New Year's Day is a Holy Day of Obligation (and the Circumcision of the Jewish Messiah)

Just a reminder that New Year's Day (Feast of the Holy Mother of God and the Octave of Christmas) is a Holy Day of Obligation* binding on Catholics of the Roman Rite. [This means that Catholics must attend Holy Mass on this day even though it's not a Sunday.]

Formerly, January 1st was the feast of the "Circumcision of our Lord" but this was changed by His Holiness John XXIII. I think that it was changed so as to not offend Jews, but I hardly see the occasion for offense (Jesus was a Jew after all!).

I like the old title of "Circumcision of our Lord," since Christ would have been circumcised on the eighth day after his birth--January 1 is the eighth day after Christmas. For this reason, the Gospel lesson tells of His circumcision. Mystically speaking, the circumcision of Christ is the fulfillment of the Old Law and the "down payment" of His future passion and death. It's the first bloodletting of the Messiah.

* 1 January is listed in canon 1246 §1 of the Code of Canon Law as a Holy Day of Obligation, on which, as the following canon 1247 states, “the faithful are obliged to assist at Mass, to abstain from such work or business that would inhibit the worship to be given to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s Day, or the due relaxation of mind and body”. The bishops of some nations have transferred to feast to the following Sunday. It is currently observed on 1 January in Canada, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, and the United States.

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My Wife, a Saint Martha Candle, and the Dragon: What the Heck?!

I'm a huge fan of dragon stories. I'm rewriting a novel I've written on George and the Dragon. It will be part of a multi-volume series (If there are any agents, editors, or publishers out there interested in it, please let me know!). Anyway, here's an unusual dragon story that I've never heard. I found out about it in an unusual way.

In the days running up to Christmas, my wife was working hard preparing for Christmas. This year we had my parents, siblings, uncle, grandmother and our Muslim Somalian friend for Christmas. My wife was understandably stressed as she prepared the house and food.

I was the market picking up a few last items for our Christmas feast when I noticed a "Catholico" candle section. I picked out a "Saint Martha" candle and made my way to check-out line. You probably remember that Martha is the patron saint of stressed housekeepers:

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:38-42).

The moral of the story: Stop and talk to Jesus while you work. Work, even when done for Jesus, needs to be punctuated with prayer and contemplation.

Anyway, back to the candle. So later on I noticed that there was a dragon in the background of the image on the candle. On top of that, the prayer on the back of the candle mentioned "the dragon" that Martha overcame. What the heck?! George and the dragon, sure. But Martha and the dragon? This was news to me.

So I looked into it and here's what I found in the Golden Legend (the 13th century medieval bestseller about the saints). The legend states that Saint Martha left the Holy Land and moved to Gaul (modern day France)...where she encountered an evil dragon:

There was that time upon the river of Rhone, in a certain wood between Arles and Avignon, a great dragon, half beast and half fish, greater than an ox, longer than an horse, having teeth sharp as a sword, and horned on either side, head like a lion, tail like a serpent, and defended him with two wings on either side, and could not be beaten with cast of stones ne with other armour, and was as strong as twelve lions or bears; which dragon lay hiding and lurking in the river, and perished them that passed by and drowned ships.

He came thither by sea from Galicia, and was engendered of Leviathan, which is a serpent of the water and is much wood, and of a beast called Bonacho, that is engendered in Galicia. And when he is pursued he casts out of his belly behind, his ordure, the space of an acre of land on them that follow him, and it is bright as glass, and what it toucheth it burneth as fire.

To whom Martha, at the prayer of the people, came into the wood, and found him eating a man. And she cast on him holy water, and showed to him the cross, which anon was overcome, and standing still as a sheep, she bound him with her own girdle, and then was slain with spears and glaives of the people. The dragon was called of them that dwelled in the country Tarasconus, whereof, in remembrance of him that place is called Tarasconus, which tofore was called Nerluc, and the Black Lake, because there be woods shadowous and black. And there the blessed Martha, by licence of Maximin her master, and of her sister, dwelled and abode in the same place after, and daily occupied in prayers and in fastings, and thereafter assembled and were gathered together a great convent of sisters, and builded a fair church at the honour of the blessed Mary Virgin, where she led a hard and a sharp life. She eschewed flesh and all fat meat, eggs, cheese and wine; she ate but once a day. An hundred times a day and an hundred times a night she kneeled down and bowed her knees.

The story is obviously mythical, but fun all the same. This dragon was spawned by Leviathan and Bonacho. I wonder what a Bonacho beast is?

They Just Don't Excommunicate People Like They Used To...

This is probably my favorite scene from the film Becket. Simply amazing. King Henry II had Archbishop Becket murdered inside the Cathedral and so the Church declared the king excommunicated. If you haven't seen this movie, you need to do so as soon as possible. See the clip above.

"We do here now separate him from the body and blood of Christ and the society of all faithful Christians.
We exclude him from our Holy Mother Church and all her sacraments!"

Happy feast day of Saint Thomas Becket!

Today is the Saint's Day of My Son Becket (and Why This Blog is Called Canterbury Tales)

Today is the fifth day of Christmas and the feast of Saint Thomas Becket. Many people don't know this, but this blog is actually dedicated to Saint Thomas Becket, who was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral--hence the name "Canterbury Tales."

Our fifth son is also named Becket in honor of this great witness of Christ. He stood up against King Henry II of England over the rights and privileges of the Catholic Church in England. Tradition relates that the king said the following about Becket: "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?"

As a favor to the king, some cronies of Henry murdered Becket in his Cathedral in Canterbury. T. S. Eliot's famous play "Murder in the Cathedral" is based on this story.

Read more about Saint Thomas Becket at Wikipedia.

If you have Netflix, you can watch the classic film Becket instantly.

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The Virgin Mary's Womb as Ezekiel's Closed Gate of the Messiah

The Prophet Ezekiel who foretold Mary's perpetual virginity.

Many ancient theologians such as Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine (and most of the Eastern Fathers) interpreted Ezekiel's prophecy about the Temple's closed eastern gate as a prophecy of the virgin birth of Christ. According to Ezekiel, only the Messianic lord/king/priest could enter through this eastern gate of the Temple.

"Then He brought me back
to the outer gate of the Sanctuary,
which faces East;
and it was shut.
And He said to me,
"This gate shall remain shut;
it shall not be opened,
and no man shall enter by it;
for the Lord, the God of Israel,
has entered by it;
therefore it shall remain shut.
Only the Prince may sit in it
to eat bread before the Lord;
He shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate,
and shall go out the same way" (Ezek 44:1-3).

As the Catholic Church teaches, the Blessed Virgin Mary is perpetually a virgin - she did not have relations with Joseph after Christ's birth in accordance with the prophecy of Ezekiel: "and no man shall enter by it; for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut."

