Hawaii? Earthquake? Was Dear Leader "Futuring"?

St. Patrick's Breast-Plate: the powerful prayer of a powerful man

"The beautiful prayer of St. Patrick, popularly known as 'St. Patrick's Breast-Plate,' is supposed to have been composed by him in preparation for this victory over paganism. The following is a literal translation from the old Irish text . . ."

I bind to myself today

The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:

I believe the Trinity in the Unity

The Creator of the Universe.

I bind to myself today

The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,

The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,

The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,

The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.

I bind to myself today

The virtue of the love of seraphim,

In the obedience of angels,

In the hope of resurrection unto reward,

In prayers of Patriarchs,

In predictions of Prophets,

In preaching of Apostles,

In faith of Confessors,

In purity of holy Virgins,

In deeds of righteous men.

I bind to myself today

The power of Heaven,

The light of the sun,

The brightness of the moon,

The splendour of fire,

The flashing of lightning,

The swiftness of wind,

The depth of sea,

The stability of earth,

The compactness of rocks.

I bind to myself today

God's Power to guide me,

God's Might to uphold me,

God's Wisdom to teach me,

God's Eye to watch over me,

God's Ear to hear me,

God's Word to give me speech,

God's Hand to guide me,

God's Way to lie before me,

God's Shield to shelter me,

God's Host to secure me,

Against the snares of demons,

Against the seductions of vices,

Against the lusts of nature,

Against everyone who meditates injury to me,

Whether far or near,

Whether few or with many.

I invoke today all these virtues

Against every hostile merciless power

Which may assail my body and my soul,

Against the incantations of false prophets,

Against the black laws of heathenism,

Against the false laws of heresy,

Against the deceits of idolatry,

Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,

Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.

Christ, protect me today

Against every poison, against burning,

Against drowning, against death-wound,

That I may receive abundant reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me,

Christ behind me, Christ within me,

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ at my right, Christ at my left,

Christ in the fort,

Christ in the chariot seat,

Christ in the poop [deck],

Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

I bind to myself today

The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,

I believe the Trinity in the Unity

The Creator of the Universe.

(Catholic Encyclopedia)

I will, I will rock you

Yes, I know, this is frivolity at its most frivolous, but a dear friend of mine with a twisted sense of humor created this little video, and I just can't resist showing it to you. I'll get serious again soon. Promise.

Happy Friday. No cheeseburger for you today.

A Prayer to Be Freed From the Seven Deadly Sins

Perfect for Lenten penance and reflection:

O Jesus, meek Savior and Prince of Peace, implant in me the virtues of gentleness and patience. Let me curb the fury of anger and restrain all resentment and impatience so as to overcome evil with good, attain your peace, and rejoice in Your love.

O Jesus, Model of humility, divest me of all pride and arrogance. Let me acknowledge my weakness and sinfulness, so that I may bear mockery and contempt for Your sake and esteem myself as lowly in your sight.

O Jesus, Teacher of abstinence, help me to serve You rather than our appetites. Keep me from gluttony - the inordinate love of food and drink and let me hunger and thirst for Your justice.

O Jesus, Lover of purity, remove all lust from my heart, so that I may serve You with a pure mind and a chaste body.

O Jesus, Father of the poor, help me to avoid all covetousness for earthly goods and give me a love for heavenly things. Inspire me to give to the needy, just as You gave Your life, that I might inherit eternal treasures.

O Jesus, Exemplar of love, keep me from all envy and ill-will. Let the grace of Your love dwell in me that I may rejoice in the happiness of others and bewail their adversities.

O Jesus, zealous Lover of souls, keep me from all sloth of mind or body. Inspire me with zeal for your glory, so that I may do all things for You and in You.

O Jesus, my Merciful Redeemer, my Loving Savior, my Divine Healer, all this I humbly pray and ask in confidence, and filled with faith, hope and trust, in Your Holy and Mighty name, Amen.

(Source)

Listen to Father Z and stop pranking the faithful with sand

He remarks:

To all the priests out there still… unbelievably still putting sand in holy water fonts during Lent…

KNOCK IT OFF!

And if you go into a church where you see this sort of idiocy… for the love of God, DON’T bless yourself with SAND.

You know you are a soldier and pilgrim in a dangerous world, right? What is Lent for? Spiritual discipline and war, right?

So why… why… why would these dopey liturgists and priests REMOVE a tool of spiritual warfare precisely duing the season ofLENT when we need it the most??

Holy water is a sacramental.

It is not a toy, or something to be abstained from, like chocolate …. which is the stuff of a childish Lent. . . . (continue reading)

"I think my mother is trapped beneath the house"

Those are the words of Marioli Gatica, a Chilean woman who described the 18-foot tsunami waves that obliterated her town of Talcahuano an hour after the 8.8 quake which struck that country on Saturday.

Such horrors abound along the devastated beach communities of Chile's south-central coast, which suffered the double tragedy Saturday of the earthquake and the tsunami it caused. Of the quake's 723 victims, most were in the wine-growing Maule region that includes Talcahuano, now a mud-caked, ravaged town of 180,000 just north of Concepcion.

Close to 80 percent of Talcahuano's residents are homeless, with 10,000 homes uninhabitable and hundreds more destroyed, said Mayor Gaston Saavedra.

"The port is destroyed. The streets, collapsed. City buildings, destroyed," Saavedra said.

In Concepcion, the biggest city near the epicenter, rescuers heard the knocking of victims trapped inside a toppled 70-unit apartment building Monday and were drilling through thick concrete to reach them, said fire Commander Juan Carlos Subercaseux. By late Monday, firefighters had pulled 25 survivors and nine bodies from the structure.

