Back...

Back from Siena... Had a great time... Too tired/busy to 'blog...

Go get some fresh air!

From 'Matt's Book'

I mentioned below a new English 'translation' of the New Testament. Despite the fact that I should be doing something more constructive, I couldn't refrain from commenting on some extracts from their version of St. Mathhew's Gospel.

Matt 1
Jesus, God's Chosen, has an impressive pedigree. His ancestors include Abraham, (2-16) Isaac, Jacob, Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar; Rahab (the Caananite prostitute), Ruth and Boat, King David and Bathsheba (the wife David stole from Uriah), King Solomon, and many other kings, priests and leaders. Jesus came from this line through Joseph, husband of Mary. They were the parents of Jesus, God's Chosen.

Well, it's nice that we don't have to read through that boring geneology when those 15 verses can be reduced to one. I'm not sure that I remember a character called 'Boat' from the Old Testament. Maybe it's a reference to Noah's Ark.
We flick on, and read about the 'star gazers' (Magi) who have decided to visit the Holy Family in their crib.

Matt 2
11) They went inside the house and met him and his mother and expressed their pleasure at the honour they felt. They took out from their luggage the presents they had brought with them including money, medicine and perfume. (12) They had a hunch it would be a mistake to go back to Herod, so they took a different route back home.

Oooh! Money, medicine and perfume! That's such an evocative and symbolic set of gifts. Money, because that's what makes the world go round (a very appropriate gift for the Eternal Logos throgh whom all things were made), medicine (because we know that babies got sick a lot back then) and perfume (because even the Virgin Mother of God likes to hit the discos every now and again). Alternatively, that perfume could be a sign of the welcome and tolerance which should be extended to the transgendered community.

Matt 3
(4) John had a simple lifestyle, wearing only a camel skin with a leather belt and eating carob nuts and tree sap

A simple lifestyle?!? I am seriously underwhelmed here! They make it sound like John the Baptist was the sort of chap who lived frugally, recycled and bicycled everywhere. And what's this carob nuts and tree sap nonsense about? The dude ate locusts and wild honey! John the Baptist was the kind of ass-kicking ascetic prophet who thought nothing of dwelling in the wilderness and taking on a decadent and corrupt king on an issue of sexual morality and public scandal. Why would anyone want to make him sound like a tree-hugging, museli-chewing environmentalist.

Matt 4
Jesus felt he needed to spend some time in the desert to be clear in his mind which direction his life should take.

Where's the Spirit gone? The Spirit is meant to drive Jesus out into the wilderness! I thought liberals liked the gender-neutral and liberating Spirit. It's no surprise that they left the whole 'tempted by the devil' business out, but did they have to replace it with 'to be clear in his mind which direction his life should take'... They're making it sound more like a counselling session than the temptation in the wilderness.
I could go on...

Here comes 'Jack the Dipper'

Thanks to those good folks over at the comment box of Titusonenine (an excellent Anglican 'blog) for drawing my attention to the latest religion-meets-pop-culture shenanigans.
A Benedictine of my acquaintance who taught Greek used to say that to understand the irony of renaming Simon as Peter we should think about how ironic it would be to call someone of his changeable temperament 'Rocky'. He also used to point out that modern translations had changed John the Baptist to John the Baptizer as being a somewhat more accurate, if less solemn, title. He'd then add the quip 'at least they're not calling him Jack the Dipper'.
Well, according to this article (which seems to be genuine!), an Englishman has brought out a new translation of the New Testament with such gems as

“John, nicknamed ‘The Dipper’, was ‘The Voice’. He was in the desert, inviting people to be dipped, to show they were determined to change their ways and wanted to be forgiven.” (Mk 1:4)
As he was climbing up the bank again, the sun shone through a gap in the clouds. At the same time a pigeon flew down and perched on him. Jesus took this as a sign that God’s spirit was with him. A voice from overhead was heard saying, ‘That’s my boy! You’re doing fine!’” (Mk 1:10-11)

Surprisingly, this has got the informal imprimatur (sorry, I mean 'thumbs up') of Rowan Williams. Best of all, for those of you who are sick and tired of repressive Biblical morality

"Instead of condemning fornicators, adulterers and 'abusers of themselves with mankind'," says Ruth Gledhill, the Times Religious Affairs correspondent, "the new version of his first letter to Corinth has St Paul advising Christians not to go without sex for too long in case they get 'frustrated'."

One wonders how well that justification would go down in the confessional!
Edited to add: I can't believe that the first time I read through that Ekklesia article, I missed that they're also including the non-canonical 'Gospel of Thomas'! Also, here's their version of Matt 1-4 on which I comment here

Credibility

Thanks to Mark Shea for drawing my attention to this post on Credibility, a 'blog I hadn't previously come across. Bravo to the author for dealing with abortion so well in his RE class. I see also that the author posted this about World Youth Day 2000. The top picture comes from the Basilica of S.Maria degli Angeli, where Cardinal Bernard Law and (then) Archbishop Cormac Murphy-O'Connor gave cathechesis. I know that Cardinal Law is (perhaps deservedly) somewhat of a bete-noir amongst American Catholics, but to his credit, I know for a fact that his powerful cathechesis proved a decisive influence on several young people regarding their vocational journeys.

