Joseph Ratzinger's Chastity and Saint Augustine's Beast!

Insight from the Ratzinger Coat of Arms Cf. Milestones, 154-156.

The Freising bear of the coat of arms is first about the founding-bishop Saint Corbinian on the way to Rome and a bear having to take the burden of the horse he had mauled, and relieved of his reparatory burden upon arriving at Rome. That diocesan bear reminded Ratzinger of a passage of Saint Augustine on Psalm 73, on chastity remedying the wild concupiscence of the flesh, necessary for the beast of the Lord: "the Lord's donkey."

"The laden bear that took the place of Saint Corbinian's horse, or rather donkey--the bear that became his donkey against its will: Is this not an image of what I should do and or what I am? 'A beast of burden have I become for you, and this is just the way for me to remain wholly yours and always abide with you.'" Milestones, 156.

Cf. also the testimony he gives in Salt of the Earth, 56 regarding his personal issue regarding the call to celibacy, a problem certainly aggravated by co-ed habitation.

"Bound up with [my vocation] was naturally the question of whether I would be able to remain celibate, unmarried, my whole life long. Since the university had been destroyed and there was as yet no place for theology students, we lived for two years (1947-1949) in the Fürstenried Castle with its buildings on the edge of the city. There not only professors and students but also male and female students lived at such close quarters that the daily encounter definitely made the question of renunciation and its inner meaning a practical one. I often pondered these questions as I walked in the beautiful park of Fürstenried and naturally in the chapel, until finally at my diaconal ordination in the fall of 1950 I was able to pronounce a convinced Yes."

Cf. regarding the beast of burden of the Lord the loyal donkey of perseverance.


Here is a readily available English version of that passage of the Commentary on Psalm 73 of Saint Augustine from New Advent. See especially  verses 21-25.

19. How have they become a desolation suddenly? Psalm 72:19. He is wondering at them, understanding unto the last things. They have vanished. Truly like smoke, which while it mounts upward, does vanish, so they have vanished. How does he say, They have vanished? In the manner of one who understands the last things: they have perished because of their iniquity. Like as the dream of one rising up Psalm 72:20. How have they vanished? As vanishes the dream of one rising up. Fancy a man in sleep to have seen himself find treasures; he is a rich man, but only until he awakes. Like as the dream of one rising up: so they have vanished, like the dream of one awaking. It is sought then and it is not: there is nothing in the hands, nothing in the bed. A poor man he went to sleep, a rich man in sleep he became: had he not awoke, he were a rich man: he woke up, he found the care which he had lost while sleeping. And these men shall find the misery which they had prepared for themselves. When they shall have awoke from this life, that thing does pass away which was grasped as if in sleep. Like as the dream of one rising up. And that there might not be said, What then? A small thing does their glory seem to you, a small thing does their state seem to you, small things seem to you inscriptions, images, statues, distinctions, troops of clients? O Lord, he says, in Your city their image You shall bring to nothing....He has taken away the pride of rich men, he gives counsel. As if they were saying, We are rich men, thou dost forbid us to be proud, dost prohibit us from boasting of the parade of our riches: what then are we to do with these riches? Is it come to this, that there is nothing which they may do therewith? Be they rich, he says, in good works; let them readily distribute, communicate. 1 Timothy 6:18 And what does this profit? Let them treasure unto themselves a good foundation for the future, that they may lay hold of true life.1 Timothy 6:19 Where ought they to lay up treasure for themselves? In that place where unto he set his eye, when entering into the Sanctuary of God. Let there shudder all our rich brethren, abounding in money, gold, silver, household, honours, let them shudder at that which but now has been said, You shall bring to nothing their image. Are they not worthy to suffer these things, to wit that God bring to nothing their image in His city, because also they have themselves brought to nothing the image of God in their earthly city?

20. Because my heart was delighted Psalm 72:21. He is saying with what things he is tempted: because my heart was delighted, he says, my reins also were changed. When those temporal things delighted me, my reins were changed. It may also be understood thus: because my heart was delighted in God, my reins also were changed, that is, my lusts were changed, and I became wholly chaste. My reins were changed. And hear how.And I was brought unto nothing, and I knew not Psalm 72:22. I, the very man, who now say these things of rich men, once longed for such things: therefore even I was brought to nothing when my steps were almost overthrown. And I was brought unto nothing, and I knew not. We must not therefore despair even of them, against whom I was saying such things.

21. What is, I knew not? As it were a beast I became to You, and I am always with You Psalm 72:23. There is a great difference between this man and others. He became as it were a beast in longing for earthly things, when being brought to nothing he knew not things eternal: but he departed not from his God, because he did not desire these things of demons, of the devil. For this I have already brought to your notice. The voice is from the Synagogue, that is, from that people which served not idols. A beast indeed I became, when desiring from my God things earthly: but I never departed from That my God.

22. Because then, though having become a beast, I departed not from my God, there follows, You have held the hand of my right hand. He has not said my right hand, but the hand of my right hand. If the hand of the right hand it is, a hand has a hand. The hand You have held of my right hand, in order that You might conduct me. For what has he put hand? For power. For we say that a man has that in his hand which he has in his power: jus tas the devil said to God concerning Job, Lay to Your hand, and take away the things which he has. Job 1:11 What is, lay to Your hand? Put forth power. The hand of God he has called the power of God: as has been written in another place, death and life are in the hands of the tongue. Proverbs 18:21 Hath the tongue hands? But what is, in the hands of the tongue? In the power of the tongue. What is, in the power of the tongue? Out of your mouth you shall be justified, and out of your mouth you shall be condemned. Matthew 12:37 You have held,therefore, the hand of my right hand, the power of my right hand. What was my right hand? That I was always with You. Unto the left I was holding, because I became a beast, that is, because there was an earthly concupiscence in me: but the right was mine, because I was always with you. Of this my right hand You have held the hand, that is, hast directed the power. What power? He gave them power to become sons of God.John 1:12 He is beginning now to be among the sons of God, belonging to the New Testament. See in what manner the hand of his right hand was held. In Your will You have conducted me. What is, in your will? Not in my merits. What is, in Your will? Hear the apostle, who was at first a beast longing for things earthly, and living after the Old Testament. He says what? I that at first was a blasphemer, and persecutor, and injurious: but mercy I obtained. 1 Timothy 1:13 What is, in Your will? By the grace of God I am what I am. 1 Corinthians 15:10 And in glory You have taken me up. Now to what glory he was taken up, and in what glory, who can explain, who can say? Let us await it, because in the Resurrection it will be, in the last things it will be.

