Vigil of the Ascension (Rogation Wednesday)

The Vigil of the Ascension is a II Class feast in its own right, and therefore outranks the III Class feast of St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin and now Doctor of the Church, which falls on 30 April. The good St. Catherine is one of the patronesses of all Europe.

St. Catherine, of the Order of St. Dominic, led a life of great penance. She received the stigmata, but at her urgent prayer they did not show externally. She died in 1380.

St. Peter of Verona, Martyr (Rogation Tuesday)

Earthquakes and other calamities afflicted the diocese of Vienne in Dauphiny (France) in the fifth century, and St. Mamertus, who was bishop of that diocese, instituted a penitential procession with public supplications on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day. In 816, Pope Leo III introduced it into Rome, and soon after it became a general observance throughout the Church.

The Litany of the Saints, the Psalms, and the Prayers sung during the procession on these days are supplications: hence the name of Rogation Days (rogare, to ask) applied to them. The object of these rogation supplications is to appease the anger of God and avert the scourges of His justice, and to pray for the harvest.

A similar function is observed on April 25, on the feast of St. Mark, but this is of Roman origin. It is called the Greater Litanies in contrast to the Lesser Litanies of the Rogation Days; but in practice there is no difference between them...

St. Peter of Verona was a famous preacher of the Dominican Order. From childhood he was conspicuous for his refutation of heretics and his singular innocence. He longed to die for the faith, and his prayer was heard in 1252.

The Treasury of Latin Prayers contains the full Litany of the Saints, together with Psalm 69 [70], in English and in Latin - most appropiate for these days.

Incredible news! Just this past Saturday I mentioned a Peruvian Cardinal who has banned the practice of receiving Communion in the hand, and now it comes to my attention (thanks to the New Liturgical Movement) that a certain Bishop Athanasius Schneider has published an article in L'Osservatore Romano, which article is a summary of his soon to be published book Dominus Est.

Topic: a return to receiving Communion on the tongue rather than in the hand.

Publisher: the official Vatican Press, Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

Preface written by: Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, the second in command (behind Arinze) of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Disciple of the Sacraments. Ranjith fully agrees that Communion in the hand should probably be suppressed!

This is a book to look forward to! In the meantime, the good bishop's article summarizing his book is made available by Musica Sacra here: Historical-Liturgical Notes on the Rite of the Eucharist by the Most Reverend Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of Karaganda, Kazakhstan. Viva Bishop Schneider! Deo Gratias!

St. Paul of the Cross (Rogation Monday)

St. Paul all his life had a burning love for Jesus. He founded the Congregation of Passionists. He and his brethren were preachers of "the mystery of the cross and of devotion to the Passion." He died in 1775.

Sorry for not posting yesterday. We were exhausted when we returned home from the zoo and went straight to sleep. Here is a summary of the day:

We arrived in Vienna at 10:00, and Mass was at 10:30. We took the subway to the neighborhood in which the Traditional Latin Mass is said every Sunday by the FSSP, and would have arrived well before Mass started, except that we couldn't find the Church! After wandering down the street much farther than we expected it to be, we finally spotted a steeple, and outside the church a man in a suit. Perfect, we thought, only a couple minutes late. However, it was a Lutheran church, and the man had no idea that there even was a Catholic church in the neighborhood. So, we decided that it was a lost cause, and headed back to the subway station hoping we could make it to Stephansdom in time for noon Mass there. Fortunately, as we passed by a beat-up looking building, John happened to look on the wall, on which was a plaque with the name of the Church, pointing inside the builiding. So we followed the sign, and the church (more like a chapel) was inside the courtyard of the building. We were a little late, but not too much. The more times we hear Mass in Europe (outside of Gaming), the more we notice the emptiness of the churches, and the complete lack of children. Whether we attend a Traditional Latin Mass, or a Novus Ordo, it's always the same. A few older adults, a few young adults. Yesterday, in fact, there were two children besides Maria, and that was out of the ordinary. Europe needs our prayers!

On to Schloss Schönbrunn... Before entering the Zoo, we took advantage of the beautiful weather to wander through the gardens of the palace (open free to the public). Remember, Schönbrunn is Versaille's only rival in all of Europe. Although it's too early for many flowers, the trees are just beginning to blossom, and it was gorgeous. We will go again, when we have all day with nothing to do but wander (and hopefully we can leave Maria with someone else).

The zoo was fantastic! Maria was sleeping when we first went in (we tried and tried to get her to fall asleep on our way to the palace, as well as in the gardens, but she stubbornly refused, until immediately after we entered the zoo). So John and I looked at lots of the animals, and there were many we had never seen before. There are also "houses" that imitate different climates, for instance, the rain-forest. However, it was a crowded, one-way only path through a hot and humid house that ended by forcing us through a dark room where bats flew freely around our heads. After that, we decided that we never wanted to visit either the rainforest, or another one of the "houses." We were just thankful Maria was still sleeping! She woke up as we were looking at the big cats, and I'm afraid they really scared her. For awhile she was quite afraid of all the big animals (the elephant, giraffe, hippo, etc...), but she warmed up to them after awhile, as long as they didn't come too close (I don't think she understands glass or fences completely yet). Even so, without a doubt her favorite animals were the penguins and monkeys. We could have looked at them and nothing else all day, and she would have been happy.

