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Month: January 2006

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Media

Say it aint so… Isidore

I was perusing some of the traditional Catholic websites and came across an interesting article about a Roman Catholic monsignor blessing a Hooters Restaurant in Waco, Texas.

I figured, I’ve got to check this out. And yes —“ it’s true. Check out the article at the Waco Tribune.

There is a great analysis of this outrage at the Catholic Outsider.

What can I say? After I pick my jaw up off the floor I might ask the monsignor if he was acting in Persona Christi while doing this. Was he doing what the Church does? Was he acting as the Church acts?

The monsignor is pastor of St. Martin —“ Tours parish in West, Texas.

The monsignor noted that “blessings are part of Catholic tradition.”

Monsignor, blessings are living and efficacious calls to holiness. They are a means to help us in recognizing God’s action in our lives. Their misuse is a sacrilege. Blessings are not just a tradition. It’s not just water you’re sprinkling. You are supposed to believe in what you do. Blessings go back to the beginning of time and the first was from God Himself.

It should also be noted that the monsignor was opposed by sixty other clergy members, primarily from Protestant denominations. At least they stood on faith.

The monsignor has given rise to the typical reaction from the media. Fox News reports:

Sweet Hooters Most Holy

Please bless these overly revealing orange shorts, and all who wear them while serving me cheese fries.

The head Catholic priest for the Greater Waco, Texas, area, Monsignor Isidore Rozycki, plans to bless a new Hooters restaurant in a private opening ceremony…

Oh good. You’ve not only assisted in the objectification of women but of our Lord, His mother, and His Church.

For reflection:

Heresy is from the Greek word meaning ‘choice’…. But we are not permitted to believe whatever we choose, nor to choose whatever someone else has believed. We have the Apostles of God as authorities, who did not…choose what they would believe but faithfully transmitted the teachings of Christ. So, even if an angel from heaven should preach otherwise, he shall be called anathema. –Saint Isidore

and…

In their sorrow they cried to him with one voice: “Father, why are you deserting us? Who will care for us when you are gone? Savage wolves will attack your flock, and who will save us from their bite when our shepherd is struck down? — From a reflection on the life of St. Martin of Tours by Sulpicius Severus

Poland - Polish - Polonia

Polish Restaurant Database

I’ve been able to rebuild my Polish Restaurants database.

The database used to be at the Polonia Global Fund’s website. Polonia Global Fund (PGF) ended its web presence because it was simply too costly. This let us focus our charitable efforts in more effective ways.

The original database was a MS Access backend database with an ASP front-end search page. Using a very cool converter (Access to MySQL) I was able to import my Access data into MySQL. I then built a PHP page to search the data.

The database contains a listing of Polish restaurants, delis, and bed and breakfasts worldwide. The only condition for inclusion is that Polish food be a featured item.

If you are traveling and hankering for some pierogi – well we just might have the place for you. Check out the database here…

Current Events, Media, Perspective

A Very Busy News Day

Go, Go, Alito…

On the Alito Confirmation, the following was found in a Reuters article:

Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, said, “I must say that I wish the president was in a position to do more than claim a partisan victory tonight.”

“The union would be better and stronger and more unified if we were confirming a different nominee, a nominee who could have united us more than divided us,” Schumer said.

The honorable Senator must have downed twelve Manhattans at lunch. Or perhaps there was something odd in his hookah pipe? Senator, the nation is divided and issues of life and the culture of death are at the root of the division.

Where we are lucky as a country is in our freedom to express ourselves. The consistent message for life has taken root. People do not want abortion, euthanasia, babies killed to produce stem cells that do … well nothing.

You should well know that your own actions and rhetoric are divisive. Perhaps New York State needs a different nominee for Senator?

Insights into the Motivators for Abortion:

Report: 8 Million Born With Birth Defects Annually by Lauran Neergaard of the AP.

Ms. Neergaard writes:

“Most people think of birth defects as something that is not preventable,” said Dr. Jose Cordero, the U.S. assistant surgeon general and birth defects chief at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “There are great opportunities to ensure that babies are born healthy.”

A good opening, but now it gets worse:

About 8 million children worldwide are born every year with serious birth defects, many of them dying before age five in a toll largely hidden from view, the March of Dimes says.

Now this is a bold statement, meant more to elicit the idea —“ well if they are going to die anyway —“ why not abort them? You have to read down to get the statistics.

