I have added some quotes from Bl. Giles of Assisi, a first, and am increasing the St. Louis de Montfort quotes among others.
'Poor men and women who are sinners, I, a greater sinner than you, wish to give you this rose, a crimson one, because the precious blood of our Lord has fallen upon it. Please God that it may bring true fragrance into your lives - but above all, may it save you from the danger that you are in. Every day unbelievers and un-repentant sinners cry, "Let us crown ourselves with roses." But our cry should be, "Let us crown ourselves with the roses of the holy Rosary."
How different are theirs from ours! Their roses are pleasures of the flesh, worldly honours and passing riches which wilt and decay in no time, but ours, which are the Our Father and Hail Mary which we have said devoutly over and over again, and to which we have added good penitential acts, will never wilt or die, and they will be just as exquisite thousands of years from now as they are today.'
'Because Mary remained hidden during her life she is called by the Holy Spirit and the Church "Alma Mater", Mother hidden and unknown. So great was her humility that she desired nothing more upon earth than to remain unknown to herself and to others, and to be known only to God. In answer to her prayers to remain hidden, poor and lowly, God was pleased to conceal her from nearly every other human creature in her conception, her birth, her life, her mysteries, her resurrection and assumption. Her own parents did not really know her; and the angels would often ask one another, "Who can she possibly be?", for God had hidden her from them, or if he did reveal anything to them, it was nothing compared with what he withheld.'
'According to St. Bonaventure, all the angels in heaven unceasingly call out to her: "Holy, holy, holy Mary, Virgin Mother of God." They greet her countless times each day with the angelic greeting, "Hail, Mary", while prostrating themselves before her, begging her as a favour to honour them with one of her requests. According to St. Augustine, even St. Michael, though prince of all the heavenly court, is the most eager of all the angels to honour her and lead others to honour her. At all times he awaits the privilege of going at her word to the aid of one of her servants.'
'They shall be true disciples of Jesus Christ, treading the narrow way of God in pure truth; sparing, fearing, and listening to no mortal, however influential he may be. . . They shall carry on their shoulders the bloody standard of the Cross, the Crucifix in their right hand and the Rosary in their left, the sacred names of Jesus and Mary in their hearts.'
St. Louis Marie de Montfort
'Let me lie on the ground, for if I do not rise, I shall not be able to fall!'
Bl. Giles of Assisi
'Dearest brothers, marvel not, if he spoke nothing to me nor I to him; for as soon as we embraced each other, the light of divine wisdom revealed his heart to me and mine to him, and whatsoever he had thought to say to me and I to him, we heard better without the sound of words or lips or tongue than if we had conversed with our lips. And had we desired to explain by means of voice those things which we felt within ourselves, our speech would have tended rather to desolation than to consolation. Wherefore be you sure that the king went away marvellously comforted.'
Bl. Giles of Assisi, after meeting St. Louis
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Site News
I am wondering when I will be able to finish up the last details of the latest version of the prayerbook, it is taking time.
I have decided to make some further updates to the websites. I am preparing new email addresses for contacts, and preparing contact submission forms, and a monthly email letter.
I wish to quickly move the sites forwards to the point where I no longer have 'under construction' notices on two of them.
I am in the middle of preparing to ditch my old email addresses and update to new ones, and so am preparing the websites to be as spam resistant in regards to email contact as possible.
At once time I started user forum for a different project of mine. A few years later I had over ten thousand members of the forum, all of whom were spambots. Fighting spam is a big issue, and it is one which I have long wished attornies general would take up more seriously. There are many areas the government should keep out of in regards to the Internet, but this basic law enforcement is not one of them. Spam is like litter, is should be fined and put an end to.
I decided on the email letter because there is a need for a greater level of user participation in the sites, and I think having something like an email letter to bring the users together and start a registration program will help that.
The letter will simply consist of the newest and most notable quotes, prayers, and book excerpts for a once a month additional inspiration. So, as for the content, it will be simple and little additional work to maintain.
