Defending the 12th century since the 14th; blogging since the 21st.

Catholicism, Conservatism, the Middle Ages, Opera, and Historical and Literary Objets d'Art blogged by a suburban dad who teaches law and writes stuff.


"Very fun." -- J. Bottum, Editor, FIRST THINGS

"Too modest" -- Elinor Dashwood

"Perhaps the wisest man on the Web" -- Henry Dieterich

"Hat tip: me (but really Cacciaguida)" -- Diana Feygin, Editor, THE YALE FREE PRESS

"You are my sire. You give me confidence to speak. You raise my heart so high that I am no more I." -- Dante

"Fabulous!"-- Warlock D.J. Prod of Didsbury

Who was Cacciaguida? See Dante's PARADISO, Cantos XV, XVI, & XVII.


E-mail me

 
Light blogging for a few days while the 'Guidi are on the road.
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:51 AM

 
Feast of St. Thomas Becket



I'm working on an appropriate song about the saint, or rather, about King Henry II doing penance at his tomb. Here it is so far (tune: Good King Wenceslas):

Good King Henry 2 got whipp'd
On the feast of Becket.
Wise his heart and eke his tongue,
When that he could check it.

But one day, said he, "This priest,
Who shall rid me of him?"
Now he's got five Saxon monks
Swinging whips above him.
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:47 AM

 
Ann Coulter sez:

About just who it is that's afraid that someone, somewhere, is having fun:

It's the blue states that are constantly sending lawyers to the red states to bother everyone. Americans in the red states look at a place like New York City—where, this year, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade featured a gay transvestite as Mrs. Claus—and say, Well, I guess some people like it, but it's not for me.

Meanwhile, liberals in New York and Washington are consumed with what people are doing in Alabama and Nebraska. Nadine Strossen and Barry Lynn cannot sleep at night knowing that someone, somewhere, is gazing upon something that could be construed as a religious symbol.

It's never Jerry Falwell flying to Manhattan to review high school graduation speeches, or James Dobson making sure New York City schools give as much time to God as to Mother Earth, or Pat Robertson demanding a crèche next to the schools' Kwanzaa displays. (Is it just me, or is Kwanzaa becoming way too commercialized?)

But when four schools in southern Ohio have Ten Commandments displays, sirens go off in Nadine Strossen's Upper West Side apartment.
posted by Cacciaguida at 9:49 PM

 
Religion of peace™

LGF summarizes for you here the last three years' worth of sermons broadcast over the radio and televion of the Palestinian Authority, by mullahs salaried by the PA (though ultimately, in all likelihood, by the Saudis). Full texts are available at MEMRI.
posted by Cacciaguida at 9:38 PM

 
Merry Third Day of Christmas; Happy Feast of St. John



St. John the Evangelist. Not credited -- but it's by
El Greco, or I'm Yosemite Sam.
posted by Cacciaguida at 12:38 PM

 
Cacciadelia at the podium: a voice for the voiceless

"The toys all say good night."
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:53 PM

 
Fox News: Naked man found in chimney

Now do you agree with me about Santa Claus?
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:07 PM

 
More exams

Another student just told me in his/her exam that so-and-so can be charged with conspiracy because he had a "steak in the venture."

Me, I always order the fish when I'm planning a crime. Brain food, you know. Maybe I should bring some for my students.
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:03 PM

 
An opera friend is circulating this one under the heading "Cavalleria Newyorkiana."

The appropriate charge would be Second Degree Murder With Oak Leaf Cluster. The sentence should be banishment from Rao's for an entire week.
posted by Cacciaguida at 2:41 PM

 
In the dumps with my exams

On the Criminal Law exam that I'm now grading, I asked a question about Numbers 35, which we discussed in class. An exam I just graded talked about the "cities of refuse." Yup, r-e-f-u-s-e. I don't know where that is, but if you do, could you give that student directions?

If it's a typo, then it's the funniest one since I wrote a speech for a U.S. Cabinet-level official and left the "L" out of "public". (It was caught before it got to the boss.)

You did know I was once a speechwriter for a U.S. Cabinet official, didn't you? You may hear more about it as this blog grows and flourishes.


posted by Cacciaguida at 2:22 PM

 
The news from Mars

Assault on Mars reaches its climax, says an MSNBC headline -- but any analogy between space exploration and sex is strictly postmodern-literary-theoretical twaddle, right?

Meanwhile, Britain's Beagle 2 Martian exploration craft appears to have gone native.

posted by Cacciaguida at 12:34 PM

 
Merry Second Day of Christmas, and happy Feast of St. Stephen!

Today's news tells us that the U.S. bishops' "ad hoc committee on the implementation of the Catechism" (did you know they had one? an ad hoc committee, I mean?) has determined that "[n]early two-thirds of high school catechetical materials used throughout the United States are not in conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church."

No moss grows on them, no sirree.

The story is reported here by Zenit, and actually, the findings appear to be spot-on, if somewhat Entish in their timing. (But we bloggits are hasty folk....)
posted by Cacciaguida at 12:27 PM

 
I want to add a few remarks about last night's Tridentine Mass.

First off, the Mass is the Mass, in any liturgy approved by the Holy See in Rome. For those who think otherwise I know a number of names, of which the most polite is "schismatic." Enough said about that (for now).

Moving along, then, I can say that I had the distinct feeling last night that Christmas "clicked" for me in a long-forgotten way. All the memories we cultivate, all the "old-time Christmas" merchandise that gets sold every December, testify to a real, paradigmatic Christmas that we dimly know of, the way we dimly know of the Beatific Vision -- of which the paradigmatic Christmas is no doubt a part.

I got very close to the paradigmatic Christmas as a toddler, despite the absence of the "religious side of it," which toddlers can't really understand anyway. As soon as I was old enough to feel the lack of that "side," the absence of it made the Christmas vision ever more elusive. Early on, though, I figured out that including the "religious side of it" was somehow vital to the lost vision. And so it was. Ever since Elinor and I founded a Catholic family, we have been having "real Christmases" on a level that I had not know for years before.

But there are matters of degree here. Here's what happened last night. We followed the readings (which for the Midnight Mass of Christmas are substantially the same in both rites: both involve Titus 2 and Luke 2; Novus adds Isaiah 9, Trid adds lines from Psalms 109 and 2) in Latin; they aren't printed in Latin in my Tridentine Missal, but I printed them out beforehand thanks to some biblical links provided by the Old Oligarch. These readings include Luke 2:1-14, which includes the "Linus speech" made familiar by A Charlie Brown Christmas. (Btw, go here for O.O.'s Catena in Natale Domini. Way to blog on the road, O.O.!)

Then came the consecration, under a brass crucifix against a red velvet altar-hanging. Then the time came for communion, and as my row's turn came, the choir struck up Adeste Fidelis, in Latin. "O Come all ye Faithful." There I was, answering that call, approaching at the same time both the symbolic manger (off to one side) and the Lord's real presence at the altar-rail in front of that red-velvet-backed altar, amidst a liturgy that directly, rather than homeopathically, supports my faith in that presence.

That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

The chapel where we were is not exactly Chartres, I might add. It's a former barn, small and ill-ventilated. It even looks as though it may once have been a stable, just like the one He was born in. But the altar where He came to us last night was more splendid than the one in many airy, roomy modern churches, and therefore more fitting for His Majesty. He did not disdain to be born in a manger, but that's no reason for us to be content with -- or worse, be proud of ourselves for -- providing him with no more than a faux-marble lunch-table to appear on, when we can do so much better.


posted by Cacciaguida at 9:42 PM

 
Conversation chez Cacciaguida: the truth comes out

Cacciadelia (bursting back into the dining room after dinner): Caccia di Gregorio hit me!!

Cacciaguida (heavy sarcasm here, folks): Well WHAT ELSE is NEW?

Cacciadelia: What's new is, he hit me first!
posted by Cacciaguida at 8:13 PM

 
Conversation chez Cacciaguida: the matter-of-fact Marine

Scene: while opening presents; Cacciagiuseppe has opened up a copy of Thomas Ricks's Making the Corps.

Cacciaguida: So, when's Parris Island?

Cacciagiuseppe: Next May and June.

Number One Son: So you're actually doing Parris Island?

Cacciagiuseppe: Yeah. The only other one is in San Diego.
posted by Cacciaguida at 7:36 PM

 
Christmas Conversation chez Cacciaguida

Scene: We're opening presents while listening to carols, and "Ding-Dong Merrily on High" is up.

Cacciamichele (to Number One Son, recalling days in Catholic middle school in Manassas): Do you remember when the high school sang this and you were in it too?

Number One Son: I had the easy part. I was one of the ding-dongs.

Cacciaguida: Nothing much has changed, has it.

Number One Son: And people wonder why teenagers are bitter and alienated.
posted by Cacciaguida at 6:09 PM

 
OK, quick survey of the Christmas-day headlines:

1. A redneck Christmas

This one comes to us from AP via CNN (click here for full story). Excerpts:

Son calls stunned parents after his funeral
Thursday, December 25, 2003 Posted: 1:38 PM EST (1838 GMT)

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma (AP) -- Charles Wyckoff and his wife had returned home after a funeral for their son when the phone rang.