23. And he is beginning to think of that same Heavenly felicity, and to reprove himself, because he has been a beast, and has longed for things earthly. For what have I in Heaven, and from You what have I willed upon earth? Psalm 72:25. By your voice I see that you have understood. He compared with his earthly will the heavenly reward which he is to receive; he saw what was there being reserved for him; and while thinking and burning at the thought of some ineffable thing, which neither eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor into the heart of man has ascended, 1 Corinthians 2:9 he has not said, this or that I have in Heaven, but, what have I in Heaven? What is that thing which I have in Heaven? What is it? How great is it? Of what sort is it? And, since that which I have in heaven does not pass away, from You what have I willed upon earth?. . You reserve, he says, for me in Heaven riches immortal, even Yourself, and I have willed from You on earth that which even ungodly men have, which even evil men have, which even abandoned men have, money, gold, silver, jewels, households, which even many wicked men have: which even many profligate women have, many profligate men: these things as a greatmatter I have desired of my God upon earth: though my God reserves Himself for me in Heaven!

24. My heart and my flesh has failed, O God of my heart Psalm 72:26. This then for me in Heaven has been reserved, God of my heart, and my portion is my God. What is it, brethren? Let us find out our riches, let mankind choose their parts. Let us see men torn with diversity of desires: let some choose war-service, some advocacy, some various and sundry offices of teaching, some merchandise, some farming, let them take their portions in human affairs: let the people of God cry, my portion is my God. Not for a time my portion; but my portion is my God for everlasting. Even if I always have gold, what have I? Even if I did not always have God, how great a good should I have? To this is added, that He promises Himself to me, and He promises that I shall have this for everlasting. So great a thing I have, and never have it not. Great felicity: my portion is God!How long? For everlasting. For behold and see after what sort He has loved him; He has made his heart chaste:God of my heart, and my portion is God for everlasting. His heart has become chaste, for nought now God is loved, from Him is not sought any other reward. He that does seek any other reward from God, and therefore is willing to serve God, more precious does make that which he wills to receive, than Him from whom he wills to receive. What then, is there no reward belonging to God? None except Himself. The reward belonging to God, is God Himself. This he loves, this he esteems; if any other thing he shall have loved, the love will not be chaste. You are receding from the Fire immortal, you will grow cold, will be corrupted. Do not recede. Recede not, it will be your corruption, it will be your fornication. Now he is returning, now he is repenting, now he is choosing repentance, now he is saying, my portion is God. And after what sort is he delighted with that Same, whom he has chosen for his portion.

25. Behold, they that put themselves afar from You shall perish Psalm 72:27. He therefore departed from God, but not far: for I have become as it were a beast, he says, and I am always with You. But they have departed afar, because not only things earthly they have desired, but have sought them from demons and the Devil. They that put themselves afar from You shall perish. And what is it, to become afar from God? You have destroyed every man that commits fornication away from You. To this fornication is opposed chaste love. What is chaste love? Now the soul does love her Bridegroom: what does she require of Him, from Her Bridegroom whom she loves? Perchance in like manner as women choose for themselves men either as sons-in-law or as bridegrooms: she perchance chooses riches, and loves his gold, and estates, and silver and cattle and horses, and household, and the like. Far be it. He does love Him alone, for nought he does love Him: because in Him he has all things, for by Him were made all things. John 1:3

26. But you do what? But for me to cleave to God is a good thing Psalm 72:28. This is whole good. Will you have more? I grieve at your willing. Brethren, what will you have more? Than to cleave to God nothing is better, when we shall see Him face to face. 1 Corinthians 13:12 But now what? For yet as a stranger I am speaking: to cleave,he says, to God is a good thing: but now in my sojourning (for not yet has come the substance), I have to put in God my hope. So long therefore as you have not yet cloven, therein put your hope. You are wavering, cast forward an anchor to the land. Not yet do you cleave by presence, cleave fast by hope. To put in God my hope.And by doing what here will you put in God your hope? What will be your business, but to praise Him whom you love, and to make others to be fellow-lovers of Him with you? Lo, if you should love a charioteer, would you not carry along other men to love him with you? A lover of a charioteer wherever he goes does speak of him, in order that as well as he others also may love him. For nought are loved abandoned men, and from God is reward required in order that He may be loved? Love thou God for nought, grudge God to no one....For what follows? In order that I may tell forth all Your praises in the courts of the daughter of Sion. In the courts: for the preaching of God beside the Church is vain. A small thing it is to praise God and to tell forth all His praise. In the courts of the daughter of Sion tell thou forth. Make for unity, do not divide the people; but draw them unto one, and make them one. I have forgotten how long I have been speaking. Now the Psalm being ended, even judging by this closeness, I suppose I have held a long discourse: but it does not suffice for your zeal; you are too impetuous. O that with this impetuosity ye would seize upon the kingdom of Heaven.

The Historical Significance of Christopher Columbus

Las Carabelas: La Pinta,  La Niña, y la Santa María

Notice the Spanish crosses in the sails with the distinctive

spear head ends of the cross of Saint James.

One of the most heroic and skilled acts in the history of the world was done by a devout Catholic: Christopher Columbus! (c. 1451 – 20 May 1506)

“He observed fasts of the Church most faithfully, confessed and made communion often, read the Divine Office like a churchman, hated blasphemy and profane swearing and was most devoted to Our Lady and the seraphic father St.Francis” --Bartolomé de las Casas, O.P. (c. 1484 – 18 July 1566)

“I recognized that they were people who would be better freed from error and converted to our Holy Faith by love, than by force.” --Columbus Journal upon meeting the natives in the New World

“Salve Regina, Mater misericordiae!” --The first words the Americas heard from Columbus, words of love for the Most Blessed and Ever Virgin Mary

Columbus landed today October 12, The Feast of Nuestra Señora del Pilar, the Patroness of Spain.

