What Does that Prayer REALLY Say?? (Morning Edition)

Father John Zuhlsdorf, an American Roman Catholic priest, writes an excellent blog (What Does the Prayer Really Say?) about all sorts of things related to the Church.  It's probably one of the most prominent Catholic blogs out there.  When I first discovered his blog, I would go through and pick out the posts about "juicy" stories, like the conflicts between the American bishops and the LCWR (an organization of primarily liberal and rather un-nun-like nuns,) the "culture wars" in the U.S., ripping apart the silliness of the National Catholic Register (which he calls the "Fishwrap") etc.  These are good (and often entertaining) posts.

A Roman Missal (from Wikipedia)

Yet more recently, I've been taking a closer look at some of his other posts.  I started off by following his recommendation and listening to some excellent recordings of Gregorian chant (the Divine Office recorded every day - Latin text with English translation facing is provided); then started carefully reading some of his posts about certain prayers said during Mass (mostly the Collects, see "WDTPRS 21st Ordinary Sunday: the smoke of Satan v. invisible love," for example) and then his commentaries on some of the Saints (see "Beheading of John the Baptist," for example.)  I realized that there is a rich source of information in these which brings out the beauty of the prayers and the stories of the Saints.  (For any lovers of Latin or grammar, they also include grammatical and lexical analyses of the Latin texts.) He has many similar commentaries on other Catholic topics.

From what I gather from the name of the blog, this was the original  purpose; up until very recently, the English translations of the Latin prayers were grossly oversimplified often to the extent of loosing much of the meaning.  He would make his own faithful translation of the Latin, comment on the meaning, and compare it to the emptiness of the English translation then in use.

Then in 2011, something important happened; the world's English speaking bishops (together with the Vatican) created and approved a new translation which was much more faithful to the original.  Comparing these new translations to his "slavishly accurate liturgical translations" there is often very little difference.

When this happened, I remember one commentator asked, "What are going to call your blog now that they fixed the translations?"

Yet, Fr. Z (as he calls himself) continues to have the same name for his blog, and continues to post his analyses and comparisons of the prayers.  Why?  I can't answer for him, but I suspect that it's at least partly for this reason:

Even though the translations are fixed, there are MANY, MANY people who may listen to the words in Mass and give them little thought (this is often my case, I have to admit).  Even when we do pay attention, there are intricacies and depth in the words and phrases that are not immediately grasped.  The first time I carefully read one of his commentaries on a Collect prayer, its meaning had an entirely new depth in Mass that Sunday, it's beauty and truth stood out that much more profoundly.

Coming from a fairly intense Evangelical-style Protestant background, I am constantly reminded by those around me to avoid "vain repetitions."  When repeated or prescribed prayers are understood in the way they are by Fr. Z, they are anything but vain, and hold true beauty and depth.  If anyone is battling the tendency to simply repeat or read out a prayer without giving thought to the meaning, it Fr. Z in his commentaries.

So, even though the translations are fixed, we still need to know What the Prayer Really Says.  Fr. Z's title and original purpose is as relevant as ever.

If you are Catholic, I suggest that you before you go to Mass on Sundays (perhaps sometime during Saturday) look through his posts for the last week for his commentary on the Collect (I'm not sure if he always does one.)  Whether you are Catholic or not, take a look at one of his commentaries on the Saints and read through them carefully and slowly.  They're worth it.

The Morning Edition - Curses and Weddings

This more of a "midnight edition" than a "morning edition" but the concept is the same, so I'll leave the title the same.  After some time of mostly abandoning my blog, I've come back to find out that popularity peaked at a time when was ignoring it completely with almost 1800 visits during the month of November (yes, I know in the blogging world, these numbers are really low, but they're an accomplishment for me!)

Other than that, the big news is that just recently my blog passed 15,000 total page views.  The totals are less interesting than the breakdown of popularity by posts:

The number 1 most popular is still The Curse of the Eye, a post about a very common superstition in Mexico - so common, that many people don't recognize it as a superstition; they see it more as a reality, like the common cold.  It has a total of over 3000 visits, and continues to top the weekly numbers every week.  I've realized, though, that a big part of its popularity is connected to the Sauron eye image I put at the top, which people look for in Google.  Sauron's eye has nothing to do with the superstition, but I thought it looked good.

This post is followed up by My Mexico City Experience - Pulque, about a popular and ancient Mexican drink, What really makes you Mexican?, a discussion if I can really call myself Mexican or not, and Cuernavaca and Drug-related Violence, a post about a real wave of violence in a beautiful colonial city, and how that does (and doesn't) affect life there.  Each of these is between 400 and 500 visits.

Finally, a new record was set by A Tragic Wedding, a sad (and true) story of an arranged marriage and a love lost for for life.  This story has only 40 visits, but they were all the same day I posted it.  I don't think any of my posts have gained that many visits so quickly. The "Curse of the Eye" has gained more than 40 visits consistently, but not when I first posted it - it took a while to catch on.

And the title of this post - well, it's just about the two posts that are most important in today's update.  But on the other hand, the "curse of the eye" is a concern at weddings, I think.  Also, rings seem to have to something to do with both of them (hence the picture, again stolen from unofficial imagery based on "The Lord of the Rings" even though it really has nothing to do with the post.)

