#motleysaint

It’s an Irish name and doesn’t match up with American English easily, but it’s

EE-fuh

or

Meh not spicy enough ;)

Hmmm, fair. 

Here’s the expansion pack:

Contemporary poetry is so terrible because most of the time it isn’t really poetry, its choppy prose and vaguely evocative feelings-prompts. And in content it’s rarely more than identity-politics-posturing and quasi-SJW activism. I have so much trouble reading it because it’s often a) a diary entry b) because stringing image-heavy phrases together does not make a whole and living poem (says a writer who is guilty of writing this way.) To be fair, there are a handful of shining star writers/poets today who do such a good job with this technique they can make this not-really-poetry form a good read anyway; and some of them are insightful and talented enough to also do some good things with some kind of form. We could tl;dr this as what passes for most poetry written today iis actually all in the “genre-bending” category or a different animal altogether (I can see arguments either way.)

Doctor Who and Star Trek both excelled when the focus was on the heart, on the remarkableness of people in community - and not whatever #woke points they were trying to explore. Of course these two things overlap a lot in terms of content, which is a big reason why the first three seasons of TNG were either solid hits or wide, wide misses, and why when the writers have a political agenda, it’s pretty much guaranteed to fail.

ETA: I posted this and then immediately after saw a list of reasons why Star Trek: Picard is a failure and hoo boy, I’m telling you, I’m right.

Must be one of those tabernacle is on the side somewhere churches

I have several of which I’m particularly fond!

Super flumina: Offertory chant for the 20th Sunday after Pentecost

Super flumina Babylonis illic sedimus et flevimus, cum recordaremur Sion.In salicibus in medio ejus suspendimus organa nostra.

By the waters of Babylon, there we sat and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willow trees in their midst we hung up our harps.

There are many lovely polyphonic settings of this psalm. I like the Gregorian chant version because it has a lot of melismatic phrases that go up and down and up and down. So as you chant about sitting by the rivers of Babylon, you’re going up and down - much like water. 

Veni Creator Spiritus: an early medieval hymn

VENI, Creator Spiritus,mentes tuorum visita,imple superna gratiaquae tu creasti pectora.

COME, Holy Spirit, Creator blest,and in our souls take up Thy rest;come with Thy grace and heavenly aidto fill the hearts which Thou hast made.

It’s a very old hymn, and the English text is probably very familiar to Christians. I love it particularly because it was one of the songs sung by the Carmelites of Compeigne as they were led to the guillotine. 

Dies Irae: a medieval sequence

Dies iræ, dies illaSolvet sæclum in favilla,Teste David cum Sibylla.

Day of wrath and doom impending.David's word with Sibyl's blending,Heaven and earth in ashes ending.

How can you not love the Dies Irae? It’s ancient, awe-inspiring, and one of the few sequences still somewhat regularly used by Catholic churches. (Well, at least, people sometimes know about it.) I highly recommend the book Dies Irae, by Nicholaus Gihr. It’s hard to find, but it’s a classic. It analyzes and meditates on the sequence, line by line. By the end, your hair is standing on end.

Rorate caeli: Introit chant for the 4th Sunday of Advent

Rorate coeli desuper et nubes pluant justum: Aperiatur terra et germinet salvatorem.   

Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just: Let the earth be opened and send forth a Saviour.

There are several reasons I love this chant! 

1) Listen to those opening notes, the beginning low notes, the quick and joyful leap upwards, to mirror our cry upwards to the heavens. Listen to the second half (”aperiatur...”), and how the notes descend more frequently, ending in a solemn lower note, as you turn your attention from the heavens to the earth. It’s  short, simple chant, but such a good example of the music mirroring the text.

2) This chant is also used as the introit for March 25th, the Annunciation. One of many reasons to follow the propers (introit, gradual, offertory, communion) is to see when chants are reused. That decision is strategic, and brings greater meaning to the Sundays/feasts. So, as you chant for the 4th Sunday of Advent, your mind turns to the Annunciation, and vice versa. 

Lol who would the most obscure one be?