The Jena Six (4): Firewood Dept.

Over the weekend, the administration of Jena High School had the big shade tree cut down and chopped into firewood.

Have those people no sense of decency (much less symbolism)? All this started with a tree on which three nooses were hung, as in KKK. And now they cut it down for firewood! Flannery O'Connor, where are you when we need you? (Dead, but that's no excuse.)

COMMENT: The thing to do now is to recover some of the firewood and cut it up for relics.

The Jena Six (3)

Sentencing has been postponed until Sept. 20, and things are looking up. A group of Monroe attorneys are getting ready to file an appeal, and there is news of a local meeting with Justice Department officials to try to deal with racial tension. Read it here and here.

Harry Potter and his world

Last Friday I finished Deathly Hallows and turned it over to my grandchildren, Isabelle and Piers. Since I bought it, I got to read it first, and I loved it, the best of J. K. Rowling's novels.

Now the scholars will have a go at the whole Harry Potter series and try to make of it what they will. They will find the series a literary epic, tightly planned, structured as seven years in the life of Harry and his friends, each book covering one year, late summer to late spring, mostly at Hogwarts (except the last book, which is all over the place, ending at Hogwarts). They will find it full of Christian, or at least good pagan, symbols, much like Beowulf, and they will find it an epic in which the forces of good and evil fight cosmic battles until, finally, good triumphs in a passage through death. That's what we call the paschal mystery.

The world of Rowling's fiction, the way her characters see reality, is greatly different from the reality we perceive in our enlightened, reasonable, and even postmodern world. Harry and his friends inhabit a world of magic and sorcery, wizards and witches, goblins, elves, ghouls, giants, unicorns and dragons, powerful wands, spells that harm and kill, and spells that protect and heal. This is the world of the bible, the world in which Saul meets the witch of Endor and summons up the ghost of Samuel, the world of which St John the Divine wrote in Revelation, the world in which Jesus healed and raised from the dead and was himself raised from the dead. It is the world of much of Africa, even today. It is the world of young children, until we dispel the magic surrounding them. And it is the world of the kingdom of God.

The Jena Six (2)

The deacon candidates in the Diocese of Louisiana have sent the following letter to The Times-Picayune and the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate (neither of which has covered this conflict):

Dear Editors:

Mychal Bell, the first of the "Jena Six" to be tried for assault, will be sentenced on July 31, possibly to 22 years in jail for a fight on school grounds. The case of these six young men, black students at Jena High School, raises serious questions about justice in Louisiana. Why has there been so little public outcry about the racial inequality of the punishments for these African American students?

As Christians, we pledged in our baptismal vows to strive for justice and peace among all people and to respect the dignity of all human beings. Thus, the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana Deacon Formation Class of 2007 publicly expresses our concern that the plight of the "Jena Six" has not been adequately addressed by either the justice system or the local press. This lack of attention and critical review may lead to a serious miscarriage of justice for these young men and their families and may lead to a climate of further injustice and persecution of other citizens.

Jena, Louisiana is both far away and also close to the people in South Louisiana. When a lack of justice takes away the rights and liberty of one citizen in our state, the rights and liberty of all citizens are diminished.

Sincerely yours:
The 2007 Deacon Formation Class
Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana
Elaine Clements, Jan Goff, Mark Hudson, Joyce Jackson, Alyce Jefferson, Charmaine Kathmann, and Priscilla Maumus

Irene Chrysovalantou

28 July

Irene Chrysovalantou, deacon (then called deaconess), abbess of a community of women at Constantinople, 921. Irene was born about 826 to the prominent Gouber family in Byzantium. The empress planned to marry her to Prince Michael III. According to legend, on the way to the wedding, she delayed to listen to the wisdom of a hermit. When she arrived at Constantinople, the prince was already married. Irene gave her jewelry to the church and entered the monastery of Chrysovalantou, and immediately engaged herself in vigils and prayer. Soon she was ordained deacon (deaconess) and became the new abbess. Increasing her spiritual struggles, with great trust in God to guide the community properly, she developed the gifts of foresight and exorcism. Her prayer through the night continued in the courtyard of the monastery, causing herself to levitate and the cypress trees to bend towards her. She was granted three apples from John the Theologian, visions of angels, and appeared in a vision to the emperor to release an unjustly convicted man. After her death, she continued to be a wonderworker. Her veneration and miracle-working continue, centered on a miraculous weeping icon of St Irene, written in 1921 by a monk at Mount Athos and now in a monastery at Astoria, Long Island.

Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus

28 July

Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, deacons, companions of Stephen and Philip, 1st c. (see Acts 6:5). All except Nicolaus were Hellenistic Jews who became Christians. According to tradition, Prochorus (or Prochoros) accompanied St John the Divine in exile on the island of Patmos. In icons Prochoros is sometimes portrayed as a scribe in a cave, taking dictation as John describes his vision of the Apocalypse (Revelation). Prochoros became bishop of Nicomedia and died in peace. Nicanor was stoned to death in Jerusalem. Timon became bishop of Bostra in Arabia and ended his life in martyrdom by fire at the hands of the pagans. Parmenas died in peace in Jerusalem. Nicolaus (or Nikolaos), a pagan from Antioch who became a Jew and then a Christian, was a deacon in Jerusalem.

Quote of the day

Albus Dumbledore to Harry Potter:

It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it.

George of Palestine

27 July
George, deacon and martyr, monk from Palestine, with four companions, killed at Córdoba in Spain, c 852. George and his four companions were martyred under Emir Abd ar-Rahman II. Aurelius and Felix, with their wives, Natalia and Liliosa, were Spaniards whose family backgrounds, although religiously mixed, legally required them to profess Islam. After given four days to recant, they were condemned as apostates for revealing their previously secret Christian faith. Deacon George was a monk from Palestine who was arrested along with the two couples. Though offered a pardon as a foreigner, he chose to denounce Islam again and die with the others.

The Jena Six

At the high school in Jena, Louisiana, there is a big tree in the school yard, where the white students traditionally sit in the shade. Last August 31, during assembly, a black student stood up and asked the school principal if he could sit under the tree, and the reply was he could sit where he wished. So he and another black student sat under the tree. The next day three hangman's nooses, in the school colors, appeared in the tree. The school head recommended that the noose-hangers be expelled. The board of education overruled him, and three white students were suspended from school for three days.

More black students sat under the tree in protest. An assembly was called. Whites sat on one side, blacks on the other. The local district attorney, Reed Walters, accompanied by town police, turned to the blacks and told them: "See this pen in my hand? I can end your lives with the stroke of a pen."

Violence and tension increased, and the DA did nothing. On November 30 the main academic wing of Jena High School burned down. White students beat up a black student at a party. A young white man with a shotgun threatened black students at a convenience store. The blacks wrestled the gun from him and ran away. Later they turned the gun in to police, who arrested them for theft of the gun.

Finally, on December 4, in a schoolyard fight, a white student was beaten and kicked. He was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries and released. That night he attended a school ring ceremony. The DA charged six black students with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. These students have become known as the "Jena Six." They are: Robert Bailey (17), Theo Shaw (17), Carwin Jones (18), Bryant Purvis (17), Mychal Bell (16), and an unidentified minor. They were expelled from school, arrested, and jailed.

The first trial took place in June. Mychal Bell, who has been in jail since his arrest (because of high bail), was convicted by an all-white jury of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery, both felonies. His public defender called no witnesses and offered no defense. Mychal is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31 and could face jail for 22 years. The others have not yet gone to trial. (For more details read here, and for local attitudes here.)

