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Coachwork by Vanden Plas
Chassis n° LM1342
Registration n° F8689
Les Grandes Marques du Monde au Grand Palais
Bonhams
Estimated : € 650.000 - 850.000
Sold for € 701.500
Parijs - Paris
Frankrijk - France
February 2018
- One of 513 Speed Models built
- Rare original aluminium body
- Full matching numbers
- Exceptionally original
- Well documented history
- Restored by Graham Moss
- Pebble Beach 2015 Class Award
With characteristic humility 'W O' was constantly amazed by the enthusiasm of later generations for the products of Bentley Motors Limited, and it is testimony to the soundness of his engineering design skills that so many of his products have survived. From the humblest of beginnings in a mews garage off Baker Street, London in 1919 the Bentley rapidly achieved fame as an exciting fast touring car, well able to compete with the best of European and American sports cars in the tough world of motor sport in the 1920s. Bentley's domination at Le Mans in 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930 is legendary, and one can only admire the Herculean efforts of such giants as Woolf Barnato, Jack Dunfee, Tim Birkin and Sammy Davis, consistently wrestling the British Racing Green sports cars to victory.
W O Bentley proudly unveiled the new 3-litre car bearing his name on Stand 126 at the 1919 Olympia Motor Exhibition, the prototype engine having fired up for the first time just a few weeks earlier. Bentley's four-cylinder 'fixed head' engine incorporated a single overhead camshaft, four-valves per cylinder and a bore/stroke of 80x149mm. Twin ML magnetos provided the ignition and power was transmitted via a four-speed gearbox with right-hand change. The pressed-steel chassis started off with a wheelbase of 9' 9½" (the 'short standard') then adopted dimensions of 10' 10" ('standard long') in 1923, the shorter frame being reserved for the TT Replica and subsequent Speed Model. Rear wheel brakes only were employed up to 1924 when four-wheel Perrot-type brakes were introduced.
In only mildly developed form, this was the model that was to become a legend in motor racing history and which, with its leather-strapped bonnet, classical radiator design and British Racing Green livery, has become the archetypal Vintage sports car.
Early success in the 1922 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, when Bentleys finished second, fourth, and fifth to take the Team Prize, led to the introduction of the TT Replica (later known as the Speed Model) on the existing 9' 9½" wheelbase, short standard chassis. Identified by the Red Label on its radiator, the Speed Model differed by having twin SU 'sloper' carburettors, a higher compression ratio, different camshaft and the close-ratio A-type gearbox, the latter being standard equipment prior to 1927 when the C-type 'box was adopted. These engine changes increased maximum power from the standard 70 to 80bhp and raised top speed to an impressive 90mph. Other enhancements included the larger (11-gallon) fuel tank and (usually) André Hartford shock absorbers. Bentley made 1,613 3-Litre models, the majority of which was bodied by Vanden Plas with either open tourer or saloon coachwork, 513 of which were to Speed Model specification.
Vanden Plas had been founded in Belgium in the 19th Century, gaining a British offshoot when Warwick Wright obtained the UK rights to the name in 1913. After an uncertain start and numerous changes of ownership, the British firm went on to forge its not inconsiderable reputation by a most fortuitous alliance with Bentley, bodying some 700-or-so of the latter's chassis during the 1920s, including the Le Mans team cars.
A 1927-specification Speed Model on the 9' 9½" wheelbase chassis, 'LM1342' is a late example and thus represents the best and most sought-after 3-Litre variant, having the 'big sump' engine with its stronger crankshaft, two-bolt direct-metal con-rods, and Duralumin rockers in separate boxes. Numbered 'LM1348SS', the engine is original to the chassis and would have been built with the Speed Model's high-compression pistons, BM1800 camshaft, and drilled valve caps. When new, these 'SS' engines were said to produce around 86bhp.
'LM1342' was bodied by Vanden Plas with its standard open four-seater sports coachwork (body number '1306', still fitted). This particular body is unusual in being panelled in aluminium (most were fabric-covered), and has an unusually low windscreen (around 1" shorter than normal) giving it more pleasing proportions. The car was ordered new by Gilbert & Sons Ltd of Pelham Street, Lincoln, and given a Lincolnshire registration, 'FE 8689', which it carries to this day. Subsequent owners listed in the Service Record are A C Scott (1928), A Staveley Hill (1929), Major G E L Pardington (1930), and J Shakespeare (1936). The Service Record is continuous through to December 1936, with only minor works carried out (no replacement of major components or accident repairs).