God entered creation through her womb and it was hallowed in this profound mystery. The "Prince" who is Jesus "sits in it to eat bread before the Lord." Christ was nourished in the darkness of her womb. He gained the flesh and blood that He would offer on the cross to His Father. The "bread" reference refers to Bethlehem (which means "house of bread"). It also points forward to the supersubstantial bread of the Holy Eucharist which is His flesh and blood.

Here are a couple of beautiful passages from Ambrose and Augustine confirming this Catholic doctrine:

"Who is this gate (Ezekiel 44:1-4), if not Mary? Is it not closed because she is a virgin? Mary is the gate through which Christ entered this world, when He was brought forth in the virginal birth and the manner of His birth did not break the seals of virginity." - Saint Ambrose of Milan (ca AD 390)

"It is written (Ezekiel 44, 2): ‘This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it. Because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it...’ What means this closed gate in the house of the Lord, except that Mary is to be ever inviolate? What does it mean that ‘no man shall pass through it,’ save that Joseph shall not know her? And what is this - ‘The Lord alone enters in and goeth out by it,’ except that the Holy Ghost shall impregnate her, and that the Lord of Angels shall be born of her? And what means this - ‘It shall be shut for evermore,’ but that Mary is a Virgin before His birth, a Virgin in His birth, and a Virgin after His birth." - Saint Augustine (ca AD 430)

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The Marshall Family Yule Log

Yesterday, the five Marshall children prepared our family yule log. It's a new tradition this year. We found a giant log and then decorated it. If I understand the tradition rightly, a family prepares a giant log with ribbons and flowers. You can even drill a hole in the log and pour in wine, spices, incense, and oil. Our children also wrote their names on it. On Christmas Eve, you ceremoniously process the log into the house with carols and light it in the hearth. Then you sit around the fire as a family.

Pretty cool, eh?

It's not too late. Why not prep a yule log with your family. If you do, send me a photo and I'll post it.

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Queen of England Has Affinity with Pope and is Frustrated With Anglicanism

There are some interesting rumors about the Holy Father's trip to England - the second papal visit to England since Henry VIII broke with Rome and established the Church of England 500 years ago.

According to this report, Queen Elizabeth who is still officially the Gubernatrix (or Governess) of the Church of England, has become more frustrated with Anglicanism and perhaps interested in Catholicism. The Telegraph reports:

sources at the Vatican claimed the Queen's sympathy for Catholicism had increased as she had become "appalled'', along with the Prince of Wales, at developments in the Church of England, of which she is Supreme Governor. The Queen, 83, is said to have an "affinity" with the Holy Father, who is of her generation.

Wow! Let's hope that the queen's "affinity" with the Holy Father grows during and after his visit to her realm. Can you imagine? What if the English monarchy reverted back to Catholicism?

Holy English Martyrs of England and Wales, pray for us.

HT: Dwight Lindley

Venerable Pope Pius XII is a Hero for Jews - Not Hitler's Pope

Despite the recent overtures made by the Catholic Church to ethnic and religious Jews, there is a growing body of secular literature claiming that Catholicism is anti-Semitic by its very nature. The accusations are made to varying degrees. Some understand Catholicism as inherently anti-Semitic because it claims that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and exclusive Savior of mankind (Jn 14:6). Others accuse the New Testament itself of anti-Semitism because Christ’s enemies are sometimes referred to collectively as “the Jews.” Others cite Catholic history and point to Catholic-led persecutions against Jewish victims.

More recently, some authors and journalists have accused Pope Pius XII of having been “Hitler’s Pope,” even suggesting that Pius XII assisted with the Nazi holocaust. Recent secular and Jewish scholarship however, has shown that this claim is false and inspired by anti-Catholic bigotry. I imagine that the accusations will continue now that Pius XII is moving forward in the process of beatification and sainthood.

John Cornwell’s polemical Hitler’s Pope (1999) was recently answered by Rabbi David G. Dalin’s book The Myth of Hitler’s Pope: How Pope Pius XII Rescued Jews from the Nazis (2005). Rabbi Dalin presents archival evidence demonstrating that Pope Pius XII rescued thousands of Jews during World War II. Rabbi Dalin even suggests that Pius XII be canonized by Yad Vashem (Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority) as a “Righteous Gentile” for his heroic work on behalf of the Jewish people.

Rabbi Dalin also notes that the primary polemicists against Pius XII are either ex-seminarians (Gary Wills and John Cornwell) or ex-priests (James Carroll). The rabbi expresses his frustration toward these lapsed Catholics who have manipulated the tragedy of the holocaust to grind an axe with the papacy and the Catholic Church.

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Pope Benedict: Christmas is NOT a Fairy Tale

The Holy Father gave a great message today for the Fourth Sunday in Advent: Christmas is not a warm, fuzzy fairy tale - it's the mystery of God's love for us.

We Have Some Winners for the Free Book Contest!

We have a couple of winners! First, I'm so grateful to all of you who blogged, tweeted, and Facebooked about the book. I truly appreciate your willingness to get the word out. I wish that I had the budget to send all of you a free book.

We had over fifty participants in the contest. I assigned numbers to each person who participated. Then I wrote down all the numbers, cut them up, and placed them into a bowl.


My twin daughters drew the following names:

#9. Father B (Revbliz) who posted about the The Crucified Rabbi on Twitter
#19. Thadeus (huskerlive) who also posted about The Crucified Rabbi on Twitter

Fellas, please send me your addresses and I'll send your free book to you. You can contact me with your address through my email.

Again, I'm grateful to all. Have a Happy Advent and a Merry Christmas.

PS: Mike Aquilina spoke about The Crucified Rabbi on Al Kresta's radio show on Friday. Did anyone catch it?

Did You Win a Free Copy of The Crucified Rabbi Book?

Over fifty people participated entered the contest to win two signed copies of The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity by posting about it via blogs, Twitter, and Facebook. Thank you for getting the word out about the book. I really appreciate it!

Look back here later today to see if you won! I'll let you know who won the drawing. If you participated, you've got a something like a 1 in 26 chance of winning a book.

Godspeed,
Taylor

Question: How Does Hebrews 10 Square With Catholic Teaching?

I received a great question regarding Hebrews 10 from Joel:

Hey, I am a visitor to your blog and I was wondering if you were able to answer a simple (I hope) question for me:

From reading Hebrews, I get the impression that the author didn't believe that the benefits of Christ's sacrifice (forgiveness) should be applied more than once to the same person:

"For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins?" (Hebrews 10:1-2)

The author seems to point out that if the temple sacrifices could make atonement, then they would've ceased to have been offered, since having once been cleansed (forgiven), then they would no longer have any guilt of sin (and thus no need for sacrifice).

I've had this question bothering me for sometime now, and I was hoping if you could put my mind at ease.