Interesting quotation...

A correspondant sends me this quote from a book he's reading on Ottoman history:

"A Venetian ambassador, Gianfrancisco Morosini, visited an Ottoman war
camp in 1585. he wrote to the Doge, "I walked through the whole army and
carefully observed every detail about the calibre of their men, their
weapons, and the way they organised and fortified their camp. I think I
can confidently offer this conclusion: they rely more on large numbers and
obedience than they do on organization and courage" He went on to say that
"10,000 Christians could defeat 30,000 Turks, but that it would be harder
to govern 2,000 Christians than 100,000 Turks - much harder again if the
Christians were Italians."

Also, the Corriere della Sera's English section has a brief article on the woes of S.Giovanni Rotundo.

Anti-drug monks on horseback...

This is a great picture. The caption reads: Monks Against Drugs - Thai monks and novices travel by horse on the Thai-Burmese border. They travel hundreds of kilometres passing through villages where they help drug-addicts to rehabilitate themselves in a region which for decades has been the centre of opium and heroin production.

Misc., etc...

Two strange school-related stories from the Daily Telegraph - in the first we learn of a Japanese student who was required to write an essay in his own blood:

The 17-year-old was given a boxcutter and a piece of paper and told by the teacher to write "not in pencil, but in blood" because he was not sufficiently repentant.

Meanwhile, in England, it seems that a primary school teacher commissioned an army of nine-year-old girls to administer corporal punishment.
Arbitrarily, here's a page on how to make a Bishop's Mitre. Unfortunatly, it's a napkin-folding website, rather than a page about vestment manufacture, but interesting nonetheless.
Finally, a picture of my favourite girl, whom I hope to visit in Siena later this week. :)

What on earth is this???

I see that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles had a mass 'in honor' of the late President Reagan! I hope that this is some kind of infelicity of wording on behalf of a careless journalist.
Putting aside the fittingness or otherwise of holding a Requiem Mass for a deceased non-Catholic, I hardly think the service as described sounds very fitting. It almost sounds as though he has been canonized! It's no wonder that so many Catholics are confused as to the 'last things'.
It is a holy and a holy thing to pray for the dead.

Welcome surfer...

I'm always really jealous of other 'blogs that have visits from really bizarre google (or equivalent) searches. Alas, I've had nothing overly exciting so far, though I am mildly curious as to what the Lituanian surfer who found me though a search for oath of allegiance liturgia was after.
Anyway, in unrelated matters, the perennial ducks crossing street photo makes its appearance on the Corriere della Sera website. Also worth a peep is the slideshow of the new-age solstice rites at Stonehenge. (Don't forget to click the '2' button at the top left corner to see the second page of pictures.) Also check out this
Vietnamese chap whose hair is over 6 metres (c.18 feet) long. Not bad for 31 years unrestrained growth.
In keeping with the general theme of 'Zadok has nothing interesting to say, so he'll just keep linking to interesting photos', engrish.com has this piece of garbled English which has a tenuous religious connection.
Finally, those of you interested in LITURGIA should check out these pages which show how the dedication of a church was performed before the simplification of these rites. ('Bring back the Gregorian Water,' says I!)

This is twisted...

Thanks to my near-namesake Zorak for drawing my attention to the latest piece of irony hypocrisy perpetuated by the pro-abortion lobby in the States. They are encouraging folks to send their fathers (for goodness' sakes) 'pro-choice' e-cards for Father's Day. An example is this image

which was accompanied by the slogan When Your Dad Deserves the Very Best. Might I humbly suggest that a more fitting title would be The One that Got Away?

Another Great Cartoon from Giannelli

Here. To explain, 'UE' is the Italian abbreviation for the European Union, and Chriac is saying 'It doesn't do anything but cry!'. The reference is to the new European Constitution which I am not mightily pleased with. To my mind, the European Community would have been of far more good had it remained the 'European Economic Community', a free-trade area capable of offering assistance to the poorer countries of Europe. Instead we seem to be cooking up some kind of dictatorial and overly beaurocratic superstate.

Theological Debate...

There's an interesting Theological Debate going on in the comments box of my post on the Sacred Heart, if that's the kind of thing that interests you. Is it appropriate to worship the Sacred Heart of Jesus?
To my mind it follows from the Council of Chalcedon, but not all seem to hold it apt.

Harry Potter... Now in Ancient Greek.

"It's an ideal job for an old bloke in retirement." Peter Needham, translator of HP into Latin.
Quite! More info here.

