I haven't forgotten about you

Breviary is going well.

So you want to get married outside the church...

Dear [Name redacted],

FLOWER MOUNTAIN WEDDINGS
SEVIERVILLE, TN

I see this a lot. My first questions were just to get a clearer sense for where you and your fiancé are. 

There’s a lot here, and an email probably won’t be able to get to the bottom of it.

I appreciate you reaching out and wanting to understand better your religion and where your mom might be coming from. I’m honored and happy to help—if what follows is any help.

It’s great you and your fiancé want to get married. It’s great that you’re dealing with the important issues in the early stages of your planning. It’s great that the involvement of your family is very important to you.

You mention your desire to keep conflict to a minimum. You’re aware that your wedding, as you propose it, already contains a certain degree of conflict with your religion and with your mother. You’re seeking a clearer understanding of what the Church permits and prohibits regarding your initial plans. You’re also seeking some advice on what’s the best way forward for you, for your marriage and for your family.

You ask whether the church prohibits catholics from participating in non-catholic or non-christian weddings. I presume with this question that you have your mom’s participation in mind. And, since you know how seriously she regards the instructions of the Church, any permissions or prohibitions would be important for her to consider. The positive prohibition that comes first to mind for me is from scripture which we’re all supposed to take seriously and that’s our Lord’s words “Whosoever shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me; it were better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck, and he were cast into the sea (Mk 9:41).” It’s conceivable that your mom considers her participation in your wedding outside the church as scandalizing other impressionable members of your family including yourself.

Of course, the question of your mom’s participation in a non-catholic or non-christian wedding is secondary to your own participation in your own non-catholic or non-christian wedding. The Church is also very clear about this: “Only those marriages are valid which are contracted before a priest…in a parish church (Code of Canon Law, Canons 1108 §1; 1117; 1118 §1).” This means, that if you and your fiancé wish to marry validly as far as your religion is concerned, then insisting on a non-catholic or non-christian marriage presents an irreconcilable inconsistency. There can be exceptions to this form for when a catholic chooses to marry a non-catholic or a non-Christian but only with the permission of the bishop.

Lots of Catholics are unaware that they are bound to marry in the Church. And lots of Catholics go ahead and get married at a barn or at a beach or at the courthouse unaware that they still require, for the validity of their marriage, to get married in the Church. A practical problem comes later on when they want to resume sacramental life in the Church, whether it’s going back to confession for the first time in a while, or receiving Holy Communion at Mass or bringing a baby to be baptized. The problem is that their decision—whether they were aware of it or not—to proceed with such little regard for the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony requires their marriage be made valid before they can proceed to participate validly in the other Sacraments of the Church.

Another, probably simpler way to put it is to ask “What do you have against the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony?” It’s the sacrament that unites a couple’s love with Christ’s love in such a way that the couple—promising to love each other until death—becomes an icon of the love of God. It’s hard to consider why any believer wouldn’t want that for his relationship with his own bride—to have their married love exist in direct relation to the Divine love. What’s at stake is that your proposing to separate yourself publicly and formally from the Sacramental life of the Church. You say you aren’t in anyway against Catholicism and I believe you now. But, if you should proceed to marry apart from the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, then you will be taking a stand publicly and formally against Catholicism, whether it feels like it to you or not.

It’s reasonable for a mom or dad to recoil from participating in their child’s public separation from the Sacraments of the faith in which they were raised—especially when that separation is caused by a marriage which could have very easily taken place in the Church. What they owe you as your parents is secondary to what they owe God as your parents. You ask whether the church prohibits practicing catholics, particularly parents from participating in their child’s non-christian wedding.  If the church isn’t so explicit on that point, it can only be because of how carefully and what great pains she takes to make the more important point: catholics are bound to marry in the church. What obligation do parents have to bend over backward to participate in an invalid wedding?

I haven’t said much about how holy a thing it is for a man and a woman to promise love and fidelity until death. I haven’t said much either about how wonderful it would be and what the eternal repercussions would be if you and your fiancé both would return to the church. But that’ll have to be for another time.

I’d only add, pray about it. Your folks may be right. I know that’s tough to hear, especially when your heart now belongs to someone who hardly believes as your parents do and as you once did. But pray about it. God can change hearts. And as the man of the house, which you soon will be, you’ll be taking a step in assuming the great responsibility that God has for you.

You and your fiancé are in my prayers.

I know this reply has gone long. Let me know if this helps or where else I can be clearer.

Yours,

Fr. Drew

Sluggish

Joachim Patinier, "Saint Jerome in the Desert"

I noticed the thought of giving a good example to the seminarian, who also struggles with sluggishness in the morning, was just the ticket to get me out of bed.  Now, if I had only had that thought an hour earlier.

Father Leo Trese

I recently picked up "Vessel of Clay" by Father Leo Trese.  It looks like I may not have to write the book after all.  This guys pretty much right on with what I was thinking.  I'll give more of a review after I'm done reading it.

Update

Raphael "Saint Michael"

I've been back from my 2-weeks away for about 8 days now.  It's been slow getting back to anything resembling a 5:00 AM wakeup to start Matins on time.  The consequence has been that I've been playing catchup during the mornings for most of the last week.  This includes this morning.

I wonder if my swimming—which I've been quite regular with these three weeks—needs to be earlier in the day.  It seems the more it's a late-afternoon swim, the herder it is to get up the next morning.  It's hard enough to get up in the morning, no need to make it harder.  An earlier swim shouldn't be too tough to arrange.

Thinking of writing a book

It would be a manual about the parish priesthood.  "Pro-tips for Parish Priests" or some sort of thing.  It wouldn't be a spirituality of the parish priesthood.  It wouldn't be a theology of the priesthood.  Just considerations related to the professional work and life of the parish priesthood.

I can see part one being the plan of a parish priest: daily; weekly; monthly; yearly; always.  I can see another part being particularly parochial responsibilities: sacramental, catechetical, juridical.  I can see another part being an assortment of particularly useful virtues, skills and best practices.

If it were called "A layman's guide to the parish priesthood," then, as ironic as it may sound—in that the book would be firstly for priests and not laymen—that would still actually be the tone.

From afar

My 2-weeks vacation ends tomorrow. I've kept up the canonical hours. Matins, however, has not been so early and Lauds and Vespers have been from the new breviary. But it's all still been a success. 


Some resolutions from these last weeks have been: prefer study; finer sanctuary details; abhor weaponizing the old mass; eschew tradi-blogs; promote both priestly and lay secularity

Still at it

Correggio, "Martyrdom of Four Saints"

Today up at 4:45 AM.

Goal is begin 30 mins of mental prayer by nlt 6:30 AM after having completed matins and Lauds.  I'll give myself an hour for m/l.  So, I'll post this, jump in the shower, then get to the church to start to pray.  This takes care of a 7:00 AM start time for prime.  Fine.  It doesn't take care of a 6:00 AM start time for Lauds.  But I can work on that later.

