Army of Martyrs

The Purples are Coming: Book Review

2009-12-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

Ilow and Sheri Roque founded Rock House Press, a publishing company that focuses on Catholic Children's books and their first featured book, "The Purples are Coming" is a wonderful read! Here's my review:

I read this book with my ten year old and it instantly became one of his favorites. He read it on his own at least twice after we read it together (which is very unlike him!) The book itself is hardcover and bound with high quality and the illustrations are absolutely beautiful. I also appreciated the cadence of the text and especially the wonderful names like Dink, Derdle and Ladislaus Molski!

The Catholic message is effectively woven into the storyline and is worded in ways that will prompt your child to ask curious questions about the faith. Perhaps more than anything else, it presents the Church and the Catholic faith in a warm and comforting light. We can give a theological lecture on how the Church is our mother, but this book will make your child feel it. Making your young child feel the beauty of the Church is much more effective than waiting until they're a teenager and trying to convince them. I can't recommend this book highly enough and we look forward to reading its sequel.

Here is a video preview of the book and some of the illustrations:

THE PURPLES ARE COMING! from Rock House Press on Vimeo.

Praying the Mass by Jeff Pinyan - a Book Review

2009-12-06T13:02:00.004-05:00

Some of you may know Jeff Pinyan of the Cross Reference. I recent bought and read his new book "Praying the Mass: The Prayers of the People." It's a guide to the new translation of the Novus Ordo and a walk-through of the mass. Here's my review:

This book is a quick and easy read explaining not only which translations are changing next year but more importantly, why they are changing. It also doubles as a walk through of the mass explaining the sacred liturgy in a rich way. I've been to many seminars and have read several explanations on the mass but the book has several nuggets that I've never heard. I'd recommend this book especially for RCIA classes and those being introduced to the mass for the first time, for those who want to get an idea of the new mass translations, and even for those who are familiar with the mass but might need a refresher on why we do what we do.

Called to Communion is Back

2009-12-03T17:23:00.004-05:00

Called to Communion is back online and running much faster on new servers. Let the unifying begin. We also registered the domain name Catholic and Reformed. (Goes to the same place)

Can I ask a Favor of YOU?

2009-12-01T15:55:00.002-05:00

My charity, Philippine Aid Society needs your vote on Facebook. It will just take about 30 seconds of your time and could really help us out if we win. Just click the image to vote:

While you're at it, you can become a fan of Philippine Aid Society on Facebook. :)

Thanks in advance.

Dom Botte on Tradition

2009-11-23T20:25:00.002-05:00

Tradition is not an abstract theory circulating by word of mouth. It is lived before being formulated, and it is formulated before it is rationally explained. The Mass was lived as a sacrifice before anyone could dream of expressing it clearly, and its sacrificial character was defined before an explanation of it had been given; - Dom Botte

Modern Distortion of Grace

2009-11-20T23:09:00.002-05:00

The modern Christian has a tendency to distort grace by simply interiorising its effects and to confer 'exteriority' on ritual and liturgical functions. The ancients regarded the charismata associated with grace as inseparably bound both to the interior disposition of the soul and to the bodily worship of the divine liturgy.

On Skepticism and Humility

2009-11-09T20:12:00.002-05:00

The proud man, says C.S. Lewis, cannot see God because he is always looking down his nose at things and people, and so long as you are looking down, you cannot see what is above you. We can never let ourselves forget that in this on-going search for truth, the truth will always remain above us. We must approach the truth as children ready to be transformed by and conformed to something greater than ourselves and not as aggressors. We do not conquer the truth; if we seek it rightly, it will conquer us.

Catholic Christianity is something far too big for us to grasp, much less command. I believe it was Chesterton who said that Paganism was the biggest thing the world had ever seen; Christianity was bigger, and everything since has been comparatively small. One crucial step in developing humility must be a continual awareness that the Truth is something too big to fit into our finite heads.

