Thomas and His Trains

While in Michigan we discovered that Thomas really likes trains, and especially little blue trains with whom he shares a name (i.e. Thomas the Tank Engine). Hence his newest birthday presents, with which he is quite delighted:

20 Games

MLB Network is counting down the twenty greatest games of the last fifty years, and the Tigers-Twins thriller of a couple years ago has made it in at #16. Here are the results so far:

#20. May 17, 1979. Phillies @ Cubs.

#19. Oct. 4, 2003. Giants @ Marlins.

#18. Oct. 12, 1980. Phillies @ Astros.

#17. Oct. 17, 2004. Yankees @ Red Sox.

#16. Oct. 6, 2009. Tigers @ Twins.

Watch the highlights of each game with discussion at MLB Network's 20 Greatest Games page.

Two Years Old

Happy Birthday,

Thomas!

Summer Theology Course in Norcia, Italy

Please allow me to introduce you to the St. Albert the Great Center for Scholastic Studies, founded by yours truly together with two of my colleagues at the International Theological Institute.

The St. Albert the Great Center for Scholastic Studies is an organization dedicated to the revival of higher studies in theology undertaken according to the mind and method of the great scholastics. This purpose is realized principally through the regular hosting of two-week long Summer programs, in which participants are invited to an intensive course of studies in Catholic theology presented in the form of the great Catholic universities of the high Middle Ages.

Unique to these programs is the combination of scholastic form and content, namely the study of St. Thomas Aquinas in the way that St. Thomas himself would have studied. Hence the dedication of the Center to his own teacher, St. Albert the Great.

The inaugural Summer program is taking place from June 20 - July 1, 2011 in Norcia, Italy. The academic focus of this year's program is Sacramental Theology, with readings taken principally from St. Thomas Aquinas, but also from St. Augustine, St. John Chrysostom, Ven. John Paul II, et al.

Participants are invited to attend daily Mass and to pray the Divine Office with the worthy Benedictine Monks of Norcia. Fr. Cassian Folsom, the prior of the Monastery and an official consultor for the Roman Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, has graciously agreed to deliver the keynote address for the program.

Optional organized excursions include hiking in the beautiful Mount Sibiline National Park and trips to nearby Assisi and Cascia. For the Feast of Corpus Christi (June 23), we will organize a special trip to Rome in order to join the Holy Father for Eucharistic procession and adoration.

Who: Qualified applicants over the age of eighteen.

When: June 20 - July 1, 2011.

Where: Norcia, Italy.

Cost: $975.

For more information on the program please see our website: www.albertusmagnuscss.org.

The Rise and Fall of Christendom

Food for thought on the trajectory of Western History over the last 2,000 odd years. Somebody who is better at math than I am ought to graph that curve and see if we can't predict when the impending criminalization of Christianity will arrive, as well as the ever-popular end of the world ;-)

~A.D. 1.

The Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the Flesh.

~~A.D. 313.

The Edict of Milan: Legalization of Christianity.

~~~A.D. 380.

The Edict of Thessalonica: Establishment of Christianity as the Religion of the State.

~~~~A.D. 800.

The Coronation of Charlemagne: Triumph of the Church over the Power of the State.

~~~~~A.D. 1302.

The Bull Unam Sanctam of Pope Boniface VIII: Exposition of the Doctrine of the Two Swords.

~~~~A.D. 1789.

The French Revolution: Triumph of the State over the Power of the Church.

~~~A.D. 1918.

The Great War (WWI): Disestablishment of Christianity as the Religion of the State.

~~A.D. ????.

The Criminalization of Christianity.

~A.D. ????.

The Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ to Judge the Living and the Dead.