Correspondence on file indicates that by 1945 the Bentley was owned by a Captain M E Webbe, while an old-style continuation logbook lists two subsequent owners: Thomas Walker (from June 1946) and Frank Wood, who purchased the Bentley in January 1967 from a local farmer who wanted to buy a new Ford. There is a charming photograph in the file depicting Mr Wood's two daughters sitting in the car. After Frank Wood's passing, the family offered the Bentley for sale at a UK auction in March 2012 where it was purchased by the present owner.
The Bentley was then despatched to renowned marque specialist Graham Moss for total restoration with no expense spared. Examination revealed the 3-Litre to be exceptionally original - unlike so many of its ilk - retaining the original Supersports engine, A-type gearbox, front axle, steering box, differential casing, the correct number, 'LM1342', being found stamped on all of these components. Graham went to extraordinary lengths to maintain authenticity, even going so far as to reproduce the lead seals for the steering box, magneto turret, and crankcase; these were routinely fitted by Bentley Motors and removing them would void the guarantee.
As the car had been re-upholstered, the owner researched the original colour scheme and leatherwork, enabling the original manufacturer – Connolly – to reproduce the correct material. Many more such instances of this admirably fastidious approach are detailed in the vendor's wonderful illustrated book documenting the history and restoration of 'LM1342'. The car also comes with a copy of Bentley authority Dr Clare Hay's typically thorough - and very favourable - illustrated report on its specification, originality, and 'as purchased' condition, concluding: 'Overall this is a very original chassis with few minor changes from new, with all its original numbered parts and with its original Vanden Plas sports four-seater body'. Perusal of both is highly recommended.
In addition, the car comes with an original owner's instruction manual, a selection of accessory manuals, and a full set of genuine 3-Litre tools. There is also a letter from the first owner, and even a (replica) list of 'Don'ts', which would be hung on the starter switch to help new Bentley owners care for their cars correctly!
The extensive restoration works, carried out over a period of three years, are detailed by Graham's bills totalling some £475,000, while a further £25,000 was spent on obtaining correct parts such as the lights, correct magnetos, etc. Since completion, 'FE 8689' has covered around 2,000 miles and is fully sorted, having recently been serviced by Graham Moss.
Nobody seeing this magnificent Bentley today would question that the cost of its restoration was money well spent. Indeed, if proof were needed, in 2015 'LM1342' received a richly deserved 2nd-in-class award at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d'Élégance. There can be no better way to enjoy the many celebrations planned for Bentley's 100th anniversary in 2019.
The Burgtheater at Dr.-Karl -Lueger-Ring (from now on, Universitätsring) in Vienna is an Austrian Federal Theatre. It is one of the most important stages in Europe and after the Comédie-Française, the second oldest European one, as well as the greatest German speaking theater. The original 'old' Burgtheater at Saint Michael's square was utilized from 1748 until the opening of the new building at the ring in October, 1888. The new house in 1945 burnt down completely as a result of bomb attacks, until the re-opening on 14 October 1955 was the Ronacher serving as temporary quarters. The Burgtheater is considered as Austrian National Theatre.
Throughout its history, the theater was bearing different names, first Imperial-Royal Theater next to the Castle, then to 1918 Imperial-Royal Court-Burgtheater and since then Burgtheater (Castle Theater). Especially in Vienna it is often referred to as "The Castle (Die Burg)", the ensemble members are known as Castle actors (Burgschauspieler).
History
St. Michael's Square with the old K.K. Theatre beside the castle (right) and the Winter Riding School of the Hofburg (left)
The interior of the Old Burgtheater, painted by Gustav Klimt. The people are represented in such detail that the identification is possible.
The 'old' Burgtheater at St. Michael's Square
The original castle theater was set up in a ball house that was built in the lower pleasure gardens of the Imperial Palace of the Roman-German King and later Emperor Ferdinand I in 1540, after the old house 1525 fell victim to a fire. Until the beginning of the 18th Century was played there the Jeu de Paume, a precursor of tennis. On 14 March 1741 finally gave the Empress Maria Theresa, ruling after the death of her father, which had ordered a general suspension of the theater, the "Entrepreneur of the Royal Court Opera" and lessees of 1708 built theater at Kärntnertor (Carinthian gate), Joseph Karl Selliers, permission to change the ballroom into a theater. Simultaneously, a new ball house was built in the immediate vicinity, which todays Ballhausplatz is bearing its name.
In 1748, the newly designed "theater next to the castle" was opened. 1756 major renovations were made, inter alia, a new rear wall was built. The Auditorium of the Old Burgtheater was still a solid timber construction and took about 1200 guests. The imperial family could reach her royal box directly from the imperial quarters, the Burgtheater structurally being connected with them. At the old venue at Saint Michael's place were, inter alia, several works of Christoph Willibald Gluck, Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as well as Franz Grillparzer premiered .
