The Rambler Vol. 6 No. 2

The Rambler VERITAS ENSIS NOSTER

A Dose of Reality

Virginia Springs Mandatory STD Vaccine on Schoolgirls This October The Walsingham Project: Could Henry VIII Make England Catholic?

Medievalism Goes Out of Style at Christendom A Tribute to a Man for All Seasons

September 15, 2008 - Vol. VI, No. II

September 15, 2008 - Vol. VI, No. II

The Rambler An Independent Student Journal Christendom College Veritas Ensis Noster

Editor-in-Chief Peter J. Smith Managing Editor Emma Boyle Layout Editor Adele C. Smith Senior Editors Heather Calio, Rebecca Harris, James Tillman Editor at Large Matt Hadro, Tara Jackson, Kathryn Kujawski Web Editor James Tillman Faculty Advisor Dr. Patrick Keats Contributors Angela Swagler; Sam Pynes; Vincent D’Agostino; Dominic de Souza; James Tillman; Heather Calio; Rebecca Harris; Alisha Onsager; Matt Hadro; Kathryn Kujawski; Joseph Vicinanzo Photo Cover: Andrea Hutchinson To contact THE RAMBLER: 134 Christendom Drive Front Royal, VA 22630 E-mail: rambler.editor@gmail.com Subscribe: A twelve issue year long subscription to THE RAMBLER may be obtained through a donation of $30 or more. All contributions go to THE RAMBLER. Our Mission Statement THE RAMBLER and its staff is dedicated to training the next generation of Catholic journalists and intellectuals. We prize the liberal arts education received from Christendom College and write about the news, arts, culture, faith and reason from this gained perspective. We believe we will play an essential part in a renaissance of new leaders and communications.

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Welcome

Editor’s Corner

once Christendom’s Athletics Director for five years, lived a life of selfless giving that culminated last week in the ultimate gift of his life for his son.

75 priests, 100 altar servers, and between 3,000 - 4,000 persons at his funeral speaks to only some of the lives that have been

by Peter J. Smith touched by the man. The Washington Post Editor-in-Chief gave a front page tribute to his life, and the This edition of The Rambler is dedicated story has spread far from there. to an ordinary man who by all accounts Matt Hadro gives a moving tribute to did things extraordinarily well. Many have this ordinary man whom he knew well. An attested that Thomas S. Vander Woude, 66, ordinary man, but the best of men!

CORRECTIONS from the Sept. 1, 2008, Vol. VI, No I Issue: The article “CBDS: A Culture of Controversy” was published with material submitted by mistake as a press release from CBDS spokesman Anthony Klosterman, instead of as an article as the author had really intended. The article has been amended, and authorship is credited to Mr. Klosterman.

The article, “Second Sunday Mass Not Likely to Ring a Bell on Campus” inaccurately stated Mr. Denton Coyne works during Sunday brunch. Mr. Coyne in fact worked the shift last year. Mr. Kieran DuFrain, however, does work Sunday brunch this semester, and concurs with Mr. Coyne’s assessment.

Letters to the Editor Dear Editor, First of all, I fail to see how having separate mass times available to students will “break up our community.” If someone could explain the issue to me I would appreciate it. I would be interested to hear his definition of a “community.” I don’t believe our community is fragile enough that having alternate Mass times will destroy our relationships.

Secondly, just because students choose to go to the earlier Mass does not mean they are going to be participating in the modern culture’s “consumerism.” One can just as easily go shopping before the 10:00 a.m. Mass as they can after an earlier morning Mass. The current Mass time certainly doesn’t hinder one from shopping after brunch. Some students simply feel they can celebrate the Lord’s Day more fruitfully when they participate in Mass earlier.

Maybe an earlier Mass would bring some of our community back from the earlier Saint John’s Mass in town?

With the increasing population here, having an earlier Mass until the new chapel is constructed might not be such a “bad” idea.

Emily A. Smith

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Dear Editor, Given the College’s obvious bias against both the Democratic Party and certain forms of technology, I was not surprised to find that the televisions on campus were not working during the Democratic National Convention. I was, however, surprised to find that this problem had not been solved in time to watch neither Gov. Sarah Palin’s nor Sen. John McCain’s historic speech at the Republican National Convention. This is a blatant failure on the part of the administration and students of Christendom.

If we expect to take part in an intelligent, national discussion on the current political situation, we must have access to these important events. We need this problem solved before the presidential debates start lest we miss out on more of the action.

John Mavretich

THE RAMBLER encourages letters to the editor. Letters can be submitted by e-mail to rambler.editor@ gmail.com. Please include your full name in your submission. Letters may be edited for space and clarity.

September 15, 2008 - Vol. VI, No. II

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News & Opinion

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi: Medieval Fest Kicks the Bucket

by Sam Pynes Rambler Contributor

As the midterm nears with the approach of October, many students are marking the absence this year of the traditional Medieval Fest, usually held on Parents’ Weekend. This year instead marks the first time in many years that such an event will not be held at Christendom and the annual Upperclassmen versus Underclassman football game will be held in its place.

Why was Medieval Fest cancelled this year and is such a change a good thing? Some students are far from confident that it is.

“Medieval Fest is, to me, tied up in the college itself,” said Senior Matthew Bowman.

“Christendom has always been very much about traditions, and looking to the past, seeing what’s best there and bringing it forward into the present and making it part of our everyday lives.

“Medieval Fest is one of the fun parts, much like Halloween, which has traditionally been a night of craziness where you can let off some steam that you’ve gathered the previous year. Medieval Fest does that sort of thing, but actually in a setting that is more appropriate to Christendom than Halloween is. We can look to our roots in western society, which is inextricably bound up with Christianity and Catholicism.”

Mr. Bowman said that now Christendom has traded in this tradition for just the Medieval dinner, which he calls “simply a dinner with costumes and no utensils.”

“The fun part about it was the day: to enjoy the activities, enjoy the performances, and that’s gone now,” concluded Mr. Bowman.

“Medieval Fest was also a good way of recruiting students,” stated Senior and contra dancing enthusiast Megan Weber. “It was very well attended by the student body as well as people I didn’t even know, possibly up to 500 people at the main event.”

“Everybody and their brother was there in costume,” added Freshman Philip Anthon. “I came last year and that’s what got me interested in the whole thing; I brought my costume.”

Mr. Dorman, the Dean of Student Life was willing to give The Rambler his perspective on why this seemingly well-attended event was cancelled and why the reducing of

the event to a medieval dinner was a good direction to move in.

“There was a lack of a critical number of students willing to put in the work to do the event,” explained Mr. Dorman.

“Not so much a lack of interest in attending the event, there is definitely some interest in attending an event, but there was a lack of students who were willing to do the work that would be necessary to put it on.