Lord Acton pointed out - Columbus “discovery” of the New World was the starting point of modern history. “The past had ruled the world till then. What began that day was the reign of the future.”

He may or may not be a saint, but his cause for beatification was actually opened in the 19th century.

P.S. The Spaniards have a very good brandy, Cardenal Mendoza, named after the counselor of the Spanish crown, Pedro González de Mendoza (though more statesman than priest), who recommended the patronage of the Columbus expedition.

There are at least two grades of brandy by the company: the $50 (reserva) or $150 bottle (non plus ultra). If you can get the second one you should by a case! It is not easy to come by in the US. Sip it warm and slow. It is at least as good as any cognac, if not superior to most! If you go to the Cardenal Mendoza link above you will see that Pope Francis was recently gifted a bottle of this high quality Christian beverage. Salud!

Happy Columbus Day!

Problem Resolution is a Primary Pastoral Duty of Bishops

The Church must address the vices and perils of the time...even among men of the Church...

The Bible and the Church Fathers...have sharp condemnations of shepherds who are like mute dogs; in order to avoid conflicts, they let the poison spread.

Peace is not the first civic duty, and a bishop whose only concern is not the have any problems and to gloss over as many conflicts as possible is an image I find repulsive. 82

...[L]etting things drift is...the worst kind of administration I can imagine. 83
Cardinal Ratzinger, Salt of the Earth (commenting on his years as Cardinal Archbishop in Germany).
"Pray for me, that I may not flee for fear of the wolves."
MASS, IMPOSITION OF THE PALLIUM AND CONFERRAL OF THE FISHERMAN'S RING FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE PETRINE MINISTRY OF THE BISHOP OF ROME HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI St. Peter's Square Sunday, 24 April 2005

Amazon Owns All the Books!

For over fifteen years I have been heavily using the quite comprehensive book (new and used) search engines AbeBooks.com and BookFinder.com and, more recently, bookdepository.com. In the last several years I have done so consciously as an alternative to the ever monopolizing giant Amazon, that sets out to unfairly quash all competition (e.g. selling for less than they buy).

Well, surprise, surprise, they are all owned by Amazon! I have been feeding the giant in my quixotic contest against it!

BookfinderFinder.com founded in 1997 was bought by AbeBooks in 2005.
AbeBooks.com founded in 1996 was bought by Amazon August 1, 2008.
Book Depository.com founded in 2007 was bought by Amazon July 4, 2011.

It's like going to the store and buying the generic brand only to find that it is owned by the same Procter & Gamble which owns the generic along with the name-brand!

God help us all! Amazon, among various other computer monopolies, (Google included, which owns my blog! and my e-mail) is dangerous in it's power to manipulate the little guys.

Reception of the Cassock Flavigny 2008!

How it was done in olden times and is still maintained by a few radicals.

Would that secular novus ordo seminaries should recover some of that glorious tradition!

El Seminarista: Pedro Infante

From the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema, Infante is considered an secular idol of Latin America; styled, together with Jorge Negrete and Javier Solís, as the Tres Gallos Mexicanos (theThree Mexican Roosters).

Infante starred in no less than 62 films!

N.B. "The Seminarian" story line is of an ex-seminarian reminiscing with his priest friend about the clerical life. Pedro Infante did not lead an exemplary life (fathering children from his adulterous relationships). Excellent acting, albeit with a typical Mexican-masonic anti-clerical twist. Enjoy, with caution at the Anti-Catholic propaganda.

First class Mexican Movies!

The Life of Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer (9 January 1902 – 26 June 1975)

English

Español

The First Pope of the Huge Crowds: Venerable Pope Pius XII Live Footage

Jan 26, 2007 The Last Years of Pius XII 1951-1958

Eugenio Pacelli The First Years Part 1 1876-1919

Eugenio Pacelli The First Years Part 3 1933-1938

Pacelli, Pius XII Part 1: Election 1939-1940

Pacelli, Pius XII Part 2: 1940-1942

Pacelli, Pius XII Part 3: Martyrs and Occupation - 1943

 Pacelli, Pius XII Part 4: Liberation, Jubilee 1944-1950

Consistory 1945

Holy Year Ends 1951

Pastor Angelicus Full Movie

CINES

Centro Cattolico Cinematografico

Pope Pius XII: Under the Roman Sky English Full Movie


Full Unedited 2-hour Documentary

Jesuit Missions to China: Father Ferdinand Verbiest the Emporer, Science, and Chinese Missal

Verbiest: The Priest Who Invented the Automobile

Catholic Encyclopedia

Missionary and astronomer, b. at Pitthem near Coutrai, ("Kortrijk") Belgium, 9 Oct., 1623; d. at Peking, 28 January, 1688.

He entered the Society of Jesus on 2 Sept., 1641, and studied theology at Seville, where he defended public theses in 1655. In 1658 with thirty-five new missionaries he accompanied Father Martin Martini on his return to China after having secured at Rome the Decree of Alexander VII for the toleration of the Chinese rites (see MATTEO RICCI). He reached Macao in 1659, and was exercising his ministry in Shen-si when in 1660 he was called to Peking to assist, and eventually to replace, Father Adam Schall in his astronomical labours. He was among those imprisoned during the persecution of 1664. Father Schall, the chief of those accused, being unable to make himself understood by his judges, Father Verbiest, himself loaded with nine chains, defended him with courage and eloquence. In fact the Church in China owed to Father Verbiest the recovery of peace and greater security than it had before the outbreak. In 1668 the young emperor commanded a public test, which allowed the priest to prove beyond dispute the merits of European astronomy compared with the ancient astronomy of China. Father Verbiest and the mandarin who had instigated the persecution and who had taken Father Schall's place as president of the bureau of mathematics, were each commissioned to determine in advance the length of the shadow thrown by a gnomon of a given height at noon of a certain day; then the absolute and relative positions of the sun and the planets on a given date; and finally the moment of a lunar eclipse. The results of the test, which the emperor, ministers, and nobles established in person, were a triumph for the astronomy for the missionaries. Father Verbiest was immediately placed at the head of the Bureau of Mathematics, and, out of consideration for him, his exiled brethren were authorized to return to their missions.

