Tag: St Patrick

Curious Christian Trivia

On By robstroudIn C.S. Lewis, Christianity, Church History, Likely Useless Trivia, Potentially Useful Trivia, The Ancient Church, Theological Matters, Trivia17 Comments

beatlesHow many of these Christian trivia questions can you answer?

In my last post I shared a number of fascinating facts that I learned reviewing Catéchic, “the Catholic trivia game” by Tyco®. Read on and discover some intriguing information about the history and theology of the largest denomination in the Christian world.

How are the following for odd facts?

Question: What Iowa city has a name which means “of the monks” in French?

Answer: Des Moines

Here in Washington State we have city named Des Moines (pronounced with the final “s”) which is named after the Iowa township and not the monks who first helped established it.

What New York museum was built entirely from stones of Christian shrines imported from France by John D. Rockefeller?

The Cloisters

Leave it to the Americans to denude a country of their historic shrines to aggrandize a civil monument to a political dynasty.

Was St. Patrick Irish?

No

Now there’s a fact with which many Irishmen would take umbrage. The truth is, of course, that Patrick was Romano-British, enslaved by the Irish, who willingly chose to return to Ireland after his liberation to share the Gospel with his former captors.

The game includes a fair representation of literary questions. Two of them even deal with the esteemed author of The Chronicles of Narnia. Just one for now, with the promise of more literary insights in my next, and final, column about trivia.

Who is the Anglican children’s author that wrote the apologia The Case for Christianity?

C.S. Lewis

I can overlook the inappropriately limiting label “children’s author” since they have had the wisdom to include this reference to the Oxford don.

Students of history, including recent history, will have an advantage in answering the following questions.

Who designed the colorful uniforms of the Swiss Guard at the Vatican?

Michelangelo

They still look dandy. Fortunately for the security of the Papal See, they have advanced from relying on pikes to using modern weaponry.

Who was the most famous Bishop of Hippo?
Saint Augustine

Who in the world could name any other Bishop of Hippo?

Besides Richard M. Nixon, what other U.S. president was a Quaker?

Herbert Hoover

Didn’t know that. And, as memorable as Herbert Hoover was, I fear I’ve already forgotten . . .

Who was the Catholic, four-term mayor of Chicago known as “Boss?”

Richard J. Daley

Ugh. Two dishonest politicians in a row! I don’t believe I would want to claim Daley as a Roman Catholic if I was one . . . or Nixon as a Quaker, if I professed that creed.

According to the Beatles song “Let It Be,” who whispers words of wisdom?

Mother Mary

This must have been before the Beatles jettisoned any lip service to Christianity, claimed their renown exceeded that of Jesus, and entrusted their spiritual destiny to the philosophy of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Naturally the questions include a variety of details about Roman Catholic faith and practices themselves.

Should Catholics genuflect whenever they enter a Catholic Church?

No, only if the blessed Sacrament is present in the church.

Interesting. I had never thought about it, but it makes sense, since the obeisance is actually being offered to Jesus, present in the consecrated elements.

For what group is the annual Red Mass celebrated?

Lawyers

Observation: What? Whose idea was that, and do Roman Catholics grace all other professions with their own dedicated masses? If so, what color Masses are dedicated to insurance brokers, microbiologists and wig makers?

What was the name of the portable throne once used to carry the pope so that everyone could see him?

Sedia Gestatoria

Replaced by the bulletproof Popemobile.

When was the last time that a pope proclaimed a Catholic teaching infallible?

1954 (the Assumption, Pope Pius XII)

A good reminder to countless misguided Protestants who think Roman Catholics believe that most or all of what the popes say is “infallible.” The lesson would be better taught, however, if the cited instance was not for an extra-biblical doctrine with which most Protestants strongly disagree.

What is the day on which Judas received his payment for betraying Jesus sometimes called?

Spy Wednesday

That’s a new one for me, but it sounds like a great title for a new movie about the wayward disciple.

Who was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity?

