Religious Practical Jokes

From expagan.com's humor page:

If you are an Evangelical / Fundamentalist Dispensationalist

Wake up earlier than your spouse. Be very quiet. Take your pajamas and put them in the bed in the exact same position as you were laying. Cover them back up. If you have children, wake them up and tell them to be very quiet. Put their pajamas back into the bed in a sleeping position.

Go out to breakfast, If you can, don't take the car.

The Joy of Latin Mnemonics

Just when you think they're gone with a former era, they come back.

Prepositions which take the ablative case:
SID P. SPACE - the Ablative Astronaut

Sine In De   Prae   Sub Pro Ab Cum Ex


Ablative Cheer - best done with pom-poms, preferably in school colors.

ab, cum, de
play, team, play
sine, pro
go, team, go
sub, ex, in
win, team, win.

The Difference between AB and AD:

in ad the round part of the d points toward the a in ab the round part of
the b points away from the a

The Seven Hills of Rome:

The Seven Hills of Rome: Can Queen Victoria Eat Cold Apple Pie?
Capitoline, Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Caelian, Aventine, Palatine

The Seven Kings of Rome:

Roman Noodles Toss And Turn, Save Them!
Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Marcius, Tarquinius
Priscus, Servius Tullius, Tarquinius Superbus

The Roman Month:

In March, July, October, May
The Ides are on the fifteenth day;
The Nones the seventh; but all besides
Have two days less for Nones and Ides.

Corpus Scriptorum Latinorum

Check out the Corpus Scriptorum Latinorum, a collaborative effort to assemble a digital library containing the entire corpus of Latin Literature.

The Corpus Scriptorum Latinorum (CSL) is a collaborative project among scholars from a variety of disciplines with the main purpose of creating a digital library of the entire body of Latin literature, spanning from the earliest epigraphic remains to the Neo-Latinists of the eighteenth century. As a first step toward this end, we maintain an up-to-date catalogue of all Latin texts that are currently available online, making CSL a single, centralized resource for locating Latin literature on the internet. If you can't find a text or translation through this site, odds are that it does not yet exist online.

It's part of Forum Romanum, one of my favorite Internet resources.

St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral

In my free time I love to visit churches around, and while there are many in Santa Barbara worth mentioning (and I will, eventually), the talk of Cathedrals has given me pause to reflect on one of my favorite churches down in Los Angeles - the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sophia. St. Sophia's is actually located in Koreatown, though at the time of its construction, it was primarily Greek. Notable parishioners included actor Telly Savalas among others, but it is quite remarkably one of the most beautful churches I have ever seen - worth a visit if you are ever in the area. Here are some pictures from the website to give you the idea:

Looking East toward the Holy Altar

The Holy Altar and Icon Screen, with Bishop's Throne on the far right and pulpit on the far left

But take my word for it - these pictures are nothing like the real thing. The website explains the architecture of the building, both inside and out. From the outside, the building is rather unassuming. You really aren't quite sure what to expect before you step inside and find your senses overwhelmed.

Voodoo still widely popular in Carribean nations

CNN.com - Voodoo pilgrimages draw thousands

New Latin Blog?

I had thought about this myself, but being a beginner, I knew I would've been in over my head. So it's even better that Fr. Jim Tucker and friends over at Dappled Things head such an effort! I would be a regular visitor!

Cardinal Arinze at the Cathedral, A Joy to be Catholic

Cardinal Francis Arinze, preceded by Cardinal Roger Mahony and Msgr. Paul Albee, processes toward the altar at the beginning of Mass July 20 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

Looks like Cardinal Arinze's mass at the new Cathedral in Los Angeles proceeded without a hitch:

More than 2,000 people, including immigrants and visitors from several African countries, attended the 3:30 p.m. Mass, concelebrated by Cardinal Roger Mahony and culminating weekend festivities commemorating the tenth anniversary of the Igbo (Nigerian) Catholic Community in Southern California.

In his opening remarks, Cardinal Arinze thanked Cardinal Mahony for welcoming the church of God "in its many colors" with "God's people" from many parts of Africa and around the world.

...He added, "The church teaches us the Ten Commandments, the church teaches us human rights, ...the rights of the family; justice and peace... harmony, living together as brothers and sisters."

The church also teaches the importance of being a good citizen, as well as standing up for the rights of the unborn, said Cardinal Arinze. "Nobody pretends that being a Christian is easy," he added.

At the same time, the cardinal reminded the assembly, "there is room for everybody in the church," which has "no reserved seats." He concluded his homily by saying, "It is a joy to be a Catholic."

The best part was this:

At the end of the liturgy, Cardinal Arinze announced that the Los Angeles Archdiocese would receive a gift of relics of Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi. The previous day, Cardinals Arinze and Mahony had participated in the dedication of the Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi Shrine at St. Cecilia Church in Los Angeles. Blessed Tansi, who was known for his work with the poor in Nigeria, was beatified in 1998 and, if canonized, will be the first West African saint.

Remember that Cardinal Arinze was himself baptized by Blessed Tansi in 1958. And let us not forget Cardinal Arinze's own comments about the Cathedral itself:

Cardinal Arinze --- as Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of Sacraments, the Vatican's top liturgy official --- publicly congratulated Cardinal Mahony for the extraordinary turnout of people for the day's event as well as for the new cathedral which he described as "really original."

He said the cathedral "delivers a message" that God is "transcendent." He prayed that visitors to the cathedral would be enlivened and quickened in faith.

You bet it's original! :)

This is a followup to my earlier blog about Cardinal Francis Arinze being in Los Angeles for a liturgy at the Cathedral and also a dedication of a chapel to Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi.

Back Again

Got back from Pittsburgh late Friday evening after a small delay in Phoenix. This trip was good though I wasn't able to see much of the city of Pittsburgh itself due to lack of time, but oh well. It's good to be back, and I've had enough flying around the country to last me a long while.

Yesterday Christina and I took a trip down to Pasadena to her cousin's first-year birthday, which was quite the party! Puppet show and everythng. On our way back to Santa Barbara, we stopped off at St. Andrew's Catholic Church in Pasadena, where members of her family are registered. A truly remarkable building, to say the least!

Clock Tower

High Altar

View of the Sanctuary

Side Chapel Altar

It's good to be back in Santa Barbara also for the annual celebration of La Fiesta and Old Spanish Days. It's one of the better cultural and historical events that Santa Barbara has to offer.