Sincerely,
Joel

This is a really good question, and a topic that no doubt bothers many Protestants. The key here is Heb 10:14:

"For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified."

The phrase "are sanctified" is one word in the Greek (hagiazomenous). It is a passive present participle. In other words, the sacrifice of Christ is one but the sanctification of His people is continuously being applied.

Hebrews 10:2 in particular seems to be a baptismal reference ("cleansed"), and it's true that baptism removes original sin and that it cannot be repeated. Regardless of how you interpret Heb 10:2, it should be read in the context of Heb 10:14, which indicates the present aspect.

I read it as saying that we don't need another sacrifice (e.g. a new bull, a new goat, or even new Savior) every time we sin as in the Old Covenant. We must remember that the author of Hebrews is writing those tempted to return to the Temple sacrifices of the Old Covenant. Christ's death is sufficient and continues to sanctify us. Our sins might be repeated, but Christ's death cannot be repeated or supplemented by another.

It goes without saying that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a true re-presentation of Christ's sacrifice - not a different sacrifice.

Godspeed,
Taylor

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A Catholic Tribute to James Jordan, Jeff Meyers, and Biblical Horizons

Some rather brilliant Presbyterians caused a ruckus the other day by mocking the Catholic and Orthodox doctrine that Mary is "Ever-Virgin." The post was written by James Jordan, a minister of the Association of Reformed Clergy.

Before diving into it, I'd like thank James Jordan, Jeff Meyers, and the rest of his followers at Biblical Horizons for teaching me the biblical hermeneutic that allowed me to embrace Catholicism. Their approach to the Bible essentially opens the way to read the Bible on a number of levels--similar to Catholicism's four senses of Scripture: literal, allegorical, moral, and anagogical. The Presbyterian pastors and laymen at Biblical Horizons emphasize liturgical interpretations of Scripture, Old Testament typology, temple cosmology, the Davidic covenant, and a hermeneutic of continuity between the Old and New Testaments. They also rightly emphasize the role of sacraments and works in human salvation - something rather exotic for today's Presbyterians who tend to lean toward John Piper and R.C. Sproul's version of pop-Calvinism.

I personally thanked Jordan in my book The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity for opening my eyes to the Old Testament. Without his brilliant insights (particularly his books Through New Eyes and Sociology of the Church, I probably wouldn't be Catholic. Mr. Jordan, if you're reading this, thank you. However, I realize that this is probably gratitude that you would rather not receive.

I also know many good men who have studied James Jordan's works or worked personally with Jeff Meyers and have now entered into the Catholic Church. Jeff Steel and Al Scharbach come to mind. I'm in contact with others who wish to remain anonymous. Jordan, Meyers, Horne, and the Auburn Ave set claim to be Protestant, but their fruits are proving otherwise. Their one-time adherents are turning to Rome.

Anyway, back to the ruckus. According to James Jordan, Athanasius was wrong for identifying the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Ark of the New Covenant. He also mocks Gregory of Nyssa for identifying the burning bush as a type of the Virgin Mary – the unconsumed nature of the bush is like Mary’s unconsumed virginity in bearing the voice of God – the Incarnate Christ. My claim is that Biblical Horizons typology should openly accept these Marian readings.

Moreover, Jordan also rejects the words of the Fifth Ecumenical Council which twice refers to Mary as "Ever-Virgin." He even rejects Saint Augustine, who interpreted the "closed gate" through which passed the "prince" in Ezek 44 as a type of Mary's perpetual virginity. Here is the beautiful passage from Augustine describing from Scripture why Saint Joseph and Saint Mary did not consummate their marriage:

"This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall pass through it. Because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it" (Ezek 44:2).

What means this closed gate in the house of the Lord, except that Mary is to be ever inviolate? What does it mean that ‘no man shall pass through it,’ save that Joseph shall not know her? And what is this:

"The Lord alone enters in and goeth out by it," except that the Holy Ghost shall impregnate her, and that the Lord of Angels shall be born of her?

And what means this - "It shall be shut for evermore," but that Mary is a Virgin before His birth, a Virgin in His birth, and a Virgin after His birth."

Saint Augustine was one of history's best Bible scholars and his interpretation of Ezekiel's prophecy has been followed by the Catholic Church ever since.

We know that sexual continence, in both the Old and New Covenants, is holy and sacred. Saint Joseph, as Augustine explained, would not have violated the Blessed Mother's womb which had become a sacred shrine of God's presence.

Moreover, sexual continence is holy in itself. For example, the sexual continence of David and his companions qualify them to eat the Bread of Presence, which was restricted to Levites. (1 Sam 21:4). David and his men were not Levites, but they were allowed to eat the sacred bread because they had not been with their wives. Hence, their sexual continence loaned them the status of priesthood.

The Catholic Church reads this Davidic account as teaching that sexual continence makes a man into a warrior-priest, one consecrated to the Lord...even Uriah the Hittite understood this:

Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing." (2 Sam 11:11).

Saint Joseph (a son of David) was also a warrior-priest who is a dream-prophet like Joseph the Patriarch. Saint Joseph led the true Israel (Christ) into Egypt and back again to the Promised Land. He is the chaste one, just as Joseph the Patriarch remained chaste in the house of his master. Joseph dared not enter the womb that God had already indwelt. Just as the utensils of the Temple in Babylon remained holy to the Lord after the exile, so Mary's womb remains holy and consecrated.

Today is the Last Day to Win a Free Book: The Crucified Rabbi

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Christ's Great Hanukkah Sermon and How It Relates to the Maccabees

Today is the last day the eight-day Jewish festival of Hanukkah. Since my new book is entitled The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity and contains a section of Hanukkah, I'm giving away two signed books.

Today is the last day to enter the contest:

If you favorably mention the book title (The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity) with a link to the amazon.com page (http://tinyurl.com/y8k7p7u) through Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, then I’ll assign a number to your name for a chance to win a free book.

Here's a sample of an ideal Twitter post that you can copy/paste into Twitter:

Please check out this new book - The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity - http://tinyurl.com/y8k7p7u

Tomorrow, one of my children will select two random numbers. If your name is listed as one of those two numbers, you win a signed book.

I check Twitter every day and assign numbers. If you blog it or Facebook it, please let me know in the comments, and I’ll assign you numbers for the list.

The winners' names will be announced tomorrow!

Abortion, College Girls, and Christmas Vacation

Several years ago, I was praying one morning at the local Planned Parenthood as they began lining up girls for abortions. It was the Thursday before Christmas, business was not as usual. It was extra busy. College girls were home from college and needed to get their "problem" taken care of before the holidays.

I saw several college age girls with out-of-state plates. I saw a mother in a Christmas sweater driving her twenty-year-old daughter into the parking lot of the abortion mill. I also saw the very typical scene of the boyfriend/husband dropping off the lady for her abortion while he went to Starbucks, breakfast...fill-in-the-blank.

