My little library consists of
A friend chided me for living in an ideological bubble. Now, while ideological isn’t the word I’m inclined to use, the more interesting matter is: how does one concisely describe one’s ideological bubble?
The little library list at the top of my blog is meant to do precisely that, defining my bubble of interest. From fiddling with it for several years, I find the most important criteria for such a list are:
First, an appropriate size: not too many more than a dozen books or the bubble loses definition.
Second, the books must have a coherence with one another, in some broad sense, at least to the listmaker.
Then, one just goes for as much depth and breadth as possible, given one’s interests. The core of the list gets fixed very soon; however, the boundary is harder to define precisely because one is casting out into unknown territory while maintaining coherence.
It is the interaction of these various criteria that make for an interesting exercise if one reads, or at least browses, widely. Try it yourself.
Oh, and by the way, the bubble has music too: Gregorian chant, Renaissance polyphony, and the songs of Bob Dylan.
The Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City has beautiful mosaics and excellent music.
Service Times
Monday through Friday
7:30 AM Lauds
8:00 AM Mass
5:15 PM Mass
6:00 PM Vespers
Saturday
7:30 AM Lauds
8:00 AM Mass
5:00 PM Vespers
6:00 PM Mass
Sunday
8:30 AM Mass
10:00 AM Lauds
11:00 AM Mass
3:00 PM Spanish Mass
5:00 Vespers and Benediction
6:00 PM Mass
Some info on GIA’s upcoming Worship IV hymnal:
Worship–Fourth Edition
The tradition of the Worship hymnals began in 1971. Worship II and Worship–Third Edition followed in 1975 and 1986, respectively. Together, they account for the greatest number of GIA hymnals used in Catholic parishes in this country over those years, with hundreds of thousands of the latest edition still in use. It is fitting, then, that our newest top-of-the-line hymnal should be its fourth edition.
Lots will be new! Unlike its two most recent predecessors, the fourth edition will be comprehensive, much in the style of GIA’s RitualSong. While it will include a substantial collection of the finest organ-based hymnody, it will also include the best-loved contemporary music, and shorter “world music” pieces; a significant amount of the core material will have Spanish translations. The single feature about which we are most enthusiastic, though, is its wide-range exploration of hymn texts by modern writers—those writing for today’s church. For immediate accessibility, a majority of these hymns will be matched with well-known, well-loved tunes.
The five editors—Kelly Dobbs Mickus, senior editor, Robert Batastini, Fr. James Chepponis, Charles Gardner, and Fr. Ronald Krisman—have devoted a tremendous amount of energy and expertise to assembling an outstanding body of hymns matched to each Sunday of the three-year Lectionary. While these hymns will be distributed throughout the book according to thematic category, the Hymn of the Day calendar will point directly to an exceptionally appropriate hymn for each Sunday and solemnity of the church year, with tunes that are likely to be familiar.
The Vatican now has the Apostolic Constitution providing for personal ordinariates for anglicans entering into full communion with the Catholic Church online.
From the introductory press release:
The Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus which is published today introduces a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates, which will allow the above mentioned groups to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony. At the same time, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is publishing a set of Complementary Norms which will guide the implementation of this provision.
This Apostolic Constitution opens a new avenue for the promotion of Christian unity while, at the same time, granting legitimate diversity in the expression of our common faith. It represents not an initiative on the part of the Holy See, but a generous response from the Holy Father to the legitimate aspirations of these Anglican groups. The provision of this new structure is consistent with the commitment to ecumenical dialogue, which continues to be a priority for the Catholic Church.
And from the document proper:
In recent times the Holy Spirit has moved groups of Anglicans to petition repeatedly and insistently to be received into full Catholic communion individually as well as corporately. The Apostolic See has responded favorably to such petitions. Indeed, the successor of Peter, mandated by the Lord Jesus to guarantee the unity of the episcopate and to preside over and safeguard the universal communion of all the Churches, could not fail to make available the means necessary to bring this holy desire to realization.
