Here is a translation of the sequence of Easter. I tried to keep the rhyme-scheme and rhythm of the original Latin; be you the judges of how well I managed.
Christians, to the Paschal Victim
Immolate your praises bright!
Now the Lamb his sheep doth buy;
Christ unto the Father high,
Unstainéd, sinners all doth reunite.
Death and life most wondrously
Battled for the victory;
The Lord of Life once slain,
Living doth reign!
O Mary! tell us, pray,
What saw you on the way?
The grave of Christ, God's living Son,
The glory of the arising One,
The angels from on high,
The shroud and cloth saw I.
Christ my hope has risen, He
Precedes you into Galilee!
We know that Christ has risen
From death, verily;
To us, O Victor-King,
Show thy mercy!
Amen. Alleluia.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Regina Caeli, Jubila
Call it late, but I say "Hey, we're still in Paschaltide." Wherefore, in a new translation, here you have it.
O Queen of Heaven, joyful be;
Rejoice, O Mary!
The clouds defeated break and flee,
Alleluia!
Rejoice! rejoice, O Mary!
The One thou didst deserve to bear,
Rejoice, O Mary!
Arises now from Death's dark snare,
Alleluia!
Rejoice! rejoice, O Mary!
The darts of death are snapped in twain,
Rejoice, O Mary!
And Death by Jesus now lies slain,
Alleluia!
Rejoice! rejoice, O Mary!
Now comfort conquers bitterness,
Rejoice, O Mary!
Mourning gives place to happiness,
Alleluia!
Rejoice! rejoice, O Mary!
--Inés de Erausquin
April 20, 2008
O Queen of Heaven, joyful be;
Rejoice, O Mary!
The clouds defeated break and flee,
Alleluia!
Rejoice! rejoice, O Mary!
The One thou didst deserve to bear,
Rejoice, O Mary!
Arises now from Death's dark snare,
Alleluia!
Rejoice! rejoice, O Mary!
The darts of death are snapped in twain,
Rejoice, O Mary!
And Death by Jesus now lies slain,
Alleluia!
Rejoice! rejoice, O Mary!
Now comfort conquers bitterness,
Rejoice, O Mary!
Mourning gives place to happiness,
Alleluia!
Rejoice! rejoice, O Mary!
--Inés de Erausquin
April 20, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Name Decoder!
I discovered a fun name decoder! I discovered I have a few interesting qualities I didn't know about! At least secundum this....
www.cyborg.namedecoder.com
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www.cyborg.namedecoder.com
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Thursday, April 10, 2008
Only a Child
When I was twelve or so, I wrote this, inspired by the Gospel incident.
Once Jesus said to his disciples,
“Ye all must be gentle and mild,
For ye may not enter my kingdom,
Unless ye be like to a child.”
He took a small boy that was near him,
Saying “Be like this lad, be not wild,
For none enters Heaven’s fair kingdom
If he be not as only a child.
“A child both in heart and in spirit,
An infant in love and in mind,
For it is from infants and babes that
We hear God’s praise, loving and kind.”
He blessed the young boy and caressed him
And sent him away, and then smiled;
“Ye cannot enter heaven,” he told them,
“If ye be not as only a child.”
Once Jesus said to his disciples,
“Ye all must be gentle and mild,
For ye may not enter my kingdom,
Unless ye be like to a child.”
He took a small boy that was near him,
Saying “Be like this lad, be not wild,
For none enters Heaven’s fair kingdom
If he be not as only a child.
“A child both in heart and in spirit,
An infant in love and in mind,
For it is from infants and babes that
We hear God’s praise, loving and kind.”
He blessed the young boy and caressed him
And sent him away, and then smiled;
“Ye cannot enter heaven,” he told them,
“If ye be not as only a child.”