Praying at an abortion mill is always a sorrowful time, but to see young girls murdering their children just days before Christ's birth is truly heartbreaking. I'm sure many of those girls were in church for Christmas a few days later. How terrifying the contradiction must have been. Thanks be to God that I did see at least one couple sit in the car and finally drive away from the Planned Parenthood. They made the right decision.

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, let us pray for those young women who are making one of the most difficult decisions of their life. There are countless girls who are coming home form college and telling their mothers through tears, "Mom, I'm pregnant and I don't know what to do..." Pray for life.

N.T. Wright on Martin Luther Not Being All That Right

Another Catholic blogger (Purify Your Bride) picks up on my "Ten Questions for N.T. Wright regarding Catholicism, Justification, and the Church."

He makes a really good point:

The other thing that [Wright] does not address...is the main subject of Taylor’s Marshall post. That his comments on Paul do suggest Luther was just plain wrong on doctrine when he split the church. He does not seem to grasp the significance of this. I know, as an Anglican, [Wright] may have a different relationship with Luther than those of us who were his more direct spiritual ancestor. But as a Protestant, all our thinking about the reformation revolved around Luther being right. He has scripture on his side. He had the truth on his side. To suddenly say that he really didn’t is huge. Wright might never ask himself why he split from Rome but when reformed Christians ask that they answer because Luther was right and the Catholic church was wrong. When that answer disappears then it makes perfect sense people would take a second look at Rome.

The point here being that whenever anyone says "Luther was wrong," it doesn't matter what he says next. As soon as you grant Luther's error, you raise serious question as to the legitimacy of the Protestant Reformation.

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My Paper Topics This Semester

It's that time of the semester (December 17 2009) and I've just finished writing papers.

Here are the titles of the papers that I wrote this semester:

"Knowledge Having its Head: Disentangling Sophia from Phronesis in Book VI of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics"

"Hylomorphism and the Ten Categories: A Porphyrian Account of Aristotle's Categories 4 and Topics 1.9"

"Was Descartes an Evil Genius?: Descartes’ Deceptive Appropriation of Francis Bacon’s Method and Physics under the Guise of Traditional Metaphysics"

A Protestant Asks: Why Do Catholics Love Mary So Much?

A Protestant reader named James recently asked a really good question that relates to Christmas: Why do Catholics love Mary so much?

I have been reading your blog and have a question.

First of all understand I am a Presbyterian. I do have Anglican leanings but in the past few years have been studying Catholicism and wondering.

Now my question is: Why is the perpetual virginity and co-redemptive quality of Mary of such importance? And why do Catholics draw those conclusions from scripture?

Please except my question in the spirit in which it is offered. I do not mean to offend yet am very curious as to the answer.

Thank you, James for your honest inquiry and gracious tone. When I was not yet Catholic, these same questions puzzled me. It seemed that Catholics loved Mary too much. So why is it, then, that Catholics love Mary so much?

First, it's ultimately not about Mary. It's ultimately all about Christ who is fully God and fully man. Human redemption occurred through the death of Christ and that death required flesh and blood - a human sacrifice. It would not do for the Second Person of the Trinity to simply hover over the cross. Rather, He had to be nailed to it, that is, He required a body:

"A body hast thou prepared for me" (Heb 10:5).

If Christianity is fundamentally a religion of the incarnate Christ who physically died and rose again, then the body of Christ is of the foremost importance.

God could have provided Christ with a body in the way that He had created Adam - from the dust. He instead chose a human mother - the Blessed Virgin Mary. She provided the flesh and blood to the Logos. Christ's human nature was derived of her substance. She made a contribution to salvation in a way that no one else ever has. Catholics honor and value this "contribution" if Mary, even though we know that Christ is ultimately the redeemer of mankind in the absolute sense.

Everything about Mary is really everything about the incarnation of Christ. Likewise, attacks on Mary are fundamentally attacks on the incarnate nature of (Catholic) Christianity.

The virginity of Mary and her contribution to redemption (i.e. the flesh and blood of Christ) are of utmost importance to Catholics for the sake of the incarnation of Christ.

The definitive birth of Christ seals Mary's womb. Other than Christ's body, Mary's womb is the next holiest physical place in creation. Her womb is literally the gate of heaven - the portal by which the Logos entered creation.

Cardinal Newman once noted that Protestants continually protest against Catholic devotion to Mary, arguing that it is contrary to the worship of Christ as divine. And yet it is Protestants who have historically abandoned the doctrine of Christ's deity.

Any Catholic who loves and venerates Mary could never subordinate Christ as anyone less than God. It simply doesn't make sense. Catholic devotion to Mary is the single greatest insurance policy against Christological error - as Saint Cyril of Alexandria so forcefully argued.

Is this at all appealing to you?

Godspeed,

Taylor Marshall

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Great Book for Christmas - Mike Aquilina's Signs and Mysteries: Revealing Ancient Christian Symbol

I've been a big fan of Mike Aquilina. His book The Mass of the Early Christians is becoming a classic, and it's one of those titles that you should have on hand for apologetics.

Last year he came out with a great book entitled: Signs and Mysteries: Revealing Ancient Christian Symbol. It is beautifully illustrated by Lea Marie Ravotti. Aquilina examines ancient Christian signs - things that you've seen in one hundred different churches, on vestments, and emblazoned on altars, but never understood. The style is engaging and the artwork is very well done.

During the Advent and Christmas seasons, many Christian signs are employed and this would be a great guidebook in helping you and others understand their meanings. Please visit the amazon page and grab a copy or two. You won't be disappointed.


While you're at it, check out Mike's blog: Way of the Fathers.

Catholics Being Drawn to the Anglican Use Liturgy

Great article over at catholic.org: Catholics Being Drawn to the Anglican Use Liturgy.

Here's an excerpt:

The rest of the group consists of Roman Catholics who have become disillusioned with the current vernacular celebration of the contemporary mass, and are now seeking something more traditionally “Catholic” but simultaneously have no interest in the Traditional Latin Mass. The group also has some Baptists who have expressed interest, and even a few Evangelicals from other Protestant traditions.

Read it all here.

HT: Robert Beck

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• Anglican Ordinariate Podcast (free mp3)
  
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Canterbury Tales Turns One Million

The blog turned one million visits old today (since it began 2006). All of you who have left comments truly make this blog interesting and fun. I always enjoy reading what everyone is writing.

Thank you to all: readers, commentators, and cyber-pilgrims! It's been a great three years.

Godspeed,

Taylor Marshall

Did Christ's Precious Blood Mix with Mary's Blood in utero?

Christ's blood is the price of salvation, the very life of the New and Everlasting Covenant. As we approach Christmas, it is worth asking whether Christ's precious blood ever mixed with Mary's or coursed through her veins.