Jena is a small town of about 3,000 people, seat of La Salle Parish. The place is 85 per cent white, poor, heavily Republican, mostly Baptist, and doesn't even have an Episcopal church. It is in the middle of nowhere about 30 miles northeast of Alexandria. Years ago there was a sign where the highway turned off toward the town: "Keep your black ass out of Jena." The sign was near the Episcopal camp, Hardtner, and the camp director complained to the highway department. The sign disappeared. The sentiment didn't.

UPDATE: See the long analysis, dated July 3, by Bill Quigley, human rights lawyer and law professor at Loyola University New Orleans.

Olympias of Constantinople

25 July
Olympias of Constantinople, deacon (then called deaconess), benefactor, cathedral staff member at Constantinople, and friend and disciple of the banished John Chrysostom, 410. Born into a wealthy noble Constantinople family, Olympias was orphaned as a child and given over to the care of Theodosia by her uncle, the prefect Procopius. She married Nebridius, also a prefect, was widowed soon after, refused several offers of marriage, and had her fortune put in trust until she was thirty by Emperor Theodosius when she also refused his choice for a husband. When he restored her estate in 391, she was ordained deaconess and with several other women founded a community. She was so lavish in her almsgiving that her good friend John Chrysostom remonstrated with her, and when he became Patriarch of Constantinople in 398 he took her under his direction. She established a hospital and an orphanage and gave shelter to the expelled monks of Nitria. When John Chrysostom was expelled from Constantinople in 404, Olympias became his firm supporter. She was fined by the prefect, Optatus, for refusing to accept the usurper Arsacius as Patriarch, and Arsacius’ successor, Atticus, disbanded her community and ended her charitable works. She spent the last years of her life beset by illness and persecution but comforted by Chrysostom from his place of exile. She died in exile in Nicomedia on 25 July 410, less than a year after the death of Chrysostom. [Also observed 17 Dec.]

Mary Magdalene

On the right is the National Geographic photo of Afghan refugee Sharbat Gula, who was the model for the famous modern icon of Mary Magdalene written by Robert Lentz in 1990 (left, in the baptistry of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco). According to legend, Mary was visiting the court of Tiberius Caesar in Rome. She told him about the resurrection of Christ. As Mary was picking up a boiled egg from the food table, Tiberius said: "A man can no more rise from the dead than that egg can turn red." Instantly the egg turned red. The icon shows the scene just before the transformation. Interestingly, it is Mary's cloak that is red, the color of Christ's martyrdom.

Mugglemania

We got back from Natchez, and the postman rang the bell. Deathly Hallows has arrived from Amazon.com--759 pages of wizardry. She who must be obeyed tells me I have to read it fast, because our grandson Piers wants to read it. (He can afford to buy his own copy, from money made cleaning our back yard.) It's got wizards galore. Are they Christian? Will the global south police arrest me for reading satanic literature? Who cares?

On va se revoir

Kay and I are going away for a few days to celebrate our 50th anniversary. We're one of the few couples we know who have stayed married. And it was worth it to have a wife who was both loving and entertaining all these years. Our children have bought us a package in a fancy B&B in Natchez. I've decided not to take my laptop, but we will have other electronic gadgets--cell phones, GPS.

Paul of St Zoilus

20 July
Paul of St Zoilus, deacon and martyr of Córdoba in Spain and a member of the community of St Zoilus in that city, 851. He devoted much of his effort to bringing aid to Christians imprisoned by Muslim officials. Seized by members of the ruling Islamic government, he was beheaded.

Barhadbesciabas

20 July
Barhadbesciabas (sometimes called Barhadbesaba), deacon and martyr of Arbela in Persia, killed by beheading, 355. He was caught up in the persecution conducted by Sassanid King Shapur II and was tortured by the governor of the Persian region of Adiaban in modern Iran. Aggai, an apostate Christian, was ordered to behead Barhadbesciabas. He used the ax with such clumsiness that he had to strike the martyr again in order to slay him.