Quantum Leap

4:15 AM is a Quantum Leap.  It doesn't get much earlier than this.
I'll let you know how it goes.
One thing is to focus on the 6:00 AM start for Lauds.
That's all for now.

Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

"Saint Aloysius Assists Victims of the Plague" 

We're moving in the right direction.

Getting more practice.  One benchmark has been to begin Prime at 7:00 AM.  This has been successful now for going on two weeks.

I like this idea of "lavishing minutes" on the Lord's work.  Confer the first and second versions of the third verse of "America the Beautiful."  The third version conveys it in different words, but also nicely.

Saint John tells it best in Revelation: "Love for life did not deter them from death."  It's this idea of cherishing more intensely the things that should be more intensely cherished.  In Revelation it refers to gaining the victory in the angelic warfare over satan by the Blood of the Lamb.  In my recitation of the Divine Office, it refers to gaining the victory over my laziness, my lack of diligence and my desire to cheat God by the Blood of the same Lamb for the sake of the faithful.

So, even if my own "free time" (whether there should even be such a thing is a different story) is something I cherish, how about cherishing the Lord's work more and not deterring myself from it for any lesser good.

One goal that has begun to emerge has been Matins at 5:00 AM, Lauds at 6:00 AM, Prime at 7:00 AM, Mass at 8:00 AM, Terce at 9:00 AM.

For this, Reveille will really probably need to be at 4:15 AM.  If it's at 4:30 AM, 5:00 AM won't happen.  Not the end of the world.  But I do want to get Lauds situated at 6:00 AM just like I've been managing to do with Prime at 7:00 AM.  This will allow the 30 Minutes of mental prayer to lead up to Prime after Lauds.  It will free up the time leading up to Mass, perhaps for confessions.

It will allow the Lord's Work time to breathe, instead of piling it up one hour upon the next non-stop. The whole thing, if I'm not careful—Matins through Terce (including Mass)—can all happen in pretty much one  uninterrupted stream of recited prayers.  Which  means, about 120 minutes of non-stop recitation.  That's a lot.  And if I'm hurrying at all, it's gross and not at all pleasing to the Lord. Putting a "scourge" into the hand of the Divine Master, a la Tra le Sollecitudine.

Lavishing the minutes so that the Lord's Work is spread out more, gives it a chance to breathe.  Makes it real nice.  Something you can invite folks to pray.

4:30 AM

The thought has occurred to me to give this a try, soon

This morning

Matins started at 6:05 AM.

"The Presentation of Christ" (From the Altar of Phillip
the Bold), Melchior Broederlam, 1399

I took my time, "lavishing" precious minutes on the Lord's work—without looking at the clock until it was done.
I finished at 6:59 AM.
I started Prime at 7:00 AM.
After Prime, about 7:11 AM, I set up for Mass including prepping the linens for Jane and started 30 Minutes of Mental Prayer.  This took my right up to 8:00 AM Mass.
I should say, I bumped up the Martyology reading up one minute, and tomorrow I'll bump it up another minute, this, so I can begin Mass punctually at 8:00 AM instead of 8:02 AM.

I'm keeping  in my back pocket the ideas of sliding the whole thing 15 minutes earlier again, but what will this gain?

This morning it would've gained 15 minutes before the start of 7:00 AM Matins.  But what for?  Coffee?  That doesn't sound right.  A "head call?" That could actually be reasonable some mornings.  Longer Matins?  That will be the case on greater feasts.   A prompt 6:00 AM start could help there, too.

Let's finish this week, including Sunday with the current plan.  And let's try the 5:00 AM reveille next week and compare.  Note, this also means 8:30 PM Compline, as opposed to 8:45 PM which it's been this week.  This'll also mean being strict regarding ending it all at the end of the day.  I foresee, for instance, Sunday evenings having to be dome with dinner with the guys and walking out the door at 8:15 PM.  That's way (by almost 30 mins) earlier than usual.  It could be good though.  One of the guys does it already to make it back for his 8:00 PM TV show he likes (lame, but at least he makes it out to begin with).

Keep in mind, this is about doing the Lord's work, the "Divine Office."

Canonical Hours

"Christ and the Adulteress" Lorenzo Lotto, 1528

I love it.  It's been hard getting the exact schedule that works.
Wouldn't you know, what's been working lately has been 6,7,9,12,3,6,9—more or less.

Going public with it in the parish will add an extra dimension of accountability.

So far, I've also needed to get used to the Latin, too.  That's taken some time.

Looking ahead, a daily posted announcement of when which hours will be recited publicly could be very useful for me and them.

Now it's the end of May

"Madonna and Child in a landscape" Giorgione, 1504

6:15 AM.  How hard is that?  Do what you need to do.  Get to bed at whatever time you need to get to bed.  Wake up at whatever time you need to wake up.  But get your self in the church, ready to pray at 6:15 AM.  Not rocket science.

Now It's May

"Madonna" Correggio, 1516

And time we get it back in gear.

We've cleared First Communion, Confirmation, May Procession, Sodality Union, and Holy Week liturgies.  Things are settling down.  Which means time to hit that stride again.

I've been off the wagon, that is the M/L-before-Mass Wagon for over a week.  Let's correct that.

Now it is April

Nearly a month since the last update.

Some reporting is due.

Wakeup time needs to be 5:00 AM.  M/L total time is down while also not feeling so rushed.  This has to do with familiarity with the Latin.  It's natural.  M/L is really now around 45 mins (this morning it was 38 minutes).  This gets me safely to school for the 7:40 AM prayer.

A 5:15 AM wake up would give away the edge gained by the increased-familiarity with the Latin.  I'm not getting better at the Latin so I can sleep more, I'm getting better at the Latin so I can pray more.

"Lamentation of Christ" van der Weyden, 1460-1463

There's a two-hour penance I like to practice—I can tell you more about that another time—which in order to get 2 good hours, that needs to have begun before 5:30 AM, since I'm on the road by about 7:30 AM for school.  So this means I've at least showered and gotten started by say 5:20 AM or so.  Hence a 5:15 AM wakeup cuts that too close.

The start-time for M/L is what has wobbled these last four weeks.  There is much ground to gain by way of consistently beginning M/L by a set time.  I'd set that broadly between 5:45 AM and 6:00 AM.

A 5:45 AM church-unlock should give time for coffee but no internet.  I'm totally fine with that.  This would reliably start M/L by 5:50 AM.  M/L would then end by 6:35 AM and the half-hour of meditation would then end by 7:05 AM.  Prime would then be done by 7:15 AM.  This would give me about 15 minutes—to do what with?  I don't know.  I have used that time in the past to blog.  I won't use that time to excuse a 5:15 AM wake up.  I have used that time, in part to set up for Mass, which is completely reasonable.  I could then—get ready for it—plan my day.  That would be astonishing.  Let's work on that.

