"Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish ladies,
Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain…"
"The first one was a sweet one,
Second one was a blast,
Soon I finished off the bag—ate 'em up real fast!
You can see 'em in my teeth,
Tell it when I talk,
Had so many my pancreas just went into shock…"
I believe God wants us to be happy. I believe God gave us this yearning for happiness that constantly preoccupies our hearts. It seems He has placed this yearning within each human heart as a spiritual navigational instrument designed to lead us to our destiny. God himself is the author of our desire for happiness. The philosophy of Christ is one of self-donation. This is the great paradox of God's teaching. In our misguided adventures, we may catch glimpses of happiness as we live outside of the philosophy of Christ. You may even taste happiness for a moment living contrary to the philosophy of Christ, but these are stolen moments. They may seem real, but they are just shadows of something infinitely greater.
"Live life!
Live life like you're gonna die,
Because you're gonna.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news,
But you're gonna die…"
"Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?…"
"I don't understand you,
(I don't understand you)
I just don't understand you,
(I don't understand you)
I don't understand the things you say,
I can't understand a single word.
"I don't understand you,
(I don't understand you)
I just don't understand you,
(I don't understand you)
I cannot understand you,
(I don't understand you)
I don't understand you,
(I don't understand you)."
"He's got his arm around every man's dream
And crumbs in his beard from the seafood special.
Oh, can't you see my world is fallin' apart?
Baby, please, leave the biker, leave the biker, break his heart,
Baby, please, leave the biker, leave the biker, break his heart…"
Polycarp was a second-century Christian bishop of Smyrna. According to theMartyrdom of Polycarp he died a martyr, bound & burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to touch him.Quoth the Holy Family bulletin:
Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, disciple of Saint John the Apostle (27 December), & friend of Saint Ignatius of Antioch (17 October), was a revered Christian leader during the first half of the second century. Saint Ignatius, on his way to Rome to be martyred, visited Polycarp at Smyrna, & later at Troas wrote him a personal letter. The Asian Minor Churches recognized Polycarp's leadership by choosing him as a representative to discuss with Pope (St.) Anicetus (20 April) the date of the Easter celebration in Rome—a major controversy in the early Church. Only one of the many letters written by Polycarp has been preserved, the one he wrote to the Church of Philippi in Macedonia. At (age) eighty-six, Polycarp was led into the crowded Smyrna stadium to be burned alive. The flames did not harm him & he was finally killed by a dagger.'Tis also the festival of Saint Serenus the Gardener, Martyr (died circa 305), martyred in the reign of the emperor Maximian: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.
(The Chair of St. Peter) is a physical object—an ancient, ornamented chair—located in the apse of St. Peter's Basilica. On the other hand, there is the spiritual authority that this chair represents. Although the pope's infallible pronouncements are calledex cathedra (Latin, "from the chair") statements, he does not have to be sitting in the physical chair (which is rather high off the ground in any case). Use of the full extent of the Pope's teaching authority is referred to figuratively as him speaking "from the chair" of St. Peter.'Tis also the festival of Saint Margaret of Cortona, Religious, T.O.S.F. (1247-1297): Saint-link ūna, Saint-link duae, & Wikipedia-link.
Saint Peter Damian was a reforming Benedictine monk & cardinal in the circle of Pope (St.) Leo IX (19 April). Dante placed him in one of the highest circles ofParadiso as a great predecessor of Saint Francis of Assisi (4 October).Quoth the Holy Family bulletin:
Peter escaped poverty & the neglect of his own brother when his other brother, who was archpriest of Ravenna, took him under his wing. His brother sent him to good schools & Peter became a professor. Soon, he decided to leave his teaching & give himself completely to prayer with the Benedictines of the reform of Saint Romuald (19 June) at Fonte Avellana. They lived two monks to a heritage. Peter as so eager to pray & slept so little that he soon sufered from severe insomnia. He found he had to use some prudence in taking care of himself. When he was not praying, he studied the Bible. The abbot commanded that when he died Peter should succeed him. Abbot Peter found five other heritages. He wrote many letters; some one hundred seventy survive. We also have fifty-three of his sermons & seven lives, or biographies, that he wrote. He preferred examples & stories rather than theory in his writings. The liturgical offices he wrote are evidence of his talent as a stylist in Latin.'Twas also the festival of Blessed Pepin of Landen, Confessor (circa 580-646), ancestor of Blessed Charlemagne, the inaugural Holy Roman Emperor (28 January): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.
The human heart is on a quest for happiness. Every person yearns for happiness like the desert yearns for rain. You have a desire for happiness; I have a desire for happiness. This desire is universal, common to every member of the human family. We simply desire to be happy, & we act from this desire. We often do things that we think will make us happy, only to discover that they end up making us miserable. This is often because we confuse pleasure with happiness. And sometimes long-term misery comes disguised as short-term pleasure.
