Now that we've found Richard III's bones

Where to next?

We are faced with the question of where and how to bury them.  Richard himself, a pious Catholic notwithstanding  Shakespeare and Holinshed's depictions, wished to be buried in Yorkminster, which at the time of Richard's death was a Catholic cathedral, Protestantism having not yet been invented.  Wherever Richard is buried, it ought to be done according to a Catholic rite.  The estimable Dr. Oddie has more here.

Sign the petition to have Richard buried in a Catholic site here. 

Update: unless you're one of Her Majesty's subjects, or reside in the UK, you will not be permitted to sign the petition.

News from the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham

The Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 Recently at Oxford in England eleven formerly Anglican Sisters and their Superior were received into the Church, forming a new community called "The Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary."  The sisters have adopted the Rule of St. Benedict, and for six weeks will live with a Benedictine community to get used to Benedictine observance.  After that, they will be on their own.  Having left their Anglican community, the sisters, who are penniless, will then become homeless as well.  Several of the sisters appear to be of an age when hardship and upheaval would have little appeal.  As their superior concedes, "[w]e’ve got an uncertain future. But we are doing this because we truly believe this is God’s call. The Bible is full of people called to step out in faith not knowing where they were going or how they will be provided for and that truly is the situation we are following.”

The estimable Dr. Oddie has more here.

It's like they have an agenda or something

I doubt these nuns were on that bus the MSM promoted so adoringly

Crowds flocked to Chick-fil-A restaurants on Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day, but to judge from MSM, nothing happened.

Word of the Chick-fil-A contretemps has reached England; the estimable Dr. Oddie's thoughts here.

The Prophecy of Our Lady of Quito

Altar of Our Lady of Good Success

In 1610 AD, Our Lady (under the title "Our Lady of Quito" or "Our Lady of Good Success"), appeared in a vision to an abbess in Ecuador to announce a prophecy which included the following:

“…. I make it known to you that from the end of the 19th century and shortly after the middle of the 20th century…. the passions will erupt and there will be a total corruption of customs (morals)….


“As for the Sacrament of Matrimony… it will be attacked and deeply profaned… The Catholic spirit will rapidly decay; the precious light of the Faith will gradually be extinguished… Added to this will be the effects of secular education, which will be one reason for the dearth of priestly and religious vocations."

Sounds pretty accurate so far.  Our Lady also promised that this period of trials would be followed by "a complete restoration."   We will look for restoration eagerly.  The estimable Dr. Oddie has more here.

Although we've never stood higher in our own estimation

 Lord Sacks

We can't be trusted to do what is right, the LIBOR scandal being the latest proof of this.   Since trust is the foundation of commerce, it is no wonder that worldwide commerce is flagging so notably.   It wouldn't surprise me if it doesn't revive.  So far the wisest analysis of the LIBOR scandal has come from a rabbi, Lord Sacks.   The estimable Dr. Oddie wonders why no Catholic leader has addressed the issue.

RELATED: In case you were thinking more regulators might be a solution for such rampant dishonesty, it turns out regulators were part of the problem.   Indeed, current Treasury Secretary Timothy ("Tax Cheat")  Geithner, as head of the New York Federal Reserve in 2007, was not only in charge of monitoring Barclay's during the period in question, but had been told "at least 12 times" that LIBOR was artificially low.  Whatever action Geithner took, if any, was certainly inadequate.   To quote an acute observer of the human condition, "A mug is a mug in everything." 

Western Culture RIP

"Don Giovanni Dragged Down to Hell,"  Pietro Bini

Not only can we ourselves no longer produce new art, we can't even understand the old art our culture has already produced.  For example, in a new English production of Mozart's Don Giovanni, the title character, who is meant to be an unrepentant dissolute, is instead depicted as a hapless chap who finds himself seduced by a raunchy Donna Anna.  At the opera's normally dramatic conclusion, instead of being dragged down to Hell by demons, the Don simply collapses into a wheelchair, and may or may not be dead.  In other words, Mozart's masterpiece, like so many others, has been reduced to meaningless travesty.  The estimable Dr. Oddie has more here.

17 deacons ordained for English Ordinariate

Ordination of deacons, Westminster Cathedral

Alas, they still haven't got a church of their own.   The estimable Dr. Oddie has more here.