“The cancellation of Medieval Fest had very little relation to fact it was on Parents’ Weekend; more of it had to do with simply not having enough students willing to put in the work. It was one of the most labor-intensive events that SAC had and if there is not a critical mass of volunteers an event won’t happen, it’s a simple equation,” he continued.

With the number of volunteers continuing to decline over the years, Mr. Dorman said “SAC came to the determina- Peter J. Smith, ‘09, (as Piers) and Kieran DuFrain, ‘09, (as tion that it just wasn’t worth the Alcohol) performing in the 2005 Medieval Fest skit, “Piers amount of work needed to put Freshman” outside St. John’s Library. per-under game is a definite improvement or the event on.”

Other students felt that the Medieval Fest a “middle ground” in that respect.

Norton stressed that he was not a member did not represent Christendom well. of SAC when the decision to do away with “I would say that it is a good thing MeMedieval Fest was made, but there hasn’t dieval Fest has been replaced with the Upbeen any talk of moving it to any other per-Under football game,” said SAC member weekends.

Joby Norton. “The problem with Medieval “Even if we were to move it to another Fest, in my opinion, is that it was on Parent’s weekend I feel that, since it wouldn’t be on weekend. I think something like Upper-Unparent’s weekend any more, that you would der is much more appropriate as something probably lose half of your crowd, so the for the parents to see.” event would be for maybe half of the stuNorton said parents see almost the endent body.” tire school come together to have fun at an Norton also pointed out the critical shortevent, but Medieval Fest appeals to “a very age of people to volunteer to put on the specific crowd.” While the event was well atevent also was a major factor. tended, only about half of the student body “I realize that there are people who would attended, while the rest of the people there really get excited for Medieval Fest and it were parents and children. stinks for them, I’m sure, that it’s being shut “In a way it alienated the rest of the studown this year,” said Norton. “But we’re dent body, which didn’t want to participate, doing what we can, putting in the effort to and didn’t want their parents to come out for make its replacement equally if not more so that,” said Norton, who opined that the upenjoyable.”

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September 15, 2008 - Vol. VI, No. II

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News & Opinion

Christendom College

Medieval Weapons Get the Ax on Campus

by Vincent D’Agostino Rambler Contributor

For the first time in recent memory, Christendom College will begin to enforce in a uniform manner the student handbook’s explicit ban on all weapons – swords, pikes, battleaxes, too – on campus this academic year.

Mr. Jesse Dorman, the new Dean of Student Life, decided to finally enforce the ban without exceptions after reaching the conclusion that the College could not “in good conscience...create a situation where law enforcement would act in defense when they came on our campus” due to a selectively enforced weapons policy.

He called the ban “a process,” and insisted the decision had been in the works for the past few years. According to Mr. Dorman, the difference between this year and previous years in the College’s history lies in the fact the administration decided to specify the ban in greater detail for the 2008-2009 academic year.

The ban, however, has not been without its critics, especially among members of the student body. In particular, Senior Matthew Bowman, a self-proclaimed weapons expert, finds significant problems with the new policy. Mr. Bowman, who insists the idea of the ban is in the right place, maintains that the policy goes too far.

“Many of the weapons that have been banned,” said Mr. Bowman, “are actually so decorative that if...used as weapons...they would shatter.”

Admitting that flaws existed with the last policy, Mr. Bowman claims it was effective, albeit difficult to enforce at times. Other students expressed similar thoughts.

The last Dean of Student Life, Mr. Joseph Wurtz, ran a policy in which he kept track of who had what medieval armament and attempted to keep tabs on the activities for

which students used them. This policy, however, did seem to contradict the ban on guns or weapons located in the student handbook.

This contradiction and the message it sent to students in part led to the new policy established by the current dean.

Campus culture, which evolved and developed traditions under the previous platform of the administration, could stand to lose some of its more memorable moments due to the ban. St. Patrick’s Day will lose its armed honor guard – no more kilted clansmen wielding swords. Other events likely to be effected include Halloween, Mardis Gras, Dress up a Freshman Day, and Spirit Week. Each of these events made use of the selectively enforced weapons policy to some extent.

However, the administration is making attempts at finding off-campus sites where students can use objects such as paintball and airsoft guns, and it maintains that it is not going out of its way to make things no longer fun for students.

Since the student handbook does not define what constitutes a weapon, the student body can expect a definition sometime in the future. Until that time, Mr. Dorman classifies a weapon as “anything generally considered a weapon...or that can be reasonably confused as a weapon.” Mr. Dorman also leaves open the possibility for modifications to any definition of weapons in the future.

Although no specifics were given, the administration will take any weapons violation – medieval or modern – very seriously and any student caught breaking the policy can expect repercussions and a meeting with the Dean. The exact repercussions would depend on the varying nature of each situation.

Prime Matters, by Olivia Bushey

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September 15, 2008 - Vol. VI, No. II

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News & Opinion

Freshman Class President Seth Riggio Presents Ambitious Program for Academic Year

Agenda Covers the Halloween Dance and even the Tridentine Mass

by Angela Swagler Rambler Contributor

Newly elected Freshman Class President Seth Riggio began his campaign with great fervor and unprecedented action. Now, only days after his election, he may be found channeling his energies toward the revitalization of the Halloween Dance and advocating student interests.

While Mr. Riggio’s initial plan involved converting a “hysterical Coffee House” into a “horror house,” the Freshman President is working to poll all students for their opinions on the matter.

“They can submit their written ideas to my mailbox, no. 124,” Mr. Riggio stated. From there, the ideas will be subject to a “view and review” until the prescribed deadline of Friday, September 26th.

“It is necessary to work in a frenzied fashion to turn out a fantastic fiesta,” Mr. Riggio explained. He added that his Freshman administration will have their plans finalized

by October 15th, leaving 16 days for preparation.

Mr. Riggio’s other plans for the year consist of working to provide students with a “broader choice of worship.” The purpose behind this, Mr. Riggio said, is to more thoroughly bring “Christ back into everything we do.” Mr. Riggio hopes to accomplish this by advocating for more Latin in the celebration of the ordinary Roman rite, obtaining a second Sunday morning Mass, striving for increasingly optimal recognition of Christ in student activities (from the dances to the Killian’s Café), and increasing the availability of the Tridentine Mass on campus.

These ideas, Mr. Riggio has put forward, because he identifies the Freshman Class as one that will “maintain Christ on their backs.”

When asked how he plans to implement these movements – given the limitations and restrictions of his office outlined in the Student Handbook – Mr. Riggio replied, “Any student can go to the faculty, any student can go to the President, and any student can create petitions. As Freshman Class President, this will give me more incentive to do so, and being on the President’s Advisory Council will give me more capability of doing so.”

Other members of Mr. Riggio’s administration include: Mr. Dominic de Souza, Miss Theresa De Souza, Mr. Richard Lancaster, Miss Megan MacAdam, Mr. Samuel Pynes, and Miss Sequoia Sierra.

