The Atavachron

• We Remember: Apollo 1

  January 27, 2021

  On January 27, 1967, a tragic fire broke out in the Command Module of Apollo 1 (previously designated as AS-204) during a launch test killing all three members of the crew: Virgin I. “Gus” Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chaffee. There was a congressional investigation into the incident, and the craft was […]

• Dollars and Cents

  January 24, 2021

  With my recent work on the Money Converter Problem Solver, I needed to manipulate money values and was again reminded of one of my pet peeves and that is the misuse of the cent symbol, ¢, which is underused and apparently misunderstood by many. One reason for its under use is the fact that it […]

• Cardinality and Bit Patterns

  January 14, 2021

  We just recently celebrated the feast of Epiphany, but this week I had an epiphany all my own, something I hadn’t realized before. It has to do with math and sets and bit patterns, some of my favorite things, but let me start at the beginning. That’s a very good place to start. Once upon […]

• Epiphany

  January 6, 2021

  Kings of the East, the Magi, famously journeyed from their countries to Bethlehem of Judea, following a star and bearing gifts for the newborn King of the Jews, Jesus the Christ. The Biblical account is brief, but these kings, these non-Jews, in their act of worshiping Jesus manifest to the world that Jesus will be […]

• 2021

  January 1, 2021

  It arrived on time. This morning at midnight, a new year was born. Old 2020 packed it in and said goodnight while a fresh new 2021 said good morning. We were in Assumption Chapel, the air thick with incense, praying in the new year in front of the Blessed Sacrament surrounded by holy priests and […]

• The Twelve Days of Christmas

  December 28, 2020

  As I said in a previous post, Christmas is not just a single day — as the world and the retailers would have you believe. No. It is an entire season of days! This makes sense. It took four weeks of preparing during Advent to get to Christmas. So, why, after all that buildup and […]

• Favorite Christmas Movie

  December 27, 2020

  I have several favorite Christmas movies, but the most favorite of all is It’s a Wonderful Life. This is not only my favorite Christmas movie, but my favorite movie! We all know the story by heart, so there’s no need to repeat it. The question remains, though: Why do I love it so much? I […]

• Favorite Christmas Songs

  December 23, 2020

  I love Christmas songs, sacred and secular, but it’s important to distinguish, at the outset, between “Christmas” songs and “Winter” songs. Strangely, many “Winter” songs are considered “Christmas” songs and thus receive radio air-play only before and on Christmas Day. Christmas is actually a season consisting of many days not just one, but I’ll leave […]

• Fourth Sunday of Advent

  December 20, 2020

  Today begins the fourth and final week of Advent. On Christmas Eve at sundown or Vespers, we enter into Chrismastime or Christmastide. In this final stretch before the great feast of the Nativity of the Lord, we should be filled with hope. But what is hope and why should we have it now? According to […]

• Third Sunday of Advent

  December 13, 2020

  Today begins the third Sunday of Advent called Gaudete (Latin for “rejoice”) Sunday. The Church prescribes rose colored vestments today and on the third Sunday of Lent. The great feast of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, nears, only 12 days to go! That is a cause of rejoicing, indeed! This week is also the […]

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