Now is a time when we all need to rediscover Catholicism. I try to rediscover it every day, & when I seek in earnest to do so I am never disappointed. When I am able to set my ego & personal agenda aside, more often than not I am left in awe. Catholicism is old. But let me ask you a question. If you had an ancient treasure map, would you throw it away because it was old? No. The age of the map doesn't matter. What matters is whether or not it leads to treasure. Catholicism is a treasure map: It may be old, but it still leads to treasure. Let's rediscover it together, & help others to do the same.
The Servite Order was found in 1233… when a group of cloth merchants of Florence, Italy, left their city, families, & professions to retire to Monte Senario, a mountain outside the city, for a life of poverty & penance. These men are known as the Seven Holy Founders. The order's purposes are the sanctification of its members, preaching the Gospel, & the propagation of devotion to the Mother of God, with special reference to her sorrows.Quoth the Holy Family bulletin:
In 1240 seven noblemen of Florence mutually decided to withdraw from the city to a solitary place for prayer & direct service to God. Their initial difficulty was providing for their dependents, since two were still married & two were widowers. Their aim was to lead a life of penance & prayer, but they soon found themselves disturbed by constant visitors from Florence. They next withdrew to the deserted slopes of Monte Senario. In 1244, under the direction of St. Peter of Verona, O.P. (6 April), this small group adopted a religious habit similar to the Dominican habit, choosing to live under the Rule of St. Augustine & adopting the name of the servants of Mary. The new Order took a form more like that of the mendicant friars than that of the older monastic orders.'Tis also the feast of Saint Evermode of Ratzeburg, Bishop, O.Praem. (circa 1100-1178): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
"I'm a good man, food on the table,
Working two jobs, ready, willing, and able,
Check, a good man, love having fun,
And got no kids and I love the Lord,
Check, a good man, I'm monogamous,
Never did time, well, maybe just once,
Check, a good man, and I puts it down,
Wanna say it twice, brother puts it down,
Check…"
"I sued Ben Affleck—
Ah, do I even need a reason?…"
"Red dragon tattoo is just about on me,
I got it for you, so now do you want me?
With nothing to prove, will you be my honey? Oh yeah!
In you I confide, red dragon tattoo,
I'm fit to be dyed, am I fit to have you?…"
Happy Valentine's Day, dude! I'm trying to focus on the origins of today with St. Valentine and his legacy. It's more meaningful than what it's become.The conversation flowed back & forth, including the following:
Haha. And it's not like I'd be mad if someone sent me flowers. But that stuff is even more special on days not commercialized, in my opinionLong-time readers of The Secret Base might remember my interlocutor by her old Project PANDORA code name, Miss Mozart. We met through a dating website in the summer of 2012 & had one bad date that fall.* Per her request, we "remained" friends after that, but didn't really reconnect 'til this past summer (2016), shortly before she moved out to the San Francisco Bay Area to work for Major League Baseball. We shared one super fun evening at Ypsilanti's Wurst Bar, a much better evening than our single date lo those many years ago.
They were two brothers who were Byzantine Christian theologians & Christian missionaries. Through their work they influenced the cultural development of all Slavs, for which they received the title "Apostles to the Slavs." They are credited with devising the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe Old Church Slavonic.Quoth the Holy Family bulletin:
Because their father was an officer in a part of Greece inhabited by many Slavs, these two Greek brothers ultimately became missionaries, teachers, & patronsof the Slavic peoples. A decisive change in their lives occurred when the Duke of Moravia asked the eastern Emperor Michael (III) for political independence from German rule & ecclesiastical autonomy (having their own clergy & liturgy). Cyril & Methodius undertook the missionary task. Cyril's first work was to invent an alphabet, still used in some Eastern liturgies. His followers probably formed the Cyrillic alphabet. Together they translated the Gospels, the Psalter, Paul's letters, & the liturgical books into Slavonic, & composed a Slavonic liturgy, highly irregular then.'Tis also the feast of Saint Valentine of Rome, Bishop & Martyr (died circa 273, A.K.A of Terni), martyred in the reign of the emperor Aurelian: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.
"Broken heart again today,Full disclosure: "The Last Song I Will Ever Write about a Girl" was not the last song about a girl Ataris frontman Kris Roe ever wrote.
The flowers that I gave to you have withered all away,
Just when I opened up my heart,
The one you used to love came and ripped it all apart!
"Why do I never seem to learn that
Love is wrong and girls are fucking evil?
I guess I'll never figure out
What womankind is all about.
"I heard your voice again today,
I'm scarred by all the lies that were once promises you made,
I lie in bed awake at night,
I wonder what went wrong, or even more just what went right!
