The Armor of God and Guarding the Heart

I have been reflecting lately on the notion of Dom Chautard concerning that aspect of the interior life that is Englished in his book “custody of the heart.”  Perhaps a more militant way of translating this notion in modern English would be “guarding the heart.”

It is the duty of a knight to guard and protect, and we often associate this role with his perennial preoccupation with the Damsel in Distress.  Elsewhere I have noted that the Blessed Virgin is the personification of the Damsel in Distress–not so much because She is helpless, which She is not, nor is that an essential quality of any such damsel, but because She personifies everything true, good and beautiful.  She does this precisely at the foot of the cross as the personification of the Bride of Christ and as Mother and exemplar of the Church.  Ultimately the Christian Knight must be at Her service.

But the curious fact is that the knight, while an image of Christ, the Bridegroom and Savior, is first of all a sinner and one who must identify with the needy Bride as much as any woman should.  This is not to say that the knight must become a woman spiritually, but that his masculinity need not be threatened by whole-hearted honesty about his dependence on God.

In fact, nothing could be more important.  In order to stand fast in the breach that has been blasted in the wall of the City of God, Our Lady’s knight must first repair the breach in his own heart.  How can a knight defend the City of God, how can he fight for the honor of the Immaculate Heart and guard it from the dishonor of the heathens, if he has not first mastered the art of guarding his own heart?  In fact, there is nothing more urgent than the attention we pay to our own vulnerabilities.

To this end, I would like to associate the notion of Dom Chautard with that of St. Paul concerning the Armor of God.

Winner of Best Use of a Pumpkin

Forget pies and jack o lanterns.

MaryVictrix Desktops 2009

Some time ago I designed a desktop wallpaper for MaryVictrix.  Here is a new one for 2009.  The Theme is “vigilance” and is based on our Encampment Night Watch.

The whole idea of the Night Watch is to teach the boys the importance of having a keen mind and heart.  We need to be aware of the situation at hand all the time, the dangers to one’s soul and those of others and to be vigilant in the service of God and neighbor.

The fire represents the light of faith and ardor of charity, gifts which we must treasure and protect for the love of God and out of a sense of our own welfare.  More than that, we need to realize that each of us is responsible for the salvation of others and be at the ready to protect and defend the common good.

There are many shadowy aspects of life and into each of them we need to bring the light.  Catholic manliness is a light on the hill top.  We should be a source of hope and healing for all in need.

The rendering has the light of hope embedded in the shadows.  See if you can find those places.

Mac Cinema Display

1683 x 1052

PC Cinema Dispays

1280 x 800	1224 x 768

PC Standard Dispays

1280 x 1024	800 x 600

Cool Longsword Action

Found it here.

Toy Knights and Kosovo

No, Really. Actually it tells us a lot about what is happening in Kosovo right now, and in Europe at large.

O Dearest God, what shall I do, and how?
Shall I choose the earth? Shall I choose
The skies? And if I choose the kingdom,
If I choose an earthy kingdom now,
Earthly kingdoms are such passing things—
A heavenly kingdom, raging in the dark, endures eternally

The horrors of medieval and modern war. . . and appeasement.

MaryVictix Desktops

Some time ago I designed a desktop wallpaper for the Knights of Lepanto and Mary Victrix. I am now making it available in different sizes for both PC and Mac.

I originally designed it for a Mac cinema display (letterbox) with a nice dark area for the icons on the right. I have adapted the original to several sizes of the cinema display for the PC with the icon space on the left, and I have further cropped it for several sizes of the standard apsect ratio. It does not look as good in the standard ratio, but so be it. (The space for the icons had to be cropped out.)

The artifacts pictured in the wallpaper are all significant. Any thoughts? All feedback will be appreciated. Click on the thumbnail and right click to “save image as”.

Original Mac version Cinema Display

1683 x 1052

PC Cinema Dispays

1280 x 800	1224 x 768

PC Standard Dispays

1280 x 1024	800 x 600

Chainmail Rosary

It’s been done. I am mortified.

We will have to do better, though I think this one is awesome.

Scary Railgun

Fra Roderic says:  “Wow.  I want one.”

Modern warfare.

Battle Chic?

“It’s lots of fun. Very, very addictive,” Gardiner said.

Ceramic chain mail art? Hmm. The venerable invention of the ancient armorers is now considered a craft, as in artsy-fartsy kind of craft. To each his own.

I can appreciate the beauty and versatility of the wonder material, strong as steel, yet supple as cloth. So its being put to new uses that are marketable. I guess this one I can appreciate, a t-shirt. Nice.

Come on, Knights and Squires of Lepanto! Lets have some ideas. Lets get the coifs and halburks going.

I’ve been thinking of making a chain mail rosary. Don’t laugh. It will work. You’ll see.