Shield of Roses: Saving Lives and Saving Souls

by Kathryn Kujawski Editor-at-Large

At the beginning of each school year, many new, and even some returning students, wonder what exactly Shield of Roses is: the answer is nothing less than saving souls and babies’ lives through this critical campus prolife group.

Founded in the early 1980s, Shield is a gathering of dedicated pro-life students that travels into Washington, D.C. every Saturday morning to pray for and give counsel to the women entering the abortion clinic owned by Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan D.C. Those attending Shield first assist at the 7:30 a.m. morning Mass, and then gather outside of the Commons to pray before departure and enjoy a donut or two. Due to legal reasons, the College can only give limited support to Shield, and for this reason allows the group just one van on Saturdays.

On weekends when a sporting event or some other activity occurs, the event has priority over Shield, and the group will not have the use of a van. For these reasons, Shield greatly appreciates those who are willing to drive into D.C. when they are able to come to Shield. Shield reimburses such drivers with

gas money from the Shield account.

When the students arrive at the clinic, they gather on the lawn outside to pray, while some students remain on the sidewalk to counsel the women despite the intimidation of the clinic escorts.

Students with Shield have been blessed to witness at least one woman per semester decide to keep her child. Many others may also make such a decision, but God alone knows their number.

In order for Shield to continue counseling to these women, the group needs students willing to volunteer themselves and fulfill the role of sidewalk counselors. All volunteers receive training to prepare them before becoming counselors.

Around 11:00 a.m. the group returns to the van and cars to drive back to campus, arriving back in Front Royal in time for brunch in the Commons.

It is understandable that some cannot attend Shield each week, or come at all due to work or other reasons. Shield just asks that such students pray for those students who do pray at the abortion clinic, and also for the women going to the clinic and the people who work there.

Shield is a student-run organization, and 5

it can only continue to flourish with the support, assistance, and enthusiasm of the students. The group gathers only on Saturdays, but has plenty of work to do during the week.

Anyone interested in assisting with Shield, or in becoming a sidewalk counselor (Shield now has only three students who are trained counselors), should contact either Mr. Ben Allen or Miss Kathryn Kujawski for more information.

September 15, 2008 - Vol. VI, No. II

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News & Opinion

NAFTA Superhighway to Pave over US Sovereignty Millions of US Homeowners and Businesses Stand to Lose Property Rights in US-Mexi-Canda Scheme.

by Matt Hadro Editor-at-Large Listen to the whispers of the rightwing media pundits, pay special attention to immigration legislation from Congress and the President, follow the money trail, and one might end up somewhere in Texas where a road four football fields wide is in the works: a river of asphalt that will split the heart of America more than the mighty Mississippi ever did. Is it fact or fiction, the NAFTA Superhighway?

President Bush dismisses such claims of the coming North American Union (NAU) and the NAFTA Superhighway.

Congressmen like Tom Tancredo (R-CO) and Ron Paul (R-TX) dare to disagree.

The history of the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) and the European Union (EU), as well as recent immigration legislation foretells the coming union of the US, Canada, and Mexico, they say.

What exactly is NAFTA? Begun early last decade, agreements between the US, Canada, and Mexico were drafted to forego the traditional tariffs, trade restrictions, and custom laws in the trade between these nations, and instead open up free trade to increase mutual prosperity. The agreements formed NAFTA as known today, and it all went into effect in 1994.

Eleven years later, President Bush met behind closed doors on his Texas ranch with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and Mexican President Vicente Fox. The Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) was born, with the statement to “make our open societies safer and more secure, our businesses more competitive, and our economies more resilient.”

Congress had no say in the matter, much less the American populace. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told reporters later, during an SPP followup meeting, “we want to facilitate the flow of traffic across our borders.”

And now, the blueprints for a super-

highway in Texas are widely rumored to be in the works. Currently, the highway will stretch from Missouri down through Texas, to be named the Trans-Texas Corridor, a concrete monstrosity that, if constructed, will displace thousands of homes and businesses in the heart of America. If the rumors are true of a bigger NAFTA Superhighway, which will grow from the TTC base, then eminent domain (the federal confiscation of private property for commercial development) will be conducted on a scale never seen before. The NAU War Room website predicts that as many as one million “eminent domain” notices may soon be issued in Texas alone.

Cintra, a Spanish company, would construct the road. The Trans-Texas Corridor, according to many supporters, is simply a federal project to alleviate traffic congestion and encourage commerce. However, if the pieces of the puzzle fit, it is possible to consider something much more dense and massive at work here.

National outrage, led by fire-breathing talk show hosts and grassroots action, was able to defeat the infamous Amnesty bill that was backed strongly by President Bush last summer. Critics have asked why was the President so intent on supporting a bill that held so many loopholes for illegal immigrants to enter the US, with a conviction that dared him to so much as criticize the US populace for opposing it.

Critics have suspected a North American Union, a socialist-flavored scheme modeled after the EU, to be in the works.

If such a union was under construction, the NAFTA Superhighway would be the literal backbone of the continent. Stretching from ports in Western Mexico, through the heart of the US, and into Canada, such a road (and highways branching off from it) would allow for almost limitless commerce. Cheap goods and labor (especially from Communist China) would pour into the continent, and transportation would transcend the traditional borders between the three countries.

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Sovereignty also would appear to take a backseat to a mutual “security.”

While the members could supposedly work together against terrorism from without, the real enemy would very well reside within. Goods traveling from Mexico to the US would not be fully inspected until they reached a “SmartPort” in Kansas City, Missouri. Furthermore, the SmartPort actually would be under Mexican control since the goods first entered the continent at the Mexican ports.

This also does not address the nightmare of border security if such a plan goes into action. One would have to wonder if illegal immigration would not increase exponentially, and sovereign control of immigration would cease?

Indeed, a quick search of the history of the EU reveals a blueprint that is strikingly similar. The sovereignty of the European nations is dwindling, as well as the preservation of history and culture, amidst a socialist New World Order and a common currency that is ravaging against the little respect for tradition left in Europe. Those who have traveled abroad recently, especially in the Rome Program, would have seen this cultural rot firsthand.

While the North American Union and any Amero currency may be some time away, none can dismiss the possibility of such a political scheme. Congressmen are already fighting back, with House Concurrent Resolution 40 created by US Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) and supported by US Reps. Ron Paul and Tom Tancredo. The resolution calls for a halt to the Security and Prosperity Commission as well as the proposed NAFTA Superhighway.

Now that the three countries are embraced in a free trade agreement, however, anything is possible. If the future construction of the Trans-Texas Corridor becomes reality, the inevitability of it all grows that much more certain.

September 15, 2008 - Vol. VI, No. II

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Christendom College

Will Voter Apathy Determine Virginia’s Fate?

“Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote” – G.J. Nathan

by Heather Calio Senior Editor

With officials vying for the highest office in the United States this November, there is an important issue that needs to be brought to the table- but kept out of the polls: voter apathy. In past elections, around 50% of eligible Americans did not vote. Apathy at the polls is the surest way to do wrong to your self and to your beliefs.

Casting your vote in any election is a privilege and a chance to fix what you believe is wrong with the political process. Perhaps even more frustrating than the political process itself is standing by the sidelines and watching those with the opposing view take positions of power solely because their supporters voted, and you didn’t. Even further, it is your duty as a citizen in this country to make sure you vote. You owe it to yourself and to your community to hold officials to task by making sure those who are unfit to serve the people are kept out of office, and that those who are good servants have a place in office.

Charles DeGaulle once said that “Politics is too important a matter to be left to the politicians.” If you hold this, vote. If you don’t care, there are plenty of other countries to move to where the leaders would love to silence your voice and steal your rights.

Therefore, it is important to insure that people with moral integrity (aka Christendom students) vote.

If you are still not convinced that your vote can make a difference, here is something to think about. Virginia is a swing state, and is currently being fought over by both Presidential candidates. At this point it could easily go either Democrat or Republican.

However, Virginia is by law a winner-take-all state. What this means is that the public vote

determines which electors of the Electoral College get to cast their vote. (The president of the United States is not elected by public vote, but by the Electoral College. A total of 270 votes from the electors is needed for any candidate to take office.) If the public vote goes the way of the GOP in Virginia, 13 good old Republicans will get to decide which candidate they will cast their votes for. However, if the public vote leans left, it would be possible for Obama to win these votes from Democrat electors. So it is very important to never underestimate the power of your vote.

At Christendom we have a unique situation. It is easy to forget civic obligations, in a society structured like Christendom. It is a strong temptation to cut ourselves off in such a remote situation. Yet fortunately, Christendom has a high concentration of morally conscious voters. Especially as young

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people, we are those with the most to gain or lose in these elections. Therefore, all students able to vote here at Christendom have an obligation to cast their vote according to their conscience, in order to ensure the welfare of our country, to “restore all things in Christ”, and to hold those in office responsible for their actions. Remember also that the Presidential office is not the only one up for election this year. Check and see who else is up for election in your own state.

The Rambler has teamed up with various politically-minded clubs here at Christendom to make sure that neither the distance to the polls nor voter apathy has a place among students at this college by bringing a week-long voting drive to campus. From September 15 - 19 at the Commons during lunch we will be registering people to vote as well as helping them apply for absentee ballots in their home states.

Photo: Dawn Endico

News & Opinion

September 15, 2008 - Vol. VI, No. II

News & Opinion

Trick or Treat: Virginia Requires ST

So Who the

Within two weeks, over 100,000 sixth grade girls in Virginia schools will be required by state law to receive the controversial and costly vaccine Gardasil. Although the vaccine is touted to prevent cervical cancer caused by the sexually transmitted Human Papillomavirus (HPV), controversy has arisen over the number of deaths and disabilities occurring in healthy young girls after taking Gardasil.

Pharmaceutical giant Merck, which brought the public Vioxx, has now turned its attention to women’s health. After only five years of testing, Merck has developed and marketed the HPV vaccine Gardasil.

In some small amount of cases, HPV can cause cervical cancer, which is responsible for the death of 3,700 women in the US each year. However, Merck’s vaccine protects against only 4 out of around 100 known strains of HPV; two of which are responsible for 70% of cervical cancers.

Cervical cancer is not by any means an epidemic, or even among the top-ten threats to an American woman’s health.

While cancer in any form is devastating, the risk for cervical cancer is relatively low for most women, especially thanks to early detection through Pap tests. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) says that most people who get HPV never know they have it, and the virus may disappear on its own.

(MMR).

Virginia’s law allows Merck to monopolize the state market for Gardasil – neither the vaccine nor its booster is compatible with rival GSK Cer varix – and reap enormous profits from what critics call a massive new batch of guinea pigs. Gardasil costs an average $360-400 per girl, meaning that Virginia’s 100,000 11-12 year old girls (according to 2005 US Census Data) will earn Merck $36 million in this state alone for just one school year. Wall Street estimates Merck’s overall profits from Gardasil to soar into hundreds of millions annually and eventually into the billions.

Making a Merck Monopoly through State Power

Gardasil, the FDA, and the Vioxx Legacy

At the moment, Merck’s Gardasil, delivered in a series of three doses, is the only HPV vaccine on the market. Merck beat out rival GlaxoSmithKline (which is developing Cervarix, anticipated release in 2009) by fast-tracking the process through the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2006.

Merck then launched a massive marketing campaign to create hype about this virtually unknown cancer, and through various third party lobbyists, Merck successfully pressured over 20 state legislatures to consider making Gardasil among the mandatory school vaccines for girls ages 11-12. In Virginia,

by October 1, the STD vaccine will take its place alongside contagious childhood diseases such as mumps, measles, and rubella

Americ Health

Gardasil profits will help Merck recoup from lawsuits and lost revenue following the recall of the other Merck FDA approved drug: Vioxx. A 2004 FDA put the death toll at 28,000, however forthcoming FDA estimates are expected to range between 89,000-140,000 people in the US alone. In this case the death toll ran high on account of FDA reluctance to review the connection between heart complications and Vioxx.

Merck’s connections in the FDA run deep. The FDA advisory panel on Gardasil included two former Merck employees who helped developed Gardasil. Dr. John Boslego was executive director of Biologics Clinical Research at Merck for ten years, and left the 8

by Heath

TheRamblerOnline.com

Christendom College

TD Vaccine for Schoolgirls by October

Is Calling Shots in a’s Public h Sector? c o m p a n y just two months before the FDA approved Gardasil.

Alan Shaw was part of Merck’s Vaccine and Biologics Research. Despite their close ties, the FDA ruled both free of any conflict of interest and able to credibly pass a judgment regarding the safety of Merck’s vaccine.

Gardasil has already managed to raise serious alarm over its effect on women’s health. Since its release into the public on June 2006, over 8,000 adverse reaction reports (including reports of seizures, paralysis, auto-immune disorders and death) have been filed for girls severely affected by Gardasil, according to the public watchdog group, Judicial Watch. Between 18-20 deaths – 11 within one week of vacinnation – have been reported among otherwise healthy girls after taking the HPV vaccine.

Merck’s own website for Gardasil lists (currently known) side effects, and while some of these are harmless and common to most vaccines, others are serious and potentially fatal. Guillian-Barre Syndrome (GBS) is among these. According to CBS, The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, Judicial Watch and others, many girls have already started to show signs of these symptoms, with around 20 confirmed cases by June.

