FEAST OF FELICITY, PERPETUA, AND COMPANIONS

 

Saints Perpetua and Felicity
By Brother Robert Lentz, OFM. © 1996
Courtesy of www.trinitystores.com


Felicity and Perpetua lived in Carthage in North Africa in the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries and were martyred, along with several of their companions, for refusing to deny their Christian faith.

El Padre at Padre Mickey's Dance Party has a lovely post about the two saintly women, which includes the icon pictured above, along with another beautiful icon.

The faithful witness of the martyrs, of people like Perpetua and the others, have made it possible for us to hear the Good News, have made it possible for us to learn of salvation, have made it possible for us to have eternal life. May we all share the bravery and faithfulness of Perpetua, Felicitas, Revocatus, Secundulus, Saturninus, Saturas, and all the martyrs.

Kittkatt at Jesus in Love, using the same wonderful icon, posted another beautiful account of the the lives of the saints.

Perpetua was a 22-year-old noblewoman and a nursing mother. Felicity, her slave, gave birth to a daughter while they were in prison. Although she was married, Perpetua does not mention having a husband in the narrative.

There were arrested for their Christian faith, imprisoned together, and held onto each other in the amphitheater at Carthage shortly before their execution on March 7, 203.

I recommend the two commemorations highly.

PRAYER

O God the King of saints, you strengthened your servants Perpetua and Felicitas and their companions to make a good confession, staunchly resisting, for the cause of Christ, the claims of human affection, and encouraging one another in their time of trial: Grant that we who cherish their blessed memory may share their pure and steadfast faith, and win with them the palm of victory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

"...THAT HOPEY-CHANGEY THING...." SARAH PALIN

If you can't or won't make it to church today, or even if you go to church, you could do a lot worse, a whole lot worse, indeed, than to read Rmj's post at Adventus for the 3rd Sunday of Lent.

HOUMAS HOUSE, DARROW, LA

 

Grandpère and I attended the awards luncheon for the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. In a later post, I'll tell you about the people who won the awards. We did not. Above is Houmas House on the East Bank of the Mississippi River, where the ceremony was held. We headed up Bayou Lafourche, then over to cross the river on the Sunshine Bridge, and - miracle of miracles! - we arrived early and had time to tour the grounds.

 

Grandpère standing next to a large oak tree. Does he see a spaceship or a vision in the sky? Something up there seems to have captured his attention. He looks good in his suit, doesn't he?

 

Today the weather was mild and sunshiny, a lovely day for an outing and for walking the beautiful grounds at Houmas House. Usually, I don't like photos of myself, but this one I like. Of course, I'm wearing my old, out-of-style blazer, but so what? I'm old and out of style myself.

 

Spanish Moss in the oaks.

 

Do you know what is shown in the picture above?

Since I have more good pictures of the grounds, I'll probably do another post.

OUR JAPANESE MAGNOLIA

 

At one time, the blooms on the Japanese magnolia in our front yard covered the entire tree. I don't know what happened over the years to cause the blooms to be sparser, but the flowers that DO bloom are still lovely.

 

YOUNG BUTLER CHILDREN

 

Above is one of my favorite pictures of my children when they were young. My daughter loves the picture, too. Although you can't see what the kids look like, I think its a wonderful piece of photography. My neighbor, Kathy Silverberg, took the picture. Kathy worked for the local newspaper, The Daily Comet, and the picture appeared on the front page. We'd had rain for days and days and days, and the children hadn't been outside to play in a long time. Like many children and parents, we were restless. The children couldn't work off their energy, and, as a result, were into more mischief than usual. We'd all had enough. Kathy photographed the wistful scene of the kids looking sadly out the window at the never-ending rain.

In those days, if you went to the newspaper office, they'd let you look through their glossy black and white pictures and take any that pertained to you or your family. I framed the picture, and it hangs upstairs in my house.