On 17 February 1776, Emperor Joseph II declared the theater to the German National Theatre (Teutsches Nationaltheater). It was he who ordered by decree that the stage plays should not deal with sad events for not bring the Imperial audience in a bad mood. Many theater plays for this reason had to be changed and provided with a Vienna Final (Happy End), such as Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet. From 1794 on, the theater was bearing the name K.K. Court Theatre next to the castle.
1798 the poet August von Kotzebue was appointed as head of the Burgtheater, but after discussions with the actors he left Vienna in 1799. Under German director Joseph Schreyvogel was introduced German instead of French and Italian as a new stage language.
On 12 October 1888 took place the last performance in the old house. The Burgtheater ensemble moved to the new venue at the Ring. The Old Burgtheater had to give way to the completion of Saint Michael's tract of Hofburg. The plans to this end had been drawn almost 200 years before the demolition of the old Burgtheater by Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach.
The "new" K.K. Court Theatre (as the inscription reads today) at the Ring opposite the Town Hall, opened on 14 October 1888 with Grillparzer's Esther and Schiller's Wallenstein's Camp, was designed in neo-Baroque style by Gottfried Semper (plan) and Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer (facade), who had already designed the Imperial Forum in Vienna together. Construction began on 16 December 1874 and followed through 14 years, in which the architects quarreled. Already in 1876 Semper withdrew due to health problems to Rome and had Hasenauer realized his ideas alone, who in the dispute of the architects stood up for a mainly splendid designed grand lodges theater.
However, created the famous Viennese painter Gustav Klimt and his brother Ernst Klimt and Franz Matsch 1886-1888 the ceiling paintings in the two stairwells of the new theater. The three took over this task after similar commissioned work in the city theaters of Fiume and Karlovy Vary and in the Bucharest National Theatre. In the grand staircase on the side facing the café Landtmann of the Burgtheater (Archduke stairs) reproduced Gustav Klimt the artists of the ancient theater in Taormina on Sicily, in the stairwell on the "People's Garden"-side (Kaiserstiege, because it was reserved for the emperor) the London Globe Theatre and the final scene from William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". Above the entrance to the auditorium is Molière's The Imaginary Invalid to discover. In the background the painter immortalized himself in the company of his two colleagues. Emperor Franz Joseph I liked the ceiling paintings so much that he gave the members of the company of artists of Klimt the Golden Cross of Merit.
The new building resembles externally the Dresden Semper Opera, but even more, due to the for the two theaters absolutely atypical cross wing with the ceremonial stairs, Semper's Munich project from the years 1865/1866 for a Richard Wagner Festspielhaus above the Isar. Above the middle section there is a loggia, which is framed by two side wings, and is divided from a stage house with a gable roof and auditorium with a tent roof. Above the center house there decorates a statue of Apollo the facade, throning between the Muses of drama and tragedy. Above the main entrances are located friezes with Bacchus and Ariadne. At the exterior facade round about, portrait busts of the poets Calderon, Shakespeare, Moliere, Schiller, Goethe, Lessing, Halm, Grillparzer, and Hebbel can be seen. The masks which also can be seen here are indicating the ancient theater, furthermore adorn allegorical representations the side wings: love, hate, humility, lust, selfishness, and heroism. Although the theater since 1919 is bearing the name of Burgtheater, the old inscription KK Hofburgtheater over the main entrance still exists. Some pictures of the old gallery of portraits have been hung up in the new building and can be seen still today - but these images were originally smaller, they had to be "extended" to make them work better in high space. The points of these "supplements" are visible as fine lines on the canvas.
The Burgtheater was initially well received by Viennese people due to its magnificent appearance and technical innovations such as electric lighting, but soon criticism because of the poor acoustics was increasing. Finally, in 1897 the auditorium was rebuilt to reduce the acoustic problems. The new theater was an important meeting place of social life and soon it was situated among the "sanctuaries" of Viennese people. In November 1918, the supervision over the theater was transferred from the High Steward of the emperor to the new state of German Austria.
1922/1923 the Academy Theatre was opened as a chamber play stage of the Burgtheater. On 8th May 1925, the Burgtheater went into Austria's criminal history, as here Mentscha Karnitschewa perpetrated a revolver assassination on Todor Panitza.