Chile's defense minister has said the navy made a mistake by not immediately activating a tsunami warning. He said port captains who did call warnings in several coastal towns saved hundreds of lives.

The waves came too quickly for a group of 40 retirees vacationing at a seaside campground in the village of Pelluhue. They had piled into a bus that was swept out to sea, along with trucks and houses, when the tsunami surged 200 yards into the summer resort town.

As of Monday, firefighters said, five of the retirees' bodies had been recovered. At least 30 remained missing. . . .(continue reading)

This is what happens when a tsunami reaches land

The scale of the waves is hard to determine at first, and then, at about the 2:25 minute mark, the camera zooms out and you can see a little speck of a person standing on the beach just before the water overtakes him.

Massive 8.8 Quake Strikes Chile

Everyone's waking up to this grim news:

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A massive magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck south-central Chile early on Saturday, killing at least 85 people, knocking down buildings, homes and hospitals, and triggering a tsunami.

Yahoo has a large number of pictures of the devastation. It appears that the death toll will be quite high.

Eerily, like a broken watch with its hands frozen at the moment of its demise, some of the Chilean press is (thus far, at least) frozen in its news cycle just before the earthquake struck. Many Chilean press outlets are functional and reporting first-hand news of the quake in Spanish, such as here, here, here, and here.

First, the devastating quake in Haiti 45 days ago, and now this one in Chile. My guess is that more of these disasters will strike more frequently. I hope not, but that's a hunch. Sooner or later, one of these BIG quakes will strike within the U.S. — Los Angeles? St. Louis? Chicago? San Francisco? New York? It's just a matter of time, the scientists have been telling us.

Two things we should do:

1) Always be ready to meet the Lord by staying close to him in prayer and the sacraments, especially frequent confession. This is a no-brainer, but it's amazing how many people, including Catholics, never give the four last things any thought: Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell.

And 2) If you haven't already, start making practical preparations in your own home so that, if find yourself in a quake-stricken area, you and your family can fare better and be in a position to help those around you. Lay in a supply (even if just a small one) of extra water, foods that will keep without refrigeration, medicines like Ibuprophin, a hand-crank radio (no batteries needed), etc. Make a plan with your family, especially your kids, so that they will know where to meet up. You know, those kinds of basic preparations.

My Friend Monsignor Eugene Morris

I was just recently a house-guest at Monsignor Eugene Morris's rectory in St. Louis (St. Mary Magdalen), when I was in town for some projects. What a treat!

I've known Monsignor Morris for a year or two, though not very well, so it was good to have the chance to get to know him better during my visit. In addition to his being an all-around good guy and a gracious host, I am impressed by his personal orthodoxy, erudition, bon homie, and dedication to furthering the mission of re-evangelizing and recatechizing young Catholics.

Apropos of that, here's a video clip of the good Monsignor commenting on the many merits of the Didache catechetical series.

Cremation . . . Jewelry?

I shall pass over this one in discrete silence.

From the website:

Cremation jewelry is, simply put, jewelry that contains some of the cremated ashes of a deceased family member or loved ones. Cremation jewelry has many names and comes in a variety of forms, but no matter the words used, cremation jewelry is among the newest and most popular ways to memorialize loved ones.

(My thanks to the blogger whose site I saw this on, though now I can't remember where!)

What if we just said, "Why don't you just get over it?"

The jungle drums of frustration and consternation are beating in reaction to the impending revision of the Roman Missal. Granted, the syncopation is a bit uneven, and the decibel level less than robust, but it's there.

And it's . . . it's simply ineffable.

The Community of Disciples over at America Magazine and their fellow travelers at the National Catholic Reporter are scrambling for the panic button.

They are shocked (shocked!) that the Catholic Church would have the audacity to implement a (long overdue, sorely needed, and eagerly anticipated) new English translation of the Missal without their approval.

On the "What if we just said wait?" website, in the "Statement of Concern," they agonize ...

We are very concerned about the proposed new translations of the Roman Missal. We believe that simply imposing them on our people -- even after a program of preparation -- will have an adverse effect on their prayer and cause serious division in our communities.

We are convinced that adopting translations that are highly controversial, and which leaders among our bishops as well as many highly respected liturgists and linguists consider to be seriously flawed, will be a grave mistake.

For this reason we earnestly implore the bishops of the English-speaking world to undertake a pilot program by which the new translations -- after a careful program of catechesis -- can be introduced into some carefully selected parishes and communities throughout the English-speaking world for a period of one (liturgical) year, after which they can be objectively evaluated.

We are convinced that this approach will address the concerns of those many bishops who feel that they have lost their voice in this matter and that it will also give a voice to the People of God whose prayer is at stake and who accordingly have the most to gain or lose by the translations.

The irony here is rich indeed. These are the same people who cheered on (whether because they were alive at the time or, if they weren't, because they sympathize with those who were) the wholesale imposition in the mid- to late-1960s of radical liturgical changes, often accompanied by serious liturgical abuses, upon unprepared, unsuspecting Catholics who did experience an adverse affect on their prayer and piety as a result.

But now that the shoe is on the other foot and the Church is well on its way to finally correcting certain deficiencies and implementing the actual letter and spirit of Vatican II's document on the Eucharistic Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, now these same people are indignant (indignant!) that such a thing should be done. How dare the pope and the bishops impose changes in the Liturgy on the faithful?!

Oh, the humanity!

It's time for the fastest 2 hours in Catholic radio

Starting my "Open Line" radio show in a couple of minutes. You can listen online here: http://ewtn.com/radio/index.asp (3-5 pm ET).

Here's yesterday's "Catholic Answers Live" show (2nd hour)

Ronald Reagan's 1960 warning about socialized medicine

Here's a news report about this newly popular audio clip.