Pro Vobis Dominum

Humorous and Annoying Catholic

[ordopraedicatorum]

The Nativity by Fra Angelico

[eternal-echoes]

A woman came from a man’s rib. Not from the legs to be humiliated… Not from the head to excel… But from the side, to be side by side with him to be equal with him. From under the arm to be protected… and from the heart to be loved.

Saint Augustine (via catherine-of-alexandria)

[quite-privileged-blog]

LGBT 👏 IS 👏 A 👏 SIN 👏 AND 👏 THERE'S 👏 NOTHING 👏 YOU 👏 CAN 👏DO 👏 ABOUT 👏 IT 👏

[philosophybits]

It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.

Seneca, Moral Letters to Lucilius (via philosophybits)

[catholiccom-blog]

Gospel Genealogy and the Young Earth

Full Question

        Why does Luke 3:23 with Jesus’ geneology not require a young Earth?        

Answer

The short answer is that neither St. Luke’s genealogy of Jesus nor St. Matthew’s (Matthew 1) presumes to deal with the age of the Earth. Matthew’s traces Christ’s lineage from King David, showing that Jesus is both the Messiah and king of Israel. Luke’s goes back to Adam, illustrating that Jesus is the Savior of all mankind.

However, in saying that Adam is a “son of God,” Luke is not asserting that creation overall, let alone the earth in particular, began several literal twenty-four-hour days before the creation of Adam and Eve, although many young-Earth advocates hold that view.

The Church has not taken a definitive stand on the ages of the universe and Earth, and it likely won’t, because these are scientific matters, not religious ones. The Church does affirm, however, that God created both. Scientists generally believe that the universe is about 13.8 billion years old and the Earth about 4.5 billion. Scripture teaches us “that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Pet. 3:8). So one should be cautious in reading too much into “the seven days” of creation recorded in the Book of Genesis.

For more information on the Church’s perspective on Adam and Eve, evolution, and the respective ages of the universe and Earth, please see this Catholic Answers tract.

[peashooter85]

Thomas Jefferson and the Giant Cheese,

In the summer of 1801, Elder John Leland of the Baptist church at Cheshire, Massachusetts convinced his congregation to make a giant cheese in honor of the current president, Thomas Jefferson.  It must have been an odd experience, a pastor at the pulpit preaching that an abnormally large roll of cheese should be made for the president in honor of his republicanism and defense of religious liberty.  But the people of Cheshire dutifully made the cheese, utilizing the milk of 900 cows and forming it with a 6 foot diameter cider press.  When finished, the cheese measured 4’ 4.5’’ in diameter and was 1’ 3’’ thick, weighing in at 1,230 pounds.  In November the cheese was shipped 500 miles to Washington, first down the Hudson River, then down the Atlantic coast to Baltimore, then by wagon to Washington.  

The giant cheese was presented to Jefferson on New Year’s Day, 1802, and was engraved with the motto, “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God”.  Since Jefferson had a policy of not receiving gifts while in office, he paid $200 for the massive cheese.  Critics in the Federalist party criticized Jefferson for the large cheese, with one writer describing it as a “mammoth” cheese, the first time in history the word mammoth was ever used as an adjective.  

Over the next three years it was served and slowly consumed at various White House dinners and official conventions.  It was last served at a presidential reception in 1805, afterwards the remainder was dumped in the Potomac River, as the cheese had gone bad.

[peashooter85]

Thomas Jefferson and the Giant Cheese,

In the summer of 1801, Elder John Leland of the Baptist church at Cheshire, Massachusetts convinced his congregation to make a giant cheese in honor of the current president, Thomas Jefferson.  It must have been an odd experience, a pastor at the pulpit preaching that an abnormally large roll of cheese should be made for the president in honor of his republicanism and defense of religious liberty.  But the people of Cheshire dutifully made the cheese, utilizing the milk of 900 cows and forming it with a 6 foot diameter cider press.  When finished, the cheese measured 4’ 4.5’’ in diameter and was 1’ 3’’ thick, weighing in at 1,230 pounds.  In November the cheese was shipped 500 miles to Washington, first down the Hudson River, then down the Atlantic coast to Baltimore, then by wagon to Washington.  

The giant cheese was presented to Jefferson on New Year’s Day, 1802, and was engraved with the motto, “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God”.  Since Jefferson had a policy of not receiving gifts while in office, he paid $200 for the massive cheese.  Critics in the Federalist party criticized Jefferson for the large cheese, with one writer describing it as a “mammoth” cheese, the first time in history the word mammoth was ever used as an adjective.  

Over the next three years it was served and slowly consumed at various White House dinners and official conventions.  It was last served at a presidential reception in 1805, afterwards the remainder was dumped in the Potomac River, as the cheese had gone bad.

[peashooter85]

The Ice Fortresses of World War I,

 The Italian front of World War I was one of the most unique battlegrounds in history.  When it comes to World War I, most people envision muddy trenches, the Italian Front of WWI was mostly fought in the Alps.  Thus, entire armies were fighting on steep cliffs and frozen glaciers, often thousands of feet above sea level.  It was not uncommon for both the Italians and Austro-Hungarians/Germans to carve large and intricate ice fortresses within Alpine glaciers, complete with machine guns, artillery ports, miles and miles of tunnels and rooms.

One of the largest ice fortresses was a complex created by the Austrian Army and designed by Austrian engineer Leo Handl.  Called “The City of Ice”, the fortress consisted of a complex of buildings and fortifications which were carved directly out of the ice of Marmolada glacier on Mount Marmolada in the northwestern corner of Italy.  The complex featured 5 miles of tunnels, enough barracks to house 1,500 troops, a number of artillery and machine gun ports, trenches, a cafeteria, a chapel, an armory and a saloon.  The Italians had a similar size ice fortress called cittá del ghiaccio.

The Italian Front of World War I was an especially brutal war, where just as many men died due to storms, exposure, and avalanches as did bullets and bombs. In one fateful night in 1917, massive storm caused several avalanches, killing up to ten thousand men.  Today, melting Alpine glaciers are revealing the detritus and frozen corpses of World War I.

[peashooter85]

Northeastern corner of Italy.