Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Project BLACK MAMBA (backlog edition)

Today is the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord: Calendar-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: I've decided to continue BLACK MAMBA indefinitely. What shall we do next years when the calendar cycles back to July? Cover the same saints over again or deviate from the parish bulletin for the sake of variety? We'll burn that bridge when we come to it.

Tuesday, 5 August, was the memorial of the dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major (Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore) in Rome: Wikipedia-link.

Monday, 4 August, was the memorial of Saint John Vianney (1786-1859), patron saint of priests: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: With no saint listed in the bulletin for Sunday, 3 August, but with two for 2 August, we've decided to let the eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time lie fallow.

Saturday, 2 August, was the memorial of Saint Eusebius of Vercelli (283-371), foe of the Arian heresy: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.

Saturday was also the memorial of Saint Peter Julian Eymard (1811-1868), founder of the all-male Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament & the all-female Servants of the Blessed Sacrament: Saint-link, Wikipedia-link, Order-link Men, & Order-link Women.

Commentary: It has been standard BLACK MAMBA practice to choose one saint (or group of connected saints) to commemorate each day; there is usually more than one saint whose feast falls on a given day, an overwhelming number. But both these saints were listed in the parish bulletin; I know not the criteria they use for listing or not listing a given saint's feast day, but I trust it has a reasonable basis, & shall thus follow their lead.

Friday, 1 August, was the memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguri (1696-1787), Doctor of the Church & founder of the Redemptorists, formally the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer: Saint-link, Wikipedia-link, & Order-link.

Commentary: I heard a latter-day Redemptorist seminarian speak about Saint Alphonsus Liguri on the radio Friday morning, on the way to Cedar Point.



Code Name: CHAOS
Along with the indefinite extension of BLACK MAMBA, it has also been rechristened as a "Project," July's "Objective" being by its nature definite. Why Project BLACK MAMBA instead of, say, Operation BLACK MAMBA? Personal preference, purely.

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