Arsenius the Great

19 July
Arsenius the Great, deacon of Rome and hermit in the desert of Egypt, c 449.

Born about 360, Arsenius was the scion of a Roman senatorial family. He had an early career as tutor to the sons of Emperor Theodosius the Great. Pope Damasus I is said to have ordained Arsenius to the diaconate and to have recommended the learned cleric to the emperor. Arsenius later became a hermit at Sketis, near Alexandria in Egypt, and a disciple of John the Dwarf. After barbarians began to raid the monasteries, Arsenius moved to Troë near Memphis, and he spent fifteen years wandering in the desert. Numbered among the desert fathers, Arsenius wrote a guide to monastic life and a commentary on the gospel according to Luke, which describes the contemplative life.

Macrina the Younger

19 July

Macrina the Younger (also Makrina), deacon (then called deaconess), older sister of Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa, 379.

Macrina the Younger was born to a holy family in Cappadocia early in the fourth century. Her grandmother, Macrina the Elder, for whom she was named, lived in the days of the Emperor Diocletian, who made a determined effort to destroy the Christian faith. She and her husband fled into hiding, and survived into the time of Constantine. One of their sons, Basil the Elder, and his wife Emmelia had nine children. Five are commemorated as saints: Macrina the Younger, Basil the Great, Peter of Sebaste, Gregory of Nyssa, and Theosebia the Deaconess (see 10 January). Macrina was the oldest child. She was betrothed at the age of twelve, after the custom of the day, but when her fiancé died she decided to devote her life to prayer, contemplation, and works of charity. After the death of her father, she and her mother formed a community of women who shared her goals. She often brought poor and hungry women home to be fed, clothed, nursed, or otherwise taken care of, and many eventually joined the community, as did many women of means. After the death of their parents, Macrina was chiefly responsible for the upbringing of her younger brothers. When they were inclined to be conceited about their intellectual accomplishments, she deflated them with affectionate but pointed jibes. Her example encouraged some of them to pursue the monastic ideal and to found monastic communities for men. Although Basil the Great is remembered as the founder of eastern monasticism (all Orthodox monks follow a variation of Basil’s monastic rule), the community of monks organized by Basil was preceded and inspired by the community of nuns organized by Macrina. Three of her brothers (Basil, Gregory, Peter) became bishops, and all of them were leading contenders for the faith of Nicaea against the Arians. She was buried in a grave shared with her parents, with a eulogy by her brother Gregory of Nyssa. In his Life of Macrina, Gregory records his last visit with her, her farewell speech, and her prayers and teachings about the resurrection.

Troparion (Tone 8)
The image of God was truly preserved in you, O Mother,
For you took up the Cross and followed Christ.
By so doing, you taught us to disregard the flesh, for it passes away,
But to care instead for the soul, since it is immortal.
Therefore your spirit, O Holy Mother Macrina, rejoices with the Angels!

Kontakion (Tone 4)
Since the light of righteousness shone brightly in you,
you were an example of the life of piety for all,
teaching the virtues to them that cry:
Rejoice, Macrina, you boast of virginity.

Since everyone else is doing it

Sounds familiar

A Russian Orthodox diocese has sued to reclaim a New Jersey church from an Orthodox dissident, who opposes the church's new union with Moscow. The case, which echoes Russian Orthodoxy's fractured history, is being watched by others who oppose the Moscow church's alleged ties to the KGB.
. . .
Russian Orthodoxy has long been divided, with rivalries over prayers, personalities and even which fingers to use when blessing oneself. The largest rift of the modern era occurred in the aftermath of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. Bishops who fled, horrified by squads that shot priests and jailed believers, formed the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, which eventually chose New York as its base.

For the whole story in today's Wall Street Journal, read it here.

Gundisalvus Hendriquez, Portuguese deacon

15 July
Gundisalvus Hendriquez, Portuguese deacon and martyr, Jesuit scholar, killed with companions in the Canary Islands, 1570. Gundisalvus Hendriquez was a friend and companion of Ignatius de Azevedo (1528-1570), superior and leader of a band of forty Spanish and Portuguese Jesuit missionaries martyred by the Huguenot Jacques Sourie while en route to the West Indies. They were killed by drowning 15 July 1570 in the Canary Islands.