The Burgtheater in time of National Socialism
The National Socialist ideas also left traces in the history of the Burgtheater. In 1939 appeared in Adolf Luser Verlag the strongly anti-Semitic characterized book of theater scientist Heinz Kindermann "The Burgtheater. Heritage and mission of a national theater", in which he, among other things, analyzed the "Jewish influence "on the Burgtheater. On 14 October 1938 was on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Burgtheater a Don Carlos production of Karl-Heinz Stroux shown that served Hitler's ideology. The role of the Marquis of Posa played the same Ewald Balser, who in a different Don Carlos production a year earlier (by Heinz Hilpert) at the Deutsches Theater in the same role with the sentence in direction of Joseph Goebbels box vociferated: "just give freedom of thought". The actor and director Lothar Müthel, who was director of the Burgtheater between 1939 and 1945, staged 1943 the Merchant of Venice, in which Werner Kraus the Jew Shylock clearly anti-Semitic represented. The same director staged after the war Lessing's parable Nathan the Wise. Adolf Hitler himself visited during the Nazi regime the Burgtheater only once (1938), and later he refused in pure fear of an assassination.
For actors and theater staff who were classified according to the Reich Citizenship Law of 1935 as "Jews ", were quickly imposed stage bans, within a few days, they were on leave, fired or arrested. The Burgtheater ensemble between 1938 and 1945 did not put up significant resistance against the Nazi ideology, the repertoire was heavily censored, only a few joined the Resistance, as Judith Holzmeister (then also at the People's Theatre engaged) or the actor Fritz Lehmann. Although Jewish members of the ensemble indeed have been helped to emigrate, was still an actor, Fritz Strassny, taken to a concentration camp and murdered there.
The Burgtheater at the end of the war and after the Second World War
In summer 1944, the Burgtheater had to be closed because of the decreed general theater suspension. From 1 April 1945, as the Red Army approached Vienna, camped a military unit in the house, a portion was used as an arsenal. In a bomb attack the house at the Ring was damaged and burned down on 12th April 1945 completely. Auditorium and stage were useless, only the steel structure remained. The ceiling paintings and part of the lobby were almost undamaged.
The Soviet occupying power expected from Viennese City Councillor Viktor Matejka to launch Vienna's cultural life as soon as possible again. The council summoned on 23 April (a state government did not yet exist) a meeting of all Viennese cultural workers into the Town Hall. Result of the discussions was that in late April 1945 eight cinemas and four theaters took up the operation again, including the Burgtheater. The house took over the Ronacher Theater, which was understood by many castle actors as "exile" as a temporary home (and remained there to 1955). This venue chose the newly appointed director Raoul Aslan, who championed particularly active.
The first performance after the Second World War was on 30 April 1945 Sappho by Franz Grillparzer directed by Adolf Rott from 1943 with Maria Eis in the title role. Also other productions from the Nazi era were resumed. With Paul Hoerbiger, a few days ago as Nazi prisoner still in mortal danger, was shown the play of Nestroy Mädl (Girlie) from the suburbs. The Academy Theatre could be played (the first performance was on 19 April 1945 Hedda Gabler, a production of Rott from the year 1941) and also in the ball room (Redoutensaal) at the Imperial Palace took place performances. Aslan the Ronacher in the summer had rebuilt because the stage was too small for classical performances. On 25 September 1945, Schiller's Maid of Orleans could be played on the enlarged stage.
The first new productions are associated with the name of Lothar Müthel: Everyone and Nathan the Wise, in both Raoul Aslan played the main role. The staging of The Merchant of Venice by Müthel in Nazi times seemed to have been fallen into oblivion.
Great pleasure gave the public the return of the in 1938 from the ensemble expelled Else Wohlgemuth on stage. She performaed after seven years in exile in December 1945 in Clare Biharys The other mother in the Academy Theater. 1951 opened the Burgtheater its doors for the first time, but only the left wing, where the celebrations on the 175th anniversary of the theater took place.
1948, a competition for the reconstruction was tendered: Josef Gielen, who was then director, first tended to support the design of ex aequo-ranked Otto Niedermoser, according to which the house was to be rebuilt into a modern gallery theater. Finally, he agreed but then for the project by Michael Engelhardt, whose plan was conservative but also cost effective. The character of the lodges theater was largely taken into account and maintained, the central royal box but has been replaced by two balconies, and with a new slanted ceiling construction in the audience was the acoustics, the shortcoming of the house, improved significantly.
On 14 October 1955 was happening under Adolf Rott the reopening of the restored house at the Ring. For this occasion Mozart's A Little Night Music was played. On 15 and on 16 October it was followed by the first performance (for reasons of space as a double premiere) in the restored theater: King Ottokar's Fortune and End of Franz Grillparzer, staged by Adolf Rott. A few months after the signing of the Austrian State Treaty was the choice of this play, which the beginning of Habsburg rule in Austria makes a subject of discussion and Ottokar of Horneck's eulogy on Austria (... it's a good country / Well worth that a prince bow to it! / where have you yet seen the same?... ) contains highly symbolic. Rott and under his successors Ernst Haeusserman and Gerhard Klingenberg the classic Burgtheater style and the Burgtheater German for German theaters were finally pointing the way .
