Life really, really fast

Another Latin lesson today and middle son is boycotting homework. Lovely. This is not a good sign and I am glad we are doing this test run with a few subjects. I will need to research how to deal with this from an asperger's mom point of view. I can't fight this, for sure. Too much going on.
I missed the Eucharistic Procession this weekend as a result of a really bad reaction to mold in some items from our old house. I was lucky to make it to Mass Sunday. Most of my friends went and I hope there are more opportunities like this. It shows some promise in our diocese.
I have a co-op meeting tonight for next school year. We hope this goes well. I'm still nervous about our curriculum consult being in late August. I don't know if I can keep them busy that long with no books. We have two subjects over the summer and I will have to add more if need be.
I have been doing really bad on the cycle thing this month. Day 18 and no sign of anything 8 or 10 related. No idea, could be stress. I need to go back and get some refresher lessons. I was supposed to get hormonal testing on P+3. Sigh. Frustrating.

Long time, no blog

Busy, busy, busy. I have had a crazy week. We have been busy with homeschool Latin, planning, first Saturday, cleaning and other various tasks and errands. This running a business and homeschooling is going to get tricky. I have had to have "news free days" over the last week just to keep my sanity. I don't know how regular my blogging will be. We were supposed to start Latin classes at Old St Mary's this week and something crazy happened and no one returned phone calls about what the decision was on time, place, etc. So we started Prima Latina here this week and are now on Lesson 2 plus finished all pronunciation. I tried to go over what conjugating and declensions today and they flipped out. We will need to scale that back a bit. I'm dealing with issues the boys teachers have had(no raising hand, calling out, etc) and I need to find a consistent way to handle this. I can tell I will also need to do something fun to make this stick and keep their interest long term. Now that we aren't traveling for Latin class, I need to come up with a long term schedule. Sticking it in various places isn't working. I have to, have to keep my kids on a schedule down to the half hour from morning until bed. Even for weekends. So that is my project this week. Make Latin fun, finish schedule and somewhere in there, make some money to pay bills. This is daunting.

Aww...

My kids are chanting the Credo in Latin along with the people at the stadium(and they know the words by heart). I should sleep well, at least for tonight.

That was insanely powerful. They had the words, they sounded marvelous there and I'm moved.

New book, looks promising

Sacred Then and Sacred Now: The Return of the Old Latin Mass
Taking pre-orders now at Amazon. It looks like the release is February 1st. They just sent me the email this morning.

Review
An excellent introduction to the traditional Latin Mass for Priests and lay persons who want to know more about the Extraordinary Form of the Mass which is now an official part of the liturgy of the Catholic Church....It is obvious from what Woods says and quotes that the old Mass has made a dramatic comeback in the liturgical life of the Catholic Church and is the wave of the future. --Fr. Kenneth Baker, SJ, Editor, Homiletic & Pastoral Review

Review
Summorum Pontificum releases the curtains on four decades of liturgical farce and revives a tradition vital to the Church's recovery. In this clear book, Thomas Woods captures the momentousness of Pope Benedict XVI's simple act of courage and common sense. --George Neumayr, Editor, Catholic World Report

EF Mass for Christmas, St. Bernard Church

For the locals, or those who will be visiting family in Cincinnati or Covington, the Traditional Latin Mass/Extraordinary Form will be at 11 am Christmas Morning at St. Bernard in Dayton, Kentucky. I'm sure it will be glorious! Here is the parish website if you need directions:
St. Bernard

Latin 101

When I was a student, oh so many years ago, the only thing amusing about my foriegn language classes was learning odd things to say that no one outside the classroom would get without explanation. I found a few I remember learning(and some new ones). As old as I am, it is still a funny thing.

Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione - I'm not interested in your dopey religious cult

Non sum pisces - I am not a fish

Corripe Cervisiam - Seize the beer!

Cogito ergo doleo - I think therefore I am depressed

Sola lingua bona est lingua mortua - The only good language is a dead language

Sit vis vobiscum - May the Force be with you.

Stultus est sicut stultus facit - Stupid is as stupid does

Te audire non possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure - I can't hear you. I have a banana in my ear

I suppose I need to stop messing around and get to work. Long day of playing catch up ahead...