Thenceforth K'ang-hi's benevolence towards Father Verbiest and the Christian religion increased steadily. The emperor requested the priest to construct instruments like those of Europe, and in May, 1674, Verbiest was able to present him with six, made under his direction: a quadrant, six feet in radius; an azimuth compass, six feet in diameter; a sextant, eight feet in radius; a celestial globe, six feet in diameter; and two armillary spheres, zodiacal and equinoctial, each six feet in diameter. These large instruments, all of brass and with decorations which made them notable works of art, were, despite their weight, very easy to manipulate, and a credit toVerbiest's mechanical skill as well as to his knowledge of astronomy and mathematics. They are still in a perfect state of preservation, and at the time of the expedition against the Boxers (1900) the international troops admired them on the platform of a tower of the imperial palace where Father Verbiest installed them more than two centuries and a half ago. K'ang-hi made use of the talents of the Belgian Jesuit in various other ways, e.g. the transportation of enormous blocks of stone, the construction of an aqueduct, and the casting of canons. Not only did Father Verbiest cast 132 cannons of far superior power than those possessed by the Chinese, but he invented a new gun-carriage.

At the same time the missionary had to write in Chinese a collection of works explaining the construction of the instruments, their object, and the manner of using them. The emperor also desired him to compile astronomical tables indicating the movements of the planets and the solar and lunar eclipses for 2000 years to come; moreover, he had him give on certain days a course in mathematics and astronomy, at which many of the great mandarins as well as the 160 students of the Bureau of Mathematics assisted. In his desire to acquire the European sciences, K'ang-hi himself became a pupil of the missionary; for five whole months he summoned him almost daily to his presence, setting aside in his behalf all the laws of Chinese etiquette and detaining him for whole days, while Father Verbiest explained the astronomical books compiled in Chinese by himself and his fellow-religious, and finally studying like a school-boy under his direction arithmetic, rectilinear and spherical geometry, geodesy, topography, etc. On beholding the earnestness with which K'ang-hi endeavoured to learn especially the chart of the heavens, Father Verbiest began to hope that "as a star of old brought the magi to the adoration of the true God, so the princes of the Far East through knowledge of the stars would be brought to recognize and adore the Lord of the stars". K'ang-hi did not fulfill this hope, but his bent for the Europeansciences, by inclining him to favour more and more the missionaries who made them known to him, became the means of salvation for thousands of his subjects. Through his influence with the emperor Father Verbiest did more for the spread of the Gospel than any of the missionaries who preached it in the provinces; nevertheless he found time for the direct exercise of the apostolate, especially in the composition of short works in Chinese on the principles of the Christian religion. As he says in one of his letters, books which the Chinese always welcomed as gifts, and which were especially esteemed coming from his pen, were a means of conveying the truth to persons to whom the missionaries would otherwise not have access. K'ang-hi recognized the services of the missionary by conferring on him successively the highest degrees of the mandarinate. The liberty to preach, the only reward Father Verbiest looked for, was almost the sole benefit he derived from his dignities.

It would seem that the use of the human sciences, which had so powerfully assisted Father Ricci to found theChinese mission, and permitted Father Verbiest to save it, would henceforth not be misrepresented. But such was not the case, and, as is well known, it was a missionary from China who considered it his duty to carry to Rome, and by means of his writings to spread throughout the world, impassioned accusations against the methods of the Jesuit missionaries. Among the replies elicited by the attack of Father Navarrete there is one by Father Verbiest; it was not published, but was read at Rome and thence came an ample justification of the worthy missionary astronomer. Innocent XI, to whom he had dedicated the Chinese translation of the Missal printed at Peking and another work containing his astronomical observations, answered him on 3 December, 1681, by a Brief which means much more than a commonplace expression of thanks: "It has pleased us especially", says the pope, "to learn from your letter with what wisdom and seasonableness (quam sapienter atque opportune) you have made use of the profane sciences for the salvation of the Chinese peoples and the advancement and benefit of the Christian faith: employing them to repel the false accusations and calumnies which have been heaped upon the Christian name, opening the way to that high degree of favour with the Chinese king and his advisers, which has obtained both that you yourself should be delivered from the harsh persecutions which you have long endured with the greatest courage, and the power to recall your fellow-missionaries from exile and to restore to religion not only its former liberty and splendour, but to inspire it with the hope of daily progress. . ."

In 1677 Father Verbiest was appointed vice provincial, i.e. superior of all the Jesuit missions of China. This nomination was a stimulus to seek new means of developing the work confided to his direction, with which object he addressed (15 Aug., 1678) a circular letter to all the members of his order in Europe. In it he set forth the hopes which more than ever were held out to the Faith in China, together with the impossibility for the missionaries taken in the field, with the fewness of their number and the inadequacy of their resources, to gather in all the harvest. He then urged his brethren in Europe by most touching arguments to come in as great numbers as possible to reinforce this body of overworked labourers, and also to procure for the mission the material resources necessary for founding new Christian communities, supporting catechists, establishing schools, etc. While seeking assistants in Europe he endeavoured to obtain them also in China itself. The question of a native clergy had arisen at the beginning of the mission. There were difficulties in the way. Hitherto no Chinese had been raised to the priesthood, though many of them had entered the Society and had rendered good service to the mission as catechists. The persecution of 1664, which for nearly five years deprived the Christians of their European missionaries, emphasized more urgently the need of Chinese priests. There is a memoir of the consultation then ordered by the Jesuit superiors; it was drawn up for the father general by Father Verbiest, and is dated from Peking, 12 June, 1678. Herein the vice-provincial energetically advocated the necessity of ordaining Chinese priests; to better assure their perseverance he urged that none be raised to the priesthood save young or mature men who had previously been received and tried in the Society. Moreover, he desired that these Chinese priests might be allowed to say Mass and administer the sacraments in the Chinese language, which permission had been granted in principle by Paul V, as early as 1615. Among the things which Father Verbiest particularly recommend to Father Couplet, sent to Rome in 1680 as procurator of the missions of China, was a request for a confirmation of this permission. His gift to the pope of the Chinese translation of the Missal by Father Buglio was calculated to support this request, but Father Couplet's negotiations in this respect were without result.