Guillian-Barre is an auto-immune condition which can be contracted either by receiving vaccinations or undergoing surgery. It causes rapid muscle degeneration, and eventually paralysis. There is no known cure, and according to Merck and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), there is no way to identify which women receiving vaccinations will be subject to this condition - or for that matter any sort of effect.

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Deaths and Complications: 8,000 and Counting

Poor Testing Base for Massive Gardasil Target Group

Even more disturbing is the fact that for the age group of 9-15 year old girls – the targeted group for Gardasil – Merck observed 9

fewer than 1,500 test subjects in this cohort over a period of less than five years. According to The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the doctor’s pitch to the young girls forced to be vaccinated might go something like this: “The three injections will probably protect you from an infection that you can get only from sexual contact, but research has not shown how long the protection will last or whether it might have rare bad effects on your health.”

The cropping up of serious side effects seems to be a ghastly echo of Vioxx, as the FDA refuses to reconsider its decision to fast-track Gardasil on the US populace or consider any connection between the deaths and disabilities reported among healthy girls recently vaccinated with Gardasil. Neither have Gardasil’s long term effects upon recipients been documented, nor has its effect upon the fertility of these girls been seen.

Law Makes Taxpayers, not Merck, Pay Detrimental Consequences

Instead Virginia is leading the way to exponentially expand the number of girls who receive Gardasil without consideration that the number of adverse effects also might exponentially increase.

Gov. Tim Kaine in signing the bill making Gardasil compulsory for girls 11-12 effective October 1, 2008 said Virginia is now “going to be a model for other states to follow.”

Parents or guardians will have the opportunity to opt their daughters out of receiving the vaccine by giving “adequate reason.” However critics charge that in the first place, the public should have had the ability to “opt- in” to the vaccine rather than have to fight state law to make a healthy and informed choice for their daughters.

If Gardasil goes the way of other products like Vioxx, Virginia taxpayers, not Merck, may find themselves footing the bill for adverse consequences. A 1986 US Federal law (National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act) is often invoked in civil courts to protect vaccine manufacturers from liability for the “unavoidable” adverse side effects caused by their vaccines. Ultimately, only Merck is fully protected from any reaction to its own vaccine.

September 15, 2008 - Vol. VI, No. II

TheRamblerOnline.com

Christendom College

Faith & Reason

Death and Rebirth of the Christian Imagination

A Review of The Death of Christian Culture and The Restoration of Christian Culture, by Dr. John Senior, Printed by IHS Press, 2008.

by James Tillman Senior Editor That genre of literature detailing the Death or Decline of the West disappoints more often than not. Our cultural surroundings make such books easy to write, but their writers often presume that this situation permits them to replace logic with rhetoric. I, therefore, expected nothing but a polemic—amusing, witty, and interesting, but a still polemic, none the less—when I began to read John Senior’s books, The Death of Christian Culture and The Restoration of Christian Culture.

In fact, only half of this expectation was met. Senior’s books are in fact amusing, wit-

ty, and interesting, at least until Senior begins to touch upon things that could affect one’s own life. He savages certain modern phenomena and does so in an enjoyable fashion. But in addition to being well-written, his books are very well-argued, and in addition to being very well-argued, they argue for a number of things that are very well worth our knowing.

Senior excels in the description of modern culture in the first book, not so much because he shows the effects of modern culture—anyone could point out these—but because, as befits a wise man, Senior also shows the causes. One cause he repeatedly emphasizes is the corruption of the imagination. Philosophy requires clear concepts;

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concepts are abstracted from the imagination; a twisted imagination, therefore, can lead only to twisted philosophy. As he writes, “The study of philosophy and theology will not cure a diseased imagination, because anyone with a diseased imagination is incapable of studying philosophy and theology.”

In a similar fashion, Senior reduces many modern movements and tendencies—viz. modernism in literature, relativism in morals, the defense of license in politics, syncretism in religion, pessimism and depression in art—to the philosophical denial of being and headlong flight from reason and realism.

Senior gives compelling arguments to make his case and furthermore, aware of how man learns, he always keeps in mind the reader’s need for examples, and he provides many of them; to see him quoting J.K. Huysmans, a French decadent writer and later Catholic convert, in counterpoint to Aristotle is enlightening and fascinating.

Just as the wise man knows the causes of things, so also he orders them. So after analyzing the West’s fall, Senior gives advice on how to try to bring order about. His advice will not be palatable to most. If a corrupt imagination cannot reason well, one must avoid those things that corrupt the imagination: If many things in the modern world corrupt the imagination, then it follows the solution require a rejection of much of the modern world. He gives no political advice that I can recall; his opponents would characterize his counsel as defeatist, medieval, reactionary, and whatever other opprobrious titles the modern world has reserved for those who say perfection does not consist in eternal progress towards an indefinite and unknown goal.

Senior begins and ends the Restoration of Christian Culture with Our Lady, the Seat of Wisdom, and the need for devotion to her. All would agree, I think, that this is a wise course. This is not the only wise thing these books contain, but all would do well to consider his arguments and the possibility of their truth.

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Faith & Reason

speaker Mr. Raymond de Souza, EWTN program host and director of Saint Gabriel Communications International.

About four years ago, Mr. de Souza and his wife, Theresa, visited a priest at the Vatican Secretariat of State who did not hide his deep concern about the future of the old continent. Mr. de Souza was told that “either Europe remains somewhat Christian, or it will become Moslem. We cannot live together in peace.”

In July 2005, in the course of an impromptu address to some hundred and fifty priests of the Aosta diocese in Italy, Pope Benedict XVI referred to the widespread religious indifference rampant in Europe and general Western society. He said that “The so-called great churches seem to be dying, especially in Australia and Europe, but not so much in the United States”.

He did not exclude the Catholic Church from his mention of the ‘dying churches’ in Australia and Europe.

A dying church does not leave a vacuum.

Europe is not only being de-Christianized beyond recognition, but exposed to cultural and demographic islamization.

Last year, the German theologian and personal secretary of Pope Benedict XVI, Fr. Georg Gänswein, alerted the international community about the threat of the islamization of Europe. Fr. Gänswein told the German paper Süddeutsche Zeitung (26 July 2007): “One must not ignore the attempts to Islamize Europe, and the Catholic Church clearly sees this danger. This kind of attitude may present a risk for European identity.”

Thus the Prayer Crusade has been revitalized for two reasons: First, England is the home to the greatest medieval shrine devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary: Walsingham. Although desecrated

Will this Man and a Prayer Crusade Save England?

by Dominic de Souza Rambler Contributor In the face of the rising de-Christianization of western culture and the burgeoning Islamification of Europe, an unprecedented response has been launched - a Prayer Crusade for the Conversion of England – an endeavor in which even Henry VIII, the old Defender of the Faith, may now play a decisive role.

