Monthly Archives: May 2008

Bloodthirsty Little Gentlemen

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I have a reading recommendation for our men and boys who fancy themselves to be knights or knights in the making. It is Father Francis Xavier Lasance’s book entitled Kindess: The Bloom of Charity. I am not an advocate of chicken love, in fact I am all for learning more about providing ourselves with fresh food, but I draw the line at chicken swirlies.

Lest any of the big strapping men find the title of the book laced with a bit too much estrogen, I should point out that Father Lasance is also the editor of the 1945 classic The New Roman Missal, republished under the title Roman Catholic Daily Missal. I think we could justly say that the Roman Missal is The Dangerous Book for Men. Father Lasance’s hand missal, although quite pricey in its new edition, is still one of the best missals for the use of the faithful at the Traditional Mass. Also worth considering is the fact that Fr. Lasance utilizes much of Kenelm Digby’s masterpiece on chivalry and manliness, The Broadstone of Honor in Kindness: The Bloom of Charity.

Here is a story quoted at length by Fr. Lasance from Digby’s work”

A Soldier of the Cross

It remains for us to mark that refinement and delicacy of feeling which formed so striking a characteristic of chivalry. Of this it is easy to find examples. Don Garcia Perez de Vargas was one of the most distinguished warriors who fought at the siege of Seville, under the banner of St. Ferdinand. One day at the beginning of the siege, Don Garcia Perez and another with him were riding by the side of the river at some distance from the outposts when of a sudden there came upon them a party of seven Moors retreating on horseback. The companion o Perez was for retreating immediately, by Don Garcia answered that never, even though he should lose his life for it, would he consent to the baseness of flight. With that his companion rode off. This moment is well described in the old ballad:

Ha! gone! quoth Garci Perez;–he smiled,
and said nor more
But slowly, with his esquire, rode as he rode
before.

Perez armed himself, closed his visor, and put his lance in the rest. But the enemies when they discovered that it was he, declined the combat. “The honor of the action,” says Mariana, “was much increased by this circumstance, that, although frequently pressed to disclose the name of the knight who had deserted him in that moment of danger, Garcia Perez would never consent to do so, for his modesty was equal to his courage.” On returning to the camp, he was met by Ferdinand, whose first question was: “What is the name of the knight who fled and deserted you?” “My liege,” answered Garcia Perez, “ask anything else and it shall be done as you commanded. This man is already sufficiently punished.”

You guys need a real battle to fight. It’s not like there are not any out there. Any suggestions?

I Survived Spring Encampment

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I thought they were just playing. They weren’t. I am lucking to be alive.

More serious business.  That’s one of our knights in the chain mail coif giving a talk on courtesy.  I hope the little gentlemen in the first picture learned something.

The Illustrious Marceg with his penance pack (15 pounds of rocks) during his initiation into the Knights of Lepanto.

Fra Joseph showing us how its done.  Young whippersnapper.

The famous frilly shirt brothers.

Of a Roman Church, An Anti-Catholic and a Silver Bullet

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I was going through the pictures I took in Rome earlier in the month and I was inspired to post one last photograph. Click on the picture for a larger version.

This is San Andrea delle Frate (St. Andrew of the Bush). It is just down the street from the Spanish Steps in old Rome. In 1990, I lived for three months very near the church while studying at the Angelicum and had the opportunity to serve the noon Mass almost every day at this altar, which is a side altar originally dedicated to St. Michael, but now is known as the Altar of Our Lady of the Miracle.

The miracle in question was the conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne, a rabid anti-Catholic agnostic and gentleman of influence, who received a vision of our Blessed Lady at this altar after having been given a Miraculous Medal. Those who are familiar with St. Maximilian Kolbe will remember that during his stay in Rome, while he was studying for the priesthood, the rector of the college, Father Stefano Ignudi, told the seminarians the story of Ratisbonne’s conversion. The Pontifical Theological University of the Seraphicum, the theological faculty of the Conventual Franciscans, the order to which St. Maximilian belonged, is about a fifteen minute walk from the Church of San Andrea delle Frate. St. Maximilian used to visit the Church quite often during his free time. I made a very similar walk during my weeks at school from where I lived to the Angelicum.

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Lepanto and the Litany of Loreto

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The Marian Library at the University of Dayton has an interesting page on the Litany of Loreto, including an illustration for each invocation:

The Marian Library has in its possession rare books of the eighteenth century with engravings by the renowned Augsburg artist, Josef Sebastian Klauber (ca. 1700-1768). The highly symbolic and illustrative reproductions are typical of the Baroque period. Their message is of great spiritual riches. Mary’s profile is that of the exalted Mother, Virgin, and Queen, as suits the period. We limited ourselves to the illustrations of the Marian titles . . .

The illustration above is for the invocation “Help of Christians,” which invocation is connected, interestingly enough, to the Battle of Lepanto: Continue reading →

Lepanto in Santa Maria Maggiore

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Off to the right of the main altar in Santa Maria Maggiore, the principle basilica of Our Lady in the Western Church, is the so-called Sistine Chapel–not to be confused with the Chapel by the same name in the Vatican decorated by Michaelangelo. This chapel was built by Pope Sixtus V, a Franciscan, to honor his Dominican predecessor Pope St. Pius V, depicted in the sculpture above. Click on the picture for a larger version.

Here I am near the body of the Saint:

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Finally, Some Longsword

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The Knights are planning a little longsword action for the Encampment over the weekend. I have been encouraging this for some time. The guys have made wooden swords, called wasters. Here is an example of a longsword waster next to the real thing:

And here is another example of longsword sparing. These two guys are quite accomplished and the end of the fight has a bit of excitement. Unfortunately, the video quality is not the best:

from video.google.com posted with vodpod

Altar of Heaven, Lady of Victory

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Well, I’m back.

In my last post I said I would post some more pictures of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli. The Church does not look like much from the street 124 steps below its porch. Inside, however, is a different story. There is plenty of interest, especially for a Franciscan, the Church being the medieval generalate house for the Order. Our focus here, though, is the Battle of Lepanto.

This is the interior wall of the front of the Church:

The central stone panel in the lower half of the photograph contains an inscription commemorating The Battle of Lepanto. Click on the photo above for a better look. The inscription tranlsates: Continue reading →