That's been another development these last weeks is a significant though not yet at all total weening from the internet time-suck.

I've now also begun working on a study chunk of time as well as recovering the swim time which I've completely lost.

I"m zeroing in on a workable time to get things started.

Le Sueur, "St. Gervaise" 1652

The 5:00 AM wakeup is working.  It's the start-time for Matins and Lauds that's in flux.  If I start at 5:50 AM  I'd be done, on average by 6:50 AM.  Prime then would start at 7:20 AM and I'd be on time to make it to school for the 7:40 AM prayer.  Right?  No.  Why?  I'm rushing the recitation of the hours.  Literally saying the words about as fast as I can, intelligibly.  This is death, as I've noted earlier.  I need more time.  Would five minutes help?  Let's start with that and see.  Even if it's not a full five minutes.  What if I open the Church at 5:45 AM?  How does that sound?  Still not a ton of time.  And for longer offices, not much difference.

Right now I've been starting M/L 55 minutes after wakeup.  This has got to shrink.  I've been getting into the kitchen more than 30 minutes and sometimes more than 35 minutes after wakeup.  That's gotta shrink.  Coffee and headlines have taken more than ten minutes and sometimes almost twenty.  Not much to shrink there, except that I can improve the mindset that it's a brief cup of coffee and a quick glance at headlines.  I could skip it altogether.  But for now I'd rather not.  I could also front-load the coffee/headlines to right at wakeup.  That may make it take longer, but it may make showering and such go quicker.  I'm intrigued there.

I'd like to aim for opening the church at 5:40 AM.  Of course a sure-fire way of nailing this would be to publish it in the bulletin or to announce it on Sundays.  That's not just the nuclear option.  It's also a goal.  To publish the times when the church is regularly opened for prayer.  That's not unreasonable.

Another resolution:

A not hot shower in the morning.  This, I expect could have a two-fold benefit of saving time and waking up the body.  I'll try it on Day One of Lent, tomorrow.  Let's see if this puts me in the kitchen with the coffee before 5:30 AM.

I Love Preaching

Lately, I'm discovering the responsibility of preaching to be an increasingly humbling obligation.  The better I preach, the more effective the homily, the more awesome the responsibility.  My sense of the enormity of the obligation is accelerating as my improvements merely sputter along sometimes good sometimes meh.

This should cause me to double-down on prep.  I admire a friend who seems so committed to improving the preaching constantly, week in and week out.

Nothing to report on the resolution for 1 whole week.

"St. Nick"
Gozzoli

Let's let it be, in terms of reporting here on it.

For one thing it plays fast-and-loose with the border between "useful writing exercise" and "too much information."  Out of respect for that border.  That'll be all for now until at least 3/1 on the resolution.

I'll have to find something else to get wordy about in the meantime.  Wish me luck figuring out what that might be.

Blogging about the struggle to get up on time...it's what I know

"Madonna" Campin

The struggle is what I know.

I won't call it a "snooze" because it was within the parameters of what I've been preparing.  Instead of 4:45 AM, got up—reset the alarm for 5:00 AM, went back to sleep and got up at 5:00 AM.  Successfully.

The tricky thing about getting up at 5:00 AM instead of 4:45 AM is that there is very little room for false steps.  I should've mentioned, today is a school day.  So I have to be standing inside the gym at the school when the bell rings at 7:40 AM.  If I'm late for the bell it may as well be a Saturday, for all intents and purposes.

This morning I was in the kitchen at 5:28 AM starting the coffee.  Those 28 minutes were key.  If I can make it in 25 minutes, even better, but that hasn't happened yet, ever—that I can remember.  Certainly not this year.  What I've done to this point is I've taken 30-45 minutes to do what I should only take 25-30 minutes to do.  This schlepping was to allow myself enough time, but it was also costing me 75 minutes of sleep lost per-week.  If I can get those 75 minutes back and convert that extra sleep into a 25-30 minute hustle, then I've made some real progress.  I will have gained an additional 75 minutes of free time per-week.

"Time is souls."

One thing I like about Campin's "Madonna" here is how small the Christ child is.  Much littler and younger than is typical elsewhere.  Also, Our Lady has got great hair.

"Be Children of your heavenly Father..."

Here's the upshot form last Sunday.

5:15 AM because no school today

This worked out, just in enough time.

5:15 AM wakeup.  I'm thinking that this is as late as it's going to get on days when I want to pray the canonical hours at their proper times as well as include the half-hour of mental prayer before Mass.

Anything later than 5:15 AM and stuff gets punted to after Mass.  And that's lame.  That's there if I need it.  But if I don't need it, it's lame.

So: 5:00 AM on Sundays; 4:45 AM Monday through Friday; and 5:15 AM on Saturdays and on non-school days.

Lets try this for a couple of weeks.

And, I can always fall back to 4:45 AM everyday if I need to.  And 4:30 AM is the early end of normal.  Both of which I may need on any given day.

And I'm leaving 5:00 AM everyday on the table as a goal.  But I'm not there yet.

5:00 AM This Sunday

5:00 AM wakeup worked today (Sunday).  I'll try it again next week.  5:15 would've meant too much of a rush for the hours which are already suffering from my bad habit of going too quickly.  4:45 AM may still be necessary, depending.  But I'll give the 5:00 AM another try next week.

By the way, the 8:00 AM version of the homily was an improvement over the night before.  And (I'm updating this after the 10:00 AM) the 10:00 AM was better still.

The transitions need to be sharper.  That's because the main points are not well defined.  So, here's what they are:

What's the Sermon on the Mount?
What's Divine Filiation?
How does Divine filiation help us love our enemies?

That's the flow of the homily.  Transitions, then, should be.

"Love your enemies" will be too hard if we've missed the whole point of the Sermon.  Let's take a step back and look at the Sermon on the Mount for a minute.

Jesus reveals a bombshell about God: he's our father.  "Luuuke, I am your faaahtherrr." "NOOO!!!"

Now that we see God is our Father, here's why "Love your enemies" makes sense.

Preaching this Sunday

"Meeting" Fra Angelico

I went big picture.  Divine Filiation.  And I pretty much stayed big picture.  I'd like to tweak it.  Bring it into a concert example.  Otherwise it's tough to relate to.

The Gospel is "Love your enemies." And "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect."  It's the middle of the Sermon on the Mount.

I gave a birdseye of the Sermon on the Mount.  It's the "teaching of Jesus Christ.  It's authority unlike anything anyone had ever heard before.  But this is especially true about God as Father and we a Children of God.

I ended up rather thinly referring to the exact content of the pericope itself.  That is, it was a theme of the homily only towards the end.

Letter

My Dear Spiritual Sons and Daughters in the Lord,

The Gospel reading at Mass this Sunday is taken from the portion of the Gospel of Matthew that is called “The Sermon on the Mount.” They are words which Jesus speaks to his followers to teach them how God wants them to live their lives.