The inspiration for this crusade came from Ven. Ignatius Spencer in 1847. A Passionist father and convert from Anglicanism, he preached sermons across England and Ireland calling for prayers for England’s conversion. His apostolate received the blessing of Pope Pius IX. Now, almost one hundred and fifty years later, this initiative has been revived with a new urgency by international

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and razed by Henry VIII shortly after his secession from the Chair of Peter, the oncemiraculous shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham was rebuilt early this century and has once again become a place of pilgrimage.

Numerous prophecies from Our Lady of La Salette, St. Dominic Savio and St. John Vianney indicate that “the Church in England will recover her former splendor.”

Secondly, King Henry VIII’s masterpiece Defence of the Seven Sacraments Against Martin Luther has been re-edited and republished. Most surprisingly, given the source, this “royal book of Catholic apologetics” raises the standard of Catholic orthodoxy and helps refute the various forms of false, modern ecumenism, which instead of gathering together all peoples in one Creed, aims to gather all creeds into one people. This with the recent request of over four hundred thousand Anglicans to receive full sacramental communion with the Holy See is indicative of the general move towards traditional orthodoxy pervading the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC).

Should England convert to the Catholic faith, Islam would encounter a resistance unlike anywhere else in the world, a resistance that may well save Europe’s Christian identity and slow the de-Christianization of the west.

It is for this reason that Mr. de Souza has written to every possible Carmelite convent around the world, beseeching prayers and support.

“Thanks to God, I am amazed at the number of responses we’ve had from obscure convents deep in central Europe, parts of the Phillipines, Ireland and the USA, all pledging prayerful support for our endeavor,” said Mr. de Souza.

Author’s Note: All those wishing to be a part of this project are invited to join the mailing list via the website www.KeysofPeter.org where more information is available. Some of the replies from the convents are available, as are the prophecies and prayers for the Conversion of England.

September 15, 2008 - Vol. VI, No. II

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Christendom College

Arts & Culture

by Rebecca Harris Senior Editor

Lourdes; Fatima; Guadalupe; Knock. If any of these names were dropped in a roomful of Catholics, instinctually the majority would think one of word: “pilgrimage.”

Parents raise their children from a young age knowing these stories, believing in these miracles, and the lucky ones are able to visit these places.

But what about the hundreds of other pilgrimage sites that seem to only hold national interest? These forgotten places of mystical significance can touch our hearts and deepen our faith in the same ways that the more well-known ones can, but without the fear of over-exposed tourism and marketable fanaticism.

Montserrat, located about an hour outside the Catalonian city of Barcelona on a remote sierra, is a central pilgrimage site for Spaniards, but is relatively unknown outside of the Spanish borders. Its isolation, both physically and figuratively, lends to the unique appeal of Montserrat. It embodies a synthesis of stunning natural beauty and a peaceful (yet powerful) spiritual presence, creating a landscape that is a remarkable testament to the many layers of God’s creation.

The shrine centers itself around the image of Our Lady known as “La Moreneta” (The Dark One). Many theories surround the icon’s dark color: some say the icon originally was Isis, the pagan goddess, and then later adopted by the Christians. Others attribute the icon’s black color to the innumerable candles and lamps that have burned throughout the night in vigil for Our Lady.

To add even more to the ambiguity of this image’s origins, some even claim its name is “La Jerosolimitana” (The Native of Jerusalem). Surrounded by so many legends and ancient artifacts, Montserrat has become not only a place of dramatic physical beauty and spiritual renewal, but also a hotbed of historical discovery.

As legend has it, in 880 A.D. shepherds would observe an extraordinarily bright light appearing in the same spot every afternoon.

Astounded by this phenomenon and accompanied by the Bishop of Manresa, the shepherds followed the illumination to a cave, now known as “La Santa Cova” (The Holy Cave) where they found an image of

our lady.

This mysterious discovery sparked enthusiasm for monastic communities and hermits making prime hermitage real estate of the remote sierra. A large number of hermits made a home of the mountain; the most famous of them was Bernard Boïl, who eventually abandoned his life as a recluse and joined Christopher Columbus as the first apostolic vicar of the Indies, on the quest for the New World. Montserrat’s charm also captured the heart of St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus.

The Montserrat monastery as we know it today was built by Abbot Miquel Muntadas in 1858, and in 1881 Pope Leo XIII proclaimed Our Lady of Montserrat the patron saint of Catalonia. In 1970, Montserrat played an active role in Spanish politics when 300 intellectuals, many of them clergy, gathered to call for Franco’s dictatorship to respect human rights.

This integration of different types of architecture is typical to the area, as we see in Barcelona’s masterpiece Sagrada Familia (The Temple of the Holy Family), which incorporates Gothic, Neo-Baroque, and Romanesque. Montserrat’s courtyard walls depict maps of most of the pilgrimage sites in Europe, including other lesser-known sites such as Mont Saint-Michel, France and Einsiedeln, Switzerland. The courtyard tiles mimic the concentric circles that Michelangelo designed in the 16th century for the courtyard at the top of the Capitoline hill in Rome. As you pass through the entrance, you can observe a single nave, a remnant of Gothic times, and décor suitable to a Byzantine Church.

If you come at the right time of the day you could be in for the treat of your life: the sweet sounds of the Escolania choir.

Once you have experienced the audial pleasure of the boy’s choir, you can turn your eyes to the visually pleasing element of the gorgeous niche room designed to hold the image of Our Lady “La Moreneta.” A room completely covered in Venetian mosaic work, it burst with vibrant energy. The hall leading up to the room portrays mosiacs of heroic women saints; there are also three Neo-Romanesque chapels on which the young Gaudí collaborated on with architect Francesco de Paula del Villar. The Monastery is, of course, 12

Photo: vittis/flickr.com

The Black Madonna and the Mystic Mysteries of Montserrat

Our Lady of Montserrat, one of the strange mysteries of this ancient Christian shine: a former icon of Isis, or blackened from years of devotion?

private, but the extensive philological and theological houses of study, the quality of their publications and the fidelity of their musical recordings make it extremely important to Catalan culture.

About a million pilgrims a year gather to see “La Moreneta” at Montserrat. Some are only tourists wanting to experience the “abnormal” rock formations and “awesome view.” But others come seeking spiritual enrichment and a deepening of their faith. All leave, however, feeling as if this mountain monastery, this high, misty sierra retreat, has a sort of commune with God, and in its isolation pays homage to its great Creator through the intercession of Our beautiful and mysterious Lady, La Moreneta.

September 15, 2008 - Vol. VI, No. II

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Christendom College

Arts & Culture

The Desire for Optimism: Coldplay’s Viva la Vida

by Alisha Onsager Rambler Contributor Fresh, creative, explosive, cultural, interpretive, and yet somehow traditional, all describe Coldplay’s fourth and most recent summer release Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends.

