Evening Roundup - St. Nicholas, Bishop & Confessor - Missa 'Statuit' Or Sacred Heart of Jesus - Missa 'Cogitatiónes Cordis' - December 6th, 2013

• Acton Institute PowerBlog >> How John Locke Influenced Catholic Social Teaching   (Joe Carter)
• Aggie Catholics (Marcel) >> How "Plan B" Works
• Bill Petro >> History of Santa Claus: Saint or Elf?
• Catholic Stand >> Bethlehem Redux  (Anthony S. Layne)
• Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture >> Moronic Writeback of the Day  (Thomas Fleming)
• Creative Minority Report (Matthew Archbold) >> School Goes All Burger Meister Meister Burger on Christmas
• Creative Minority Report (Matthew Archbold) >> Note to Self: Teach Child How to Draw Snowflakes
• Creative Minority Report (Matthew Archbold) >> Abp. Kurtz Says ACLU Suit "Misguided"
• Daily Meditations with Fr. Alfonse >> Mt 9:27-31 Prepare The Way Of The Lord
• Da Mihi Animas (Padre Steve) >> The Advent Revolution
• First Thoughts >> In Praise of “Xmas”  (Matthew Schmitz)  ("Nostalgia, though, is no replacement for history, nor can we attend only to accidental associations while disregarding etymology. That Xmas sounds for a time more commercial than Constantinian is no reason to give up on it use. At one time Xmas may evoke the clang of Roman steel, at another the cash register’s ring, yet no process of secularization has succeeded in preventing it from pointing us to that first and final fact: the song of angel chorus, the lowing ox and braying ass, the naked babe’s cry as his mother swaddles he who would leave his burial clothes behind.")
• Happy Catholic* (Julie D.) >> Optional Memorial of St. Nicholas, bishop
• Happy Catholic* (Julie D.) >> Jesse Tree - Day 6: Isaac
• Having Left The Altar (Katherine) >> Seven Quick Takes: St. Nicholas
• IDLE SPECULATIONS (Terry Prest) >> Joan de Joanes
• Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog (Carl Olson) >> You Better Watch Out—St. Nicholas is Coming to Town
• LES FEMMES - THE TRUTH (Mary Ann Kreitzer) >> St. Nicholas Day
• New Liturgical Movement >> Reminder: Norcia Calendars for 2014  (Peter Kwasniewski)
• Psallam Domino (Kate Edwards) >> Psalm 131: verses 3 - 5
• Reverend Know-it-all (Fr. Richard Simon) >> Can my pastor turn his back to me?  ("...Still more shocking, the newest Roman Missal assumes that the celebrant is facing away from the people for large sections of the Novus Ordo, or Ordinary Form of the Mass.  In the Missal there are black letters and red letters. The red letters are called rubrics, from the Latin word for red. The black letters are what the celebrant is supposed to say, the red letters indicate what the celebrant is supposed to do. In the 3rd Roman Missal the rubrics indicate that the celebrant must face the people only seven times, as far as I can tell.  Here are the citations from the missal...[...]...You can look ‘em up if you don’t believe me....The part of this that I find most interesting is not just that the priest may face away from the congregation, but that it seems expected. Still more interesting is that almost no one except the Pope Emeritus and a few curmudgeons like your pastor seem to notice or follow what seems to be clearly implied in the rubrics. Go figure....  Why no one seems to notice, much less follow the rubrics is completely beyond me. I suppose that’s because no one actually reads the rubrics. They assume these things were mandated by the council and are demanded by the rules. You know what they say about the word “assume.” “To assume makes a beast of burden out of you and me.")   (Grin!)
• RORATE CÆLI >> Rorate book review: "Crossbows & Crucifixes"
• RORATE CÆLI >> Immaculate Conception: Sunday, not Monday
• Sic Semper Tyrannis  (Knight of the Immaculata) >> The Cult of Saint Nicholas vs the Cult of "Santa"
• The Catholic League >> FACTS ABOUT PRIESTLY SEXUAL ABUSE
• The Deacon's Bench (Deacon Greg Kandra) >> What should you call a former Catholic priest?—UPDATED 
• The Deacon's Bench (Deacon Greg Kandra) >> USCCB responds to ACLU lawsuit: “This claim is baseless”
• The Practicing Catholic (Lisa Schmidt) >> Through Our Lens –> #Chill
• The TOF Spot (Michael Flynn) >> Feast of St. Nicholas
• Traditional Catholic Priest (Fr. Peter Carota) >> The Traditional Night Before Christmas
• Views From the Choir Loft >> "Traditional Liturgy Flourishing in the Bible Belt"