The Church, a people gathered into the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, was instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, as “a sacrament – a sign and instrument, that is, of communion with God and of unity among all people.” Every division among the baptized in Jesus Christ wounds that which the Church is and that for which the Church exists; in fact, “such division openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and damages that most holy cause, the preaching the Gospel to every creature.” Precisely for this reason, before shedding his blood for the salvation of the world, the Lord Jesus prayed to the Father for the unity of his disciples.
It is the Holy Spirit, the principle of unity, which establishes the Church as a communion. He is the principle of the unity of the faithful in the teaching of the Apostles, in the breaking of the bread and in prayer. The Church, however, analogous to the mystery of the Incarnate Word, is not only an invisible spiritual communion, but is also visible; in fact, “the society structured with hierarchical organs and the Mystical Body of Christ, the visible society and the spiritual community, the earthly Church and the Church endowed with heavenly riches, are not to be thought of as two realities. On the contrary, they form one complex reality formed from a two-fold element, human and divine.” The communion of the baptized in the teaching of the Apostles and in the breaking of the eucharistic bread is visibly manifested in the bonds of the profession of the faith in its entirety, of the celebration of all of the sacraments instituted by Christ, and of the governance of the College of Bishops united with its head, the Roman Pontiff.
This single Church of Christ, which we profess in the Creed as one, holy, catholic and apostolic “subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him. Nevertheless, many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside her visible confines. Since these are gifts properly belonging to the Church of Christ, they are forces impelling towards Catholic unity.” . . .
The Sub Tuum blog is following this topic closely [update and links] (as are many other blogs, of course).
It will be interesting to see the extent to which this will prompt various Anglican groups to think carefully about the nature of the Church and various ecclesial bodies.
The ecclesiological principles concisely stated in the first four paragraphs provide, precisely because of their brevity, a useful basis for discussion with Anglicans of various persuasions, I would hope. Given the complexity, both theological and historical, of any such discussion it is useful to have a concise starting point.
Even for groups for which this document has no direct relevance, e.g. evangelical Anglican groups such as the AMiA, thinking carefully about ecclesiology is important for their own internal issues.
Also, as Damian Thompson notes:
Another notable feature of the Constitution: it makes provision for what are effectively new orders within the Ordinariate structure: “The Ordinary, with the approval of the Holy See, can erect new Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, with the right to call their members to Holy Orders, according to the norms of canon law.” So the Pope clearly envisages the Ordinariate as a living and growing entity within the Catholic Church worldwide, not just England and Wales.
And, zooming out a bit, as Matt Kennedy says what a joy these last few weeks have been.
[Update 19 November]
Regarding the speech that Rowan Williams gave in Rome, Fr. Longenecker remarks:
. . .
The ‘impaired, but real communion’ which the Archbishop pleads for is the way Anglicanism has always existed. The present crisis in Anglicanism is simply testing the principle to its utmost. Catholics should understand that what they perceive as fuzzy, compromising wishy washiness is actually considered by Anglicans to be the primary virtue of their religion. In his speech in Rome yesterday the Archbishop was simply offering the Anglican Way (which he believes to be the best way) as a way forward for the whole church.There is, of course, a name for the Anglican position. Those who love long words will love it. It is called ‘Latitudinarianism.’ This is the belief that unity of form in religion is to be preferred above all things and that unity of doctrine may be sacrificed to achieve the unity of form. The opposite of Latitudinarianism is Sectarianism. This is the belief that unity of doctrine is more important than unity of form. Sectarians therefore divide into groups with others who believe the same way they do and therefore they sacrifice unity of form for unity of belief.
Cardinal Newman wrote on this, saying that only an infallible authority could guarantee both unity of form and unity of belief. Sectarians have a dogmatic church that is not isolated. Latitudinarians have a united church that is not dogmatic. Only with an agreed infallilble authority which is the focus of unity and the arbiter of belief can we have a church that is both dogmatic and unified. . . .
