HOUNDED BEYOND THE GRAVE

From The Indy Channel:

Homophobic hate messages were left Thursday on a memorial page set up for Billy Lucas, a Greensburg High School student who killed himself last week after being mercilessly bullied, friends said.

Numerous images were uploaded to a Facebook group, giving visitors a taste of the kind of hate Lucas endured, friends said.

The messages chided the teen about defending himself and made attacks on his presumed sexuality, 6News' Joanna Massee reported.

No respite from the hate even in the grave.

H/T to Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin.

SANCTUS SANCTUS - HILDEGARD VON BINGEN

Spiritus Sanctus, the second Antiphone and Psalm 110/111 from the vesper of Hildegard von Bingen.

Admiring the height of God´s Creation, praising him, thanking him.

Together with the photos of Marcus "Coy Dog" Werner. Photos, visualizing God´s splendor in bees, butterflys, birds and flowers.


God's Word Is in All Creation - Hildegard von Bingen

No creature has meaning
without the Word of God.
God's Word is in all creation, visible and invisible.
The Word is living, being,
spirit, all verdant greening,
all creativity.
This Word flashes out in
every creature.
This is how the spirit is in
the flesh—the Word is indivisible from God.

On the feast day of Hildegard von Bingen.

"THE BAND OF JOY!"

The group (now including saints) on the left first, starting at the top, left to right:

At the very tip-top - Scotty

Pamela RW Kandt, Grendel of the Gravy

Ann, Roseann, Lisa, Raleigh Pierre Wheaton

+Clumber, Caminante, MadPriest

PJ, Johnieb

Paul the BB, Padre Mickey, Fran

Kirstin, Elizabeth, Klady

Below the balloon: Delphi, Glenna

Mimi, Fluffster, +Airedale, Muthah+, Bruno, +Rowan


The group on the right starting at the top, left to right:

+Maya

Kirkepiscatoid, Dan, Dennis

Susan S., Alex, Robert

Jasper, Doxy, Jane, Margaret

Lindy, Shelley

Gracie


Brilliant Photoshop by that old dog/bishop, +Clumber, at Barkings of an Old Dog.

LOCH BUIE STONE CIRCLE

 

Photo by MadChauffeur. Click on the pictures for the larger view.

From Virtual Tourist:

As you ride into Lochbuie, you will see a sign noting ’Footpath to Stone Circle’. The sign should read 'Bogpath' as your feet will be getting wet as you wander across boggy pastures. The stone circles are finally reached through a gate - the gate latch was set so one has to stand in about four inches of water, unless you are agile and can hang onto the gate and fence while repeating that feat three more times as you come and go. There are nine stones set in a circle, the tallest being a couple meters high. Several outlying stones are thought to be of astronomical value. The stones date to the 2nd century B.C. and are the best prehistoric monuments to be found on Mull.

And ain't that the truth? Bogpath it was, and I was not wearing my boots, although to have dry feet, one would have needed wellies. Cathy helped me jump the small ditches filled with water, and I believe MadChauffeur may have given me a hand a time or two, although Cathy was my mainstay. But the trek through the bog was worth it, for the stone circle was amazing, indeed.

About halfway, we came upon a circle of smaller stones which Cathy thought (hoped?) might be the stone circle which was our goal, but MadChauffeur assured us they were not, and on we trudged.



Photo by Cathy added

Finally, we arrived. Below is the circle with the taller outlier stone nearby. Being near structures set in place by humans like us thousands of years ago was awesome (in the old sense of the word).

 

Photo by MadChauffeur

To give you an idea of the size of one of the stones in the circle, which varied in height and width, there I be for comparison.

 

Photo by Cathy

Click the link to view a panorama of the stone circle.

This view is taken from the centre of the stone circle. The site can be reached by following the signs on the roadside and then following white painted stones across the fields. The ground is often a bit swampy, so take boots.

More than a bit swampy, I'd say.

You may wonder why I why I don't use my own photos, why I use Cathy's and MadChauffeur's photos. Didn't I take pictures? Of course, I did! After trekking through the bog, and avoiding sheep shit all along the way, and never once asking, "How much farther to the damned stones?" I was not going to miss recording my visit. I join you in wonder about my photos, because they disappeared from my collection. I have not one photo from the stone circle. They are gone. So far as I know, those are the only pictures from my trip that went missing from my camera.