"Hey, Dad," Kevin Wyckoff said.

"Huh. Well, damn boy. We just had your funeral today," his father said Monday, according to a transcript of the call provided Wednesday by the Oklahoma Corrections Department.

"Yeah, I know. I heard," Kevin Wyckoff said.

"Well, what the hell is going on?" his father asked.

Prison officials had misidentified an inmate who had hanged himself behind bars as Wyckoff. The inmate, who was buried Monday in Wyckoff's place, is believed to be Steven L. Howe, the Corrections Department said.


2. Cows have issues

Earlier in the day, this story on MSNBC about an apparent U.S. appearance of mad-cow disease was titled: Investigators Trace History of Afflicted Cow. Right -- like, tell me about your mother, Clarabelle. Apparently the headline checkers at MSNBS work Christmas Day.

That's all. At home, we're now in the gender-role phase of Christmas-day merrie disport: the guys are playing their new LORD OF THE RINGS computer game, while Cacciadelia is listening to her new recording of Rodgers & Hammerstein's CINDERELLA on her new CD player.

posted by Cacciaguida at 5:46 PM

 
Now burn, new born to the world,
Double-natured name,
The heaven-flung, heart-fleshed, maiden-furled
Miracle-in-Mary-of-flame,
Mid-numbered He in three of the thunder-throne!

-- Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ, The Wreck of the Deutschland, 34


Fr. Jim's Christmas homily is here.

All seven of us went to the midnight Tridentine Mass last night. 8-]


posted by Cacciaguida at 1:03 PM

 
Saint Francis and Saint Benedight
Blesse this house from wicked wight;
From the night-mare and the goblin,
That is hight good fellow Robin:
Keep it from all evil spirits,
Fairies, weezels, rats, and ferrets:
From curfew time
To the next prime

-- English poet "Cartwright" (William Cartwright, 1611-1643?), as quoted in Washington Irving, Christmas at Bracebridge Hall. (The latter also printed as part of The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.)
posted by Cacciaguida at 9:04 PM

 
The day before yesterday was --

Elinor's Bloggiversary!

Congratulations on Mommentary's first year!
posted by Cacciaguida at 2:02 AM

 
Mark Steyn to Europeans: Have more babies. Via Daily Telegraph.

Did you know, btw, (and this is from the Steyn column) that as practised by Buckinghamshire County Council, multiculturalism means All Saints Church can't put up one sheet of A4 paper announcing tomorrow night's carol service on the High Wycombe library notice board, but, inside the library, Rehana Nazir, the "multicultural services librarian", can host a party to celebrate Eid?
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:26 PM

 
Off the elf (the fat one, I mean)

Mark Shea is sound on the question, but, amazingly, some folks who comment on his blog seem to think that a feast day celebrating the birth of the Savior, and full to boot of family reunions, beautiful decorations, food treats, and presents, is just not enough unless you also purvey to your children, as fact, a story made up in the 19th century about how a "right jolly old elf" -- an offensive parody of a great saint, Nicholas of Myra -- flies through the air and yadda yadda yadda.

How your children are supposed to trust you on God, the Incarnation, the Mass, Confession, or indeed on anything, after you've admitted to putting one over on them about Santa Claus, is something I've never figured out.

Anyway, here is the last word on the subject -- my post about it from last year.

And Elinor's, of course.

Sancte Nicole, ora pro nobis.

posted by Cacciaguida at 6:53 PM

 
Bend it like Becket

One of the "saints of Christmas" is Thomas Becket, whose feast falls on December 29. This year I'm preparing by reading Dom David Knowles's biography of Thomas.

Meanwhile, buried in a routine "ailing Pope" story by The Washington Post, carried also by MSNBC, we find the following:

In any event, reports of the pope's incapacity are premature, said George Weigel, a papal biographer. Weigel said he dined with John Paul, 83, last Monday and found him "strikingly stronger than in October," when the pope presided over the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of his papacy. "I thought then we were in the final phase. But he's fooled us again," Weigel said.

The pontiff's "mobility and animation of expression" were improved and his mind was agile, Weigel added. "I presented him with a book of T.S. Eliot's poems. The pope looked at it and cracked, 'Ah. Murder in the Cathedral,' " Weigel recalled. Murder in the Cathedral is Eliot's play about the death of the medieval Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, a symbol of Christian resistance to political authority. "He clearly recognized what I was giving him," Weigel said.


While we're on the topic, I notice that another book on Becket is subtitled: "Saint or Troublemaker?" Uhh -- why is this a dichotomy?

posted by Cacciaguida at 3:49 PM

 
In the Diocese of Richmond, a licit, indult-based Tridentine parish (actually a "mission" of a regular parish), called St. Benedict's Chapel, draws favorable attention from the local paper.



Dec. 15, 2002: priests, l to r: Fr. Damian Abbaticchio, chaplain of
St. Benedict's; Bishop Walter Sullivan (now Bishop Emeritus);
Fr. James Buckley, FSSP. In this picture Bishop Sullivan prepares
to celebrate the Tridentine Mass at St. Benedict's. Don't we live
in interesting times?
posted by Cacciaguida at 3:29 PM

 
Star of Bethlehem

MSNBC reports the views of astronomer and wise-man-watcher John Mosley:

...if we suppose that the “star” actually referred to the planets, the situation is less problematic. The movements and groupings of planets in the night sky were of exceeding interest to astrologers and were closely tracked around the world. Historical records and modern-day computer simulations indicate that there was a rare series of planetary groupings, also known as conjunctions, during the years 3 B.C. and 2 B.C.

The show started on the morning of June 12 in 3 B.C., when Venus could be sighted very close to Saturn in the eastern sky. Then there was a spectacular pairing of Venus and Jupiter on Aug. 12 in the constellation Leo, which ancient astrologers associated with the destiny of the Jews.

Between September of 3 B.C. and June of 2 B.C., Jupiter passed by the star Regulus in Leo, reversed itself and passed it again, then turned back and passed the star a third time. This was another remarkable event, since astrologers considered Jupiter the kingly planet and regarded Regulus as the “king star.”

The crowning touch came on June 17, when Jupiter seemed to approach so close to Venus that, without binoculars, they would have looked like a single star.

Doesn't do much for the Dec. 25 dating, but interesting nonetheless. (For the record, theologian and Christmas-analyst Réné Laurentin says Dec. 25 is as likely as any other date. Don't give me the bit about shepherds not abiding in the fields in winter: this is Judea, not Maine. Put on a woolen cloak -- no shortage of wool, you gotta figure -- then build a fire, and you're all set.)


posted by Cacciaguida at 8:36 AM

 
Conversation chez Cacciaguida: combat duty

First, you should know that Cacciagiuseppe, 17, is in the process of becoming a Marine reservist. He will do the weekend-warrior thing while in college, then go on to Officer Candidate School.

Messages of congratulation to him, me, or both may be sent via the e-mail link in the left margin.

Now, here we were, standing outside the recruiting station in our (present) home town. I'm fixing to drop him off for a recruits' Christmas party before going off for some last-minute shopping at WalMart. Problem is, the door is locked, and no one is around. In fact, the party was at 8 a.m., not p.m. Looks like Cacciagiuseppe will have to come to Walmart with me.

Cacciaguida: Ha, ha: You guys took Iwo Jima, but do you think you can find a Cuisinart at WalMart?

Cacciagiuseppe: Not at this time of year.
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:21 PM

 
Kross & Sweord is back in service, now that blogger Matt Shaddrix has passed the bar! Congratulations on that -- and on the bar too! :) Go to K&S for his comments on ROTK, Saddam, Cardinal Martino, and much else.

And btw, Matt writes in to say:

Eowyn eh? She was excellent in the film. I especially loved the way she hacked the head off the Fell Beast. Arwen is still my favorite.

I'll be writing more about Eowyn, of course. Meanwhile Elinor has an interesting observation about her here.

By the way, the Mouth of Sauron will be in the extended edition along with a confrontation between Gandalf and the Witch King (its when he and Merry are trying to get to Faramir and save him from his Heathen King imatator daddy and that is when Gandalf's staff is broken, notice he uses a Gondorian's lance to knock Denethor off the pyre), also there is a pledge of loyalty scene btwn Merry and Theoden that will be there and probably much, much more.

Glad to hear it! But what about the "Voice of Saruman" scene?
posted by Cacciaguida at 5:47 PM

 
A New Yorker article by Alex Ross, comparing Tolkien's RING and Wagner's

Excerpts (in boldface) from Ross's excellent article:

The Ring of Power extends its grip through the medium of music, which is the work of the gifted film composer Howard Shore. In the preceding scenes, an overview of the habits of hobbits, Shore’s music had an English-pastoral, dance-around-the-Maypole air, but when the ring begins to do its work a Wagnerian tinge creeps in—fittingly, since “The Lord of the Rings” dwells in the shadow of Wagner’s even more monumental “Ring of the Nibelung.” J. R. R. Tolkien’s fans have long maintained a certain conspiracy of silence concerning Wagner, but there is no point in denying his influence, not when characters deliver lines like “Ride to ruin and the world’s ending!”—Brünnhilde condensed to seven words.