Unfortunately the statistics are unclear at best. They do not specifically address which of these children dies when. How many born in a year die that same year? If you took the statistics reported and if you drew a huge generalization from them you might say that 42.3077% die in a year, but you would be wrong.

Most birth defects occur in poor countries, where babies can languish with problems easily fixed or even prevented in wealthier nations, according to research released Monday by the organization.

Again, leading —“ look they are languishing, why not abort them? They are also poor and languishing. Hey, nobody wants to see that, right?

However, the researchers said some innovative programs in Iran and Chile show that effective preventions don’t have to be costly.

Preventable Defects

Indeed, about 70 percent of birth defects could be prevented, repaired or ameliorated, they concluded.

Now at least they are talking about doing something useful. Prevention, good heath care, it goes on. This is indeed good and worthy. We can all agree to support that.

What they fail to discuss is the other 30% of these lives. What about their lives? What can we do to improve their lives, care for them, and provide them with nurturing and a commitment to their lives? How can we assist their parents and train their parents and the world that this is not a problem, but a blessing?

“We were surprised by the toll,” said epidemiologist Christopher Howson with the March of Dimes, which sponsored the five-year project after doctors complained that birth defects often are ignored as a public health problem.

“It’s like the tip of an iceberg that is rising out of the ocean” — noticed only after infant mortality from other causes drops, he said.

Specialists said the report focuses much-needed attention on a concern of every parent-to-be.

“Most people think of birth defects as something that is not preventable,” said Dr. Jose Cordero, the U.S. assistant surgeon general and birth defects chief at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “There are great opportunities to ensure that babies are born healthy.”

Some 7.9 million children a year are born with serious birth defects caused at least partly by genetic flaws such as heart defects, spina bifida and other neural tube defects, sickle cell anemia and Down syndrome.

Undoubtedly hundreds of thousands more are born with defects caused not by genes but by post-conception problems: mothers infected with rubella or syphilis, which can damage their babies’ brains; certain medications or alcohol; lack of dietary iodine. Too few countries count those defects for a good estimate.

Millions Die

At least 3.3 million children under age five die each year because of birth defects, and millions more are mentally or physically disabled.

Prevalence ranges from a high of 82 defects per 1,000 live births in Sudan to a low of 39.7 per 1,000 in France. The researchers cautioned that the data aren’t precise enough for detailed country-by-country comparisons, but they cited poor maternal health care, a higher percentage of older mothers and greater frequency of marriage between relatives as leading risks in low- and middle-income countries.

Additionally, populations from Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean and Southeast Asia are most at risk of the common inherited diseases thalassemia, sickle cell and the metabolic disease G6PD. Those regions are less likely to offer genetic testing that reveals at-risk couples.

The report takes no stand on abortion, but it found that Down syndrome is roughly twice as common in poorer countries — which typically lack prenatal testing — while half of affected pregnancies in Western Europe are terminated following prenatal diagnosis.

A stand without a stand! Look, the rich western nations know how to do it. The westerners get it right. No languishing, dirt poor, disabled kids in our culture. NIMBY! Even the languishing poor can read between these lines.

Every mother-to-be has about a 5 percent chance of having a baby with a serious birth defect, the so-called “background rate,” explained Dr. Arnold Christianson of South Africa’s University of Witwatersrand, who co-wrote the report.

Lowering Risk

That risk can rise or fall, depending on a host of circumstances: Does she take folic acid, a nutritional supplement that fights neural tube defects? Is she vaccinated against rubella? Does she have uncontrolled diabetes or other pregnancy-harming illnesses? Is she well-nourished? Are her pregnancies spaced far enough apart?

“If mom can be as fit and well as possible at the time of conception, it reduces the risk of a birth defect,” Christianson said.

Among the report’s recommendations:

Improved health care for all women, with special emphasis on pregnancy nutrition.

Improved family planning and birth-defect education. In Johannesburg, surveys show less than 40 percent of African women know what Down syndrome is — much less that their risk rises with pregnancies after age 35, Christianson said.

Here’s that stand for the culture of death —“ improved family planning. Once those South African women are ‘educated’ they can make the right choice. A child who is not perfect is a burden so kill it. It’s OK, they are going to die anyway.

