The Back of the World

Join me in praying with Bishop Slattery and all the priests and faithful that this evil might be put to an end… Remember, a similar event was put to a stop in Boston just a few months ago through vigilant prayer. And be wary lest we should fall into complacency: it might well be in your backyard next, so let us stand with our brothers and sisters now!

This past Wednesday, we welcomed the newest member of our family! Gabriel is our 3rd. Mom and baby are both doing great, and big brother and big sister are both having a lot of fun doting on “their” baby!

Archangel Gabriel, ora pro nobis!

During the final week of the World Cup, I was rooting for Germany. It partially had to do with my deep fondness for Pope Benedict, partially to do with the fact that I have a little bit of German ancestry on my mom’s side… I went to the grocery store to get some German beer, but their selection was pretty pathetic. So I decided to check the selection of German wine. The store was running a sale on a wine I’d never heard before: Liebfraumilch. 

I bought a bottle and brought it home. It was pretty good.*

I was looking at the label, and thinking to myself “hmm, I know Germans like to string a bunch of nouns together into a bigger word… the meaning of “Frau” is obvious. Not sure what “Lieb” is, but “Milch” sounds like it might be a cognate of the English word “milk”…

Then I looked above the wording on the label and saw the picture of the Madonna and Child. “It can’t be…”

Not the actual brand I purchased, but it will serve to illustrate the point…

Yep, it can be.

“Liebfraumilch” literally means “Beloved Lady’s Milk”. It was originally produced in the vineyards of the Church of Our Lady near Worms in the Rhineland.

And I have to say, for a few moments, I felt a bit… uncomfortable. 

Clearly, the idea did not make Andrea Solari uncomfortable…

And I got to thinking (a dangerous past-time, I know…): what is it that makes me feel uncomfortable thinking about the Virgin Mary nursing? 

After all, it’s undoubtedly an historical fact that the Virgin Mary nursed Our Lord (there was, of course, no formula in those days…). And the Nursing Madonna was a common subject for religious art for many centuries. There’s even a (possibly apocryphal) story that St. Bernard of Clairvaux had an eye infection cured by Our Lady’s breast milk. This seems pretty natural: after all, Mary is Mother of the Church…

Historically speaking, Catholics clearly have not been squeamish about this… so why was I?

I’m thinking the story about St. Bernard has got to be apocryphal, but maybe that’s just my modern prejudices…

I’m not the only person made uncomfortable by breastfeeding, of course… Here in the US, nursing mothers are often under heavy criticism. Remember that news story about the poor mother in Starbucks? 

But there’s an obvious hypocrisy to the American attitude: breasts are everywhere in this country. Women in revealing tops walk down every sidewalk in this country. You can’t get on Facebook without being shown ads with tons of cleavage. Every grocery store sells “men’s magazines” with pictures of breasts, and almost every gas station has pornography behind the counter.

So why, in a country filled to the brim with images of human mammary glands, are we so darn uncomfortable with breastfeeding?

And I got to thinking that maybe this has something to do with our contraceptive mentality.You see, in addition to widely-available breast imagery, we’ve also got widely-available birth control. It’s not just porn that’s easy to obtain at gas stations… you can also pick up prophylactics while you’re there. Sex is purely about pleasure in this country. Sure, maybe you have a kid or two when you’re well into your thirties and you’ve “had your fun”, but generally speaking American sex is all about the moments of pleasure.

Maybe, just maybe, we’ve divorced sex from its procreative purpose so much, that we think of a woman using her body in a procreative manner as being… well, as being gross. Maybe we’re totally ok with lust-inducing images of breasts, but totally not ok with images of nursing, because we’ve completely forgotten that sex is meant to make babies. Somewhere along the line we decided to disregard the command to “be fruitful and multiply”, and now anything remotely maternal offends us.

Da Vinci sure didn’t find it offensive…

At least, that’s what I think. If you disagree, perhaps we can discuss it back at my place over a nice glass of Liebfraumilch*.

*Yes, I am now aware that Liebfraumilch is considered cheep swill by People Who Know Wine. I have terrible taste in wine. Sue me. 

…I believe that as Catholics, we need to act like we know this is true:

“One day, when a priest was celebrating Mass, I saw, at the moment of Consecration, how all the powers of heaven were set in motion. I heard, at the same time, a heavenly music, most harmonious, most sweet. Numberless Angels came down, the chant of whom no human understanding could conceive, nor the tongue of man describe. They surrounded and looked upon the priest, bowing towards him in reverential awe. The devils commenced to tremble, and took to flight in greatest confusion and terror.”

 

~St. Bridget of Sweden

 

St. Bridget of Sweden

When I first began to consider becoming Catholic, one of the things that most struck me was how Catholic theology is so deeply rooted in the Bible. Growing up an Evangelical, I heard over and over again that Catholicism was unbiblical, even openly hostile to the Scriptures, and that the more Catholics bothered to crack open a Bible, the more would leave their so-called “Church”. 

So when I started reading things like the documents from the Council of Trent–that infamous moment when those pesky Catholic hierarchs tried to stifle the Reformation– I was stunned at how deeply rooted in the New Testament their arguments were. 

Take this passage for example:

“He that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved, (Matt 10:22; 24:13) which cannot be obtained from anyone except from Him who is able to make him stand who stands, (Rom 14:4) that he may stand perseveringly, and to raise him who falls, let no one promise himself herein something as certain with an absolute certainty, though all ought to place and repose the firmest hope in God’s help.  For God, unless men themselves fail in His grace, as He has begun a good work, so will He perfect it, working to will and to accomplish. (Phil 1:6, 2:13)  Nevertheless, let those who think themselves to stand, take heed lest they fall, (cf. 1 Cor 10:12) and with fear and trembling work out their salvation, (Phil 2:12) in labors, in watchings, in almsdeeds, in prayer, in fastings and chastity. For knowing that they are born again unto the hope of glory, ( cf. 1 Pet 1:3) and not as yet unto glory, they ought to fear for the combat that yet remains with the flesh, with the world and with the devil, in which they cannot be victorious unless they be with the grace of God obedient to the Apostle who says: We are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh; for if you live according to the flesh, you shall die, but if by the spirit you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. (Rom 8:12ff)” 

 

 

~From the Decree on Justification, from Sixth Session of the Council of Trent, 1547 (quote courtesy of Fr. Z)

Do you notice how every sentence is just drenched with Scripture? 

Here, the Council takes on the doctrine of “eternal security” or “perseverance of the saints”, frequently taught in Calvinist churches, as well as others. The Council Fathers allow the Bible itself to carry the logic of their argument for them, exposing the Reformed innovation for what it is: a doctrine that’s entirely contrary to the teachings of the New Testament.

I know, I was stunned too…

The Council of Trent