À la folie... pas du tout

I recently watched this film and heartily recommend it.
I presume that my readers are familiar with Audrey Tautou from that gem of a film Amélie. (If not, then why not?) Well, in À la folie... pas du tout Tautou subverts the delightful naiveity of Amélie for a much darker character. She plays Angelique who is besotted with Loïc, a married doctor whose wife is 5 months pregnant. We see their affair develop from Angelique's point of view and chart her increasing agitation and despair as he seems to spurn her advances. Then we see the whole story again from his point of view.
This is not a feelgood movie, though it is very pleasant to watch. It is shot beautifully, taking full of Tautou's talent for facial expression. The film also makes a nice change from the usual approach to adultery (It's alright if they love eachother enough), though it's not a simple morality play. The English title for the film is He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not. It seems that the French title (which I would translate as 'Madly... Not at All') is a reference to a game played with a flower similar to our 'Loves me, loves me not'. However, when a Frenchgirl is plucking petals, she doesn't alternate between 'loves me', 'loves me not'. Instead she goes:

Il m'aime un peu, beaucoup, à la folie,pas du tout, etc...
i.e. He loves me a little, a lot, madly, not at all...

which probably says a lot about the French.

Tertullian...

I recently stumbled across the very interesting (if you have an interest in Patrology) Tertullian Project, a site run by Roger Pearse, a British software consultant with an interest in Tertullian.
Quintus Septimus Florens Tertullianus is one of the most interesting and tragic figures of patristic times. Born in Carthage in about 160, attracted by the witness of martyrs, he converted to Christianity in 197. His background as a lawyer made him a particularly clear thinker and writer for the Chrsitian cause; amongst his works are apologitics addressed to pagans and Jews, dogmatic polemics against gnostics and heretics and treatises on ethical and aesetical matters. He was the first Latin ecclesiastical writer (remember, Greek was the lingua franca of most Christians, even in Rome) and he contributed literally hundreds of neologisms to express Christian thought in Latin.
However, his legalistic and rigorist approach (typical of North African Christianity) was to be his downfall. He rejected Christian participation in many aspects of Roman society and was notoriously hostile to philosophical thought, posing the question 'What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?' He was unable to accept what he saw as the laxist approach of the institutional church with regards to forgiveness of sins and penance and by 207 was drawn towards Montanism, an early 'charismatic' movement which rejected the institutional church in favour of new prophesies. The 'real' church consisted, not of the bishops and their flocks, but the 'spiritual men' who were uncompromising in their morality. (Curiously, Montanus himself seemingly claimed to be an incarnation of the Holy Spirit.) By 213, Tertullian had totally broken from the institutional church and this coupled with his unorthodox later teaching means that he must be counted amongst the Ecclesiastical Writers rather than the Church Fathers. It's also easy to see traces of what would become Donatism in the thought of Tertullian. However, he rightly deserves his place as one of the great Christian thinkers and as an influence on the North African Christian environment which brought forth St. Augustine. In Tertullian we find the basis for the orthodox formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity and the incarnation. The great St. Cyprian (c.210-258) read his works daily, referring to him as 'The Master'. Tertullian vanishes quietly from history about 220, presumably dying of natural causes.

Good News...

...over at Papa Familias's 'blog.

Truly sons are a gift from the Lord,
a blessing, the fruit of the womb.
Indeed the sons of youth
are like arrows in the hand of a warrior.

O the happiness of the man
who has filled his quiver with these arrows!
He will have no cause for shame
when he disputes with his foes in the gateways.
Ps.126(127)

Overheard Recently (Patrology Humour)

"Origen was a good man, his heart was in the right place, just like most of his other organs."

No, I'm not going to explain it...

Cor Iesu, patiens et multae misericordiae, miserere nobis...

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart. The Catholic Encyclopedia has a good article on devotion to the Sacred Heart, though surpsrising fails to mention the importance of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the fight against Jansenism. Fr John Hardon SJ wrote this short article on the doctrinal basis of the devotion, whilst probably the most important magisterial document in this regard is Pius XII's Haurietis Aquas. Amongst the wonderful passages from the later, I'm particularly taken by:

59. Hence His words, actions, commands, miracles, and especially those works which manifest more clearly His love for us—such as the divine institution of the Eucharist, His most bitter sufferings and death, the loving gift of His holy Mother to us, the founding of the Church for us, and finally, the sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and upon us—all these, We say, ought to be looked upon as proofs of His threefold love.
60. Likewise we ought to meditate most lovingly on the beating of His Sacred Heart by which He seemed, as it were, to measure the time of His sojourn on earth until that final moment when, as the Evangelists testify, "crying out with a loud voice 'It is finished.', and bowing His Head, He yielded up the ghost."[56] Then it was that His heart ceased to beat and His sensible love was interrupted until the time when, triumphing over death, He rose from the tomb.
61. But after His glorified body had been re-united to the soul of the divine Redeemer, conqueror of death, His most Sacred Heart never ceased, and never will cease, to beat with calm and imperturbable pulsations. Likewise, it will never cease to symbolize the threefold love with which He is bound to His heavenly Father and the entire human race, of which He has every claim to be the mystical Head.

Newman's prayer to the Sacred Heart can be found here, whilst the traditional Litany of the Sacred Heart attracts a partial indulgence.

More Motorcycle Funerals...

