May the Force...

Not to worry, fellow bloggers and readers! Luke Skywalker's light saber is right here in Texas. That's good news. But in the event of a planetary emergency, who is qualified to wield it?

Nun Gun?

Oh dear...bell's broken! Well, this ought to wake them up in time for Matins!

Rock and Roll Star

If you wanna be a Rock and Roll Star/Just listen now to what I say
First get an electric Guitar/become a priest/then learn how to play..

They Stand in Wrapped Attention

Another mass in which "creativity" has run amok. Let me guess---Austria? These images came courtesy of Cathcon.

No Reincarnating Without Government Permission!

Just when you thought you had seen it all. Now the government of China has moved to make it illegal to reincarnate without their permission. Read the article in Newsweek. Some governments are just beyond parody! In a way, though, it's a good thing that reincarnation doesn't really happen. If it did, there would be the danger that those who decreed that government permission was needed to reincarnate could find themselves coming back as Equus asinus.

Monstrance

This is a monstrance commissioned for the Pope's visit to Austria. The monstrance will stay in the Am Hof church after Pope Benedict's visit. One can't help thinking that the object and design would have been better employed as a suncatcher instead of a monstrance. And it would need to be smaller and lighter...most people wouldn't want a 40 lb suncatcher in their window.

Hurricane Dean

Hurricane Dean, now a Category 5 storm, is about to slam into the Yucatan peninsula. It should make landfall there about 2:00 AM Tuesday morning.

Tropical Storm Erin

Tropical Storm Erin hit the coast of Texas today, and we have been getting thunderstorms off and on since this morning. There was street flooding in Houston just in time for midday traffic. I guess this is a warning to be prepared for more severe weather, should it come, since hurricane season doesn't end until November 30th.

Feast of the Assumption

Today is a major feast of Our Lady, The Feast of the Assumption. This commemorates the day in which Our Lady was assumed, body and soul into heaven to be with God.

Dover Publications has decided to reprint G.K. Chesterton's Tremendous Trifles. This certainly is happy news. This book has such gems as "A Piece of Chalk" and "The End of the World".

Replacing an Old Car

Do you own an old car? Do you live in Texas? The state may help you replace it. Read here.
I believe you have to live in or near Houston, Austin, or Dallas-Fort Worth.

Happy Feast Day of St. Dominic! For your edification, I have provided this link so that you can read what kind of penance St. Dominic exacted from a heretic who had renounced his heresy. It's in the second letter:

It Looks Like a...

What's with modernists anyway? They want houses to not only look like churches, but actually be former churches. And yet they insist that actual Churches look like something else! This photo is from Cathcon

Together We Are Strong

Gemeinsam sind wir stark! Auf Englisch:Together we are strong! While this maxim may sometimes be true, we must be careful that we are struggling for the right things as we celebrate our strength. It's like saying "Change is Good!"---Really? All change? A happy, prosperous family suddenly thrown into poverty because of a loss of a job during a country-wide depression? That's a change. Is that good? Together we are strong---but our very strength could carry us right into the rocks that prudence and sensibility would have bid us avoid. Witness the boat in this picture from Cathcon. It seems to have run aground, a victim of the very strength of those attempting to steer it. And since he was standing at the rear of the boat, perhaps the priest should have delivered a stern warning.

Is this a chapel?

If you weren't told this is a chapel, would that designation have immediately sprung to mind? Assuredly not. And even after you were informed that it was a chapel, would you have guessed that the chapel was Catholic? Again, probably not. Nothing visible here would cause you to identify it as such. That contest appears to be operating here as well. You know, the secret contest to design buldings that are litugically bizarre and aesthetically awful. This picture comes courtesy of Cathcon.

Is it Architecture Alone?

Someone who has been reading these examples might think I have something against Modern Architecture alone.It's not just architecture that shows the limitations and deficiencies of Modernism. It's just that the architectural specimens are so visible and such obviously expensive mistakes that they make easy primary examples. They can serve as a jumping off point for less obvious and more subtle modern errors.