First, let's examine an unborn baby's circulatory system.

In the way that God designed things, the blood of an unborn infant and that of the mother do not typically mix in utero. The baby's heart pushes his or her blood through his or her body, through the umbilical cord and to the placenta, but not beyond that. There is a membrane that separates the baby's blood from the mother's blood. Nutrients, oxygen, and waste are transferred through this membrane.

All that being said, the baby's blood and mother's blood does typically mix during birth. Usually, it's the child blood that enters the mother's blood. This is why couples with RH incompatibility are at risk since a mother's body can learn to attack incompatible blood.

So all that being said, it is almost certain that Christ's redemptive blood coursed through the veins of the Blessed Mother. Just in case you weren't 100% convinced of our Lady's prerogatives, here is one more subtle way in which Christ "honored his mother" in fulfillment of the Law.

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Father Longenecker on Evangelical Anglican Catholics

Father Longenecker has a really great post that I relate to: "Evangelical Anglican Catholics?" which also discusses the new blog The Anglo-Catholic.

Here's an excerpt:

What happens when former Evangelicals find their way home to the Catholic Church through the Anglican Church? They bring with them into the Catholic Church a whole range of gifts from their former traditions. They bring the zeal and dedication of the Evangelical. They bring wide and deep knowledge of the Scriptures. They also bring the Anglican love of fine preaching, excellent hymns, reverent worship and beautiful language and liturgy.

By the way, Father sent me a copy of his book Listen My Son: Saint Benedict for Fathers.
It's devotional book for fathers based on the rule of Saint Benedict. Pretty cool. It's arranged to be read daily, and I'm going to begin it on January 1. You can get your own copy here: Listen My Son by Dwight Longenecker. If looked through it and I'm excited about it.

It's Rose, Not Pink! - What Not to Say to a Priest on Gaudete Sunday in Advent

Today is Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday in Advent. Unlike the other Sundays in Advent, the priest wears rose colored vestments for Gaudete. If you wish to provoke sacerdotal ire, simply ask a priest about his "pink vestments." This is typically a controversial topic with clergy who insist quite rightly that they are wearing, "rose, not pink."

From the new General Instruction of the Roman Missal No. 346:

f. Rose may be used, where it is the practice, on Gaudete Sunday (Third Sunday of Advent) and on Laetare Sunday (Fourth Sunday of Lent).

So if your priest is wearing rose vestments, don't say, "Nice pink vestments, Father." Instead, be sure to tell him after Holy Mass:

"I'm glad to see a priest manly enough to wear rose vestments on Gaudete Sunday."

You may also like:

• Top Ten Things to Know about Advent!
• Liturgical Colors in the Sarum Rite - It Ain't Really Advent Blue
• Historical Development of Calling Priests Father
  

Happy Hanukkah! Receive a Free Copy of My Book, The Crucified Rabbi

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Christ's Great Hanukkah Sermon and How It Relates to the Maccabees

Today begins the eight-day Jewish festival of Hanukkah. Since the new book is entitled The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity and contains a section of Hanukkah, I'm giving away two signed books.

Here’s how you can receive a free copy:

For next eight days (Dec 12-19), if you favorably mention the book title (The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity) with a link to the amazon.com page (http://tinyurl.com/y8k7p7u) through Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, then I’ll assign a number to your name for a chance to win a free book.

Here's a sample of an ideal Twitter post that you can copy/paste into Twitter:

Please check out this new book - The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity - http://tinyurl.com/y8k7p7u

After the eight days of Hanukkah, one of my children will select two random numbers. If your name is listed as one of those two numbers, you win a signed book.

The more you mention the title and link through Twitter/Blog/Facebook, the more chances you have to win a free copy. For example, if you tweet it on Twitter three times, you have three chances to win a book (i.e. your name is on the list three times with three different numbers).

I’ll be checking Twitter every day and searching for all the mentions. If you blog it or Facebook it, please let me know in the comments, and I’ll assign you numbers for the list.

The winners will be announced on December 20. Most of all, thank you for getting the word out about the new book.

I look forward to mailing out the free copies…I’ll hopefully get them to you in time for Christmas!

Christ's Great Hanukkah Sermon and How It Relates to the Maccabees

Today begins the eight-day Jewish festival of Hanukkah, the story of which is recounted in 1 Maccabees. Christians are familiar with the eight-day festival of Hanukkah because of its proximity to Christmas. It is commemorated on the twenty-fifth day of of the Jewish month of Kislev, and falls sometime in late November or December. It is the most recent Jewish festival, dating to the second century before Christ.

In 167 B.C., the Syro-Greek king Antiochus IV Epiphanes began to persecute the Jewish people. Antiochus IV Greek forbade circumcision, burned Jewish Scriptures, forced Jews to eat unclean swine’s flesh, and desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem by commanding an un-kosher sacrifice of swine on the Temple’s altar.

Horrified by the sacrilege of Antiochus IV, an elderly priest Mattathias and his son Judah Maccabaeus (“the Hammer”) formed a militia and waged a war of guerilla tactics against the occupying Greek forces: “Every man who has zeal for the Law and maintains the Covenant, let him follow me!” (1 Macc 2:27). The revolution succeeded and the Temple was rededicated in 164 B.C. on the twenty-fifth day of Kislev. The festival commemorating the event is called Hanukkah, meaning “Dedication.”

The feast of Hanukkah lasts eight days because Judas Maccabaeus wanted to imitate King Solomon. After all, Solomon had dedicated the original temple during the eight-day feast of Tabernacles. However, the feast of Tabernacles falls in the month of Tishri, not Kislev. Instead of waiting another ten months, Judas Maccabaeus decreed that a new eight-day festival be created in imitation of the festival of Tabernacles, beginning on the twenty-fifth day of the Jewish month of Kislev. The book of 2 Maccabees records that Judas Maccabaeus instituted the eight-day festival because, “Solomon also kept the eight days,” when the original Temple was dedicated (2 Macc 2:12).

The Jewish Talmud offers another tradition to explain the eight days of Hanukkah. When the Jews recaptured Jerusalem from the tyrannous Greeks, the Jewish priests did not have enough oil to keep the Temple’s menorah lit. There was only enough sacred oil to burn for one day and it would take at least a week to mix a fresh supply of holy oil. Yet, the one-day supply of holy oil lasted for eight days by a divine miracle. For this reason, faithful Jews light the menorah during the eight days of the festival.

Many Christians are unaware of these connections. As a result, they miss the important “Hanukkah message” of Christ in John’s Gospel. The presence of Christ at the Temple during Hanukkah is important because Hanukkah recalled how the Maccabees dedicated the Temple after the Greeks had defiled it. However, the presence of God’s glory did not manifest itself at the re-dedication of the Maccabees and fill the Temple as it did in the days of King Solomon. Since the time of the Maccabees, God had not inhabited the Temple as He had before the Jews’ Babylonian exile. The presence of Christ in the Temple at Hanukkah shows that God’s presence had once again entered to the Temple.

