I was afraid to read Anne Rice

When I first heard about Anne Rice’s reversion back to the Catholic faith, I was very happy to hear it. When I heard she had also written a novel depicting the early childhood of our Lord, I was afraid to read it.

I was afraid that it would be…I don’t know…blasphemous? Maybe I was prejudging her based on her “new age quasi atheistic” past. But that wasn’t my biggest concern.

My real fear was that she might do a really good job, but mistakenly put in heretical ideas, which I might not be wise enough to pick up on. But then I read something on Anne Rice’s website, a review of her second Jesus novel by Dr. Peter Kreeft. Here’s a sample.

“I have found it hard to persuade people to read Anne Rice’s two ‘Jesus novels’ (this one is a sequel to her Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt), even though I think they are masterpieces. That’s because what they set out to do, most people would label impossible…

Anne Rice’s ‘Jesus novels’ are fictional biographies from the first-person viewpoint of Jesus Himself. Hard enough to write about Him in the third person, but in the first? Yet they are modern realistic historical novels, and their Jesus is the real Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible and the Church. There are no heresies and no Katzantzakis-style corrections or ‘revisionisms’ of the Gospels…”

Certainly if Anne Rice’s Jesus novels got the thumbs up from Dr. Kreeft, I could feel safe reading them…right?

Well, it turns out, I did. I’ve only just finished reading the first novel, Christ the Lord Out of Egypt. I really enjoyed it.

I started the book by reading her Author’s Note at the back. In the note she goes into  detail about her research and her journey—not just writing the book, but also her own conversion story. For some reason, her story—her conversion story—made me feel even more comfortable reading the novel. She is in love with Jesus and His Church. And she feels called to write for Him and about Him.

I’ll post a review of the book tomorrow. I didn’t want this post to get any longer than it already is.

Byzantine Hymn of the Nativity

I just found an amazing video. The hymn is sung by Reader Nader Hajjar. It is…I want to say…”eerily” beautiful. Hearing this chanted in (Arabic I think) while watching the montage of icons and historical holy sites is very moving. The words are simple, elegant, truth.

Mr. Hajjar’s voice is enchanting and reverent. I wouldn’t be surprised if he recorded this song on his knees looking up into the heavens or adoring our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Beautiful.

I remember who I am

I spent a good part of my life trying to figure out who I was. I tried to fit in for a while. I tried to seek out people whom I looked up to and imitate them. I tried to abandon who I was for fear I was weak. I tried to be who my dad wanted me to be. And I tried not to be like my dad. I tried everything but being myself.

Seven years ago, I came back to the Catholic Church.

I found myself.

I know who I am now.

I’m a little Catholic boy. Though I’m 32 years old now, in the presence of our Lord or praying to our Blessed Mother, I feel like the little boy I once was. The boy who lay in bed alone. Afraid of monsters. Afraid of the devil. My only comfort was my conversations with Jesus and his friends the saints.

I am a father. My life is my children. I cant possibly put into words how important my children are to me. They are quite literally the very reason I still breath.

I am a husband. My wife is my best friend. She has made me a better person than I could ever have become on my own. Even after 11 years, when she is gone, I feel broken again—just like when I was a teenager. I need her. I love her. She makes me who I am.

I am a work in progress.

God gave me the potential to be worthy of being one of His children. But I am far from that ideal. I struggle every day with the same temptations. I make the same mistakes over and over again. But I keep trying.

Every day I wake up and ask Jesus for His help. I ask Him to help me be the person He wants me to be. And every night I have to ask for His forgiveness for falling short.

But at the end of the day. After I’ve asked for forgiveness. I remember one thing. Something important.

I remember who I am.

I am one of God’s children. I am one of Jesus’ friends. I am a member of the Communion of Saints.

I am not alone.

And neither are you.

Catholic Wallpaper: St. Sebastian

I decided to start a collection of Catholic wallpaper. I was thinking of a series on the Saints, but I’m not sure yet. It may just be whatever I’m inspired to create on any given day.

This is my first creation in the collection (whatever the collection turns out to be). The subject of this wallpaper is St. Sebastian. Not only is he one of my favorite saints, but he is also the patron saint of my parish. You can click on the picture to download the full version for use on your desktop.