Even St. Thomas Aquinas, the greatest doctor of the Church, when granted a vision, said that his writings were but “straw” and could not complete his masterpiece, the Summa Theologica. Students of Thomism, like myself, might wish that we possessed that final part, but in leaving the work unfinished, he left us something greater: a powerful exhortation to humility.

But none of this means that we can’t know truth nor that we should too readily profess agnosticism. Arrogance is a danger but skepticism is also dangerous and is not true humility. Recently, there has been some lively discussion in response to Bryan and Neal’s article on so la vs solo scriptura. Some have agreed that there is no principled distinction; others are unwilling to grant the distinction, but the sole objection seems to be this: that the Catholic position is no better. Bryan, myself, and others have given reasons in the combox why we do not believe this to be the case, but I am particularly interested in drawing out a one-liner, not well received and perhaps for good reason, that I left on Chris Donato’s blog. I claimed that “there is a difference between humility and skepticism.”

Modern philosophy has progressed, if you prefer to call it progression, down a path forged by Descartes. It has given us existentialism, rationalism, scientism, naturalism, and several other isms but most notably, and I think they all have this in common one way or another, skepticism. But from a classical point of view, things can be known and some things can be known with certainty. Following Aquinas, I am an empiricist. But that doesn’t mean I deny that some things can be known more certainly than others or that I think I can be absolutely certain of everything I believe.

I lack the philosophical training to draw out exactly why I insist on this distinction (between humility and skepticism), but personally I find it intuitively true. It doesn’t seem that I can know, with a mathematical certainty, that the Catholic Church is the true Church, or that Jesus rose from the dead for that matter. But I believe both of these things with a confidence that does not feel threatened by skeptical approaches to Church history, for example, or with various theories about what might have historically happened at the putative Resurrection.

I find most counter arguments to be based in skepticism, in fact, and I don’t find that to be a humble approach to history or to truth seeking. E.g. How can we be certain that there is an unbroken line of Apostolic Succession from the Apostles until now? We can’t know who is rightfully pope because sometimes there were multiple claims to the See of Peter. Many of the popes said and did bad things, etc. Now all of these objections deserve answers in due course; I wouldn’t deny it, but I believe that skepticism is a hindrance to one who is honestly seeking the truth in humility. In short, I find skepticism to be a counterfeit humility. True humility consists not in denying knowledge nor in saying that truth is unattainable, but in admitting that one’s knowledge is imperfect and that the truth we do see, is only through a glass darkly.

Speaking for myself, my style has a tendency to come across as overly confident, and to the extant which I have failed to exhibit a humble spirit in dialogues here and elsewhere, I offer my apologies. There is a constant need for the Christian to be reminded of his place. Some of us need reminding more often than others.

It is only when we come to appreciate that Catholic Christianity is larger than the Latin Church, larger than Byzantine Christianity, and again larger than the revivals from within Protestantism, that we begin to understand just how small we are in comparison.

It should go without saying that this post isn’t intended to prove anything; it is merely a prayer for myself and others that we would seek the Truth in humility. I hope you will pray it with me.

Originally posted at Called to Communion.

Why There is no Principled Difference Between Solo and Sola Scriptura

2009-11-04T09:58:00.002-05:00

Bryan Cross and Neal Judisch team up to deliver this devastating critique of Keith Mathison's now famous 'solo' and 'sola' distinction in the sola scriptura controversy. The article is long, but it's an easy read and well worth the time.

Was the Fall Under God's Providence?

2009-11-03T21:58:00.001-05:00

God is said to will a thing in one of two ways: absolutely or contingently. If God wills a thing absolutely, then it necessarily happens. So a thing which does not happen cannot be said to have been God’s absolute will. But we know per divine revelation that God wills some things to happen that do not, in fact, happen. Namely, God is not willing that any should perish,¹ but some men perish.² This is not a contradiction because God’s will is contingent in this case.

It is false to say that God absolutely wills all men to be saved; rather, He contingently wills all men to be saved. His will in this case is contingent upon men freely responding to His grace, which is, per His absolute will, a necessary condition for eternal life.

