Harvey Millican's Blog: Musings of a Trad Dad

Friends, please keep in your prayers the mothers of two priests, both of whom are not long for this world.

St. Joseph, patron of a happy death, pray for us!

I stopped into Boston’s St. Clement Church/Eucharistic Shrine for a visit with Out Lord. This is a beautiful church in the Back Bay neighborhood and I had previously visited about eight years ago.

In what I will describe as a “If this is how you treat your friends” moment, while crossing the street to get into the church, yours truly stepped in a massive puddle. It was raining in Boston today. And so with chilly, wet feet, I approached my Creator and I entered into what Malachi Martin described so beautifully as “that Divine Intimacy” into which the ordinary Catholic can enter in just this moment.

Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, miserere nobis!

Got to explore a bit of gilded age architecture this weekend. Get a look at the ceiling of one of the rooms in The Breakers, Newport, RI.

Literally.

I visited a church for high Mass Sunday morning and noticed something on the back of the pew in front of me that I hadn’t seen in many years. In fact the only place I’ve ever seen this thing was at my home parish, Our Lady of Good Counsel in Newark. Take a gander at this.

This is literally the exact same thing down to the brass finish.

Know what it is?

My dad explained it to me when I was a kid. I used to think it was so you could clip your bulletin or maybe a booklet.

Good Counsel was built in 1941.

Back then, men universally wore hats. Fedoras were common but in the decades immediately prior to that bowlers and boaters were common too.

Now if you’re parading up the nave aisle of a gothic church with a wife and ten kids in tow you’re probably also struck with the thought that pew space is at a premium. Don’t want to be taking up a valuable seat with a hat of all things (or worse have one of the kids sit on your hat).

Voila!

The picture shows you a hat clip.

Innovation.

Love it.

Wonder if I can convince my parish to install these since I wear a hat when heading to Mass.

But this time it’s just for fun. I’ve got you all in my prayers as I visit some cool places I haven’t been in a while. Please also pray for me.

And let perpetual light shine upon him.

The above view is almost certainly the last thing the John Kennedy saw before he was struck down. Others have opined (I believe rightly so) that this was only the beginning of the end for our nation.

Stay confessed.

Need I say more?