Proper care of affected babies. In South America, for example, 55 percent of babies with Down syndrome die before their first birthday. Median U.S. survival is age 51, up from age 3 in the 1960s thanks to improved care.

“Care is an absolute,” Howson said. “Prevention is the ideal.”

Yes, and how about proper care of, and acceptance of, all life?

Furthermore, prevention can be cheap: Fortifying grain with folic acid costs about a penny per year per person, Cordero said.

In 2000, Chile added enough folic acid to wheat flour to cause a 40 percent reduction in neural tube defects. The U.S., with lower fortification levels, saw a one-third drop.

Even gene tests can be relatively inexpensive. The report cites Iran which, faced with skyrocketing costs for thalassemia care, in 1997 began giving couples a US$5 gene test prior to marriage. Some separate if both carry the disease-causing gene, but they also can opt for fetal testing if they choose to conceive. By 2001, more than 2.7 million prospective couples had been screened, 10,298 at-risk couples identified and counseled — and thalassemia births had fallen to 30 percent of the expected rate.

Yes, they were ‘counseled’ all right, and the children are no more. The death toll is still the same, they just did the killing earlier.

What absolutely amazes me about this drivel is that the article’s author and those doing the study advocate death as an answer to — death. It’s not out front, but it is surely there. The part that they forget is that we are all going to die. Why is your life more precious than these?

My wife and I had our children relatively late. Because of several factors there was a chance, which one doctor deemed to be significant, that they might have birth defects. And you know what? We ignored their advice. We ignored their tests. God was blessing us with a child and we accepted that blessing regardless of the possibility of physical, mental, or emotional difficulties for that child. God had given us the blessing. A moment of love and union. God gave us the opportunity to express our love and to cooperate in bringing about a new life.

Each child is blessed in the gifts that they offer all of humanity. The weakness of some calls us to reflect on our duty not to worldly perfection, but to the Christ in all. The glory of the cross is in the beauty and blessing that flow from it.

We were blessed that we have perfectly healthy children. Nevertheless, it made no difference —“ for it is human life and the most precious gift in God’s creation,

—I know what you are thinking. You need a sign. What better one could I give than to make this little one whole and new? I could do it; but I will not. I am the Lord and not a conjuror. I gave this mite a gift I denied to all of you-eternal innocence. To you she looks imperfect – but to me she is flawless, like the bud that dies unopened. She will never offend me, as all of you have done. She will never pervert or destroy the work of my Father’s hands. She is necessary to you. She will evoke the kindness that will keep you human. Her infirmity will prompt you to gratitude for your own good fortune…More! She will remind you everyday that I am who I am, that my ways are not yours, and that the smallest dust mote whirled in the darkest space does not fall out of my hand…I have chosen you. You have not chosen me. This little one is my sign to you. Treasure her!—

From: The Clowns of God by Morris West

Everything Else

Scientific Cultural Theory Quiz

He shoots, he scores. OK, looks like me. I’m not too sure about the ‘some people are better…’ part but I do not think God’s grace was factored into the quiz. Also, I would be careful about saying I’m too much of a rugged individualist. I follow rubrics to a tee. It’s interesting that I’m more of a fatalist and more hierarchical than Fr. Jim Tucker. Anyway, that’s me – I’m the man!

The Center
You scored 84% individualism, 28% fatalism, 92% hierarchy, and 28% egalitarianism!
You adhere to both the Individualist and Hierarchist cultures. This means you are the Establishment, or “The Man.” You run the system, or at least agree with how it’s run. Any inequalities that arise are justified, because some people are just better or more deserving than others.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

picture picture
You scored higher than 92% on individualism
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You scored higher than 69% on fatalism
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You scored higher than 99% on hierarchy
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You scored higher than 23% on egalitarianism

Link: The Scientific Cultural Theory Test written by Stentor
Everything Else

Ultimate Catholicity!!!

I’ve recently been exposed to the world of Anglo Catholics. People who by definition are “Catholic” deemed by people who are already Catholic. What that means, is that they are the crème de la crème of Catholics. They are hip to everything before they become Catholic, they despise the popular culture, and whenever something they like becomes “mainstreamed,” they in turn call that something —Novus Ordo.— Which then they have to find something completely different to like.

I’m sure you’ve encountered these people before. The people with the persnickety musical taste, and spew about their chants whenever they have the chance to. In reality, does listening to a certain obscure Order’s chants really make you the ultimate hip guy or gal?