Being of the Carthusian bent of spirituality, and one of my goals being to keep my own self out of my work and leave it to the holy ones, this suits my purpose.
Why once a month? Why not twice? Or three or four times? Or some other period? Once a month is simply the most manageable, it is not so often as to fill up users mailboxes, it is not so rare that users forget the sites exist and all the benefits of the content.
If anyone who receives the newsletter actually fully implements even one of the quotations in a single month, it will be a tremendous achievement. I heartily advise striving to attain it.
I have decided to make some further updates to the websites. I am preparing new email addresses for contacts, and preparing contact submission forms, and a monthly email letter.
I wish to quickly move the sites forwards to the point where I no longer have 'under construction' notices on two of them.
I am in the middle of preparing to ditch my old email addresses and update to new ones, and so am preparing the websites to be as spam resistant in regards to email contact as possible.
At once time I started user forum for a different project of mine. A few years later I had over ten thousand members of the forum, all of whom were spambots. Fighting spam is a big issue, and it is one which I have long wished attornies general would take up more seriously. There are many areas the government should keep out of in regards to the Internet, but this basic law enforcement is not one of them. Spam is like litter, is should be fined and put an end to.
I decided on the email letter because there is a need for a greater level of user participation in the sites, and I think having something like an email letter to bring the users together and start a registration program will help that.
The letter will simply consist of the newest and most notable quotes, prayers, and book excerpts for a once a month additional inspiration. So, as for the content, it will be simple and little additional work to maintain.
Being of the Carthusian bent of spirituality, and one of my goals being to keep my own self out of my work and leave it to the holy ones, this suits my purpose.
Why once a month? Why not twice? Or three or four times? Or some other period? Once a month is simply the most manageable, it is not so often as to fill up users mailboxes, it is not so rare that users forget the sites exist and all the benefits of the content.
If anyone who receives the newsletter actually fully implements even one of the quotations in a single month, it will be a tremendous achievement. I heartily advise striving to attain it.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Updates
I anticipated uploading the new prayer book sooner, the trip was productive but less so than I thought it would be in that area.
I have this 'continual improvement' going on, where I keep on thinking of what I can do to make the prayer book better, and this keeps delaying the next edition. The other day, I had some very fine ideas, that would take some time and additional antique prayer books for reference to realize (a monetary issue as well as time issue). I have also wanted to take down the old prayer book for some time now, for various relatively minor reasons and replace it. It is in many ways simply very old and from the beginning of my faith journey, I am far away from some of it and see changes that should be made to make it a more solid collection.
Hopefully I will have the prayer book up in the coming week or two. It will not be quite where I would prefer, but what ever is as perfect as we wish?
It will simply be the case that instead of being as final an update as I hoped, this will be simply a next major step.
I am feeling quite under the weather, so to speak this past day and hope I improve quickly, I am not usually so discomfited by this as I am.
I continue to sort through my old programming code and see what can be used today. I felt quite nostalgic pulling out my old project that failed because artist after artist, after signing on, abandoned it, and eventually I simply did not have the will to continue seeking them and set it aside for a later time. I wondered, looking at it, would that time ever come again, with what I have learned now? The music for the project was truly inspired.
I have this 'continual improvement' going on, where I keep on thinking of what I can do to make the prayer book better, and this keeps delaying the next edition. The other day, I had some very fine ideas, that would take some time and additional antique prayer books for reference to realize (a monetary issue as well as time issue). I have also wanted to take down the old prayer book for some time now, for various relatively minor reasons and replace it. It is in many ways simply very old and from the beginning of my faith journey, I am far away from some of it and see changes that should be made to make it a more solid collection.
Hopefully I will have the prayer book up in the coming week or two. It will not be quite where I would prefer, but what ever is as perfect as we wish?
It will simply be the case that instead of being as final an update as I hoped, this will be simply a next major step.
I am feeling quite under the weather, so to speak this past day and hope I improve quickly, I am not usually so discomfited by this as I am.