Friday, April 4, 2008
Waiting on Summer
My last and final post for today, is simply to say that I would be bringing you another post of my travels over the Easter Break except for the fact that I did not travel over this break. For this report, you will have to look to Colleen. I had planned to meet her in Paris or Nevers and travel around France by train with her and another friend, Ally. There was a miscommunication between me and the computer and my Rail Pass failed to be directed as it should have been. Since I had already spent money to buy it I couldnt well afford to buy more train tickets. At any rate, Colleen and Ally have traveled to Nevers, Lyon, La Salette and Marseille or St.Baume. You will have to ask them for the details. I am holdiong down the fort, er, convent in St. Macaire and doing my best to break out of the hermitage and learn French. I have 3 months left and Colleen has 4 unless someone springs about 200 US Dollars for one of us to change our plane ticket: either I change to July 30th and keep her company or she changes to June 30th and flies home with me. Otherwise we are both set in our current plans. Keep us in your prayers abd we will do the same for you. Happy Easter Season! Look forward to a post on Chartres Pilgrimage sometime in the far distant future. I sent my registration form in this week. Colleen plans to travel otherwise during that break, so alas we will still not be together in France.
March 14th
The last Friday in Lent before Good Friday this year saw me on another field trip of sorts. A group of students, nuns and my hermitess-self went to the nearby village of Verdalais to make the Stations of the Cross, here known as Chemin de Croix. There is a beautiful church there with a gleaming GOLD statue upon the spire. It used to be a great pilgrimage sight in medevial times and there were a great number of plaques on the wall testifying to the many miracles Our Lady has performed for the pilgrims. (There is a Latin name for these plaques, but I cannot recall it at present.) Next to the church is a great hill and a cemetary on the hill. As you climb the hill, about half way up there is a small chapel and the outdoor way of the cross begins. It ends with a crucifiction scene on top of the large hill overlooking a lot of the region of Bordeaux. It was very impressive and helpful for meditation, in fact I did it again yesterday as I found myself out and walking around that area. But that is another story.
Adventures in France 2
March 7th
The Patron of Catholic schools and the greatest glory of the Dominican order, yes, you guessed him, St. Thomas Aquinas feast day was celebrated on March 7th by what I can only describe as a field day. The whole school was removed to the nearby village of Cadillac for the day. A High Mass complete with organ music, a rare thing for us, was celebrated in the beautiful village church and then there was a seperating of the students into groups for a sort of scavenger hunt. We went all around the town and stopped at local historical sights or places of note. We saw a pilgram house for those on the way to Compostella, which also served as a sick house for the poor, which as far as I was able to gather is still in use today. We saw 2 city portes or gates and a plaza of sortes, the chateau exterior and ramparts, the church of course. The children learned about the towns history etc, but since I, the turtle brain that I am, can still not understand French, I could only pick up bits and pieces. Yes, they are dissapointed in me and dismayed as the normal foreigner implanted in this environment can usually pick it up in about 3 months. What gives? I, the hermitess, have not the gift for languages. Help me, Holy Ghost, with your gift of the tongues!
back to the blog:
We had our picnic lunch in a parking lot of sorts. I think we were supposed to be in a park, but it was inaccessible or else not big enough for everyone. The students had to answer a series of questions after lunch. I suppose they were fairly challenging as it seemed to absorb them for quite a time. Meanwhile the younger children were running around and one of the girls in our group bloodied her knee, but I digress. We ended the day with the rosary inside the church and chocolate and bread, just like every other day, but the chocolate was a sort of truffle and the bread was sweet. The children returned with their parents many of who came out for the Mass and later for the Rosary, I and one other American student returned to the school for a nice, quiet weekend, cloister style! oh ya
The Patron of Catholic schools and the greatest glory of the Dominican order, yes, you guessed him, St. Thomas Aquinas feast day was celebrated on March 7th by what I can only describe as a field day. The whole school was removed to the nearby village of Cadillac for the day. A High Mass complete with organ music, a rare thing for us, was celebrated in the beautiful village church and then there was a seperating of the students into groups for a sort of scavenger hunt. We went all around the town and stopped at local historical sights or places of note. We saw a pilgram house for those on the way to Compostella, which also served as a sick house for the poor, which as far as I was able to gather is still in use today. We saw 2 city portes or gates and a plaza of sortes, the chateau exterior and ramparts, the church of course. The children learned about the towns history etc, but since I, the turtle brain that I am, can still not understand French, I could only pick up bits and pieces. Yes, they are dissapointed in me and dismayed as the normal foreigner implanted in this environment can usually pick it up in about 3 months. What gives? I, the hermitess, have not the gift for languages. Help me, Holy Ghost, with your gift of the tongues!
