The never-shy Ann Barnhardt recently posted a piece of reader mail on the question of fasting. I am linking to that post here and I encourage all to check it out if they have not already seen it. She lays it out there in pretty clear terms. Fasting is necessary and fasting should be strict. This is in stark contrast to the V2 Novie crowd who want us all “fat and happy”. Think about it. Our Lord explicitly instructed His followers to fast telling them that some demons can only be driven out by this practice. He set the example by fasting in the desert for 40 days. Catholics fasted for almost two millennia until we were inexplicably told that what constituted fasting was now three meals a day, two days a year, if you’re between 18 and 59, and if your poor wittle body can handle the wigor.
Look, obviously there are people who are going to have go about fasting slightly differently than everyone else. In a similar manner, though, there are always people who will be excused from the Sunday obligation if there is an outbreak of flu and their immune systems are compromised. But the Church never cancelled the Sunday obligation and locked all the churches because of them. Oh wait…
The point is, as I mentioned recently borrowing from a sermon I heard, we are under assault from many sides right now. We need to be the soldiers of Christ we were confirmed to be, pick up our armor and every weapon at our disposal (including and especially fasting), and fight to defend His bride, the Church.s
Sometimes it seems like Our Lord is asking us to keep praying, to keep pestering as it were. I think of the parable of the woman who’s case was decided favorably because she wouldn’t leave the judge alone. (Lk. 18: 1-8)
Whatever your prayers – be they for something in your marriage, for your children, or for the particular grace of always being within walking distance of a Latin Mass, persevere. Be persistent.
My son absconded with my laptop tonight to write a book analysis of Steven Crane’s The Red Badge of Courage. I tried to make it easy for him. “Civil War. Coward. Runs from battle. Man vs. self.” That’s all I had for him except that the author was from my hometown of Newark, NJ and everyone there knew of him. Just like we all knew about Seth Boyden – the inventor of patent leather, celluloid film, and malleable iron. But you knew that, right? Sidenote: bit Crane and Boyden (along with Christopher Columbus and Archbishop Thomas Walsh) had housing projects named after them)
Anyway, where was I? Yes, disciplines. Our priests have been preaching extensively for the past few weeks about the need to go beyond our normal penances this Lent. As one priest said, “We are literally under attack from about twelve different fronts. Giving up candies isn’t going to cut it this time.”
If you read yesterday’s post you know about the Prince Albert. I went the whole day today without a cigarette. I only hit the pipe about a dozen times but believe it or not, that’s still much less than I would have smoked otherwise. Keep me in your prayers that this goes well. I’m asking my guardian angel to help make this easier. Otherwise the really big disciplines pertaining to food and drink aren’t going to be so easy.
Mary Help of Christians, pray for us!
*Correction: After writing and publishing this, I have been informed that I inadvertently combined Seth Boyden and yet another famous Newarker, Hannibal Goodwin. It is he (Goodwin) and not Boyden who invented celluloid film.
Many of you know by now that I spent a good part of my adult life teaching the Catholic faith. I did so primarily to high school students but also taught a few elementary grades here and there as needed. When I was a vice principal at a large Catholic grammar school we had an outbreak of the flu. The principal insisted we keep the school open so we wouldn’t “lose the days” despite 60% of the faculty being out sick. As I have a pretty strong immune system and I was the guy responsible for placing subs, I eventually had to place myself into a second grade classroom. More than half the students were home sick. Nonetheless, it was fun working with that group. My point in all this is that I had a career in teaching. I love teaching, especially teaching the Catholic faith. I homeschool my kids full time now because I can humbly say that no one is going to do a better job at this than me and because this is the single most important thing I can do for my kids in these insane days. It’s a sacrifice for sure. We’ll talk about that in another post. But I do it because of love on many fronts.
Tonight, the son of a friend of mine called and asked if I could help him with a theology paper. He come to the house with his laptop and notes. The topic was the Eucharist. A ten page paper is due this week. For me, it was like I never left the classroom. Only this time, I was in my kitchen. I even made an order of one of my favorite Jersey side dishes – disco fries – for the lad and I to munch on while blockquoting selections from Justin Martyr and Adrian Fortescue. Side note: disco fries can be ordered in any Jersey diner. They consist of steak fries covered in mozzarella and gravy. It’s kind of a poor man’s poutine. Needless to say, I think this young man is going to do very well.
I tell this story because I am thankful for the opportunity to be able to pass on what I have received. I don’t always see that where my own kids are concerned because of the familiarity aspect. And trust me, I’m not going back to a classroom anytime soon. For so many reasons, I don’t see it happening. Come to think of it, the second the bosses heard my thoughts on the antipapacy, they’d surely axe me.
So between this blog and the random child of a friend who needs help with a paper I will content myself.
This thought has been on my mind most of the week.
I’m trying to figure out the best way to ask my pastor how he intends to lead me “back into the Novus Ordo” when I don’t want to go. More to the point, I’m wondering how he intends to answer that question about me and my fellow parishioners when the bishop is forced to ask him.