You can see all our pictures from yesterday here, or on the sidebar as usual. Here's a preview:

Maria looking at the giraffes, or as she calls them, "Raffes."

This little guy really was quite impressive!

"Wow!"

Fifth Sunday of Easter

The Church continues to exalt the risen Christ and exhorts us to unite with her in prayer.

Our trip to the zoo finally materializes! Details and pictures coming...

Ss. Cletus and Marcellinus, Popes, Martyrs

St. Cletus, the third pope, was martyred under Domitian in 91. St. Marcellinus was beheaded under Diocletian in 304.

Well, no pictures of the Schonbrunn Tiergarten yet. We awoke this morning to a steady downpour and decided to wait for more clement weather. The forecast for tomorrow in Vienna though is sunny skies with a high of 66. So, the plan now is to head for the Muttergotteskirche in Vienna for the 10:30 TLM, and then make for the zoo afterwards. We've been trying to get there for weeks it seems like, but hopefully tomorrow will really be the day it works.

The New Liturgical Movement reports: Peruvian Cardinal Bans Practice of Communion in the Hand. Deo Gratias! Viva il Cardinal!

St. Mark the Evangelist (The Greater Litanies)

St. Mark was a disciple of St. Peter and the author of the Second Gospel under the inspiration of the latter. He was martyred in Alexandria in 80.

The Procession of the Greater Litanies, followed by the Rogation Mass, has no connection with the Feast of St. Mark as such. The Litany of the Saints, the Psalms, and the Prayers sung during the procession on this day are supplications. The object of these supplications is to appease the anger of God and avert the scourges of his justice, and to pray for the harvest.

Various items of interest: I completed my first exam this afternoon (German); the Tigers scored an average of 12.33 runs per game against the Rangers in their latest series; and, most exciting of all, we are taking Maria to the oldest zoo in Europe, the "Tiergarten" at Schloss Schoenbrunn - summer residence of the Habsburgs and only rival of Versailles amongst European palaces!

St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Martyr

St. Fidelis was at first "the Advocate of the poor." He then entered the order of Friar Minors, preached the Word of God, and was stabbed to death by Protestant soldiers in 1622.

Commemoration of St. George, Martyr

St. George, of an illustrious family, having reproached Diocletian for his cruelty, was subjected therefore to atrocious torments and was finally beheaded in 304. He is venerated as the patron of Christian soldiers, and is the Patron of England.

(Raphael c. 1504, Louvre, Paris)

The Priority of Actuality to Potency

A Textual Analysis of Aristotle's Metaphysics, Bk. IX, Ch. 8

The above link will take any interested parties to my latest piece of work, which is, as indicated, a textual analysis of one chapter of Aristotle's Metaphysics. As such, it's not a very profound work by any stretch of the imagination, but a simple overview and analysis of the main concepts found in said chapter, together with its situation in the whole of the Metaphysics, and some indications of its importance and fruitfulness in the metaphysical inquiry as a whole.

Ss. Soter and Caius, Popes, Martyres

St. Soter was martyred under Marcus Aurelius in 174, and St. Caius was put to death in 296.

St. Anselm, Bishop, Confessor, Doctor of the Church

St. Anselm, the famous Archbishop of Canterbury, was a Benedictine monk, who fought intrepidly for the faith and liberty of the Church. He is one of the greatest philosophers and mystics of the eleventh century. He died in 1109.

99 years ago today, on the 8th centenary of St. Anselm's death, Pope St. Pius X issued the Encyclical Letter Communium Rerum (On St. Anselm of Aosta).

In this Letter, the pope praises St. Anselm especially for his tireless defense of the liberty of the Church (in the era of the investiture controversy), and for his intellectual defense of the true doctrines of the Church. He is thus a salutary example in an age in which the rights of the Church are so often set at naught, and in which the pernicious heresies of modernism have spread to so many members of the Church.

I have chosen the good saint as something of a personal theological patron especially for his speculative doctrine of the atonement, found especially in Cur Deus Homo (Why God [became] Man), and usually known as the "satisfaction theory" of the atonement.

In my history classes at Ave Maria College, the prof. used to say that St. Anselm (d. 1109) was the first really brilliant thinker since St. Augustine (d. 430)! High praise indeed considering the intellectual merits of such luminaries as Leo the Great and Gregory the Great.

St. Anselm is often called the Father of Scholasticism: "Anselm laid the foundations of the true principles of philosophical and theological studies which other most learned men, the princes of scholasticism, and chief among them the Doctor of Aquin, followed, developed, illustrated and perfected to the great honor and protection of the Church." (CR, 55)

St. Anselm, ora pro nobis!

Fourth Sunday after Easter

Our Lord Jesus Christ is risen from the dead; the power of God is made manifest and is exalted.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BETSY!

Today it was gorgeous outside - mid 60s, clear blue sky. We took a walk up to the Kirchsteinkreuz, which is a rock jutting out from an arm of the Dreiecksberg (triangle mountain). There are some new pictures, some from today and some from the past week or so, in the April 2008 photo album. Below are a couple from this afternoon's walk.