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Burgtheater participated (with other well-known theaters in Vienna) on the so-called Brecht boycott.
Gerhard Klingenberg internationalized the Burgtheater, he invited renowned stage directors such as Dieter Dorn, Peter Hall, Luca Ronconi, Giorgio Strehler, Roberto Guicciardini and Otomar Krejča. Klingenberg also enabled the castle debuts of Claus Peymann and Thomas Bernhard (1974 world premiere of The Hunting Party). Bernhard was as a successor of Klingenberg mentioned, but eventually was appointed Achim Benning, whereupon the writer with the text "The theatrical shack on the ring (how I should become the director of the Burgtheater)" answered.
Benning, the first ensemble representative of the Burgtheater which was appointed director, continued Klingenberg's way of Europeanization by other means, brought directors such as Adolf Dresen, Manfred Wekwerth or Thomas Langhoff to Vienna, looked with performances of plays of Vaclav Havel to the then politically separated East and took the the public taste more into consideration.
Directorate Claus Peymann 1986-1999
Under the by short-term Minister of Education Helmut Zilk brought to Vienna Claus Peymann, director from 1986 to 1999, there was further modernization of the programme and staging styles. Moreover Peymann was never at a loss for critical contributions in the public, a hitherto unusual attitude for Burgtheater directors. Therefore, he and his program within sections of the audience met with rejection. The greatest theater scandal in Vienna since 1945 occurred in 1988 concerning the premiere of Thomas Bernhard's Heldenplatz (Place of the Heroes) drama which was fiercly fought by conservative politicians and zealots. The play deals with the Vergangenheitsbewältigung (process of coming to terms with the past) and illuminates the present management in Austria - with attacks on the then ruling Social Democratic Party - critically. Together with Claus Peymann Bernhard after the premiere dared to face on the stage applause and boos.
Bernard, to his home country bound in love-hate relationship, prohibited the performance of his plays in Austria before his death in 1989 by will. Peymann, to Bernhard bound in a difficult friendship (see Bernhard's play Claus Peymann buys a pair of pants and goes eating with me) feared harm for the author's work, should his plays precisely in his homeland not being shown. First, it was through permission of the executor Peter Fabjan - Bernhard's half-brother - after all, possible the already in the schedule of the Burgtheater included productions to continue. Finally, shortly before the tenth anniversary of the death of Bernard it came to the revival of the Bernhard play Before retirement by the first performance director Peymann. The plays by Bernhard are since then continued on the programme of the Burgtheater and they are regularly newly produced.
In 1993, the rehearsal stage of the Castle theater was opened in the arsenal (architect Gustav Peichl). Since 1999, the Burgtheater has the operation form of a limited corporation.
Directorate Klaus Bachler 1999-2009
Peymann was followed in 1999 by Klaus Bachler as director. He is a trained actor, but was mostly as a cultural manager (director of the Vienna Festival) active. Bachler moved the theater as a cultural event in the foreground and he engaged for this purpose directors such as Luc Bondy, Andrea Breth, Peter Zadek and Martin Kušej.
Were among the unusual "events" of the directorate Bachler
* The Theatre of Orgies and Mysteries by Hermann Nitsch with the performance of 122 Action (2005 )
* The recording of the MTV Unplugged concert with Die Toten Hosen for the music channel MTV (2005, under the title available)
* John Irving's reading from his book at the Burgtheater Until I find you (2006)
* The 431 animatographische (animatographical) Expedition by Christoph Schlingensief and a big event of him under the title of Area 7 - Matthew Sadochrist - An expedition by Christoph Schlingensief (2006).
* Daniel Hoevels cut in Schiller's Mary Stuart accidentally his throat (December 2008). Outpatient care is enough.
Jubilee Year 2005
In October 2005, the Burgtheater celebrated the 50th Anniversary of its reopening with a gala evening and the performance of Grillparzer's King Ottokar's Fortune and End, directed by Martin Kušej that had been performed in August 2005 at the Salzburg Festival as a great success. Michael Maertens (in the role of Rudolf of Habsburg) received the Nestroy Theatre Award for Best Actor for his role in this play. Actor Tobias Moretti was awarded in 2006 for this role with the Gertrude Eysoldt Ring.