A music-theory aside:

Shore manages the admirable feat of summoning up a Wagnerian atmosphere without copying the original. He knows the science of harmonic dread. First, he lets loose an army of minor triads, or three-note chords in the minor mode. They immediately cast a shadow over the major-key music of the happy hobbits. (A digression for those who skipped grade-school music class or never had one: Why does the minor chord make the heart hang heavy? First, you have to understand why the major triad, its fair-haired companion, sounds “bright.” It is based on the spectrum of notes that arise naturally from a vibrating string. If you pluck a C and then divide the string in half, in thirds, in fourths, and so on, you will hear one by one the clean notes that spell C major. Wagner’s “Ring” begins with a demonstration: from one deep note, wave upon wave of majestic harmony flows. The C-minor triad, however, has a more obscure connection to “natural” sound. The middle note comes from much higher in the overtone series. It sets up grim vibrations in the mind.)

The minor triad would not in itself be enough to suggest something as richly sinister as the Ring of Power. Here Wagner comes in handy. He famously abandoned the neat structures of classical harmony for brooding, meandering strings of chords. In the “Ring,” special importance attaches to the pairing of two minor triads separated by four half-steps—say, E minor and C minor. Conventional musical grammar says that these chords should keep their distance, but they make an eerie couple, having one note (G) in common. Wagner uses them to represent, among other things, the Tarnhelm, the ring’s companion device, which allows its user to assume any form. Tolkien’s ring, likewise, makes its bearer disappear, and Shore leans on those same spooky chords to suggest the shape-shifting process.

Did Tolkien know Wagner's work?

Tolkien refused to admit that his ring had anything to do with Wagner’s. “Both rings were round, and there the resemblance ceased,” he said. But he certainly knew his Wagner, and made an informal study of “Die Walküre” not long before writing the novels. The idea of the omnipotent ring must have come directly from Wagner; nothing quite like it appears in the old sagas. True, the Volsunga Saga features a ring from a cursed hoard, but it possesses no executive powers. In the “Nibelungenlied” saga, there is a magic rod that could be used to rule all, but it just sits around. Wagner combined these two objects into the awful amulet that is forged by Alberich from the gold of the Rhine. When Wotan steals the ring for his own godly purposes, Alberich places a curse upon it, and in so doing he speaks of “the lord of the ring as the slave of the ring.” Such details make it hard to believe Tolkien’s disavowals. Admit it, J.R.R., you used to run around brandishing a walking stick and singing “Nothung! Nothung!” like every other besotted Oxford lad.

So how do the two RING cycles relate to each other?

In both [world] wars, [Tolkien] witnessed the wedding of Teutonic mythology to German military might. He bemoaned how the Nazis had corrupted “that noble northern spirit.” You could see “The Lord of the Rings” as a kind of rescue operation, saving the Nordic myths from misuse—perhaps even saving Wagner from himself. Tolkien tried, it seems, to create a kinder, gentler “Ring,” a mythology without malice. The “world-redeeming deed,” in Wagner’s phrase, is done by the little hobbits, who have no territorial demands to make in Middle-earth and wish simply to resume their gardening. In the end, the elves give up their dominion, just as, in Wagner, the gods surrender theirs. Yet it is a peaceful transfer of power, not an apocalyptic one. The story ends not with the collapse of Valhalla but with the restoration of a wasted world.

...Alberich forges the ring only after the Rhine maidens turn away his advances. Wotan becomes obsessed with it as a consequence of his loveless marriage; he buries himself in his work. Even after he sees through his delusions, and achieves a quasi-Buddhist acceptance of his powerlessness, he has nothing else to lean on, not even his Gandalfian staff, and wanders off into the night. Siegfried and Brünnhilde, lost in their love for each other, succeed in remaking the ring as an ordinary trinket, a symbol of their devotion. They assert their earthbound passion against Wotan’s godly world, and thus bring it down. The apparatus of myth itself—the belief in higher and lower powers, hierarchies, orders—crumbles with the walls of Valhalla. Perhaps what angered Tolkien most was that Wagner wrote a sixteen-hour mythic opera and then, at the end, blew up the foundations of myth.

OK, but he also restored it. It blows up at the end of each performance/listening of GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG, but it begins again every time you go to see, or crank up the CD of, DAS RHEINGOLD.

Now, what about the "suspension of disbelief" thing?

People like to think of Wagner as a lot of large people standing around and singing loudly, and they are not mistaken. The Met lacks a Heldentenor who looks even a little bit like Viggo Mortensen. But if in the opera house you sometimes notice a discrepancy between what you hear in the libretto and music and what you see onstage it is no less distracting than what moviegoers are asked to believe on a routine basis. You don’t ask whether an elf could kill an oliphaunt, or even what an oliphaunt is; you go along with the premise. It is the same in opera. The premise is that performers trained as opera singers are going to assume action-hero roles. Squint a little and it’s all fine.

Bravo, Mr. Ross and The New Yorker.


posted by Cacciaguida at 3:09 PM

 
Further ROTK comments culled from my e-mails to friends over the past two days:

I agree that the Arwen subplot was well-handled in ROTK, and therefore in the movie-cycle as a whole. One of my apprehensions going into the theater last night was that we would see too much of that insufferable drip Liv Tyler, and not enough of that ADORABLE Miranda Otto. Fortunately it was quite the reverse!

On the whole I thought the movie was excellent. There are two episodes that need to be added into the extended cut: the Voice of Saruman, and the Mouth of Sauron.

How can you have Christopher Lee and not shoot the V of S scene? And how can you leave CL out of the last movie? (I agree that dropping the scouring of the Shire is no loss, though I wouldn't mind seeing Saruman's throat cut at SOME point.)

Mouth of Sauron: my son Caccia di Gregorio tells me that Bruce Spence (the Trainman in MATRIX REVOLUTIONS) is listed on a database as playing this part, but I have not been able to verify this.

There were a number of STAR WARS hat-tips:
* The war-elephants (think Imperial Walkers)
* Eowyn to dying Theoden: "I'm going to save you." Theoden: "You already have."
* Hero turns from coronation to huge but organized crowd of ardent followers, who then cheer (think finale of first SW movie) My sons spotted about four others.

Some of you wonder what I don't like about Liv Tyler. Well, she projects dumbosity. If she were blonde, the stereotype would be too crude to include in a serious movie. Her lines about voluntarily giving up her immortality are capable of being well-delivered, but somehow Tyler makes them sound like Hallmark cards.

It's not only the actresses, though: Eowyn is a much greater character than Arwen. Or rather, in the book, Eowyn IS a character, while Arwen is a generic princess from the stock-character vault. This is one of Tolkien's few characterization failures, one that is eminently overlookable in view of the rest of his characters -- and no, he's NOT weak on female characters -- see e.g. Eowyn! I might even agree (though I wouldn't insist on the point) that PJ did well to drop Glorfindel and have Arwen rescue Frodo at the ford. At least that way Arwen at some point does something besides simper and look purty.

Let the flaming commence!


posted by Cacciaguida at 2:39 PM

 
Maybe this should make me wish the Maccabees had been regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, but it doesn't. Via Zorak.
posted by Cacciaguida at 12:48 PM

 
Lawyers Compile Book on John Paul II's Teachings on Law
Includes Jewish and Muslim Authors

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 19, 2003 (Zenit.org).- Hundreds of lawyers gave John Paul II an encyclopedic book on his teachings on law, as a gift for his 25th anniversary as Pope.

Among the authors of the 1,148-page book, entitled "John Paul II -- The Paths of Justice: Itineraries for Lawyers of the Third Millennium," are Jews and Muslims.

The book was coordinated by professors Aldo Loiodice of the University of Bari, and Massimo Vari, vice president emeritus of the Italian Constitutional Court.

Inspired by the Pope's own work, the authors, each of whom wrote in his native language -- there are pages in Chinese -- analyze the strength of law to protect the human person regardless of culture, race or religion.

The volume, published by the Vatican Publishing House and by the Italian Bardi Publishing House, is divided in 25 sections which address issues such as democracy; human rights, particularly the right to life; biogenetics; marriage and family law; and freedom.

posted by Cacciaguida at 11:48 AM

 
Eowyn, shield-maiden, White Lady of Rohan...

...rules. Go here, and go wild.
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:57 PM

 
Return of the Davidic King

Just saw Return of the King, and it's great, but more of that later. (If only the Voice of Saruman scene and the Mouth of Sauron make it into the extended cut, it'll be perfect.)

I think it's providential that this movie was released on December 17, when the readings at Mass happen to be about the Return of the King -- the Davidic King, that is: the heir of the house to which God promised "I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever" (II Samuel 7:13, RSVCE). (Same in Douay, except the cite is II Kings 7:13.)

The first reading, Genesis 49:2, 8-10, contained Jacob's promise that "the scepter shall not depart from Judah." (Long after Jacob's time, the kingdom of Judah was ruled by the Davidic line even after the northern kingdom broke off. That's just one of many cool things about the Old Testament: the north secedes!) The responsorial psalm, based on Psalm 72 (71 Douay), was on the theme "O God, with your judgment endow the king, and with justice the king's son."