Reverendissimo Sibley posted details of an English Motorcycle Hearse Service a whilke back.
Well, today's Corriere della Sera has this picture of Tom Maitland (Clio, MI) transporting the casket of his deceased friend Ron Lash. Mr Lash was killed in a motorcycle accident last Saturday.
Also, just for kicks, here's a picture from last November of a giraffe fighting a buffalo.

Redundancy for CoE Bishops?

This Daily Telegraph Article discusses the possibility of the Church of England trimming its hierarchy. I have to say that it really annoys me when I hear terms such as 'top jobs' with reference to Bishops. Can we not even seek to maintain the illusion that it might be about ministry and that a bishop's role is more than just a Senior Executive?
Also, note the following:

The meeting was chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who is anxious to divert hard-pressed resources into boosting churchgoing.
He is keen to promote schemes to attract new worshippers, from cafe churches where services include coffee and croissants to "raves in the nave".

Poor Venerable Newman must be spinning in his grave at the likes of that. Even though he had no illusions about the status of the (Roman) Catholic Church as the One True Church, he did hold that there was much good within the CoE and that it served to preserve Christianity in England until such time as the Catholic Church could assume the CoE's mantle. (Out of justice's sake, I'd better mention that he's probably not too chuffed at lots of stuff going on in the Catholic Church these days too...)

Priests' Problems & Mass on the Hindenburg. Also Corpus Christi Pictures.

I mentioned previously that I enjoy flicking through volumes containing the questions and answers published in clerical magazines in the first half of the last century. Whilst to our eyes it may seem slightly ridiculous that the clergy of an earlier generation got so worked up about what seem to be minor issues (Is it allowed for the room above an oratory in a rectory to be used as a bedroom?), but I am not infrequently of the mind that today's clergy don't care enough about details (major and minor) in matters of liturgy, canon law and morality. An attention to detail, if not taken to extremes, normally betrays a genuine concern and diligence in these matters.
Anyway, my latest discovery is a 1958 volume entitled

PRIESTS' PROBLEMS
Being answers to a large variety of questions on points of moral, canonical, liturgical and rubrical interest
by the late
CANON E.J. MAHONEY, D.D.
Selected and edited by
REV. L.L. McREAVY, J.C.D., M.A

Amongst the gems in this book is the question: Would a priest enjoying a portable altar indult, which included celebration in a ship, violate any grave law by celebrating Mass in an aeroplane? In the course of the answer we discover: There is no express prohibition against celebrating in aeroplanes. On the contrary, it was expressly permitted by papal indult as long ago as 1936, on the voyage of the dirigible Hindenburg from Friedrichschafen to New York, and the celebrant Fr. Schulte O.M.I., is said to have been the first priest to celebrate in the air..
One presumes that last clause excludes St. Joseph of Cupertino.
Now availible on the Vatican website are the pictures from the Pope's Corpus Christi procession. If you look closely you might see Zadok in this shot. :)

In the absence of any original content...

...I direct you to the Corriere della Sera, where one can see the latest in Japanese sunglasses fashion. (Not for the faint of heart...)

Decorations on Professors' Doors...

Interesting link via E-Pression.
I once knew a chap who decorated his door with a reproduction of Carravaggio's St. Jerome from the Galleria Borghese. Underneath was the title Re-writing the Bible - Please DO NOT DISTURB. Needless to say, this proved too much temptation for a wag who altered it to read Bible Re-writing me.

Arbitrary links...

Thanks to Mark Shea for drawing our attention to this bizarre music video.
The Web Gallery of Art is an excellent site for finding just about any famous painting by the great artists.

How gullible do they think we are?

Zadok the Roman was gratified to receive this morning a letter from Lawrence Taylor, brother of deposed Liberian president and all-round bad-egg Charles Taylor. Unsurprisingly, Mr Taylor has $15.7m salted away in a 'private security vault' and is in need of a foreign partner to help launder this money in exchange for a 20% cut. Now, I'm not naturally of a suspicious nature, but this unforseen invitation to participate in this most irregular scheme did cause me to wonder - could this possibly be one of those 'Nigerian e-mail scams'? Thankfully Mr Taylor, as a sign of good will, has recognised that I might doubt his word and so he puts my mind at rest:

We in no way comply to any messages that even slightly exude resemblance to the notoriety of the Nigerian letters of fraud that have fleeced so many unsuspecting good meaning people throughout the western world and elsewhere. Think of all the sufferings such fraudulent acts have brought upon thousands of people who now live lives of paupers! Know that all such attempts have now been branded and spammed internationally so that such kinds of letters are forwarded to a police centre to be kept on file for immediateinvestigation (sic) by Interpol no less. You have been braded by our site also.Best way is lead an honest way of life from now on! Invested in your country under your close supervision and direction, 20% for your efforts and the balance 5% would be for all unforeseen incidental expenses that would be incurred in pursuit of this transaction to a successful conclusion.

Now isn't that reassuring! How could one not trust such a frank explaination?

More from Fine Arts Brass...

Another sound clip from Fine Arts Brass. Have you ever wanted to hear a particularly brisk rendition of the O Sanctissima played on brass instruments? I hadn't considered the question until I heard this and now I can't get it out of my head.