Furthermore, there were on 16th October 2005 the open day on which the 82-minute film "burg/private. 82 miniatures" of Sepp Dreissinger was shown for the first time. The film contains one-minute film "Stand portraits" of Castle actors and guest actors who, without saying a word, try to present themselves with a as natural as possible facial expression. Klaus Dermutz wrote a work on the history of the Burgtheater. As a motto of this season served a quotation from Lessing's Minna von Barnhelm: "It's so sad to be happy alone."
The Burgtheater on the Mozart Year 2006
Also the Mozart Year 2006 was at the Burgtheater was remembered. As Mozart's Singspiel Die Entführung aus dem Serail in 1782 in the courtyard of Castle Theatre was premiered came in cooperation with the Vienna State Opera on the occasion of the Vienna Festival in May 2006 a new production (directed by Karin Beier) of this opera on stage.
Directorate Matthias Hartmann since 2009
From September 2009 to 2014, Matthias Hartmann was Artistic Director of the Burgtheater. A native of Osnabrück, he directed the stage houses of Bochum and Zurich. With his directors like Alvis Hermanis, Roland Schimmelpfennig, David Bösch, Stefan Bachmann, Stefan Pucher, Michael Thalheimer, came actresses like Dorte Lyssweski, Katharina Lorenz, Sarah Viktoria Frick, Mavie Hoerbiger, Lucas Gregorowicz and Martin Wuttke came permanently to the Burg. Matthias Hartmann himself staged around three premieres per season, about once a year, he staged at the major opera houses. For more internationality and "cross-over", he won the Belgian artist Jan Lauwers and his Need Company as "Artists in Residence" for the Castle, the New York group Nature Theater of Oklahoma show their great episode drama Live and Times of an annual continuation. For the new look - the Burgtheater presents itself without a solid logo with word games around the BURG - the Burgtheater in 2011 was awarded the Cultural Brand of the Year .
Since 2014, Karin Bergmann is the commander in chief.
www.fisheaters.com/15prayersofstbridget.html
The LORD of PARDON Devotion
RECEPTION PRAYER TO THE LORD OF PARDON [i]
The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father, and of The Son and of The Holy Ghost. Amen.
1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi [ii]
ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.
2. Welcome Prayer [iii]
O LORD, OUR GOD, our All, we welcome You into our humble dwelling. We thank You, we honor You and we praise You for Your Infinite humility; because You have deigned to bless our earthly dwelling with Your Divine and Majestic Presence, though we are full of unworthiness and our humble dwelling is inadequate for Your glory.
BLESS OUR family and our home, O Lord, that we may be worthy of Your Love and Your Divine Presence. May our home be a true nest of Your Divine Love not only for the next seven days of Your visit but for the rest of our pilgrimage on this earth. Grant that we may make Your stay in our home very pleasurable.
LORD, WE are Yours and we humbly pray that You will take care of us as Your true possession, now and forever. Amen.
3. Prayer for All of Humanity (From the Beginning to the End of the World) [iv]
O THOU MOST BELOVED, Most Merciful Lord Jesus Christ, into Thy Holy Almighty Hands we commend ourselves for all eternity, as well as in the Heart of the Most High God of the Eternal Trinity! We take refuge in the deep Wounds of Thy Most Holy Body. May Thy Most Holy Body nourish us, Thy Most Precious shed Blood, Fear and Suffering purify us of all our sins and vices! Oh, Our Dear Lord God, we humbly offer Thy Great Fear and Need to Thy Heavenly Father in expiation for all our sins and debts! May the terrible blows Thou didst endure plead for us! May Thy most painful scourging cover our great guilt! We offer All Thine injustices, deep wounds, great pains and sighs to Thy Heavenly Father for all our neglects. May Thy Great Love, Oh Dearest Jesus, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice and with Thee! Oh, Most Merciful Jesus, may Thy Faultless Judgment be for us the forgiveness of all our sins, known and unknown; may Thy Holy Footsteps in so much Misery lead and guide us in the way of Thy Divine Justice; may Thy Shameful Denuding make us pure in body and sanctify our souls! May Thy Bitter Agony, Thy Holy Wounds shield us from our visible and invisible enemies! May Thy Pierced Hands and Feet lead us to All Good. Oh Dearest Lord, place us and hide us in Thy Five Most Holy Wounds! Forget not our poor souls for which Thou didst so agonizingly trembled on the stem of the Holy Cross! For the sake of all the Martyrdom Thou didst suffer, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice! May Thy Most Holy and Bitter Death protect us, and lead us to Eternal Salvation! May Thy Most Blessed Power and Divine Omnipotence drive away and keep away from us every evil of body and soul! May Thy Most Holy Wounds, Dearest Jesus, bless and protect us in our death agony from all power of the infernal enemy! At the hour of our death, may Thy Most Precious Blood erase all our sins before our Beloved Heavenly Father, and let die in us all inclination to sin! May Thy Most Precious Blood lead us to all Angels and Saints! We commend and place all our suffering friends and enemies and all deceased persons to and into Thy most Loyal Redeemer’s Heart! Oh, Dearest Jesus, give to us all Thine Infinite Merits, the Power and the Blessing of Thy Most Bitter Passion and Death! Oh, Eternal Divinity, Oh, True Humanity of Jesus, Oh, Most Blessed Trinity, protect us now, according to Thy Divine desire and forever! Oh, Almighty and Immortal God, have mercy on us all! Amen. (It is highly recommended that this prayer be kept in one’s home and said daily.)
