All birds and beasts that day know well,
Though scarce a creature could foretell,
When from afar there came the Hind
Forever in the wood to dwell.

The sweetest breeze across their breast,
And rousing from a mournful rest,
The faintest glimmer they beheld
Of unspoken hope, that hour blest.

Then shaky legs forgot their fear
Amid the silence, strong and clear;
He turned to earth his kindly eyes
To draw the timid creatures near.

It seemed that he had come so late
To weary spirits who must wait,
And yet the secrets whispered there
Would serve to make that darkness sweet.

From forest waters rushing through
He drank and made their currents new,
But then he paused and raised his head.

In latter days it pleased him so
To make the trees and flowers grow,
And thus his heart immersed their roots.

At every place upon the earth
The newer blossoms came to birth
Where he had lain his blessed hooves.

All days and hours, uncounted time
Say little of that gift sublime,
But grateful creatures know him well.

No, not a post about complex wave physics.

When you have to microwave something for a minute and a half, do you hit 90 instead of 1:30? I do. It’s more efficient. What I noticed this morning, however, was that I opted to heat something for only a minute and a half as opposed to two minutes or a minute forty-five in order to save a keystroke. So, my food was slightly cooler than it would have been, but I didn’t have to press an extra button. I realized today that I do this often such that I don’t really deliberate about it.

So, I was reading the Aeneid last night, and I came across these lines in Book IV (ll. 515-516):

quaeritur et nascentis equi de fronte revulsus
et matri praereptus amor …

My translation:

The love [charm] also sought that was plucked away from the forehead of a foal before the mother could seize it first.

Wait a minute, I thought. This idea that horses are born with something on their foreheads that their mothers eat or lick away sounded familiar. Did I read that in the Etymologies the other day? Hmmm… A quick check in the Medieval Bestiary online indicates that I had recently read it in Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis historia:

in hoc genere gravida stans parit praeterque ceteras fetum diligit. et sane equis amoris innasci veneficium, hippomanes appellatum, in fronte, caricae magnitudine, colore nigro, quod statim edito partu devorat feta aut partum ad ubera non admittit.

My translation:

The pregnant [mare] gives birth, in general, standing and above others loves her child. For it is characteristic of horses, also, to be born with a love potion, called hippomanes, on their forehead, the size of a fig and black in color, that the mother immediately devours after giving birth or else she does not allow her offspring to approach her breasts.

At Macaroni Grill the other day, I drew a dragon:

A friend and I once pieced together a team of people from the seminary that would be good to have if we ever did some serious time traveling. It’s necessary to keep the team small, so we have to choose wisely who should go.

The primary concern (if there will be any interaction with natives from the destination time period) is to have someone who knows several languages and — more importantly — can pick up a new language very quickly.

We need someone with a good general or Macgyver-like knowledge. Someone who can solve problems with random and variable resources. This is the sort of person who can learn the rules of a system and then work effectively within that system to get the job done.

We need someone who is skilled in combat in case things get hairy.

Less crucial but useful crew members include:

Explosives expert.

Computer expert (this may also be the Macgyver mentioned above).

Medical expert.

Historian.

I’ve had dreams about traveling back in time before. In these cases, I recall shuffling through available languages, ultimately settling on Latin in each case.

You can listen to me explain my thesis off-the-cuff in Latin to Msgr. Ramacciotti (OGG) or (MP3).

There are plenty of mistakes and awkward silences, so enjoy!

When there is to be a children’s liturgy of the word at Solemn Mass, a subdeacon, vested in tunicle but without maniple, processes in before the priest, deacon, and subdeacon. At a Sung Mass or a Low Mass, a lector may take the place of the subdeacon.

After the collect, the subdeacon of the children’s liturgy removes his tunicle and vests in a cope.

When the subdeacon of the Mass approaches the priest with the Epistularium, the other subdeacon approaches with the Epistularium ad parvulos. Both subdeacons kneel next to one another and receive the priest’s blessing.

As the subdeacon of the Mass turns to his proper place, the subdeacon of the children’s liturgy proceeds to the altar rail, accompanied by an acolyte with lighted candle.

When they reach the altar rail, the children of the parish who lack the use of reason approach two by two (bini) and genuflect. They remain standing in formation as the subdeacon of the children’s liturgy leaves the sanctuary with the acolyte.

The priest turns, having begun the epistle at the altar, turns and gives a blessing.

The children genuflect with the subdeacon and proceed to the place where the children’s liturgy is to be held.

I swear the oath of fidelity with my hand on the Book of the Gospels.

Then I sign my profession of faith, oath of fidelity, and promise of celibacy.

Finally, I give the documents to the rector.

What do you think of when you think of Ipsissima Verba?

Here are the top ten searches according to Alexa.com that lead people to my website:

Some strike me as a bit … strange. By far (according to the server logs for years now) most people who come to this blog are searching for a translation of the phrase “Quid est veritas?” Maybe I should make a special page for them. I could have the main page see what people searched for, and then have it conditionally redirect to an explanation that this is a blog but that “Quid est veritas?” means “What is truth?”

This morning for my Latin class, I gave a homily in Latin. I had sparse notes and extemporized quite a bit, so the style is not that great, and I make some mistakes. You can download a recording of it (OGG) (MP3) if you want.

I was a lot more nervous than I usually am for practice homilies. I think it was harder to have only the professor in the room … and to give it in a foreign language.