O sanctissima, O piissima,
Dulcis virgo Maria!
Mater amata, intemerata,
Ora, Ora, ora pro nobis.

Tu solatium et refugium,
Virgo mater Maria!
Quidquid optamus, per te speramus,
Ora, Ora, ora pro nobis.

Zadok the Priest...

I note that my post below has attracted a comment from the Old Oligarch, whose 'blog is the first I ever read. Now, he is a real theologian, as opposed to myself who just pretends to be one on the internet. That's why I can't answer his questions with anything more than a shrug of the shoulder. I thought that the generally accepted theory was that the Sadducees derived their name from Zadok, but beyond that I don't know.
Regarding the use of Psalm 110 (Dixit dominus), I'm no exegete. What I do note, however, is that it is used by Our Lord in his discussions with the Pharisees.

Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, "What do you think of the Christ? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "The son of David." He said to them, "How is it then that David, inspired by the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,`The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I put thy enemies under thy feet'? If David thus calls him Lord, how is he his son?" And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did any one dare to ask him any more questions.

I'm inclined to think that the way in which Christ used the scriptures Himself bears study. (I also note that the Vatican website includes the following commentary of Pope John Paul II as part of his series of reflections on the Psalms and Canticles of the office.)
On a mostly unrelated note, part of the reason that this 'blog is so-called is because (unlike Melchizedek) Zadok has the honour of having his theme tune composed by Handel. (Link from Fine Arts Brass) This stately piece has been used at all British coronations since that of George II in 1727. I'm no fan of British royalty, but I have to admit that they seem to have taste in these matters, the funeral of the late Princess Diana excepted. I seem to remember reading that the rite of the Coronation of a Monarch is the Anglican liturgy was the one ceremony virtually untouched by the reformation (perhaps one of my knowledgable Anglican visitors could confirm...). I also seem to recall that for the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953 both the firm which traditionally prepared the oil and the recipe for preparing said oil had failed to survive the blitz, and that the concoction they eventually came up with for the ceremony was said to have been 'foul-smelling'.
The Oligarch's question regarding the Saduccees and the possible etymology based on 'tsaddiq (righteous)' also reminds me of the Hasidim, a branch of Judaism primarily found in Eastern Europe. It is said that 'Hasidim' means 'the righteous', though Martin Buber suggests that 'those who keep the faith' is a better translation. Indeed, it is through Buber and his delightful work tales of the Hasidim that the parables and stories of this extraordinary group are so well known. It's a great book to flick though and the stories seem to provide enlightenment and puzzlement in more-or-less equal measure. Amongst the less obscure tales we have the following:

The Greatness of Pharoh
Rabbi Levi Yitzak said:
"I envy Pharoh! What glorification of the Name of God did his stubbornness beget!"

Corpus Christi

Buona festa! What a joy it is to celebrate this feast twice a year!
During the Mass and Office we also have the chance to hear the wonderful collect composed by St. Thomas Aquinas, which is also, of course, chanted at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament:

Deus, qui nobis sub sacramento mirabili
passionis tuae memoriam reliquisti,
tribue, quaesumus,
ita nos Corporis et Sanguinis tui sacra mysteria venerari,
ut redemptionis tuae fructum in nobis iugiter sentiamus.

I fear that ICEL haven't done the prayer much justice but the linked page provides a variety of translations.

Miscellany

The Corriere della Sera marks what would have been Anne Frank's 75th Birthday with this photo taken in Amsterdam in 1941. also, the latest from Japan is this air-conditioned jacket. Stylish!
Chesterton notwithstanding, it seems that Prof Fomenko from yesterday's post seems to be an artist too! Scroll down the page for hyperlinks to some of his work.
The Compendium of Common Knowledge provides an interesting look at Elizabethan England, even if it is tainted with by occasionally mixing the blindly obvious with the undoubtedly incorrect. It's nice to know that instead of saying 'wow', the Elizabethan would have 'Fie me!', 'Marry!', ''Zounds', 'I'faith!', 'Hey-ho!', 'God's Death!' or 'What ho!'

The Year of Our Lord 952AD??

Gentle reader, I genuinely consider myself of a rather unflappable nature. The follies of mankind rarely surprise me. I can accept that many misguided souls are willing to take Dan Brown's word about the 'Sacred Feminine' and the great Catholic plot to supress the truth. I can shrug my shoulders at the fact that a not insignificant number belive the moon-landings to be faked and deny the truth of the holocaust. If someone came up with a theory that all three were linked and flung the Protocals of the Elders of Zion and it was widely believed, I'd hardly bat an eyelid. It's also not something that surprises me when eminent experts in one field make fools of them in another - I've heard more than enough computer scientists trying to talk theology and recall a distinguished philosopher trying to pass himself off as a Newman expert when he was patently no such thing.
However, this surprised me. It should be some kind of practical joke, but I fear this guy is serious. Normally, I ignore the banner ads at the top of my 'blog, but couldn't resist having a peep at what was advertised by:

Bible Updates History
Jesus Born 1053 & Crucified 1086 AD Proves New Chronology Research