It was the feast of the Dedication [i.e. Hanukkah] at Jerusalem. It was winter and Jesus was walking in the Temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered round him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us openly” (Jn 10:22-24).

It was during Hanukkah that Christ answered them by boldly proclaiming: “I and the Father are one” (Jn 10: 30). Christ entered into the Temple at the feast of Hanukkah and presented himself as the God of Israel. His enemies immediately understood His claim in light of Hanukkah’s significance. We know this because they took up stones to stone him and said “we stone you for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself to be God” (Jn 10:31-33). Hence, the festival of Hanukkah serves as a sign of Christ’s fulfillment of the Temple and the entire Old Covenant. Jesus was not only a gifted rabbi from Nazareth—He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As it turns out, Jesus’ relationship with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the righteous of the Old Testament sheds light on why Catholic Christians honor and revere the saints.

[This blog post was adapted from The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of the Catholic Christianity.]

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Happy Hanukkah! Receive a Free Copy of My Book: The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity

The 13th Day - A Review of the New Fatima Film

My wife and I sat down and watched the promo-DVD of the new 13th Day film. My first impression was that it was very faithful to the Fatima story. They didn’t play fast-and-loose with the plot. The film centers on the person of Lucia, who acts as a narrator recounting her story.

The style is very surreal. I was a little distracted by the film’s black and white footage with bits of color here and there. However, by the time we arrived at the scene where the sun danced with all the glorious colors, I began to understand why the director(s) chose to depict the events as they did. The closest analogue is the Wizard of Oz where the first part is in black and white, but then climaxes in color.

So tell a friend and check it out. Most of all, leave some comments about your impressions of the 13th Day.

Godspeed,
Taylor Marshall

You may also like the following posts about movies:

• Is it fun to watch people die? or "On Being an Inglorious Bastard"
• Is Mel Gibson Catholic?
• The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Divine Indwelling
• No Country for Old Men - the Meaning of the Final Two Dreams

The New Advent Bible Page - I Love It!

In the third century, Origen produced the Hexapla - a six column version of the Old Testament. Each column contained a different textual tradition of the Hebrew Scriptures (Hebrew and Greek).

Well, Kevin Knight over at New Advent has created something even better for the cyber-world of Scripture study. I can't tell you how excited I am about it. For those who don't have access to expensive Bible software, Kevin Knight at NewAdvent.org has provided a wonderful resource. He has created a three column, online version of the Sacred Scriptures. As you can see in the photo above, the left column has the Greek (Septuagint for the OT), the center English, and the right column has Latin.

I usually make a visit to newadvent.org every day to check something quickly on Knight's online edition of Thomas Aquinas' Summa theologiae or in the Church Fathers. He also has a hodgepodge of the latest and best headlines from around the blogosphere. NewAdvent.org is a great resource and it just got better.

As Saint Jerome once said, "Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ," so go to NewAdvent.org and start studying.

Oh, and one more thing. You can copy and paste the Greek Scripture text into your Word Processor, a very useful feature, if you ask me.

Go check out the NewAdvent.org Bible. Please click here to check out the NewAdvent Bible.

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Look for a Post on Christ's Great Hanukkah Sermon on December 11th

The Maccabees and the Lead Up to the First Hanukkah

This year (2009) the Jewish festival of Hanukkah begins at sundown on Friday December 11. Did you know that Christ once gave a fantastic Hanukkah sermon? If not, look for a post on the significance of Christ's great Hanukkah speech from the Gospel of John on December 11th.

Here's a preview: If you know a few details about Hanukkah, you'll have a better appreciation of Christ's claim that He is fully divine given what He said in the context of the Jewish feast fn Hanukkah.

Check back on December 11th to learn more. Till then...


Please visit The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity

St Maximilian Kolbe Quote for a Day after the Rejection of the Pro-Life Amendment

The United States Senate rejected the Nelson-Hatch-Casey Pro-Life Amendment to health care legislation by a 54-45 vote. The amendment would have kept in place “the longstanding and widely supported federal policy against government funding of health coverage that includes elective abortions." The United States Conference of Bishops were fully behind this amendment. Alas, it has been struck down.

I was pretty discouraged by this until I came across a quote from Saint Maximilian Kolbe this morning that relates to evil and political powers. He reminds us that the true battle between good and evil is in the depths of the soul, not in the propaganda machines or battlefields of the world. His words and life are a good reminder that we must pray, sacrifice, and persevere even in the face of discouragement. Here's the quote:

"No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is the inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the hecatombs of extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?"

As we see in the life of Christ, the Blessed Virgin, and in the lives of the saints, true victory over the secular evils of the world usually occur through the quiet witness of sanctity and self-sacrifice. The crucifixion under Pontius Pilate, and the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul under Nero were the seeds of overcoming the evils of the Roman Empire. Like the blood of Abel, the precious blood of Christ and the blood the saints cries out to the Lord for justice.

For those who don't know, Maximilian Kolbe is one of my favorite saints and he was martyred during the Holocaust. I wrote up a chapter on St Maximilian Kolbe and what his witness means for Jewish-Catholic relations in my new book: The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity. Once again, we see here that charity and prayer, not political maneuvering, bring about the healing of the nations, first for the Jew then for the Gentiles.

Am I still a little discouraged by the Senate vote? Yes. However, it's a reminder that we should first win the battle in our souls if we dare to fight the battle against the culture of death.

The Immaculate Conception of Mary: Three Scriptural Arguments

The Catechism of the Catholic Church beautifully states the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, that is, that Mary was herself conceived without original sin:

491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.

492 The "splendor of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son". The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love".

It is important to focus on the fact that Mary was redeemed and that she was "redeemed in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son."

Rather than being redeemed later in life she was redeemed at the moment in which she was conceived. There is one primary reason for why Christ would save His mother in this way: Christ perfectly fulfilled the Law and thereby fulfilled the commandment "Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother." We know that Christ perfectly honored His Father. He also perfectly honored His Mother. The most honorable thing He could do for His mother was to redeem her "in a more exalted fashion" as the Holy Father taught.

Is the Immaculate Conception Biblical? Yes, but only if you accept typology as a valid interpretation of Scriptural texts (i.e. a method used by the Apostles and Fathers to interpret Old Testament people, things, and events as types foreshadowing New Covenant realities). Below are three common arguments used by the early Church Fathers, the Popes, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church to justify Mary's title as the Panagia or "All-Holy." The first is straight-forward, the latter two rely on typology.

Argument #1
Mary is Full of Grace

Luke 1:28: "And he came to her and said, 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!'"