back to the blog:
We had our picnic lunch in a parking lot of sorts. I think we were supposed to be in a park, but it was inaccessible or else not big enough for everyone. The students had to answer a series of questions after lunch. I suppose they were fairly challenging as it seemed to absorb them for quite a time. Meanwhile the younger children were running around and one of the girls in our group bloodied her knee, but I digress. We ended the day with the rosary inside the church and chocolate and bread, just like every other day, but the chocolate was a sort of truffle and the bread was sweet. The children returned with their parents many of who came out for the Mass and later for the Rosary, I and one other American student returned to the school for a nice, quiet weekend, cloister style! oh ya
Adventures in Ireland?
Before Lent, (Yes, I know that was a while back as I am posting this after Easter or Paque as they say here in France) Anna-Marie and I spent a week in Ireland on the pre-Lenten vacation of our Dominican schools.
By train from our respective schools to Cherbourg, France,
by Ferry from Cherbourg to Rosslare Harbour, Ireland. We were both very sea sick as the sea was choppy, it being winter;
We picked up a rental car in RH, Ireland.
The goal was to drive to Tralee for free room and board with my cousin; we stopped along the way to view scenery, Anna-Marie has the eyes of a hawk and she spotted a waterfall far off the road, we found it: She also led us to an abbey, Mount Melleray.
We stopped at a take away and had a burger and chips. Upon the sky growing dark, we found a bed and breakfast near New Ross or Waterford and luckily they took us in. We went over to a pub recommended by our hostess and Anna-Marie had her first Guiness. Also we were "priveleged" to hear some local patrons singing drinking songs. We discussed the causes of the Civil War, admired their small coal fire, went "home" and crashed, slept, that is.
The next day, we saw Waterford Crystal, world famous, and Christ Church exterior, where William Wallace is said to have been baptized. Drove on to Tralee. Small island, smaller than all of Missouri.
We spent one day driving around Dingle Peninsula. It was beautiful, sky kept changing; we saw several rainbows, many sheep grazing, stopped in a couple of churches; the Irish seem to love St. Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes, they were often seen depicted at the Grotto...
Back at my cousins we mostly vegged out, caught up on movies, and ate non-French food! We also watched the Presidential nomination updates, foreigners are very interested in our political system... and we discussed with my cousin the god of organized religion and the god of nature: I dont know if we really approached the Triune God of the Catholic Faith; she was a bit skittish and I am sorry to report that I got a bit hot under the collar and went to bed. Anna-Marie with less of a temper fared better. Next day walked and drove around downtown Tralee and had pub fare, saw a church, bookstore, etc. It was raining on and off and so we were ducking in places.
y cousin drove us out to see a ruined castle at twilight, unfortunately it gets dark in Ireland early in the winter, 4-ish and cut our sightseeing short. She drove us around a bit more, we just couldnt see much by the headlights. We headed out the next day for Dublin by way of Cohb so that Anna-Marie could see the port where her Grandmother last saw Ireland on her way to America. Another last minute B&B rescue and we made it the rest of the way to Dublin the next morning. We went right to Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells. That was my second time in Dublin and it was well worth it to see this amazing book. We attempted to see St. Patricks and another church but as they were all taken over by Protestants, they were charging an entrance fee and we refused to pay it: You rarely encounter fees at churches in France and not at all at current Catholic churches. So I made my peace with Dublin and discovered that it is a relatively small city. There was an accident on the way to the Harbour that evening and it took us much longer than it shouldve but we finally made it. We had bought sea sickness pills in Dublin and took them. We were so tired and releived to be there that the combination brought on a case of the giggles (slap-happiness brought on by fatigue) that I probably havent had since I was 10 or 12. We survuved another night on board that vessel, the Oscar Wilde, abd the next day we met a traveling piano man from CA who provided us with conversation, although he was loathe to play for us, we got him to play a little in an empty lounge, and he got us an emergency ride to the train station when our tardy ferry finally pulled into Cherbourg Harbour. Did I mention it was late on the way over also? Not a mode of transportation I recomend, at least not in the winter.
