Hobbit Gallery

In case you would like to find a good way to waste some time... if anything LOTR-ish could be considered a waste of time.  Click HERE to view the Hobbit Gallery for the upcoming movie.  (You have to click "next" for the next picture.) 

Our Lady of Sorrows

Through her heart, His sorrow sharing, all His bitter anguish bearing, now at length the sword has passed.

The First Sorrow - The Prophecy of Simeon - Luke 2:22-35
22 And after the days of her purification, according to the law of Moses, were accomplished, they carried him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord: 23 As it is written in the law of the Lord: Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord: 24 And to offer a sacrifice, according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons: 25 And behold there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon: and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost was in him. 26 And he had received an answer from the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord. 27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when his parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, 28 He also took him into his arms and blessed God and said 29 Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace: 30 Because my eyes have seen thy salvation, 31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples: 32 A light to the revelation of the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel. 33 And his father and mother were wondering at those things which were spoken concerning him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be contradicted. 35 And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed.  

 The Second Sorrow - The Flight into Egypt - Matthew 2:13-21
13 And after they were departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt: and be there until I shall tell thee. For it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy him. 14 Who arose, and took the child and his mother by night, and retired into Egypt: and he was there until the death of Herod: 15 That it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying: Out of Egypt have I called my son. 16 Then Herod perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceeding angry: and sending killed all the menchildren that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremias the prophet, saying: 18 A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and great mourning; Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. 19 But when Herod was dead, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph in Egypt, 20 Saying: Arise, and take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel. For they are dead that sought the life of the child. 21 Who arose, and took the child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.  

 The Third Sorrow - The Loss of Jesus in the Temple - Luke 2:41-50
41 And his parents went every year to Jerusalem, at the solemn day of the pasch. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they going up into Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast, 43 And having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem. And his parents knew it not. 44 And thinking that he was in the company, they came a day’s journey and sought him among their kinsfolks and acquaintance. 45 And not finding him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking him. 46 And it came to pass, that, after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and asking them questions. 47 And all that heard him were astonished at his wisdom and his answers. 48 And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us? Behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. 49 And he said to them: How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be about my father’s business? 50 And they understood not the word that he spoke unto them.  

 The Fourth Sorrow - Mary meets Jesus on the Road to Calvary - No specific biblical quotations
We know that Our Lady remained constant true to Her Son as He walked the road to Calvary. So there is no doubt that they met upon the road and when they did not gaze at one another, their hearts were still so united that they shared this suffering with each other.  She was His Mother afterall.
St. Bernard:  “the most sorrowful Mother met the most sorrowful Son”

The Fifth Sorrow:  Jesus dies on the Cross - John 19:17-27

¹⁷ And bearing his own cross, he went forth to that place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew Golgotha.  ¹⁸ Where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, and Jesus in the midst. ¹⁹ And Pilate wrote a title also, and he put it upon the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.  ²⁰ This title therefore many of the Jews did read: because the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin.  ²¹ Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate: Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am the King of the Jews.  ²² Pilate answered: What I have written, I have written.   ²³The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified him, took his garments, (and they made four parts, to every soldier a part,) and also his coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.  ²⁴ They said then one to another: Let us not cut it, but let us cast lots for it, whose it shall be; that the scripture might be fulfilled, saying: They have parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture they have cast lot. And the soldiers indeed did these things.  ²⁵ Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen.  ²⁶ When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son.  ²⁷ After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own.

Sixth Sorrow - Mary receives the dead body of Her Son - John 19:31-38

³¹ Then the Jews, (because it was the parasceve,) that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath day, (for that was a great sabbath day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.  ³² The soldiers therefore came; and they broke the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with him. ³³ But after they were come to Jesus, when they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ But one of the soldiers with a spear opened his side, and immediately there came out blood and water. ³⁵ And he that saw it, hath given testimony, and his testimony is true. And he knoweth that he saith true; that you also may believe. ³⁶ For these things were done, that the scripture might be fulfilled: You shall not break a bone of him. ³⁷ And again another scripture saith: They shall look on him whom they pierced. ³⁸ And after these things, Joseph of Arimathea (because he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews) besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.

 

The Seventh Sorrow - Jesus is laid in the tomb - John 19:38-42

³⁸ And after these things, Joseph of Arimathea (because he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews) besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.  ³⁹ And Nicodemus also came, (he who at the first came to Jesus by night,) bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.  ⁴⁰ They took therefore the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths, with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. ⁴¹ Now there was in the place where he was crucified, a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein no man yet had been laid. ⁴² There, therefore, because of the parasceve of the Jews, they laid Jesus, because the sepulchre was nigh at hand.

 

 

HERE is a beautiful reflection for the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of Our Blessed Mother.

 

Our Lady of Sorrows, Pray for us!  