I continue to sort through my old programming code and see what can be used today. I felt quite nostalgic pulling out my old project that failed because artist after artist, after signing on, abandoned it, and eventually I simply did not have the will to continue seeking them and set it aside for a later time. I wondered, looking at it, would that time ever come again, with what I have learned now? The music for the project was truly inspired.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Tonight's Work
Tonight's work is spot checking the book, 'Breviary Hymns of Old Uses with an English Rendering' by Adrian Fortescue (of great fame).
Here is what I have to do. I take the book, which has already been scanned and OCRed from the Internet Archive (archive.org).
I pull up the PDF of the document, and then the OCR. The OCR, as is typical is quite poor with typos common. I then take the Latin and English, and read each line from the PDF, and compare it with the text file. The Latin is especially to be taken care with, repeated scans necessary.
Then I retype where necessary and correct.
Eventually this will become both a corrected download on Saints' Books and add a number of hymns to the prayers on Saints' Prayers.
The decision to add hymns and not only spoken/mental prayers to Saints' Prayers was made by this book, because of the quality of the hymns when translated being sufficient so that, without music, they could be read and appreciated both for the depth of meaning (and so prayed) and for their poetic nature.
There is no lack of good music in the Catholic Church, there is simply an apostasy from her which is within the hierarchy and the people, or musicians would be taking these hymns and making use of them. Though, from what I understand, properly, the liturgy does not truly interrupt for hymns, but the music is a part of the liturgy itself and so setting it to sacred, Gregorian or near Gregorian notation. And so hymns would be outside of the liturgy, at other times.
And the above, OCR, retyping work is what I need volunteers for, amongst other matters (translation the foremost).
When one runs a website one is accustomed to get few emails from the visitors, and most of these troubleshooting. Donations, thank yous, help -- This is the rarest communication.
When one receives nothing, one is thankful for the greater reward hoped for in the hearafter. But one does still need human help to make one's work as successful as can be.
Some things I can do, some things I can do slowly, and some things I cannot do -- which includes properly translating a good deal of these sites to reach broader audiences. And so -- Donations or volunteers, I have to hope for these.
Here is what I have to do. I take the book, which has already been scanned and OCRed from the Internet Archive (archive.org).
I pull up the PDF of the document, and then the OCR. The OCR, as is typical is quite poor with typos common. I then take the Latin and English, and read each line from the PDF, and compare it with the text file. The Latin is especially to be taken care with, repeated scans necessary.
Then I retype where necessary and correct.
Eventually this will become both a corrected download on Saints' Books and add a number of hymns to the prayers on Saints' Prayers.
The decision to add hymns and not only spoken/mental prayers to Saints' Prayers was made by this book, because of the quality of the hymns when translated being sufficient so that, without music, they could be read and appreciated both for the depth of meaning (and so prayed) and for their poetic nature.
There is no lack of good music in the Catholic Church, there is simply an apostasy from her which is within the hierarchy and the people, or musicians would be taking these hymns and making use of them. Though, from what I understand, properly, the liturgy does not truly interrupt for hymns, but the music is a part of the liturgy itself and so setting it to sacred, Gregorian or near Gregorian notation. And so hymns would be outside of the liturgy, at other times.
And the above, OCR, retyping work is what I need volunteers for, amongst other matters (translation the foremost).
When one runs a website one is accustomed to get few emails from the visitors, and most of these troubleshooting. Donations, thank yous, help -- This is the rarest communication.
When one receives nothing, one is thankful for the greater reward hoped for in the hearafter. But one does still need human help to make one's work as successful as can be.
Some things I can do, some things I can do slowly, and some things I cannot do -- which includes properly translating a good deal of these sites to reach broader audiences. And so -- Donations or volunteers, I have to hope for these.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Return
I have returned from my trip and am just beginning to catch up on keeping in touch with everyone, updating the sites, etc.
