Not knowing when I will be able to leave this city (may it be soon!), I decided to go to Cambridge--to do some shopping for Monday's commencement but also to be a tourist and take some pictures. The New Scot came out to go with me, that was nice. I decided to take some pictures of St. Paul's Church over in Cambridge, next to Harvard, especially since someone mentioned that when she was visiting Boston a while ago, she had gone to the church next to Harvard and I wanted to post some pics, in case she drops by this site again.
(There is also a St. Peter's Church in Cambridge, but it is not as physically imposing as St. Paul's. I've never been to St. Peter's... Fr. James Keenan, S.J. happens to be one of the assisting priests there, I suppose that is a reason not to go to Mass there. Perhaps he has a 'reputation' within certain circles, but I'm not impressed.)
From Book 3, chapter 27 of The Imitation of Christ:
If you seek this or that, if you wish to be in this place or that place, to
have more ease and pleasure, you will never rest or be free from care, for some defect is found in everything and everywhere someone will vex you. To obtain and multiply earthly goods, then, will not help you, but to despise them and root them out of your heart will aid. This, understand, is true not only of money and wealth, but also of ambition for honor and desire for empty praise, all of which will pass away with this world.
The place matters little if the spirit of fervor is not there; nor will
peace be lasting if it is sought from the outside; if your heart has no true foundation, that is, if you are not founded in Me, you may change, but you will not better yourself. For when occasion arises and is accepted, you will find that from which you fled and worse.
A PRAYER FOR CLEANSING THE HEART AND OBTAINING HEAVENLY WISDOM
Strengthen me by the grace of Your holy spirit, O God. Give me the power to be strengthened inwardly and to empty my heart of all vain care and anxiety, so that I may not be drawn away by many desires, whether for precious things or mean ones. Let me look upon everything as passing, and upon myself as soon to pass away with them, because there is nothing lasting under the sun, where all
is vanity and affliction of spirit. How wise is he who thinks thus!
Give me, Lord, heavenly wisdom to learn above all else to seek
and find You, to enjoy and love You more than anything, and to consider other things as they are, as Your wisdom has ordered them. Grant me prudence to avoid the flatterer and to bear patiently with him who disagrees with me. For it is great wisdom not to be moved by the sound of words, nor to give ear to the wicked, flattering siren. Then, I shall walk safely in the way I have begun.
*sigh* academia
St. Paul's is one of the most beautiful churches I've seen in Boston; I can't think of any that can really compare. Still, my preferences lie with the early period and the East. Some photos from St. Paul's:
My favorite cranky hermit:
I found the stations of the cross to be very well-done.
I was at St. Paul's for Easter Vigil--I liked the vernacular version of the litany of the saints that was sung. Other musical selections were not as pleasing--they reminded me of what one might hear over at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, or a typical novus ordo Mass with contemporary musical compositions. Now I know the Holy Father did celebrate Mass for the 500th anniversary of the founding of the Swiss guards recently, with the music of Mozart's Coronation Mass. I suppose "he can't help it, he is Bavarian after all." What would Saint Pius X say, though... (an article: "Benedict XVI , Mozart, and the quest for beauty")
The Boston Boy's Choir and the St. Paul's Men's Schola are decent; I suppose if I ever see Fr. Skeris again, I can give him my report, for what it's worth. I'm not that good a critic of vocal performance. Their Gregorian chant is not too bad; I'd have to listen to them sing some more before judging how good they are.
After St. Paul's, the New Scot and I proceeded to look for Schonehof's, "America's second oldest bookstore." Fortunately a Cambridge native was able to give us directions. The bookstore is located downstairs, 78A Mt. Auburn Street.
There was a Carmelite at the information desk--I wasn't sure if he was a priest or just a religious. The New Scot found many books that he would buy if he had the money--books on Aramaic, Syriac, and Sanskrit. Of course they carry the Oxford Classical Text series; one of these days I'll complete my collection, especially the Aristotle Set. I also found Cappeli's dictionary of Latin abbreviations--handy for understanding Latin manuscripts; they were selling it for $60, and I didn't buy it as I wasn't sure if I really needed it. The New Scot is taking a paleography course this Summer at Notre Dame--this is a required text for the course, Latin Paleography by Bischoff is recommended.
As we walked away from Schoenhof's and back towards Harvard Square, a motorcade with a police escort passed by. I don't know who the VIP was--Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice? I don't think she would be here in Boston so early. It seemed like an important person in the Federal Government; plenty of black SUVs, probably the person's protection detail.
The New Scot showed me the store Tokyo Kid. He said that the visit confirmed that he was not an extreme anime/manga fan, and he went on to make some comments about the people hanging out there. I suppose they were the stereotypical fanboys and fangirls. The store wasn't very big, they didn't have many anime/titles for sale. There were some toy models; some of my friends enjoy making those, especially Gundam. I prefer Patlabor, but there weren't any Patlabor models there. I still think model-building would be a relaxing activity, but with my clumsy hands it would probably become frustrating rather quickly. Good thing I didn't become a surgeon.
No comments:
Post a Comment