Jesus’ teaching gives us the right mindset we need to approach all of the parts of our lives with the mindset of God himself. Jesus goes on at great length in The Sermon on the Mount. The portion which we hear this Sunday concerns how we should respond to those who make life difficult for us. Keep in mind how we make life difficult for God.

Tisi, "Virgin"

Some people make life hard for us. How should we deal with them? Should we respond by making life hard for them in return? That may seem only fair. But is their a still more excellent way? Indeed, there is a still more excellent way. And this is the way that Christ expects us to follow. And if we want to enjoy heaven, then we had better follow it. It is the way of Jesus Christ himself. It is the way which reflects the love of God.

In order, first, for any of Jesus’ encouragements to make sense it is important for us to remember that God in his great goodness wants to rescue us from being lost forever. And more than that, he wants to make all of us his sons and daughters. God doesn’t have to do this. God would have been perfectly justified allowing us to remain in our condition of having lost the blessed eternity forfeited by our first parents. But God is so good. He shows us how we can regain that happiness by his own great act of forgiving us who had so dreadfully wronged him.

As a condition of our newfound sonship, God expects us to return good for evil when others offend us. This expectation is reasonable because we are showing how similar we are to our Savior. When Jesus says, “Offer no resistance to one who is evil,” “Give to the one who asks of you,“ and “Love your enemies,” He is really asking us to treat each other the way God has treated us. He is calling us to resemble by the perfection of our love for others, by our mercifulness and by the holiness of our lives the perfection, mercy and holiness of God.

We must have this mindset if we want to be called Christians. Let’s keep listening to Jesus’ words and acting on them.

Sincerely Your Spiritual Father in Christ,

Fr. Drew

Pronounce the words

Lorenzatti, "Man of Sorrow"

Let's look at the goal, the New Year's resolution, from within a broader perspective.  To pray the canonical hours is firstly and foremost a resolution "to pray." I've been focussing a lot on the peripheral, logistical elements of setting up the time to pray.  Necessary.  But I can't lose sight of the fact that this is supposed to be prayer.  It's supposed to be a direct interaction of an intimately relational sort with the living God.

This is where all of the little things such as when and how and where and what I'm saying yield the one big thing: communing with the Almighty.

Good to keep in mind as I continue to tweak the "lesser things." They're "lesser," however, not because they lack a strong relation with the bigger thing.  But because they're more susceptible to alteration for the sake of the preservation of the bigger thing.

Pronounce the words clearly.  Not slurred.  This is a lesser thing with a strong relation to the greater thing.

Saturday Mornings

Masaccio, "Madonna Casini"

7:25 AM and done with Prime.  35 minutes until Mass.  Wondering if it's worth trying to budget another 15 minutes of sleep on Saturday Mornings.  That would push wake-up to 5:15 AM. Perhaps worth a try as long as the morning office doesn't get rushed.  A larger data set would help me make that call.  I'll wait a couple of more Saturdays.  The same could go for Sundays, although, Matins is slightly longer.

It's the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Less than five minutes to post

Gozzoli "Augustine"

This is the same kind of post as yesterday.  I've got less than five minutes to get something on the blog between finishing Prime and leaving for school.  So this is it.

This resolution is starting to shape up.  Nicely, too.  5:38 AM and 61 minutes for ML.

Coffee and headlines were quicker.  But the up and atom time dragged more than it did yesterday.

An early morning mortification could be a remedy for that.  In addition to getting to bed ontime.  Last night was good there.

A quick post

"Pieta" Lippi

I'm in between Prime and getting ready to jump into the car to go to school for the morning prayer.  This is like a five minute window.  It seems too brief and volatile to be reliable for much more than a quick post or what have you.  But here it is.

Thank you note yesterday? Yes.
Matins and Lauds started at 5:42 AM and went 56 minutes.

A friend stopped by late last night, he was driving past the rectory and thought to call.  It was great to visit wit him.  Lights out was about 10:00 PM

An adjustment to the schedule

It's affecting blogposts, too.

4:45 AM is the wakeup time for the next week.  5:00 AM on Saturday.

"Joan of Arc," Siemiradzki

I'll clock Matins and Lauds for the week, too.  This morning, it began at 5:40 AM and lasted 55 mins.

The 4:45 AM instead of 4:30 AM gets me an extra 90 mins of sleep per week since I had pervious not been getting to bed any earlier.  It should also preempt the Saturday morning binge-sleep-fest that's been the last several Saturdays.  That consisted of sleeping in until after 7:00 AM.  That kind of oversleeping would be akin to gorging oneself if I hadn't  otherwise failed to get to bed on-time.

Why not 5:00 AM?  For that to result in a hurried recitation and flying out of here to get to school, I'd have to both skip the quick coffee 'n brief headline check as well as be absolutely prompt at every turn in the morning out of the gates.  Each moment between 5:00 AM and 7:30 AM would need to be right on time with great alacrity.  Perhaps that's something to work towards.  If so, then 5:00 AM could buy me an additional 105 mins of sleep per week.

But for now, I'll give myself a bit more time (another week) to perfect the execution of this morning routine.

It affects blogposts, because with a 4:30 AM wake I was blogging with coffee and headlines before ML.  Where this wore down was with the loss of 90 mins of sleep per week.  I liked that I could do it and may return to it depending on how important the blogging is to me.  But for now, these posts will be with "second breakfast."

Sputterin'

Not on the resolution, which is the Canonical Hours, but on where blogging/internet fits in.

I've been trying lately, as in two or three of the last three or four days (it didn't happen Saturday), to front-load the prayer.  Which means 5:15 AM Matins straight through Lauds, half-hour meditation, and finishing Prime at right about 7:00 AM.  That's worked a few times.  This gets me back in the rectory almost an hour before mass.  It also shows how much extra time there is in the morning, viz.  not more than 60 mins.

I'd love to use part of those 60 blogging and checking headlines.  We'll see where that goes.  Hence, until the regularity, these posts are suddenly hit and miss.

Thats all for now.

A tweak to the Morning: Hodie nunc.

Correggio, "Four Saints"

The idea is to defer the internet, headlines-checking until after the morning prayer.  I could've seen this coming, but there you have it.

The coffee in the morning is taken physically standing-up.  I can check a quick headline on the phone while drinking it.  But no laptop and no sitting down.

If I'm doing well, this morning I was in the kitchen at 5:01 AM (good), then I'm starting Matins at 5:15 AM.  I'll then go right into Lauds, as usual.  Then right into the half-hour of mental prayer followed by Prime.

This is what I tried this morning and I finished prime right at 7:00 AM.  And, voila, 30 minutes until I've got to get in the car to go to school.

These first posts, then will be published right at about 7:30 AM, I'm thinking.

Also, in case you're wondering if yesterday I wrote any thank you notes—even a single one—the answer is no.

And lastly, if you're also wondering whether the time indicated below corresponds to the time I closed my laptop, got up out of my seat and left to go to school after having made it happen this morning, the answer is
yes.

