And then got involved both in making dinner (rice and beans) and then, for tomorrow and the days after, bean soup with bacon. The soup is simmering away and dinner was just fine but the kitchen was a hectic mess there for an half hour. Or so.
The silly Parisians went ahead and provisionally approved the Drouin project for the vandalizing of the interior of Notre-Dame yesterday ("Nous avons affirmé des grands principes, sans clore le dossier "--'we approved the basic lines but without closing the file'). But I think it's probably a good idea to read Dr Amy Welborn's three posts (here, here, and here) on the subject because, as so often is the case, the 'doctors of the Internet' and the other usual suspects have tended to sensationalize this business. It is bad, but does probably not presage the arrival of the Four Horsemen. She concludes:
You want catechetical? Perhaps there’s a powerful catechetical message in a place that’s a little dark, a little messy and cluttered, where people still light candles and say their prayers every day and into the night. It’s not a reason not to straighten it up and consider how the space can be more accessible and understandable to non-believers-- that’s essential-- but at the same time, there’s a coherence in Catholicism that is powerfully embodied in what the world sees as incoherence.
Finally-- if the Church shouldn’t be a museum-- as we often hear-- maybe... we shouldn’t make it into one.
And, yes, Dr Welborn does point out that Drouin et alii are rabid partisans of the modernist, Pauline Rite liturgical nonsense (not quite her words, ahem) who want to make any vestiges of the Traditional Rite disappear.
After a late Sext, it will be time for my walk.
In the Traditional Rite, today is the third day infra Octavam Immaculatae Conceptionis; but Pope Saint Melchiades is commemorated. Dom Prosper's edifying prose; I knew that the name of Saint Melchiades rang a small bell in the recesses of my memory for some reason but it took the page in l'Année liturgique to enlighten me: he is venerated as a martyr although he didn't shed his blood in martyrdom.
The Church makes Commemoration, on this same day within the Octave, of the holy Pope Melchiades. This illustrious Pontiff, whom St. Augustine calls the true child of the peace of Jesus Christ, the worthy Father of the Christian people, ascended the papal throne in the year 311, that is, during the very fiercest storm of persecution. It is on this account that he is honoured with the title of Martyr. Though he did not shed his blood for the name of Jesus, yet he shared in the glory of the Martyrs, by reason of the great trials he had to suffer during the persecution, which afflicted the entire Church. It was the same with many of his predecessors. But the Pontificate of Melchiades marks a very important period of the Church, the transition from persecution to peace. As early as the year 312, liberty had been granted to the Christian religion by Constantine. So that Melchiades had the glory of governing the Church at the commencement of her period of temporal prosperity. His name now graces the calendar of the liturgical year, and reminds us of that Peace which will soon descend upon us from heaven.
Deign then, Father of the Christian people, to pray for us to the Prince of Peace, that, in his approaching visit, he may quell our troubles, remove the obstacles to his grace, and reign as absolute Master over our heart, our mind, and our senses. Pray also that Peace may reign in the Holy City and Church of Rome, of which thou wast the Bishop, and which will honour thy venerable memory to the end of time: help her by thy intercession now that thou art face to face with God, and hear the prayers which she addresses to thee.
Collecta.
Infirmitatem nostram respice, omnipotens Deus, et quia pondus propriae actionis gravat, beati Melchiadis Martyris tui atque Pontiticis intercessio gloriosa nos protegat. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
And tomorrow is the feast of Pope Saint Damasus.
LDVM
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