Pray for your priests. Pray especially for trad priests. Satan will use their desire to be virtuous – particularly in the practice of obedience – as a cudgel with which to bludgeon them. I think of the vestments in the ancient Mass – how the priest crosses his stole in front and tucks it under his cincture. That same pastor I mentioned above once told me about the symbolism. “The priest,” he said, “is bound to the Mass.” Pray Our Lord, Who was bound and led to His cross, strengthen them.
“…Thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldst not.”
Jn. 21:18
From the St. Joseph Edition, Baltimore Catechism. I include the picture because of the inset picture of Our Lord offering His Sacrifice through the person of His priest. The text is, bizarrely, from one of the interim missals used sometime between 1965-1970.
Today we celebrated the feast day of St. Scholastica, the twin sister of St. Benedict. I have a great devotion to St. Benedict and also to St. Scholastica. I myself have a twin sister. I guess you might say it’s a twin thing. Side note: I have a friend who is a priest with a traditional order Society of Apostolic Life who happens to have an identical twin brother. Fr. once remarked in my presence (clearly forgetting that I am a fraternal twin) that “fraternal twins are freaks of nature” and that identical twins are somehow the “more natural” variety. This is pure nonsense. I began my life from two distinct cells that were created just for my existence; not split off from someone else’s earmarked ovum. I jest, of course, but being one half of a boy-girl fraternal twin set has always given me a sense of unusual pride. My twin sister died when we were children but that doesn’t negate the relationship. If anything, I’d say it makes for a stronger bond. I was created at the same moment (more or less) with someone who went before the throne of Almighty God long before me. Presumably she prays for me. I have always known that I was somehow protected and I do not take it for granted.
And what is that twin bond of which they speak? It is hard to describe to singletons; but it is very real. I have heard stories from my early childhood, for instance, of how she was the “brains” of the operation and I was the “brawn”. She would hatch plots to, say, get us out of our playpen, do some kind of twin mind-meld with me, and then I would carry out the heavy lifting which usually resulted in a pinched finger or two. She could see how things needed to be done and I could do those things. We worked well together. I have the scars to prove it.
People ask me what it’s like to be a “twinless twin”. That’s the term for the infinitesimally small percentage of people worldwide like me. All I can say is that the bond doesn’t die. I still talk to her daily. And all of the behavior traits that I developed in the womb are still imbedded in me to this day. For instance, having started my existence with a roommate I find it incredibly painful being alone. I love having people around me pretty much all the time. I thrive on it. I also continue to work best in situations where I am given very clear instructions on what to do and then I do it. Ikea furniture? I’m your guy. Recipes? I can follow like the best of them. This isn’t to say that I lack imagination. I am an accomplished pianist, for instance, but I would be the worst jazz pianist ever because there’s no set script. I also had to learn early on to adapt myself to things that did not come naturally to me. For instance, I, the “quiet twin”, am a proficient public speaker. But at the end of the day I am a wandering man of sorts. I will probably always have a sense of intrigue as to what my life would be like if things had gone differently and yet I have hope that I may get to find that out eventually.
All this by way of coming back around to St. Scholastica. Benedict’s twin founded the order of Benedictine Nuns. She loved her brother and I have read that the devotion was mutual. The poignant story recounting the last time they saw each other on earth comes to us from St. Gregory the Great. The story goes that Benedict had gone to visit his sister in her monastery. They spent the day reveling in each other’s company. I imagine they shared much laughter over things that the people around them couldn’t possibly understand. As the day drew to a close Scholastica begged her brother to stay longer. Benedict was adamant. A monk should be in his cell at night. It was the rule. It was HIS rule. Scholastica, ever filled with supernatural charity – with deepest and true love – placed her head in her hands and began to pray and to weep. A storm of immense magnitude arose and Benedict, unable to leave, blurted, “Sister, what have you done?!” As I have always heard it, her response was simply, “You wouldn’t listen to my request so I asked God.”
Benedict remained through the night and the two said their goodbyes. Several days later, Benedict had a vision wherein he saw the soul of his beloved twin sister ascending to heaven in the form of a dove. In the collect at today’s Mass, we read the following:
O God, Who, to show us the way of innocence, caused the soul of Your Virgin, blessed Scholastica, to fly up to heaven in the likeness of a dove, grant us, through her merits and prayers, to live innocently so that we may be found worthy to reach everlasting joys.
Benedict sent for her body and had it placed in the tomb that had been prepared for him; and for a time, Benedict was a twinless twin.
Their bodies repose together awaiting the general judgment. Their souls are in heaven together for eternity.
Folks, I got off all that social media nonsense a while ago. Sorry but I'm not on Twitbook, Facepalm, YouHu, WingWang or any of the others. Maybe an event will happen to make me change my mind like Peter and Paul coming down with flaming swords and commanding it be so. Until then, read the blog and if you feel a comment is in order or you feel like sharing a tip or suggestion for a topic, email me at harvey@harveymillican.com.
Harvey Millican's Blog: Musings of a Trad Dad 