason walking his sister Cara down the aisle<\/p><\/div>All over the world and throughout history, families and friends have always come together for life-changing events like this. <\/p>\n

A single sacramental event tends to become days of revels when we can afford the time and expense – and often even when we can’t.<\/p>\n

These events are hinges, spanning the two different parts of our life: everything that came before is now qualitatively different from everything that comes after. It is right that we take some time to plan them, and some time to properly celebrate them.<\/p>\n

It is not insignificant that Christ’s first public miracle was at a wedding (John 2).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>On Sunday, we attended Mass at Blessed Sacrament Church<\/a> in Seattle’s U-District. I would have liked to go to hear their schola, but time restraints required that we attend the 9:00 AM Mass with their Contemporary Choir instead of one of the later Masses.<\/p>\n

Now I don’t think it’s a secret that I dislike most modern songs inserted into the Mass. Many of them tend to be of the “Look at us! Isn’t it great how we are coming together to worship!” school of hymn writing. I tend to find them a distraction at best from the mystery and majesty of the Mass.<\/p>\n

That said, the choir was fantastic. The Dominicans<\/a> who run Blessed Sacrament have clearly rejected the worst tendencies of modern Catholic hymnody; somehow even the guitars sounded appropriate. The weird part is that I recognized some of the songs from my former parish. There, I thought them better suited for Broadway. Here, somehow, they were just fine. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The church itself is beautiful, with numerous side altars and full of exquisite statues and stained glass of varying styles from varying periods. The interior, like the interior of the great medieval churches, gives the impression of ever being an unfinished work in progress.<\/p>\n

I heartily recommend stopping by if you’re in Seattle. <\/p>\n

This Sunday was the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (a.k.a. Corpus Christi<\/em>), which unsurprisingly is the titular feast of Blessed Sacrament Church.<\/p>\n

This, too, is a wedding or, more properly, a wedding feast. <\/p>\n

“Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory. For the wedding day of the Lamb has come, his bride has made herself ready. She was allowed to wear a bright, clean linen garment.” (The linen represents the righteous deeds of the holy ones.)<\/p>\n

Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These words are true; they come from God.” (Rev. 19:7-9)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Elsewhere in scripture, we discover the identity of the Bridegroom and the Bride: Christ and His Holy Church (cf<\/em>. Eph. 5:24-32). <\/p>\n

The sacrament of their union is not that of Marriage, but rather that of the Eucharist, for the Eucharist is the marriage feast of the Lamb.<\/p>\n

If only we would always celebrate this<\/em> wedding with the same sense of importance we use for others!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We were in Seattle for the weekend, attending my niece’s wedding. Since there were many out of town friends and relatives, the events surrounding the wedding itself stretched from Friday night through Sunday night. It was a beautiful wedding and a wonderful time all around. I wish the bride and groom every happiness in the world. All over the world […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9,5,15,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-holy-days","category-meditations","category-sacred-liturgy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1aGBK-hz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":87766,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/quasquicentennial-news-roundup\/","url_meta":{"origin":1089,"position":0},"title":"Quasquicentennial News Roundup","author":"Thom","date":"19 October 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, our local newspaper the Tacoma News Tribune, ran this photo in their \"Looking Back\" section. I have reproduced the caption exactly as it appeared in today's paper. Note the snarky tone when referring to the Altar Boys. Not to mention the use of \"processional\" as a noun. Oh,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "community"","block_context":{"text":"community","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/HR_1941OCT19GoldenAnnv.jpg?fit=1033%2C820&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/HR_1941OCT19GoldenAnnv.jpg?fit=1033%2C820&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/HR_1941OCT19GoldenAnnv.jpg?fit=1033%2C820&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/HR_1941OCT19GoldenAnnv.jpg?fit=1033%2C820&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":86225,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/immaculata-2015\/","url_meta":{"origin":1089,"position":1},"title":"Immaculate Mary","author":"Thom","date":"08 December 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"On this Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us join together with the Angels and the Saints of all ages in singing the praises of the Mother of God.","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Notre_Dame_du_Rosaire.jpg?fit=1200%2C968&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Notre_Dame_du_Rosaire.jpg?fit=1200%2C968&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Notre_Dame_du_Rosaire.jpg?fit=1200%2C968&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Notre_Dame_du_Rosaire.jpg?fit=1200%2C968&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Notre_Dame_du_Rosaire.jpg?fit=1200%2C968&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2009,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/epiphany\/","url_meta":{"origin":1089,"position":2},"title":"Epiphany","author":"Thom","date":"08 January 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In the popular imagination, today's (slightly moved) celebration of the Epiphany is all about the Magi from the East who traveled to worship the Christ child and gift him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But that's not the whole story, for the Epiphany actually celebrates three separate events, only one of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Holy Days"","block_context":{"text":"Holy Days","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/holy-days\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/Epiphany-300x234.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":83693,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/epiphany-plus-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":1089,"position":3},"title":"Epiphany Plus One","author":"Thom","date":"06 January 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, we celebrated the great Solemnity of the Epiphany. Traditionally, this feast would have been celebrated today, the 6th of January, but like many other feasts it fell victim to the \"move it to a Sunday\" mania that has gripped the Church these past few decades. For the moment, we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/Epiphany-300x234.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":86432,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/epiphanyish\/","url_meta":{"origin":1089,"position":4},"title":"It’s the Epiphany! (More or Less)","author":"Thom","date":"03 January 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Happy tenth day of Christmas! Today, we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Epiphany. Traditionally, this feast would have been celebrated on the day following the twelfth day of Christmas, the 6th of January, but like many other feasts it fell victim to the \"move it to a Sunday\" mania\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/Epiphany-300x234.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":101368,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/epiphany-2020\/","url_meta":{"origin":1089,"position":5},"title":"Epiphany!","author":"Thom","date":"06 January 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"In a sense, the Feast of the Epiphany is the culmination (if not quite the end) of the Christmas Season. It was once a much more celebrated feast than it is now. In fact, it once had its own Octave. Like many others, I'd love to see that restored. In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/Epiphany.jpg?fit=400%2C313&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1089"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1244,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1089\/revisions\/1244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}