‘Tis a charming rendition of that immortal favorite “Who’s On First”
Yea, verily, I hath laf’d til mine ribs ache!
Month: April 2009
and another
Those Who Love
by Sara Teasdale
Those who love the most,
Do not talk of their love,
Francesca, Guinevere,
Deirdre, Iseult, Heloise,
In the fragrant gardens of heaven
Are silent, or speak if at all
Of fragile inconsequent things.
And a woman I used to know
Who loved one man from her youth,
Against the strength of the fates
Fighting in somber pride
Never spoke of this thing,
But hearing his name by chance,
A light would pass over her face.
In a poetry mood
and I didn’t even know it was Talk Like Shakespeare Day.
Well, here’s a short one –
Memory
by William Butler Yeats
One had a lovely face,
And two or three had charm,
But charm and face were in vain
Because the mountain grass
Cannot but keep the form
Where the mountain hare has lain.
Where were you, four years ago today –
Do you remember where you were, and what you were doing, when you saw this –
(sorry I can’t get the video to upload here – I’ll try again later) –
God bless our dear Holy Father on this anniversary of his election – and may He give us many more years of this wonderful, beloved “simple worker in the vineyard of the Lord.”
We’ve had a week of “dialogue” with some GLBT proponents and activists over at DE, and in their blog, too (which is identified at DE, I’m not going to do it here). At first it just just a matter of anger and resentment against the Church, but it’s deteriorating into a presentation of gay revisionist theory. I feel incredibly frustrated; what people want to believe, they’ll believe no matter how ridiculous or implausible it is.
I encountered this in a small way via my ex-husband, and thought it would never be taken seriously. They even have a “translation” of the Bible which is very gay-friendly. One of the editors came to the Metropolitan Community Church in Greensboro for some sort of conference, spent the night at Dan’s – left a thank you note saying “Thanks for sharing your bed.” Dan and our daughters thought it was hysterically funny; I did not; you can guess how well my inability to appreciate the “fun” went over.
I also knew that the GLBT community is taking everyone they can and turning them into gays or lesbians: Katherine C. Hulm and the heroine of her novel The Nun’s Story were supposed to be lesbian lovers. Eleanor Franklin was supposed to be a lesbian, as were Emily Dickinson, Florence Nightingale, et al.
It’s obscene in its dishonesty, its manipulations of fact – e.g. Christianity derives its ethics from Judaism, not from Roman Culture, which was at least as licentious as Greek, if not more so… etc.
I don’t know how to fight this. They WANT to believe the lie.
So Muir’s cartoon du jour is very apt, I think. If you don’t keep up with Day by Day, you might want to.
A unique opera presentation –
I had occasion to share this with Matt last night, had to share it with you, too – Have the tissues handy …
I crack up with “Oh, Bwunhilda, you’re so wovewy!” “Yes, I know it; I can’t help it!” – what are YOUR favorite lines?
Some Holy Saturday thoughts –
… not of any particularly holy subject; in fact, most of my noodlings are disappointingly mundane.
Matt directed me to a GLBT blog yesterday (not going to post link here, although he has done in DE) which is decidedly anti-Catholic. The writer is protesting the appointment of Timothy Dolan to archdiocese of New York. She speaks her objection very clearly when she calls him “the darling of the anti-gay … crowd,” but then she makes a lot of smoke and noise, blaming Dolan and the entire Catholic paradigm for the priest abuse scandal.
The irony of her stance is that the sex scandal involved priests with pubescent boys – hence, the issue is a homosexual issue. Pederasty is a subset of the homosexual lifestyle, like it or not (and since my ex- was seduced by a pederast, I “NOT”). And she seems completely oblivious to the fact that her real objection is that Dolan won’t cave to the GLBT agenda.
Matt and I have both posted comments, and this gal is pretty angry with us, too.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This incident appears (I need to clear my perception with Matt) to have pushed DE into new territory. We began with the premise of opposing FOCA and the pro-abort platform of our new president. Matt particularly wanted to be careful not to be too flagrantly a Catholic voice so we would not alienate other Christians who need help and encouragement in fighting the pro-life battle. But now we seem to be engaging the broader spectrum of the culture wars. Matt’s posted about this GLBT blog, and particularly her attack on the Church.
She’s come over to DE and posted some pretty hostile comments. That’s okay, so far – Matt’s given her good response, and I think I have, too.