Then the Gospel was Matthew 1:1-17, often dismissed as one of those incomprehensible "begats," when in fact this passage is crucial for salvation history. It makes the claim that the Davidic line, widely thought among 1st century Jews to have died out after the Babylonian exile, in fact survived, and continued until Jesus. The text groups the heirs into three sets of fourteen, corresponding repsectively to the patriarchs, the kings, and the "lost period" following the exile.

If the faithless dead soldiers of Gondor revive, fight, and accept redemption when faced with Isildur's heir, what should we do when faced with David's heir?
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:10 PM

 
Postmodern Luke: "And there went forth a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be text."

posted by Cacciaguida at 1:42 PM

 
Reuters: Italy Boosts Vatican Security After Threat Warning

Me: The Via della Conciliazione will be closed to traffic through Christmas, in response to terrorist threats detected by Israeli intelligence and publicized in Italy through the Rome-based newspaper La Repubblica, the only Italian daily sympathetic to Israel, as far as I know. Friends are as friends do.
posted by Cacciaguida at 8:43 AM

 
Whoa, a very cool new blog called Otto-da-Fe! Unless I miss my guess, Otto has a very "widening gyre." Anyway, given the "Friends" column in his blogroll, he definitely gets filed under "Axis of Eve." Welcome!
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:43 PM

 
Bishop Raymond Burke, of LaCrosse, WI, about to take over as Archbishop of St. Louis, proudly stands by his stern letters to politicians:

Journal Times Online: Just a Shepherd Doing his Job

LaCross Tribune: Bishop Burke Doesn't Mind "Taking the Heat"

Tom Bethell, for BeliefNet: Catholic Politicians Can't Have it Both Ways

And don't miss columnist Joel McNally, from (of course) Madison, who writes:

Disregarding [John F.] Kennedy's insistence on the constitutional duty of elected officials to represent all their constituents, bishops are demanding that Catholics in public office take their orders directly from the pope in Rome.

La Crosse Bishop Raymond Burke, newly appointed by the pope as the archbishop of St. Louis, sent a going away present to Catholic politicians in Wisconsin by demanding that they support anti-abortion legislation or else.

When the Catholic hierarchy decides to dictate how politicians must vote, it has some firepower other lobbyists don't. Burke said he would have to withhold the sacraments of the church from any Catholic politician who did not obey his orders.

The ultimate sanction, of course, would be to cast the souls of disobedient politicians into the fiery pits of hell to burn for all eternity.

Yeah -- AARP, NRA, RIAA, eat your hearts out!

There's more to McNally's screed. Fisk away, if you like; I've got exams to grade.
Bottom line: It's a new millenium, and the kind of men we need in the upper positions of the hierarchy are at long last starting to get there.



posted by Cacciaguida at 11:21 AM

 
Upcoming in the Harvard Law Review: The Role of the Local in the Doctrine and Discourse of Religious Liberty.

Sounds promising. I know I always go down to the local to discourse on religious liberty.
posted by Cacciaguida at 8:36 PM

 
Nineteenth century Dante translators Carlyle and Wicksteed, in their headnote to Inferno IV, say:

Dante is roused by a heavy thunder, and finds himself on the brink of the Abyss.

I hate it when that happens.


posted by Cacciaguida at 6:06 PM

 
Saddam caught. Cool. From the picture, it looks like the Barber of Baghdad ain't been around much lately!
posted by Cacciaguida at 6:01 PM

 
A Brit columnist reflects here on the scandal that prayer causes in secular society.

Among his observations: The ancient assumption is the pessimistic one that the human condition is essentially disastrous. We are weak, incompetent and fallible. We are miserable sinners. The modern, liberal assumption is the very opposite of that. It is the essentially optimistic idea that, if only we sort things out properly, we are fine.

And his tentative conclusion: is prayerlessness debilitating?
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:11 PM

 
Barnabas Fund: Egypt: Christian Convert Still Being Held, Four Others Released

Police in Cairo have released on bail four more of the Alexandrian Christians originally arrested in late October. However they have called on the services of an eminent Islamic scholar in their case against the last remaining detainee.

posted by Cacciaguida at 12:15 PM

 
The Supreme Court's First Amendment

According to this bizarre and unwritten legal text, you are fully protected if you

* purvey soft-core pornography
* purvey simulated child pornography
* advertise tobacco
* share illegally intercepted communications
* dance naked, as long as any legislation limiting your right to do so is based on circumambient criminality, not on morality

But if you criticize politicians, and especially if you donate money to others to help them criticize polilticians, your activities may be sharply regulated by Congress in the interest of keeping political speech "fair." That's the short version of this week's horrendous and chilling opinion in McConnell v. FEC, the campaign finance case.

Here is a sampler from Justice Scalia's dissent:

This is a sad day for the freedom of speech. Who could have imagined that the same Court which, within the past four years, has sternly disapproved of restrictions upon such inconsequential forms of expression as virtual child pornography, Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, 535 U.S. 234 (2002), tobacco advertising, Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly, 533 U.S. 525 (2001), dissemination of illegally intercepted communications, Bartnicki v. Vopper, 532 U.S. 514 (2001), and sexually explicit cable programming, United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc., 529 U.S. 803 (2000), would smile with favor upon a law that cuts to the heart of what the First Amendment is meant to protect: the right to criticize the government.

But what about the danger to the political system posed by “amassed wealth”? The most direct threat from that source comes in the form of undisclosed favors and payoffs to elected officials–which have already been criminalized, and will be rendered no more discoverable by the legislation at issue here.

The premise of the First Amendment is that the American people are neither sheep nor fools, and hence fully capable of considering both the substance of the speech presented to them and its proximate and ultimate source. If that premise is wrong, our democracy has a much greater problem to overcome than merely the influence of amassed wealth. Given the premises of democracy, there is no such thing as too much speech.

If the Bill of Rights had intended an exception to the freedom of speech in order to combat this malign proclivity of the officeholder to agree with those who agree with him, and to speak more with his supporters than his opponents, it would surely have said so.

The first instinct of power is the retention of power, and, under a Constitution that requires periodic elections, that is best achieved by the suppression of election-time speech. We have witnessed merely the second scene of Act I of what promises to be a lengthy tragedy. In scene 3 the Court, having abandoned most of the First Amendment weaponry that Buckley [v. Valeo] left intact, will be even less equipped to resist the incumbents’ writing of the rules of political debate.

More: Jonah Goldberg here, Gregg Easterbrook here, Cal Thomas here, an Indianapolis Star editorial here, a Detroit News editorial here, the Ninomaniac here.

posted by Cacciaguida at 12:43 PM

 
Our Lady of Guadalupe

For my sins, I ended up at the school Mass this morning. The priest, a Latin American, actually did a very good job recounting the story of the apparition, and he didn't forget the detail about how the bishop, St. Juan, et al. can be seen in the image's eye.

Inevitably, however, a guitar-wielding quasi-nun was present, and frequently led the students in interrupting the liturgy. A kid in the second row ralphed. I am not making this up. Get that kid a free subscription to the Adoremus Bulletin!

Anyway, happy feast day. Cool, how there are so many Marian feasts during Advent.
posted by Cacciaguida at 12:33 PM

 
Bad week for bucket-kicking. Not only Hans Hotter (scroll down), but the WSJ's Bob Bartley has also joined the club.
posted by Cacciaguida at 9:05 PM

 
Washington Post: Malvo Killed to Please Muhammad, Court Told

That's funny: it appears most Virginians would be pleased to kill Muhammad.
posted by Cacciaguida at 8:52 PM

 
The news hasn't reached the English-speaking media yet, but Hans Hotter, the greatest Wagnerian bass-baritone of all time, has died at age 94.


As Wotan


As The Flying Dutchman


Recent picture


Less recent picture


Still less recent picture


Even less recent picture: Take me to your Lieder!



In sum:

SIEGMUND
In Walhalls Saal Walvater find' ich allein?

BRÜNNHILDE
Gefallner Helden hehre Schar
umfängt dich hold mit hoch-heiligem Gruß.

-- Die Walküre, Act II




posted by Cacciaguida at 7:07 PM

 
Well, of course:

I'm terza rima, and I talk and smile. Where others lock their rhymes and thoughts away I let mine out, and chatter all the while. I'm rarely on my own - a wasted day Is any day that's spent without a friend, With nothing much to do or hear or say. I like to be with people, and depend On company for being entertained; Which seems a good solution, in the end. What Poetry Form Are You?

posted by Cacciaguida at 6:19 PM

 
A very short story
posted by Cacciaguida at 6:14 PM

 
In your dreams

Eve recently had this dream. Can I top that? Well, last night I dreamed that Eve was about to be appointed Secretary of Education, and that I had as good a chance as any to be her general counsel.

