Muslims, Our Lady, and exorcism

There is such an interesting article on Muslims,  St. Mary the Virgin and exorcism in AsiaNews.it that I had to share it with those who check in on this blog:  click here please.

A Parish in Chicago to Recommend

The conductor and composer Tim Woods has written to say that he is now the Music Director at St. Thomas More Parish in Chicago (81st and California).  He is the composer of the glorious Byzantine Requiem, recordings of which are available from the Ecclesia Choir and Lincoln Chamber Productions website —  you really need to get the Byzantine Requiem CD!  If you are in Chicago or are simply visiting do pay a visit to the parish.  I will let Tim Woods tell you about the parish in his own words:

I'm letting you know this because, if you appreciate fine Catholic liturgy, and want to experience excellent chant and polyphony in the context of the English Mass (not easy to find), you might want to pay us a visit. We sing proper antiphons, chant settings of the ordinary, and solid hymns. The priest celebrates "ad orientum" and the altar area has been made to look quite beautiful.  The Mass schedule is Sat at 4:30pm, and Sun. at 7:30am, and 10:30am, with a Mass in Spanish at 9am. 

If you are looking for a choir to sing in, look no further! Just give me a call and we can set up an audition. In this day and age when people no longer just go to the parish closest to them, you owe it to yourself to come and see what St. Thomas More is doing. It is possible to attend a beautiful Mass in English which is faithful to the rubrics of the Missal. Come find out what Vatican II really promulgated as far as Mass in the vernacular. Come find out the real meaning of the word "Eucharist", or thanksgiving. Come find out what it really means to worship. Thanks for reading this, Tim Woods.

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H.L Mencken on Church Architecture

It may seem odd to quote H.L. Mencken, but even Balaam's ass was made to prophesy.  Upon reading one should immediately think of the "new cathedral" in Los Angeles, California which has all the charm of a grim air hanger for the souls of the damned.   

So here is a quote worth considering even if it be a slight reworking of the original :

“When men really begin to build churches 

that look like cargo terminals, 

 there will be no religion any more, 

just Rotary. 

And when they begin to live in houses 

as coldly structural as step-ladders 

they will cease to be men, 

and become mere rats in cages.”

— H.L. Mencken

The original follows from the conclusion of Mencken's "The New Architecture": "[w]hen men really begin to build churches like the Bush Terminal [a recently upgraded cargo terminus, in Brooklyn] there will be no religion any more, just Rotary. And when they begin to live in houses as coldly structural as step-ladders they will cease to be men, and become mere rats in cages."