Category: Culture

Will Spring in New England ever come?

A day following 4 inches of snow in CT, today we are expecting 50 degrees and gorgeous sunshine. But as a New Englander the grandeur of God even flames out with snowfall. But, it is time for spring!!! I think of Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poem “God’s Grandeur”, especially the first line, is a good way to appreciate the day.

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

Gerard Manley Hopkins
“Poems and Prose” (Penguin Classics, 1985)

The next Queen of Scotland

Queen of ScotlandAs a colonialist the royal crown of Scotland is not all that interesting to me. If we were speaking of the restoration of the French monarch, then that’s a story. That is, unless that person as real power to govern and that is highly unlikely. You can read all about the controversy in Scotland here.

On speaking Latin Reggie Foster is masterful

FosterA cultured person, that is, a person who considers himself a sophisticated person, is one who has some –if not a lot of– knowledge of the Latin language and culture. This is especially true for Western peoples (those of us who live in North & South America, Western Europe).

Benedictine Father Daniel McCarthy, a monk of St Benedict’s Abbey though working in England, is a former student of Father Reggie Foster, OCD, is now promoting the work of learning the language and culture. Father Reggie is likely the world’s foremost expert on Latin and culture.

Dom Daniel has excelled in learning Latin in an era that is quickly rejecting its heritage and is doing what he can to expand our cultural horizons. In short: learn Latin (whatever age you happen to be).

There is a Latin summer school in Milwaukee. More info here at this link.

Read Dom Daniel’s blog post, “Speaking Latin –Understanding the Latin Language.”

A new year, a new soul

“The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective.”

– G.K. Chesterton

America’s longest-married couple!

The Betars 81 years marriedJohn and Ann Betar eloped on November 25, 1932. Monday marks their 81st anniversary.

John is 102 and Ann is 98. They raised 5 children, the eldest is a daughter who’s 80 and are predeceased by a daughter and son who died from cancer. The Betars have 14 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

They left a close-knit Syrian neighborhood in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to marry; they’re now living in Fairfield.