Henricus Sixtus Rex Ora Pro Nobis! (At Kings and Eton)

Yesterday evening in the Chapel of King’s College, I attended a majestic Sung Requiem in Commemoration of the holy life and death of King Henry VI.  The musical setting was Durufle’s Requiem.  The service included a simple procession of offering roses and lilies in which Choral Scholar Sam Landman (Yes, him again I’m glad to say.) participated.

Among the highlights was congregational singing in Latin during said procession (Rex Henricus), all the parts featuring the choristers (They are sounding wonderful as usual.) and a beautiful singing of Ley’s Prayer of King Henry VI.  I’ve come to really love it and the prayer itself, which captures the humble submission and trust of Henry VI so well.  I am adopting it as my prayer.  The English translation from Latin:

O Lord Jesus Christ, who hast created and redeemed me, and hast brought me unto that which now I am; thou knowest what thou wouldest do with me; do with me according to thy will, for thy tender mercy’s sake. Amen.

A last note about the service – as I was entering the Chapel, I saw a man in cassock beside those entering who looked like Dr. Rowan Williams.  I thought, Surely not.  But I looked again, and it was him, and he looked very well and in good spirits.  He attended the service.

This past Tuesday morning I attended the morning chapel service at Eton.  Remembering King Henry with 1300 Eton students, formal uniforms and all, was definitely a new experience for me.

Morning chapel is still mandatory at Eton.  And in front of me, roll was taken at random of one of the houses.  I was told punishment for skipping chapel was severe.  I dared not enquire further.

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And, yes, it is surely providential that my schedule has very naturally allowed me to attend services remembering Henry VI at both of his foundations, King’s and Eton, and where he is buried, St. George’s Chapel.  For which I give hearty thanks to God.

Henricus Sixtus Rex Ora Pro Nobis

Yesterday was my first service ever at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, and it was a special one, Choral Evensong concluded with a commemoration of Henry the Sixth on the Eve of the Anniversary of his Death.

The choir was excellent.  It is smaller than some foundations, with 10 boys (and a probationer this service) and I think 8 men.  One could pick out individual voices a bit more than with larger choirs, but their singing was nonetheless exemplary.  It let me know that I missed English choral worship more than I knew!

At the conclusion of the Choral Evensong portion, there was a procession to the grave of King Henry to the right of the altar rail.  There two youths from Eton placed a yellow rose and a yellow lily on the grave.  And an official from Kings read a prayer.

I think it was immediately afterward that the choir sang Ley’s Prayer of King Henry.  It was beautiful and moving.  And it was the first time I had even heard that composition.  I need to find if a good recording is available somewhere.

After the service, I went over to the grave and prayed chiefly for two intentions.

This morning, I will go to a brief memorial service at Eton.

Housekeeping and a Personal Note

Just a note to keep readers from becoming befuddled or alarmed.  My schedule may temporarily reduce my ability to post, particularly on political matters.  I know, bad timing!  But I do actually have a life outside of politics and this blog.

I will say I am still amazed by the revelations that are coming out day after day on the various facets of Obamagate.  At this time, I do not know what is more appalling – the conduct of the Federal government, particularly under Obama, or that so many are still fine with it.

Perhaps one problem is that the conduct is so egregious that the reality and gravity of it takes a while to sink in.  For the sake of freedom in this country, I pray it sinks in and soon.

The IRS, Hugo Obama, and Political Fair Play

An important aspect of the IRS targeting that is beginning to get some attention, from Rush and IBD among others, is how it tilted the political playing field in 2012.

While lefty organizations were getting easy passes from the IRS, any number (Over 500 is one estimate now.) of tea party organizations and other organizations unfavored by the Obama regime, were being delayed, surveilled, threatened, and harassed by the IRS.