And here’s an article about Criticizing Your Mother by “Doc” Holiday, a curate at one of the ACA anglican parishes which will be coming into full communion with the Catholic Church. The ACA (Anglican Church in America) is the American branch of TAC (Traditional Anglican Communion) and their house of bishops has said:
The House of Bishops of the Anglican Church in America joins our Primate, Archbishop John Hepworth, in welcoming with deep joy the announcement of the preparation of an Apostolic Constitution to provide for full, visible communion between orthodox Anglicans and the Holy See. The House of Bishops wishes to express its appreciation to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for its painstaking work with respect to appropriate ecclesial structures to enable this historic step towards unity in Christ in accordance with Our Lord’s high priestly prayer. We pledge our most serious, prayerful reflection upon the cooperation and fervent prayers in working to bring about this landmark and long-desired outcome.
Mice lose; the Moose is loose.
The vignette on pp234-235 is particularly significant regarding McCain staff campaign attitudes, don’t you think?
Here are the first three pages of Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue to encourage further reading:
It was the Alaska State Fair, August 2008. With the gray Talkeetna Mountains in the distance and the first light covering of snow about to descend on Pioneer Peak, I breathed in an autumn bouquet that combined everything small-town America with rugged splashes of the Last Frontier. Cotton candy and footlong hot dogs. Halibut tacos and reindeer sausage. Banjo music playing at the Blue Bonnet Stage, baleen etchings, grass-woven Eskimo baskets, and record-breaking giant vegetables grown under the midnight sun.
Inching through rivers of people with Trig, our four-month old son, cradled in my arms, I zigzagged from booth to booth, from driftwood art to honeybee keeping to home-brewed salmonberry wine. Bristol and Willow, our teenage daughters, roamed ahead with friends, heads together, laughing, thumbs tapping cell phones. Piper, seven, my constant sidekick since the moment she was born, bounced along at my hip, pinching off fluffs of cotton candy, her reward for patiently accommodating my stop-and-go progress through the crowd. For the most part, she was comfortable watching the grip-and-grin photos and hearing the friendly chitchat with constituents that I enjoyed as part of my job as governor of the state. Every few moments, I pulled my right arm free from baby duty to shake hands with folks who wanted to say hello.
“Hey, Sarah! You never miss the fair!”
“Oh, my goodness, is that the new little one? Let me say hi to him . . .”
“Price of energy’s pretty high, Governor. When are they gonna ramp up drilling?”
A robin’s egg sky arced overhead, the brisk kick in the air hinting at winter’s approach. Like a family conga line, we wound our way among the vendors and exhibits: from pork chops on a stick to kettle corn, veggie weigh-ins, and livestock competitions. A local dance troupe took to the stage and the music blared, competing with the constant hum of generators and squealing kids on rides. Ahead, on my right, I saw the Alaska Right to Life (RTL) booth, where a poster caught my eye, taking my breath away. It featured the sweetest baby girl swathed in pink, pretend angel wings fastened to her soft shoulders.
“That’s you, baby,” I whispered to Piper, as I have every year since she smiled for the picture as an infant. She popped another cloud of cotton candy into her mouth and looked nonchalant: Still the pro-life poster child at the State Fair. Ho-hum.
Well, I still thought it was a nice shot, as I did every time I saw it on its advertisements and fund-raiser tickets. It reminded me of the preciousness of life.
It also reminded me of how impatient I am with politics.
A staunch advocate of every child’s right to be born, I was prolife enough for the grassroots RTL folks to adopt Piper as their poster child, but I wasn’t politically connected enough for the state GOP machine to allow the organization to endorse me in early campaigns.
From inside the booth, a very nice volunteer caught my glance, so I tucked my head inside, shook hands, and thanked the gracious ladies who put up with the jeers of those who always protested the display. With their passion and sincerity, the ladies typified the difference between principles and politics. As I signed the visitors’ book, I saw Piper’s picture again on the counter and became annoyed at my own annoyance. I still hadn’t learned to accept the fact that political machines twist and distort public service — and that, a lot of times, very little they do makes any sense.
Years before, I had seen our state speeding toward an economic train wreck. Since construction began in 1975 on what would become Alaska’s economic lifeline, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, it had grown increasingly obvious to everyday Alaskans that many of their public servants were not necessarily serving the public. Instead they had climbed into bed with Big Oil. Meanwhile, in a young state whose people clung to America’s original pioneering and independent spirit, government was growing as fast as fireweed in July.