It turns out that Russian mathematician Anatoly T. Fomenko has applied astronomical and mathematical methods to historical documents and has managed to convince himself that the 'traditional' chronology of pre-Renaissance history is terifically mistaken. His main thesis seems to be that the surviving documentation of medieval and classical times consists entirely of copies and one therefore cannot justify faith in their antiquity. They are, he claims, forgeries, at least with respect to the alleged chronology. He seemingly seems to back this up with astronomical data. Amongst the conclusions he reaches are dates of 1053 AD and 1086 AD for the birth and death of Jesus Christ (neat the way he maintains the traditional 33 year life-span), identification of Troy with Constantinople, the claim that historical documents (deliberately?) confuse Old and New Rome and a re-interpretation of what Roman Numerals mean. Needless to say, this is an incident of scientific skepticism gone mad, combined with an uncommon lack of common sense.
Equally intruiging on the Amazon site are the comments recorded by the reviewers and the publisher. The publisher has no hesitation in saying:

No, Mr A.T. Fomenko, your theories are manifestly wrong; do not even try to convince us otherwise. The history never was, nor will it ever be a science - it is a proud profession. Our publishing house will gladly pay a premium of 10.000 dollars USA in cash to anyone who will prove with adequate methods and in sufficient detail that the theories of Anatoly T. Fomenko are not only preposterous and dangerous, but utterly and inherently wrong as well.

What a postmodern point of view for a publisher to take! Reviewers mostly alternate between the tin-foil hat brigade who find fulfilment of their desires for a fresh conspiracy in Fomenko's work and the indignant defenders of the status quo whose rejections of these crackpot ideas rarely move beyond the polemical kneejeck.
Amongst the gems we find a review's worldview in which historians are a secretive and wealthy cabal who are likely to engage in lethal force against Fomenko:

It should hardly surprise us that historians demonstrate such bloodthirst when it comes to the brilliant Russian mathematician - if enough people begin to question the foundations of world history and find all the tremendous inconsistencies buried there, the historical profession shall cease to exist and make way for the new natural science. If Fomenko isn't eaten alive come that bright day, that is.

Another reviewer bears all the marks of a relativististic conspiracy theorist. Alternative worldviews are good, the only reason they haven't been presented before is because of a conspiracy, perish the thought that truth, flasehood or credibilty might come into the equation:

If you can't handle an alternate view of history and how it may have been purposely kept from the general public, don't read this book. It is the best book I've ever read about history.

Another review seems driven solely by suspicion:

Had no intention to buy this History initially. Then I saw the ultra-negative review entitled "Worthless". I looked into the contents of "Fiction or Science" just in case, for such vehement negation is bound to hide something. Was thoroughly impressed and bought it. Am reading it currently. Shocking, but really worth my dollars. According to Henry Ford, 'History is bunk'. The Russian mathematician seems to have proved it.

Those review with a less positive account of the book are also very telling. It's rare these days to come across the word 'scoundrel' used so enthusastically.

Academician or not, this Fomeko character is a scoundrel and not a scientist, and deserves to be thrown into prison for attempted theft of human history.

A singularily unimpressed German shouts:

IT IS SCANDALOUS TO LET SUCH A BOOK BE PUBLISHED!!! I CANT BELIEVE ALL THAT NONSENSE. AND ALL THE DIGNIFIED PEOPLE WHO SPENT THEIR LIVES AT STUDYING HISTORY?? THAT FOMENKO MUST NOT TELL SUCH HORRIBLE LIES ABOUT OUR HISTORY! HE MUST NOT DESTROY THE BELIEF IN OUR PAST! I AM SHOCKED AND DISGUSTED TO SEE THAT HERE IN FORMER EAST GERMANY FOMENKO AND HIS NEW CHRONOLOGY IS EXTREMELY HIGH ON DEMAND THAT PEOPLE EVEN MAKE ILLEGAL COPIES AND TRANSLATIONS OF HIS WORKS! WE HAD SOVIET YOKE, NOW THIS AWFUL RUSSIAN IS TROUBLING THE SPIRITS HERE!! ITS A SCANDAL!!

It's rare to see such concern for 'dignified people'. One reviewer challenges a ridiculous thesis of Fomenko with an equally unimpressive refutation:

In the middle of a lot of forced texts, the first think that made me laugh the most was the fact that, 16th century paintings depicting Classic age personalities were painted in 16th century style, thus proving that there was no middle ages.

Even high school children can see that renaissance painters painted using their imagination, because therer were no archaelogical findings to sho how the ancient dressed and most of the painters had no formation in the classics.

If I use this reasoning, maybe we can say that the americas wrere only discovered in the 19 th century since all paintings and drawings between the 15 to 18 century were innacurate in the depiction of the florsa and fauna

whilst another totally misses Fomenko's point by suggesting that the Koran could solve the problem:

The book claims that Jesus was born and crucified in the 11th Century. If that be the case, how can the author explain the numerous references to Jesus and Christians in the Koran, which was written in the 7th Century? There is even a whole chapter named after Mary!

