This nice picture of Sister M. Lucia doing the laundry (one comes from the convent blog, http://dominicansisterswanganui.blogspot.com/
As many of you may have noticed the site now looks near finished. Thanks to Glo who helped insert the posting date in the upper left-hand corner of every post! She is now the honorary TC tech support member. Yay for Gloria!
If a person lives each and every day like they were fasting (one regular meal and two smaller ones not combining another full meal) does it still count when they fast during Lent? Would it be better to force this individual to eat more instead of less? What do you think?
I understand that you girls like to check up on the site daily, but 200,000 hits since last month seems a little excessive.
In honor of the feast, here are two of the loveliest carols on earth: the Basque carol Gabriel's Message, which is usually sung as a Christmas carol because of the last verse, but works equally well as an Annunciation carol; and the marvelous medieval carol Angelus ad Virginem. I love the elegant poetry of it, which is harder to appreciate if you don't know Latin, but there is a very good translation, Gabriel from heven-king, with a variant of the same tune.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5GUdUYUF8A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM7kR66pICI
In honor of the day, here is a new translation: the lovely hymn Te Joseph Celebrent. The translation is not as literal as I would have it, but I think it gets the point across.
Te Joseph Celebrent
Joseph, the hosts of heaven give thee praise;
The Christian choirs to thee lift their lays,
Who by thy shining merit didst deserve
The noble Maid to chastely wed and serve.
Thy Bride, with child by grace, when thou didst see,
And doubting filled thee with anxiety,
An Angel came to tell thee, "O believe,
That by the breath of God she did conceive."
The newborn Lord embracing tenderly,
To Egypt far away with haste didst flee;
And sought Him in Jerusalem with fears,
And finding, mingled gladness with thy tears.
The dead are blest by happy destiny
Who earn the glorious palm of victory;
But thou wert happier, who living still
Set eyes upon thy Maker, by His will.
Have mercy on us, Trinity most high;
By Joseph's prayers to heaven may we fly,
That we may lift to thee our grateful song,
Above the stars throughout the ages long.
-- tr. Inés de Erausquin, March 19, 2010.
Since today is Laetare Sunday, here is the sonnet I wrote last year, based on the Introit and its Psalm (121), plus one verse of Psalm 124. I wish I remembered exactly how I connected the other Psalm to this Introit; but they seem to fit together very nicely. The original Latin is below; the parenthesized phrase is the one I couldn't quite fit into the rhythm/rhyme scheme.
Laetare Ierusalem
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, rejoice!
Let all who love her be united here;
Ye who in sorrow once did lift your voice,
Rejoice, rejoice with gladness and great cheer,
That you be filled from comfort's breast! Be glad,
Jerusalem; her lovers, gathered be;
Ye who before were wretched, weeping, sad,
Exult with merriment and gaiety!
I was made glad by what was said to me,
Into the dwelling of the Lord we go!
And let abundance in your towers be;
Let holy peace be in your strength, also.
O, they who trust in God shall ever be
As Sion's Mount - unmoved eternally.
Laetare Ierusalem: et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam: gaudete cum laetitia, qui in tristitia fuistis: ut exsultetis, et satiemini ab uberibus consolationis vestrae.
(Psalm 121) Laetatus sum in his quae dicta sunt mihi: in domum Domini ibimus. Fiat pax in virtute tua, et abundantia in turribus tuis.
(Psalm 124) Qui confidunt in Domino, sicut mons Sion; non commovebitur in aeternum, (qui habitat in Ierusalem.)
Edited to add: the "Fiat pax" and "Qui confidunt" are added to the "Laetatus sum" in the Gradual. (Three cheers for my faithful Liber...)
Okay, sorry guys-I hate to double-post and all, but my sister Susie went to the hospital today and was diagnosed with some weird form of diabetes. Would you all mind saying some prayers for her? She woke up this morning in some kind of shock,(hyperventilating, severe kidney pain etc.) and my other sister Molly and my brother took her to the hospital (my parents were out of town), and the doctor pulled Molly aside and told her that it was a good thing she took Susie in, as she would have died! (Her exact words were "You saved your sister's life") Susie is in stable condition now, but whew! Thanks in advance for the prayers, I appreciate it!
((Spoiler Alert!))
Favorite Quote:
"Come, come! We simply MUST commence with the slaying and such!"
-The Mad Hatter
(speaking of the Red Queen and said in a cheerful tone and at a tea party, no less)
I have not seen the Disney cartoon of AIW since I was about eight, nor have I ever read the books, so it was with a pretty fresh mind that I went to the Tim Burton remake last weekend. The movie opened last Friday and is the "continuation" of Alice In Wonderland. It answers the question of what would happen if Alice ever grew up and came back to Wonderland. Although it is released by Disney, don't expect too much sugary "cuteness"-Tim Burton definitely leaves his mark on the film by adding a dark element to everything. I really like some of Tim Burton's movies, (Nightmare Before Christmas BABY!! What, What!?!?) so I loved it, but some might find the movie distractingly morbid at times.
The storyline is pretty good, although it moves quickly during the first forty-five minutes: Alice goes to a stuffy aristocratic party, faces a perplexing decision, and then (surprise, surprise) falls down a hole en route to chasing down a white rabbit. She arrives in Wonderland only to be interrogated by the inhabitants over whether she is indeed the RIGHT Alice, finds out that The Red Queen has usurped the crown, and that a "Champion" is coming to slay the "Jabberwocky" and put everything right again. Everything is still as strange and unusual as the first time she was there, it's just now everyone is oppressed and miserable (and wants HER to fix it).