Resolution Update

I owe an update on the resolution.

If Prime is at 7:00 AM, that's fine.  The half-hour, then, should start at 6:30 AM, obviously. Then it's just a matter for dialing in on "how long" it takes to pray Matins & Lauds.  I've clocked that at about 60 minutes, or 5:30 AM.  Which means this morning as I type this, I'm already late, as you'll see at the bottom.

I like the 4:30 AM wake up and the 5:20 AM fast.  I was in the kitchen this morning, dressed and ready for coffee at 5:00 AM.  Very good, I'd say.

Also, in case you're wondering if yesterday I wrote any thank you notes—even a single one—the answer is yes.

And lastly, if you're also wondering whether the time indicated below corresponds to the time I closed my laptop, got up out of my seat and left to open the Church (or hop in the shower—if it's a Saturday) the answer is yes.

Visiting my millionaire friends

Lippi, "Annunciation"

"Mi Amor."  "Mi Alma."  "Mi Corazon."

This is how a lover addresses the love of his life.

The sick and the homebound, I need to think of this way.  May I never put them off just as I would never expect a lover to put off a chance to be with his beloved.

Or, would a millionaire miss a chance to go around introducing his millionaire buddies to his new trillionaire friend?  Were his trillionaire friend to want to know where all the cool millionaires hang out, how thrilled would he be to show him.  Just so, I bring Jesus to the sick in their homes.  Because I'm a millionaire.  They're millionaires.  And Jesus wants to be with them.

Guard against activist as against despair

There was a moment over the last several exhausting days where I noticed a temptation subtly and quietly rear its ugly head. (Is that a contradiction? Is "rearing" by definition neither subtle nor quiet? If it is a contradiction, then it was all the more alarming that I noticed it. Anyway.)

I've been working on praying those Hours. Life being as busy as it can be sometimes impinges on my ability.  This was especially so after receiving some dispiriting news.  So, amidst the hustle and bustle of what has to happen anyway, I noticed slippage in the dignity, attention and devotion with which I want to go about everything, especially the prayer.

Now, I know that the whole name of the game is learning to turn an otherwise really busy moment into a substantial case of love.  The moment becomes a stage, and the show that must go on must be played to the best audience of all, the Trinity, Our Lady, the Holy Souls, all the Saints, the ones immediately present.  Don't dog it just cause you're tired, or cause you're reeling from a bad report.  Keep at it.

That's all.

Took the Wind Out of My Sails

Amazing what some contrary news can do to you.  There I was, moseying along, writing my blog, morning after morning.  When, bam, contrary news.  And next thing you know four straight mornings went by without a peep.  What happened?

Let's review.  Don't lose the contrary news.  That came in on Friday morning, just a few hours after the last post.

But before the contrary news, what happened Friday evening?  I got in late after dinner with an out of town friend.  Which was great.  That was a long day.  March for life.  Lots of traveling all around the city, on foot (with newly-resoled shoes), in the car.  The hours were way off.  I borrowed from the Ordinary Form just to make it happen.

"Saint Christopher" by Dirk Bouts (1468)

Wednesday afternoon the first wave of contrary news hit, but I didn't notice it until Thursday afternoon.  Friday morning the second wave hit and it turned into total damage control.  I spent three hours writing the bulletin article about the matter.  (I'm not going to say, at this time, what the matter was outright, because that's not even the point.)  I've found sometimes that bulletin articles can be exhausting.  I'll have to figure out why another time.  That bulletin article was particularly exhausting, I was under the gun to be on the road to meet my friend.  That probably helped matters.  But the point of these last two paragraphs is to say, Friday was a long day.

So Saturday was a bit of a mess as a result in addition to being a busy day.  I was exhausted from the day before.  I slept in.  I had a couple of meetings.  Tried to get things ready for the evening Mass.  I thought to anticipate that I'd be held accountable for the matter of the contrary report by tackling it head on.  So I prepared to preach on it too.  This took more energy.  So Sunday morning I was distracted but it.  Monday, too, I was in some kind of fog.  Monday afternoon was the meeting where I was held accountable for the contrary report.  I was prepared for it.  It went well, thanks be to God.  But the whole thing was exhausting like I've never been exhausted before.  I'll figure out why some other time.

Even the recovery after-the-fact has taken a moment.  The Hours have helped, though I noticed I've had less vigor for them in the recitation itself.  Less chanting and more mere pronunciation—and sometimes even that was rather lame.

But we're moving now in the right direction.  I know time will help.  The hours are great for keeping me moving along.  Visiting the sick and teaching the children have also been wonderfully restorative, again, thanks be to God.

In observing my response to this contrary report I hope to be better prepared for the next one.  Not that I'm inviting them, but because I know they will come.

Thou, therefore gird up thy loins and arise, and speak to them all that I commanded thee. Be not afraid at their presence: for I will make thee not to fear their countenance. For behold I have made thee this day a fortified city, and a pillar of iron, and a wall of brass, over all the land, to the kings of Juda, to the princes thereof, and to the priests, and to the people of the land. They shall fight against thee, and shall not prevail: for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee. (Jer 1:17ff)

Today and tomorrow are "thank you note days."

Also, in case you're wondering if these last 4 days I wrote any thank you notes—even a single one—the answer is yes, maybe one.

And lastly, if you're also wondering whether the time indicated below corresponds to the time I closed my laptop, got up out of my seat and left to open the Church (or hop in the shower—if it's a Saturday) the answer is: yes

Humility, love for God and others

"If you want to get depressed, think about yourself."

Lord, help me to have a deep and abiding concern firstly for you.  Increase my love for you.  Help me to grow in love for you, especially in your Real, True and Substantial presence in the Most Holy Eucharist.  Help me to bring others to love your Eucharistic presence more deeply, too.

Make me docile to the corrections and suggestions of my ordinary, even as they are expressed through his delegates.  Let me see clearly, how such suggestions flow from and strengthen my first love which is for you in the Holy Eucharist.

Also, in case you're wondering if yesterday I wrote any thank you notes—even a single one—the answer is no.

And lastly, if you're also wondering whether the time indicated below corresponds to the time I closed my laptop, got up out of my seat and left to open the Church (or hop in the shower—if it's a Saturday) the answer is yes.

We're shifting again to Holy Communion

I've been asked about how I'd prefer the people receive Holy Communion.  The short answer is kneeling, at the rail, on the tongue.  This, I suspect, like other things I've noticed, while it will require instructing the faithful, will also  be easier than we're all given to believe.

We'll come back to the fear factor in a moment, let it suffice to recall my mom's encouragement regarding leadership.  They want to follow you; they will do it for you.  That'll work for now.  Even though I want them to do it for Jesus, if they're doing it for me and I'm instructing them well, they'll soon be doing it for Jesus, with greater love than I could imagine and quicker than I think they will.

It will be a win for our parish.

I've got to unfold it.