People that are usually part of this “Anglo Catholic” culture usually think that they are breaking from the mold of society, breaking from tradition. Therefore they dress a certain way and listen to chants that most people never hear so they can be “different” and so juxtapose themselves into the category of ultimate “catholicity.” At least they think that’s what they are doing consciously or unconsciously.

In reality, and in this case, the reality = my opinions, these “Anglo Catholics/Catholic-ettes (is this the feminine form of the word?? I just made it up)” are just putting themselves into another subculture group which means they really aren’t that different after all, they’re just doing the same old things the Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, the Polish National Catholics and a whole rack of others Catholic groups have already done. So is being different really different?

I’m not quite sure where this pondering is leading to, and if so, anything concrete. So I think I’ll just stop for now, and go out and buy me some unnecessary liturgical thread and find me an Anglo Catholic chick, cuz they’re hot.

Tip o’ the biretta to the Ironic Emperor and the inspiration of Pious and Overly Devotional.

Current Events, Poland - Polish - Polonia

Please pray with me – At Least 66 Killed in Poland Roof Collapse

KATOWICE, Poland – The snow-covered roof of a convention hall in southern Poland collapsed Saturday with as many as 500 people inside for a racing pigeon exhibition, killing at least 32 60 66 people and injuring at least 141 160.

A priest outside the building’s entrance prayed over the bodies of an adult and a child covered by a blanket and a tarp, as rescue crews and search dogs worked frantically through the night in subfreezing temperatures to save those trapped inside.

More from the AP here…

Please pray along with me:

O Lord God, Father of Mercy, grant calmness and control of thought to those who are facing uncertainty and anxiety; let their hearts stand fast, believing in the Lord. Be Thou all things to all men, knowing each one and his petition, each house and its need. For the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen

O Merciful God, Father of the Crucified Christ! In every sorrow which awaits us may we look up to You without doubt or fear, persuaded that Your mercy is ever sure. You cannot fail us. There is no place or time where You are not. Uphold us in our grief and sorrow, and in our darkness visit us with Your light. We are Yours; help us we beg You, in life and in death to feel that we are Yours. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Perspective

The Tonsure and Minor Orders

The Roman Church lost something when the tonsure and minor orders were done away with.

In their current system the order of acolyte and lector were preserved. These were two of the minor orders in the former system, prior to ordination to the sub-diaconate (Note: there is a range of opinions on whether the sub-diaconate was a minor or major order. However, in common usage and understanding it was considered a major order and carried with it the obligation to recite the Divine Office and to perpetual celibacy).

The orders of lector and acolyte are still quasi-secular. In certain Roman Catholic dioceses men wishing admission so as to minister as lectors and acolytes are so admitted. Note however that in today’s Roman Church a man does not become a cleric per se until he receives ordination to the diaconate.

Luckily, the tonsure and the full range of minor orders were maintained in the PNCC. They are also maintained in the SSPX, the FSSP, and in several monastic orders as well as in the Eastern Churches.

I decided to set down these reflections on the tonsure and minor orders. These reflections were precipitated by my musing about the symbolism of clothing. I was inspired to this train of thought from two sources.

Before I was ordained as Deacon I went through the tonsure and minor orders. My ecumenical friends were very interested in this. They asked: Why? What does it symbolize etc? I wanted to address that.

Second, I was reading the posts on Anglo Catholicism at Pious and Overly Devotional (cross posted at Occidentalis) which is, in my opinion, a tongue in cheek look at the trends in Anglo Catholicism, while at the same time, a cry for something the vast majority of the Roman Catholic faithful miss.

These rites are rich with historical symbolism and a message for today.

The tonsure (Lat. tonsura, from tondere, to shave) consists of shaving or cutting part of the hair of the head as a sign of dedication to special service. The reception of the tonsure marked admission to orders and to the rights and privileges of clerical standing. It is administered by a bishop or abbot.

The Scriptures are replete with the call to disavow worldliness. The idea of shaving the head to mark an oath or to denote service appears in the Old Testament (Num. 6:18)

Then at the entrance of the meeting tent the nazirite shall shave his dedicated head, collect the hair, and put it in the fire that is under the peace offering.

St. Paul had his head shaved when he made a vow (Acts 18:18);

Paul remained for quite some time, and after saying farewell to the brothers he sailed for Syria, together with Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut because he had taken a vow.