 

Photo by Cathy

Cathy said the vibes did not feel right for her to step into the middle of the circle, but I ventured boldly in. All seemed fine to me - no bad vibes. Cathy snapped the picture above.

But now all my pictures of the circle are missing. MadChauffeur said, "That will be down to the magic of the stones. Being partly French you were obviously deemed unworthy by the gods." He added that because I stepped inside the circle, "You'll be away with faeries - but, then, you always were."

I don't know what to think.

Anyway, visiting the ancient stone circle was a great pleasure, and all the effort required was amply rewarded in the end.

PS: The scenery is not bad, either, is it?

UPDATE: From the comments:

Cathy said...

What I like about the pic where you have your back turned, Mimi, is you are striking the same pose Aslan strikes in the drawing where he and the evil White Queen are conferring with each other before she sacrifices him on the stone table. You are striking Aslan's pose with unerring precision - feet, hands, head, everything - and the stone is standing in very nicely for the witch. So, that's who took your photos. It was that dratted witch.

A striking resemblance, indeed. I am Aslan.

CONFESSION

An elderly man walks into a confessional. The following conversation
ensues:

Man: "I am 92 years old, have a wonderful wife of 70 years, many children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Yesterday, I picked up two college girls, hitchhiking. We went to a motel, where I had sex with each of them three times."

Priest: "Are you sorry for your sins?"

Man: "What sins?"

Priest: "What kind of a Catholic are you?"

Man: "I'm Jewish."

Priest: "Why are you telling me all this?"

Man: "I'm 92 years old; I'm telling everybody!"

Don't blame me. Blame Paul (A.)

"WE ARE NOT AMUSED"

Queen Elizabeth looks rather grim, and she is not wearing black.

From the News Blog at the Guardian - random quotes:

So far we haven't seen much of the pope's celebrated private secretary Georg Gänswein otherwise known as Gorgeous Georg. But a picture has emerged of Georg helping the pope with unruly cassock blowing in the wind.
....

So after the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, got mistaken for the head of the Church of Scotland at the Edinburgh welcoming party, where was the man in question the Rt Rev Christie?
....

Site crew at the location for the Pope's visit in Birmingham are spraying the grass a brighter shade of green. This is at the taxpayers' expense.
....

There's no red carpet (it's too windy) but there are two rows of pipers dressed in kilts and lots of grinning clergy. The 83-year-old pope walks carefully down the airline steps and is greeted by the 89-year-old Duke. The pope's white cape briefly blows into his face. The pope didn't kiss the tarmac.

The quotes go backward in time sequence, with the earliest quotes last.

FOR SHAME!

Please go read Lisa's story of her experience in junior high school at My Manner of Life. The title of her post is "Confessions of a Junior High Idiot". Lisa is not the idiot in the story. Not all young people are survivors. Not all young people can bear the pain of such treatment, but thanks be to God, Lisa was strong and survived appallingly cruel behavior, in this instance, not from her peers, but from adults in her school, persons who had the responsibility of caring for her and keeping her safe.

CARDINAL KASPER AGAIN!

From Ruth Gledhill in the Times UK:

One of the Pope’s senior advisers today pulled out of the visit to Britain after describing the UK as a Third World country marked by “a new and aggressive atheism”. A day before the Pope’s state visit to Britain Cardinal Walter Kasper made a series of embarrassing remarks in an interview with the German....

Sorry, that's all you can read without a paid subscription to the online version of the newspaper. Cardinal Kasper is at it again. Ruth Gledhill is about all I miss from the Times, but I do miss Ruth. Well, I'd love to read the article, but I won't pay.

That Cardinal Kasper! He has a knack for saying just the right thing, don't he?

Thanks, Lisa.

Oh wait! All is not lost. The Telegraph covers the story, too.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, a senior aide to the Pope, has pulled out of the Pontiff's visit to Britain after saying the country resembled a “Third World country” where “aggressive new atheism” is rife.

Although officials insisted that the 77 year-old had dropped out of the trip for medical reasons, as he had been ill “for some days”, his comments represent another embarrassing PR blunder for the Roman Catholic church at a critical time.