[From my calendar of more than 200 deacon saints.]

Catulinus, deacon and martyr

15 July
Catulinus (also called Cartholinus), deacon and martyr, with companions Januarius, Florentius, Julia, and Justa, killed at Carthage in North Africa, under Diocletian, 303. Nothing is known of their martyrdom. Their bodies were buried in the basilica of bishop Faustus in Carthage. In praise of Catulinus, St Augustine preached a panegyric to the faithful.

I like the tune, but the words leave something to be desired

La Marseillaise

Allons enfants de la Patrie

Le jour de gloire est arrivé !

Contre nous de la tyrannie
L'étendard sanglant est levé. (bis)
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes

Mugir ces féroces soldats ?

Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras

Égorger vos fils, vos compagnes !

Aux armes, citoyens !
Formez vos bataillons !
Marchons, marchons !
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons !

Que veut cette horde d'esclaves,
De traîtres, de rois conjurés ?
Pour qui ces ignobles entraves
Ces fers dès longtemps préparés ? (bis)
Français, pour nous, ah! Quel outrage,
Quels transports il doit exciter !
C'est nous qu'on ose méditer
De rendre à l'antique esclavage !

Aux armes, citoyens...

Quoi! Des cohortes étrangères
Feraient la loi dans nos foyers !
Quoi! Ces phalanges mercenaires
Terrasseraient nos fiers guerriers ! (bis)
Grand Dieu! Par des mains enchaînées
Nos fronts sous le joug se ploieraient
De vils despotes deviendraient
Les maîtres de nos destinées !

Aux armes, citoyens...

Tremblez, tyrans et vous perfides
L'opprobre de tous les partis
Tremblez! Vos projets parricides
Vont enfin recevoir leurs prix ! (bis)
Tout est soldat pour vous combattre
S'ils tombent, nos jeunes héros,
La terre en produit de nouveaux,
Contre vous tout prêts à se battre !

Aux armes, citoyens...

Français, en guerriers magnanimes,
Portez ou retenez vos coups !
Épargnez ces tristes victimes
À regret s'armant contre nous (bis)
Mais ces despotes sanguinaires
Mais ces complices de Bouillé
Tous ces tigres qui, sans pitié,
Déchirent le sein de leur mère !

Aux armes, citoyens...

Amour sacré de la Patrie,
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs
Liberté, Liberté chérie,
Combats avec tes défenseurs ! (bis)
Sous nos drapeaux que la victoire
Accoure à tes mâles accents,
Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire !

Aux armes, citoyens...

(Couplet des enfants)
Nous entrerons dans la carrière
Quand nos aînés n'y seront plus
Nous y trouverons leur poussière
Et la trace de leurs vertus (bis)
Bien moins jaloux de leur survivre
Que de partager leur cercueil,
Nous aurons le sublime orgueil
De les venger ou de les suivre !

Aux armes, citoyens...

Arise, children of the fatherland
The day of glory has arrived!
Against us, the tyranny's
Bloody banner is raised. (repeat)
Do you hear in the fields
The howling of these savage soldiers?
They are coming into your midst
To cut the throats of your sons, your wives!

To arms, citizens!
Form your battalions!
Let us march, let us march!
May tainted blood
Water our fields!

What does this horde of slaves,
Traitors, and plotting kings want?
For whom these vile chains
These long-prepared irons? (repeat)
Frenchmen, for us, ah! What outrage,
What fury it must arouse!
It is us they dare plan
To return to the old slavery!

To arms, citizens...

What! These foreign cohorts!
They would make laws in our homes!
What! These mercenary phalanxes
Would cut down our proud warriors! (repeat)
Great God! By chained hands
Our brow would yield under the yoke
The vile despots would become
The masters of our destinies!

To arms, citizens...