Also, in case you're wondering if yesterday I wrote any thank you notes—even a single one—the answer is yes.

And lastly, if you're also wondering whether the time indicated below corresponds to the time I closed my laptop, got up out of my seat and left to open the Church (or hop in the shower—if it's a Saturday) the answer is yes.

Not about the resolution...

I know so many of these last posts have been about the resolution.  Here's one that's not, even if I have to apologize for it at the beginning.

"Saint Paul," Rembrandt

I found a voice last night with the youngsters and teachers at CCD.  Mom, late on Christmas night, read me a paragraph from Keirsey's "Please understand me" on leadership.  Most of his insights seem painfully obvious.  This one was, too.  But the pain also yielded quickly to appreciation. It was about leadership.  I'll forget the details of it (small wonder) but the gist was that "They will follow you."  What I got a from mom was that the bond between "Pastor and parish" or between "friend and peers" is as strong as the relationship they have with you and you with them.  They will follow you because they love you.  There's been a fusion at the level of persons that has transcended the particularities of mission or objective.  They will follow you to the gates of hell, they will follow you into battle, they will follow you wherever you go...More later.

Also, in case you're wondering if yesterday I wrote any thank you notes—even a single one—the answer is no.

And lastly, if you're also wondering whether the time indicated below corresponds to the time I closed my laptop, got up out of my seat and left to open the Church (or hop in the shower—if it's a Saturday) the answer is yes.

The saga continues

It's too soon, yet, to clue a good friend in on this resolution, the canonical hours.  I'm still gaining confidence there, I suppose.  And that's not at all due to any deficiency about the matter of the resolution itself, rather more of my own commitment to follow through.  Still, when I intimated the slightest hint of it to him, his response was positive, "I need to do that."  So the sooner I get a firm handle on it, the better to spread the good news about it.

Gozzoli, "Salome"

I think there could be something within the resolution itself that can help with the reform of the clergy, broadly speaking.  More on that later.

I begin now to appreciate more deeply the maxim "Take care of order and order will take care of you." As I progress slowly, already some vistas open which I had only before hoped would be there.  One of which is the emergence of the greater practical necessity of hiring a part time cook.  No eye-rolls, please.  This is because punctuality is paying off.  If I hire a cook, I can tell her/him I need the meal at this precise time overtime.  Breakfast should be ready to go at 9:00 AM; Supper should be served at, say, 5:15 PM.  But because I know what time I'm going to be here, ready to sup or to break the fast, then I can hire someone, and budget what they might cost.  An hour's work in the morning plus an hour for two in the evening.  That's 3 hours a day for how many days?  Monday evening (2), Tuesday (3), Wednesday morning (1), Thursday evening (2), Friday (3), Saturday (3), Sunday (3).  That's 17 hours at $15 dollars an hour is $255/week.  Or $12K-13K/year. Part-time. Plus the cost of food.

Also, in case you're wondering if yesterday I wrote any thank you notes—even a single one—the answer is yes.

And lastly, if you're also wondering whether the time indicated below corresponds to the time I closed my laptop, got up out of my seat and left to open the Church (or hop in the shower—if it's a Saturday) the answer is yes.

I thought we were gonna Schedule Sunday evening's Adoration?

What's the plan here?

There are two stages to Mass setup that evening. One immediate and one remote.

The immediate goes after takedown following Benediction.  Benediction is at 5:45 PM.  It cannot be later else 6:00 PM Mass will start late.  Takedown and setup—let's call this the transition into the evening Mass needs to be as simplified as possible.  The complete put away of benediction can happen after Monday morning Mass, although it shouldn't be that complicated.

Transition involves:

"Dream of the Palace" Giotto

Cope
Humeral veil
Thurible and stand
Monstrance
Altar Crucifix
Typical Mass on High Altar

For this transition to happen in less than 10 minutes there needs to be complete attention.

This is what we're looking at, realistically:

5:45 PM: Benediction
5:53 PM: Transition
5:57 PM: Vest
6:00 PM: Mass

And remember, no rushing the Benediction or the vesting.  For this to work, 5:45 PM is a hard deadline and Mass is pre-set and ready to go right onto the altar, including vestments.  Any help in this regard would make things much easier.  But, it is possible, at least on paper.

All of this pre-set happens before the MBS is exposed.  Which means, if I intend to do the PM half-hour meditation (30 minutes) as well as Vespers (10 minutes), the bell rings at 5:00 PM to begin the holy hour.  Set up for holy hour takes a good 10 minutes (burning incense, placing candles, clearing altar, removing altar crucifix, etc) and so does Mass setup.  So 4:40 PM at the latest.  But remember, last time I went at 4:30 PM and ran out of time.  I'll try it again at 4:30 PM.

At 4:30 PM Sunday evening, it's time for me to be "back at work."

How to Schedule "Catechism talks"

How to Schedule "Catechism talks"

I'll need to come up with a schedule.

Right now I'm thinking: four per week.  Each talk is to last half-an-hour

1) Weekday midday
2) Weekday evening
3) Saturday midmorning
4) Sunday midday

I could try it for a month and see how it goes.

Where to put Terce?

"St. Mark"
Fra Angelico.
We're reading Mark
at daily Mass

Where to put Terce?

Immediately after communion after Mass? Or some later time during the 9:00 AM hour?

I already know, if it's a funeral morning, then Terce happens immediately. Also, Sundays it should happen immediately.  Also, if I have to be anywhere off campus it should happen immediately. Those are three good reasons for making it happen immediately.  Any objections?

If it's later, say 9:30 AM it could 'break up' the feeling that I'm in the church all morning long.  Not that it's a bad thing.  It could invite others who wouldn't come to 8:00 AM Mass.  But that sounds rather idealistic.  I could have some breakfast.  But I'd have it anyway.

I think it should stay where it is, immediately after thanksgiving after Mass.

Got anymore brain busters?

Yes, here's another brain buster.  Will someone please tell me how I'm supposed to celebrate the Divine Office in Choir when I'm the only one in the whole Church?

It took longer than expected

I took my time with Matins/Lauds this morning, no rush.  Slowing down especially the "Gloria patri".  I ended up at about 65 minutes.  This is good to keep in mind in the future for mornings with Nine readings.

Part of the mentality here was to notice how different I pray when I'm keenly aware of someone else present.  The Lord is always present, but, sadly, my motivation here was less noble.  But not entirely ignoble.  I'm supposed to pray on behalf of my people.  If I'm more apt to pray digne ac attente  when they're present, I imagined them present.  It made a difference.  Now, since the Lord is always present, and my guardian angel...you see where this is going.

Anyhow, 65 Minutes.

Try this next Sunday evening

Setup for Monday morning Mass as much as possible right at 6:55 PM or as I'm divesting following the 6:00 PM Mass and getting ready to go to 7:15 PM dinner.  This may be good for Sunday's because of how late dinner typically goes.  Last night I didn't leave the sacristy having setup for this morning's Mass until about 9:15 PM following Compline.  Compline, you'll remember, should come after setup, by the way.