Also, I thought you might enjoy a brief summary of St. Sebastian’s story which I found at EWTN’s website…

“St. Sebastian, having sent so many martyrs to heaven before him, was himself impeached before the Emperor Diocletian, who, having grievously reproached him with ingratitude, delivered him over to certain archers of Mauritania, to be shot to death. His body was covered with arrows, and he left for dead. Irene, the widow of St. Castulus, going to bury him, found him still alive, and took him to her lodgings, where, by care, he recovered of his wounds, but refused to flee, and even placed himself one day by a staircase where the emperor was to pass, whom he first accosted, reproaching him for his unjust cruelties against the Christians. This freedom of speech, and from a person, too, whom he supposed to have been dead, greatly astonished the emperor; but, recovering from his surprise, he gave orders for his being seized and beat to death with cudgels, and his body thrown into the common sewer.” –taken from EWTN

What is the greatest form of art?

I asked myself a question recently.

What is the greatest form of art?

In my mind, art covers many areas. What Mario Batali does is art. What Claude Monet did is art. What Rodin did was art. Robert Frost was an artist. Pixar movies are beautiful art. Gregorian chant is art. Even some rap is art (no really, some of it is). So, what is the greatest form of art?

The Liturgy of the Catholic Mass.

Art, in my opinion, is man’s attempt at stimulating the five senses for the purpose of touching one’s soul or moving one’s spirit (chose your cliché of choice).

The Liturgy of the Catholic Mass fulfills my definition of art on every level and certainly takes it to a level not possible by any other form of art. I wondered how I could convey this belief. I decided it would be easiest to explain by describing one of the most memorable liturgies I’ve ever experienced.

The church was stark white inside with a modern look that I don’t normally like, but this church was different. It had a little details which gave it a holy warmth. Directly behind the alter, in clear view, was a beautiful golden tabernacle. The presidents chair was off to the right side of the sanctuary tilted in towards the alter. There were many more details like this. Details which turned an otherwise sterile and modern church into a true house of worship.

The church smelled pleasantly strong of incense and beeswax. Though every pew was filled beyond normal limits, the congregation was quiet. There was nothing but holy silence as we all knelt in adoration for the hour leading up to Mass. Though the monstrance was as bright and beautiful as a golden sun, everyone’s eyes were focused on the center of the monstrance. We were focused on our Lord. The silence was broken only twice. Once for the Rosary. And once for the Divine Mercy Chaplet.

Mass began with the entrance of the alter servers, the lectors, the local Deacon, Fr. Bill (the pastor), and  Fr. John Corapi. The procession song was lead by a young adult choir. They were accompanied by the congregation (who all seemed to sing beautifully), an organ, and a single trumpet. The result was a sound I can only liken to what I believe heaven sounds like.

Father ended our adoration and began Mass with benediction performed completely in Latin and done as reverently as I have ever seen.

Tantum ergo Sacramentum
Veneremur cernui
Et antiquum documentum
novo cedat ritui
Praestet fides supplementum
Sensuum defectui

Genitori, Genitoque
Laus et jubilatio
Salus, honor, virtus quoque
Sit et benedictio
Procedenti ab utroque
Compar sit laudatio. A-men

The church now smelled quite strongly of incense. I was reminded of the book of Revelation when we are presented with the imagery of the Saints in heaven receiving our prayers in the form of incense and presenting them to our Lord. By the time Fr. Corapi venerated the alter, I was in tears.

The readings were beautiful. The Gospel was beautiful. And for anyone who knows who Fr. Corapi is, you can imagine how wonderful the homily was. The rest of the Mass continued with the same fervent reverence—not only of the celebrants, but of the congregation and the choir as well. It felt like heaven. And I swear to you, that when we began singing Agnus Dei, I could hear the angels in heaven singing with us.

As we watched the gifts of bread and wine turned into the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ…as we all professed our faith and belief with our joyous Amen…I began to realize my hunger. As I stood kneeling listening to the angelic choir and the footsteps of the congregation making their way to the alter, my hunger grew. I was so excited when I was finally able to stand up and walk down the isle, I could barely keep the grin off of my face and the tears out of my eyes.

When I eventually heard the words, “The Body of Christ” and I responded with “Amen”, and I received our Lord on my tongue, my hunger vanished and a peace fell over me beyond even what I had felt up unto that point. Once I received His blood as well, I went back to my seat and knelt in thanksgiving.