I have fixed an issue with Saints' Books that prevented some downloads. It was a curious issue that shows how different Internet browsers have to be tested. Firefox and Internet Explorer are the two main browsers, and both handled the problem differently, and the first fix, fixed the problem for one but not the other. In fact I still do not understand why Internet Explorer could not download the files, but suspect it had something to do with there being too many spaces or periods in the filenames for it to handle in relation to the file server. Firefox could handle it. Internet Explorer could not. On the other hand, Firefox insisted on downloading truncated PDF files when the links were bad instead of reporting that the links were badly named and not linking to any files whatsoever.
A reader of Saints' Books, which is still under construction I must note, let me know that his brother had died. I ask all the readers of this blog to join me in prayers for his soul (Thomas P.), and for the family for their loss.
It is hardest to accept the losses of our relatives, but I am remembering a quote by St. Elizabeth on the death of her husband, in which she states that she loved him above all else, but since the Lord pleased to take him from her, His will be done. This is the way to have peace and perhaps grief and consolation together.
We properly love all people for the Lord that we find in them, and so, when they go, it is the Lord's own decision, and we must know we still have the Lord in the ways He chooses to be with us, and will care for that person perfectly -- whom we can offer our prayers for.
I found the book, 'An Infinity of Little Hours: Five Young Men and Their Trial of Faith in the Western World's Most Austere Monastic Order' waiting for me and have just opened the cover and begun it. It is about the Carthusians, I found it being discussed on a mailing list for their Third and Secular order, which I joined to learn more about them.
One may recall them from the movie 'The Great Silence', and their founder, St. Bruno.
'The Lord created all mortals in the light, offering the supreme joys of heaven according to their merits.
Blessed is the one who without straying directs his soul toward those heights and is vigilant to preserve himself from all evil.
Blessed again is the one who repents after sinning and often weeps because of his fault.
Alas! People live as though death did not follow life, as if hell were only an unfounded fable, though burning embrace.
Mortals, have a care that you live, all of you, in such a way that you do not have to fear the lake of hell.'
St. Bruno
I have fixed an issue with Saints' Books that prevented some downloads. It was a curious issue that shows how different Internet browsers have to be tested. Firefox and Internet Explorer are the two main browsers, and both handled the problem differently, and the first fix, fixed the problem for one but not the other. In fact I still do not understand why Internet Explorer could not download the files, but suspect it had something to do with there being too many spaces or periods in the filenames for it to handle in relation to the file server. Firefox could handle it. Internet Explorer could not. On the other hand, Firefox insisted on downloading truncated PDF files when the links were bad instead of reporting that the links were badly named and not linking to any files whatsoever.
A reader of Saints' Books, which is still under construction I must note, let me know that his brother had died. I ask all the readers of this blog to join me in prayers for his soul (Thomas P.), and for the family for their loss.
It is hardest to accept the losses of our relatives, but I am remembering a quote by St. Elizabeth on the death of her husband, in which she states that she loved him above all else, but since the Lord pleased to take him from her, His will be done. This is the way to have peace and perhaps grief and consolation together.
We properly love all people for the Lord that we find in them, and so, when they go, it is the Lord's own decision, and we must know we still have the Lord in the ways He chooses to be with us, and will care for that person perfectly -- whom we can offer our prayers for.
I found the book, 'An Infinity of Little Hours: Five Young Men and Their Trial of Faith in the Western World's Most Austere Monastic Order' waiting for me and have just opened the cover and begun it. It is about the Carthusians, I found it being discussed on a mailing list for their Third and Secular order, which I joined to learn more about them.
One may recall them from the movie 'The Great Silence', and their founder, St. Bruno.
'The Lord created all mortals in the light, offering the supreme joys of heaven according to their merits.
Blessed is the one who without straying directs his soul toward those heights and is vigilant to preserve himself from all evil.
Blessed again is the one who repents after sinning and often weeps because of his fault.
Alas! People live as though death did not follow life, as if hell were only an unfounded fable, though burning embrace.
Mortals, have a care that you live, all of you, in such a way that you do not have to fear the lake of hell.'
St. Bruno
'If you take little account of yourself, you will have peace, whereever you live.'
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