The characters were extremely well-done: the Mad Hatter isn't just a chaotic wacko- he actually has observable motivations and you really feel sorry for him at times. The Red Queen is...well....absolutely terrible, just as she should be. The White Queen was beautiful and graceful, so much so, that it was purposely hilarious at times. And finally, Alice was very well portrayed: I really liked how they showed her as brave and smart, yet not in a feminist kinda way. I especially liked how her suit of armor had a little skirt on it- even though she's kicking butt, she still kept her femininity and the similarity to St. Joan of Arc was striking, at least to me.
There are really only two things I didn't like about the movie: the soundtrack could have been better-it was done by the very talented Danny Elfman (who did an AMAZING job on the soundtrack for The Nightmare Before Christmas) so I was disappointed when there seemed to be a lot of "ripped off" music: there was very Lord of The Rings/Howard Shore-esque music during the climactic last 30 minutes and other parts were strongly similar to the soundtrack for Black Beauty (1994). The other thing that I didn't like was how the proportions seemed to be deliberately off, to the point of being distracting and taking away from the pacing of the movie: The Mad Hatter's eyes were abnormally huge, and the Queen's minion/right hand man's legs were abnormally long and lanky. Although, knowing Tim Burton, I'm sure he did this on purpose. The Red Queen's head was also waayyy out of proportion to her body, but for some reason with her it wasn't annoyingly distracting-I rather marveled each scene at how on earth did they do that? The White Queen was also very distracting but for a slightly different reason: her "cosmetic proportions" were off: dark brown eyebrows with whitish-blonde hair?!? Hello?! Although maybe they had to do that to balance out the PLUM lipstick....she's definitely a Tim Burton heroine. ;)
Anyways, music and proportions aside, I'd say the movie is excellent and definitely worth your money (I saw it twice, and plan to see it again). Although if you are a loyal fan of the books and/or dislike the "artistically morbid" style of Tim Burton you probably won't like it, regardless.
Rating: PG
Run Time: 1 hour, 49 minutes
I translated this wonderful ballad of St. Teresa the year before last, for my 'Creative Writing: Translation' class. In this Lenten season, perhaps it is fitting that I post this beautiful prayer for complete resignation to God's holy Will.
THINE AM I.
Thine am I, I was born for Thee;
What is Thy command for me?
Majesty most sovereign,
O Thou wisdom without end,
Goodness, to my soul a friend,
God most High, that e'er hast been,
Look on the vileness and sin
That today sings Love to Thee.
What is Thy command for me?
I am Thine, that Thou didst make;
Thine, redeemed, O Lord, by Thee;
Thine, for Thou didst suffer me;
Thou didst call; my self, then, take.
Saved by thee from hell's dark lake,
I went not astray from Thee;
What is Thy command for me?
What, good Lord, dost Thou command
That this worthless servant do?
O, what work is given into
This, Thy sinful servant's hand?
See, sweet Lover, here I am,
Lover sweet, I come to Thee;
What is Thy command for me?
See my heart, O Lord - I place
It within Thy hand. My soul,
Entrails, life and body whole,
All I fix upon Thy face;
Sweet Redeemer of our race,
Since I gave myself to Thee
What is Thy command for me?
Give me death or give me life,
Health or sickness give to me,
Honor give or infamy,
Give me greater peace or strife,
Strength or weakness to my life,
I accept it all from Thee…
What is Thy command for me?
Wealth or poverty be given,
Consolation, misery;
Joy or sorrow give to me,
Give me hell or give me heaven,
Scorching sun or joy of living,
I surrender all to Thee;
What is Thy command for me?
If Thou wilt, give prayer to me,
Or give dryness in its stead;
Pour devotion on my head,
Or if not, sterility.
O Thou sovereign Majesty,
I find peace in none but Thee;
What is Thy command for me?
Wisdom, knowledge, grant to me,
Or for love, give foolishness.
Give me years of thy largesse
Or of starving scarcity;
Cloudy days or clarity,
Whirl me hither, thither, free.
What is Thy command for me?
Wouldst Thou have me leisure lie?
I will laze for love of thee;
If my labor thou wouldst see,
Laboring for thee I'd die.
Tell me when, where, how and why,
Tell, dear Lover, tell to me,
What is Thy command for me?
Calvary's pain or Thabor's light,
Desert land or fruitful rest;
Be I Job in deepest plight,
Or John at his mother's breast;
If a fruitful vine I be
Or unfruitful, pleasing Thee,
What is Thy command for me?
Be I Joseph bound in jail
Or as Egypt's ruler great;
David suffering great travail,
Or David in royal state,
Be I Jonah in the whale
Or from his dark prison free,
What is Thy command for me?
In my speech and silence too,
Be I fruitful, be I not,
Let the law show me my fault,
Let me joy in Gospels true;
In my joys and in my woe,
Thou alone, come live in me;
What is Thy command for me?
Thine am I, I was born for Thee;
What is Thy command for me?
-- St. Teresa of Avila -- tr. Inés de Erausquin. Oct. 19, 2008.