Father Verbiest was more fortunate in his appeal to his brethren in Europe. Well seconded by F. Couplet in his journeys with a Chinaman through Italy, France, and the Low Countries, this appeal aroused numerous and ardent volunteers. The strongest contingent of aspirants was furnished by France. Louis XIV, who had several times received Father Couplet and Michael, the Chin aman, at Versailles, longed for the glory of founding at his own expense a French mission, which would simultaneously serve the interest of religion and science in the Far East. And his ministers rightly divined how much France's commercial expansion would gain thereby. Consequently, six Jesuits were taken from the chosen staff of the college of Paris. Having previously been made fellows of the Academy of Sciences and given the title of mathematicians to the king, they set sail from Brest, 3 March, 1685, with the embassy which the king was sending to Siam. Five of them set out from Siam in 1687 and landed at Ning-po in China on 23 July. The authorization to penetrate to the interior, which the Viceroy of Chekiang and even the Tribunal of Rites at Peking would have refused them, was granted them by the emperor at Father Verbiest's request. The arrival of these recruits was a great consolation to the venerable missionary. Nevertheless he was not to have the joy of receiving them at Peking, which they reached (7 February) ten days after his death. They arrived in time for his funeral which K'ang-hi delayed in order that it might be more solemn. On 11 March Father Verbiest's remains were carried to the burial-place formerly given to Father Ricci.

Sources
CARTON, Notice biog. sur le P. F. Verbiest, missionaire a la Chine (Bruges, 1839); DE BACKER-SOMMERVOGEL, Bibl. de la comp. De Jesus, VIII, 574-586; CORDIER, Bibl. sinica, II, 1098; GRESLON, Hist. de la Chine sous la domination des Tartares (Paris, 1671); IDEM, Recit des choses les plus remarquables qui se soni passees a la cour de Pekin touchant nos peres et touchant les mathematiques cette annee 1669 (MS. Archives of the state, at Brussels; Jesuits, no. 1427), 173-192; Astronomia Europaea sub imperatore Tartaro-Sinico Cam-Hy appellato ex umbra in lucem revocata a R. P. Ferdinando Verbiest (Dillingen, 1687); Acta SS., XIII, Paralipomena dissert. 48 and 49; LE COMTE, Nouveaux mm. Sur l'etat present de la Chine, I (Paris, 1696), 139-49, describing and illustrating Verbiest's instruments; DELAMBRE, Hist. de l'astronomie du moyen-age (Paris, 1819), 213; Lettre ecrite de la Chine ou l'on voit l'etat present du christianisme dans cet empire, et les biens qu'on y peut faire (Paris, 1682), containing Verbiest's letter to the Society, the Brief of Innocent XI to Verbiest, etc.; Lettre du P. de Fontaney au P. de la Chaize (Tcheou-chan. 15 Feb., 1903) in Lettres edifiantes et curicuses, VII (Paris, 1707), 61; Lettre du P. Antoine Thomas, S.J., datee de Pekin 8 Septembre, 1688, published by BOSMANS in Archiv fur die Gesch. der Naturwissenschaften und der Technik, I (Leipzig, 1909); BOSMANS, Ferdinand Verbiest in Revue des Quest. Scientif. (1912).

About this page
APA citation. Brucker, J. (1912). Ferdinand Verbiest. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved October 4, 2015 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15346a.htm
MLA citation. Brucker, Joseph. "Ferdinand Verbiest." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 4 Oct. 2015 .
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Thomas M. Barrett. Dedicated to the memory of Father Ferdinand Verbiest.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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Catholic Hospitality

Popular legend

A popular legend claims that the Rule of St Benedict contains the following passage:

If any pilgrim monk come from distant parts, if with wish as a guest to dwell in the monastery, and will be content with the customs which he finds in the place, and do not perchance by his lavishness disturb the monastery, but is simply content with what he finds: he shall be received, for as long a time as he desires.

If, indeed, he find fault with anything, or expose it, reasonably, and with the humility of charity, the Abbot shall discuss it prudently, lest perchance God had sent [him] for this very thing.

But if he have been found gossipy and contumaceous in the time of his sojourn as guest, not only ought he not to be joined to the body of the monastery, but also it shall be said to him, honestly, that he must depart. If he does not go, let two stout monks, in the name of God, explain the matter to him.^[4]

The bulk of the passage, with the exception of the portions in italics, is excerpted (with chance errors) from a translation of chapter 61 of Benedict's Rule found in the book Select historical documents of the Middle Ages (1892), translated and edited by Ernest Flagg Henderson, and reprinted in 1907 in The Library of Original Sources, Vol. IV, edited by Oliver J. Thatcher.

The version above, first published in Hubbard's Little Journeys (1908), omits a part of the passage which enjoins the monastery, given good behaviour, to accept the guest as a permanent resident. The words "gossipy and contumaceous" replace the original "lavish or vicious"; and the words following "he must depart" were originally "lest, by sympathy with him, others also become contaminated."

No language corresponding to the last sentence about "two stout monks" appears in the Rule, though it is a popular myth that it does, with several reputable publications (and more than one church, and at least one Benedictine organization) repeating and propagating the error. At least one of the sources cited attributes the passage to a mythical Chapter 74; the Rule of St Benedict contains only 73 chapters.^[5][6][7]

An early source for the quotation is the University of California, Berkeley faculty club, which has, for years, posted a version of the above passage on its bulletin board in Gothic script. (There, the notice was not attributed to St Benedict).^[8]

According to another urban legend, the Benedictine motto is supposedly Ora est labora, which would mean "[To say] 'Pray!' equals [saying] 'Work!'" The actual motto, however, is, Ora et labora meaning "pray and work!", which refers to two major components of a monastic life: first prayer and then work to support the community and its charities.^[9]

Rise with Baroque Trumpet! Divine!

Spanish Biretta (Bonete Español) and Saturno (Sombrero Teja)

El Bonete Español

Just discovered a Madrid hat store (Sombrerería Medrano) online with a website selling the Spanish Biretta €43.00 and the "Teja," the Spanish Saturno €90.00, tax included!

Sent them an e-mail to order them.
Very exciting.

Romanitas!

Priests wear hats as a bold witness to Jesus Christ our sovereign King and only Lord and to His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary and all the Angels and Saints.

