St. Lawrence Justinian, Bishop, Confessor

St. Lawrence, of the noble family of Giustiniani, Bishop and first Patriarch of Venice, was "the pride and the ornament of the Catholic Episcopate." He died in 1455.

Turns out that Cardinal Schoenborn has requested us (especially the families) to gather before Parliament tomorrow in Vienna. It has something to do with the recent failure of the Austrian politicians to legalize homosexual "unions". Should be interesting. Afterwards, we get some time to walk about the city (I imagine Katie is excited about that - if not, she should be), and then we're heading to Trumau - site of the school's future location, and a restaurant somewhere in the vicinity. I'm sure we'll have pictures!

COR JESU SACRATISSIMUM,

miserere nobis!

Most sweet Jesus, whose overflowing charity for men is requited by so much forgetfulness, negligence and contempt, behold us prostrate before Thee, eager to repair by a special act of homage the cruel indifference and injuries to which Thy loving Heart is everywhere subject.

Mindful, alas! that we ourselves have had a share in such great indignities, which we now deplore from the depths of our hearts, we humbly ask Thy pardon and declare our readiness to atone by voluntary expiation, not only for our own personal offenses, but also for the sins of those, who, straying far from the path of salvation, refuse in their obstinate infidelity to follow Thee, their Shepherd and Leader, or, renouncing the promises of their baptism, have cast off the sweet yoke of Thy law... (Act of Reparation)

Opening Gala

Well I've made it through my first two hectic days of class, jet lag and all. Katie, unfortunately, has an 8:00 Latin class yet tomorrow morning. This evening was the traditional gala opening the academic year. First a votive Divine Liturgy to the Holy Ghost; then a lecture from our president Msgr Hogan on the topic of the foolishness of God, which is higher than human wisdom; followed by first class cultural entertainment (singing and piano); and concluding with wines from Trumau (the school's future location) and all kinds of cheeses. To the left is the beautiful baroque library, a.k.a. the "Sistine Chapel of the North."

By the way, in case you missed it in the comments box: our laptop and stove are now working. Deo gratias!

We're back (St. Pius X, Pope, Confessor)

Joseph Sarto was born at Riese in Venetia on June 2, 1835. He was successively curate, parish priest, bishop of Mantua, patriarch of Venice. He was elected Pope on August 4, 1903. As chief pastor of the Church he realized to the full the value of the liturgy as the prayer of the Church and spared no effort to propagate the practice of frequent and daily Communion. In his encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis, he exposed and condemned the modernist heresy with force and clarity (1907). He died on August 20, 1914, and was canonized on May 29, 1954.

Our travel went rather smoothly, thanks be to God. But it looks like it'll take a few days to really settle in here this time around. It's rather hard taking care of all the necessary details in the midst of a full load of new classes, but we'll get there. It doesn't help that right off the bat our laptop computer is having problems, as is the stovetop. The former problem will probably make for rather sparse updates here for a little while, as our internet access is limited to the ITI computer lab for now. In other news, Lisa had an ultrasound today! The baby (sex remains unknown) looked fine, and a little farther along than we thought. So, good news for visiting grandparents: the new due date is January 20!

St. Stephen, Confessor

St. Stephen consecrated his kingdom, Hungary, to our Blessed Lady. This apostolic king won over his enemies and converted his people to Christianity. He died famous for his justice and his boundless charity in 1038.

St. Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary

St. Anne, the spouse of Joachim, was the mother of our Lady and the grandmother of our Lord. Devotion to St. Anne has increased very much in the whole Church. She is highly venerated as the Patron of Brittany.

Just for you, Christina!

Commencement 2008

A bittersweet day, to be sure.

TRAVEL ITINERARY

Aer Lingus flight EI 661
departs Vienna on 17 May at 11:40am
arrives in Dublin on 17 May at 1:30pm

Accomodations in Dublin
Almara B&B

Aer Lingus flight EI 125
departs Dublin on 18 May at 2:30pm
arrives in Chicago on 18 May at 4:30pm

[Update] Safely arrived in Lansing, MI around 11:30 Sunday evening!

Essays: Spring 2008

20 February 2008
Textual Analysis of Genesis 37
Pentateuch, STM 221.

10 March 2008
Presentation on Rudolf Bultmann's Commentary on John 6
Gospel of John, STM 421.

3 April 2008
Motion in Aristotle's Physics and Its Relation to the Infinite, to Place, and to Time
Motion and Order, STM 123.

