How St Cuthbert kept a book for 300 years
At JSTOR Daily, Allison Meier described the history of “Europe’s oldest intact book”. The small red book, a copy of St John’s Gospel, was found inside the coffin of St Cuthbert in 1104. St Cuthbert’s body was incorrupt, and Catholics would bring devotional objects to his resting-place after his death in 687.
The article quoted the academic Stuart McWilliams as saying that small books were sometimes worn for spiritual protection: “While many kinds of relic could be worn as amulets, books were particularly desirable, and there are multiple accounts of Gospels and Psalters (especially those linked with saints) being fitted with cord or placed in a pouch and worn on the body.”
Talking to kids about transgender issues
At Catholic Answers, Trent Horn and Leila Miller asked how to talk to small children about transgender issues. They said they couldn’t “stress enough that parents must form a child in objective truth from the youngest years”. Recently, one of the authors took their children to get a haircut. The hairdresser “was clearly attempting to ‘transition’ between the two sexes. This person was friendly and gave a great haircut. We did not say a word of judgment or derision.”
The parent told the children afterwards “that this stylist was a child of God with inherent dignity, and how confused and troubled a person must be to want to change or reject one’s very nature. As we do when we encounter anyone in grave confusion or sin (including ourselves!), we reminded the children to pray for that person, and we reiterated what we have taught from the start – and what you must teach: we cannot change objective truth, including the good and right way that God made his world.”
An obituary for the mysterious Zippy
Last month, the Catholic blogosphere went into mourning for one of its distinguished members: “Zippy Catholic”, a self-made millionaire and prolific anonymous blogger, who was killed in a bicycle accident.
The editors of What’s Wrong With the World, to which Zippy sometimes contributed, praised his honesty and integrity: “He was absolutely honest, and he would never betray a principle. He exemplified integrity to a degree that few men achieve in this life. His friends knew that they could have trusted him with their lives.” Zippy had an “absolute commitment to the absolute value of the lives of the unborn and his absolute rejection of all consequentialist arguments for murder and torture.”
A former dotcom entrepreneur, Zippy combined his knowledge of the financial world with his interest in Church teaching to produce a short book, Usury: Frequently Asked Questions, which “demonstrated that usury remains a pernicious evil, the outworking of which exploded into public view 10 years ago” in the credit crunch.
He was also a figure of “mirth and generosity. Many of us remember warmly the thoughtful gifts he sent to us when the occasion warranted: a huge stuffed animal for a newborn, a camera for an amateur photographer.”
✣ A 19-year-old princess has given up her place in line to the British throne to become a Catholic. Princess Alexandra of Hanover is the daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco and Prince Ernst August of Hanover, who, as head of the House of Hanover, is a descendant of King George III. In line with the Hanoverian royal tradition, she was baptised as a Lutheran in 1999 but was recently received into the Catholic Church in a private ceremony in Auerbach, Upper Austria, according to the Royal Musings blog. Her mother, Princess Caroline, is a Catholic. Princess Alexandra is 19th in line to the throne of Monaco. Her mother is the elder sister of the reigning monarch, Prince Albert II. Her grandmother was the film star Grace Kelly.
✣ A Scottish bishop has presented Pope Francis with a “prayer bear”. Bishop John Keenan of Paisley showed the teddy bear to the Pope during the Scottish bishops’ ad limina visit. The bear, Mungo, is used to help children at St Charles’ primary school, Paisley, to learn about the faith. Yvonne Kinsella, deputy head teacher, said a different child took Mungo to Mass each weekend. Along with fellow bear Maggie, Mungo is also being taken on pilgrimages to various holy sites.
I do not think [the abuse scandal] is an impediment
Cardinal Baldisseri, general secretary of the youth synod
Press conference
A headache that lasted 30 hours, with frequent vomiting
Nietzsche’s reaction to a friend deciding to become a priest
Quoted by historian Tom Holland on Twitter
Perhaps one day [there will also be] female deacons
Cardinal Schönborn
Kathpress
I pray for serious questions from journalists
Theresa May is asked what she prays for
Daily Telegraph
The proportion of youth synod participants aged 18 to 29 (34 out of 340)
Source: CNS
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