A Hike at Castlewood

LAST FRIDAY was a glorious, unseasonably warm day. I took advantage of this day by hiking at Castlewood State Park.



Castlewood straddles the Meramec River in southern Saint Louis County.

The name ‘Castlewood’ derives from the tall bluffs on the north side of the river here, from where this photo was taken. The high cliff faces are reminiscent of medieval castles, and this area is heavily wooded.

A description of this area is found in the book Geologic Wonders and Curiosities of Missouri by Thomas R. Beveridge (2^nd edition revised by Jerry D. Vineyard):

125. THE PALISADES — ST. LOUIS COUNTY

St. Louis County, in north bluff of Meramec River between Jedburgh and Glencoe, 2 miles north of Times Beach, in northern part of sec. 19 and northern and eastern part of sec. 20, T. 44 N., R. 4 E., Manchester 7-½-minute Quadrangle.

Sheer bluffs of Ordovician limestones rising 200 feet above the floodplain of the Meramec form The Palisades. These bluffs are sheer in part because they are on the outside of a stream meander loop and thus have been vigorously eroded as a result of centrifugal force acting on the river current. Of the five bluff segments between Glencoe and Jedburgh, the third one east of Glencoe is the most pinnacled and the fourth one is the most impressive.

As is common along limestone and dolomite bluffs, cedars hug the bare rock and deciduous trees prevail on the gentler slopes. Fortunately, the bluff faces are sufficiently bare to be impressive in summer as well as winter.

The area is noted for its fall colors, a virtue created in part by the profusion of hard maples, and a fall drive along the Old State Road thence southeast to Jedburgh is most rewarding. The Palisades are best seen from the river or from the south floodplain. These bottoms were reached by going north from I-44 at the Williams Road interchange, east of the Meramec opposite Times Beach....

A boat motors downstream.



The Meramec has a great amount of recreational boat traffic in the summer. But for the nearly three hours when I was hiking here, this and a single kayak were the only boats on the river.



A view of a cliff face shows layers of limestone (or dolomite) and flint. In areas where these layers have eroded away, great residual piles of this resilient flint can be found. In the Crescent Hills, located just on the other side of the Meramec, a large number quarries of this flint are found: valued as a good source for making arrowheads and other stone tools, this flint was a common trade good in prehistoric times.



Girls enjoying the view. There were quite a number of people on this trail that day. Another photo taken at this spot is here.



A wasp gall found on a tree.



An unusual insect found along the way.



Remains of the Grand Staircase which led people from a railroad station up to the top of the bluffs. Castlewood was a major summer resort in the first half of the 20^th century. Although the grand hotels are now gone, some of the smaller former clubs are now private residences. The maps show a "Ridge Road": what was once a road leading to these resorts, presumably for automobiles, is now the rough hiking trail used today.



A view of the bluffs from below.

Many thanks to Teresa who showed me this trail.

Click here for a map of the area.

Pray for Departed Priests

AS NOVEMBER IS the month of the Holy Souls, and since this year has been proclaimed the Year for Priests by Pope Benedict, here are some photos I've taken lately of priests' graves. Father John Zuhlsdorf, in a recent sermon, asks us in our charity to pray for departed priests. Requiescant in pace, et lux perpetua luceat eis.



At Calvary Cemetery in Saint Louis. Here is the grave of Joseph Cardinal Ritter, Archbishop of Saint Louis 1948-1967, found among graves of diocesan priests.

Rev. James J. O'Brien — A PRIEST FOREVER



This particular plot is found outside one of the entrances to the mausoleum.

Cemetery plot for Vincentians, members of the Congregation of the Mission, also at Calvary.

Priest graves at Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery, in Saint Louis.

May they rest in peace and may perpetual light shine upon them.

Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorium Coetibus

THE HOLY SEE today promulgated the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorium Coetibus. The press release:

On October 20, 2009, Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, announced a new provision responding to the many requests that have been submitted to the Holy See from groups of Anglican clergy and faithful in different parts of the world who wish to enter into full visible communion with the Catholic Church.

The Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus which is published today introduces a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates, which will allow the above mentioned groups to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony. At the same time, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is publishing a set of Complementary Norms which will guide the implementation of this provision.

This Apostolic Constitution opens a new avenue for the promotion of Christian unity while, at the same time, granting legitimate diversity in the expression of our common faith. It represents not an initiative on the part of the Holy See, but a generous response from the Holy Father to the legitimate aspirations of these Anglican groups. The provision of this new structure is consistent with the commitment to ecumenical dialogue, which continues to be a priority for the Catholic Church.

The possibility envisioned by the Apostolic Constitution for some married clergy within the Personal Ordinariates does not signify any change in the Church’s discipline of clerical celibacy. According to the Second Vatican Council, priestly celibacy is a sign and a stimulus for pastoral charity and radiantly proclaims the reign of God (Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1579).

Link to the document.

An Apostolic Constitution is the highest rank of Papal decrees. This constitution will create the equivalent of Catholic dioceses for Anglicans; they will be able to operate their own seminaries and religious orders, and already-married clergy, with specific approval, can become Catholic priests under an existing pastoral provision.

The various Anglican groups find their origin with King Henry VIII of England who split from the Catholic Church because she would not grant him an annulment from his lawful wife, who did not bear him a male heir to this throne. Not merely a schism, his new church soon fell into heresy, incorporating many of the new protesting ideas. The church of England was unable to remain united, first and foremost on theology and doctrine; any unity found in the Anglican Communion is tenuous at best.