It didn’t make sense.
It seemed that true public service, crafting policies that were good for the people, had become increasingly derailed by politics and its infernal machines. But I had a drive to help, an interest in government and current events since I was a little kid, and I had become aware of the impact of common sense public policy during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. I was intrigued by political science in college and studied journalism because of my passion for the power of words. And I had been raised to believe that in America, anyone can make a difference. . . .
The most interesting review of the book I’ve read so far is on, surprisingly, Salon.
From 20091111 Dylan concert in Fairfax, which is already up on dimeadozen.org, the following makes a great CD:
1. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
(Bob on keyboard, Donnie on pedal steel)
2. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
(Bob on guitar, Donnie on lap steel, Tony on standup bass)
3. Man In The Long Black Coat (Bob on guitar, Donnie on lap steel)
4. Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
(Bob on keyboard then center stage on harp, Donnie pedal steel)
6. High Water (For Charley Patton) (Bob on keyboard, Donnie on banjo)
7. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)
(Bob on keyboard and harp, Donnie on lap steel)
8. Forgetful Heart (Bob center stage on harp, Donnie on violin, Tony on standup bass)
9. Cold Irons Bound (Bob center stage on harp, Donnie on lap steel)
10. Workingman’s Blues #2 (Bob center stage on harp, Donnie on pedal steel)
12. Ain’t Talkin’ (Bob on keyboard, Donnie on viola)
13. Thunder On The Mountain (Bob on keyboard, Donnie on lap steel)
14. Ballad Of A Thin Man (Bob center stage on harp, Donnie on lap steel)
Band Members
Bob Dylan – guitar, keyboard, harp
Tony Garnier – bass
George Recile – drums
Stu Kimball – rhythm guitar
Charlie Sexton – lead guitar
Donnie Herron – violin, viola, pedal steel, lap steel
GP Taylor, bestselling author and an Anglican priest, has an interesting post in the Yorkshire Post. Interesting both in its content and its perspective, given Graham Taylor’s background.
An excerpt:
. . .To me it showed how the Church of England had sunk into a liberal pit that was no earthly use and offered no hope, no love and no grace. It was going through the motions of faith and was largely irrelevant to the people it once thought it served.
In all my years as a Christian and as a priest, I never thought I would ever contemplate leaving the good old C of E and becoming a Catholic. My former Bishop told me that it was the best boat to fish from. “Think of it, Graham,” he said in his neat office. “All those people – baptisms, weddings, funerals. People in need, people in joy and a chance to share the love of God with them.”
They were powerful words and helped me through my time as a priest in Whitby and beyond as I held the hands of parents who had lost their children and those who wanted some kind of hope and future. “Preach Grace, love and everlasting life and the people will come to you,” the Bishop said as he waved me off to my new parish. He was right, they did. But how things have changed.
. . .In this rising and damaging age of secularism, this country needs a strong moral compass to be a guide through some very troubled waters. The politicians are not the answer as we have seen with their morally bankrupt attitude to expenses.
I, for one, see a need for the Church to again be prophetic to the nation and not be afraid to stand up for what it believes. Heartbreakingly, I am no longer sure the Church of England can do this. . . .
From an article at the New Liturgical Movement on Vatican Singing Norms:
“The liturgy is celebrated in the Latin language, according to the Roman Rite. Gregorian chant has first place. The guest choir is expected to chant the Ordinary of Holy Mass in alternation with the Musical Chapel of the Basilica.”
Further:
“The guest choir may sing: at the Entrance procession until the moment when the celebrant reaches the altar (the Gregorian Introit is sung by the Musical Chapel of the Basilica), at the preparation of the gifts and relative offertory, at Communion, after the Gregorian antiphon has been sung, and at the end of Mass, after the Blessing. The program of music must follow the Liturgy of the day and will be agreed upon with and approved by the Choirmaster.”