4. The ‘Constant’ Prayer of St. Catherine of Siena [v]
Precious Blood, Ocean of Divine Mercy: Flow upon us!
Precious Blood, Most Pure Offering: Procure Us Every Grace!
Precious Blood, Hope and Refuge of Sinners: Atone for Us!
Precious Blood, Delight of Holy Souls: Draw Us! Amen.
5. An Offering of The Holy Wounds and The Precious Blood [vi]
ETERNAL FATHER, we offer You the Holy Wounds of Your Son, and His Precious Blood, for the conversion of sinners and for the relief of the souls in Purgatory.
ETERNAL FATHER, we offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ in atonement for our sins, and in supplication for the souls in Purgatory and for the needs of the Holy Church. – The Raccolta
6. Invocations
O God the Father, Omnipotent and Merciful Creator, Who has so much love and mercy for such miserable creatures like us; Have mercy on us, save us from hell, and protect us from all evil. (3X)
O Jesus Christ, The Lord of Pardon, Have mercy on us and forgive us our sins. (3X)
O Most Precious Blood of Jesus, Save and protect us from all that is evil. (3X)
O Holy Ghost, Paraclete and Comforter of All Mankind, Have Mercy on Us (3X)
Immaculate Hear of Mary, Pray for us, now and at the hour of our
death. Amen.
O Mary, Mother of Sorrows, Pray for Us
O Mother of the Sorrowful Heart, Pray for Us.
Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for Us
O Mary, Conceived without sin, Pray for Us who have recourse to Thee.
Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Pray for Us
Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for Us
Today/Tonight, we protect ourselves with the shield of the Imma-culate Conception!
THE SEVEN-DAY DEVOTION TO THE LORD OF PARDON
OPENING PRAYERS FOR EACH DAY
The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father +, and of The Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi
ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.
2. Come, Holy Ghost
COME HOLY GHOST, fill the hearts of Thy faithful
And kindle in them the fire of Thy Divine Love.
V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created,
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
Let Us Pray
O GOD, Who has taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Ghost, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may always be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. Grant this through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
(The following hymn may be sung in place of the above prayer.)
VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS
Come Holy Ghost, Creator blest O, Comforter, to Thee we cry
And in our hearts take up Thy Rest Thou heavenly gift of God, Most High
Come with Thy grace, and heavenly aid O Fount of Life and Fire of Love
To fill our hearts which Thou has made And Sweet Anointing from above
To fill our hearts which Thou has made. And Sweet Anointing from above.
3. Divine Will Prayer [1]
THROUGH THE Immaculate Heart of Mary, I enter today/tonight into the Holy Will of God and pray – Come Divine will to pray in my prayer, in my name (and the name of those whom we pray for daily) and the name of all souls, for the love, honor and (greater) glory of God, Our Father, in reparation for all sins and for the salvation of souls. Amen.
4. To Obtain Love of Prayer [2]
O, LORD JESUS CHRIST, for the sake of Thy sufferings, grant to us, (and to all those whom we pray for daily,) such faith, hope, charity, sorrow for sins and love of prayer, that will help sanctify and save our souls.
5. To Learn the Science of Salvation [3]
JESUS, EXTEND to us in the light, in Thine infinite knowledge, the power through the light, to understand the task that lies ahead for all of us, who wish to be saved. Amen.
6. Act of Contrition
O MY GOD, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee. And I confess all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. But most all, because I love Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.
7. Daily Prayer [4]
O GOD, Who for the redemption of the world didst vouchsafe to be born among men, rejected by the Jews, betrayed with a kiss by the traitor Judas, bound with cords, to be led as an innocent lamb to the slaughter, to be treated with indignity, accused by false witnesses, afflicted with scourges and reproaches, to be spit upon, crowned with thorns, beaten with blows, struck with a reed, to have Your face veiled, to be stripped of Your garments, to be nailed to the cross and raised high thereon, to be ranked among thieves, to be offered gall and vinegar to drink, and to be pierced with a lance.
