"Si, Mi Chiamano Mimì"

I'm heading out to a performance of "La Bohème" at Tulane University with a young friend. It's one of my favorite operas. Romantic that I am, I like the operas that are filled with beautiful melodies and arias. The number of talented artists performing in the relative hinterlands is always an amazement to me. I hope for the best today.

"Si, mi chiamano Mimì". Arrivederci, amici.

The Hymnal at the Diocese of Wenchoster

I have been poking around at the website of the Diocese of Wenchoster again. The website includes such a bounty of riches, that I hardly know where to start whenever I visit. I decided to have a look at their Hymnody section, where I found extracts from the Cathedral hymnbook "Hymns Modern & Ancient". To my surprise, their hymnal includes a specially composed tribute to Alpha. Having recently completed five Alpha series sessions during Lent, I was delighted


18: O Church of Alpha, by whose word

(Tune: Dundee.)

O Church of Alpha, by whose word,
House groups are filled with food.
To fill their hearts and minds with faith,
A tactic rather shrewd.

Invite them round for wine and cheese,
Perhaps a large baked cod.
Then after all have had their fill,
You gently mention God.

....

Let all recall that we're not there
To give them free repast.
It's all a ploy to win their lives,
And make them join our caste.

©Pharisaios 2002


This next hymn is dedicated to priests who may visit and to lay persons who enjoy the spectacle of their priests parading in the splendor of liturgical vestments:

76: Priests need vestments that are pretty

(Tune: "Stuttgart" by C. F. Witt. 1660 - 1716)

Priests need vestments that are pretty,
So in state they may propel
Round the altar in procession,
And the Mass of Rome excel.

....

Eastern rites in all their glory
Make our worship rich and rare,
Oblivious to all the people,
Clergy persons make their prayer.

....

Ditching alb for fur-lined cassock,
Rural clergy bend the knee,
Trying to keep their butts from freezing
In the cold Epiphany.


©Pharisaios 2001

The hymns are wonderful, and I wanted to quote them in full, but there is "fair use" to be considered for copyrighted material. I hope I have not crossed the line there. If I have, the authorities at the cathedral know where to reach me to order a "cease and desist".

If you would like to read my impressions of the Alpha series, you can by going here, here, here, here, and here, but I really would not advise taking the trouble.

Enjoy.

This Article Hasn't Been Commented Yet.

Today, I checked out the website of the Diocese of Louisiana to see if my comment to Bishop Jenkins' response to the House of Bishop's "Communication" had been posted. I have already said that I think the comment will not see the light of day, and, indeed, it has not so far. My comment was not dated, but my post quoting it and the bishop's response went up on April 9, 2007.

At the website, above the space for posting a comment, is the notation, "This article hasn't been commented yet." Well, that's not quite true, is it? I'm fairly certain that mine was not the only comment that was sent in.

In addition, I had sent a letter concerning the plans of the Windsor bishops on March 5, 2007, and an email concerning his response to the HOB "Communication" on April 5, 2007, and I have not received a response to either of them.

The War Prayer

Saint Pat at No Claim To Sainthood has posted Mark Twain's "The War Prayer". It's a shocking piece of writing, which is well worth reading or rereading from time to time. Twain makes his point brilliantly. Although this wasn't published during his lifetime, it has lived on. He was a very wise man.

Peter and Thomas And God's Woman

Peter Denies Jesus

Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. The woman said to Peter, ‘You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?’ He said, ‘I am not.’
....

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, ‘You are not also one of his disciples, are you?’ He denied it and said, ‘I am not.’ One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, ‘Did I not see you in the garden with him?’ Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed. John 18:15-17, 25-27

Jesus and Thomas

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’ John 20:24-29

God's Woman

Peter, Thomas, are you my kin?
I call you, "Brother". Are we alike?
You imperfect ones, a doubter, a denier,
Am I your sister?

"I tell you I do not know him!"
Three times your Lord denied.
Oh, Peter, when you heard the cock crow,
Your salty tears were bitter.

You, Thomas, to touch, to see was all.
"Me believe? When I see the nail marks,
When I put my finger in his side."
"My Lord and my God!"

You, my brothers, deeply, fully human,
You flaw-filled men of God,
You give me strength; you give me courage.
Perhaps I'll be God's woman, after all.

June Butler 4/18/07

Oncale's Restaurant

Grandpère and I went to eat at Oncale's Restaurant in Chackbay today. He had a yen for crawfish etouffée. I like my own crawfish etoufée recipe the best, and I told him that, but he retorted, "Well, you never cook it any more." Fair enough.

Anna Oncale, the proprietor of the restaurant, is 83 years old, and still does the cooking and works the tables. Her picture is above.

Behind the restaurant is a large dance hall that was once a foot-stomping place back in the day, however the glory days are past. Anna showed us a framed copy of this article by David Jacobs in The Daily Comet, which tells of those days:

But Anna Oncale, 82, who said she founded the place with her late husband, Herbert, 60 years ago, remembers when patrons came from as far away as Grand Isle and Morgan City to dance, drink and, sometimes, get a bit rowdy.