As Pope Saint John Paul II told us in Denver in 1993, "be proud of the Gospel!"

El Sombrero Teja

Urgent European Need to Revive Christian Roots: Angela Merkel

(German)

September 3 last at the Swiss University of Bern, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel repeated an idea very dear to Pope Benedict XVI regarding the need for Europe and Europeans to deepen the Christian praxis. She said that the best way to defend Europe against it's increasing Islamization is for the citizens of Europe to go to Church and read the bible and thus solidify one's Christian identity and thus be able to competently enter into fruitful dialogue. More people in Europe need the courage to say "I am a Christian believer."

Fear is useless, what is needed is more faith--the revival of the Christian faith of the Christians!

Ante el peligro de islamización de Europa, Angela Merkel pide «volver a la Iglesia y leer la Biblia»‘Courageous Christians with biblical foundations’ needed, says Merkel
Merkel University of Bern interview video clip: 3 min (German)

The Full Conference

The Church Prefers Burial of the Body to Cremation!

Having officiated hundreds of funerals in my twenty years of priestly ministry I was under the impression that, since the Church allowed cremation, she had no preference. NOT SO! "The Church prefers burial [of the body to cremation] which expresses more clearly the faith in the resurrection and the dignity of the body." Code of Canon Law Annotated Wilson and Lafleur Limitee: Montreal, 1993, footnote to Canon 1176.

My sudden enlightenment in this regard was caused by the death of my mother last month and my strongly felt objection to some close family members who were pushing for cremation which I spontaneously and adamantly opposed with a clear inner conviction of propriety. Here are the reasons that came to me during this time of anguish.

Why should I subject the mortal remains of my mother, the matter I hold most dear in the world after the Most Blessed Sacrament (also because of the holiness of her life and death, assisted as she was throughout with great faith and prayer, frequent confession, daily Mass and communion whenever possible and dressed in the brown scapular of the third order of Mount Carmel of which she was a devoted member), to unknown manipulation by some unknown incinerator laborer and then trusting that all was done with dignity? How do you burn a human body with dignity? How do you collect the cremains in a dignified manner? What assurance do I have in the end that the remains were all collected and that what was collected was entirely only her remains? If she were a saint each particle of the remains is a relic. If that is the case, and that is our Christian hope (that she make it to heaven even if she might have to make a stop in Purgatory), then I would prefer to have everything, untampered and clearly accounted for and deposited together in one memorialized and blessed place.

I am glad now to find that the Church prefers what I have naturally chosen and so strongly preferred. Sometimes you have to live with faith through things to realize the great importance of our Catholic faith and traditions of old!

Here are the relevant documents. One from the Code of Canon Law, the other (1963 decree Piam et constantem of Blessed Pope Paul VI's Holy Office) that opened the door to this modern breech with the long-standing norm of burial of the body. We'll start with the latter.

SC HOLY OFFICE, Instruction Piam et constantem, on cremation, 8 May 1963: AAS 56 (1964) 822-

823.

{3366} The reverent, unbroken practice of burying the bodies of the faithful departed is something the Church has always taken pains to encourage. It has surrounded the practice with rites suited to bring out more clearly the symbolic and religious significance of burial and has threatened with penalties those who might attack the sound practice. The Church has especially employed such sanctions in the face of hate-inspired assaults against Christian practices and traditions by those who, imbued with the animosity of their secret societies, sought to replace burial by cremation. This practice was meant to be a symbol of their antagonistic denial of Christian dogma, above all of the resurrection of the dead and the immortality of the soul.

Such an intent clearly was subjective, belonging to the mind of the proponents of cremation, not something objective, inherent in the meaning of cremation itself. Cremation does not affect the soul nor prevent God's omnipotence from restoring the body; neither, then, does it in itself include an objective denial of the dogmas mentioned.

The issue is not therefore an intrinsically evil act, opposed per se to the Christian religion. This has always been the thinking of the Church: in certain situations where it was or is clear that there is an upright motive for cremation, based on serious reasons, especially of public order, the Church ddid not and does not object to it.

There has been a change for the better in attitudes and in recent years more frequent and clearer situations impedeing the practice of burial have developed. Consequently, the Holy See is receiving repeated requests for a relaxation of church disciples relative to cremation. The procedure is clearly being advocated today, not out of hatred of the Church or Christian customs, but rather for reasons of health, economics, or other reasons involving private or public order.

It is the decision of the Church to accede to the requests received, out of concern primarily for the spiritual well-being of the faithful, but also out of its awareness of other pressures. The Church therefore establishes the following.

{3367} 1. All necessary measures must be taken to preserve the practice of reverently burying the faithful departed. Accordingly, through proper instruction and persuasion Ordinaries are to ensure that the faithful refrain from cremation and not discontinue the practice of burial except when forced to do so by necessity. For the Church has always maintained the practice of burial and consecrated it through liturgical rites.

{3368} 2. It has seemed the wiser course, however, to relax somewhat the prescriptions of canon law touching on cremation, for two reasons. One is so that difficulties arising from contemporary circumstances may not be unduly increased; the other, so that the need for dispensation from the pertinent laws may not arise too often. Accordingly, the stipulations of CIC can. 1203, par. 2 (on carrying out a person's will to be cremated) and of can. 1240, par. 1, no. 5 (on the denial of ecclesiastical burial to a person who has left such a directive) no longer have universal binding force, but only in those cases in which it is clear that the reason for choosing cremation was either a denial of Christian dogmas, the animosity of a secret society, or hatred of the Catholic religion and the Church.

{3369} 3. From this it follows that the sacraments or public prayers are not to be refused to those who have chosen cremation unless there is evidence that their choice was made on the basis of the anti-Christian motives just listed.

{3370} 4. The devout attitude of the faithful toward the ecclesiastical tradition must be kept from being harmed and the Church's adverse attitude toward cremation must be clearly evident. Therefore the rites of ecclesiastical burial and the ensuing suffrages may never be carried out at the place of cremation itself, not even simply to accompany the body as it is being brought there.

The cardinals in charge of safeguarding matters of faith and morals reviewed this Instruction in a plenary meeting on 8 May 1963. Pope Paul VI at an audience granted to the Cardinal Secretary of the Holy Office on 5 July 1963 has agreed to approve it.

