Wszechmogący wieczny Boże, który łaską swoją tak wzmacniałeś św. Jana Złotoustego, ze z poddaniem się Twojej woli św. znosił rozliczne cierpienia i krzywdy ze strony swych prześladowców, użycz i nam tej mocy, abyśmy utrapienia tego żywota cierpliwie znosili. Amen.
O św. Polikarpie, który całe życie swoje urządziłeś według przepisów Chrystusa Pana, i czułeś się najszczęśliwszym, gdyś je pilnie wypełniał, uproś nam u Boga te łaskę, abyśmy także według przepisów kościoła Chrystusowego życie nasze urządzili i dostąpili szczęścia wiekuistego. Amen.
I’ve been included in the blogroll over at Dappled Things and Bernhard Brandt’s A (little) Light from the East.
I’ve also been included in a blogs4God recap of Christian bloggers who have commented on the Book of Daniel noted at NBC dumps the Book of Daniel ‘de-spite’ Christian bloggers
In honor of my inclusion in Mr. Brandt’s blogroll I include below his poem Versus Populum (I am a firm believer in proper liturgical posture, i.e., posture that reflects our adoration of God).
Versus Populum
They have lied in the chapel and schoolhall.
They have practiced a terrible fraud.
For the priests have not turned to the people:
They instead turned their backs on their God.We were told that the past was mistaken;
That to hold with Tradition was odd;
That the East was the source of all shadow,
And the West held the Son and our God.But the Dayspring on High was not mocked by this;
He allowed them to flirt with this baud,
And revealed that the things done in secret
Were true sins against Man and his God.And so those in the Nave and the Choirloft
Still await the day when we may laud
The return of the prodigal Fathers,
Who will turn with us back to our God.–Bernard Brandt
Now that I am listed on these blogs, I will work even harder at writing something truly good. Then perhaps I will be considered for the coveted Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.
Let it be so! and they all answered, Amen!
An excellent article from Spike.
Check out: The curious rise of anti-religious hysteria It is the Anglo-American cultural elites’ insecurity about their own values that encourages their frenzied attacks on religion.
This article by Frank Furedi, self described as “a secular humanist who is instinctively uncomfortable with zealot-like moralism” really makes some salient points about cultural elitism and its venomous anti-Christian mantra.
Mr. Furedi is the author of Politics of Fear: Beyond Left and Right.
Since I’ve been in the mood for good Catholic/Christian films I recently purchased Come to the Stable and The Miracle of the Bells. Both arrived today so I’ll be sitting down to watch them tonight.
Miracle of the Bells is among my all time favorites.
A beautiful young Polish woman from a poor coal mining town in Pennsylvania makes it to Hollywood. She is screen tested and chosen as the lead in Joan of Arc. Her Catholic faith and purity shine through. At the conclusion of the production she dies of black lung disease.
Her manager, who loves her, played by Fred MacMurray, brings her body back to Pennsylvania. Her last wish was that the church bells be rung for her at her funeral. Concurrently he finds out that the film she made is going to be canned. Frank Sinatra plays the young parish priest —“ a fine looking Polish boy if I don’t say so myself!
The movie is sad and glorious. It shows the power of miracles of the heart and the power of dedicated love. On a secondary level it is an ode to all those who are poor, work hard, have deep faith, and are far more complex than the elites would have us believe.
As the IMDB says:
This film was also made in the days of John L. Lewis as head of the United Mine Workers. One of the big issues for that union was the pollution that caused the premature deaths of a lot of their members and families. In that sense Miracle of the Bells was a very socially relevant movie for its time and even today.
I think we can all agree with that. If you’ve never seen it check it out. If you have watch it again.