This served to make it more difficult for tea partiers to be involved in the 2012 elections in an organized manner.  Time and effort was wasted dealing with the IRS.  Some contributions were more difficult to get and even lost without the requested 501(c)(4) designations.  (I’m not expert on current advertising regs and policies, but perhaps it also made it more difficult to get ads out there?)  Some tea party organizers were so stressed and intimidated by the harassment that they gave up and lowered their profile.  One example:

Jennifer Stefano of Philadelphia was so intimidated by the IRS that she closed her Tea Party down:

"In the documents that were sent to me, if you did not tell the whole truth by not putting all your personal information out there by Facebook, by Twitter, of your personal relationship with candidates and parties ... it could be considered perjury and perjury carried jail time," Stefano, 39, told ABC News.

"That was frightening and that's why I shut it down. I shut my group down."

These effects were compounded by the fact that many tea party groups were and are led by those getting more politically involved in 2009 or later.  These are concerned citizens, not political veterans.  And they don’t have a phalanx of lawyers on call like more established political organizations.  They hardly have the resources and experience to do battle with predatory Feds. 

And that makes the predations that much more despicable.  I’ve tweeted that I want people in prison, high-up people.  And I meant it.

The way the IRS and the Obama regime has acted in this is not unlike how tyrants such as Hugo Chavez (R.I.H.) act.  They use government, through bureaucracy, threats, intimidation, and more, as a weapon to make it difficult for opposition to act in the political sphere.  They tilt the political playing field (and then use election fraud if needed, but don’t get me started on that).

Our Founders put the First Amendment in the Constitution in part to prevent such government abuses.  And what the IRS and the Obama regime has done in targeting tea party groups among others is an egregious violation of the First Amendment.  And, by the way, it did no doubt affect the 2012 elections . . . as intended.

BREAKING: Something Triggered IRS Targeting in Early 2010 ... and the Obama Regime is Hiding It.

Something happened in early 2010 to trigger the beginning of the IRS targeting of tea party groups and of God knows who else (Emphasis mine.):

In February 2010, the Champaign Tea Party in Illinois received approval of its tax-exempt status from the IRS in 90 days, no questions asked. That was the month before the Internal Revenue Service started singling out Tea Party groups for special treatment. There wouldn't be another Tea Party application approved for 27 months. In that time, the IRS approved perhaps dozens of applications from similar liberal and progressive groups, a USA TODAY review of IRS data shows. As applications from conservative groups sat in limbo, groups with liberal-sounding names had their applications approved in as little as nine months. With names including words like "Progress" or "Progressive," the liberal groups applied for the same tax status and were engaged in the same kinds of activities as the conservative groups.

As Ace notes, something happened early in 2010 to begin the “special treatment.”  And the Treasury Inspector General’s report acknowledges something happened on February 25^th, 2010.  What is that something?  We don’t know.  Because the IG report redacts that event.  See for yourself.  Something is being hidden from us, and it may be stinking important.  It’s certainly important enough to be on the IG’s timeline if in  redacted form.

Even as more and more comes out, the Obamagate IRS cover-up continues.

(Yes, I am now calling all the various scandals together “Obamagate”.  The Obama regime has earned it.)

Scandal of the Day Already: IRS Asked for Facebook Posts

I hardly have the sleep out of my eyes early this morning when I am confronted by something that makes me shake my head to make sure I am not still having a weird dream. . . .

The IRS asked tea party groups for Facebook posts.  You read that right.  I am not kidding.  And that's not all.  IRS as Big Brother.

And, yes, this is an extension of the IRS scandal.  But it is so outrageous in its own right, it merits its own scandal designation.

And if you are not outraged, you are more asleep than I am.

By the way, you can add J. Christian Adams to the long list of those politically targeted by the IRS.

Scandal of the Day: EPA Sweetheart Fee Waivers

I have real life stuff to do, but first I have to hand it to the Ace of Spades guys.  They are good sometimes.  This morning, Andy there had some fun with this short post:

New Obama administration scandal by noon? I'll take the under.

Well, sure enough, another scandal broke this morning.  The EPA has been giving information fee waivers to favored groups, but not to evil conservative groups, of course.

Hey, some people are more equal than others, don’tcha know.