An Introduction to the Devout Life continues. In these chapters, we hear about helpful and unhelpful forms of recreation and games.

Book 3, Chs. 31-34.

13:53.

Yes, I know I’m falling behind something fierce. I’ll see what I can do.

An Introduction to the Devout Life continues, with more good advice on conversation, and a short course in how not to talk about people behind their backs.

Book 3,
Chapters 29-30.

17:54.

On the Soul and the Resurrection continues. St. Greg and St. Mac finish talking about the soul and purgatory, St. Macrina tells everybody to quit complaining and just suck it up when it comes to the divine plan, we move onto talking about the resurrection of the body, and we learn why believing in reincarnation takes all the fun out of food.

Part 9.

24:55.

The Brand of Silence continues, as Jim Farland pokes his nose into the wrong dark corner.

Chapter 20.

16:26.

Pretty nice, huh?

This is a picture of Our Lady of the O, aka Our Lady of Expectation or Our Lady of Hope. This is Mary counting down the last week of Advent, waiting for her baby to come. (You can see the position of the baby marked by the Sun of Justice over her womb.) She is shown singing or pondering the O antiphons of that week from her book, accompanied by an angel band; and she is wearing a belt high over her tummy, which was how pregnant women dressed in many countries around the world.

Here’s another picture of the Madonna del Parto (Our Lady in pregnancy) which shows another common style of olden days pregnancy wear — laced clothing that’s been loosened. It may be a picture of Mary walking around right before birth, as it was common to have companions to walk you around and the angels might be them. The expression seems to say, “C’mon, already!”

Happy new Church Year!

An Introduction to the Devout Life continues, with a chapter on judging other people. (Don’t do it.)

Book 3, Chapter 28.

13:28.

Parody, that is. “Chrysostom” is a nickname. It means “gold tongue”. (In English, we tend to talk of someone being silvertongued, instead.) Here’s a very short resume of his career.

To the tune of “Goldfinger”:

Go-oldtongue –
He’s the man, the man with the honeyed words –
Not moneyed words.
Heard
His old tongue
Beckon you to break from your chains of sin,
But will he win?

Golden words he will pour in your ear,
But what’s true has to move past your fear.
For the Golden Horn’s lord knows his hyssop
It’s the kiss-up’s death
From Bishop

Go-oldtongue –
Little men beware of his heart of gold –
Their hearts grown cold.

They don’t know real gold.
Lonely gold.
His word’s gold.
He speaks only gold.
Lonely gold.
His love’s gold!

All right, so St. John Chrysostom, patriarch of Constantinople who alternated between superstardom and exile, was not American and never wrote about Thanksgiving. And the Letter to the Colossians is not about Gobble Day, either.

But there’s a lot of applicable stuff about giving thanks in Chrys’ homily series on Colossians, so enjoy!

“A Colossians Thanksgiving”.

14:51.

On the Soul and the Resurrection continues, as we learn about the life of the soul after its initial separation from the body. We also learn that St. Macrina was of opinion that Purgatory and Hell were pretty much the same thing – the love of God drawing out what was good and destroying what was evil in the soul. I don’t think this is the current view (Hell is the absence of God is the usual view today), but I’m not really up on the theology of Hell. (Other than “Stay out of it.”)

Part 8.

22:47.

The Brand of Silence continues (finally), as Murk gets back to the hotel from durance vile, and morning brings a lawyer to call.

Chapter 19: Coadley Quits.

9:49.