Texted my bro for this morning.  That was good.

"Burial of Saint Lucy" Caravaggio

More rigorous homily prep needs to be in order.  This will pacify my own post-homily thraldom.   When I think I did I good job, I'm high as a kite; when I think I messed it up, I'm down in the dumps. Why not remove the surprise-factor and anticipate by solid prep that it's going to be a good one, every time instead of a guessing game.  "Is this one gonna be good or a stinker?"  That's kid's stuff.  Do the work.  Prepare better.

Publish in the bulletin the  Divine Office schedule for Feb 2?  More later.

I can't get over this Caravaggio of Saint Lucy.  I'm not normally huge on Caravaggio.  Incredible talent, no doubt; but I'm not always on his same wavelength as his interpretations of biblical scenes.  I guess I think he can be a bit over-hyped as the "be all and end all;" at least that's how I've noticed him hyped.

But, this one with St. Lucy is different.  It's devastating. It's her burial. I remember Caravaggio as typically depicting tension and struggle. But that's not here.  This is a post-mortem. She's been martyred. She's being laid to rest.  The painting almost looks unfinished. I think because it's dark where they laid her.  That may be it.  Caravaggio is typically awesome with light.  But light here has been scattered by herd death.  But it hasn't because she's perfect now.  Those who are with her are faithful.  Their sad.  But they have faith.  It's a tough one.  Different from other Caravaggios.

Also, in case you're wondering if yesterday I wrote any thank you notes—even a single one—the answer is yes.

And lastly, if you're also wondering whether the time indicated below corresponds to the time I closed my laptop, got up out of my seat and left to open the Church (or hop in the shower—if it's a Saturday) the answer is yes.

Saturday evenings

I misjudged the importance of the 3:00 PM hour.

In order for dinner not to be too late on a Saturday Evening, it should be just about the first thing to happen after the Saturday evening Mass, that is, about 6:15 PM or 6:30 PM.  Last night I was sitting down to a bowl of pasta at almost 8:30 PM.  I didn't hit the hay until 10:00 AM.  I was up on time, 4:30 AM this morning, but with six-and-a-half hours of sleep as opposed to the preferred as-close-to-8-as-possible I can expect this evening to be a drag.

"Saint James" Fra Angelico

So, the 3:00 PM Saturday afternoon heroic minute has an effect on Sunday evening quality time with the guys.  Connecting those dots is easy enough.

Terce, the half-hour meditation and Vespers were all after Mass yesterday evening when they need to all be before.  This means, just as I need to crash-land the plane to end the day at 8:20 PM when I'm in the sacristy setting up for the next morning, so also I need to crash-land the plane at 3:00 PM.  This also means the last train to leave the station for the swimming pool on Saturdays is 1:30 PM and at 1:15 PM on Weekdays.

Sunday evenings are going to need to be ironed out, too.  That's coming up forthwith.

Also, in case you're wondering if yesterday I wrote any thank you notes—even a single one—the answer is no.

And lastly, if you're also wondering whether the time indicated below corresponds to the time I closed my laptop, got up out of my seat and left to open the Church (or hop in the shower—if it's a Saturday) the answer is yes.

Saturdays

I didn't give myself enough time this morning.  The meditation was ten minutes short (I made it up after Mass) and Prime was rushed.

I got up at 5:00 AM, a bit tired.  But that wore off once I got headlines going.  I took about fifteen minutes too long with headlines.  That showed up in the abbreviated meditation.

"Reassuring Thomas," Duccio

I wanted to take my time getting going this morning, but I let it go on longer than necessary.

It's one thing to check headlines and even to get deeper into some interesting articles, but to waste time online and make the prayer suffer for it—that's just lame.

So, more concretely, I got to the church to open up at about 6:25 AM.  I'll need to make that 6:10 AM next time.  Since shower/shave was after coffee because it is a Saturday, and coffee was done by 5:20 AM, this means it I spent over an hour between headlines and finally opening the church.

Here's what it looked like:

5:00 AM: Up/Coffee
5:20 AM: End coffee/continue headlines
5:37 AM: Sent an email about Inaugural Ball
[this is the no man's land I'm concerned about]
6:25 AM: Open church

Also, because I was rushing, that whole Matins & Lauds were also rushed.  Hence the need next week for a 6:10 AM opening.

Moreover, since there's no break before going into Prime, the whole thing needs to be on time.  Two things about this: 1) all the more reason to be punctual, not to schlep parts and rush others; and 2) that's a good two-and-a-half strait hours in the Church every Saturday morning.  A mundane caution, watch out for the need to visit the restroom in that time.

Lastly, yesterday I wrote this many thank you notes: 0.

Progress report on the New Year's Resolution

Wake up has been at 4:30 AM on School Days and on Sundays.  I'll try a 5:00 AM wake up for this Saturday and see how it goes.

5:00 AM Saturday wakeup means shower/shave happen after coffee/blog/headlines ending still by 5:20 AM.  Matins/Lauds starts at 5:50 AM.

I have noticed a lack of punctuality or a tendency to drag at the 5:20 AM spot as well as at the start of the Half-hour of Mental prayer.  If the Half-hour of mental prayer is late to start on School Days, then Prime is rushed.  6:45 AM is too late to start the mental prayer.  I think 6:40 AM is the latest and 6:35 AM is better.  The same is true for ending coffee/blog/headlines and getting over to start Matins/Lauds.  I think unlocking the church at 5:20 AM is the new goal.

I haven't done much to set up for the 8:00 AM Mass.  That can lead to last minute stress.  To reduce this stress, I should add Mass setup to the pre-Compline routine.  This means 8:05 PM Mass Setup.

Texting my brother at the bedtime hour and at 4:30 AM helps keep both.

The repetition of the 4:30 AM—5:20 AM sequence has abbreviated the shower/shave part and given a bit more time for the coffee/blog/headlines part.  That's 50 Minutes.  I'd like to maximize the coffee/blog/headlines portion of that.  Right now it's 30 minutes to 15 minutes.  That's a 15 minute gap.  I'll refer to reducing this differential as closing the gap.  I'd like to close that gap.  That'll be up on the next progress report.

I've found that Matins/Lauds does not typically take longer than 60-75 minutes, especially as I've gained more practice.  It's probably more like 55-65 minutes.

An important realization I had this morning that I need to emphasize is that I'm not at all trying to "get done" the office in as short a time as is practical.  That is not my goal.  That would give priority to a spirit of haste which I should regard with great mistrust.


(Advance especially to 3:00-3:15)

Naming an intention for any given morning, is important too.  I haven't done that.

Areas of concern, to sum: 1) text bro; 2) close the shower-coffee gap; 3) open at 5:20 AM; 4) Mass setup at 8:05 PM; 5) Start AM Mental Prayer at 6:40 AM; 6) don't rush.