By train from our respective schools to Cherbourg, France,
by Ferry from Cherbourg to Rosslare Harbour, Ireland. We were both very sea sick as the sea was choppy, it being winter;
We picked up a rental car in RH, Ireland.
The goal was to drive to Tralee for free room and board with my cousin; we stopped along the way to view scenery, Anna-Marie has the eyes of a hawk and she spotted a waterfall far off the road, we found it: She also led us to an abbey, Mount Melleray.
We stopped at a take away and had a burger and chips. Upon the sky growing dark, we found a bed and breakfast near New Ross or Waterford and luckily they took us in. We went over to a pub recommended by our hostess and Anna-Marie had her first Guiness. Also we were "priveleged" to hear some local patrons singing drinking songs. We discussed the causes of the Civil War, admired their small coal fire, went "home" and crashed, slept, that is.
The next day, we saw Waterford Crystal, world famous, and Christ Church exterior, where William Wallace is said to have been baptized. Drove on to Tralee. Small island, smaller than all of Missouri.
We spent one day driving around Dingle Peninsula. It was beautiful, sky kept changing; we saw several rainbows, many sheep grazing, stopped in a couple of churches; the Irish seem to love St. Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes, they were often seen depicted at the Grotto...
Back at my cousins we mostly vegged out, caught up on movies, and ate non-French food! We also watched the Presidential nomination updates, foreigners are very interested in our political system... and we discussed with my cousin the god of organized religion and the god of nature: I dont know if we really approached the Triune God of the Catholic Faith; she was a bit skittish and I am sorry to report that I got a bit hot under the collar and went to bed. Anna-Marie with less of a temper fared better. Next day walked and drove around downtown Tralee and had pub fare, saw a church, bookstore, etc. It was raining on and off and so we were ducking in places.
y cousin drove us out to see a ruined castle at twilight, unfortunately it gets dark in Ireland early in the winter, 4-ish and cut our sightseeing short. She drove us around a bit more, we just couldnt see much by the headlights. We headed out the next day for Dublin by way of Cohb so that Anna-Marie could see the port where her Grandmother last saw Ireland on her way to America. Another last minute B&B rescue and we made it the rest of the way to Dublin the next morning. We went right to Trinity College and saw the Book of Kells. That was my second time in Dublin and it was well worth it to see this amazing book. We attempted to see St. Patricks and another church but as they were all taken over by Protestants, they were charging an entrance fee and we refused to pay it: You rarely encounter fees at churches in France and not at all at current Catholic churches. So I made my peace with Dublin and discovered that it is a relatively small city. There was an accident on the way to the Harbour that evening and it took us much longer than it shouldve but we finally made it. We had bought sea sickness pills in Dublin and took them. We were so tired and releived to be there that the combination brought on a case of the giggles (slap-happiness brought on by fatigue) that I probably havent had since I was 10 or 12. We survuved another night on board that vessel, the Oscar Wilde, abd the next day we met a traveling piano man from CA who provided us with conversation, although he was loathe to play for us, we got him to play a little in an empty lounge, and he got us an emergency ride to the train station when our tardy ferry finally pulled into Cherbourg Harbour. Did I mention it was late on the way over also? Not a mode of transportation I recomend, at least not in the winter.
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