The term traditionally translated "full of grace" or "highly favored" is kecharitomene. This past perfect form denotes something that happened in the past and continues into the present. She was perfectly graced in the past and continues in that state. Luke 1:28 has served as the locus classicus for the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady.

Argument #2
Mary as New Eve Having Enmity with Satan

Gen 3:15 "I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.."

In this verse God addresses Satan. The Seed here is Christ. The Woman is His Mother, that is, Mary. Thus Satan has perfect enmity with Christ and with His Mother. The Catholic Church has interpreted this as indicating the sinlessness of Christ and Mary. If either actually committed sin, then they would not be at enmity with Satan but actually a cooperator with Satan at times.

Argument #3
Mary as Ark of the Covenant

In the Old Covenant the Ark of the Covenant contained the Word of God on stone. In the New Covenant, the Word made Flesh was also contained - and that in the womb of the Blessed Virgin. The Catholic Church has therefore understood Mary as the mystical Ark of the New Covenant. This connection is made in the book of Revelation.

Rev 11:19-12:2 Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child.

The Ark of the Covenant appears in Heaven and then in the next breath (and next verse) St John describes a pregnant woman appearing in Heaven. This Woman "contains" the Messiah.

The thinking goes that if Mary is the fulfillment of the Ark of the Covenant, then she must be "all holy". Remember that in the Old Covenant a man was killed for touching the ark. It was holy. If the box that held stone tablets was so restricted - so also would be the woman who actually carried God Himself. And so she is all pure and all holy, without the stain of sin.

If Mary Had No Sin, Is Christ Her Savior?

Today (Dec 8) commemorates the Immaculate Conception - the Catholic teaching that Mary was conceived without original sin. This often begs the question: If Mary is without sin, is Christ the Savior of His Mother Mary? The Catholic Church answers, "Yes, Christ is the Savior of His Mother Mary."

Here is the exact quote from Pope Pius IX's Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus from December 8, 1854 in which the Pope infallibly declared the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

Wherefore, in humility and fasting, we unceasingly offered our private prayers as well as the public prayers of the Church to God the Father through his Son, that he would deign to direct and strengthen our mind by the power of the Holy Spirit. In like manner did we implore the help of the entire heavenly host as we ardently invoked the Paraclete. Accordingly, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the honor of the Holy and undivided Trinity, for the glory and adornment of the Virgin Mother of God, for the exaltation of the Catholic Faith, and for the furtherance of the Catholic religion, by the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own:

"We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful."

Mary was regenerated, justified, and sanctified at the very moment of her conception. Pope Pius IX, in conformity with Catholic tradition, taught that this unique act of salvation occurred "in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race." This is why Mary can still refer to God as "God my Savior" (Lk 1:47).

In sum, the Blessed Virgin Mary's immaculate conception is due to the merits of Jesus Christ as "Savior".

Saint Augustine stands in this tradition, writing in the early 400s:

"Now with the exception of the holy Virgin Mary in regard to whom, out of respect for the Lord, I do not propose to have a single question raised on the subject of sin - after all, how do we know what greater degree of grace for a complete victory over sin was conferred on her who merited to conceive and bring forth Him who all admit was without sin -- to repeat then: with the exception of this Virgin, if we could bring together into one place all those holy men and women, while they lived here, and ask them whether they were without sin, what are we to suppose that they would have replied?"

St. Augustine, De natura et gratia, Patrologia Latina 44:267

Lastly, it should be noted that for Pope Pius IX the locus classicus in Sacred Scripture for the doctrine of the Mary's immaculate conception is not Luke 1:28 ("Hail full of grace"), but Gen 3:15 ("I will place enmity between you [Satan] and the woman").

The woman who shall bear the Savior shall have perfect enmity with Satan and thus it is necessary that Satan have no dominion over her. In other words, she must be without sin. Hence, the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin.

St Nicholas: He Who Punches Heretics in the Face (and Gives Gifts to Children)

The painting above depicts St Nicholas
punching the heretic Arius at the Council of Nicea
When President Teddy Roosevelt was a college student, he taught a Sunday School class for elementary school children. During this time, Roosevelt awarded a dollar to a boy in his Sunday School class for beating the snot out of a bully who tormented little girls. "You did exactly right," said Roosevelt with pride. However, the congregation disagreed. They immediately dismissed Roosevelt for teaching the "un-Christian" principle of laying the smack down on those who have it coming to them.

Well, if tradition is true, that little boy was also richly rewarded by Jolly Old Saint Nicholas since the good Saint Nick allegedly "h-slapped" ("heretic slapped") the heresiarch Arius. You see, Arius wrongly taught that Christ was not fully divine. Rather, Arius taught that Christ had been created by God the Father.

During the First Ecumenical Council of Nicea (AD 325), Arius was called upon to defend his position on the inferiority of Christ. Saint Nicholas just couldn't listen to all of Arius' nonsense and so he stood up and laid in to Arius with his fist.

The Emperor Constantine and the bishops present at the Council were alarmed by Nicholas' act of violence against Arius. They immediately stripped Nicholas of his office as a bishop by confiscating the two items that marked out a man as a Christian bishop: Nicholas' personal copy of the Gospels and his pallium (the vestment worn by all bishops in the East).

Now if that were the end of the story, we probably wouldn't know about Saint Nicholas, and our children wouldn't be asking him for presents. However, after Nicholas was deposed, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary visited Nicholas who was being held in a prison cell for his fist-fight with the heretic.

Our Lord Jesus Christ asked Saint Nicholas, "Why are you here?" Nicholas responded, "Because I love you, my Lord and my God."

Christ then presented Nicholas with his copy of the Gospels. Next, the Blessed Virgin vested Nicholas with his episcopal pallium, thus restoring him to his rank as a bishop.

Traditional icons of Saint Nicholas depict this miracle as in the image below:

Notice Christ (left) holding out the book of the Gospels,
and Mary (right) holding out the episcopal pallium,
Nicholas (center) holding the Gospels and wearing the pallium

When the Emperor Constantine heard of this miracle, he immediately ordered that Nicholas be reinstated as a bishop in good standing for the Council of Nicea. Today we recite the Nicene Creed every Sunday so we know how the controversy played out. The bishops at Nicea sided with Saint Nicholas and Saint Athanasius and they condemned Arius as a heretic. To this very day, we still recite in the Creed that Christ is "God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten not made, one in being with the Father."

I leave you with one last painting of the legendary event:

Nicholas is on the left holding up his fist, Arius is on the ground with his hands up. The guy on the throne is Constantine.

Saint Nicholas, pray for us.

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Episcopal Church Elects Lesbian as "Bishop"

The Episcopal Church has just answered Pope Benedict's overture to Anglicans: "Take that! We just elected a woman as a bishop...and a lesbian at that!"

