FEL S-092 (1967) The ink (printed or handwritten) had barely dried on the Second Vatican Council's documents when Catholic composers and artists began to write songs for what we call the "old folk Mass" but what was revolutionary then. Leading the pack (in quantity at least) was Paul Quinlan, S.J., who produced an enormous number …
Filet-o-Fish, Fast Food's Gift to Lent
Believe it or not, that's how it got started: The 1960s were early days for McDonald’s and Groen was struggling to make ends meet. So he cast around for a new idea, and spotted that another restaurant was pulling his missing Catholic customers in selling fish. So he put some fried fish in a bun, …
The First Duty of a Christian Preacher
A pithy summary from R. de la Broise, Bossuet and the Bible, 1890, pp. 160-1: "To preach the word of God, to go hear the word of God," these are the expressive words of the Christian language. They neatly outline one of the distinct characteristics of preaching, one of the points which make the genre …
Jack Miffleton: With Skins and Steel
World Library WLSM-36-SM (1968) Jack Miffleton started out at St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore. That shouldn't be strange to regulars on this blog: it was also the starting point of the trio who produced Songs for the Masses. It's a pedigree that has largely been forgotten. And that's sad; this is a good folk production …
The Creation of Men and Angels: Last singularity of the creation of man in his immortality
This is one in a series from Bossuet’s Elevations on the Mysteries. The previous post is here. More information on the Bossuet Project is here. We no longer count the admirable singularities of the creation of man, so great are the number. But the last is immortality. O God, what a marvel! All the animals …
Is It Necessary for a Roman Catholic to Agree With Everything the Church Teaches?
One thing that comes up for those of us who "swim the Tiber" is the idea that anyone who becomes a Roman Catholic must agree with "everything" that the Church teaches. This issue came up when Greg Griffith stunned the Anglican blogosphere with his conversion.  "Does he really agree with all that?" people asked. The …
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The Creation of Men and Angels: On the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and on the tree of life
One can understand that God had produced from the earth every tree beautiful to see and agreeable to taste; And in the midst of paradise he also set the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God could annex to plants certain natural virtues in relation to our bodies. …
The Creation of Men and Angels: God gives man a commandment and warns him of his free will and all of his subjection
This is one in a series from Bossuet’s Elevations on the Mysteries. The previous post is here. More information on the Bossuet Project is here. You will eat of all the fruits of heaven, but you will not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day you eat …
The Creation of Men and Angels: The creation of the second sex
This is one in a series from Bossuet’s Elevations on the Mysteries. The previous post is here. More information on the Bossuet Project is here. In producing the other animals, God created the two sexes together; And the formation of the second is a singularity of the creation of man. How useful it was for …
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The Creation of Men and Angels: God puts man in paradise, and led to him all of the animals to name them
This is one in a series from Bossuet’s Elevations on the Mysteries. The previous post is here. More information on the Bossuet Project is here. After forming man, God begins to make him feel what he is in the world by two memorable circumstances. One, he planted with his own hand a delicious garden called …
Positive Infinity 