The Last All-nighter

...well the last all-nighter of this school year anyway.

I am a big fan of all-nighters. Seriously. There's just something about sitting around thinking until the point of delirium that appeals to me. The time is currently 4:30 AM....and while I have 8 pages of words I can hardly say I have 8 pages of my minimum 10 page term paper written.

What have I been doing with myself all night that this paper isn't done and I'm not sleeping?...well let me tell you:

After coming back from Mass, my roommate and I discussed the letter I wrote for the Observer in response to the Viewpoint letters of two professors. I sent that letter to the Observer. I twiddled my thumbs and typed a few sentences. Come 2:30AM I decided to let my roomie get some sleep and so I migrated down to the "Chapel Lounge"

Oh yes. You just read that right and I am not making that up in my sleep-deprived stupor.

C-H-A-P-E-L- - L-O-U-N-G-E

Now, those of you on campus, and you alumni who were here after my hall was built in 1981 need no explanation.

For those of you not familiar with the worst chapel ever on this campus, let me tell you only that a favorite sport among some of us is to play "Find Jesus" in which you drag someone who has never visited the "chapel lounge" into the space and make them guess where (or what) the tabernacle is. Then watch their reaction when they finally find Our Lord....
....Though as a side note the lack of altarstone, crucifix, etc in the "chapel lounge" leads me to wonder if the place is actually lacking Jesus as well.

Back to my story. So I was sitting there, praying for divine inspiration, and suddenly my paper on Academic Freedom and Censure in the Medieval University of Paris (bet you'll never guess my inspiration for that one!) seemed less important that figuring out how that room could be converted into a real decent chapel.

Conclusion: It would be tough, but not impossible. We're getting a new rectress too so it just might be possible.........



So that's about 2 hours spent plotting reverse-wreckovation and that's another 20 minutes effectively wasted writing about it!



reeeeeeeeeeee ;-)




Addendum 10 Minutes Later:

So I decided to check my email - oh look Zenit's in the inbox! And look at what the subject of the QA is: Where Altar Crucifixes Should Face


ROME, MAY 2, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.

Q: When an altar crucifix is used during the celebration of Mass, ought the corpus to be facing toward the priest or toward the congregation? -- D.V., Washington, D.C.

A: The indications in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal are sparse regarding the direction of the figure of Christ on the cross:

"No 308. There is also to be a cross, with the figure of Christ crucified upon it, either on the altar or near it, where it is clearly visible to the assembled congregation. It is appropriate that such a cross, which calls to mind for the faithful the saving Passion of the Lord, remain near the altar even outside of liturgical celebrations."....

..... An altar crucifix can be somewhat off-putting for the faithful who can see only the reverse of the cross. This is a relatively new problem as, before the liturgical reform, the whole assembly, priest and people, faced both altar and crucifix in the same direction.

For this reason the best solution appears to be either the large crucifix permanently behind or above the altar.

Guess what! I have an even better solution! Let's have the priest face ad orientem!

Well, either way, my dorm chapel's in trouble.

Back to the paper for real....just after I check my email one more time....