We haven’t discussed any of this, between ourselves, but it seems to me a good direction to be going. engaging the whole culture war.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Easter Weekend. I love this season better than Christmas – and that’s saying something! It’s grueling for all involved in some branch of Church work, beginning with our priests. There are extra Masses, Confessions, activities. There are changes in the Sanctuary to oversee and implement – the stripping of the altar, for instance, after Holy Thursday. There are rituals to rehearse again – and the ordinary duties of sick calls, emergencies, etc. don’t take a vacation just or a marathon week.
Musicians also have a grueling week. The extra music for the Triduum and Easter Sunday give any choir, organist, or cantor a heavier workout than at any other time of the year.
It’s the music that helps bring the liturgical seasons to life for me.
Thursday night I cantored the Propers of the Mass at a Latin High Mass. For the uninitiated, the “Ordinaries” are those things that remain constant in the liturgy week in and week out – the Gloria, the Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, etc. The “Propers” are those things that vary according to the liturgy: the Introit, the Gradual, the Tract, the Communion antiphon. Propers are rarely observed in the Ordinary Form of the Mass – although they are present in the fuller liturgy. During the Latin High Mass, they are sung. In Latin – which isn’t as difficult as it sounds, since Latin, unlike English, has a rigid pronunciation rule. For me, the challenge is to get my eyes to move quickly enough between words and staff, so I get the right syllable with the right tone.
I also helped the choir at this parish sing the beautiful “Attende Domine.”
Yesterday the schola came from Raleigh and carried the major weight of the Good Friday liturgy. There was also a priest visiting from the FSSP (Fraternal Society of St. Peter) who concelebrated with Fr. P., singing antiphonally the beautiful Good Friday Gospel of John. He was a tenor to Father P’s baritone, so the alternating roles were very distinctive and beautiful.
Today I catch my breath, but more importantly I have two pieces to learn for tomorrow: the Vidi aquam (I saw water…) which opens the Easter liturgy, and the Easter Sequence, Victimae paschale.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A good day at work. Mostly. I’m experiencing the most appalling, embarrassing memory lapses lately. Not just memory, but mental endeavors of all description. Mixing up saints and their particular stories, mixing up titles of books and authors (who knew there’s more than one City of God, and not just Augustine’s???) –
I’m going to go practice the Vidi aquam “I saw water flowing from the side of the temple” – and the Victimae paschale laudes for tomorrow.
I’ve got to learn this by Sunday
Lovely video!
Note how times have changed, with the evident respect given to this gentleman. Note, too, the final few seconds of the clip. How many of us have genuflected and kissed the ring of our bishop, lately?
Holy Week begins –
Holy Week Marathon now in progress! I really do love this week, my favorite of the entire year, although the schedule is grueling.
This year is a bit different, and I got thrown a new couple things, yesterday:
Today – Mass in the Extraordinary Form at the Cathedral in Raleigh.
Tomorrow – extra schola rehearsal in anticipation of Good Friday liturgy in Dunn.
Tuesday – my own personal rehearsal with the Dunn music director (keep reading)
Wednesday – an evening off to gather my strength…
Thursday – to Dunn, where I’m filling in with the choir there. Their music director has had a family emergency, is going to be out of town, and his daughters are the two sopranos who read music; hence, I’m going to join them for the weekend. I’ve already booked a room at a bed and breakfast across the street from the Church, so I don’t have to drive back and forth for the
Friday – Good Friday liturgy, after which I get to go back home…
Saturday – I’m going to bypass the Vigil Mass, locally, since I don’t know anyone being received into the Church, and because
Sunday – I go back to Dunn for the EF Easter Mass.
I’ll be putting about a thousand miles on the ol’ Escort this week.
I’m also having to print out the Rossini Propers of the Mass from the internet – a beautiful series of settings, but my computer-printer relationship is shaky. I did finally get the Vidi aquam printed out before giving up; I’ll print the rest off at the store, tomorrow.
Today will be my third encounter with the EF Mass. As I read the Missal, recognize the themes and cohesiveness of the whole liturgy, I’m more and more impressed with the reverence, the beauty and the completeness of this form of the Mass. I do wish I had easier access to this Mass on a weekly basis, though, so I could learn it more perfectly, more quickly. It’s still something of a muddle to me just now –
Obviously, I am going to be meeting myself coming and going this week (still have that payroll job to keep up with, too! LOL ) so just know, now, that you friends will be in my prayers this week.
Laura Lowder - One Woman's Thoughts 