How do I know there is a God, and that He is good? Because he helped my brilliant and eccentric friend John Zmirak find true love. From John's wonderful essay about it:
It's no news to paleos that the Net empowers eccentrics of every sort, and helps us find each other. There are Facebook groups that summon from airless basement rooms the fans of squabbling heirs to the vacant throne of Byzantium, and dating services catering to the most peculiar tastes, and the tiniest coteries of dispossessed souls.For instance, orthodox Catholics. No, not the folks who happened to grow up Italian-American or Irish in the wake of Vatican II, and learned a little less about their Faith than most 19th century Haitians. I mean the much smaller subset of people who have blundered somehow onto the actual teachings of the Church--and even worse, come to believe them. From a mass religion that exercised a sweaty grip on the minds of tens of millions, the American church in the past 40 years has become something very different: An exotic, almost esoteric sect of old believers, hidden inside the shell of a mainline Protestant denomination. Apart from the occasional Latin Mass full of elderly anti-Masonic activists, we typically sit through our dismal local services with teeth clenched and earlids shut, and spot each other (if at all) by secret handshakes and coded phrases. See that blonde over there, a friend might nudge you with his elbow. She took Communion on the tongue. I wonder if she's single.... Such thoughts don't always help you to pray.
I wasn't a traditionalist Catholic, but more of a fellow traveler, and this sounds oh so familiar (I bet it will to many of you too). You have to read the whole story to find out how John finally found The One. Congratulations to them both! Last time John was in Dallas visiting her, I met him for beer at the Old Monk -- if crunchy cons in Dallas need an official bar, the Monk's the one -- and I don't think I've ever seen him happier.
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Scott Lahti: Roland's humid little vignette has the makings of a first-rate surplice*-ripper! Thank you, *Sir, please may I have another...
Surplice-ripper! ROTFL! That's excellent. I'm saving your post too.
But I'm afraid I can't give you another because the excerpt is from my forthcoming Unfrocked the second volume of the trilogy about the life of Don Calogero Toccalafiga, a poor Calabrian curate who is laicised by the bishop for consummating his love for Ipazia, a beautiful and intelligent widow in his parish. After her accidental death as the result of an abortive hit by the 'Ndrangheta, Don Calogero enters a monastery where after many years of toil and study he is elected abbot and subsequently made a cardinal. At the next conclave he is elected pope unanimously on the first ballot and proceeds with his intended encyclical relaxing the strictures on artificial contraception and liberalising the rules of clerical celibacy. But conservative forces within the Vatican attempt to prevent its publication. Don Calogero is subsequently found dead in the early hours of the morning after a mere thirty days as pontiff. The encyclical is never found but the new pope discovers an astounding document among Don Calogero's monastic writings, a document which, if authenic, would have profound repercussions throughout the Christian world ....
Roland (the Dædalus Chanson Strummer - after Zevon.): "trilogy about the life of Don Calogero Toccalafiga..."
You've probably already seen the prequel about the closet cases on his mother's side, The Gay Calogeros...
And heard the greeting tendered on many a bright morn to the local padre, e.g., "Toccalafiga to you, Father Trattoria."
And have on your HePod (and file-shared via HeMail) that Mediterranean hipshakin'-heartthrob Martin Ricci's chart-topper later used as a coffee jingle, "Toccalafiga Mocha."
What on earth will you call your flame-lick'd potboiling provocation - The de Chanson Goad?
But I deGrassi - if you liked the German auto-translation from yesterday, rendering Hendrik Hertzberg as "Hendrik Hendrik Cycles-Per-Second Mountain," see the extra batch I retrieved from an extinct 2005 blog of mine, within the same CC thread on Obamania, from 9:26 last night, about three-fourths down:
blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2008/07/obama_christ_superstar_comments.html
Shame, shame, shame on all the immature, adolescent comments regarding any comparison of the Blessed Eucharist and lustful sensuality. If any of you "observers" were attending Mass in reverant prayer, you would not have allowed such sinful thoughts to enter. As for the comment, being nudged to notice a young woman receiving on the tongue - as marriageable material - did it occur to any of the aforementioned immature commentators, receiving on the tongue is a most reverant form - one which Pope Benedict XVI would like to see reinstated. I am 82 and prefer to receive on the tongue. Comments anyone? Oh, don't you dare!
There but for the God of Grace go I...
Zyrtec 5 or 10 mg. Rapidity and discreet delivery on Next Day (FedEx Overnight). The low price and free medical consultation.
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