Now, why would I dream about becoming general counsel to a cabinet department?
posted by Cacciaguida at 6:05 PM

 
Washington Post: Army Chaplain Faces Non-Spying Charges

And don't let us catch you non-spying again!

posted by Cacciaguida at 12:32 AM

 
Reuters AlertNet: Muslim rioters burn 13 churches in north Nigeria

posted by Cacciaguida at 12:30 AM

 
OK, back now. Did some flying around in a fancy suit; kung fu'ed a few a'holes -- the usual stuff. Thought for a while I might have to invoke the traveler's privilege with regard to the obligation yesterday, but soon realized I need not worry -- I was passing through the Diocese of Arlington, and a Mass was just starting!

Also, on part of the journey, I listened to tapes of the two Henry IV plays, so I'm in a mood to go yell at some sons....
posted by Cacciaguida at 7:38 PM

 
Entering the Matrix. Blog-break until Tuesday 12/9. Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!
posted by Cacciaguida at 12:06 PM

 

Happy 80th birthday, beloved 50s-era baritone Frank Guarrera!
posted by Cacciaguida at 7:40 PM

 
I take thee, Elinor, into a dyad....

An abstract from a to-be-published law review article crossed my desk today, containing this:

Recent developments emphasize that marriage is a legal artifact.
No matter what end they pursue - extending marriage to same-sex
couples, a "defense of marriage" that seeks the opposite goal,
reform of divorce rules, or marriage promotion as social
policy-marriage activists are fighting over rights,
entitlements, and appropriations. As their wins and losses
reveal, the legal effects of two persons' joining together into
a dyad are not static.

It's not an encouraging sign for the success of a rational debate about marriage that leading scholars in the field keep taking highly controversial conclusions as their starting points. (Nonetheless, do keep reading MarriageDebate.com.)

Of course marriage is not a "dyad." Even without counting God, marriage involves the community and the hypothetical future children as, so to speak, third party beneficiaries. And, as the lawyers will recall from 1st year Contracts, a vested third party beneficiary is one of the most powerful things in the Common Law.
posted by Cacciaguida at 6:51 PM

 
The Old Oligarch, a great drink-mixer, mixes mixing and graduate lab reports.
posted by Cacciaguida at 12:26 PM

 
Headlines

Washington Post: White House, EPA Move To Ease Mercury Rules

Yeah, from now on he doesn't have to leave his caduceus outside when he visits the prez.


Washington Post: How 'Don't Tell' Translates
The Military Needs Linguists, But It Doesn't Want This One

See? Gay rights are a national security issue. What are you -- on the terrorists' side? (Actually, it's lame to dismiss these dudes, given the shortage of Arabic speakers in national service, civil or military.)


And lastly, Forbes.com has exercised true headline genius:

U.S. Puts Hold On China Bras
Dan Ackman, 11.19.03, 9:29 AM ET

NEW YORK - The Bush Administration yesterday imposed quotas on Chinese knit fabric, dressing gowns, robes and bras, invoking so-called "safeguard relief" on those products in response to petitions filed by U.S. manufacturers.



posted by Cacciaguida at 12:22 PM

 
Well, many dioceses wanted him, but only one could have him....



Bishop Raymond Burke of LaCrosse, WI...

is the new Archbishop of St. Louis, replacing Cardinal Rigali, now Archbishop of Philadelphia.

Bishop Burke has been outspoken about the Terri Schiavo case; he spoke at this conference together with Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, Fr. Tom Euteneuer of HLI, and Fr. Mitch Pacwa; and his peace-and-justice staffer, Arthur Hippler, writes frequently for The Wanderer.

If St. Louis is going to become a red-hat see again, the next consistory would be a great time to do it.
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:04 PM

 
The Rat is back! Actually she's been back since October, but now she's way back!

Among her links today:

The Onion: College Freshman Cycles Rapidly Through Identities

Last two grafs:

With a few weeks left in the fall semester, peers speculate that Vanderkamp will change personas at least once more. The top contenders for his next identity include sports enthusiast, raver kid, and motivated careerist.

"Those are all good guesses," Yusef said. "But you have to remember, we're coming up on Hanukkah. Some people don't know this, but Kirk's Jewish. My money says he's going to be one of those guys who gets serious about his Jewish heritage. He's totally going to start wearing a yarmulke and keeping kosher. Either that, or film nerd."



posted by Cacciaguida at 9:55 PM

 
Law-school exam advice
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:45 AM

 
Conversation chez Cacciaguida: Croats, Christmas, and Cacciadelia

Elinor: Terry [our parish's excellent DRE] took me aside after Mass. I said "What have I done now," and she said, "No, no -- there's this new family in the parish that's from Croatia or Slovenia or somewhere in eastern Europe --"

Cacciaguida: Don't tell Croats they're eastern-European. They'll be offended. I found that out the hard way when I was in Zagreb.

Elinor: So what are they, west Asians?

Cacciaguida: Central Europeans. Heirs to Hapsburg culture. That's huge for the Croats, and I'd guess for the Slovenians too, since they're even closer to Austria than Croatia is. For them, "eastern" means --

Elinor: Gypsies?

Cacciaguida: Worse: Serbs! People who write in cyrillic letters and don't bathe. Croats won't even admit that the mountains north of Zagreb are Balkans.

Elinor: So what are they then?

Cacciaguida: I dunno -- South Alps, I guess.

Elinor: Well anyway, Terry says that these people have certain Christmas customs, and --

Cacciaguida: Like boiling a Jew, and they want me to volunteer, is that it?

Elinor: No, no, no. They pick a child in the parish to whom they can be a "secret Santa," and they send that child a present, anonymously. And guess whom they've chosen.

Cacciaguida: Cacciadelia.

Elinor: Of course. So Terry just wanted us to know that when a present arrives for her from people with a Croatian name whom we don't know, it's not a bomb.

Cacciaguida: Ah. Always a worthwhile heads-up.
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:38 AM

 
What Justice Scalia probably meant when, dissenting in Lawrence v. Texas, the sodomy decision, he said that the "mystery passage" from Planned Parenthood v. Casey is "the passage that ate the rule of law"
posted by Cacciaguida at 1:47 PM

 
Oh, I hate agreeing with Andrew Sullivan, but yes, this is exactly what David Brooks is: "[He'] every liberal’s idea of a sane conservative, and he’s every conservative’s idea of what a liberal’s idea of a sane conservative is."
posted by Cacciaguida at 8:45 PM

 
Cacciadelia at the podium: early medieval geography

"Where is Barbaria?"
posted by Cacciaguida at 5:28 PM

 
Advent

Earlier this week the Holy Father, speaking to pilgrims, called Advent "a special time to train ourselves in vigilance as preparation for our Christmas encounter with Christ, who has shown himself to be king and lord in the glory of heaven." (The translation used by Zenit says "educate ourselves" in place of "train ourselves".)

This homily was preached in between the Feast of Christ the King and the First Sunday of Advent; it appears the Holy Father wished to leverage the timing so as to link the baby in the manger with the "king and lord in glory of heaven." As a medieval English poem (one of those set by Benjamin Britten in A Ceremony of Carols) puts it:

This little babe, so few days old,
Is come to rifle Satan's fold.
All Hell doth at His presence quake,
Though He Himself for cold so shake.

posted by Cacciaguida at 5:24 PM

 
Yankee-hating heaven

Pitcher Curt Schilling is going to the Boston Red Sox! He was an essential element in the upset victory of his team, the Arizona Diamondacks, over the Yankees in the 2001 World Series.

Ed at Bambino's Curse will be thrilled: he's been rooting for days for this trade to go through.

Apparently the snag was that, in view of Goodridge, Curt was demanding a no-poofters clause in his contract. KIDDING!!!
posted by Cacciaguida at 12:31 PM

 
Cacciadelia at the podium: pig-tails

"When I wear my pig-tails at night, I can't sleep on my side, because my head doesn't touch the pillow: it only touches the hairband, or the pig-tail."
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:33 AM

 
Fox headline this morning: Suspected Turkey Terror Attacks Planner Detained. This is about the synagogue bombings in Constantinople, known to some as "Istanbul", in Greece, or a portion thereof considered by many to be part of "Turkey", the presently-prevailing name for Anatolia.

Now, be honest: when you first read that headline, you thought al-Qaeda was trying to smuggle a bomb into the U.S. inside a Thanksgiving turkey, didn't you?
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:14 AM

 
Listening to Italo Montemezzi's L'Amore dei Tre Re (The Love of Three Kings); premiere: 1913. One weird-ass opera.
posted by Cacciaguida at 7:57 PM

 
Hugh Kenner (The Pound Era) has died. Obits: Daily Telegraph; Washington Post. The Post labels him "modernist," which he was -- in the T.S. Eliot sense.
posted by Cacciaguida at 7:51 PM

 
Shakespeare, Catholicism, The Phoenix and the Turtle, natural-law theorist and Shakespeare-analyzer John Finnis

At The Inn at the End of the World, you can find a post that ties all these things together, with links.
posted by Cacciaguida at 2:50 PM

 
New Wagnerian love-muffin: Anja Kampe, DC's Sieglinde



Kampe as Sieglinde, with Placido Domingo as Siegmund,
in Wagner's Die Walküre at the Washington Opera
(Washington Post photo)

Ms. Kampe, who is fluent in German and Italian but still working on her English, says of her Washington success: ""I tell Placido, 'Make me some pinches.' I am in my best dreams and I need wake up."

