31 March 2005

Terri Schiavo, au centre d'un débat sur l'euthanasie, est morte

Terri Schiavo, une Américaine dans le coma depuis 15 ans privée d'alimentation artificielle depuis le 18 mars, est morte jeudi.

28 March 2005

Christus resurrexit! Vere resurrexit!

Christos voskrese! Voistinu voskrese!

Christ is risen! Indeed He is risen!

Christ is risen from the dead! From death, He conquered death, and to those in their graves He granted life!

24 March 2005

Fast and Hunger Strike

I found a message in my inbox this morning from a friend of mine, about what he is going to do to help Terri Schiavo. Here is the relevant part:

"I feel very helpless in all of this. All that I am going to do is fast. I was planning on fasting for the Easter Triduum, but now I am also doing a hunger strike. I will only drink water at least until Sunday. My purpose in doing this is to be in solidarity with Terri and offer up my sacrifice. However, I will also be doing a demonstration. I will make this hunger strike known to the public. Starting tomorrow, with the exception of when I will go to Mass, I will sit at the grotto outside of St. Aloysius church with a sign alerting those who pass by to what I am doing. I will sit there from 8am to 8pm. Originally I had wanted to sit at the steps of Crosby, but I felt consolation when I decided to sit and the grotto and ask for the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes, the patroness of the Diocese of Spokane. I invite all of you to join me in doing this. Even if it is only for part of a day or you cannot do the fast or join me at the grotto, please keep Terri, her family, and this country in your prayers."

I'm sure other people have had this idea. But if you were not planning to do so, but are able to, perhaps you will consider participating in a more extreme fast than you might normally do for Good Friday. If you can, consider joining my friend John and many others in this endeavor.

21 March 2005

A Reflection for Holy Week

"At every celebration of the Eucharist, we are spiritually brought back to the paschal Triduum: to the events of the evening of Holy Thursday, to the Last Supper and to what followed it. The institution of the Eucharist sacramentally anticipated the events which were about to take place, beginning with the agony in Gethsemane. Once again we see Jesus as he leaves the Upper Room, descends with his disciples to the Kidron valley and goes to the Garden of Olives. Even today that Garden shelters some very ancient olive trees. Perhaps they witnessed what happened beneath their shade that evening, when Christ in prayer was filled with anguish “and his sweat became like drops of blood falling down upon the ground” (cf. Lk 22:44). The blood which shortly before he had given to the Church as the drink of salvation in the sacrament of the Eucharist, began to be shed; its outpouring would then be completed on Golgotha to become the means of our redemption: “Christ... as high priest of the good things to come..., entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Heb 9:11-12)."

--Ecclesia de Eucharistia

19 March 2005

Terri Schiavo News in French

Tube d'alimentation a été débranché

Etats-Unis: imbroglio autour d'une femme dans le coma, privée d'alimentation

St. Jude, pray for us!
Congratulations!

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Ben Hatke (Ben of Small Pax Guild) on the birth of their second child!

I suggest the rest of us celebrate by reading a Zita the Space Girl comic.

15 March 2005

Beware.

It's the Ides of March. You could celebrate by stabbing a friend, I suppose, but I shall be avoiding the Forum and staying away from people who could be hiding daggers under togas.


14 March 2005

Anticipation

In anticipation of St. Patrick's Day, I present to you some familiar prayers in Irish (please excuse the lack of diacritical marks):

In ainm an Athar agus Mhic agus an Spioraid Naoimh. Amen.

Ar n-Athair ata ar neamh, go naofar d'ainm. Go dtaga do riocht. Go ndeantar do thoil ar an talamh mar a dheantar ar neamh. Ar n-aran laethuil tabhair duinn inniu, agus maith duinn ar bhfiacha, mar a mhaithimidne dar bhfeichiuna fein, agus na lig sinni gcathu, ach saor sinn o olc. Amen.

Se do bhatha, a Mhuire, ata lan de ghrasta, ta an Tiarna leat. Is beannaithe thu idir mna, agus is beannaithe toradh do bhroinne, Iosa. A Naomh-Mhuire, a Mhathair De, guigh orainn na peacaigh anois agus ar uair ar mbais. Amen.

Gloir don Athair, agus don Mhac, agus don Spiorad Naomh, mar a bhi ar dtus, mar ata anois, agus mar a bheas go brach le saol na saol. Amen.

Irish translations as found in the Glenstal Book of Prayer.

Note: In days gone by, there was a competition held during the feis at the Irish Cultural Center in San Francisco for recitation in Irish. The recitation could be of a poem (either original or otherwise), a short story, or a prayer. They also used to cease all competition at noon on Sunday and a priest would come say Mass in the competition hall, but that is no longer done.

12 March 2005

Twenty Things Jane and Lizzy Have Done That Their Readers Probably Haven't

Jane has...
1. Sung chant in the chapel at Solesmes.
2. Stayed at a Basilian convent (in Olympia, WA).
3. Worn my school uniform to a pro-life rally in Sacramento.
4. Sung for a Mass at Mundelein Seminary--and boy were they suprised to hear girls' voices from the loft!
5. Along with my harp, been offered a ride by a Jewish bodhran player.
6. Been sent a free dessert at a French restaurant in NYC by the owner (who was actually from France), just because I was from Napa Valley.
7. Asked my mother if I could take a picture of a kosher butcher in Albany, NY, because I thought he looked like Lazarwolf.
8.Had it suggested to me that I star in a kind of Irish stepdancing-meets-martial arts picture, and call it "Enter the Leprechaun."
9. Been given a crossbow on the occasion of my graduation from high school.
10. Had over 50 limericks and 20 sonnets written about me, though none have been published.

Lizzy has...
1. Bought books on the Templars in French (and is actually able to understand them! Finally!)
2. Sung Francoise Hardy songs with a beggar at Chartres (in the snow!)
3. Been hit on by a Louvre Guard
4. Been in an opera company commercial
5. Stood in line for hours at Opera Bastille for a 9€ Magic Flute ticket
6. Seen Josh Groban at Mass at Notre Dame
7. Waltzed at Mont-St-Michel
8a. Said Morning Prayer on the Metro
8b. Seen priests saying the office on the Metro
9. Played in the snow in Paris. Apparently this is the first snow they've had in Paris in ten years.
10. Sung with the CGP.

07 March 2005

I don't often post silly quizzes...
...but sometimes they're just cool.


You are 'Latin'.
Even among obsolete skills, the tongue of the ancient Romans is a real anachronism. With its profusion of different cases and conjugations, Latin is more than a language; it is a whole different way of thinking about things.

You are very classy, meaning that you value the classics. You value old things, good things which have stood the test of time. You value things which have been proven worthy and valuable, even if no one else these days sees them that way. Your life is touched by a certain 'pietas', or piety; perhaps you are even a Stoic. Nonetheless, you have a certain fascination with the grotesque and the profane. Also, the modern world rejects you like a bad transplant. Your problem is that Latin has been obsolete for a long time.


What obsolete skill are you?
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Oh, please. With numerous journals still being written in it and at least one radio program devoted to it, I'd hardly call Latin obsolete!