The Morning Edition - What Living in Mexico is REALLY Like

When people are considering living another country, they spend a lot of time looking for the "real story" about what life in at country is like.  For Mexico, like any other country, we find all sorts of extremes flying around, with some people trying to promote as paradise, and others, who like to present themselves as "realistic," telling exaggerated horror stories.  With the first people, you're left wondering what they're trying to sell, or what they've been doing to remove they're mind from reality, with the second, you're left wondering why they're still here if it's so horrible; the truth is that both are falsifying for the pleasure of telling stories and either pleasing people or shocking people (the two are not so dissimilar.)

From my point of view, the plain truth is that once you settle into day to day life, enjoying the simple pleasures that each day brings to you, or hating the mundane routine that you can't escape from (the optimistic vs. pessimistic view of the exact same things,) day to day life is about the same just about where ever you live.

This is not to deny or even diminish the importance of cultural differences, lifestyle and work routines, which are very dependent on where you live.  But the point is that even the richest culture or the most comfortable lifestyle can be swallowed up by boredom and no pleasure to life whatsoever.  On the other hand, the place most devoid of culture and anything remotely interesting in terms of human achievement could be beautiful to the open heart.

My life in Mexico is most defined by the same things that define the lives of people I know in Canada, Mexico City, China, the U.S., etc; I get up, I take my son to school, I do my work, sometimes I cook, I eat, I help clean the house or do the dishes, I write my blog, I help put the kids to bed, I read, etc. I'd guess that well over 90% of my life is taken up by these things.  My friends who don't have kids wouldn't be doing those items, but most of the rest would be similar.

Of course, the places we live and the people near us define the flavor of these routines; but it is our openness to life that shows us the beauty of the place we live and the people we interact with.

I love my routine because it is with my family and friends, and in a place that is pleasant. The strange, interesting and wonderful little discoveries I come across (many of which show up in this blog) add flavor and spice to this.

In this blog, the posts that are most about my life every day here are the ones that are not much different from little things people everywhere would enjoy:

Our New Park
The Neighborhood I Call Home
Our Beautiful Bougainvilleas - Flowers, Flowers and more Flowers

These are like rice (I like rice); they are the base of my daily life.  The other neat little things I have the pleasure of coming across are like the spices and other ingredients added to the rice to add flavor and variety:

Cafe de Olla - One of my Favorites!
Day of the Dead - The Symbols and Traditional Elements


Of course, there are things which aren't pleasant at all, but these are also a part of normal life.

So what is life in Mexico like?  The short answer is, when the new wears off, just about like anywhere else; discovering and enjoying the little beautiful things and intriguing features unique to Mexico, which add some spice to life will depend entirely on how you view life ...

The Morning Edition - Exotic Mexico

I was just taking a look at the most popular stories in my blog, and the top 2, outnumbering the 3rd and 4th places by 2-4 times as many visits have to do with items very unique to Mexico's distinct culture:

• The Curse of the Eye - This has been #1, almost doubling #2, and tells about a very, very popular superstition in Mexico, and how to protect children against it.  While supposedly it's the "Catholics" who are more superstitious (in quotation marks, since these beliefs are in now way officially Catholic or approved by that church), recently an Evangelical mother visited me her newborn baby, and I caught a glimpse of deer's eye bracelet on the baby; if the Catholic Church disapproves, Evangelical Churches even more so; I find this paradox hard to wrap my mind around ...

• My Mexico City Experience - Pulque - #2 has also doubled #3 in popularity.  This is a traditional fermented drink, dating back to Aztec times, made from the same plant as Tequila.  Originally it was a sacred drink, and now it belongs to the rural working class.

Another post about the dangers of being caught unawares by a beautiful Mexican WARNING: Mexico is DANGEROUS! Do not come here - unless ... is also very popular, with another one about illegal immigration, Illegal Immigration - An Alternative Approach, being fairly well liked.  The top 5 are rounded off by one completely unrelated to Mexico, about my wife's luck with technology, Have you ever flushed your phone down the toilet?

Judging by the high popularity of the "exotic" theme, and because I really do like these topics, I'm soon going do another post or two on related topics; one will be about "tepache," a fermented pineapple drink, the other will be about "Saint Death" - a saint sub-cult focused on a grim-reaper like figure.

The Morning Edition - Why did I Move to Mexico?

The reason I decided to stay in Mexico, turning what was a 3-week vacation into a new life in a new country is an interesting one.  Perhaps in the future I'll write the story completely (it'll probably be a couple of posts.)  In the mean time, these are a few posts which refer in part or in whole to those events.  Enjoy!

• Tepoztlan, "Where UFOs and Witches Live Happily Together"

• Mexican Coffee in Toronto

• My Mexico City Experience - Pulque

• Would you move to Mexico?

The posts about the  Day of the Dead and Food also discuss some of the cultural features which I drew me to this country.

The Morning Edition - Raising Kids

Here's something new I'm going to add; the "Morning Edition."  This will be just a brief overview/commentary on of my themes, and links to the posts I've already written.

Today will be the first theme I actually wrote about in my blog - my experience raising my son (now sons, plural) in Mexico.  So far, I've written about:

Raising Kids to be Bilingual (click on the title to read)
HA banana-shaped lunch container,  which I thought was useless, but some readers really disagreed.
My son learning to pedal a trike!
My son's opinion on the language our dog speaks - and our new baby
Mexican Birthday Parties and Introverts
Kids preferences on how many friends to have (a typical Mexican opinion vs. my own.)
Some of my son's little habits

Not all of them are directly related to living in Mexico as a Canadian, but a few of them comment on differences.  I still have a lot more to write both about my kids specifically, and about some ideas that seem pretty common in Mexico, but I don't think would occur to anyone in Canada or many other places.  Some of these will come soon.

I hope you enjoy reading a post that you haven't yet