Happy Thanksgiving!

posted by Cacciaguida at 11:55 AM

 
New bishop for Phoenix, AZ

It's Bishop Thomas Olmsted, presently Bishop of Wichita, KS. Story here.

Note the tone of surprise. One Wichita priest says Olmsted "wasn't even on the radar screen." I wonder if "radar screen" in this context is code for terna, the three-name list that bishops in the area of the vacant see are supposed to send to Rome? If so, then what the quoted priest is telegraphing is that the Holy Father went outside the terna in making this choice. In the present circumstances of the U.S. hierarchy, this is an encouraging development.

Bishop Olmsted was originally ordained for the Diocese of Lincoln, NE, which was synonymous with soundness-and-orthodoxy even before Bishop Bruskewitz.
posted by Cacciaguida at 1:35 PM

 
Greetings to the reader who reached this blog looking for information on Julian Cardinal Herranz. The latest is that Cardinal Herranz has been appointed both to the Congregation for Bishops and the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei". Also to the Apostolic Signatura, but that's only what you'd expect.

posted by Cacciaguida at 6:13 PM

 
European study on anti-Semitism is scrapped
By Irene Zoech in Vienna
(Filed: 23/11/2003)

A study backed by the European Union on the rise of anti-Semitism has been shelved after officials decided that its findings were "too controversial".
The 112-page survey, commissioned by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia based in Austria, found that many anti-Semitic incidents were carried out by Muslim and pro-Palestinian groups.

OIC. At first they thought it would target Christianity, but then, as the facts developed, it became, er, uh, "too controversial." Yes, yes, quite.


posted by Cacciaguida at 5:49 PM

 
Conversation chez Cacciaguida: Gilder Thesis in action

Cacciadelia: [B-U-R-R-R-R-R-R-P]. Excuse me. [Giggle]

Cacciaguida: Cacciadelia! You're not supposed to do that! You're supposed to stop your brothers from doing that!

Cacciadelia: [Giggle] I said excuse me! [Giggle. Spasmic giggle. ROTFLHAO.]

Cacciaguida: Oh you're a big help.
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:06 PM

 
Burger King to Allow Breast-Feeding

Well, this is the chain whose ad slogan used to be "Have it your way"....
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:02 PM

 
Christ the King



Father Jim's homily is in Spanish, which is fitting enough when you consider all the 20th century martyrs who died shouting "Viva el Cristo Rey!"

Meanwhile, here are some guys who know how to work Google, or else were just lucky (or just had some help?!): the Institute of Christ the King, a Tridentine outfit that happens to be the first hit when you Google "Christ-the-King."

Normally I suspect organizations like this of being schismatic, but these dudes say: The Institute, with the permission of the Holy Father, celebrates the classical Roman Liturgy in its traditional form according to the liturgical books promulgated in 1962 by Blessed Pope John XXIII. It's the "Blessed John XXIII" touch that reels me in: real rad-trads (a) never have anything kind to say about Bl. John, and (b) tend not to recognize beatifications and canonizations carried out after Vatican II. So, unless anyone knows why I shouldn't, I wish these fellows the best.
posted by Cacciaguida at 5:45 PM

 
Conversation chez Cacciaguida: finish this sentence

Elinor: I don't know if it's you or if it's trousers in general, but.......
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:09 PM

 
Oy gevalt...

Today's Washington Post has a full-page ad by Delta touting its eight daily nonstops to Boston. Rings sold separately, I guess.
posted by Cacciaguida at 7:53 PM

 
Oh, come onnnnnn...

Hasn't anybody noticed that of the five pictures in the "literary crushes" post below, two of them show the man kneeling to the woman, and two others show the woman wielding traditional symbols of male intellectual and physical superiority?

Isn't anyone going to call me a traitor to my sex, a fellow-traveller (or gal-traveller), a fem-symp?
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:01 AM

 
"Literary crushes"

Not long ago, Elinor wrote:

I had an idea for a blogtopic in the course of corresponding with Peony. What fictional character or characters have you ever fallen in love with? I haven't comment boxes, so email me or reply on your own blogs. I'll go first: Henry Tilney from Northanger Abbey.

Many responded (click here). Herewith, my long-delayed list:


BEATRICE



At that moment I say truly that the vital spirit, that dwells in the most secret chamber of the heart, began to tremble so strongly that it appeared terrifying even in the smallest pulses; and, trembling, it spoke these words: Ecce deus fortior me, qui veniens dominabitur mihi [Behold a god more powerful than I who comes to rule over me.] At that moment the animal spirit, that which lives in the high chamber to which all the senses bring their perceptions, began to marvel greatly, and, speaking especially to the spirits of sight, spoke these words: Apparuit iam beatitudo vestra. [Now your blessedness has appeared.] At that moment the natural spirit, that which lives in that part that ministers to our nourishment, began to weep, and weeping said these words: Heu miser, quia frequenter impeditus ero deinceps! [Ah misery, since I will often be impeded from now on.]

From then on I say that Love governed my soul, which was so early wedded to him, and began to acquire over me such assurance and lordship, through the power my imagination gave him, that it was fitting for me to fulfill his every wish completely. Often he commanded to go where I might see this youngest angel, so that in those early years I often went in search of her, and saw her to be of such noble and laudable bearing, that those words of the poet Homer certainly might be said of her: ‘She did not seem to be the daughter of a mortal man, but of a god’. And though her image, which was continually with me, was Love’s assurance of holding me, it was nevertheless of so noble a virtue that it never allowed Love to rule me without the faithful counsel of reason, in all those things where such counsel was useful to hear.

-- Dante, La Vita Nuova, II (Link is to the translation by Barbara Reynolds, colleague of Dorothy Sayers. The version reproduced here is by multiple translators, including me.)



JULIET



-- If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle sin is this;
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.

-- Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,
Which mannerly devotion shows in this;
For saints have hands that pilgrims’ hands do touch,
And palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss.

-- Romeo and Juliet I v 93-99 (Arden 2nd series) (Link is to Oxford edition: some idiosyncasies, but good intro and nice layout. Arden is currently in between editions. Here is a great audio version: Kate Beckinsale!!!)



SOFYA SEMYONOVNA MARMELODOV (SONYA)



Go now, this minute, stand in the crossroads, bow down, and first kiss the earth you’ve defiled, then bow down to the whole world, on all four sides, and say aloud to everyone: ‘I have killed.’ Then God will send you life again.

-- Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment, part V, ch. 4




Honorable mention:

Elizabeth Bennet





Eowyn of Rohan






posted by Cacciaguida at 12:34 PM

 
MASSACHUSETTS NOW HAS SAME-SEX MARRIAGE; not "civil unions," but "marriage." Details and comments as they become available.
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:28 AM

 
Cacciadelia at the podium: Mozart's The Magic Flute

"You know, his name [the earthy, un-valiant birdcatcher] is Papageno. Why shouldn't his girlfriend be Mamagena?" [To clarify: her name in the opera is Papagena.]
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:39 PM

 
Update from the Vatican Depression Conference: Pope Says Consumerism Helps to Spread Depression

posted by Cacciaguida at 10:17 PM

 
Support Savannah Bishop Kevin Boland, author of the Bishops' recent statement rejecting same-sex marriage. The next few weeks may be rough for him.
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:14 PM

 
Headline from a midwestern diocesan paper: U.S. Bishops to consider statement on agriculture.

I'm dead, they're talkin' about wheat.

posted by Cacciaguida at 4:09 PM

 
Two-day blog break. See you Sunday (or Monday).
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:42 AM

 
We've arrived!

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 12, 2003 (Zenit.org).- A three-day Vatican conference starting Thursday will focus on mental depression, a problem that plagues 340 million people and can lead to suicide.

Related:

Holy Father's opening address to the conference: "Don't leave anyone alone with their anxiety." (Via Agenzia Italiana Online)

and:

In his opening address today at the Vatican conference on depression, Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Sainthood Causes, noted the forms of depression mentioned in the Bible. (Via Zenit)

posted by Cacciaguida at 8:22 PM

 
School gives 15-year-old girl written reprimand for using expression "That's so gay."

That's so gay.


posted by Cacciaguida at 12:02 AM

 


Photo-montage of Kate Winslet.

Just wanted to make a point.
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:30 PM

 
The Holy Father has appointed a new bishop just for Hebrew-Israeli Catholics. And the new bishop, Jean-Baptiste Gourion, is a Jewish convert! Story here.

I'm not sure just what subset of the Mideastern population the name "Hebrew-Israeli Catholics" denotes, but evidently they're distinct from the Latin-rite Palestinian Catholics, whose own Patriarch, Michel Sabbah, has welcomed the appointment of Bishop Gourion and has personally consecrated him.

