A journal of byzantine digressionS
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O Clavis
+JMJ+ O Clavis David, et sceptrum domus Israel, qui aperis, et nemo claudit, claudis, et nemo aperuit: veni, et educ vinctum de domo carceris, sedentem in tenebris, et umbra mortis. O Key of David, and sceptre of the house of Israel, you open, and no one shuts, you shut, and no one opens: come, and…
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O Radix
+JMJ+ O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem gentes deprecabuntur: veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare. O Root of Jesse, who stand as a sign for the people, kings stand silent in your presence, whom the nations will worship: come to set us free, put it…
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Late have I loved thee
+JMJ+ Catch me now while I’m still in the crazy, honeymoon phase, but I think of 2002, when I was leaving ECUSA and didn’t want to go RC, because they were just on the edge of chaos, or so I felt. 15 years later I could see that American Orthodoxy and American Catholicism were not…
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O Adonai
+JMJ+ O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel, qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti, et ei in Sina legem dedisti: veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento. O Adonai, and leader of the House of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush and gave him the law on Sinai: Come…
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Eggnog Recipe and Disclaimer
+JMJ+ Here’s how to make eggnog, right now, at home. Without adding corn syrup and artificial thickeners. Here’s the promised disclaimer: if you make this recipe without the alcohol, you may risk some sort of deadly egg contamination. So don’t do it. Drink alcohol and be safe. Here’s where a real food blog would add…
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O Sapientia
+JMJ+ O Sapientia, quae ex ore Altissimi prodiisti, attingens a fine usque ad finem fortiter, suaviterque disponens omnia: veni ad docendum nos viam prudentiae. O Wisdom, who proceeds from the mouth of the Most High, reaching out mightily from end to end, and sweetly arranging all things: come to teach us the way of prudence.…
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A Daily Process. A Life.
+JMJ+ I have a sin I’ve oft confess’dThat drop’d I claim againand in that sin I’ve lost the bestof life’s abundant storeCan yet this I re-repentYou so often re-forgivetho like the waves I can’t relentthis gouging on the shoreThis sin I cast into the flamebut cannot say I’ve doneFor I arise but the sameI’ll struggle…
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As Children of the Kingdom
✙ JMJ The Readings for the 2nd Sunday of Advent (C1) Baruch 5:1-9 Philippians 1:4-6, 8-11 Luke 3:1-6 Exsurge, Jerusalem, et sta in excelso : et circumspice ad orientem, et vide collectos filios tuos ab oriente sole usque ad occidentem, in verbo Sancti, gaudentes Dei memoria. Exierunt enim abs te pedibus ducti ab inimicis : adducet…
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White Knuckling the Viam in Mari
+JMJ+ I have heard from my confessor of White Knuckling. To put this as clearly as I can, it’s the way I tend to ward off sin: Nope. Not gonna do it. Not gonna do it. Not gonna do it. Not gonna do it. Not gonna do it. Not gonna do it. Not gonna. Not…
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Foodie Memories
+JMJ+ Thanksgiving is always partly about the remembrance of things past. Food memories all tie together. One problem with “friendsgiving” is if you’re not eating with your family you have no shared memories. Your Mom may have burned the pan of dressing every year, but that was her dressing and the whole family knew it. Your…
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Nukuler Family
+JMJ+I found out recently that there is, among conservative Catholics, an idea common with conservative Orthodox folks: that a person must decide between “marriage or monasticism”. I wrestled with that a lot in the Orthodox church, because I know I’m not called to marriage. Even my dearly loved Spiritual Father, Fr V, tried to fix…
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Stopping By Sonic After Church in the Evening
WHAT town this is I do not knowIt’s exit one eleven thoughSo just one short of one oh threewhere driving I would homeward go My little car, this GMCwon’t need the gas: this stop’s for mebetween the stores and parking lotthis summer evening breezy, free The lights turned down I pick a slotin park the…
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Count as Loss.
✙ JMJ The Readings for Thursday in the 31st week of Ordinary Time (B2) Philippians 3:3-8 Luke 15:1-10 But whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ. More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.…
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The Danse Macabre
All hallows eve enchanted darkA stroll I took in chillTo see the children on their larkAnd thus a pipe to killThe sunset orange watching passAnd night on coming strongWhen deep from Mission hill and grassI heard a haunted songThen followed I this tunèd curseUntil i found the sourceAnd deep beneath Dolores firsI saw a morbid…
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Pro Invicem
✙ JMJ The Readings for Tuesday in the 30th week of Ordinary Time (B2) Ephesians 5:21-33 Luke 13:18-21 Subjecti invicem in timore Christi. Being subject one to another, in the fear of Christ. Paul opens up this passage with a command that gets lost in the shuffle of modern political readings of scripture. Focus on…
Orthoparadoxy 