Hopefully this will simply push faithful Anglicans closer to considering the Holy Father's Anglican Personal Ordinariates due out in 2010.

The common question, "Why can't women be Catholic priests?" deserves a respectable answer. I wrote a post on "Why can't women be Catholic priests?" early this year. Please take a look.

HT: William Eshelman

You may also like: "My Interview with the BBC on 'Women Priests' - Canterbury Tales"

Monks Perform Silent Rendition of the Handel's Halleluia Chorus

Okay, they aren't really monks, but this was a clever performance. I thought I'd pass it along.

HT: Walker Dollahon, my source for humor.

Former Episcopal Bishop John Libscomb Ordained Catholic Priest in Florida

Father Jeffrey Steenson
(former Episcopal bishop now Catholic priest)
greets the recently ordained Father Lipscomb
(also former Episcopal bishop)

John Lipscomb, the married 59-year-old former bishop of the Episcopal of Miami, was ordained as a Catholic priest last Wednesday.

Hat tip to Father Jeffrey Steenson who shared these pictures with me.

SSPX Comments About the Pope's Anglican Ordinarates

Father Z and others have discussed how the Pope's reconciliation of Anglicans through the canonical structure of Personal Ordinariates will like pave the way for a similar canonical structure for regularizing the traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X.

Well, Bishop Fellay of the SSPX has recently said something about this gesture to the Anglicans. Suprisingly, it's positive.

The following is from a German interview with Bishop Fellay at kreuz.net.

I'll give the German first and then the English. I did my best with my own "doctoral student ad-hoc" translation:

Hoffnungsschimmer im trüben ÖkumenismusZur Rückkehr traditioneller Anglikaner sagte Mons. Fellay:

"Das ist großartig. Das ist eine große Freude. Es gibt nur ein Schiff, das zum Himmel fährt, und das ist die Katholische Kirche. Wenn Abtrünnige zurückkehren, ist das erst recht eine große Freude.“

Mons. Fellay betrachtet es als Hoffnungszeichen, daß das in den gegenwärtigen, ziemlich trüben Umständen des Ökumenismus“ geschieht.

Here's the English translation (if there are any German speakers out there, please correct me):

A glimmer of hope among murky Ecumenism
Regarding the return of traditional Anglicans Bishop Fellay said:

"This is great. This is a big joy. There is only one ship that goes to Heaven, and this is the Catholic Church. When apostates return, it is surely a grand joy."

Bishop Fellay looks at it as a hopeful sign during what presently: "happens to be quite murky circumstances of (Vatican) ecumenism."

So there you have it. A bishop of the SSPX has said something positive about Rome's posture to non-Catholics. That's certainly a feather in Pope Benedict's mitre.

HT: John Hunwicke, William Tighe

The New Fatima Film: The 13th Day - Look for a Review Soon

I received a DVD copy of the new film about Fatima: The 13th Day. I plan on watching it this weekend. Look for a review of the movie early next week.

Please check out the movie trailer above.

Did Adam and Eve Eat an Apple or Not?

Is it just me or does Satan look like
Jack Nicholson in this painting?!
"Here's Johnny!"

We customarily think of Adam and Eve eating as an "apple" in the Garden of Eden from the forbidden tree. This is because the Latin word for "apple" is malum, which is similar the word that means "evil" (malus). Latin writers often made use of this fantastic pun, and we have inherited the "apple=forbidden fruit" tradition ever since.

Jewish tradition identifies the fruit with the fig:

R. Yose said: They were figs, as may be inferred from the context.

A parable of a king's son who disgraced himself with one of the maidservants. When the king heard of it, he deprived his son of high rank and expelled him from the palace. The son then went about to the doorways of the other maidservants, and none would take him in. But she who disgraced herself with him opened the door of her house and received him.

So, too, when Adam ate of that tree, the Holy One deprived him of lofty status and expelled him from the Garden of Eden. Adam then went about among all the trees, but none would receive him [ie. take even one leaf ].

But the fig tree whose fruit Adam had eaten opened its doors [so to speak] and received him, as is said, "They sewed fig leaves together." (Bereishit 3:7) Gen. Rabbah 15:7.

Whether the forbidden fruit was a fig or not, the English word "apple" is actually an appropriate translation, because etymologically, the English word "apple" is a generic term including all fruits, berries, and nuts. For example, the Old English word for cucumbers is eorþæppla - literally, "earth-apples" or "earth fruit". Thus, the forbidden fruit could have been an apple, fig, etrog fruit, banana, or even a cucumber - all of these fruits would be encompassed by the generic English word "apple" in its traditional sense.

Sandra Bullock Meets a True Christian

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• Is it fun to watch people die? or "On Being an Inglorious Bastard"
• Is Mel Gibson Catholic?
• The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Divine Indwelling
• No Country for Old Men - the Meaning of the Final Two Dreams

Last weekend my wife and I saw a great movie: The Blindside. We loved it. I laughed. I cried. For once, I got my money out of a movie ticket.

Without spoiling the film for those who haven't seen it, it's about a family who adopts an enormously sized under-privileged teenager who doesn't have a home. The young man turns out to be Michael Oher, the present left tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. It's based on a true story and as my father used to say, "truth is better than fiction." And if you don't count the lamentable movie Speed, Sandra Bullock, who plays the feisty but philanthropic mother, is one of my favorite actresses. This is her best role. She deserves to win an award for performance.

An article about Sandra Bullock recently caught my eye as it relates to Christianity and popular culture.

Sandra Bullock says thanks to the Tuohys, who attend Grace Evangelical Church in Memphis, she now has "faith in those who say they represent a faith." Getting to know Leigh Anne Tuohy, says the actress, showed her that religious faith can be authentic. "She was so open and honest and forthright," Bullock shares, "and I said, wow, I finally met someone who practices but doesn't preach."

Bullock admits she was wary of Christians before she met the Tuohys. "Whereas...before I was like, do not give me a lecture on how to live my life when I know I'm a pretty decent human being," says the actress. "I might not go to church everyday, but I know I do the right thing or try to. You're going to church and you're still sleeping around on your wife...how are you better than I am? So I finally met people who walk the walk."

This impressed me for two reasons. First, I engage with Christians every day and I am deeply aware of the mixture of hypocrisy and heroic sanctity that exists in the Church. Consequently, I'm surprised that some people assume that all Christians are all hypocrites. I'm also amazed that such people are surprised to meet someone who seems to be genuinely faithful.

Secondly, Bullock's statement reminds me that actions, not words are the most compelling witness that we can set forth to an unbelieving world. Non-Christians see Christ most clearly in our works, not in our words. People want to see Christians who, as Bullock observes, "walk the walk."

Saint John reminds us of this principle: "Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in action and in truth" (1 John 3:18). Saint Francis is also reported to say, "Preach always, use words only if necessary."