Tremble, tyrants and traitors
The shame of all good men
Tremble! Your parricidal schemes
Will receive their just reward! (repeat)
Against you, we are all soldiers
If our young heroes fall,
The earth will bear new ones,
Ready to join the fight against you!

To arms, citizens...

Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors,
Bear or hold back your blows!
Spare these sad victims
That they may regret taking up arms against us (repeat)
But not these bloody despots
These accomplices of Bouillé
All these tigers who mercilessly
Ripped out their mothers' breast!

To arms, citizens...

Sacred patriotic love,
Lead and support our avenging arms
Liberty, cherished liberty,
Fight back with your defenders! (repeat)
Under our flags, let victory
Hurry to your manly tone,
So that your enemies, in their last breath,
See your triumph and our glory!

To arms, citizens...

(Children's Verse)
We shall enter the career
When our elders will no longer be there
There we shall find their dust
And the mark of their virtues (repeat)
Much less jealous of surviving them
Than of sharing their coffins,
We shall have the sublime pride
Of avenging or following them!

To arms, citizens...

New or old church?

From the document "Responses to some questions" issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith:

Fifth Question: Why do the texts of the Council and those of the Magisterium since the Council not use the title of 'Church' with regard to those Christian Communities born out of the Reformation of the sixteenth century?

Response: According to Catholic doctrine, these Communities do not enjoy apostolic succession in the sacrament of Orders, and are, therefore, deprived of a constitutive element of the Church. These ecclesial Communities which, specifically because of the absence of the sacramental priesthood, have not preserved the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic Mystery cannot, according to Catholic doctrine, be called 'Churches' in the proper sense.

My question: Was the Church of England born out of the Reformation, or did it continue the apostolic faith of Ecclesia Anglicana? This poses a challenge for the churches of the Anglican Communion, which now have an opportunity to define themselves in terms of apostolic tradition. We're not sola scriptura, and we ought to have the guts to say so. We should demand our place at the table.

Fortunato, deacon and martyr

12 July
Fortunato, deacon and martyr, killed with his bishop Ermacora at Aquileia, near the northern Adriatic coast of Italy, 1st c. According to legend, St Mark converted and ordained Ermacora during a mission to northeastern Italy. The cathedral at Udine contains a painting of the two martyrs by Tiepolo (1737).

[From my calendar of more than 200 deacon saints.]

Anniversary

Today is the feast of St Benedict of Nursia. I was ordained deacon on this day in 1971--as they say, it was a dark and stormy night--at St Anna's Episcopal Church in New Orleans. Over the years I have wondered why ordained people, and their congregations, make a big deal out of ordination anniversaries. Sure, they are important, but so is baptism.

I was baptized on 29 August 1937, at age 3 (almost 4), in St John's Episcopal Church, Williamstown, Massachusetts. Three weeks earlier, on 7 August, my mother died of typhoid fever while visiting her mother (my grandmother) in Williamstown. My mother and father, children of the Jazz Age, had not bothered with church for me and my brother David, age 1. So my grandmother, Bertha, whom we called Bonne Maman, a staunch Anglo-Catholic, decided our souls were in as much risk as our bodies and hauled us off to church for baptism.

Two years later, we ended up in Thibodaux, Louisiana, where we became members of another St John's. I've always been fond of John and his "signs" of Christ.

How many of you celebrate your baptismal day--or even know when it is?

UPDATE: Oh, I forgot! My baptismal day is the same day as Katrina, 68 years later.

Quote of the day

Asked by an interviewer in 2000 whether she could forgive her husband if she learned he'd had an extramarital affair, as Hillary Clinton and Bob Livingston's wife had done, Wendy Vitter told the Times-Picayune: "I'm a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary. If he does something like that, I'm walking away with one thing, and it's not alimony, trust me."

For the whole bloody yarn on "There is a house in New Orleans," at salon.com, read here.