Doesn't he realise that those wily Arabs are in on the conspiracy too? Perhaps my favourite comment comes from a 4-star review by an Italian reader who posits this wonderful theory:

According to this chronology (which we can name "Ultra High Revised Chronology"), Jesus died in 1086 AD. More or less, in this time, the Cid was fighting against the Moors in medieval Spain.
Taking this theory to extreme, then Jesus/Joshua would be Rodrigo Díaz alias "the Cid, the Champion Knight" (el Cid Campeador in Spanish), who took Valencia (i.e. Jericho), because he was exiled from the kingdom of Castilla (i. e. Egypt) by King Alphonse VI (i.e. the Pharaoh of Exodus)!!!. We don't have to forget that, according with Spanish medieval legends, the Cid rode after his own death and won a battle (resurrection???).
Ergo Jesus/Joshua was the Cid.
On chronology, I am arranged to think anything.

A shame that such a beautiful story is blasphemous.
Apart from proving to me that Fomenko hasn't read Newman's Grammar of Assent which provides some sound argumentation as to why the traditional chronology just might be more-or-less correct and we might't afterall have to reconsider the antiquity of the Roman Forum, Pantheon, etc.. I am reminded of several things that Chesterton wrote in his wonderful book Orthodoxy. He notes, 'Mathematicians go mad, and cashiers; but creative artists very seldom. I am not, as will be seen, in any sense attacking logic: I only say that this danger does lie in logic, not in imagination.' He later explains:

The madman's explanation of a thing is always complete, and often in a purely rational sense satisfactory. Or, to speak more strictly, the insane explanation, if not conclusive, is at least unanswerable; this may be observed specially in the two or three commonest kinds of madness. If a man says (for instance) that men have a conspiracy against him, you cannot dispute it except by saying that all the men deny that they are conspirators; which is exactly what conspirators would do. His explanation covers the facts as much as yours. Or if a man says that he is the rightful King of England, it is no complete answer to say that the existing authorities call him mad; for if he were King of England that might be the wisest thing for the existing authorities to do. Or if a man says that he is Jesus Christ, it is no answer to tell him that the world denies his divinity; for the world denied Christ's.
Nevertheless he is wrong. But if we attempt to trace his error in exact terms, we shall not find it quite so easy as we had supposed. Perhaps the nearest we can get to expressing it is to say this: that his mind moves in a perfect but narrow circle. A small circle is quite as infinite as a large circle; but, though it is quite as infinite, it is not so large. In the same way the insane explanation is quite as complete as the sane one, but it is not so large. A bullet is quite as round as the world, but it is not the world.

Pope declares 'Year of the Eucharist'

One of the great things about being in Rome is living in the shadow of Pope John Paul II as he carries out his Petrine Ministry. Tonight was one of those times when I particularly appreciated this privilege.
At tonight's Corpus Christi procession, to the surprise and great joy of those present, the Pope announced a special Year of the Eucharist. Beginning with next October's Eucharistic Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico and ending with the October 2005 Synod of Bishops in Rome, the church will be invited to contemplate the Eucharist as source and summit of her life and mission.
The Holy Father's devotion to the Eucharist is well known - indeed he drew attention to the fact that his first encyclical of the new millenium was on this very theme. We can but hope that the Holy Spirit will enflame in us this same love of the Eucharist and that the church as a whole may appreciate the greatest of her treasures.

Corpus Christi

Here in Rome we get to celebrate Corpus Christi twice - in the Vatican it is celebrated today, whilst in the Italian State the feast is deferred until next Sunday.
The liturgical highlight is the annual Corpus Christi Mass in the presence of the Holy Father at S.Giovanni in Laterano, followed by procession with the Blessed Sacrament to S.Maria Maggiore, where the evening is concluded with the Pope giving Benediction and the singing of the Salve Regina.
The procession consists of hundreds of clergy, seminarians, religious, members of confraternities and thousands of lay faithful. On the Vatican website, one gets an idea of the sheer scale of the occasion by looking at previous years' celebrations:

2003
2002
2001

In Venezuela, however, they take a different approach - the Corriere della Sera informs us that the
symbolism here is the defeat of the evil devils by the Blessed Sacrament.

Numbers Stations...

A few years ago, a friend of mine had an interest in shortwave radios and as well as the guilty pleasure of eavesdropping on the local law-enforcement agencies, I was also much amused to discover the existance of so-called 'number stations'. On these stations one could listen to mechanical-sounding voices reciting numbers interminably. My friend explained that these were secret coded transmissions to spies, though I took this explanation with a grain of salt.
Needless to say, activities of this sort attract attention on the internet and this page by Simon Mason gives a good introduction.
Also, if you scroll down to the bottom of this page you'll see that there are recordings of various number stations for you to listen to.
Amongst my favorites are:
The Lincolnshire Poacher, seemingly operated by the British Royal Air Force. It is so-called after the cheery ditty used as a call-sign
The Stasi Gong Station
Sweedish Rhapsody, a Polish broadcast with a music-box intro
Papa November, a West German broadcast
This page of miscellananeous stations, including a Spanish broadcast using 'Don't Cry for me Argentina' as a call sign.