Now there is no force which is outside of God so we know that all things Fall under God’s providence. If God puts a thing into motion, it would seem that it cannot be stopped whatsoever because since no force outside of God exists, no other force is present to stop what God has put into motion. But things which were set in motion do stop; they are stopped by God Himself. This happens because one thing He wills contingently is stopped by another thing which He wills absolutely.

When God wills that an apple should Fall to the ground per His natural law, He wills it contingently. He wills it contingent upon whether or not He wills another thing to intervene. A branch below the apple may catch it and prevent it from Falling, but that branch prevents the apple from hitting the ground because God wills that a branch should have the power of stopping an apple – not that the branch has its own power outside of God. God’s contingent will is only hindered by other things which He wills. God’s motion is only stopped by His own power.

But there are agents with their own will. Do they upset the order of God’s providence? Certainly not. God may will that man shall not eat the apple that fell, but He wills it contingent upon whether or not man should will to eat it. But whatever caused man to will to eat it, and remember that man is not his own final cause, is also under God’s providence.

Did God will evil then? Far be it from us to suggest such a thing; it is impossible. At this point we need to look at the broader picture and see that God did not absolutely will that man should not Fall. Whatever God absolutely wills is true by necessity. God wills absolutely that squares should not be circles and that such a thing should not be possible. Whatever God wills contingently also happens unless something else which He wills absolutely causes it to not happen.

In this way, all things are under God’s providence. So we can know for certain that it was not in God’s absolute will that man should avoid the Fall. God willed contingently that man should not Fall, but in His wisdom, He willed absolutely that creation should be precisely as good as it is, and to achieve that, it was necessary per His absolute will, that the Fall should take place to bring about the greater good which resulted. We would not know the good of perseverance, for example, without the Fall. But God absolutely willed that the good of perseverance, again for example, should exist and be manifest, and so His contingent will of avoiding the Fall was stopped by His absolute will for a greater good. We must conclude that even the Fall of man was under God’s providence.

Originally posted at Called to Communion.

Salve Regina

2009-10-31T00:27:00.002-04:00

Our schola sings "Salve Regina" in the solemn tone at the Charlotte Eucharistic Congress. Thanks to the Crescat for video taping it. (Note, the recording is a camera phone or digital camera of some sort - not built for high quality audio recording!)

Thirty Thousand Montagnards Convert to the Catholic Church

2009-10-21T21:18:00.002-04:00

Of course everyone has heard of the new Anglican provisions made by Pope Benedict which will pave the way for (probably) hundreds of thousands of conversions, this story about the Montagnards (indigenous people of the central Vietnam highlands) hit home with me because I taught English to Montagnard refugees for two years. I still have many good friends from the Jarai tribe although I have unfortunately lost touch with most of them. (That reminds me...) Anyway, last year 30,000 Montagnards became Catholic and there are currently 20,000 more preparing to convert.

When God Lets You Down

2009-10-15T23:28:00.003-04:00

Saying that "God will never let you down" has almost no relevance. Can you name an instance or example of God letting someone down? I mean what would it take for you to say that God had let you down? Something inconceivable. Saying "God will never let you down" is like saying squares will never be circles. Tell me something I don't know...

The phrase must be of American origin; notice its self-centered orientation. Is it God who stands in need of meeting our standards? Just some thoughts.

Setting the Record Straight on Clergy Sex Abuse Scandal

2009-10-07T17:22:00.003-04:00

Although Protestants frequently cite the sex abuse scandal as evidence against the holiness of the Catholic Church based on what the secular media has told them, the factual information would actually have the Protestant communities looking a lot worse if the world hated them with the fervor that it hates the Catholic Church:

The Christian Science Monitor reported on the results of a national survey by Christian Ministry Resources in 2002 and concluded: "Despite headlines focusing on the priest pedophile problem in the Roman Catholic Church, most American churches being hit with child sexual-abuse allegations are Protestant".1 Sexual abuses within the Jewish communities approximate that found among the Protestant clergy.2

And as for the lame accusation that priestly celibacy is to blame for the abuse: That is, if the Catholic Church allowed married clergy, the problem would go away or diminish, it can be easily refuted by pointing to the fact that teachers, who are allowed to, and often are, married, are guilty at much higher rates:

The author of the study concluded that the scope of the school-sex problem appears to far exceed the clergy abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church and concluded in an interview with Education Week "the physical abuse of students in schools is likely more than 100 times the abuse by priests".4

Read the whole article on the Sex Abuse Scandal with sources.

