Holy Saturday...

What to do?

Even as a little kid I had trouble getting over the trauma of Good Friday, thus on Holy Saturday, I usually felt a deep sense of spiritual solitude, which is best understood as loneliness, although it isn't exactly that. Early on I developed a particular devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows for this day, which seemed to assuage my feelings of emptiness. I would go to church in the morning, but it seemed so empty for me; all the statues still covered, the altar bare and the tabernacle door open. (When I was little, the Easter Vigil always began at 11 PM, not early evening as it is now.)

My family really didn't celebrate Easter in a big way, except my mom always made sure I brought Easter water back after Mass - she was sure it was miraculous. Of course, we had Easter baskets too. Yet, unlike the photo above, we never had a priest come to bless our Easter food, nor did we bring the food or our Easter baskets to church to be blessed. Although, it is nice to know this custom is still observed in many traditional ethnic parishes.

Funny Story...

So one Holy Saturday, after returning home from a visit to the church, I arrive to find my mother all verklempft because my dad was not back from the store yet. He had left the house about 9 AM to pick up some things for Easter. Finally, around mid-afternoon he called, and my sister answered the phone. She handed it to my mom saying it was dad - I could tell by her expression it was going to be nutty.

"You're drunk!" My mom shouted. Then they argued a little, evidently my dad was explaining why he wasn't home yet and was calling to be reminded of what he should pick up at the store. According to his story, he was gone for so long because he had been helping the police look for me all day. He was back at Piggly Wiggly talking to the manager and it turned out, according to dad, I had stolen a bush from the store and everyone was looking for me. (Remember, it was a grocery store, not a garden center.) Even my mother had to laugh, in fact we were all laughing after she got off the phone because the story made no sense at all.

Anyway - she said she would meet him at the store to make sure he got the right stuff. We waited, but they never got back home until after the bar closed that night.

A lone young shepherd...

His heart, an open wound with love. - St. John of the Cross

Should cats be ordained?

Definitely NOT!

Necedah: crazy or magick?

I'd say both.

The purported apparitions of Our Lady to Mary Ann Van Hoof at Necedah, Wisconsin have consistently been condemned by the Catholic Church, although the shrine continues to attract devotees and is maintained by people who insist the apparitions and revelations were true. Reading various reports and documentation on the events at Necedah certainly indicate the entire thing is a huge deception. In fact one report documents Van Hoof's earlier association with the occult - a gypsy from Transylvania no less! LOL!

"Mary Van Hoof died in 1984, but the multi-million dollar operation still goes on. Mary Ann came to America from Transylvania, Hungary. Her mother, Elizabeth Bieber practiced spiritualism and witchcraft with Gypsies in Transylvania. She held seances in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Mary Ann and her mother attended the Spiritist camps in Wonewac, and her mother became vice-president of the Kenosha Assembly of Spiritualists. It is not insignificant that her mother was always behind her during the apparitions." - Newsletter of Discernment

Coincidentally, Veronica Lueken frequently contacted Van Hoof and encouraged pilgrims to go to Necedah as well. Both 'seers' promulgated similar messages, as did Mama Rosa in San Damiano, Italy. Events at all three shrines were similar in kind; rosaries turning gold - although just a gold color, not real gold, the sun spinning, and crosses and shapes appearing in the sun, as well as bizarre Rip Taylor-esque miraculous photos that look like confetti and streamers floating through the sky. A veritable mystical circus. Much of the same stuff goes on at Medjugorje now as well, although the monthly messages lack the sensationalism of the Necedah/Bayside crap.

(Photo: I wasn't able to get a "miraculous" photo from Necedah. This photo is from Bayside, showing the Rip Taylor-esque confetti and streamers.)

I don't get it.

Bloody crucifixion of penitents in the Philippines.

Some of the mystics shared in the passion of Christ during Holy Week as well, although their experiences were extraordinary graces. The penitentes do so as a penance, albeit with a bit of machismo included, I'm sure. I suppose the purpose of both "productions" is to help men better understand the suffering of Christ.

In my opinion, I think it is better that the mystics receive the favor from Christ, as opposed to taking this type of thing upon oneself.

Breaking news!

Ice Mountain blanketed with 3" of snow.

Last night we had 3" of snow fall; a wet, heavy, slushy snow. I went out mid-day to clear it, although it seemed to be melting rapidly. I noticed Rabbit-Ice-Mountain is continuing to shrink, and while inspecting the tunnel, I discovered it now opens to the other side. That is a sure sign of spring, according to rabbit engineers, who told me they remain concerned about the stability of the tunnel. Today they brought in equipment to replenish the summit with fresh snow. The rabbit house has been nicely camoulflaged with more snow as well, although it appears to have been partially covered from an avalanche or something. (I also noticed no eggs were in the house today, probably due to the weather overnight.)

Rabbit archeologists have discovered tunnels in almost every snow mountain around my property. One rabbit-excavator named Raoul told me they were surprised to find several tunnels the size of a human's broom handle, just big enough for mice to travel through. He speculated such tunnels make it much easier for the smaller critters to get around in the heavy winter snows. Raoul explained that the rabbit tunnels are usually just routes to the rabbit houses, and/or used as shelters or hiding places. He reminded me rabbits are capable of huge leaps and jumps, therefore snow mountains pose no real difficulty for transit.

There is so much I don't know about rabbits and mice!

Sound familiar?

Ball of Redemption

""Now you are bargaining with the final count, My children. For as night will turn into day, and day will fall into darkness, that day will come when you will cry out for mercy, and it will be too late. The Ball of Redemption shall take from your earth three-quarters of mankind. Your country, America the beautiful, has not witnessed a massive scale of destruction and death. Is this what you call down upon yourselves? You, My children, hold the balance.

"Pray a constant vigilance of prayer in your country and in the countries throughout your world. Pray that satan does not poison the minds of those in power in such a manner as to bring a faster destruction upon mankind." - Message to Veronica Lueken at Bayside; 9/28/76

I've been entertaining myself by reading the messages of Bayside and viewing the alleged 'miraculous' photographs. (The photo shown here is of "The Ball of Redemption" which was to hit the planet any day back then. The "ball" in the photo appears to be the photographer's finger tip in front of the lens.)

I find it interesting how the alleged messages given to Veronica bore such similarity to messages from other apparitions - some approved, some not; some of these preceded the Bayside messages, while others came after. As I read portions of the Bayside messages, I wondered about the veracity of other approved apparitions and revelations. I understand how very important it is that these matters always be investigated and approved (or disapproved) by the Church. If not, the faithful may be led astray, piety and devotion becomes sensationalized, and religion is mocked.

.

.

[Description of photo from Bayside sources: "Ball of Redemption" hovers over statue of Our Lady of the Roses, Bayside, NY, During the vigil of the Ascension, 1975. Notice the tree showing through the edge of the Ball which does not fully envelop white beret. Another phenomenon is narrow shaft dropping in front of the man's glasses from the center of the Ball."]

Traditional St. Patrick's day...

Irish time-keeping.

In many places, St. Patrick's day was observed on March 14th - which means some people in St. Paul have been drunk since Friday.

Holy Week

Cathy rocks out before Holy Week

Cathy of Alex sent me the video of her dancing to one of my favorite recordings by Chic.

Entry into Jerusalem...

"He did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at."

Most of the people who followed Jesus applauded his entry into Jerusalem, only to abandon him a few days later. Traditionally, many people who never go to church throughout the year, do so during Holy Week - or at least on Good Friday. They weren't with the Lord in the good times, waving the palms all around, but they come to console him in the bad times... they console him in his sufferings by their repentance.