dcn. jquinby's scribbles

Is it just me, or is half the fun of a new book finding the next things to read in the footnotes?

Our family prayers at day's end have developed into the following routine, which I am calling here A Little Office of Evening Prayers, because it's short and suitable for little ones. It's basically a single decade of the rosary with some extra stuff added to the end. Feel free to adapt for your own use. Enjoy!

Leader: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Response: Amen

Leader: O God, come to my assistance
Response: Lord, make haste to help me.

Leader: Glory be to the Father…
Response: As it was in the beginning…

All: Apostle's Creed

Three Hail Marys offered for the following (shifting each night to the next one in line):

1. An increase in faith, hope, and charity
2. The intentions of the Holy Father
3. The intentions of our bishop
4. The intentions of our pastor and his vicars
5. The people of our parish

Leader: Tonight's mystery is ________.

Pray one decade of the rosary, every person present taking one of the Hail Marys.

Concluding prayers:

All: O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of Hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of thy mercy. Amen.

All: O God, whose only begotten son, by his life, death, and resurrection has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life, grant, we beseech thee that by meditating on these mysteries of the most holy rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain, and obtain what they promise, through this same Christ, our Lord, Amen.

All: Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do, thou, O prince of the heavenly host, cast into Hell Satan and all the evil spirits who roam about the world seeking the ruin of souls.

All: Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

Sing the Salve Regina

Family Litany: each person in turn names a saint until it wraps around back to me and I add one or two more. When everyone is present (including our son-in-law), the list looks something like the following:

Saint Rose of Lima, pray for us.
Saint Anne, pray for us.
Saint Marianne Cope, pray for us.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us.
Saint George, pray for us.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us.
Saint Cecilia, pray for us.
Saint John Bosco, pray for us.
Saint Dymphna, pray for us.
Saint Arnaud, pray for us.
Saint Damian, pray for us.
The Fourteen Holy Helpers, pray for us.
Saint Edmund the Martyr, pray for us.
Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Leader: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Response: Amen

Leader: now everyone go to bed.
Response: (various)

Finished up Romano Guardini's Learning the Virtues. Father Schmitz referenced it in Made for Love, so into the to-read list it went. I like it, and would recommend it to anyone looking to make progress in the spiritual life, particularly if you're a person who (like me) occasionally gets stuck doing examinations of conscience. Quick-reference cards are useful to a point, but if you (like me) run through a list that closely tracks against the Decalogue, you may come up short in the end. I mean, I didn't commit murder last month or any of these other egregious things so I must be in pretty good shape, right? Probably not.

Was I a peacemaker? Did I hunger and thirst for righteousness? Did I show mercy when it was an option? Here are questions that defy a quick yes-or-no answer. When I got angry that one time and stewed for two days, why was that? Ah, sure looks like my pride had been rightfully stung. I had nearly forgotten it, and that one's an old reliable sort of sin for me. And so it goes.

In any case, books like this can be very useful and instructive. Fr. Guardini was a wonderful writer and a particular favorite of both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. I also highly recommend his book of meditations, The Lord. Wonderful stuff in there. Up next is to clear out the accumulating periodicals: The New Atlantis, among others.

Holiday vacation is over, so it's back to the normal schedule around here: early to bed, early to rise.

Yesterday I met with our bishop for the final step in my application process. It looks like I'll be in the next formation class. I am feeling very hooray and also yikes. Pray for me!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Last few books of 2020 are arriving today: Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer, Merton on contemplative prayer, and Fr. Devin Roza’s Fulfilled in Christ, which explores typology in the sacraments. For Christmas I also received the third volume of Benedict XVI’s Jesus of Nazareth, and will be saving it for Lent.

To fill the gaps I’ve been dipping back into Joseph Conrad. At some point in the past, I shelled out a few bucks for his complete works on the Kindle so he’s something of a go-to: The Shadow-Line, which was pretty good and The Rover, which I’ve just started.

All told, my vacation has been the holidays, which were good (and continuing as I write), an extended communications blackout thanks to the bomb on Christmas morning, a fair amount of ham radio tinkering, and a new game called Factorio, which I’ve needed to strictly ration.

I also just turned 50; the receiving line forms to the left please.

Thanks be to God, we are all well. I pray the same for you and yours.

Somewhere in these unending wastes of delirium is a lost child,
      speaking of Long Ago in the language of wounds.
To-morrow, perhaps, he will come to himself in Heaven.
But here Grief turns her silence, neither in this direction, nor
      in that, nor for any reason.
And her coldness now is on earth forever.

— Auden, For the Time Being

I have been reading and re-reading For the Time Being all throughout this past Advent. How it’s managed to escape my attention all these years is beyond me. I have to credit W.H. Auden’s Cure for the Post-Christmas Blues by Jeff Reimer for piquing my curiosity, and I was mighty glad to see the oratorio included in an Auden collection I already owned but had only glanced through a few times since buying it. Serves me right I suppose.

A beautiful run on a mild late-December morning, with the echoes of this morning’s Office of the Holy Innocents in my head. Thinking about a dear relative who passed yesterday after a long fight with cancer. Looking ahead gratefully to my 51st year on earth.

Illum oportet crescere, me autem minui. Ut in omnibus glorificetur Deus.

Quite a temperature drop over 24 hours…

Currently reading: Learning the Virtues: That Lead You to God by Romano Guardini 📚

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Commonweal Magazine (@commonwealmag) Tweeted: On this day, in 1968, Thomas Merton died tragically and prematurely. One of the most influential mystics of the 20th century, Merton was also a prolific Commonweal contributor.

Here, we’ve compiled some of his most lasting spiritual writings: t.co/9n4v9sqRl…