FEAST OF ST. CONO THE GARDENER

Cono the gardener lived during the reign of emperor Decius in 251. He came from the town of Nazareth. He left his hometown and went to the city of Mandron, in the province of Pamphylia. There he stayed at a place called Karmela or Karmena cultivating a garden which he used to water and plant with various vegetables. From this garden he obtained what is necessary for life. He had such an upright and simple mind that, when he met those who wished to arrest him and saw that they greeted him, he also greeted in return from the bottom of his soul and heart. When they told him that governor Publius called the saint to go to him, the saint answered with simplicity: "What does the governor need me, since I am a Christian? Let him call those who think the way he does and have the same religion with him." So, the blessed man was tied and brought to the governor, who tried to move him to sacrifice to the idols. But the saint sighed from the bottom of his heart, cursed the tyrant and confirmed his faith in Christ with his confession, saying that it is not possible to be moved from it even though he might be tortured cruelly.

From Mission St. Clare.

Thanks to Ann. I'd never heard of St. Cono before today.

In garden catalogs I've seen statues of St. Fiacre, also named as the patron saint of gardeners.

YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP

From the Shreveport (LA) Times:

The Bossier Parish sheriff's office is launching a program called "Operation Exodus," a policing plan for an end-of-the-world scenario involving a mostly white group of ex-police volunteers and a .50-caliber machine gun, inspired in part from the Book of Exodus in the Bible.

"The buck stops with Larry Deen," said Bossier Parish Sheriff Larry Deen. "The liability stops with Larry Deen. I am the chief law enforcement officer in this parish, and it is incumbent upon me protect all of the people in it."

Deen said he had been formulating a plan to protect Bossier Parish's vital resources, like food and gasoline, in the event of a catastrophic event, such as war or a terrorist attack. Deen said he had been thinking of the plan since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
....

These volunteers will be armed by the sheriff's office, using, among other things, shotguns, riot shields and batons. The members are mostly white men. Five are black. Women involved will only be used in "support roles," Deen said, which indicated non-combat activity. One of their first official training sessions was Feb. 20 when they learned basic hand-to-hand combat techniques.
....

Deen said in a press release last week that he named the program in part from the Book of Exodus in the Bible. However, on Wednesday, when asked whether he believed in a true "End of Days" scenario, he declined comment.


Last night, Rachel Maddow showed videos of the men during training sessions. A good many are - ahem - men of a certain age, and I spotted not a few pot bellies amongst them as they kicked the protective pads of their "opponents" in the session. You can imagine that Rachel had a good time with the scenes and even speculated about the Rapture, and that if a rather large group of Republicans are "taken", health care reform would be easier to pass. I can only hope and pray that the idea of "Operation Exodus" doesn't spread to other parishes in Louisiana.

THRILLING START TO MY DAY

I write to inform you that we have already sent you $5000.00USD dollars through Western Union as we have been given the mandate to transfer your full compensation payment of $2,500,000,00 USD via Western Union by the United Nations Government.So I decided to email you the MTCN and sender name, so you can pick up this $5000.00USD to enable us send another $5000.00 USD by tomorrow as you know we will be sending you only $5000.00 USD per day. Please pick up this information and run to any Western Union in your country to pick up the $5000.00 USD and call me back to send you
another payment tomorrow.

Manager: Mr Fred Morris
Email: ******************@*****.com.hk
Phone: ***-****-******

Call or email me once you picked up this $5,000 USD today. Here is the western union information ,you can also track it on-line @ www.************.com
Sender Information's

Sender first name = Cathy
Sender last name = Ritchie
MTCN;= ***********
Amount;= 5,000, USD
Test Question;= Honest?
Test Answer;= Trust.

Regards
Miss. Stephine Clara (ESQ)


Thank you, Miss. Stephine Clara (ESQ). You made my day. I'll surely put the 2.5 million USD to good use.

