New Colors for New York's Dolan

A titanic figure in the American Church at present, the Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, is soon to acquire a new title--Cardinal. Of course, as the Archbishop of what we in the Western hemisphere may simply call "The City" (following a custom that goes back to Ancient Rome), the promotion has been anticipated since he became Archbishop in 2009. Now that his immediate predecessor, Cardinal Egan, is approaching the age of 80, Dolan's entrance to the Papal Senate follows the ecclesial custom of keeping no more than one "conclavable" Cardinal per city/diocese.

Congratulations to Timothy Dolan: President of the USCCB, Archbishop of New York, respected author, devoted pastor, and holy priest!

(You can also do what I do, and follow this story at Whispers in the Loggia, where Rocco Palmo seems to stay up-to-the-minute with this kind of stuff.)

Buon' Anno!

Auguri, my friends!

And who couldn't love this one?

This is a classic from my childhood that I wanted to share with you all. I have such fond memories of watching this, and was delighted to find it in its entirety on YouTube. Modern technology does have its perks!



You're looking there at the 1983 classic, Mickey's Christmas Carol, which is, of course, based on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Enjoy! And, if you have kids around who haven't had this pleasure, I highly recommend gathering them 'round the screen.

Another Favorite

I will try and get a real Christmas message out to you tomorrow. You know, a nice reflection on the birth of Christ and the state of American society in the Twenty-first Century. For the time being, I will just share this little ditty with you. Perhaps my all-time favorite, I saved it just for tonight. Merry Christmas!



That would be "O Holy Night" as sung by Celine Dion. Not bad background graphics, either, in my humble opinion. Enjoy this blessed night!

Italian Style

One of my own favorites, and also that of the late Fr. Mario Buttini, OSJ. Enjoy.




That would be "Tu Scendi dalle Stelle" as sung by Andrea Bocelli, written by St. Alphonsus Liguori. Here are the original lyrics and an English translation:

Tu scendi dalle stelle,

O Re del Cielo,

e vieni in una grotta,

al freddo al gelo.

O Bambino mio Divino

Io ti vedo qui a tremar,

O Dio Beato

Ahi, quanto ti costò

l'avermi amato!

A te, che sei del mondo

il Creatore,

mancano panni e fuoco;

O mio Signore!

Caro eletto Pargoletto,

Quanto questa povertà

più mi innamora!

Giacché ti fece amor

povero ancora!

From starry skies descending,

Thou comest, glorious King,

A manger low Thy bed,

In winter's icy sting;

O my dearest Child most holy,

Shudd'ring, trembling in the cold!

Great God, Thou lovest me!

What suff'ring Thou didst bear,

That I near Thee might be!

Thou art the world's Creator,

God's own and true Word,

Yet here no robe, no fire

For Thee, Divine Lord.

Dearest, fairest, sweetest Infant,

Dire this state of poverty.

The more I care for Thee,

Since Thou, o Love Divine,

Will'st now so poor to be.

A Festivus Miracle!

As today is indeed Festivus (for the rest of us), I think that my happy resolution to the YouTube quandary should be duly recorded as a Festivus miracle. For those who know, no explanation is necessary. For those who don't this explanation should be sufficient.

Here it comes...

Well, now that we have complete 100 posts and are approaching 3,000 pageviews on this fledgling little blog, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you all (however many of you there actually are) for reading and even, occasionally, commenting. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have!

That said, I did also want to apologize for abandoning my cyber post for all of fifteen days this month. As it turns out, finals and then the always-fascinating preparations for Christmas have selfishly consumed fifteen of my December days, and I don't think I can expect them back. In any event, I have a little spare time this morning, and so I wanted to share with you some more Christmas music, which is one of my favorite kinds of music in general.

Here, the "Carol of the Bells" by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra (first), Celtic Woman (second), and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (third). The TSO version, as should be expected, features a modern rock-guitar twist, but I think it works. I also like the Irish fiddle solo superimposed onto the traditional melody in the Celtic Woman rendition. And, of course, the Mormon Tabernacle singers are simply superb. Which version do you like best?


TSO


Celtic Woman


Mo Tab

Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold

I had previously seen a couple of shorter trailers for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, but they were not particularly revealing or inspiring (for Tolkien, which is a higher-set bar than average anyway, one might well wager). This new one, however, is quite nice, and I am now anticipating the (first) movie all the more. What do you think?



Concerning The Hobbit (I had to phrase it that way, of course), I would here note my personal opinion that the book does not, as far as I can recall, necessitate two feature films--and that do make them is likely to be simply a money-making ploy. I imagine it will be a successful one, too, because the first Hobbit film does now look quite good, and the Lord of the Rings films were, as well. However, fairness would dictate that I should also mention some of the chatter that I've heard indicating that the films are supposed to contian what we might call "supplemental" material. From what I hear, that does not mean that the producers of the fils are adding their own ideas and concepts (at least, not too much), but rather that they will be including material from the famous Appendices to The Lord of the Rings, and perhaps some of the stuff released by Christopher Tolkien as The History of Middle Earth, etc. If that is the case, then perhaps two films really are necessary. In any event, I am confident that it will go well, and I look forward to sharing the film review once I've seen it! Thoughts?

Technical Difficulties

Some of you might have seen that I put a post up a few minutes ago, which I have since had to take down. It appears that YouTube is experiencing some technical difficulties. It seems to me that they have assigned the same URL to two videos, both of which I want to post here. So, until I get Christmas Music Post #2 sorted out, here is a picture of the Vatican's Christmas tree. Just embarrassing for the rest of us, isn't it?

RIP, Walrus

The wider world may also note that today is the thirty-first anniversary of the assassination of Harry Potter-inspired Beatle, John Lennon. Seriously, though, I recognize that December 8, 1980 was a tough day for a lot of people in this world for exactly that reason. While I myself was never alive at the same time as he was, I have certainly been positively impacted by his music, and I acknowledge with heavy heart what a loss it was to the world of music and the world itself to have lost such a brightly shining star of poet so long before his time.

In the light of the current season and its bearing upon the impending one, and as what I consider an apt tribute to one of Lennon's primary messages throughout his life and career, I would like to leave you with what looks like film from the original recording (does anybody know for sure) of "Happy XMas (War is Over)," one by which I'm sure he is well-known: