The Ark and The Dove

Thank you, Get Religion

For your coverage of the coverage of the Apostolic Exhortation.  Too bad everyone who reads the papers won't read this.

Missale Ambrosianum

I know Mike and all other wannabe Doges will like this Milanese-fest that you can find over at Orbis Catholicus.

St. Patrick's Day festivities

Here's The Bad Catholic's Guide To Good Living's suggestion - I wish I had heard of this in time to prepare this; as it is, my friends will have to imagine it - a party lacking the perfection of having the property of existence.

"His fears are a century out of date"

Intentional Disciples Blog on the old-fashioned progressive's fear of evangelizing.

Nietzsche's contribution to the Holocaust

Fr. Cantalamessa, the papal household preacher; covered by NCR.

See, there is a reason for it

Macho mentality may make guys more likely to get hurt, but it apparently helps to heal faster.  Livescience.

Loyalty

For those of you who don't know, Vatican II was largely an anti-Marxist Council.

So if you hate Vatican II, how do I know you're not secretly a Commie?

Oh, yeah?

Re: "Eavesdropping"

Last year, I thought about how I hardly ever went to the Student Union, which certainly must be a center of student life.  So I wandered over there a few times to meet and mingle with new people.

One of those times happened to be Earth Day, which, as you might guess, is something of a hippie-fest on campus.  In honor of the day there were some celebratory-type events at the Union.  I got some orange chicken from the Panda in the food court.  I sat down at a table just outside the door of a room where there was an Earth Day comedy show...

Style

Isn't it interesting that when you tell a story, everything you do has connotations, including what you choose to omit?

Translation

What is it with English-speaking translators?

Someone pointed out to me that a portion of the Latin version (the official version) of the Pope's Apostolic Exhortation (which I still haven't read yet) is noticeably different than the English translation.

There is a section where it says:

In order to express more clearly the unity and universality of the Church, I wish to endorse the proposal made by the Synod of Bishops, in harmony with the directives of the Second Vatican Council, (182) that, with the exception of the readings, the homily and the prayer of the faithful, such liturgies could be celebrated in Latin. 

The Latin one says,

Ad melius ostendendam unitatem et universalitatem Ecclesiae, cupimus commendare suasiones Synodi Episcoporum, consonantes cum normis Concilii Vaticani II: (182) exceptis lectionibus, homilia et oratione fidelium, aequum est ut huiusmodi celebrationes fiant lingua Latina.

This says that it is aequum - right, just, fitting - that these celebrations be done in Latin.  In the English translation of the Mass, when it says in the Preface that it is aequum to give God thanks, there it is rendered that it is our duty to give Him thanks.  I looked in other languages I know something of, and they all seem to say, instead of "they could...be in Latin," some variation of "it is good...that they be in Latin."  The next sentence says that in general, priests should be able to celebrate Mass in Latin, and the people should know at least the more common prayers.

As long as I'm picking on things, "wish" is a not incorrect translation of cupio, which is the verb the Latin uses for the things the Pope wants in this doc, including in this instance.  However, there is another perfectly good verb that merely means "wish" or "want" - volo.  The word cupio (actually, it says "cupimus," the plural), has the connotations of "to long for, be eager for, to desire," or even to covet.