Much of modern Anglicanism (also called Episcopalianism in the United States, due to events that occurred in the year 1776), has the nature of a social construct made specifically to provide mythic overtones to otherwise atheistic political doctrines, and so has often become a largely human instrument to enforce or change power relationships.

But many Anglicans want to hold true to the ancient Catholic Faith of the Apostles which was once the Faith of England; while some “swam the Tiber” and joined the Catholic Church, they have done so by leaving behind their friends, families, churches, communities, and modes of worship. But Pope Benedict XVI, as Pontiff (a title meaning bridge-builder), is figuratively building a bridge across the Tiber so entire Anglican communities can come into the Church as a whole. This is a generous response.

Contemporary Catholic worship leaves a lot to be desired. The current translation of the Latin Missal for much of the English-speaking world is a flat, awkward, unpoetical, and often inaccurate translation done in American English, which shows little love for the language and its nuances. Liturgical music nowadays is being driven by music publishers, who promote novelty for its own sake and who charge money for the right to perform their music during the Mass.

On the contrary, many versions of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer show a great command of the English language and a love for it in service of the Gospel; these no doubt can be adapted for Catholic worship. Likewise, the Anglicans' long experience with the use of the vernacular in liturgy leaves us a great body of works that are free of royalty payments to publishers.

Obviously we must avoid the problem that is often found in the Anglican ‘broad-church’: paid, unbelieving musicians masterfully perform music to an audience of unbelieving church-goers who see worship service as a largely aesthetic experience. But we must also avoid the error of those who have a purely intellectual belief, and who tend towards iconoclasm and show disregard for the lower, aesthetic parts of our souls.

So the new Anglican converts both will find a home in the unity of the Church, and they will bring with them superior forms of worship, which will enrich the Church.

Taken today, at Castlewood State Park. More photos are here.

New Catholic High School to Open in Glen Carbon

A CORRESPONDENT sent me information on the new Father McGivney Catholic High School, opening in Fall of 2011, in the Saint Louis suburban village of Glen Carbon, Illinois. The website is: http://www.frmcgivneyhs.com.

It is named after the Venerable Michael J. McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus.

Catholic Woman Needs A Man...

CAROLINA CANONBALL of The Crescat is advertising for a good man, preferably Catholic, in the Charlotte, North Carolina area: details here. She is cute, somewhat crazy, and otherwise terrific, but is an artistic soul living in the desert of Baptists and Nascar.

Potter's Field

Paupers' graves, at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic cemetery, in Saint Louis, Missouri.



Here is the monument that is seen at the far end of the field seen in the first photo. On the other side, it reads:

J.M.J.
IN MEMORY OF THE
OLD PEOPLE
WHO DIED IN THE HOME
OF THE LITTLE SISTERS
OF THE POOR
R.I.P.

Vocations Poster for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

“Priesthood is the love of the Heart of Jesus.”

— Saint John Vianney

Year for Priests

2009 — 2010

PLEASE PRAY FOR YOUR SEMINARIANS

ARCHDIOCESE OF SAINT PAUL & MINNEAPOLIS OFFICE OF VOCATIONS

651-962-6890 WWW.10000VOCATIONS.ORG

Sacred Heart of Jesus, mosaic, Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, Saint Louis, Missouri. Photo by Mark Scott Abeln

That is a lot of seminarians! The restoration continues.

Click here for my original photo of the mosaic. The Shrine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is in the west transept of the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis; it was commissioned by Archbishop Raymond Burke and was designed by Duncan Stroik. The mosaic comes from the Vatican Mosaic Studio.

Photos of Saint Bridget of Kildare Church, in Pacific, Missouri

HERE ARE PHOTOS of Saint Bridget's Church, in Pacific, Missouri, taken on the occasion of the parish's Fall Festival on All Saints Day. Pacific straddles Franklin County to the west, and Saint Louis County to the east, and is about 36 highway miles west-by-southwest of downtown Saint Louis.



The parish dates from 1841, and the church from 1961; the church building is in the Modern style typical of that era.

The first St. Bridget's church was a log structure built north of town, which according to a history was 24 by 40 feet in size, and eventually collapsed after a period of disuse. A brick church was built in Pacific starting in either 1857 or 1859; during the Civil War, the Union Army attempted to demolish the unfinished building for use in making fortifications.

The Irish settled this region in significant numbers in the 1840s. Cholera outbreaks sometimes prevented recent immigrants from settling in the cities, and Irish immigrants were particularly attacked by the Nativists and Know-Nothings. A history of the Irish in this area is found here.



Pacific was originally named Franklin, after Founding Father Benjamin Franklin. As there was already a post office in Missouri named Franklin, the name had to be changed. The current name Pacific comes from the Pacific Railroad, which reached this region from Saint Louis in 1853. Many Irish worked on the construction of this railroad, and for the next century, the rails and the Irish were dominant in the history of this town.



A view into the narthex of the church, which was locked at the time I took these photos.



The parish's patroness is Saint Bridget (or Brigid) of Kildare (a.d. 451 or 452 - February 1, 525). According to the Catholic Encyclopedia:

Refusing many good offers of marriage, she became a nun and received the veil from St. Macaille. With seven other virgins she settled for a time at the foot of Croghan Hill, but removed thence to Druin Criadh, in the plains of Magh Life, where under a large oak tree she erected her subsequently famous Convent of Cill-Dara, that is, "the church of the oak" (now Kildare), in the present county of that name.

A view of the sandstone bluffs across the street from church's school.

All Souls Mass

Catafalque, after the All Souls Mass at Saint Francis de Sales Oratory.