Perhaps "HICs" are Latin-rite Catholics living in Israel. Maybe some of them are expatriates living in Israel for business or personal reasons -- but that begs the question of why Patriarch Sabbah could not minister to the HICs himself. Could the answer be that Patriarch Sabbah and most of his flock are Palestinian, while Bishop Gourion and most of his flock are ethnically Jewish? Does this mean, in effect, that Jewish converts now have their own bishop, at least in Israel?
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:57 PM

 
Dappled Things: Apostolicae Curae (affirming invalidity of Anglican "priestly" orders) was confirmed as recently as 1998 -- not that it needed confirming. (Though Dr. Forster, infra, is clearly doing his best....)
posted by Cacciaguida at 3:20 PM

 
Good link on St. Martin of Tours, today's saint. As the Benedictine priest said at Mass this morning, he was the first of the great monk-bishops. That's probably true: being 4th century, there probably weren't many, if any, before him who were called both to the monastic life and, later, to be a bishop.

Before entering monastic life he was a soldier, and so an appropriate saint for Veterans' Day.
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:45 AM

 
365gay.com reports:

(London) An Anglican bishop who said gays should get cured will not be charged under Britain's hate crimes law, police said late Monday.

The Rt Rev Dr Peter Forster, Bishop of Chester, said in an interview with a newspaper: "Some people who are primarily homosexual can reorientate themselves." ...

However, Forster is not completely off the hook. [Constable] Gerrard said that Dr Forster would be spoken to by officers, who would would tell him that if they could have, they would have charged him.

Fortunately, in this country, we have the First Amendment, so they can't do things like ban issue ads before an election -- oh, wait -- never mind.

Hat-tip to Extreme Catholic.


posted by Cacciaguida at 11:36 AM

 
"A Father's Rules For Dating His Daughter"
This is great.
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:46 PM

 
Prince Charles's potted plants to move out of Clarence House
10 Nov 2003 by Malcolm Drury

Several organically-grown potted plants at Clarence House, the official residence of the official Prince Charles, are to separate from the Prince for unspecified reasons, DeadBrain has learned.
posted by Cacciaguida at 5:17 PM

 
Ed, of Bambino's Curse, says:

So the U.S. Olympic Baseball team got "stunned by Mexico" and ousted from medal contention at the forthcoming summer games in Athens. Whatever.

I'm not sure when exactly I stopped caring about the Olympics. But it's a fact that I don't. Haven't for years and years.

Mexico plays baseball? How cute. Didn't know it was an Olympic sport -- and by tomorrow I'll have forgotten. The winter Olympics are OK for some figure-skating, if you can watch it with a real fan like Elinor, or when the gold-medalist is coached by one's cousin. Otherwise, I prefer a bad opera to a good "Olympiad."


posted by Cacciaguida at 4:56 PM

 
My movie double is Ethan Hawke. The official explanation from Emode is:

Ethan Hawke

An intellectual like you needs to be played by someone who understands how to be deep without being boring, someone who can grasp complicated subjects and make them seem clear cut, someone like Ethan Hawke. Whether bringing Hamlet to life or getting published himself, Ethan has shown the world that being smart can be sexy.

Were you sometimes the kid in class who realized when the teacher made a mistake — even if you didn't always point it out? Now that you're grown up, it wouldn't surprise us if you still liked the challenge of banter or enjoyed staying up late talking about the latest in political, social, or celebrity circles. Your glamour comes from your head first and radiates out through your looks. So keep that confidence up. Ethan's a natural to star as you because he, like you, has a good head on his shoulders. And isn't afraid to use it.
posted by Cacciaguida at 9:29 PM

 
Yikes...

25 %

My weblog owns 25 % of me.
Does your weblog own you?
posted by Cacciaguida at 7:25 PM

 
Experts dismiss theories in popular book
By GARY STERN
THE JOURNAL NEWS

Excellent (if overdue) hit on THE DA VINCI CODE.
posted by Cacciaguida at 6:21 PM

 
Kremed

Krispy Kreme now has an outlet at our local Walmart. “Oh,” says Number One Son, “so, if you don’t look like a Walmart shopper when you come in, you can by the time you come out.”

Next, the posh DC hotel where I stayed for a conference Tuesday night turned out to boast a breakfast station in the lobby, featuring – Krispy Kreme.

Later, standing in line at Reagan National Airport, I wondered what would happen if the KK trend were to reach airports. “Please make sure your butt is securely stored in the overhead compartment, or underneath the seat in front of you. Or contact a member of the flight crew, and we will gladly check it through for you to your final destination.”

posted by Cacciaguida at 6:21 PM

 
Evelyn Waugh centennial

George Weigel has an excellent column on Waugh, reprinted inter alia in the Arlington Catholic Herald. Waugh on sainthood, as quoted by Weigel (the "Helen" referred to is the mother of Constantine, heroine of Waugh's novel Helena):

Saints are simply souls in heaven. Some people have been so sensationally holy in life that we know they went straight to heaven and so put them in the (liturgical) calendar. We all have to become saints before we get to heaven. That is what purgatory is for. And each individual has his own peculiar form of sanctity which he must achieve or perish. It is no good my saying, `I wish I were like Joan of Arc or St. John of the Cross.' I can only be St. Evelyn Waugh — after God knows what experiences in purgatory.

I liked Helen's sanctity because it is in contrast to all that moderns think of as saints. She wasn't thrown to the lions, she wasn't a contemplative, she wasn't poor and hungry, she didn't look like an El Greco. She just discovered what it was God had chosen for her to do and did it. And she snubbed Aldous Huxley with his perennial (agnostic) fog by going straight to the essential physical historic fact of the redemption.

posted by Cacciaguida at 10:23 PM

 
Eve on saints and their role (inspiration for my post here)

Zorak links to this article deconstructing Hugh Hefner

Ninomania has news from Boston:

Listen, my children, and you will hear
Of a conference where folks were mostly queer


posted by Cacciaguida at 10:02 AM

 
Over in Britain, an "unaligned radical" girl reporter (tee hee) finds support for in-coming Tory leader Michael Howard among "[t]hat huge raft of voters who haven't the foggiest idea how to tell a member of the Cabinet, or shadow cabinet, from a cup of Bovril, but with a quick glance up and down reckon they can spot an adult when they see one."
posted by Cacciaguida at 9:59 AM

 
All Souls

"The souls of those who depart this life in the grace of God, but with debts still owed to His justice, are purified of stain in Purgatory. They may be assisted by the sacrifice of the Mass and the suffrages of those on earth. Hence the Church, after praising the Saints in glory, turns today to her suffering children and sends her prayers to God for their relief and release. Prayer for the dead goes back to the beginning, and there was a special day of remembrance for them in the ancient calendars. St. Odilio of Cluny in 998 fixed the commemoration of All Souls after the date of All Saints. Special observances of this day are the three Masses, the visits to the cemetery, and the toties quoties indulgence for the dead."

-- headnote for All Souls' Day, The Catholic Missal, New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, Publishers to the Apostolic See, 1943, p. 1044


"The Church, after celebrating the feast of All Saints, today prays for all who, in the purifying suffering of purgatory, await the day when they will join the company of the saints. The celebration of the Mass, which is the sacrifice of Calvary renewed on our altars, has always been the principal means for the Church to fulfill the great commandment of charity toward the dead. We can also relieve their sufferings through our prayers, suffrages, and penances. Even after death, links with our fellow-travelers and brothers are not broken."

-- headnote for All Souls' Day, Daily Roman Missal, Princeton, NJ: Scepter Publishers, 1998, p. 1711. (N.B. A new and enlarged edition of the DRM is expected out in a few weeks.)


This morning our pastor, at our quite-ordinary Novus Ordo parish, here in the Diocese of Weird, gave a ripsnorting homily about the Church Triumphant (Heaven), the Church Suffering (Purgatory), and the Church Militant (us, now), and how we've regrettably lost sight of these amid the "Church as community of faith." He then said the consecration using the Roman Canon, with all the saints' names.

Cacciadelia: "Linus"?

Cacciaguida: St. Linus. The second Pope.

Cacciadelia: Not Linus from Peanuts?

Cacciaguida: No.


Good news elsewhere in the region. Friday night, a deacon at the parish that we left, because it was going downhill, but which still gives cool All Saints parties for the kids (alternative to "Halloween"!), gave the kids a strong homily about Purgatory. Saturday night, when my sons went to yet a third parish so they could get their All Saints Mass in, a priest with an annoying preaching style -- an unhappy mixture of charismatic revivalist and circus barker -- nonetheless spoke strongly about Purgatory and the need for sacramental confession. To which we went right afterwards, as it was offered in the side chapel immediately following Mass.

Clearly the saints are praying for the Church.

posted by Cacciaguida at 5:39 PM

 
All Saints

My crew (in no particular order):

Thomas Aquinas: Faith seeking understanding, and, to an amazing extent, finding it.

Thomas More: "This primacy was given to St. Peter and to his heirs by Our Lord whilst He lived and was Himself directly present on this earth. [The indictment charging me with denying the ecclesiastical primacy of the King] is therefore insufficient in law to charge any man."

Mark: not the only Jewish writer of a canonical Gospel, but the one to whom my parents kind-a sort-a linked me at birth.