And what should the choir sing? It is not complicated:
Sundays of Advent: Missa XVII Credo IV
Sundays of Christmas: Missa IX Credo IV
Sundays of Lent: Missa XVII Credo IV
Sundays of Easter: Missa I Credo III
Sundays of Ordinary Time: Missa XI Credo I
Feasts of Ordinary Time: Missa VIII Credo III
Feasts of the B.V. Mary: Missa IX Credo IV
Feasts of the Apostles: Missa IV Credo III
By the way, the norms are not so much new (Vatican document from 2006), rather newly enforced and advocated (e.g. CMAA posting the norms at the Vatican’s request).
Neat to see the Madeleine Choir School in Salt Lake City, Utah mentioned. The Cathedral of the Madeleine has beautiful art and music.
It seems to me that the orthodoxy and unity of the Eastern Orthodox churches is preserved, to a large extent, by not putting them to the test. Not calling an ecumenical council nor issuing a comprehensive catechism, for example, make it easier to ignore lack of real unity.
An excellent article in the American Orthodox Institute’s Observer brings this to mind. Speaking of Metropolitan Bartholomais of Chalcedon’s troublingly unorthodox views, John Couretas writes:
…But who will defend the defenseless if the Church does not? If a clear teaching on the sanctity of life and, more importantly, actualizing that teaching in our witness to American society, is dismissed as morally “rigid,” then we are simply lost as a Church.
This is not merely an interesting philosophical or theological problem. The Phanar’s moral failure on witnessing to life issues has a concrete effect on the lives our our faithful and especially our youth in the largest Orthodox Church in America. The youth have been cut adrift. The “spiritual leader of 250 million Orthodox Christians” is telling our youth that the Orthodox Church “refrains” from clear teachings on social and moral questions. And little wonder that so many Orthodox Christian young people have absolutely no idea what the Church’s teachings are on marriage, sexuality, abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem cells and other important life issues. . . .
The entire article (linked above) is well worth reading, both for sanctity of life issues and also for reflecting on how this example relates to issues of ecclesiology in general.
I read that
If the story of Jesus Christ isn’t literally true, then Christianity is a fraud that promotes “a positively wicked doctrine,” conservative writer Christopher Hitchens told Fox & Friends Monday morning.
Hitchens, an avowed atheist whose 2007 book God is Not Great attempts to divorce conservatism from religious teachings…
Or as Saint Paul more eloquently put it:
1 Corinthians 15:14 if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. 17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied.
From the home page of St Elias Maronite Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic parish in Roanoke, Virginia:
The Maronite Church professes the same faith and beliefs of the One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. It also administers the seven sacraments instituted by Christ, and obeys all the rules and ordinances issued by our Holy Father the Pope, the successor of Saint Peter in the Vatican.
The only difference between the Maronite Church and the Roman Church is in the Divine Liturgy.
The Maronite Liturgy is partly derived from the Judaic tradition of St. James the Apostle, “brother of the Lord”, and first bishop of Jerusalem, expressing the spirit of Eastern monasticism. Incense is used during the Liturgy to signify that our prayers go heavenward to God as the sweet-smelling smoke of incense rises up. The Sign of Peace is taken from the Altar which represents Christ, and is passed to the congregation in a very dignified and quiet way. This Rite is the only one in which the Words of Consecration are traditionally chanted in Aramaic, the same language our Lord spoke at the First Mass of the Last Supper. During the Consecration the Chalice is raised by the priest and tilted in the form of a cross (the four corners of the world) indicating the universality of the Redemption through the Blood of Christ. Before communion, the priest touches the Holy Mysteries (Eucharist) and blesses the people signifying that the remission of sins is bestowed upon us through the Sacrifice of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Communion is received by the faithful in the mouth, after the priest dips the Host in the Chalice : THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST.
Moreover, the Maronites cultivate profound adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, seeing in the Holy Eucharist the Risen Christ who send to us the Sanctifying Spirit. They are also deeply devoted to Mary, the Mother of the Light, hailing her strength and fidelity in the title of “Cedar of Lebanon”.
Way cool to have a prophet of Israel as patron saint.
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