"Why do I never seem to learn that
Love is wrong and girls are fucking evil?
I guess I'll never figure out
What womankind is all about."
"Will you please hold my hand?
I can't, I'm independent!
I want to be your man.
You can't, I'm independent!…
"I'll call you on the phone.
You can't, I'm independent!
Let me know when you're home.
I can't, I'm independent!…
"I hate this game we're playing,
I can't hear what she's saying,
Telling me that she is right and I am always wrong,
Everything she does
Is only just because
She's clinically insane!…"
"I see Thy strength and vigor,
All fading in the strife,
And death with cruel rigor,
bereaving Thee of life,
O agony and dying!
O love to sinners free!
Jesus, all grace supplying,
O turn Thy Face on me…"
This is the title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated in honor of the Marian apparitions that reportedly occurred in 1858 in the vicinity of Lourdes. The first apparition of 11 February 1858, when fourteen-year-old Bernadette Soubrious told her mother that a "lady" spoke to her in the cave of Massabielle (a mile from the town) while she was gathering firewood with her sister & a friend. Similar apparitions of the… "Lady" were reported on seventeen occasions that year.'Tis also the feast of Saint Gregory II, Pope (669-731), eighty-ninth Bishop of Rome, opponent of the first Byzantine iconoclasm: Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
"So, it's safe to say that we've been here before:
Heart torn out, down for the count, and still come back for more.
This lesson is learned too well,
Though only unlearned by the time your wounds have healed.
"Have you had enough?
I guess not, 'cause you lips are stuck to his,
It's time to say enough is enough,
You'd be so better off,
You love him, but tough,
'Cause it's not coming back from him.
You can't win!
"Stop expecting change,
He's just a lost cause that you're waiting on…"
St. Scholastica, based upon centuries of tradition, is considered the twin sister of St. Benedict of Nursia (11 July), founder of the monastic communities & compiler of the Rule of St. Benedict, a guide to common-sense living & monastic organization. Over the centuries, icons & other religious works have often depicted Scholastica & Benedict together.'Tis also the feast of Blessed Clare of Rimini, Religious, O.S.C. (circa 1282-1346): Blessed-link & Wikipedia-link.
"…That girl is way too good for me,
We'll break up before it starts,
She'll only tear my world apart,
Da na na na na na na na na!
"Pre-ex-girlfriend,
That girl is just too fine!
Pre-ex-girlfriend,
Leaving me behind!
"You might say she's everything,
Just before everything goes wrong,
She's sunshine and lightning,
She pulls at my heartstrings,
She's stunning and then she's gone…
"Watch her on the floor tonight,
Feel the crush she will incite,
Sparkable, she will ignite,
A beautiful sight!
Softer than the lightest snows,
Watch her as the moment slows,
In my face a door will close,
And there she goes.
Boy: "Oh, um, hi."
Girl: "Hi."
Boy: "I um, I was across the room—"
Girl: "Uh-huh."
Boy: "And I just looked over, and I saw you, and—"
Girl: "Yeah?"
Boy: "Um, I was wondering if—"
Girl: "Uh-huh?"
Boy: "Maybe you wanted to, uh, go do something?"
Girl: Um—no."
"And then I saw her standing there
With green eyes and long, blonde hair,
She wasn't wearing underwear,
At least I prayed that she might be the one,
Maybe we'd have some fun,
Maybe we'd watch the sunrise,
But that night I learned some girls try too hard!
Some girls try too hard,
And some girls try too hard to impress
With the way that they dress,
With those things on their chests,
And the things they suggest to me…
"Her volume of makeup, her fake tits were tasteless,
So I said I'd call her, but never would bother,
Until I got turned down by another girl at a party.
"So when you see her standing there
With green eyes and long, blonde hair,
She won't be wearing underwear
And you'll discover this girl's not the one,
And she'll never be fun,
You should just turn and run,
Because you'll find out that some girls try too hard…"
St. Jerome was an Italian humanitarian, founder of the Somaschi fathers, & saint. He was canonized in 1767 & is the patron saint of orphans. In the year of plague & famine (1528), he seemed to be everywhere & showed his zeal, especially for the orphans, whose number had so greatly increased. Jerome began caring for the sick & feeding the hungry at his own expense.'Tis also the Optional Memorial of Saint Josephine Bakhita, Virgin, F.D.C.C. (circa 1869-1947): Saint-link ūna, Saint-link duae, & Wikipedia-link.
St. Josephine was a Sudanese-born former slave who became a Canossian Religious Sister in Italy, living & working there for forty-five years. Over the course of twelve years (1877-1889) she was resold again three more times & then given away.In honor of St. Josephine, 8 February is the International Day of Prayer & Awareness against Human Trafficking: U.S.C.C.B.-link.