Edmund Campion: Elizabethan martyr. "And touching our Societie, be it known to you that we have made a league -- all the Jesuits of the world, whose succession and multitude must overreach all the practices of England -- cheerfully to carry the cross you shall lay on us, and never to despair your recovery, while we have a man left to enjoy your Tyburn, or to be racked with your torments, or consumed with your prisons. The expense is reckoned, the enterprise is begun; it is of God, it cannot be withstood. So the Faith was planted: so it must be restored."


Those are the ones who were already canonized at the time I was received, in 1982. Of those canonized or beatified later, I would add St. Josemaria Escriva, St. Edith Stein, and numerous saints and beati of the English Reformation and the Spanish Civil War.
posted by Cacciaguida at 4:52 PM

 
Conversation chez Cacciaguida: birthdays in the world of toy pandas

Cacciaguida: Why is there a "pandy" event on the calendar every Friday?

Cacciadelia: Those are "pandy" birthdays.

Cacciaguida: Do they have them several times a year?

Cacciadelia: Every few months.

Cacciaguida: The same panda?

Cacciadelia: Uh, yes.

Cacciaguida: How can that work? Your birthday is February 11th. After that, you don't get another birthday until the next February 11th.

Cacciadelia: I know, but they're an endangered species.

NOTE: Actually they're not. Stuffed ones, I mean. They proliferate so fast they turn up regularly at thrift stores, whence they all seem to arrive eventually at my house. It's the real ones that need some clues, fast. Btw, the stuffed ones have learned the "endangered species" line and use it as an all-purpose excuse.
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:40 PM

 
The girls of St. Maria Goretti High School uphold the tradition....
posted by Cacciaguida at 11:39 AM

 


Franco Corelli, 1921-2003


The AP reports:
ROME - Franco Corelli, whose ringing tenor voice and matinee-idol looks made him one of the top opera stars of the 20th century, has died in Milan. He was 82.

Rest of story here.

posted by Cacciaguida at 2:46 PM

 
Chart of possible new Red Sox managers, with comments and Vegas odds. Note high-ranking status of former Mets skipper Bobby Valentine.

And a warm Mets-fan welcome to the blog through which I found all this, Bambino's Curse: Diary of a Red Sox Fan. To be filed alphabetically along with all the Mets blogs. Glad to have you Shea nous!
posted by Cacciaguida at 5:20 PM

 
Iain Duncan-Smith is out as Brit Conservative leader.

Note final graf: Within an hour of IDS's concession of defeat, David Davies, ex-Chairman of the Conservative Party, announced his decision not to run for the leadership in what is increasingly looking like a strong movement within the party to force the accession of Michael Howard without a protracted election contest.

Tsk, tsk, sounds like somebody forgot to check for hidden mikes at the recent party conference....


posted by Cacciaguida at 5:00 PM

 
New Archbishop of Hartford


Turnaround man: Archbishop Henry Mansell

Among the achievements with which then-Bishop Mansell is credited as Bishop of Buffalo since 1995, he "trimmed more than a dozen positions" and "removed an undisclosed number of priests following allegations of sexual abuse."

What appears to be going on is this: Buffalo was a problem diocese, and Bishop Mansell -- a New Yorker who was ordained priest by Cardinal Spellman and served as an auxiliary bishop with Cardinal O'Connor -- was sent in as the turnaround man. Those are tough assignments, and it's appropriate that those who do them go on to higher office in a more restful diocese. (Hartford has its problems, as every diocese does, but it's not in a crisis state.)

So what to expect for other problem dioceses? Richmond, which needs a bishop now? Rochester, which is even weirder than next-door Buffalo, pre-Mansell?

Apparently the pattern is: guy's an auxiliary bishop in a solid diocese, or at any rate with solid mentors; then he's promoted to ordinary in a problem diocese; then he gets his reward.

If I'm right, then, for the next bishops of Richmond, Rochester (and possibly Norfolk, if Richmond gets split up), look at the current auxiliaries in places like Washington, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, etc.

Consider, for instance, Washington Auxiliary Bishop Kevin Farrell (Irish-born; fluent in Spanish; Legionary; brother, also LC, works in Vatican Secretariat of State); Washington Auxiliary Bishop Francisco Gonzalez (ordained by late Richmond Bishop John Russell); current New York auxiliaries listed here; Denver Auxiliary Bishop Jose Gomez (yowza!); also, click here for Chicago: Cardinal George plus seven active auxiliaries. Deep bench; strong triple-A team; whatever.

N.B. Bishop Mansell was on the short-list for Archbishop of New York when then-Bishop, now-Cardinal Egan was chosen. At 66, Mansell may yet take possession of St. Patrick's some day.


posted by Cacciaguida at 10:36 AM

 

Congratulations! You're a Long Island Iced Tea!


What Drink Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

posted by Cacciaguida at 2:55 PM

 


Nicely done, Marlins.

Naturally I rooted for them in the Series -- because I'd root for invading Martians if they were playing the Yankees. (This despite the fact that on Mars they almost certainly have the DH rule. Where do you think it came from? Sorry, Bowie, nothing personal!)

But I might have rooted for the Marlins with even more vigor if I had known earlier that their manager, Jack McKeon, is a daily Mass-goer who confided the Series to St. Therese of Lisieux. This makes 2003 the second World Series (that I know of) that Therese has been involved in. Maybe some team should cut out the middleman and just have her manage.
posted by Cacciaguida at 7:06 PM

 
Business Week and the bind that ties

Business Week, in its let's-just-surrender-right-now story on the decline of marriage in the United States, says that among the folks who typify the future are young men like Vincent Ciaccio, who broke his Italian mother's heart when he got a vasectomy three years ago at the age of 23 because he didn't want to get tied down.

Was that really what they meant to say? It would appear he did get tied down, and pretty solidly too! Sheesh, don't they have editors at BW?
posted by Cacciaguida at 6:57 PM

 
P.A. system adventures

Heard at various airports over the past weekend:

Paging Mr. [pause while she double-checks the name] Whirly Bird, Mr. Whirly Bird....

I hope he's not a pilot.

Ms. Gail [the inevitable pause] Silly, Ms. Gail Silly, please return to the baggage claim area.

Hello, Gail. Are you Silly? Then it must be you who left this pink valise behind....

Paging Fidel. Fidel, please come to the information counter.

Your cigars are ready.
posted by Cacciaguida at 7:11 PM

 
Andrew Sullivan has decided that, since desperate times call for desperate measures, he is leaving the Church. I'd comment, but Elinor has taken care of it.

Churchwatchers cannot guarantee that the Church will survive this blow, but early reports are optimistic, not to say giddy.

Seriously -- say a prayer for him, and for all who face sexual temptation. Mater pulchrae dilectionis, ora pro nobis. (Mother of fair love, pray for us.)
posted by Cacciaguida at 7:04 PM

 
Interview with new Cardinal Julian Herranz, on Canon Law, which is what he does.
posted by Cacciaguida at 7:02 PM

 
Well, Gerry Matatics did in fact speak at my (predominantly Protestant) university this past weekend, while I was away. Haven't heard how it went, but the place is still standing -- which is more than I can say for myself.
posted by Cacciaguida at 12:03 AM

 
Heard a few rows behind me at one of my sons' baseball games: If it's called da Woild Series, how come it's always in da Bronx?
posted by Cacciaguida at 10:35 PM

 
Visit the Old Oligarch here for a celebration of the anniversary of our beloved Holy Father!
posted by Cacciaguida at 9:07 AM

 
Blog break for a few days.

I won't be able to give timely commentary on tonight's Red Sox/Yankees game (for those of you who've been on Mars for the past month, this game will decide whether the Sox go to the World Series for the first time since 1986, when they had the misfortune to clash with the Amazin' Mets, or whether it's the Yankees UH-gain), so just go here for my views. Thank you.
posted by Cacciaguida at 8:54 AM

 
Queen seen on EU scene

--OR--

The Alice at the Palace has the clue that is true

After decades if not centuries, the English monarch is making her presence felt on an issue -- and an important one. Story here.
posted by Cacciaguida at 8:48 AM

 
Zeus and Athena in the AL Iliad?

A Red Sock interviewed on ESPN Radio while I was driving in this morning said (I quote from memory): "The gods have spoken to us. Clemens beat us at Fenway, we'll beat Clemens here."

OK. Yeah. What he said.
posted by Cacciaguida at 8:45 AM

 
Yankee Stadium is so pleasant when everyone in the stands is stone-silent!!



posted by Cacciaguida at 8:38 PM

 
Terri Schiavo begins to die. This report is from Fox -- you know, the guys who thought they had copyrighted the words "fair and balanced"? The piece states, as fact, that Terri is "in a vegetative state." She is not. Then this:

Doctors have testified that the noises and facial expressions Terri Schiavo makes are reflexes and do not indicate that she has enough mental capabilities to communicate with others.

So that's the new standard for the right to life?

And this:

Michael Schiavo has refused to divorce his wife, saying that he fears her parents would ignore her desire to die if they became her guardians.

This might have been the right point in the narrative to mention that if he divorces her, his right to her lawsuit-settlement boodle become a lot less clear, perhaps null.
posted by Cacciaguida at 8:33 PM