Critics consider this album an experimental work for Coldplay as they utilize the talents of big-time music producer Brian Eno in helping the band expand their horizons both lyrically and thematically. In an interview posted on Coldplay’s website, the band’s drummer, Will Champion, commented that Eno “completely disrupted the formula. He forced us to change everything about our usual way of working and then see where that would take us…We weren’t afraid to try anything.”

Encouraged by their new producer and fueled by a love of music, Coldplay adventured to far away places and consequently, Viva la Vida reflects various cultural influences.

Interestingly enough, many of the album’s

songs reflect a notable Eastern inspiration, which includes an opening riff on a Persian santur, an instrument common to Iraq and Iran, while the song “Yes” incorporates into its melody “bracing bursts of Arabicflavored violin.” The light, airy picking of “Strawberry Swing” hints of the foreign and transports the listener to the balmy islands of Japan while “Cemeteries of London” is a decidedly melancholic tune inspired from Coldplay’s own British background.

Coldplay has found a more interesting way of approaching their music by replacing lead vocalist Chris Martin’s classical piano recitals and structured guitar with a wild garden of synthesizers, electronics, percussion, organs, and guitars. While these instruments give some of the pieces a novel soaring sound for Coldplay, they cannot succeed in smothering the characteristic melancholy, and “stadiumscale melodies and sing along choruses” that have defined their previous three albums.

The chorus of “Lost!” is a prime example: “You might be a big fish / In a little pond / Doesn’t mean you’ve won / ’Cause along may come / A bigger one / And you’ll be lost.” These very melancholic emotions, however, seem to have captured the heart and soul of Coldplay’s fan base. Rolling Stone – and many critics will agree – writes that “one of Martin’s signature qualities is his anti-rock-star persona – a big part of what allows so many fans to project themselves into his boots when he’s singing about pain or yearning or hope.”

Viva la Vida is not as lyrically driven as past albums, rather it presents extended stretches of instrumentals, defining the lyrical mood instead of the lyrics setting the ambiance. It is this same vagueness that fans love, since they have free reign to extrapolate their own interpretations of the songs in relation to their personal lives. In this way, 13

every listener is moved by a different song, feeling like it was written just for him. Viva la Vida certainly includes an emotion for every circumstance. An article on Coldplay’s website says: “This is an album characterized by loss and uncertainty, travel and time, happiness and regrets.”

Chris Martin goes further: “I’m not sure if it’s bi-polar syndrome, but we definitely have something going on in our heads which is as much down as it is up. Unfortunately it’s uncontrollable. I wrote these songs in both states; they’re up and down and all over the place. There was no lyrical plan, they just come out like that. But they’re rallying cries too. There’s always love, joy and excitement in our music.”

Some critics, on the other hand, are troubled by the hazy messages sent by the vague lyrics. Rolling Stone’s online review says “there’s something troubling about his [Martin’s] lack of clear political messages” which are “too vague to be heard amid its outsize hooks.”

While this is the most common critique of the album, it hasn’t hampered its success.

The charts speak for themselves, as after two and a half months of air time, Viva La Vida still holds the #7 spot on the Top 40 chart.

Overall, Viva la Vida is entertaining and a positive change from their previous release X&Y. The lyrics are intriguing and a nice change away from political messages. Some of the songs do drag a bit and the melancholic air does sometimes take over the song.

However fans, do not be discouraged by some of this negative critique, because in Chris Martin’s own words, “We’re never going to lose the desire to be optimistic.”

Coldplay’s fourth album is a lyrical and musical masterpiece, incorporating world and classical music, so get out there and give it a listen!

September 15, 2008 - Vol. VI, No. II

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Christendom College

Arts & Culture

Gotham’s Dark Knight of the Soul

by Joseph Vicinanzo Rambler Contributor

Chances are that you, like millions of other Americans, have already seen the latest Batman film, The Dark Knight. If so, you have no reason to fear having the movie ruined by reading this review. If not, do yourself a favor and stop reading, because you really want to go see this film. Director Christopher Nolan has created an instant classic. Excellent direction, a compelling plot, rich characters, and a profound depth of intellectual and moral expression make The Dark Knight far and away the best superhero movie ever made, and possibly the best movie of the year.

The Dark Knight depicts the continued adventures of Batman, a.k.a. millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne, as he struggles to bring order and sanity to Gotham City. He is aided by his wise-cracking butler Alfred, honest cop Jim Gordon, and a new addition to the team: an up-and-coming young District Attorney named Harvey Dent.

Dent and Batman develop an odd relationship with a mix of respect and rivalry that develops over the course of the film.

Their relationship and their opposing roles, lawman and vigilante, white knight and dark knight, is one of the movie’s major themes.

Despite strong performances by Christian Bale as Batman and Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent, the real focus of the movie is the villainous Joker, played by the late, and wildly out-of-character, Heath Ledger. Within the first minutes of the opening scene, it becomes obvious that The Joker is not your average superhero villain. He has declared war on reason and order. The Joker’s real goal is nothing more and nothing less than the total destruction of goodness. As much as he enjoys killing, he enjoys corrupting far more.

He is a true anarchist. It is in that sense that the Joker refers to himself as an “agent of chaos.”

Ledger’s Joker seems scarcely human, more a demon or an animal; but not a man.

He is spoken of as “a dog chasing cars” and a “mad dog.” The dog metaphor is continued throughout the movie, with the use of vicious, wild looking dogs in certain scenes. The viewer learns that Batman has real trouble dealing with dogs, since his tactics are entirely aimed at dealing with rational human beings. He easily dispatches most criminals since they have something tangible to either lose or gain; but

the Joker, like a mad dog, has no rational object. He has neither fear of pain nor suffering, no regard for human life or money. For example: in one memorable scene, the Joker roasts a businessman on a pile of his own cash.

Though it may sound cliché, the best way to describe the Joker is indeed as an “incarnation of evil.” No attempt is made at some pop-psychology explanation for his nature.

The Joker himself ridicules the idea of any rationalization of his actions in a series of macabre false origin-stories. He simply springs fully formed into the spotlight, and before either the hapless citizens of Gotham

/ size filthy Photo:

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or the viewers think to ask where he came from, they are trying desperately to figure out what he will do next. The entire second half of the film consists of Batman and the police helplessly reacting to the Joker’s attacks.

Good tries hopelessly to comprehend evil, but this evil cannot be truly understood by those battling it.

At one point, Batman wonders what the Joker could possibly have to gain from his terrorist actions. Alfred responds that, “Some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”

Interestingly, each of the three main characters: Batman, Harvey Dent, and the Joker, operates outside the boundaries of law to some degree. Harvey Dent is a legalist who wants to impose vigilante justice on Gotham, 14

whereas Batman is a vigilante who wants to reform and impose the rule of law. Batman protects and pities the weak; Harvey Dent punishes them for their weakness. Of course, both of them have some concept of order, while the Joker has none, but the filmmakers use these three characters to examine in great detail the relationship between law, justice, and morality.

