Photos of Fall Color

WE FINALLY HAVE some Fall color here in Saint Louis, after prolonged Summer weather finally gave way to cooler temperatures.

These photos were taken at Faust County Park, in Chesterfield, Missouri.






























This is one of a number of historic buildings in the park, which includes Thornhill, the home of Missouri's second governor. Also in the park is the Butterfly House.

"A Christian Heresy"

THE ENLIGHTENMENT, according to Philip Trower, is a Christian heresy, although founded by presumably well-meaning intellectuals, it instead diverges sharply from the Faith to the endangerment of civilization and souls.

To begin with then, there are two facts about the Enlightenment which I believe it is essential to grasp if we are to understand its true historical significance. The first is that, regardless of how it began, the Enlightenment became far more than just another movement in the history of ideas like the Romantic movement. What happened in the drawing-rooms, libraries, and coffeehouses of 18th-century Europe resembled in at least one crucial respect what happened in the deserts of Arabia in the seventh century A.D. A new world religion was born....

When we use words like liberalism, secularism, secular humanism, socialism, or Communism we are merely designating the new faith's main denominations (with freemasonry as a survival of the original 18th-century form). The adherents of these different denominations may disagree about how the final goal is to be reached. But they are at one about the new message of salvation itself. Paradise in this world brought about mainly or entirely by human effort.

See the text of Trower's address, Enlightenment values: Their Social and Political Implications Over Two Centuries, over at Catholic Culture.

Fascinating photos of Our Lady of the Annunciation Monastery of Clear Creek, Oklahoma: http://picasaweb.google.com/ClearCreekMonastery

They show everything from the chapel to the machine shop, and from the garden to football.

Pet Peeves

Catholic churches historically have been the most beautiful and lovingly designed buildings built, but there are annoyances. But rather than just complaining, I plan to do something about it, at least in my imagination. Here are some associations for the betterment of church aesthetics!

Mothers Against Depressing Dark Gray Paint. A society opposed to the use of Battleship Gray in church interiors.

Harry Potter Fans and Harry Potter Detractors United Against Ugly Power Lines. A political action committee concerned with the fact that it is often impossible to photograph church exteriors without power lines marring the view.

International Society for the Gothicization/Classicization/Byzantination of Electrical Junction Boxes, Loudspeakers, Light Switches, and Fire Sprinklers. An organization that asks "How would Virtruvius design an illuminated exit sign?"

Priests for Lighting. An association dedicated to judicious selection and use of lighting fixtures and bulbs, and especially encouraging good natural lighting.

Penitential Archconfraternity of Building Code Inspectors. A guild of remorseful inspectors, sorry for imposing rules that have ruined beautiful churches.