bearing blog


bear – ing n 1  the manner in which one comports oneself;  2  the act, power, or time of bringing forth offspring or fruit; 3 a machine part in which another part turns [a journal ~];  pl comprehension of one’s position, environment, or situation;   5  the act of moving while supporting the weight of something [the ~ of the cross].


  • “To be any more Trad, you’d have to be Jewish.”

    The website for the Society of St. Pius I.  Make sure you read the disclaimer at the end.

    Welcome to the fledgling website of the Society of St. Pius I (SSPI). Unlike other so-called “traditionalist” Roman Catholic groups, we adhere to the ORIGINAL Roman Catholic Mass of A.D. 40-200, and described by St. Justin Martyr and the Apostolic Constitutions, and used by Pope St. Pius I of happy memory.

    Don’t be fooled by PHONY “Vulgate” neotraditionalists, who claim to protect tradition, and yet still defend the RADICAL and totally UNCATHOLIC reforms of the 4th century A.D.

    So-called “trads” pretend to be against the modernism of the last hundred years, but where were they when the original Rite of Rome, the Greek rite USED BY ST. PETER AND THE APOSTLES was being totally gutted and revised by unknown scholars and translated into the vernacular language of Latin?

    Unlike other wimpy neotraditionalist groups who attach themselves to various other Piuses, we at the SSPI make absolutely ZERO compromises with modernism. We reject not just one, but BOTH “Novus Ordos”—the Novus Ordo of 1970 promulgated by Paul VI, and the Latin Vulgate Mass of 400 A.D. promulgated by Innocent I and Pope Gregory I, which we call the “Vulgar Mass.”

    Thanks to the miracle of the internet, we can now spread the TRUTH about the REAL Roman liturgical tradition which is being kept alive only by a brave remnant of faithful Catholics: myself and whoever else wants to join.

    (Don’t get the joke?  The short explanation:  The Society of St. Pius X is a well-known group of traditionalists.  Whether they are in formal or material schism is apparently a matter of debate.  I am no expert in this. Suffice it to say that they are somewhat more conservative than the Pope.  The writing style of the website linked is a parody of some of the writings of the SSPX adherents — not of their official website, which is more measured.)

    I think it’s hilarious.  H/T to Eric for pointing it out.

    UPDATE.  I also like this part:

    Above ground churches are a LATE development in the Roman church which date to the legalization of Christianity by Constantine. They were NEVER part of the original Roman rite!

    In accord with holy tradition therefore, we must reject any and all above-ground church structures, in accordance with the true traditional practice of the Roman church. Unfortunately, funding issues and zoning laws in our locality have so far prevented us from excavating new catacombs in our area, so we are temporarily headquartered behind the water heater in our basement.

    Hee hee.


  • What obsolete skill are you?

    I rather like how mine turned out:

    a vegetable garden
    You are ‘growing one’s own food’. You are guided by two words: ‘Live simply.’ You
    value quality over quantity in most things, and
    you have little use for the materialism and
    consumerism of modern culture. You know the
    value of hard work and try to be
    self-sufficient as much as possible, and what
    you do you do well. Unfortunately, no man is
    an island, and you cannot do everything
    yourself. Your puritanical work ethic makes
    makes people think that you are weird, and not
    much fun. Your problem is that growing one’s
    own food has been obsolete for a long time.

    What obsolete skill are you?
    brought to you by Quizilla

    Try it yourself here.  H/t On the Other Foot.


  • Discrimination against the handicapped.

    "One woman’s choice," in the Washington Post today:

    While I have no doubt there can be joys and victories in raising a mentally handicapped child, for me and for Mike, it’s a painful journey that we believe is better not taken. To know now that our son would be retarded, perhaps profoundly, gives us the choice of not continuing the pregnancy. We don’t want a life like that for our child, and the added worry that we wouldn’t be around long enough to care for him throughout his life.

    …I’m sure pro-lifers don’t give you the right to grieve for the baby you chose not to bring into the world (another euphemism, although avoiding the word "abortion” doesn’t take any sting out of the decision to have one). Only now do I understand how entirely personal the decision to terminate a pregnancy is and how wrong it feels to bring someone else’s morality into the discussion.

    Articles like this upset me. I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to read it for the parents who welcome, raise, and love children who have Down’s Syndrome.

    And what does it feel like to have aborted such a child, when you happen to see the rare family that includes and loves a child exactly as yours might have been?

    Ninety percent of these children, by someone else’s choice, never see the light of day.


  • Robert Browning and “twat.”

    This is a very funny, and apparently true, story of a bit of a mistake.





  • House.

    It’s 6:30 and still pretty dark. 

    Out my front window I can see two semi trucks.  They are the front of a caravan of five — maybe six, I’m still not sure how the roof is going to be put on.  The first two trucks are each bearing half of the first floor — the left half and the right half, so to speak. 

    The pieces have siding on them, except in some places where you can see printing:  Tyvek House Wrap.  The wooden porch, with shingled roof, is already built and attached, in halves, to the front of each piece.  Over the top of each is stretched a blue tarpaulin, or perhaps it’s just plastic sheeting.  The outlines of roofing shingles on the porch are visible through the tarp. 

    Three men in winter coats and hats are talking in the street.  I think they are the truck drivers.  One of them paced off steps at the curb, deciding if there is enough room for… another truck?  The crane that will lift the house pieces in place?

    A neighbor walked her dog past.  She was cradling a young child, wrapped in a blanket, on her shoulder.  She walked away with turned head, staring back for a long time, pulled by the dog on its leash.


  • There’s a house parked out front.

    I went to bed worried that an impending snowstorm would derail the setting of my modular home, scheduled for this morning.  So when flashing yellow lights moved slowly across my bedroom ceiling at 3:45 a.m., I thought:  oh no, it’s the snowplow — already.

    I got up to see how bad it was.  But no — the roads were only wet.  Instead, there were two semi trucks parked in front.  Down the block I could see a third.

    The porch is already on it!

    My good camera is charging and my cheap camera can’t take pictures out the window at night, so you’ll have to wait.


  • Registration is now ON. Sorry for the inconvenience.

    I started getting comment spam and wanted to nip it in the bud, so you now have to register with Typepad to post a comment.

    Sorry about that.

    Unless you’re a spammer.  In that case I’m not sorry at all.


  • Want some poetry this morning? Say no more, it’s Donne.

    Posted at Pontifications.

    Wilt thou love God, as he thee? Then digest,
    My soul, this wholesome meditation,
    How God the Spirit, by angels waited on
    In heaven, doth make his Temple in thy breast.
    The Father having begot a Son most blest,
    And still begetting, (for he ne’er be gone)
    Hath deigned to choose thee by adoption,
    Co-heir t’ his glory, and Sabbath’ endless rest.
    And as a robbed man, which by search doth find
    His stol’n stuff sold, must lose or buy ‘t again:
    The Son of glory came down, and was slain,
    Us whom he’d made, and Satan stol’n, to unbind.
    ‘Twas much that man was made like God before,
    But, that God should be made like man, much more.

    Mmm.


  • Oh yes, they’re completely at odds.

    Charles McGrath betrays a collossal unfitness to write on the subject, only two sentences into this snide piece on C. S. Lewis:

    The movie of course has the benefit of studio bean counters and recognizes that this could be the mother of all screen battles – not just your basic struggle of good and evil but a $200 million smackdown between the religious right and godless Hollywood, between C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. . .

    He goes on to speculate about Lewis’s sexual masochism, among other things.