Each character’s different response to the Joker’s tactics exemplify real individuals reacting to an evil present in his or her life.

The mobsters try to use the Joker, and end up being used in turn. The authorities at first try to just ignore him (which doesn’t end so well). Yet central to the movie is the different effect the Joker has on the characters of Harvey Dent and Batman. Dent is a paragon of public virtue, held up as a “white knight” in the battle against crime. He is an idealist, but has no real experience of true evil. This being so, he is eventually driven to insanity by his failure to comprehend and combat the twisted evil of the Joker. Dent has an entirely black-and-white view of human nature, a view in which the good people are always good, and the bad people are always bad. When he falls, he turns into Two-Face, a crazed vigilante willing to do anything, no matter how evil, to destroy “injustice.” Batman, on the other hand, has felt the effects of true evil since he was a child, and remains immune to the temptation to fight fire with fire. Batman really is incorruptible. While his unwillingness to destroy the Joker by any means possible might seem to disadvantage Batman, this virtue actually proves to be the one thing that can defeat the Joker’s campaign of anarchy.

Despite all movie’s the fistfights and explosions, the real battle is for the hearts and minds of the citizens of Gotham, pitting Joker’s amorality and nihilism against Batman’s justice and order. The Joker is defeated not when Batman finally captures him, but when Batman and the people of Gotham prove that they still have some reserves of humanity and goodness despite Joker’s best efforts to corrupt them. However, just like the world of real life, evil is not wholly defeated or finally destroyed. The Joker succeeds in destroying Gotham’s white knight Harvey Dent body and soul and turns the police and citizens of Gotham against their greatest defender: Batman, the Dark Knight.

September 15, 2008 - Vol. VI, No. II

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Christendom College

Tribute

A Man for All Seasons: Thomas S. Vander Woude

karaoke on someone else’s equipment, ignoring his dad’s words that they had to leave for home, or sneaking in a soda when he When I think of Tom Vander Woude, I wasn’t supposed to. While doing his duty as will always remember that trademark smile a good father to Josie, Tom would also wear he invariably carried with him during his his smirk and chuckle at times like those, last few years. They say the smile mirrors because he simply saw the humor in the the soul, and his disposition never stopped situation. He possessed a fabulous personalreflecting the kindness of his heart, not to ity, an unflappable one. mention his sense of humor. I cannot help Tom was an ageless wonder. It baffled but say a few words about this one-of-amy mind, how, at age 64, he was commutkind man. Though I do humbly add that ing multiple times a week to Front Royal what I say will never be enough to raise a to perform his duties as athletic director. full appreciation of all that he did for this Sometimes he would even practice with the community and my community back home basketball team. Many times, he drove the in Manassas, where he resided with his wife, bus on long road trips to Pennsylvania or and son Joseph.

New York. We would get home in the late I was at Seton School Monday evening hours, and he still had a one-hour commute for an impromptu prayer vigil for the repose to home ahead of him. But he loved doing of Tom’s soul, hours after he passed away. it, as his oldest son Fr. Tom Vander To my amazement, a Fox 5 local news By all accounts he was not an extraordinary Woude attested. He even suited up for team showed up and inquired about the Faculty/Staff flag football game the events of the day, as well as Tom’s man of fame. But he did ordinary things last year. After he bruised his ribs, he life in the community. As it turns out, – raising a family, helping other people, still participated, but as a referee. word spread quickly not just about Reminiscing on the last few years in serving God and Church – extraordinarily his heroic death, but of all that he did which I was privileged to see Tom on while alive. We searched and searched well. an occasional basis, I always enjoyed throughout the school for some token When one parishioner entered the church to stopping by his office for a chat, or going of Tom, a picture maybe, or a plaque, but pray for the family on Tuesday, she noticed over to the family house in Nokesville for a found nothing. the sanctuary candle was not lit. Tom had family gathering. My sister Katy married his But Tom’s spirit is with the school to done it every day. son Chris in 2007, so for the last two years this day. While he sent six of his seven sons Tom was a family man. He divided up our families grew closer together. “It was to school there, he coached basketball and plots of land on his 33-acre property for his a home,” Fr. Tom remarked of the house soccer for years. “He never took a cent,” sons and their families to stay close by. He in which so many guests were welcomed Principal Anne Carroll added. Not a cent. could usually be seen with his grandchildren over the years. And it was indeed a home, And in the days after his death, I learned on the farm, who loved to pitch in with not to mention one where Tom performed much more. He had helped lay the gym the chores. And of course, Josie was there countless projects as a handyman. “He was floor. He had even constructed the bleachas well, as so many neighbors told of their always working on something,” mentioned ers in the gym with the help of a few other always seeing him with his dad.

Pate Quest. parents. All volunteer work. To this day, Growing up in the community, Josie was the Tom was an amazing human being, but not one single memento of Tom hangs in only Down syndrome kid I really knew. But what touched me the most about his life the school, because he would rather it be I never treated him any differently than the was that he accomplished everything in the that way. He did so much, but shunned the others, because Mr. and Mrs. Vander Woude most ordinary way. By all accounts he was spotlight. He performed countless other raised him that way. They saw the humor not an extraordinary man of fame. But he volunteer projects at the school. “He was and blessings he brought to their lives, and did ordinary things – raising a family, helpthe kind of guy that would give you the simply raised him with the love and respect ing other people, serving God and Church shirt off his back,” reported Lee DeBrish to they raised their six other sons with.

– extraordinarily well. God bless you, Mr. the Washington Post. “And if he didn’t have And Tom’s humor was ever-present. I Vander Woude, and thank you for all that one, he’d buy one for you.” remember telling him of my unorthodox you did for us here on earth.

Tom also affected many young lives as suspension freshman year for streaking one a coach. He trained his players not just for night. He smirked, paused, and said, “well, Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let the game, but for life, to be good young you all must have blended in well with the perpetual light shine upon him. And may the souls Catholics. I remember when he encouraged snow.” Josie would always try to push the and all the souls of the faithful departed, through us (the 2006-07 Crusader basketball team) bounds too, whether it was performing the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

by Matt Hadro Editor-at-Large

to go to confession before road trips, to be in the state of grace lest something happen.

And he attended daily Mass as he had done for years on the morning of his death, just hours before God called him home.

Tom led by example. He was not a man of many words, but his actions spoke for all he believed in. For years, he and his wife attended adoration more than once a week at local parish All Saints Church in Manassas.

They did it from 2-3 A.M. He was also the sacristan at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Bristow. With his wife, together they would dress the altar and set up/clean up before and after mass at the Brentsville High School auditorium, before the diocese built the church in Bristow which was completed this past spring. The Vander Woude’s simply stored all the equipment in their barn.

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Greater Love Hath No Man...

In Memoriam Thomas Vander Woude 1942-2008