Part of SSPX preparing to do "combat within the walls"

SSPX Ordination procession 2011

While another portion of the SSPX may be determined to remain without the walls, since from that vantage point the Church they reject as subjectivist and modernist appears a more inviting object of critique, and even hatred.

The estimable Dr. Oddie has more here.

Professor Dawkins fails to scintillate

Professor Richard Dawkins

Cardinal Pell of Sydney, Australia and Professor Richard Dawkins, who has won worldwide fame as a champion of atheism even though he considers himself more of an agnostic, recently engaged in debate on Australian TV.   Though neither debater covered himself with glory, Dr. Dawkins' uninspired performance, as well as the great gaps in his knowledge, even in areas about which he claims expertise, were striking.  Perhaps the bar for world acclaim is set a bit lower for atheists, even if they are actually quondam atheists.  The estimable Dr. Oddie has more here.

Dickens' Marian vision

"It wore a blue drapery, as the Madonna might in a picture by Raphael"

Or dream, or was it rather a dream of his recently deceased sister in law?  It happened in Venice, where Dickens was staying near a convent, the bells of which tolled throughout the night.  I'd never heard of this incident; the estimable Dr. Oddie has more here.

The shameful, sacrilegious monks of Ramsgate

Sold to the highest bidder by the shameful monks formerly of Ramsgate

Their community having shrunk to a size insufficient to support their magnificent, Pugin-designed establishment, the eleven remaining Benedictine monks of Ramsgate have decamped to snugger quarters, which is sad.  What is shameful is that they have sold, in an outrageously sacrilegious manner, their sacred altar vessels to pay for the project.  The estimable Dr. Oddie's reflections here.

St. Benedict of Nursia, pray for us. 

UPDATE: "A number of key items" remain in Catholic hands.  I don't see how the monks of Ramsgate deserve thanks for this.  They were a) only doing as they were obliged, b) it appears they had to be reminded to do it, and c) other sacred items have been lost.

Richard Dawkins predicts the death of religion

Pope Benedict at Benediction

Pope Benedict says the Faith is in danger of being snuffed out.  Do Dawkins and Benedict then agree?  Hardly, says the estimable Dr. Oddie; more here.

Damien Thompson is not the only one asking if the English bishops intend strangling the Ordinariate

 Our Lady of Walsingham

Now the estimable Dr. Oddie is likewise asking.  Let's pray the English bishops welcome the Ordinariate, even though they haven't shown that they do.

Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us.

Archbishop Nichols finds the saving grace in gay civil unions

                                                  "You say gay means what now?"

                                    
 
According to the learned Archbishop, gay civil unions are fine because they are not sexual relationships.   This rather startling conclusion does not satisfy the estimable Dr. Oddie, whose reflections may be read here.

Judging from the comments to the estimable Dr. Oddie's article, believers in England feel they have reached a parting of the ways with English secular society over this issue.  From now on, the force of law will lie against belief.

Archbishop Nichols now thinks gay civil unions are fine

                                                                How do you like me now?

As long as adoption is not involved.   The Archbishop's new point of view not only contradicts his own previous statements on the subject, but is in clear opposition to Church teaching.  The estimable Dr. Oddie's reflections here.

UPDATE:  Archbishop Nichols explains himself.

A strange way to sell shirts

Hard to see the connection between polo shirts and a photoshopped image of Benedict kissing Mohamed Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand sheikh of al-Azhar mosque in Cairo (who has broken off relations with the Vatican).   The Vatican has brought suit to prevent further publication of the ad.  The estimable Dr. Oddie's reflections here.

Let us be patient with Anglo-Catholics

                                                    Barberini Bees, from the Vatican Museum


The estimable Dr. Oddie tells us why here.  As usual, there are marvellous asides about such things as pre-Vatican II bees and the theological opinion of a "splendid old Catholic lady."

If Jesus knew as much as Richard Dawkins does He'd have been an atheist too

                                                       yes, but is he also against holidays?

So says Richard Dawkins.   The estimable Dr. Oddie's reflections here.

St. Paul's Cathedral closed indefinitely on account of protests

                                 Protesters have succeeded where Hitler failed



The estimable Dr. Oddie asks: does it matter?

UPDATE:  Protesters' tent city a Potemkin village.  

Another reason to lament abandoning the Latin Mass

                                            And Not a bit like "My Little Pony"


The estimable Dr. Oddie, having just returned from Spain, notes that a global liturgy makes more sense now than ever.

Amen to that.