"Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua"

It's been difficult to settle on a song for this week's Friday traditio. Much of the time it happens very organically, but at times it's a little forced. I am afraid this week's is of the somewhat forced variety. In thinking about this I let out a loud chuckle when I considered last week's Wang Chung song, which was actually too weird for Michael Jackson to record, if you can imagine such a thing! Yes, I understand that paying close attention to "Dance Hall Days" may reveal the song's general (utter?) inappropriateness. But oh well, it was a throwback to what I relayed about the origins of the tradito.

Last night I watched again the wonderful film Of Gods and Men with our Thursday night Catechumenate group. If you have never watched Of Gods and Men I urge you to do so. Meanwhile, in preparation, you can read "Trappist Monks of Tibhirine." I still have my copy of John W. Kiser's book The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love, and Terror in Algeria, which was originally published in 2002, six years after the events it tells about. I once read an utterly ridiculous literary critique of Kiser's book. Faced with the choice of being angry or laughing at it, I chose to laugh.

Trappist martyrs of Algeria

Late last week Fr Benedict Groeschel, CFR passed away. This week marked the beginning of the #Synod14 (i.e., The Extraordinary Synod on the Family), the convening of which caused as much unease as reassurance. Also this week many of us received the news that our dearly beloved Msgr Lorenzo Albacete is quite ill (the latest news is that he is rallying a bit). Of course, IS continues its murderous rampage through western Syria and northern Iraq. Ebola is spreading. SCOTUS this week, with its decision not to decide, insured that the U.S. stayed on pace to undermine the very foundations of our society. What to make of it all? Hell if I know. I do know that Jesus is Lord. Given that, let's go with a genuine traditio: the Sanctus from the Holy Mass:

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Hosanna in excelsis