And others did likewise as in Acts 21:18-24 (Council of Jerusalem).

The next day, Paul accompanied us on a visit to James, and all the presbyters were present. He greeted them, then proceeded to tell them in detail what God had accomplished among the Gentiles through his ministry. They praised God when they heard it but said to him, “Brother, you see how many thousands of believers there are from among the Jews, and they are all zealous observers of the law. They have been informed that you are teaching all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to abandon Moses and that you are telling them not to circumcise their children or to observe their customary practices. What is to be done? They will surely hear that you have arrived. So do what we tell you. We have four men who have taken a vow. Take these men and purify yourself with them, and pay their expenses that they may have their heads shaved. In this way everyone will know that there is nothing to the reports they have been given about you but that you yourself live in observance of the law.

The fathers and Counsels each tried to address the issue of worldliness.

Tertullian advised Christians to avoid vanity in dressing their hair.

What purpose, again, does all the labor spent in arranging the hair render to salvation? Why is no rest allowed to your hair? First, it must be bound, then loosed, then cultivated, then thinned out? Some are anxious to force their hair into curls. Tertullian, 4.21.

Jerome chastises any treatment of the self as an object of beauty for the sake of beauty. In his Letter to Eustochium Letter 23 para. 28 —“ 384)

Avoid men, also, when you see them loaded with chains and wearing their hair long like women, contrary to the apostle’s precept

According to Prudentius (IIepur. xiii. 30) it was customary for the hair to be cut short at ordination.

Paulinus of Nola (c. 490) alludes to the tonsure as in use among the (Western) monks.

In approx. 500 Sidonius Apollinaris (iv. 13) testified that Germanicus the bishop had his hair cut ” in rotae speciem.”

The earliest instance of an ecclesiastical precept on the subject occurs in can. 41 of the Council of Toledo (the Council was presided over by St. Isidore who notes the clerical tonsure as a rite established before his time.) (A.n. 633):

omnes clerici, detonso superius capite toto, inferius solam circuli coronam relinquant.

Can. 33 of the Quinisext council (or Council of Trullo – 692) requires even singers and readers to be tonsured.

Ancient Epitome: Whoever is worthy of the priesthood should be ordained whether he is sprung of a priestly line or no. And he that has been blessed un-tonsured shalt not read the Holy Scriptures at the ambo.

The Fourth Council of Constantinople (869-870) Canon 5, discuses the acceptance of tonsure and the intent of the tonsured.

St. Bonaventure writes (Opera Omnia S. Bonaventurae, Ad Claras Aquas, 1889, Vol 4, pp. 607-610.):

Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod in Christo Iesu non valet circumcisio etc.; intelligendum est, quod per se non valet ad iustificationem capillorum amotio, verumtamen ad eruditionem valet, valet etiam ad distinctionem. [To that which is objected, that in Christ Jesus circumcision is not worth etc.; it must be understood, that per se the removal of hair is not worth (anything) for justification, nevertheless for instruction it is worth (something), (and) it is also worth (something) for distinuishing.]

By a recurring focus, beginning in scripture, finding a symbolism in the usages of Rome where slaves had their hair cut marking them as slaves, finding common usage in the monasteries, to its gradual adoption by all clerics, the tonsure is well established as the symbolic and outward testimony of the cleric as to his service to Christ. The cleric was no longer part of the world, but a slave of Christ. As Bonaventure states, the tonsure has worth for instructing and distinguishing.

I myself was fortunate to have been admitted to the clerical state by this rite. Symbolism and ancient rites are something that the PNCC faithful have carried on because they well know that such rites touch us deeply.

Rites are good practice, marking both the times of, and events in, our lives. These are moments of solemn reflection. In them we find a moment that brings us one step closer to Christ. A moment that confirms our intention to not only do what the Church does, but live out in reality what the living Church teaches. Thusly the tonure is a sacramental.

As noted, the tonsure is the transition point from the lay to the clerical state. It is symbolized by the cutting of each man’s hair, in the form of the Holy Cross, followed by his receiving the surplice. The Bishop tonsures each man who has acknowledged this willingness to abide in the Church.

In the opening prayer the Bishop says:

May God bestow upon them the Holy Spirit, to preserve in them forever the spirit of piety and protect their hearts against the entanglements of the world and worldly ambition. And as they are changed in outward appearance, may His right hand grant them an increase of virtue, deliver their eyes from all blindness, spiritual and human, and bestow on them the light of everlasting grace.