Posted by Jeffrey Pinyan 3 OCTOBER 2008 at Documents on the Liturgy.

1983 Code of Canon Law, Can. 1176 

§1. Deceased members of the Christian faithful must be given ecclesiastical funerals according to the norm of law.

§2. Ecclesiastical funerals, by which the Church seeks spiritual support for the deceased, honors their bodies, and at the same time brings the solace of hope to the living, must be celebrated according to thenorm of the liturgical laws.

§3. The Church earnestly recommends that the pious custom of burying the bodies of the deceased be observed; nevertheless, the Church does not prohibit cremation unless it was chosen for reasons contraryto Christian doctrine.

Lera Auerbach

A composer of our own day with a soul! Very convincing. Though a Russian Jew (as far as I can tell), sounds so much like Messiaen,. Someone needs to introduce her to the perfect Jew, Jesus Christ, and the perfect Jewess, the Most Blessed and Ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God.

A Fine Mass for the Morning

That to which I am presently listening.
Johann Valentin Rathgeber - Missale tum rurale tum civile, Op.12 "Messe von Muri"

Rathgeber (3 April 1682 – 2 June 1750 Baroque Era), a Benedictine priest, was a very versatile and productive composer and was one of the most popular and respected composers in southern Germany. He composed both secular and sacred works, the majority of his output being sacred vocal works. He wrote several hundred works, mainly masses (43), hymns, arias, litanies, requiems, magnificats, offertories (164), Marian antiphons (44) and also instrumental concertos (24) and songs.

Miscarriage Music

Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez; (November 22, 1901 – July 6, 1999) most famous work, Concierto de Aranjuez, was composed in 1939 in Paris for the guitarist Regino Sainz de la Maza. In later life he and his wife declared that it was written as a response to the miscarriage of their first child.^[2] It is a concerto for guitar and orchestra. The central adagio movement is one of the most recognizable in 20th-century classical music, featuring the interplay of guitar with cor anglais.

Islam is a Religion of Hatred: Al'Quran Should be Read!

Read the Koran!

Joseph Fadelle, descendant of Muhammad and convert to Catholicism in a French Television Interview today.

Mr. Fadelle says that Muslims are brainwashed by rote memorization, thereby trained in hatred, and not allowed to read and critically study the Koran, which study would clarify much of the confusion. Muslims as well as Christians should read and study the Koran.

Al'Quran pdf English
Al'Quran pdf Arabic & English with ample notes and commentary
N.B. The first European translation of the Koran was to Latin by Robert of Ketton in 1143 entitled Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete.
Joseph Fadelle's autobiography: The Price to Pay: A Muslim Risks All to Follow Christ, Ignatius Press, 2012 (ISBN 978-1-5861-7599-3)

Honor One Another Out of Reverence for Christ

You need to honor others more than others need the honor you might give.

Work at it.

Ephesians 5:21,

Romans 12:16, 

Stained Glass Window In Five Minutes

A 5-Minute Craft

You need a one sided coloring sheet meaning that there is only a picture on one side, Wax paper or paper towel, markers or crayons, vegetable oil or cooking spray and a paint brush.

1. Color the picture with markers or crayons. Press firmly.

2. Place the picture on a piece of wax paper or a paper towel. Cover the picture with vegetable oil or cooking spray. I like spray because it is easier.

3. Use the paintbrush to evenly distribute the oil.

4. Let dry. My picture took 5 hours. The result will be a stained glass picture. I hung mine in the kitchen window.

Perhaps the best place to go to find one sided coloring pages is the Internet. You can google in stained glass coloring on google images and get loads of good stuff.

Pope Benedict's Poverty

In the late 1960's Father Doctor Joseph Ratzinger and the heretic Father Doctor Hans Küng were the stars of the School of Catholic Theology at the University of Tübingen, each holding a chair of Dogmatic Theology in that department. But their temperamental and human differences were patent.

The impetuous Swiss traveled around in his white Alfa Romeo dressed in elegant mufti. The journalists would go to him whenever they needed a dissident Catholic opinion on the hot button issues of those post-conciliar days. The discrete Bavarian theologian on the other hand would move around on foot or by public transportation, would say daily mass in a female student dormitory and would dedicate his time to study and preparation of his lectures, keeping himself faithful to his austere and reserved lifestyle.

For those few years (1966-1969) the two men were close colleagues, going out alone for a weekly Thursday evening dinner together to discuss Faculty affairs. Ratzinger, though, was the brighter of the two and kept ever loyal to the Magisterium.
El profesor Ratzinger, Gianni Valente  San Pablo: Madrid, 2011, p. 164-65 .

He was always a man of noble and exemplary industry, loyalty and simplicity, and Catholic and priestly honesty! in a world of upheavals!

N.B. 1968 was the year of the student uprisings in Europe, Tübingen included.

Eleven Hours of Beethoven Piano Works, Commercial Free

Oops, it does have sporadic commercials~!

The Expense of Pope Francis' Poverty

Because he refuses to ride in an armored vehicle, the expense of the extra security needed for the Holy Father's travels here in the USA would have been able to buy many armored vehicles! His simplicity is very expensive!

And, he is therefore also relegated to being seen by very few people here. Notice him here riding through a mostly empty Central Park surrounded by an army of soldiers and armored cars!

Expensive poverty, and exclusive, which only a pope can afford!

Pope Francis is Politically Correct

It is shocking and offensive for men and women of normal Catholic sensibilities for the Holy Father, the Vicar of Christ on earth to neglect to explicitly condemn and decry the travesty of present marriage law, assisted suicide and abortion.

Pope Francis is a prophet of ambiguity and confusion but he is very clearly on the side of publicly not condemning the prevalent and legal crimes and perversions of contraception, abortion, same-sex unions and so called assisted-suicide (a misnomer for legalized euthanasia). Quite simply, he is politically correct and proposes that model of political correctness, of distancing oneself from the Catholic identity, as a model for priests and bishops.

The clear and unambiguous message is befriend the enemies of the Church, the enemies of God, the enemies of Christ. He makes it a point to say and to show that he is no friend of loyal and zealous Catholics, especially the clergy, of whom he is consistently critical and quick to correct while so reluctant to contradict the mood of the rulers of the world.

