Nope. Not even slightly. Deo gratias. The FFIs and the TLM:

P.S. If you are having problems with the page, try reloading it. There is something strange about this setup.

Have you seen this LP set lately?

Jordan Aumann, O.P. Conferences on the Religious Life for the Sisters, ACTA Publications

I can’t find any mention of it anywhere on the Internet.
So, here’s the first mention.

This set is, as one would expect, excellent. There is an abundance of quality food-for-thought. Although it is directed to sisters, priests and brothers can learn a thing or two from it also. Many of the principles discussed are common to all types of religious life. The vows are still the same vows that religious have been professing for a long, long time.

Here is the first conference: Vocation to Perfection.

Here are 2 albums from the visits of Paul VI to the Holy Land and the USA, 3 albums of Pope John Paul II’s visit to the USA in 1979, and 1 album of Pope John Paul II’s visit to Ireland in 1979.

The days of Papal Visit LPs are over, but they are classic examples of “audio mementos” from the days when VCRs were either unavailable or still rather expensive and rare.

The postulants and I went to Stockbridge and from there to Yankee Stadium to attend the Papal Mass on Sunday. It was a wonderful event. The Pope’s emphasis on true freedom echoed the words of Pope John Paul II at the last Papal Mass in the US which I attended–back at Camden Yards in 1995. At that time Pope John Paul II said, “Every generation of Americans needs to know that freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.”

Videos of the Pope’s visit can still be viewed at the USCCB site. I don’t know how long they will continue to make them available.

Lyrics from the song by Stuart Hamblen:

It is no secret, what God can do
what He’s done for others, He’ll do for you
with arms wide open, He’ll pardon you
it is no secret what God can do

Divine Mercy is not secret, but also not well known.

I’ve been out in Illinois at one of the Marian parishes helping out for the weekend. There’s lots to catch up on.

Steubenville is not always gray and smelly. Today was actually rather sunny and nice. I took a walk in the neighborhood today–something I haven’t done since late last year. Easter Season is off to a good start.

A recent find: A Child’s Garden of Freberg — a Stan Freberg “best of” LP from 1958. His outlandish rendition of “Sh-Boom” is a treat.

This blog is combining videos to aid in the praying of the Novena to The Divine Mercy.

Christ has risen! Someday we will all rise at the resurrection of the dead!

I note that my blog continues to be highly ignored. From reading it myself, it makes sense. It’s really not all that interesting. Unfortunately, I don’t have that “public relations” knowledge that would do anything to make it more popular. And, of course, being popular is not something I should be seeking anyway. Actually, you could say that the blog is succeeding by not being popular! In fact, my community is known for not being well-known.

Here is a “lost entry” I made in my old blog in July of 2004:

Now I’m in Dayton, Ohio, at the Marian Library! This is the largest collection of written materials on the Blessed Virgin Mary in the world. I don’t think that any woman has had more written about her than the Blessed Virgin Mary. She deserves it, of course. It is always worth contemplating the one who brought the Savior into the world, the one who was chosen to give flesh to the God-Man and to care for Him on earth. I’m taking a course on Mary in the Medieval Period, and it’s awesome. Today, one of the gems was the dual-role Mary had as the provider for the human Christ (feeding, showing affection for, etc.) while being the servant and worshiper of the truely divine Christ (adoring Him as God). It’s a balancing act that a fallen human being could not have done, so it makes sense that she was preseverved from the stain of original sin.

Here is another recovered “lost entry” from my old blog from July of 2004:

As I continue to read about devotion to the Blessed Virign Mary in the 20th century, I am finding that those who were writing in the 1950s could see an increase at the time. Did they know that the 50s would be a peak that would diminish? Perhaps some did.

If there’s one thing I get from all this, it is that one should ignore trends and have devotion to Mary regardless. Catholics were indeed more devoted to Mary in the 50s. Unfortunately, there was a tendency in the 60s to reject the Catholicism of the 50s as outmoded. But today, we have the Rosary prayed among teens, in colleges, in parishes, and on EWTN TV and radio everyday. Nothing outmoded about that.

I hope to put in more “lost entries” soon.