I don’t normally sing after communion but this time I did. I joined the angles and the congregation and the choir in singing, Holy God, We Praise Thy Name. And when it was done. And the Fathers and the Deacon finished cleaning the vessels and put our Lord back into the tabernacle. We all sat. We sat without sound. We stayed there. Silently reflecting on our Lord Whom was with us in a very special way. He fed my hunger. He stimulated my senses. He moved my soul.

Aint no artist who can do that. Only our Lord.

Vatican Museums Online Tours

This is a pretty cool site. Vatican Museums. You can actually take virtual tours of the Vatican museums. 2000 years of art history.

“The Director of the Vatican Museums, Mr. Antonio Paolucci, who welcomes the visitors to the present web site, hopes that this informative means may be a useful instrument of knowledge and access to the complex reality of these five hundred – year old art collections which are the destination of more than four million visitors each year.
It is one of the most renowned and famous cultural institutions of the Holy See…”

It’s not quite like being there, but its probably as close as I’ll ever be.

Review of Bad Catholic’s Guide to Wine, Whiskey & Song

After hearing about this book on Kresta in the Afternoon (the best show on radio by the way), I hinted to my beautiful wife that it would make a good fathers’ day gift. Indeed it did.

First of all, I love the cover with Pope Benedict holding a glass of beer with an ear to ear grin. The subtitle is great too, A Spirited Look at Catholic Life & Lore from Apocalypse to Zinfandel.

The book is almost like an almanac or a fanciful encyclopedia. It’s filled with short stories which all attempt (and succeed very well) to do three things,

• Recount a piece of interesting (often bizarre) history
• Tie said history back to food and/or drink
• Bring everything back into an affirmation of the truth of the Catholic faith

The stories (even the footnotes) are laugh out loud funny. Though the book is filled with history, humor, mixology, and recipes, it is at heart a cleverly disguised apologetical work. It manages to defend the faith in a way not even a tree hugging college student with a Darwin fish sticker would mind.

If you like history, buy this book. If you like gastronomy, buy this book. If you love the Catholic faith, buy this book. And lastly, if you love someone else (like a college student who is on the verge of falling away), by him or her this book. He or she might just be reminded of the rich history of the Catholic church and decide to stay home.

Northward Sparrow

Is he strong?
He used to be…

Physically or mentally?
That’s just it…

I can’t remember anymore

He didn’t need to be strong
Before

I know
But now he needs to be
He knows

What went wrong
He went right
He gave up the fight
His muse and his song

He needed that escape
But now he doesn’t?

Maybe it’s just misplaced
He uses his voice
To look inside
Others

Should it be?
He uses his words
To fix inside
Himself

What happened to his brothers?
They went and left
They began a fight
Their booze and they’re wrong

And dad?
He died saving himself

Want to go for a ride?

-Dominic Tramontana

Chris Cornell Sings Ave Maria

It occurred to me last night, after I posted this video, that many readers of this blog might not know who Chris Cornell is. So, I thought I would fill you in.

In the 90’s he was the lead singer of one of the four original grunge bands, Soundgarden. Recently Chris headed up the band Audioslave. He has also done plenty of solo work in between and since. He is considered by many as one of the top 10 male rock vocalists of all time.

You might also remember David Cook on American Idol doing that cool version of Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean. Well, that was actually Chris Cornell’s arrangement.

Anyways, I thought having a little background on the singer might make his singing of Ave Maria more fulfilling. I love seeing seeds of our faith finding their way into areas we might not expect.

The Drawings of Artist Daniel Mitsui

I just found the website of artist Daniel Mitsui. Wow! He does beautiful black and white drawings of iconic religious images. His drawings are inspired by “the sacred iconography of the Middle Ages”, but his drawings are entirely unique.

Daniel’s drawings are not merely pictures of individuals or places, but are interpretations of events. He composes the events with complicated simplicity. The level of detail in his drawings is stunning really. Every area of a page is stark white, jet black, or heaving with wonderful little details. Details which seem to add more depth to the meaning and character of the drawings. And like his iconic inspirations, Mitsui also makes wonderful use of words within his drawings.

Here is one of his renditions of the crucifixion. Make sure you go to his site and zoom in on this picture and look at the details.

I can’t confirm that every image or link on Daniel’s site is appropriate for all eyes (art is subjective that way), but I can personally attest to the remarkable ability he has and the captivating modern religious iconography he has produced.