Wow. Now that's powerful

I came across this tonight on Fr. Z.'s site and it is a dose of mighty strong language. Instead of squawking, here is the link and the quote:

Archp Ranjith on bishops who resist Summorum Pontificum: “instruments of the devil”

“The motu proprio Summorum Pontificum on the Latin Liturgy of July 7th 2007 is the fruit of a deep reflection by our Pope on the mission of the Church. It is not up to us, who wear ecclesiastical purple and red, to draw this into question, to be disobedient and make the motu proprio void by our own little, tittle rules. Even not if they were made by a bishops conference. Even bishops do not have this right. What the Holy Fathers says, has to be obeyed in the Church. If we do not follow this principle, we will allow ourselves to be used as instruments of the devil, and nobody else. This will lead to discord in the Church, and slows down her mission. We do not have the time to waste on this. Else we behave like emperor Nero, fiddling on his violin while Rome was burning. The churches are emptying, there are no vocations, the seminaries are empty. Priests become older and older, and young priests are scarce.”

Hmm...

A child-speak funny...

I took the kids to Mass by myself today(nausea and all) and they were very well behaved. Halfway through Mass, my younger son whispers "Latin must be really popular now". I couldn't help but smile. It was crowded today, a lot of new people which was a delayed effect of 9/14/07 and that was still so encouraging to see. I told the kids I would take them to lunch after Mass because I was so grateful for good behavior and getting through without incident. My younger son asked me on the way home if we could pray for that old man who was poor we saw a few months ago. Wow. Not only did he remember but he said he was worried he lost his house and needed our prayer. This from an autistic boy who should be self-involved and apathetic. It made my day. Still nauseous and still smiling that my son "gets it" and I'm very pregnant. Hope everyone else is having a wonderful Sunday.

Will this begin to happen?

Will a parish in a diocese become a "TLM" parish? I have been thinking about this lately. It would seem this would be a solution for a smaller diocese that cannot spare priests or add more Masses to their schedule. It seems it would be a perfect solution for our diocese here in Covington. Take a parish that has been closed or is very small in number and that parish would have sacraments and Masses in the extraordinary rite. In this way, the people can have all the benefits of belonging to a parish and not feel so "transient". Another bonus would be complaints of liturgical abuse, etc would go down in numbers(most liberal or casual Catholics aren't concerned with these things). I see how Ma Beck's parish is not just thriving but doing remarkably well. It may even bring SSPX members and others back to the fold. I wonder if there is another diocese who is planning this since the release of Summorum Pontificum? It seems like a win-win situation. If it is found there are enough people in a diocese that would join such a parish, then why not? The spiritual and financial benefit could just be amazing...something to ponder on...

Picture worth a thousand...

Archbishop Mario Conti, centre, wants to control the Latin mass(who is the chick?)

(Photo credit)

Nunc hic aut numquam

It's Elvis. Only Latin.

Crooner 'with a calling' sings Elvis ... in Latin

Maybe this would be a good home school resource? Meh....I dunno. Here is his website:

Dr. Ammondt
I might be either a nerd or odd but this is funny stuff.

A scavenger hunt?

Return of Latin mass sparks old vestment hunt
While this article has some hopeful points, it seems there is so much emphasis on laborious rituals in a manner that questions why priests would want to go to such lengths. One of the highlights has to be the SSPX wanting to sell their wares to help the cause(sigh).

Medlin, Soffi and others say there is today a growing interest in the old rite from young people disaffected with a superficial, consumerist world and looking for something sacred.
After the old rite was phased out to be replaced in some churches by sing-along hymns and guitar music, many people missed the Latin rite's sense of mystery and awe and the centuries-old Gregorian chant that went with it.

Yep. The vestment search is interesting. I would think someone with an entrepreneurial spirit could come up with a source or database for this purpose. I think the problems laid out, are good problems to have. I long for the day when people can't find a guitar or materials for a felt banner....

This place will be hopping...

Musica Sacra
I can imagine this will be a lively place when parishes start the search for directors/organists for the Tridentine Rite. It seems there are some openings there now and surely more on the way. One is for a Cincinnati parish(yeah!). My prayer is that our pseudo-Catholic/Jewish/Broadway director will be gone soon. We have had so many good changes for the better there that I'm positive prayer WORKS.
It is hard not to be optimistic right now. So many prayers, so much waiting, so many disappointments and now a sign from God that things will be all right and I have to go with that.

Summorum Pontificum...at last.

Summorum Pontificum

I am up early and went directly to the Vatican website and actually tried to digest some of Summorum Pontificum, all in Latin, mind you, with no coffee in my system and my rusty Latin skills. It just felt good to see it. My A/C is back on, the sun is shining and I'm Catholic. Sure I had all that funky stuff happen but God allowed it, I'm still alive and well, there ya go.