 

Our Lady of Consolation

Beneath the shelter of your tender compassion we fly for refuge, Mother of God. Do not overlook our supplications in adversity but deliver us out of danger.
As I do spiritual reading about a saint or Our Lady I sometimes stumble across some very interesting subjects.  One thing that has astounded me is how many feast days there are for Our Lady, that have been dropped.  I think along with a Saint of the day, we should have a title of Our Lady of the day.  Wouldn't that be a lovely thing!  But check out this gem I ran across.
Our Lady of Consolation
This feast day is a moveable feast celebrated on the Saturday following the feast of St. Augustine, which is on August 28th.  St. Monica suffered greatly over the sinful life of her son, Augustine.  (here I recommend to you the book St. Monica)  St. Monica confided her sorrow to Our Blessed Mother.  The story goes that Our Lady appeared to her dressed in mourning clothes with a shining cincture around her waist. In her great compassion, Our Lady removed the cincture and gave it to St. Monica.  She told her to wear it.  Monica then gave it to her son, who in turn gave it to his community, who wore the cincture in honor of  Our Lady of Consolation. 

I think we live in a time that we are of urgency to bring back this devotion To Our Lady of Consolation. With the rampant sorrow that mothers, like St. Monica, suffer over their children, especially in regards to purity. 

Children's Behaviour during Mass

Interesting discussion going on over at Fr. Z's on behaviour of toddlers during Mass.  HERE.

Feast of the Holy Name of Mary

I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope.
In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue. Sirach

In our home we honor Mary through the naming of our girls in some way associated with Our Lady. 
The Visitation, Our Lady of Lourdes, Derivitives of the Name of Mary & Mystical Rose... and on the blog... "Marigold" :)


♥ Julie

Multi-taskers Multi-tasking

 Well, babies don't have to multi-task because their whole effort goes into just being precious.

 The Golly Green Giant stopped by today. It was a very nice distraction to a very irritating day.  I could have used some of those tomatoes during school today as the entertainment was ... well... in need of some tomato throwing.  You know you have a bad day in school when you find yourself in your closet cleaning it out before lunch.  But as life would have it, we had to do something with all these glorious tomatoes. 

 However at the same time Sam had decided to take out cow tongue out of the freezer for dinner. Cow tongue.  And here my plan was to give it to some people who appreciate it.  But no, I had to try something that was going to be tasting me back.  I had to google to find a recipe.  I happened upon this one:  From an American Living in Spain.  But I added in garlic... I thought they ate lots of garlic over there.  Then again... this is an American living in Spain...

 So it was a tomato, carrots, onions, (garlic), pepper, cover with water, stick in the cow tongue and boil for an hour and a half. Then you try and take off the skin.  It was debatable what was the skin.  The white stuff clearly came off but what about that tough layer under that before the stringy meat part?  There was a debate about it.  I opted for removing anything that resembled taste buds but the ones who were trimming the skin (tongues have skins, right?) with our fine, dull, pathetic knives thought the gray matter should remain intact.  We are new to this, but thankfully cows only have 1 tongue so we won't have to worry about this again for a while.  Then we pureed the "stock" into a nice sauce.

 Another project going on during this time was canning tomatoes.  These are skinned (de-skinned?) tomatoes.  A woman I worked with years ago told me that you can just remove the skins, boil them up good and hard and then can them into hot jars and they will seal beautifully (like inverted jelly). 

 Meanwhile, Frodo gave up the tongue skinning process and Sam took over.  I seem to recall seeing friends of ours doing this project much more simply.  That said, after the skin was off... mostly... then we sliced it really thin (thinly?) dredged it in flour and egg and lighthly fried it to golden brown then stuck it in the above mentioned sauce.

 Meanwhile Galadriel was trying out a french baguette recipe.

 Delicious!

 Did I mention we were also making salsa at this time?  Now that was really good.

So you ask what was the actual dinner. Well, sit down because this is probably going to put your gut into a convulsion as it totally does not go together at all.  There was the fresh salsa and tortilla chips, tongue in a tomato veggie sauce, french bread, fried sweet potatoes (another project) and mozzerella sticks (that was Aragorn's contribution after he ran to the store to get the jalapenos and cilantro and something else or other for the salsa and came home with frozen mozzerella  sticks...)  Oh... he also came home with Mike's hard black cherry lemonade and some kind of "smart" ice cream 4 pack... it was perfect as there were only 4 people in the house who behaved today... actually I didn't behave at all but I'm the mom... I need my perks sometimes).  That's what happens when you send a man to the store for something. 

So, how did we like the tongue? Well, the recipe was very bland but with alot of pepper it was pretty good, albeit a pyschologically challenging dinner. :D

♥ Julie

Richest Banquet

"How can I be said to fast, while every morning at the altar I receive my God?"
St. Nicholas Tolentino