Please Pray for the Flood Victims in Manila

2009-09-28T14:27:00.004-04:00

Manila was hit with 13.4 inches of rain in a period of 6 hours on Saturday from typhoon Ondoy. The flooding is reported to be the worst Manila has seen in over 40 years. The official death toll is at 140 last I heard, but my brother in law told me personally that the real number will be much higher. Many of the places affected are areas that I have frequently visited while in the Philippines.

Please pray. And if you can spare some change, my charity, the Philippine Aid Society, has established a relief fund. To make a tax deductible donation, simply indicate "flood relief" in the comments/note field. 100% of your donation will be designated to the relief effort.

Bad Arguments Against the Magisterium

2009-09-21T21:33:00.003-04:00

I want to heartily recommend a post by Dr. Liccione entitled "Bad Arguments Against the Magisterium." I was just preparing a post on this very topic for CTC when I caught his and instead of re-inventing the wheel, I'll point my readers to his blog.

I especially liked this thought:

Assuming Christianity is true, the fact remains that no particular believer, not even the pope, can ever be absolutely certain that their own understanding of a particular doctrine is as free from error as the doctrine itself. Rather, and as a matter of fact, they trust implicitly that the doctrine is true and seek to conform their mind ever more closely with that of the Church, for which the Magisterium speaks, on the doctrine's subject matter.

Is the Catholic Church Semi-Pelagian?

2009-08-31T03:00:00.002-04:00

The short answer: no. The longer one can be found by reading my recent post at Called to Communion.

Recommendations

2009-08-20T00:51:00.003-04:00

I'm heading out to the Philippines and so blogging will be even lighter than usual. I may blog some from the blog over at Philippine Aid Society while I'm there.

Tom Riello and I just recorded a podcast of an impromptu conversation between the two of us regarding our conversions to the Catholic Church.

Finally, here's an old article from This Rock magazine called "The Ten Most Common Liturgical Abuses."

Is Contraception the Answer to Poverty?

2009-08-19T01:14:00.003-04:00

A brief response to an article suggesting that contraception could be a solution to the issue of poverty in the Philippines.

Blogs in Your Diocese

2009-08-17T21:49:00.002-04:00

Found a cool website thanks to Kevin Branson called Flock Note. You can add your blog to your local diocese or parish and find others from within your diocese as well.

Is Sacramentalism the Same as Magic?

2009-08-16T15:10:00.002-04:00

I asked this question in my recent post at Called to Communion entitled, Magical Sacraments in Elfland.

Peter Pan has to think happy thoughts in order to fly. Sure, fairy dust is involved but the flying doesn’t happen unless he thinks happy thoughts. In fact, maybe fairy dust is just an “outward sign” of the “inward reality” of a happy thought. I don’t think it sounds any more magical to say that a man can think happy thoughts and go to Neverland than to say that he can believe in Christ and go to heaven. It is no more superstitious to say that “baptism saves you” than it is to say that faith does.

Read the whole thing.

Statistics and Theology

2009-08-14T17:30:00.003-04:00

1. Randomness is an illusion because we can only find "randomness" via matter which itself is determined. But a "random" selection is always better than an "intelligent" selection for statistical purposes. That is, if we select what we think is the best representation of the population, we will learn less than if we leave the selection to God.

2. Central Limit Theorem: God loves the bell curve. Even if you select the numbers yourself, God's fingerprint is there hidden.