I'm going to make a pot of French Roast and try to digest it via someone else's translation skills. I love the visuals on Fr. Z.'s site. I need a Vatican flag for my house. That would just be cool.

Yikes! Latin!

I'm taking the plunge! I found a great deal on the Latina Christiana plus more(extras) and I hope to start with all three kids next week. I have no idea what I am getting myself into but I just need to do it. I promised my oldest that I would. It includes a songbook and the prayers so maybe if I can get them to the point where they know the Rosary in Latin, they will feel confident. I will keep you all posted on how it goes. I studied classical Latin in high school and college(too many years to count) and was usually a B or C student. Going from the hard to soft "C's" was daunting but doable. Don't let anyone tell you that Latin is dead or won't come in handy(I mean outside church). I lost count on the number of times it has helped me with word origin, medical terms and word recognition. We were teaching the kids Roman numerals over dinner a few nights ago. I think we got some funny looks at the restaurant....
More to come....

The effect of my efforts

Just a quick note on the "effects" of the Tridentine and traditional form of Mass on my family. My son is in the shower singing "Hail Holy Queen" with much fervor. He also said at dinner "I'm really starting to get the Latin" and he was proud he knew "Dominus vobiscum".

We had a wonderful dinner with my folks and found out that Fr. Mitch Pacwa will be having the 12:30 Mass at Old St. Mary's in Cincinnati next Sunday. I looked on the online bulletin and did not see it but Fr. Juarez announced it today according to my mother. So for those of you in Cincinnati, this might be feasible. I am hoping to round up the kids for the chaplet before they go to bed.

Latin humor

The principal parts of the verb "to spit": spito, spitere, hoctui, splatum.

Here are some handy things to say in Latin if the occasion presents itself:
Si hoc signum legere potes, operis boni in rebus Latinus alacribus et fructuosis potiri potes!
If you can read this sign, you can get a good job in the fast-paced, high-paying world of Latin!

Cogito, ergo doleo.
I think, therefore I am depressed.

Utinam barbari spatium proprium tuum invadant.
May barbarians invade your personal space.

Latin on the way, Pope ignores protesters

Apparently, the missals for the Latin are being prepared by publishers right now. In an article out of Australia, Pope ignores protests to restore Latin mass, it outlines that senior cardinals have ben protesting this for some time. It is difficult to see how this will effect the average parish in the U.S. but regardless, it gives many of us hope. Now, on to what tomorrows exhortation will hold...

So I am shopping at Amazon....

And I came across this funny review:

Burn the "Glory and Praise" hymnal!, July 21, 2003
Reviewer: Darren Gauthier (Baton Rouge, LA USA) - See all my reviews

For those who have had enough of folk masses, youth masses, and "On Eagle's Wings" - as I have, since about 1988 - this is the antidote. I resent the 1960's generation who felt the need to throw out 1500 years of beautiful sacred music and replace it with the Paul Simon-like strains of "Here I Am Lord." When I hear this music in Latin, all I can say is "DEO GRATIAS!"

And then the tail end of this comment:

I hope the next Pope will restore sacred music and insist that local churches listen. (I have left the RC Church by the way, and the main reason was music.)

That last one was written in 2004. Sad, very sad. On a lighter note, Mother Angelica has a new book of spiritual lessons that will be released tomorrow called Mother Angelica's Little Book of Life Lessons and Everyday Spirituality, written by Raymond Arroyo. It is just $11.53 and if you purchase $25 worth of items you will get it shipped free.(I don't work for Amazon, promise). I miss the days of Mother Angelica on EWTN, honestly. I still have my favorites such as Fr. Corapi, The Journey Home and Fr. Mitch Pacwa but the take-over of Scott Hahn and the like have left me shaking my head. I don't see where they will get back to tradition any time soon. I've always been a Mother Angelica fan and I have respect for her zeal, example and amazing faith. That will never change.

Another Tridentine Mass

We could not keep ourselves away from the Mass again this morning. My daughter asked specifically "can we go to the Latin Mass on my birthday?" Needless to say, it was hard to say no. The alternative would have been attending our parish where it has become a total free-for-all. We had the last Sunday with our traditional music director and I cannot imagine what lies ahead. I made My daughter a beautiful head scarf for today and she was fine with it until after communion, she wanted to pin it instead of tying it. It just takes getting used to. The basilica was double the size over last weeks Mass. I don't know where we will be next week. I can't worry about it today. I am going to try to let God take care of that.