Constantine the Great

It is good to see Constantine’s conversion affirmed here, although it is often maligned by critics. (Constantine was a child of his brutal age and after his conversion remained an imperfect sinner, just like the rest of us.) Only in the Eastern (Orthodox) Church is Constantine acclaimed a saint.

I will end with a question that holds a special place in my life, since I have spent the majority of my public ministry as a military chaplain.

What was the name of the Catholic chaplain on the TV show M*A*S*H?

Father Mulcahy

My favorite chaplain. I had the “blessed” experience of interviewing him for an article. I posted on William Christopher here and you can download a copy of the interview here.

Beware the Tablet

On By robstroudIn C.S. Lewis, Church History, History, Ministry, Potentially Useful Trivia, Roman History, Writing9 Comments

tabletDid the ancient wax writing tablet of the Romans possess the power to terrorize enemies? Two ancient texts suggest that under some circumstances, carrying these humble wax tablets could cost someone their life.

I love history. I love writing. When you combine the two, I’m in a literary paradise. I just read a journal article that took me there. I recently joined a fascinating online organization called Academia.edu, where international scholars freely share their research.

It’s like stumbling into a free four-star buffet for the mind.

I do not only love words themselves. I’ve long been interested in the physical or mechanical aspects of writing, as well. Along this line, I’ve written here in the past about typewriters and the printing press.

I do not recall, however, writing about one of the most fascinating literary devices used by both common and gifted writers for century upon century. I am referring to the wax tablets of Rome, and the often elaborate styluses used to write on them.

I read a captivating article today that related a pair of historical incidents—one ancient, the other medieval—in which modest tablets such as these were mistaken for weapons. Deadly consequences followed.

In a Welsh journal entitled Studia Celtica, there appears “Tírechán on St. Patrick’s Writing Tablets,” by David Woods of University College, Cork. Cork is, of course, in Ireland, that enchanted isle from which the sainted C.S. Lewis also sprang. In fact, in a letter written to a child, Lewis once wrote: “I was born in Holy Ireland where there are no snakes because, as you know, St. Patrick sent them all away.

The purpose of the article was to explain how writing tablets being carried by Saint Patrick and his party could be mistaken (from a distance) as swords. The author is persuasive in revealing the historic scene and the potential for misunderstanding. In doing so, he appeals to an ancient incident in which Octavius (who would become Caesar Augustus) unjustly executed a political enemy he suspected had posed a threat.

When Quintus Gallius, a praetor, held some folded tablets under his robe as he was paying his respects, Augustus, suspecting that he had a sword concealed there, did not dare to make a search on the spot for fear it should turn out to be something else; but a little later he had Gallius hustled from the tribunal by some centurions and soldiers, tortured him as if he were a slave, and though he made no confession, ordered his execution, first tearing out the man’s eyes with his own hand.

The incident with Saint Patrick was not quite so gruesome, although it may have easily turned bloody, if the pagan’s hoping to instigate a bloodbath had succeeded.

Patrick came from Mag Arthicc to Drummut Cérrigi . . . and people saw him with eight or nine men, holding written tablets in their hands like Moses. The pagans shouted as they saw them, demanding that one should kill the holy men, and said: “They have swords in their hands for killing people. In their hands they look wooden by day, but we believe they are swords of iron for shedding blood.”

The big crowd was on the point of doing harm to the holy men; but there was a man among them who felt pity, Hercaith by name, of the race of Nothe, the father of Feradach. He believed in Patrick’s God, and Patrick baptized him and his son Feradach.

Fortunately, reason prevailed, and Patrick continued to spread the gospel in the land to which he had originally been carried as a slave.

The article also references occasions where the stylus, rather than the innocuous tablet, was used as a weapon. “For example, when his assassins confronted Julius Caesar in the senate in 44 BC, he sought to defend himself with his stylus, and stabbed one of them, Casca, in the arm with it.”

The pen, (the original) Caesar’s weapon of last resort.

This delightful article offered a wealth of knowledge. It alerted me to the fact that it is not only wax tablets that are threatening. Those who are wise will exercise extreme caution, whenever they are confronted by any and all writing tools.