On a slightly related note, it used to be the practice of the Secretariat of State to broadcast messages to its Nunciatures on the Vatican Radio frequencies.

Pretenders and the Princes in the Tower

Not having anything particularly original to say, I have chosen to take my inspiration from Matt of the Holy Whapping's post on Louis XVII of France and the various pretenders who attempted to assume his identity.
The death of France's boy-king brings to mind the mysterious vanishing of Edward V of England and his brother Richard Duke of York. Following the death of their father Edward IV in 1483, control of the kingdom passed to the Protector Richard Duke of Gloucester. They were accomodated in the Tower of London whilst preparations were made for the coronation of of the 12 year-old monarch when questions arose as to the legitimacy of the children. Richard of Gloucester then arranged for himself to be crowned Richard III of England and the 'Princes in the Tower'. A couple of years later, Richard III was toppled from his throne and replaced by Henry VII, a Tudor with a very shaky claim to the kingdom. Thanks to Shakespeare's Richard III and St. Thomas More's history, the most commonly accepted version of events puts the blame for the murder squarely on the 'deformed' shoulders of Richard III, but the evidence is ambiguous. Various other theories have been proposed, such as the princes dying of natural causes, partisans of Richard III killing the princes without his knowledge or (very plausibly given what we know of the Tudors) their being murdered by Henry VII who say them as a threat to his throne and found blaming Richard very convenient for the purposes of propaganda. There are any number of websites out there dealing with the Princes, but of particular interest are those written by Ricardians who try to rehabilitate the last king of the house of York. (Particularly fun, if you're ever in York, is the dramatic apology for Richard put forward by local actor Michael S. Bennett)

What is without a doubt, however, is that well into the reign of Henry VII (1485-1509) there remained a huge doubt regarding the fate of the princes (there were tales of them living in Europe) and two pretenders to the English crown attempted to urge their claim on the basis of being one of the princes. Both Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck both claimed to be Richard, Duke of York, younger brother to Edward V. There are several other similarities in their escapades - both emerged from obscurity and common birth, both suceeded in raising support in Ireland and both lead abortive rebellions against Henry VII.
Simnel was schooled by an Oxford priest in courtly manners, and after a period of claiming to be Richard, Duke of York, changed his story and as Edward, Earl of Warwick (nephew to Edward IV, first cousin of the princes in the tower and potential claimant to the throne) began his campaign for the English throne in Dublin. There, in 1487, at the age of 10, he was crowned Edward VI of England. The Irish, having Yorkist sympathies and always keen to cause trouble for an English king, backed Simnel militarily and also managed to secure some support from Europe, including a force of Flemish soldiers. Henry VII, unbeknownst to his enemies, actually had the real Edward of Warwick in prison and paraded him through the steets of London to demonstate Simnel's imposture. The Irish and Flemish force were quickly defeated after landing in England. Seeing that Simnel was merely the tool of older conspirators, Henry VII gave him a position in the royal kitchens, and he rose to become Royal Falconer before his death at the age of about 57.
Perkin Warbeck came from Flanders, and it seems that whilst in service to a merchant visiting Ireland something about his bearing attracted attention. Again, various Irish nobles of Norman descent, took him in hand. He moved in various court circles and by 1492 (aged about 18) he was summoned to Flanders to meet the sister of Edward IV (and thus aunt to the Princes) who gave him her support. Severa European monarchs also siezed the opportunity to discomfort Henry VII. Again, Warbeck seemed to have multiple personalities, being variously described as a bastard son of Richard III or a cousin of the princes, before it was finally decided that he was Richard, Duke of York. In 1495, aged about 21, he campaigned militarily in England and Ireland with little success, and so fled to Scotland. There, James IV arranged a marriage for him and he had some small military sucess in the North of England. Finally, in 1497, with a small force, he beagn his last campaign by landing at Lands End at the south-western tip of England. Unsurprisingly, the disgruntled Cornish folk who disagreed with Henry VII's taxation policy joined in the rebellion and he made progress through Cornwall and Devon until he reached the walled city of Exeter which was strongly Tudor. Unable to progress any further, he fled and eventually gave himself up. (In reward for their loyalty, the City Council of Exeter were granted a Cap of Maintenance and Ceremonial Sword by the grateful Henry VII. A number of years later, Exeter would become the stumbling block for the Cornishmen who formed the Catholic Prayerbook Rebellion.) Warbeck was imprisoned in the tower and in 1499 was dragged through the streets of London and hanged for attempting escape.

Gibson Priest at Louis XVII Funeral?

Looking at the picture of yesterday's funeral, I note the presence of a distinguished looking priest in surplice and white stole to the left of the crown.

Could someone better-informed than myself confirm whether this might be the celebrated Fr Charles-Roux (.pdf document), who also happens to be a vice-president of the Royal Stuart Society. (It's a shame Matt of the Holy Whapping never stumbled upon him in Rome...)

Funeral for Royal Heart...

A report on the interment of Louis XVII's heart.