"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
Instead of lecturing people about going to church on Sunday, let’s inspire them to want to go. Instead of telling them to dress more appropriately for Mass, let’s give them something worth dressing up for. Instead of telling them not to sleep around, let’s fascinate them with the pursuit of purity. Instead of preaching that giving is better than receiving, let’s just give.
– Matthew Warner, Messy & Foolish
When I have friends who want to visit Rome, I always tell them to visit the Sistine Chapel early in the morning if they would like to be an experience which is even remotely peaceful.
The first time I visited the Sistine Chapel, we arrived in the early afternoon and it was bedlam! Prior to entering the chapel, we saw signs with two instructions:
However, as when we entered the chapel, we found lots of people talking, and not even very quietly. The custodians would periodically walk through the chapel saying “Silenzio….silenzio…”. We also saw lots of tourists taking photographs. Many were even foolishly trying to take pictures of the ceiling with woefully inadequate cameras. The custodians would walk past tutting at these people and wagging their fingers at them.
Needless to say, this irritated me greatly and I spent the rest of my time in the chapel planning how I would do things if I was in charge. Every camera I saw would be snatched from the tourist’s hands and smashed on the marble floor. A little harsh, perhaps, but the word would soon get out… I would pile up the remains of the smashed electronics at the entrance to the chapel as a warning to all future visitors, much in the same way monarchs used to put the heads of traitors on spikes. Under my regime guidance, the Sistine Chapel would once more return to being a peaceful sanctuary, away from the harshness of the outside world… 😉
Fortunately, if you would like a peaceful Sistine Chapel without my draconian rule, you can now visit it from the comfort of your own home! The Vatican has published on their website a panorama which allows you to explore (at least to some degree) one of the world’s most famous chapels:
Returning once again to classical music, today’s selection is one of the most stirring renditions I’ve heard of Edward Elgar’s “Lux Aeterna”, performed by the VOCES8:
Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine, cum sanctis tuis in aeternum, quia pius es.
May light eternal shine upon them, O Lord, with Thy saints forever, for Thou art kind.
Requiem aeternam
Eternal rest
dona eis, Domine,
give to them, O Lord,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
If you’ve followed this blog for some time, you will know that each Monday I do a post where I share some Christian music, either ancient or modern. I recently discovered a website which will help me select contemporary songs by Catholic artists, The Catholic Playlist Show:
Since I’m not regularly in Protestant circles these days, my exposure to Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) is not as great as it used to be, so this site and podcast is ideal for me. The other amazing thing is that about this site is that the Catholic Playlist Show exclusively showcases Catholic artists. Honestly, I think I could name all the prominant contemporary Catholic musicians I know on a single hand, so we’ll see if this site manages to change that!
I saw someone share this video and I thought it was an excellent introduction to the one of the most distinctive practices of the Catholic and Orthodox East – icons.
The presentation is given by Fr. Michael O’Loughlin and Deacon Basil (pronounced “Baz-ill”!) from a parish I’ve visited in Denver, Holy Protection of the Mother of God Byzantine Catholic Church:
In preparation for his Feast in the next few days…
There are many topics I’ve wanted to write about but either through lack of time or, more recently, writer’s block, I’ve never quite managed to tackle them. However, today I will begin to scratch a writing itch which I’ve had for some time. Over the next month or so, I will be publishing articles which relate to the classical proofs for the existence of God.
A few days ago, I was talking with a friend on Facebook who is a former Catholic. During our discussion, I mentioned a philosphical proof for God, known as the “Argument From Desire”. He asked me to explain it, so I wrote a brief summary of the proof and we spent a little bit of time going back and forth. So, drawing upon this conversation, I thought that this would be good topic with which to begin this series of posts on the philosophical arguments for God…