So he rightly and explicitly condemns drug-trafficking and the abuse of children and promotes the rights of the poor, points on which there is 100% unanimous agreement among legislators and nations everywhere, while consciously and purposefully refusing to explicitly mention the singular gravity and presently growing scandals of abortion "rights" and public funding, same-sex unions and euthanasia.

Pope Francis, therefore, is no friend.

He is friends with the demons of this world and thereby deliberately distances himself from the saints: Blessed Mother Teresa, Blessed Pope Paul VI, Pope Saint John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, all of whom consistently and clearly condemned these crimes of the nations at the United Nations every time they have been invited there!

E.g. Blessed Pope Paul VI explicitly condemned contraception at the United Nations  Monday, 4 October 1965 (three years before Humanae Vitae and five years before Roe vs. Wade) saying "Your task is so to act that there will be enough bread at the table of mankind and not to support an artificial birth control that would be irrational, with the aim of reducing the number of those sharing in the banquet of life."

Pope Francis continues to muffle the prophetic voice of his papacy and it is very hurtful and confusing to loyal Catholics, which offense he apparently deems a part of his mission. He sets out to provoke the ire of the faithful and to promote the consolation of the masses and of the ruling powers. N.B. No words of criticism against the communist regime in Cuba, just kind words.

"miserando atque eligendo" Venerable Bede Homily for the Feast of Saint Matthew Today

The motto of Pope Francis is taken from a passage from the Venerable Bede, Homily 21 (CCL 122, 149-151), on the Feast of Matthew, which reads: Vidit ergo Jesus publicanum, et quia miserando atque eligendo vidit, ait illi, ‘Sequere me’. [Jesus therefore sees the tax collector, and since he sees by having mercy and by choosing, he says to him, ‘follow me’.]

This homily is a tribute to Divine Mercy and is read during the Liturgy of the Hours on the Feast of St Matthew. This has particular significance in the life and spirituality of the Pope. In fact, on the Feast of St Matthew in 1953, the young Jorge Bergoglio experienced, at the age of 17, in a very special way, the loving presence of God in his life. Following confession, he felt his heart touched and he sensed the descent of the Mercy of God, who with a gaze of tender love, called him to religious life, following the example of St Ignatius of Loyola.

Jesus saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him: Follow me. Jesus saw Matthew, not merely in the usual sense, but more significantly with his merciful understanding of men.

He saw the tax collector and, because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him, he said to him: Follow me. This following meant imitating the pattern of his life - not just walking after him. St. John tells us: Whoever says he abides in Christ ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

And he rose and followed him. There is no reason for surprise that the tax collector abandoned earthly wealth as soon as the Lord commanded him. Nor should one be amazed that neglecting his wealth, he joined a band of men whose leader had, on Matthew’s assessment, no riches at all. Our Lord summoned Matthew by speaking to him in words. By an invisible, interior impulse flooding his mind with the light of grace, he instructed him to walk in his footsteps. In this way Matthew could understand that Christ, who was summoning him away from earthly possessions, had incorruptible treasures of heaven in his gift.

As he sat at table in the house, behold many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. This conversion of one tax collector gave many men, those from his own profession and other sinners, an example of repentance and pardon. Notice also the happy and true anticipation of his future status as apostle and teacher of the nations. No sooner was he converted than Matthew drew after him a whole crowd of sinners along the same road to salvation. He took up his appointed duties while still taking his first steps in the faith, and from that hour he fulfilled his obligation and thus grew in merit. To see a deeper understanding of the great celebration Matthew held at his house, we must realise that he not only gave a banquet for the Lord at his earthly residence, but far more pleasing was the banquet set in his own heart which he provided through faith and love. Our Savior attests to this: Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

On hearing Christ’s voice, we open the door to receive him, as it were, when we freely assent to his promptings and when we give ourselves over to doing what must be done. Christ, since he dwells in the hearts of his chosen ones through the grace of his love, enters so that he might eat with us and we with him. He ever refreshes us by the light of his presence insofar as we progress in our devotion to and longing for the things of heaven. He himself is delighted by such a pleasing banquet.

N.B. This official translation of the breviary is poor. I will make my own translation from the Latin soon.

No Applause During Papal Homily in Cuba's Revolution Square!

There was nothing to applaud!

Except for the name Jesus Christ and "the Gospel", his homily could have been given by Castro himself. He said nothing even alluding to the circumstances and specific predicament of these people. A huge letdown! Gives the impression that he is complicit with the notorious human rights abuses of the communist regime.

Note also that within the sanctuary there is no crucifix behind the altar but rather a modest sized resurrection Christ in front and just to the right of the sanctuary.

Papal Visit to Cuba and USA Unedited Coverage On Demand

Vatican YouTube Channel

New Pope Benedict-Joseph Ratzinger Roman Library to Open at Vatican 18 November 2015

The Teutonic College, located just before the Sacristy, 
beside the Southern arm of  the 
Atrium of Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican
You can see the Paul VI Audience Hall directly behind,
 and back left the Palace of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Mgr. Hans Peter Fischer, Rector of the Teutonic College, announced that a ceremony will be held on 18 November to mark the opening of the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Roman Library.

The library is entirely dedicated to the works and life of Joseph Ratzinger as a scholar and a Pope and is housed inside the Library of the Teutonic College and of the Roman Institute of the Gorres Society in the Vatican.

The announcement was made at the August 30th 2015 mass of Pope Emeritus Benedict with his former students which was followed by a ceremony for the inauguration of the “Pope Benedict-Joseph Ratzinger Hall”, which the Pope Emeritus blessed. The ceremony took place in the buildings adjacent to the Teutonic Cemetery.

That story is in the previous post.

Above is a better look at the Palace of  the Doctrine of the Faith Headquarters for perspective.

Here is even greater perspective. Enlarge the Image and you will see exactly where all these buildings are in relation to one another. A further interesting detail is the the Domus Sanctae Marthae is just beyond the Vatican Sacristy. An extremely precarious position, nothing compared to the bastion of a fortress of the Apostolic Palace! Impossible to protect! For a Pope to live there must be much more costly than living in the Palace which is made for his residence. This Popes penchant for poverty is very expensive for the Church!