“We had dances here for 31 years,” she said Thursday, standing near her empty wooden dance floor ringed with tables sporting plastic tablecloths. “Once we had 600 people here. Some of them had to stand outside.”

....

They had dances every weekend. She said New Orleans legend Irma Thomas performed there, but most, like the Bel-Airs and Billy Wray & Show Band Royale, are long forgotton. But the beer was cold, and there weren’t all that many entertainment options at the time.

They had a few bouncers, and Oncale herself would wield a big stick from time to time with folks who had one, or two or six, too many.

“You had to have something happening, or you wouldn’t have a crowd,” she said. “One might want to hit the other one, so you had to stop them. They would come back in holding each other by the neck.”

But she said they were mostly well-behaved, and the patrons in her many photographs don’t look like ruffians. The pictures are undated, with black-and-white shots of men in hats and ties and women in ankle-length dresses giving way to color photos of less-formal customers with shaggy hair.

Quite a few folks who grew up around here have told us that they met their spouses at Oncale's. The dance hall is a sight to behold. It's still in good shape, with its large wooden dance floor intact. The juke-box with the old songs on it still stands in the hall. It's a shame that it's not used any more.

She said she has turned down an offer of $100,000 for her building, which features several rooms, including her living quarters in the back. The numerous antiques, like the dusty piano, the clock over the bar featuring the Budweiser clydesdales, and more heavy furniture than she could possibly use, might be worth thousands to collectors as well.

MadPriest, if you are around, I think you would have loved the place in your - ahem - younger days.

Before Katrina, tour groups from New Orleans would stop and eat at the restaurant, but the tourist trade has dried up. While we were there, only two others were at lunch.

Chackbay and Choupic are small communities up the road from us. Just in case you don't know, choupic is also a fish. I have never eaten it, but folks around here fish for it and eat it.

I remember hearing that the fish must be cooked while it's fresh, so I Googled around and found this recipe at Landing Big Fish, which I thought was informal and amusing. It includes this cautionary advice:

...also try to fillet the fish fresh, that way the meat does not turn to "cotton". After you have cut the slab off lay it on a pan and try to pull out any loose scales. Don't worry if you don't get them all just watch out for them when eating.

A Somber Day

It's hard to know what to say on the day after the tragedy of yesterday. Add to that the sobering post by Juan Cole at Informed Comment in which he says this:

I keep hearing from US politicians and the US mass media that the "situation is improving" in Iraq. The profound sorrow and alarm produced in the American public by the horrific shootings at Virginia Tech should give us a baseline for what the Iraqis are actually living through. They have two Virginia Tech-style attacks every single day.

....

I[Cole] wrote on February 26,


' A suicide bomber with a bomb belt got into the lobby of the School of Administration and Economy of Mustansiriya University in Baghdad and managed to set it off despite being spotted at the last minute by university security guards. The blast killed 41 and wounded a similar number according to late reports, with body parts everywhere and big pools of blood in the foyer as students were shredded by the high explosives. '

That isn't "slow progress" or just "progress," the way the weasels in Washington keep proclaiming. It is the most massive manmade human tragedy of the young century. (My bolding)

To keep informed of the real story in Iraq and the Middle East, I read Professor Cole nearly every day.

How do we bear this state of affairs? Sometimes it's overwhelming for me. I do what I can do in my small way to try to change things. It's pitifully little; may God forgive my sins of omission.

And I pray.


From the Carmina Gadelica:

THE ROCK OF ROCKS
On the Rock of rocks
The peace of Peter and Paul,
Of James and John the beloved,
And of the pure perfect Virgin,
The pure perfect Virgin.

The peace of the Father of joy,
The peace of the Christ of pasch,
The peace of the Spirit of grace,
To ourselves and to our children,
Ourselves and our children.

And I look for a word from the Lord.


From the Lectionary:

Psalm 5:1-3

Give ear to my words, O Lord;
give heed to my sighing.
Listen to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.
O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.

1 John 2:7-11

Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says, ‘I am in the light’, while hating a brother or sister,* is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person* there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates another believer* is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.

Jesus Wept

Prayer for the dead at Virginia Tech:

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.

Prayer for the families and friends of the dead and for the wounded and their families and friends:

God our Father, send your healing love upon them; heal them in spirit, soul and body. Give them strength and courage to go on with their lives, and above all, give them your peace that passes understanding to keep their minds and hearts. Amen.

Prayer for all students, faculty, staff, and administrators at Virginia Tech:

Lord God, send your Spirit upon everyone at Virginia Tech. Give the leadership wisdom, knowledge and understanding as they move forward. Bless everyone and heal them and draw them together in the power of your love. Amen.

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio

Jesus and Thomas

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’

John 20:24-29

In his sermon today, my rector reminded us that even as Thomas demonstrated his unbelief when the other disciples told him of seeing Jesus, upon Jesus' second appearance, Thomas made a deeply profound declaration of faith as he said, "My Lord and my God."

It seems to me that if we claim to be people of faith, we must (if we are honest with ourselves) accept that, like Thomas, faith and doubt exist side by side within each one of us.

Do click on the picture and get the larger view. It's so beautiful.