BISHOP CHANE'S GENEROUS PASTORAL RESPONSE

Bishop John Chane will allow priests in the Diocese of Washington (DC) to preside at marriages of same-sex couples following the passage of The District of Columbia’s Marriage Equality Act.


BISHOP’S PASTORAL DIRECTION REGARDING THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA’S MARRIAGE EQUALITY ACT

As the Bishop of the Diocese of Washington it is important that I put forward guidelines for clergy of the diocese to follow now that the District’s Marriage Equality Act is law. I do so based on my interpretation of General Convention Resolution CO56, which states that “bishops, particularly in those dioceses within civil jurisdictions where same gender marriage, civil unions, or domestic partnerships are legal, may provide generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this Church.” I hope that these pastoral guidelines will be helpful to the clergy that I serve as bishop. In the matter of how to engage or not engage in performing, witnessing and blessing same-sex marriages within the District, I respect the pastoral judgment and decisions of the clergy under my pastoral oversight.

1) No priest of this diocese, canonically resident or licensed in accordance with the canons of The Episcopal Church shall be required to act as a licensed agent of the District of Columbia in marrying persons of the same gender; neither shall they be required to bless such civil marriages.

2) Any priest from the diocese, canonically resident or licensed, who has been asked to marry same gender couples according to the Marriage Equality Act must: a) have a valid license from the District government; b) have the support of the vestry if the marriage is to occur in the congregation they serve as rector, assistant, supply priest, priest-in- charge or interim or if in another Episcopal congregation in the District of Columbia, the permission of that rector and vestry; c) notify the bishop at least 30 days prior to the marriage when and where it will take place; d) comply with all the requirements that pertain to heterosexual marriage including those relevant to previous marriages that have ended in divorce. All guidelines for Holy Matrimony currently in effect in the diocese shall be applicable to those persons contemplating civil same-gender marriage within the District. (Marriage guidelines are available at www.edow.org/marriage.)

3) Priests who serve congregations in the four counties of Maryland may marry persons in the District who are residents in the State of Maryland and who are active members of their congregations. They may marry within the District, provided that the couple has a valid DC marriage license and the priest is licensed in the District. All such marriages involving clergy who serve congregations in Maryland and who are entering the District must have the permission of the Bishop of Washington. If the marriage is to occur in an Episcopal congregation within the District, the rector and vestry of that church must give their permission for the use of the church.

4) Episcopal priests from outside the Diocese of Washington are not permitted to enter the diocese to perform, witness and bless same-gender marriages unless they are from a State and diocese that permits same gender marriage.

5) No priest from the Diocese of Washington will be permitted to travel outside of the diocese to perform witness and bless a same-gender marriage in another diocese where such marriage is legal without the written permission of the bishop of that diocese. Priests from the Diocese of Washington who have received permission must also notify the Bishop of Washington of their intent.

6) Persons who reside in other dioceses may not enter the Diocese of Washington to have a same-gender marriage performed, witnessed and blessed by a priest of this diocese or a priest from the diocese in which they reside unless that state legally permits same-gender marriage, and the diocese within that state also permits its clergy to perform, witness and bless same-gender marriages.

7) In the Diocese of Washington, deacons are not permitted to witness and bless marriages and are also prohibited from performing, witnessing and blessing same-gender marriages under the Marriage equality Act of the District of Columbia.

Bravo, Bishop Chane! The pastoral directions seem right and reasonable to me.

H/T to Ann Fontaine at The Lead.

WORDS TO LIVE BY

If you had to pick two, and only two, passages from Scripture to inspire you as to how you ought to live your life, which would they be?

Why two? I thought it would be good to allow an opportunity to choose a passage from the Hebrew Testament and the Christian Testament. However, if your two favorites are from one Testament, that's fine, too.

My two:

Micah 6:8

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?


Luke 10:27 (or Matthew 22:37)

He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’


Image from Wiki.

A Bible handwritten in Latin, on display in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, England. The Bible was written in Belgium in 1407 AD, for reading aloud in a monastery.