3. The bell curve - the clergy should tend to a certain level of holiness. 95% of all clergy should fall within 2 standard deviations of the average clerical holiness. Protestants think that that a few bad priests show the Church to be corrupt. If I show you 2,000 corrupt priests, would this indicate widespread corruption? That's less than 5% of the priests in the US alone. How many priests were corrupt during the Reformation? Maybe the Reformers were just bad statisticians.

4. If 100% of priests were holy, then there would be no bell curve. Even the central limit theorem would not reveal God's fingerprint. It is unnatural. Grace does not destroy nature.

5. Six Sigma theology - the average clerical holiness should be moved to a state of holiness that would leave the corrupt priests (lower spec limit) six standard deviations away. That means we cannot have more than 3.4 corrupt priests per million. A tall order.

6. The Null Hypothesis. Statistics never assert; they merely say "we don't have enough data to overturn the null hypothesis" or conversely: we do. The null hypothesis (H0) is that the Catholic Church is the Catholic Church. How much data did the Reformers need to overturn H0?

7. No list should ever have only six points.

How to Raise Money

2009-08-12T10:53:00.003-04:00

This is unrelated to this blog, but I've written an ezine article entitled "How to Raise Money for Your Favorite Charity" that some of you may be interested in. Of course, I take the opportunity in the end to plug my own charity. ;) I encourage everyone to get involved with a charity in some capacity. It's something you won't regret.

Liturgy in the First Century

2009-08-09T10:22:00.001-04:00

Introduction

The primary points of contact for our knowledge of the first century liturgy lie on one end with the Jewish liturgies, and the little data which can be gleaned from the New Testament, and the far later, but well documented, fourth century liturgies. We have a few texts, reliable but vague, from the second and third century that help us piece together the puzzle, but ultimately our study lies in drawing on what we know from these ends, and reconstructing the development in-between.

Three liturgies would have been common place in the first century: the Synaxis, the Eucharist, and the Agape meal. We will look at these each individually but first, a few milestones or key points of interest are important to keep in mind:

The Judeo-Centricity of Early Christianity

1. For about the first 10 years of Christianity, it was almost exclusively composed of Jewish converts.

2. The early Christians were in the habit of attending temple daily. ^[1]

3. The early Christians continued celebrating in the Synagogues alongside the Jews on the Sabbath for several years in some places.

4. Up to nineteen years after Christ's resurrection, new converts to Christianity, generally speaking, had to convert to Judaism before becoming Christian. Namely, they were to be circumcised, to eat Kosher, and to follow the Mosaic Law. The Jerusalem Council was called to settle this controversy in 49 AD. ^[2]

5. James, the bishop of Jerusalem, while the temple was still standing was in the habit of wearing the priestly robes, entering the temple, and offering intercessory prayer on behalf of his flock. ^[3]

The Domesticity of Worship

The Jews allowed Gentiles to participate in their public liturgies at the Synagogue. Gentiles were even allowed to enter the outer courts of the temple. ^[4] But there was a rigorous exclusion of Gentile participation in the sacred home liturgies (such as the Seder meal). Initially Christians had no public liturgy, only domestic liturgy and so the controversies regarding the direct inclusion of the Gentile converts into the Christian Church are easily understood within this context. ^[5]

The Destruction of the Temple

In 70 AD, the temple was destroyed. This was an earth shattering event for the Jews and a radical shift for the Jewish-Christians. It was a powerful sign that the "Kingdom" had come "with power." ^[6]

The book of Hebrews was written in the 60s to explain to the Jewish Christians that Jesus was the true High Priest,^[7] that animal sacrifices were no longer necessary,^[8] and that Christ's sacrifice was perpetually sufficient. ^[9] If it seems obvious to us in hindsight, it wasn't obvious to the early Jewish Christians, particularly while the temple was still standing.

