St Ignatius Loyola

I love this saint.  He was hard core as a soldier, and then hard core as a priest.  The reputation of the Jesuits before their suppression was nothing short of legendary.  I recently finished a book about the Jesuit efforts in New France, which I hope to post a review about sometime before the Eschaton, no promises.


If you don't get the joke, then you don't know your memes, which is probably a good thing.  The joke came to me at mass last Sunday, it took all I had to not giggle.

--The Baron 

CETERVM AVTEM CENSEO, TABVLAM ESSE DELENDAM!

The Holy Father at Serra San Bruno

"...[T]he climate breathed in our societies is not healthy, it is contaminated by a mentality that is not Christian, not even human, because it is dominated by economic interests concerned only about earthly things and lacking a spiritual dimension."

--The Baron 

CETERVM AVTEM CENSEO, TABVLAM ESSE DELENDAM!

Poetry to live by

In recent days I am reminded of this poem. I think it is a brilliant rendering of 'our daily bread'.

The Pillar of the Cloud

Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home --
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene, -- one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor pray'd that Thou
Should'st lead me on.
I loved to choose and see my path; but now
Lead Thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will: remember not past years.

So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on,
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone;
And with the morn those angel faces smile
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.

Bl. John Henry Newman

--The Baron 

CETERVM AVTEM CENSEO, TABVLAM ESSE DELENDAM!

Drinking Songs: Preab San Ol

When this song pops up on my iPod, I always smile.


Preab San Ol - The Dubliners


Why spend your leisure bereft of pleasure, 
Amassing treasure why scrape and save?
Why look so canny at ev'ry penny? 
You'll take no money within the grave. 
Landlords and gentry with all their plenty 
Must still go empty where e'er they're bound. 
So to my thinking we'd best be drinking 
Our glasses clinking and round and round.


King Solomon's glory, so famed in story 
Was far outshone by the lillies guise. 
But hard winds harden both field and garden, 
Pleading for pardon, the lily dies.
Life's but a bauble of toil and trouble, 
The feathered arrow, once shot ne'er found. 
So, lads and lasses, because life passes 
Come fill your glasses for another round.


The huckster greedy, he blinds the needy. 
Their straights unheeding, shouts "Money down!"
His special vices, his fancy prices 
For a florin value he'll charge a crown. 
With hump for tramel, the scripture's camel 
Missed the needle's eye and so came to ground. 
Why pine for riches, while still you've stitches 
To hold your britches up? Another round!

--The Baron 

CETERVM AVTEM CENSEO, TABVLAM ESSE DELENDAM!

I love the classic A Man For All Seasons.  The wit of St (Sir) Thomas More is well portrayed by Paul Scofield.  For example:

Sir Thomas:  No, my lord, you don't.  You may suppose I have objections, all you know is that I will not swear to it, for which you cannot, lawfully, harm me further.  But if you were right in supposing me to have objections, and right again in supposing my objections to be treasonable, the law would let you to cut my head off.

Duke of Norfolk:  Oh... yes...

Cromwell:  Oh well done, Sir Thomas.  I've been trying to make that clear to his grace for some time.

--The Baron 

CETERVM AVTEM CENSEO, TABVLAM ESSE DELENDAM!

Character Development

Archbishop Fulton Sheen is quoted as having said that "There is nothing that develops character in a young boy as much as pat on the back, provided it is given often enough, hard enough, and low enough!"

This may explain why everyone says I'm "such a character"

--The Baron 

CETERVM AVTEM CENSEO, TABVLAM ESSE DELENDAM!

What's Wrong With the World

One thing that is wrong with the world is the appalling neglect of the word "bumbershoot"

--The Baron 

CETERVM AVTEM CENSEO, TABVLAM ESSE DELENDAM!