On the Title

Ad Jesum per Mariam is latin for To Jesus Through Mary. I have no idea of the full story behind this phrase but I know that it is tied tightly with St. DeMonfort's book True Devotion to Mary which I have read twice and will continue to read for the rest of my life (see it in the links).

One day, a very polite and learned commenter asked if my latin was not mistaken as I had named the blog Ad Jesu per Mariam. Now Jesus, being a direct object in this phrase, needs a little "m" on the end of his name. Having had only two years of Latin twenty years ago, it was a basic error caused by the twenty years in the darkness but the two years allowed for instant recognition of the problem. I was reminded of all this on this past Sunday, as the phrase appeared on the inside cover of a missal.

But there is meaning in my broken latin. It's symbolizes the situation of many Roman Catholics. We've lost so much and we speak the tongue of our Mother (the Church) only in a broken manner. So, I threw in a little "m" for the time being but I'll going to go back to my broken latin. It's a kind of virtual sack cloth, a acknowledgement of my unlearned nature, dismal knowledge of The Faith but it'll also be a mark of defiance against the vulgarity of the last fourty years.