So updated schedule looks like this:

4:30 AM: Rise; Morning Offering

4:55 AM: Coffee/Blog/Headlines
5:20 AM: Open Church; Matins/Lauds

6:40 AM: Half-Hour Meditation

7:10 AM: Prime

7:25 AM: Go to School

7:45 AM: Prep for Mass

8:00 AM: Mass

8:40 AM: Thanksgiving

8:45 AM: Terce

12:00 PM: Angelus

12:05 PM: Sixth

2:30 PM: None

2:50 PM: Go to school

4:00 PM: Half-Hour Meditation

4:30 PM: Vespers
8:05 PM: Setup for Morning Mass

8:15 PM: Compline

8:45 PM: Three Hail-Mary's

Next report in a week.

My brother is the real early-riser...

...I'm just the wannabe.

I've yet to mention that on the motivations of this recent enterprise has been my brother who has began an apprenticeship as an electrician.  He needs to be at his job site at 6:00 AM, which means he has to be up by 4:30 AM.

Know that he is up, as are his co-workers as well as countless other working men has given me an impetus to start the day at the same time.  If they're going to work, I'm going to work.  After all, I have an "office" to go to.

Revenge of the Afternoon Cup of Coffee

"Clever Girl"

I drank a cup of coffee at about 2:00 PM yesterday afternoon.  I was in bed by 9:10 PM but I couldn't fall asleep until closer to 10:00 PM.  Not terrible, but enough to make me question the wisdom of that afternoon cup of coffee.

Live and learn.

I also see I owe a progress report on the adjusted schedule.  It is forthcoming.

Matins and Laudes together takes an hour

This is in case I find myself wondering at any future point how long it takes me.  Also, Matins and Lauds together when there are Nine readings will take more like 75 minutes.  I should budget this time into the morning routine on such days.

So, Matins & Lauds + Half-an-hour of mental prayer is 90 minutes (105 on big feasts).  If all this is to happen on a day when Prime can't be later than 7:10 AM, then I need to be on the way over to unlock the church no later than 5:40 AM (or 5:25 AM on big feasts).  But if I were to pause briefly for ten minutes, as I'm doing now, between M/L and MP, this pushes the unlock time to 5:15 AM.

In other words, the scheme I've worked out is practical for school days.  Non-school days lets me advance the whole thing 30 minutes—which is how long it takes me to go and come back for the 7:40 AM prayer.

Sundays, I'll keep the 4:30 AM wake up, because it feels great to have time on Sundays rather than to be rushing.

There are a few hinges in this: Prime is either at 7:10 AM or 7:40 AM; Matins/Lauds is either 60 or 75 Minutes.  Fasting begins at 5:20 AM.

Sunday fasting can begin as late at 5:35 AM.  Interesting.  I'll have to come back to that.

St. Genevieve, pray for us

Adjusted Schedule, on trial until January 18th

The following is an adjusted schedule based on the one that has been in effect since January 3rd.  I still would love and extra five or ten more minutes before opening the church to enjoy more headlines and coffee.  But I also won't go earlier than 4:30 AM with rise (for now).  So that means I'll have to shower and dress quicker.

Essentially, right now, what I'm saying is that I'm "in the saddle" or rather, "In my office" by 5:15 AM.

4:30 AM: Rise

"St. Jerome Tempted by Dancing Girls"
Limbourg Borthers (1408)

5:00 AM: Coffee, Headlines
5:15 AM: Open Church (Begin 3-hour Eucharistic Fast)
5:20 AM: Matins
6:00 AM: Lauds

6:40 AM: Half-Hour Meditation

7:10 AM: Prime

7:25 AM: Go to School

7:45 AM: Prep for Mass

8:00 AM: Mass

8:40 AM: Thanksgiving

8:45 AM: Terce

12:00 PM: Angelus

12:05 PM: Sixth

2:30 PM: None

2:50 PM: Go to school

4:00 PM: Half-Hour Meditation

4:30 PM: Vespers

8:15 PM: Compline

8:45 PM: Three Hail-Mary's

You can count on Alex to be in his office.  You should count on me to be in mine.

More reporting on the resolution to pray the Canonical Hours

More of a progress report on the New Years resolution.

So far: so good.  Generally.

One thing I've adjusted is that the Church opens at 5:15 AM and Matins starts now at 5:20 AM.  Wake up, then becomes 4:30 AM.  This is to have enough time for a cup of coffee and light breakfast before the 3-hour Eucharistic Fast before the 8:00 AM Mass.

St. Francis receiving the Stigmata

I will try this for a week and see how it goes.  Giving another report.

The thing about 5:20 AM Matins followed immediately by Lauds is that there's not much time before the 6:30 AM Half-hour meditation begins.  The Half-hour began about 6:45 AM.  It went right into Prime which ended at 7:25 AM and I made it with a few minutes to spare for the 7:40 AM opening prayer at the school.  Not bad.  But much wiggle room either.

Amazing that I can get up at 4:30 AM and still be hustling to get things done.

But let's try it again this week and see if it's more natural.

The rest of the hours are good.  There's little prep for Mass.  And even though Terce after Mass is good, I've neglected the thanksgiving somewhat.

8:15 PM Compline may be a better time ignorer to set up an 8:30 PM bed time.

It's shaping up, though.

More later.

Progress report

This is a progress report of sorts on the New Year's Resolution.

Presentation of Christ:Melchior Broederlam

It's conceptual as opposed to a complete report, with times etc—although one of those will be good sooner rather than later.

Several things come to mind.

Rise up, workers!  Not in the Marxist sense.  In the fathers-of-families sense.  They're up early because they're good pros.

Divine office.  We'll come back to that.

Coffee.

Three-hour Eucharistic fast.  It's computed from the time not of the Mass (i.e. 8:00 AM), but rather from the moment of Communion.  Which is when?  I'd say not earlier than 8:15 AM.  What's the earliest I ever say the words "Ecce Agnus Dei?" To be safe, I'd call it 8:15 AM.  I could say 8:20.  And that would probably be accurate, too.  This means I should proclaim the fast at 5:15 AM.

Getting to bed.

And ending Sunday evening.

I like the get-together with the guys, but I also like getting a good start on Monday.  I'm finding that leaving the restaurant around 9PM is always too late.  The tough part is, I can't get to the restaurant before 7:15 PM.  This is generally a late dinner already.  But we are usually not served until around 7:45 PM.  Then there's the important need to visit with the guys.  My point is, for my comfort, generally the whole thing is too late.

If we were to aim for earlier, we have to go much earlier because of my interest in Vespers and Benediction before beginning the 6:00 PM Mass.  This means, as we saw this past Sunday, 4:30 PM setting up in the Church for 5:00 PM Exposition of the MBS.  5:45 PM is the latest to give the Benediction.

I'll try 7:15 PM Pizza and Beer at my rectory with 8:30 PM Compline in the Church and see how it works.