16 April 2008
The Glory of the Cross: Revelation of God's Love and Source of Life
Gospel of John, STM 421.

30 April 2008
The Priority of Actuality to Potency: A Textual Analysis of Aristotle's Metaphysics Bk. IX, Ch. 8.
Metaphysics I, STM 223

7 May 2008
The Expiatory Power of Blood
Pentateuch, STM 221.

Pentecost Thursday (St. John Baptist de la Salle)

St. John Baptist studied theology at the Sorbonne. Inspired by God to give a Christian education to the poor, he founded the Brothers of the Christian Schools which soon spread throughout the world. In private life he treated himself with extreme rigor, and died full of merits and years in 1719.

One year of studies at the ITI successfully completed means Kartausenbräu dunkel bier for Mommy and Daddy, and ice cream for Maria!

Here's a big chocolatey "I can't wait to see you" grin!

Ember Wednesday

At the beginning of the four seasons of the Ecclesiastical Year, the Ember Days have been instituted by the Church to thank God for blessings obtained during the past year and to implore further graces for the new season. Their importance in the Church was formerly very great. They are fixed on the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday: after the First Sunday of Lent for spring, after Pentecost Sunday for summer, after the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (14th September) for autumn, and after the Third Sunday of Advent for winter. They are intended, too, to consecrate to God the various seasons in nature, and to prepare by penance those who are about to be ordained. Ordinations generally take place on the Ember Days. The faithful ought to pray on these days for good priests. The Ember Days were until c. 1960 fastdays of obligation.

One more exam down (Gospel of John), and one more to go (Metaphysics)!

Pentecost Tuesday (St. Robert Bellarmine)

St. Robert was famous throughout Europe as a theologian, and as a strenuous defender of the Faith in controversy with Protestants. He joined the Society of Jesus, and was later made Cardinal and Archbishop of Capua. His numerous writings include works of devotion and instruction, as well as of controversy. He died in 1621, and was declared Doctor of the Church in 1931.

Two more exams were successfully completed today: on Natural Philosophy and on the Psalms. Both were interesting. In the former it was our task to present various aspects of the teachings of Aristotle, Francis Bacon, and Renee Descartes, as well as to compare and contrast them where appropriate. The questions that arose dealt with issues like whether natural philosophy / modern science is a speculative or practical philosophy, or whether or not there are formal and final causes in the nature (Aristotle: yes; Bacon and Descartes: no).

My assignment for the Psalms exam was to look at the Psalm chosen by the Church for the Feast of the Annunciation (Ps. 40) together with the other readings selected, and to figure out why this Psalm was chosen, and then to interpret the Psalm in light of the Feast. Part two of the exam: recite from memory Psalm 1 (only 6 verses!). This whole exam was thus quite unlike any others I've ever experienced, but it was interesting - I quite enjoyed the preparation for it.

Now only two exams remain: the Gospel of John tomorrow at 4:30, and Metaphysics the next day at 9:00. The end is near...

Pentecost Monday

The Liturgy recalls the Descent of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles: and the Church extends the commemoration of it over eight days.

Catholics interested in the Ecumenical Movement will be delighted to hear some great news from the good folks over at Rorate Caeli: 3,000 Assyrians Received into the Catholic Church! A bishop (Mar Bawai Soro, pictured at left), six priests, 30 + seminarians, and about three thousand faithful of the Assyrian Catholic Apostolic Diocese were welcomed back into the fold on the great feast of Pentecost.

This is a wonderful example of Catholic ecumenism as it is so clearly enunciated by Pope Pius XI in his 1928 Encyclical Letter Mortalium animos (On Religious Unity), in which he teaches that "the union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it..." (paragraph 10).

Plenary Indulgence

A plenary indulgence is obtainable under the usual conditions today by reciting the Pentecost vespers hymn Veni, Creator Spiritus (available here in Latin with English translation). See this link from EWTN for an outline of the general conditions for obtaining plenary indulgences.

VENI, Creator Spiritus,

mentes tuorum visita,

imple superna gratia

quae tu creasti pectora.

Qui diceris Paraclitus,

altissimi donum Dei,

fons vivus, ignis, caritas,

et spiritalis unctio.

Tu, septiformis munere,

digitus paternae dexterae,

Tu rite promissum Patris,

sermone ditans guttura.

Accende lumen sensibus:

infunde amorem cordibus:

infirma nostri corporis

virtute firmans perpeti.

Hostem repellas longius,

pacemque dones protinus:

ductore sic te praevio

vitemus omne noxium.

Per te sciamus da Patrem,

noscamus atque Filium;

Teque utriusque Spiritum

credamus omni tempore.

Deo Patri sit gloria,

et Filio, qui a mortuis

surrexit, ac Paraclito,

in saeculorum saecula.

Amen.