A happily outrageous blog

Deacon Ken Arnold (recently of New York, now of Oregon) wrote this blog today and invited its dissemination:

A Kairos Moment

The present reminds me of the Nixon administration and the years leading to the end of the war in Vietnam and the president's resignation. I am sure I am not alone in having this sense of deja vu (and those of you who follow the New York Times Magazine are reminded weekly of this connection to our past in Megan Kelso's "Watergate Sue"). It is all depressingly familiar. This morning I was reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in connection with a new book I am writing, and was forcefully reminded of how irrelevant the institutional church is in today's crisis. Our religious leaders have very little to say to us as the war drags on, as people are losing their homes and their lives, as so many suffer from the lack of compassion in our government: no, make that our own lack of compassion. The rich get richer and we just don't care very much as long as we get our share.

Last week I went to an Episcopal Church here in Portland and was shocked to read and hear in the written Prayers of the People a petition that for "patience with those who incite war." What? Is that all we have to say? It is oh so familiar. The congregation was large, wealthy, prominent. Being patient is easy when you have both money and power.

Read all of it here.

Funeral of a deacon and friar

Tobias Haller BSG writes today:

Yesterday I attended the long-delayed funeral for Brother Justus Van Houten SSF. Justus was a friar, a deacon, a tireless minister and advocate for those on the edge. The funeral was a powerfully moving liturgy in the best Franciscan sense -- simple and respectful. The burial of his ashes in the friary burial place was eloquent, as each of us there added a shovelful of soil to the small place where his ashes were poured moments before.

Brother Derek Ford SSF preached a moving homily about how some people, such as Brother Justus, will continue speaking long after they are dead. He touched so many lives. This vision of the unstoppable utterance of praise reminded me of a musical meditation I wrote years ago, and which I share with you here. The choir sings over and over a simple phrase, which recurs on different notes each time it is sung, but which is a constant message that is my poor effort musically to envision heaven: "What God is I know not but that God is Love I know."

Read it here, with pictures and music.

Fourth of July

Miman and I (aka Pépère) are off to Pensacola and beach for a few days, with mutt Curly. Our daughter Liz, her husband Chuck, and kids Izzy and Piers are going too, but in separate car, with Redbone coonhound Moonshadow. They will stop at a big fireworks place somewhere in Alabama. They own a condo on the beach, and we have one on the bay. You guess the rest.

UPDATE: We returned on Saturday. Chuck, the best chef in the family, cooked fish every night, and he and the kids shot off fireworks from the beach, along with hundreds of other pyromaniacs.

Athanasius of Jerusalem

5 July
Athanasius, deacon and martyr, killed at Jerusalem, 452.

Athanasius denounced Theodosius, a heretic who usurped the see of Jerusalem, formerly held by St Juvenal. Arrested for this act, Athanasius was beheaded.

I was hoping for R

Mingle² - Online Dating

Irenaeus, deacon and martyr

3 July
Irenaeus, deacon and martyr, with the noble lady Mustiola, killed at Clusium (later Chiusi) in Tuscany for giving aid to martyrs and burying their bodies, in the reign of Emperor Aurelian, 273.

Irenaeus was arrested for burying the martyred Felix of Sutri and was slain before Mustiola’s eyes. She was beaten to death with a club after spurning the advances of a local magistrate.

Transitional Cohabitation

On the Anglodeacons list we've been having our semi-annual chat about the transitional diaconate, a rite of passage which excites a lot of people, for and against, and which we're stuck with no matter what anyone thinks about it.

Why not be creative? If the church requires the diaconate before the priesthood, why doesn't it require trial marriage to another partner (lasting six months, of course) before real marriage? Let's call it the Transitional Cohabitation.

Transitional Cohabition would be required by canon law and the Book of Common Prayer, for both sexes, before permanent marriage. The temporary partner would have to be different from the permanent partner, and since marriage is permanent, one would remain married to the temporary partner for life, even while married to the permanent partner.

And yes (before anyone asks), this would be the deal also for same-sex unions.

All this to make our sacramental theology consistent.