The[y] are all the more embarrassing because the Cardinal's position makes him responsible for promoting Christian unity around the world.

The Vatican, the hierarchy in England and Wales and the Government are all desperate for the first-ever state papal visit to Britain to be a success.

Count me out from amongst the desperate.

The cardinal’s abrupt withdrawal from the trip prompted speculation in Rome that it was linked to an interview he gave this week to a German news magazine, Focus.

In an article headlined “A Third World country” he was quoted as saying: “When you arrive at Heathrow you think at times that you’ve landed in a Third World country.”

His secretary, Mgr Oliver Lahl, said the remark was a reference to the diverse, multi-cultural population of Britain, which the Cardinal has visited three times in recent years.His secretary, Mgr Oliver Lahl, said the remark was a reference to the diverse, multi-cultural population of Britain, which the Cardinal has visited three times in recent years.

Well, Monsignor, that changes everything. We all understand why the cardinal would want to avoid the multicultural hoardes.

Meanwhile one of England's most senior Catholics, The Most Rev Peter Smith, Archbishop of Southwark, has warned that "crackpots and lunatics" may try to disrupt the papal visit.

The Protest the Pope coalition has promised its rally will be peaceful and that no attempt will be made to arrest Benedict for alleged "crimes against humanity".

For better or for worse, tomorrow is the big day. In all sincerity, I pray that the protesters and the police will exercise restraint and that the protests during the pope's visit will be non-violent.

UPDATE ON JCF'S FRIEND CATHY

JCF said...
Wot Cathy said.

Some good news from Cathy (my friend suffering from lung cancer Cathy, or "Cath"):

I received a message from my oncologist yesterday afternoon (Monday) and the MRI I took last week shows no current evidence of brain mets!

I'm battling the side effects of last Friday's chemo, but the MRI news has been a relief and a morale boost.

JCF: Yes, I'm coming on the second anniversary of the diagnosis of Stage IV Non-small cell lung cancer in a nonsmoker. I'm glad of the anniversary, but would sure as hell rather be celebrating a different topic. Thank you.

Yay, no brain mets! [I really can't IMAGINE anything more terrifying, than having one's cancer spread to the brain :-( ]

If any of y'all want to read Cathy's entire Cancer Story, it begins here. [It's on a Xena-based board, though, so be prepared for a lot of references to The Warrior Princess! :-)]

OLD LITURGICAL DRESS STYLES

Sr. Guendaline de Raymond, in religion Mother Marie Veronique Giuliani, 1873.

The formality of the setting – the damask covered table, the rich crucifix – correspond to her rank as abbess, shown by the long train, an emblem of jurisdiction.

This nun, definitely a beauty, strikes a melancholy, elegant and romantic pose. Note the curious style of her shoes, of the same material of her dress.

The abbess is beautiful and elegant, indeed.



Cardinal Giuseppe Ugolini (1783 + 1867)

The Cardinal is wearing the red tabarro edged with gold braid and red silk stockings, and wears his coat unbuttoned, as usual in the 18th century. Note the elegant, worldly nonchalance of the Cardinal’s pose, and the coiffure à la Brutus, that had been fashionable in his youth.

The cardinal is.... Sorry. I'm speechless.



Unidentified cardinal.

The ferraioletto is attached to his shoulders; note the red silk lining of his coat, and the large three cornered hat with red cords and tassels on the table.

Hmmm. The shoes - and the elegant show of the leg....



Canon Albini, Vigevano

A canon of the cathedral of Vigevano.
Again, while wearing the cassock and ferraiolo, this canon from Vigevano has the traditional three cornered hat, but smaller in size than the enormous Roman ones.

I wonder. Is the canon a visionary?

From New Liturgical Movement.

A series of historical photographs have recently come to light, coming from the papers of a Roman princely family and taken between 1850 and 1880 by the famous Roman photographers, D’Alessandri. These photographs show not only members of fashionable Roman society, but also include photographs of a number of prelates and ecclesiastics, almost all of whom were of noble birth. Most of these wear the traditional abito corto, while several others wear either the new abito Piano, or formal choir dress.

The old pictures in the series truly are marvelous. Even as I laughed, I found the old photographs fascinating. Customs and fashions change, and, no doubt, future generations will howl with laughter at the fashions of today.

Thanks to Lapin for the link.