The Synaxis

Synaxis is the Greek word meaning "meeting" and is the organic continuity of the Saturday Synagogue worship. Once the Christians were no longer allowed in the synagogues, they continued celebrating approximately the same rite with added Christians developments and themes. The original liturgies would have been held, like the synagogue service, in Hebrew, and some of the words, like "amen" and "hallelujah", survive to this day. In the early part of the 1st century, it is unlikely that the Synaxis would have be recognizably different from the Synagogue service except for the setting. The Synaxis can be understood as the seed of what we now call the Liturgy of the Word. Some key differences include that, in the first century, there were no introduction rites, no penitential rite and no Gloria. These were all later additions.

Basic Structure

1. Greeting and Response (The Lord be with you - or Peace be unto you)

2. Lections & Psalmody (The Jews read in order of descending importance, starting with the Pentateuch. The early Christian kept the original order of the Synagogue, but as Christian Scripture became available, it was tacked on the end. Thus the order of importance became reversed for Christians. They read in ascending order of importance):

   i. Old Testament Reading
ii. Pslamody (or chanted Psalm)
iii. New Testament Reading (sometimes included non-canonical books like 1 Clement)
iv. Psalmody
v. Gospel Reading

3. Homily (Bishop delivers while seated)

4. Dismissal of Catechumens by Deacon

5. Intercessory Prayers of the Faithful

6. Dismissal of the Faithful

Occasionally a collection would be taken for the poor at the end. This was not the offertory.

The Eucharist

Derived from the Seder meal, in its fullest, proper setting, the Eucharist is the celebration of the new Passover. 'Pascha' (or Easter) is the pinnacle of the Christian worship. Initially, it is likely that in some or many Christian Churches, the Eucharist was celebrated but once a year at Passover. The celebration of this high feast of Christian worship expanded to Jewish feast days like Pentecost, and by the end of the first century, the Church had grown to understand every Sunday as a mini-Easter. The Eucharist would have been celebrated early on Sunday morning, a working day in the Roman empire.

The Eucharist was understood as the duty of the bishop and initially, we have every reason to believe that all Eucharists were celebrated by the bishop. But as the Church grew, this became impractical. By the end of the first century, this duty is being delegated to presbyters.^[10]

Basic Structure

1. Greeting & Response

2. Kiss of Peace

3. Offertory (Communicants bring their own bread & wine to set on the altar)

4. Eucharistic Prayer (The earliest Eucharistic prayer would have been simply a direct continuity of the Jewish eucharistic (thanksgiving) prayer with added Messianic meaning. Noticeable differences in the first century Eucharistic prayer and today's include: a. no Sanctus, b. no Lord's prayer, c. no narrative) The Anaphora of Hippolytus is the oldest Eucharistic prayer we have in tact and it dates around 215 AD. ^[11]

5. Fraction

6. Communion (Received standing)

7. Dismissal

The Agape

There was probably a time where the Agape meal was celebrated along with the Eucharist, as seems to be the case in 1 Corinthians 11. But this practice died out sometime in the first century although the Agape continued by itself for several centuries. The only specific and technical reference to the Agape in the New Testament is found in Jude. ^[12]

The Agape has connections with Mediterranean funeral feasts, said in honor of a deceased hero or family member, and with the Jewish chaburah meal. This was a communal meal Jews would eat on the eve of the Sabbath and all important Jewish feasts. Jesus would have had this meal many times with His disciples. It was liturgical, although less formal than the Eucharist or even the Synaxis. Only baptized Christians were allowed to participate in this meal.

Like all early liturgies, it was celebrated in the home. But unlike the Eucharist, it would not be celebrated in the atrium/tablinum but in the dining room (triclinium). Thus, it would be held in smaller numbers and in various homes throughout the Christian community.^[13] The Christians traditionally celebrated the Agape on Sunday evenings.

Basic Structure

1. Introductory Prayer (the president blesses the food)

2. Meal (In the West, it seems that the breaking of the bread was part of the meal, in the East, it followed the meal. In the West, each person blessed their own cup which would have been consistent with the Jewish tradition at the chaburah meal as opposed to the communal cup for high feasts like the Seder meal.)