After the tonsure he turns toward the tonsured and prays:

Here, O Lord, our humble prayer, and grant to bless these Your servants. In Your holy name we now invest them with the garb of holy religion. May they, by Your help, remain faithful in Your Church and merit to attain life everlasting. Through Christ our Lord.

The bishop then invests each man with the surplice, saying to each:

May the Lord clothe you with the new man, who is created according to God in justice and true holiness.

He then prays:

Almighty, eternal God, forgive our sins and deliver these Your servants from all slavery of secular fashions, so that, as they renounce the ignominy of worldly style, they may possess Your grace forever. And as we make them wear the likeness of Your crown upon their heads, may they, by Your help, merit to attain within their hearts the everlasting inheritance. Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God, forever and ever.

The bishop then gives the men the following admonition:

Dearly beloved sons, you should consider that today you have been placed under the jurisdiction of the Church and have received the privileges of clerics. Take care, lest you forfeit them through you fault. Strive to be pleasing to God by modest dress, becoming demeanor, and good works. May He grant it to you by His Holy Spirit.

Now think about this. We are acknowledging separateness. Not aloofness, but separateness. We are acknowledging that we desire a spirit of piety and protection against the entanglements of the world and worldly ambition. That is a powerful message and witness in this day and age. We are asking God to create us as a new man, a man of justice and holiness. As Psalm 51 proclaims: Create a new heart in me.

Against you alone have I sinned; I have done such evil in your sight That you are just in your sentence, blameless when you condemn.
True, I was born guilty, a sinner, even as my mother conceived me.
Still, you insist on sincerity of heart; in my inmost being teach me wisdom.
Cleanse me with hyssop, that I may be pure; wash me, make me whiter than snow.
Let me hear sounds of joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Turn away your face from my sins; blot out all my guilt.
A clean heart create for me, God; renew in me a steadfast spirit.
Do not drive me from your presence, nor take from me your holy spirit.
Restore my joy in your salvation; sustain in me a willing spirit.
I will teach the wicked your ways, that sinners may return to you.
Rescue me from death, God, my saving God, that my tongue may praise your healing power.
Lord, open my lips; my mouth will proclaim your praise.
For you do not desire sacrifice; a burnt offering you would not accept.
My sacrifice, God, is a broken spirit; God, do not spurn a broken, humbled heart.

We are pledged to God’s work in a special way. We undertake that work not just in the philosophical sense or intellectually, but physically as well. We dress differently. We look differently. Inwardly and outwardly we strive to be the new man.

This message is not lost on the lost culture of today. Think of ‘Goth’ culture. Goth culture is replete with religious elements and symbolism. The Goth wiki states:

Religious imagery has frequently played an important part in gothic fashion and also in song lyrics. Many Goths believe in open-mindedness and diversity, and aspire to “free themselves from the limitations” of traditional belief systems. An interest in neo-paganism and the occult amongst Goths is higher than amongst the general population, but there is a wide diversity of other religious beliefs. The main exception to this tolerance is for any form of religious fundamentalism…

Right down to black dress and makeup, the Goth culture takes (and certainly has co-opted Christian) symbolism and has used it to effectively place its mark on mainstream culture. It is defined by and expanded by its dress. Some people would say —“ hey look, they dress as they believe, I can identify with that. If it were merely philosophical or intellectual its world would be limited to a few small discussion groups. People couldn’t get their minds around it. Instead its lived blackness is the outward and public proclamation of what it stands for: individualism, nihilism, and anarchy. It is its point of departure and its point of attachment.

Dress and posture convey to the eyes, and rites culturally sustain A message. We need to recapture the means of delivering THE message. The tonsure is the anti-Goth message, the anti-worldliness message. It is not individualism, but submission. It is not nihilism but a proclamation that God is indeed alive and active in the world and in each of our lives. It is not anarchy, but order.

Tradition and order in historical perspective are necessary in order to counter what we rail against. If we believe in the communion of saints as more than just a happy concept and an intellectual construct, but rather as a reality, we need to recapture the precedence of our Catholic/Christian imagery.

Stay tuned for more on the Minor Orders (The Order of Porter, The Order of Reader, The Order of Blesser, The Order of Acolyte).

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