ad Deum, qui lætíficat iuventútem meam.
So I drove to Natchez up Highway 61 after Masses the other day, and made a small day of retreat in a cabin on a lake. I love driving up Highway 61 because you see interesting sites like this, which always get’s one wondering what it was all about in it’s heyday.
The cabin had a great view of the sky…
And I love the sky…
But I realized that I need a genuine, bona fide retreat.
And that’s that; more on the morrow…
What a great idea for a post when I don’t have anything else to post about. Or, for when I have a lot to post about but no time to write about it.
Here is one of my sombreuil roses, which is doing pretty well out back. In fact they’re all doing well, except for the Lady Banks, also known as “banksia“, which never really got off the ground. I am determined to cultivate a Lady Banks at some point.
I was inspired by Fr. Stan Fortuna’s blog, in which he took a shot of a rose on a coffin and posted it. The CFR’s evidently have a charism of hipness and, while I don’t, at least I am not the only one posting a picture of a rose and calling it a day. And that after skipping two days. Of course, roses are a source of beauty, and sharing beauty is always worthwhile.
Last night I attended a lecture by Fr. Robert Barron. Well, let’s just say he doesn’t post pictures of roses and call it a day. His lecture was fascinating, although it was hovering slightly toward the periphery of my vast intellectual prowess, which absolutely surprised me. (Not.) But it was so interesting I used much of what he said in my Homily this weekend. Which was great for many reasons, the most obvious being that my Homily really needed a boost.
Humorous moment of the evening: a fellow in front of me asked Fr. Barron if he could provide some specific examples of what he was talking about, and Fr. Barron replied, “Well, that’s what the whole lecture was about.” I’ll bet the poor guy went right home and posted a picture of a rose on his blog. But the catchphrase between me and the friend with whom I attended the lecture was then, “Well that’s what the entire lecture was about.”
I’ll post the Homily tomorrow, with appropriate credit to Fr. Barron’s excellent lecture.
My webhost’s database server appears to be down, and keeps crashing. Either that or my site has been hacked and corrupted almost beyond workability. I prefer to think that it’s the former. That being said, here is a part of the post I was working on. Various pictures of the rest of the cortege, i.e. the police escort, the crowds, the marching band, will have to be tucked away safely for a rainy day…
from dictionary.com:
cor·tege? ?[kawr-tezh, -teyzh]
noun
1.a procession, especially a ceremonial one: a funeral cortege.
2.a line or train of attendants; retinue.
Archbishop Hannan’s funeral cortege was today.
It started at the Seminary and marched through the city over to the Cathedral.
It was quite impressive, and poignant.
I somehow ended up on a balcony of the Cabildo; they are very gracious people.
The horse drawn funeral bier.
A brief service was said.
Here he lays in final state.
And his crypt awaits beyond.
Fresh on the heels of our astoundingly successful Parish fair, come the wake services for Archbishop Philip M. Hannan, may God rest his soul.
His body arrived at the seminary this evening at 5:00p.m. The location of the seminary is easy for many to get to, and the Chapel and grounds are conducive to large public gatherings. He will lie there in state until Wednesday, and members of the public are invited to come and to pray.
In addition to the strong showing of clergy present, a lot of the Archbishop’s family from the D.C. area are in town for the funeral as well.
He will lie here, in state, through Wednesday.
Edward Cardinal Egan is in attendance as well.
Evening Prayer form the Office for the Dead was chanted, and sung.
It was a beautiful occasion.
The Archbishop’s family was telling a few stories; one is that every Christmas without fail, after Midnight and morning Masses were finished, he would fly straight to Washington D.C. and spend the evening visiting with every family member. (And they have a fairly large family!) He never missed a family Baptism, Wedding or Funeral, either.
Outside, tributes are already starting to grow. Many people hereabouts loved this man, and the work he did.
Réquiem ætérnam dona eis Dómine;
et lux perpétua lúceat eis.
Requiéscat in pace.
Amen.
We had a great fair this weekend.
The best Parish Fair I’ve ever been to, as a matter of fact. (WIth all due respect to the many great Parish fairs I’ve been to!)
It was a perfect confluence of weather events, televised sporting events, other civic events, all combined with the lousy economy so that people just wanted to go out and have fun.
I guess. Really, what do I know?
All I know is that people come for miles around to go to our fair, and fly in from out of state to help set up and work.
And, it was so crowded at some points I couldn’t even walk around with my camera!
It was downright charming at times.
And the Top Cats closed us out last night.
This tall ride fascinated me. I have a thousand pictures of it, in some way shape or form.
Well not literally a thousand. Probably closer to ten thousand. Although actually I’m moving on my initial ‘take as many photos as possible and see what works’ phase. Who has time to go through a lot of lousy photos? So I’m trying to get better photos right off the bat. This is a step in the right direction!
The rides were great…
…and provided lots of opportunities for quasi artsy shots.
And Fr. Bob Massset closed out the Fair with a rousing thank you, thank you thank you!