3. Washing of Hands

4. Lighting of the Lamp (brought in by the deacon, blessed by the bishop)

5. Psalms/Hymns

6. Bishop blesses the cup (kiddish or kiddush cup, not the cup of blessing which was reserved for the Eucharist only.)

7. Bishop gives thanks for the bread and distributes

Notice the order in contrast to the Eucharist. In the Agape meal, the cup precedes the bread. The Agape is described using the name "eucharist" in the Didache chapter 9. We know this because the cup precedes the bread. Later, in chapter 14, the Eucharist proper is explained. The term Eucharist means "thanksgiving" of course, and in the first century, it was not yet a technical reference to what we now call the Eucharist. Any prayer of thanksgiving at a meal would have been a "eucharistic prayer."

Summary

By the end of the first century, the standard Christian liturgical observations would be as follows. On Saturday, you would attend the Synaxis. On Sunday morning you would attend the Eucharist, before dawn. You would go to work that day and then in the evening, you would attend an Agape meal at the house of a presbyter or perhaps the bishop's house.

Suggested reading:

Mike Aquilina "The Mass of the Early Christians"

Gregory Dix "The Shape of the Liturgy"

↑ Acts 2:46
↑ Acts 15
↑ Recorded by Hegesippus and Preserved by Eusebius in Church History 2.23.4-6 Compare with the requirements for priestly garments in Exodus 28:41-43.
↑ Dix, Gregory The Shape of the Liturgy pg16
↑ See particularly Galatians 1-2
↑ Mark 9:1. Also see Mark 13 & its synoptic parallels.
↑ e.g. Hebrews 4:14
↑ Hebrews 9:9,23, 10:1, etc...
↑ Hebrews 10
↑ Thus in the early second century St. Ignatius of Antioch says to the Smyrnaeans, "Let that eucharist alone be considered valid which is celebrated in the presence of the bishop, or of him to whom he shall have entrusted it."
↑ See a helpful comparison between Hippolytus and the modern Eucharistic Prayer II here: http://thecrossreference.blogspot.com/2008/02/liturgy-eucharistic-prayer-ii.html
↑ Jude 1:12
↑ Paul seems to indicate that the "home" is the proper place for this in 1 Corinthians 11:22 (as opposed to the particular home which would likely have been blessed by the bishop as the location for celebrating the Eucharist.) Centuries later, certain canons forbade the use of Church buildings for Agape meals.

Mass for Clunkers

2009-08-09T09:46:00.001-04:00

Too funny not to pass on. I've got someone in mind for this program. H/t Edward Fesser

Mass for Clunkers

Pagan vs. Christian use of Images in Worship

2009-08-02T15:36:00.004-04:00

While paganism remained the dominant religion of the Roman empire, that is, while the average plebeian family still had household images and idols that they bowed, prayed, and offered libations before, Christians made far less use of images in their worship. When Christianity was legalized in the fourth century, it went on to become the dominant religion of the state itself. Once paganism had all but died out, the risk of laity confusing the use of images in worship with pagan idolatry faded away, and gradually the use of images became common practice. But there is a fundamental difference in how Christians used images and how pagans did. Listen to this late third century apologist:

We worship the gods, you say, by means of images. What then? Without these, do the gods not know that they are worshipped, and will they not think that any honour is shown to them by you? Through bypaths, as it were, then, and by assignments to a third party, as they are called, they receive and accept your services; and before those to whom that service is owed experience it, you first sacrifice to images, and transmit, as it were, some remnants to them at the pleasure of others. - Arnobius 6.9

According to Arnobius, the image was a conduit of the pagan's adoration in such a way that the god or goddess received benefit from its use.

On the contrary, Christian use of images, as it developed, was exactly the opposite. God stands in no need of images, neither does He benefit from them in any way. It is we who benefit. For the Christian, images stand as visual reminders or catalysts in focusing our attention and effort in such a way that the sole beneficiary of their use is the worshiper.