80k (Source)
Some time in the last month, The Amish Catholic received its 80,000th view. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to look at what I produce here.
80,000 Views
Blogging
A Belated Word of Thanks
The Ven. Mary of Agreda, seen here preaching to the Indians by the miracle of bilocation. She was one among many who taught the Absolute Primacy of Christ. (Source)
I must thank Fr. Maximilian Mary Dean for republishing two of my pieces over at Absolute Primacy of Christ: my introduction to the life and thought of Fr. Faber as well as my survey of art depicting the Subtle Doctor. It is a great honor to have been thought worthy of republication on a site I so greatly esteem. I have learned a lot from Fr. Maximilian’s blog and hope I might continue to do so! Go check it out.
70,000 Views
I’m astounded at how big this venture has gotten, and it’s all thanks to you, my wonderful readers and referrers. I appreciate your consideration. May God bless you all this Ascensiontide.
60,000 Views and Counting
It’s been an (un)earthly delight to have you all.
Thank you to all all the many thousands who have, collectively, given me about 61,000 views over the course of my blog’s existence. I always enjoy receiving your feedback, and I appreciate the time and consideration you give my work. A big thank you to those who not only read my work, but share and recommend it. May you all have a very blessed Holy Week.
One Year of “The Amish Catholic”
The Flammarion Engraving. It somehow seemed appropriate. (Source)
It has now been officially one year of The Amish Catholic. What a ride. I’ve had 50,874 views, and a total of 31,385 visitors from every continent except Antarctica. I’ve had 2 views in the Holy See. I am particularly proud of those 2 readers in Uzbekistan. I have been cited in The Catholic Herald and Liturgical Arts Journal, not to mention several other blogs I admire and respect. Everything has taken off rather more quickly than I thought.
Thank you to everyone who has made the last year such a rewarding experiment. An especially great thank you to those kind enough to share, comment upon, react to, or otherwise mention my blog. I know you’re all busy, and I appreciate whatever time you can spare to read my ramblings. A big thanks in particular to those few – you know who you are – who have recommended my blog on their own sites or through their own platforms. You have been more than generous.
I hope to continue The Amish Catholic in a spirit of fellowship, inquiry, and freedom. When I started, I had no idea where it would lead me. But I’ve had fun and made the acquaintance of some wonderful people along the way. I feel almost as if I’ve carried on a year-long conversation with you, my readers. Sometimes we talk about The Young Pope; sometimes we talk about Mormon artists. Sometimes we laugh at church politics, and sometimes we peruse the odd birds of Catholic history. Sometimes we pray together, and sometimes we weep together. Let’s have another year of it!
Thank you for your support and your continuing encouragement. May God bless you all with good friends, good graces, good laughs, good art, and good wine.
A Startling Passage out of Peter Anson
“Gnostic Catholic” vestments from Third Republic France. Note in particular the episcopal vesture at right. (Source)
In Peter Anson’s remarkable volume, Bishops at Large: Some Autocephalous Churches of the Past Hundred Years and their Founders (1964), we learn of many episcopi vagantes and their kindred spirits. It seems that several of these strange fellows dabbled (or more than dabbled) in the occult. Many also coupled that occultism with an interest in ancient heresies, which they sought to resurrect. In a chapter on the succession from René Vilatte, we stumble across a shocking little paragraph:
Mgr. Giraud and most of the priests and layfolk of the Gallican Church, even if not Gnostics themselves, were closely associated with them. Gnosticism was very much in the air fifty or sixty years ago. Even the Benedictine monks of Solesmes felt it worth their while to study what are known as the ‘Magic Vowels’ used in Gnostic rites and ceremonies. In 1901 they published a book entitled Le chant gnostico-magique. (Anson 309)
What an extraordinary claim. The monks of Solesmes, Dom Prosper Gueranger’s own sons, publishing studies of Gnostic chants! Dear readers, do any of you have any information on this bizarre note? I have been able to find evidence, however scanty, that the book Anson mentions was indeed published. But it surely must count as one of the rarest volumes in the assembled miscellanea of liturgical history. I would appreciate any leads whatsoever. Might some of my liturgically minded friends have any clue? Whatever comes of it, there is no doubt a very interesting story lurking behind this utterly unique publication.
A Note of Gratitude at Year’s End
Happy New Year! (Source)
Here are XVII things for which I am grateful in the year of Our Lord MMXVII.
1. Graduating from the University of Virginia and starting the next phase of my academic career at the University of Oxford, as well as everyone who has helped me along the way.
2. All of the friends I have left behind in Virginia, and all of the friends I have made at Oxford—from Staggers, my Ecclesiastical History cohort, and the Companions of Malta. Also my wonderful family who have been there for me throughout the transition.
3. Everyone who has taken the time and effort to read, share, and respond to what I have written at this blog. As of this writing, I’ve gotten 44,127 views.
4. All of the support I received when my grandmother died right before Holy Week.
5. The fact that I have several friends who have started the process of entering or returning to the Church.
6. David Lynch, Paolo Sorrentino, Peter Morgan, and Noah Hawley.
7. Rekindling my love of creating art.
8. The new basset hound my family got this winter and the rabbits we received in the spring. Not to mention the continued good health of our other pets.
9. Gin and Tonics, Whiskey Sours, and St. Germaine.
10. All the museums I have worked in or visited.
11. Discovering the joys of sticky toffee pudding.
12. My Marian consecration. The continued friendship of many saints, including St. Philip Neri and the Blessed John Henry Newman. Also the many beautiful liturgies I had the chance to attend this year.
13. The memory of those warm and golden weeks on the Lawn between the end of Spring exams and the beginning of final exercises.
14. All of the great music I have come across this year (The Revolutionary Army of the Infant Jesus, David Lang, a few pieces by John Tavener and Zbgniew Preisner, George Jones and Monteverdi, Bernstein, Gilbert & Sullivan, Chrysta Bell, James Carr and Pokey LaFarge, Gaelynn Lea, Jackson C. Frank, and so much more).
15. A new appreciation for William Blake and an introduction to the poetry of R.S. Thomas.
16. The fact that we haven’t all been nuked to kingdom come yet.
17. The laughter I have happily shared with friends and family.
May the good Lord bless all of us in the coming year of His grace!
Update: The Amish Catholic Facebook Page
Portrait of the Author in the Act of Creation. (Hogarth’s Enthusiasm Delineated, Source).
If you are a reader of mine on Facebook, then please head on over and like my new Facebook page for the blog. In the future, I will be publishing everything there. Onward and upward! May St. Stephen the Protomartyr, whose feast we celebrate today, bless this new undertaking.
40,000 Views
It’s been a wonderful journey with you thus far. (Source)
Today, I have just crossed the 40,000 view mark, with some 25,310 individual visitors from every continent but Antarctica. Thank you to everyone who has read, shared, or commented upon my work. I appreciate your consideration, and I hope I may continue to produce content worthy of your attention. May God bless you all.
Elsewhere: Fr. Dwight on the Vatican’s Bad Nativity
This nativity is kinda cheesy. (Source)
Fr. Dwight Longenecker has said all that really needs to be said about this year’s crêche at the Vatican. The issue is not just that it’s kind of crappy art, but that it dramatizes a heretical theology – a liberal Pelagianism of good works. Do give it a view.
The Amish Catholic 