O LORD, by these Your most holy pains, which I, though unworthy, now call to mind, and by Your Holy cross
and death, deliver us from the pains of hell and take us where You took the good thief who was crucified with You, Who with The Father and The Holy Ghost, livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.
8. Hymns
O SACRED HEART
O Sacred Heart! O Love Divine! Ref: Heart of Jesus, Hear!
Do keep us near to Thee. O Heart of Love Divine!
And make our hearts so like to Thine Listen to Our Prayer!
That we may holy be Make us always Thine.
HAIL MARY
Hail! Mary, Full of Grace! Holy Mary, Mother of God,
The Lord is with Thee! Pray for us, sinners,
Blessed art Thou amongst women! Now, and at the hour --
And blessed is the Fruit Of Thy Womb, Jesus! Of our death. Amen.
9. Prayers before The Rosary
THE LAST VISION OF FATIMA PRAYER [5]
O Queen of the most holy rosary, Thou hast deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three shepherd children the treasures of grace hidden in the rosary. Inspire our hearts with a sincere love for this devotion, that by meditating upon the mysteries of our redemption which are recalled in it, we may be enriched. With its fruits, obtain peace for the world, the conversion of sinners and of Russia, (the remission of the temporal punishment of the poor souls in Purgatory, the triumph of Your Son’s church over the gates of hell) and the favor which we ask of you in this rosary. (MAKE YOUR REQUEST.) We ask it for the greater glory of God, for your own honor, and for the good of souls, including our own. Amen.
ST. LOUIS DE MONFORT’S PRAYER [6]
WE UNITE ourselves with all the Saints in heaven, and with all the just on earth; we unite ourselves with Thee, Our Jesus, in order to praise Your holy Mother worthily and to praise You in her and by her. We renounce all the distractions that may have during this rosary which we wish to say with modesty, attention and devotion just as if it were to be the last one of our lives. Amen.
WE OFFER to Thee, O Most Holy Trinity this creed – in honor of the mysteries of our faith; this Our Father and these three Hail Marys – in honor of the Unity of Thy Essence and the Trinity of Thy Persons.
WE ASK of Thee a lively faith, a firm hope and an ardent charity. Amen.
10. The Proper of The Most Holy Rosary
THE APOSTLE’S CREED
I BELIEVE in God, the Father the Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ His Only Son, Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell, the third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God, The Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in The Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.
THE PATER
Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.
THE AVE
HAIL MARY! Full of grace! The Lord is with Thee! Blessed art Thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus! Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.
THE GLORIA
GLORY BE to The Father, and to The Son and to The Holy Ghost! As it was in the beginning, now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
THE ANGEL of FATIMA PRAYER *
MY GOD, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee, and I beg pardon for all those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust and do not love Thee.
O MY JESUS, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls into heaven, especially those who most need of Thy mercy.
PEACE PRAYER
O MOST SWEET Heart of Jesus, lead us unto salvation. Grant peace to the entire world, specially the United States/Philippines/(Name Your Country). Bring back to You all sinners and grant that they may find the path that leads to you.
IMMACULATE HEART INVOCATION *
O BLESSED VIRGIN Mother protect us with your most Immaculate Heart. Amen.
PRAYER of POPE LEO XIII *
St. MICHAEL, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
THE MYSTERIES of THE HOLY ROSARY
The Joyful Mysteries (Monday and Thursday)
1. THE ANNUNCIATION (by the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary of her selection by
The Blessed Trinity as the Mother of the forthcoming Messiah)
2. THE VISITATION (of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth)
3. THE BIRTH of Our Lord Jesus (in the small town of Bethlehem)
4. THE PRESENTATION of Our Lord Jesus (in the temple)
5. THE FINDING of the Child Jesus (in the Temple, three days after He was found missing)
The Sorrowful Mysteries (Tuesday and Friday)
1. THE AGONY of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane
2. THE SCOURGING of Our Lord Jesus Christ at the Pillar
3. THE CROWNING of Our Lord Jesus Christ with the Crown of Thorns
4. THE CARRYING of the Cross by Our Lord Jesus Christ to Calvary
5. THE CRUCIFIXION and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross
The Glorious mysteries (Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday)
1. THE RESURRECTION of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead (on the third day after His
burial)
2. THE ASCENSION of Our Lord Jesus Christ (into Heaven, forty days after His resurrection)
3. THE DESCENT of The Holy Ghost (upon Our Blessed Mother and the Apostles on the 50th day
after The Ascension of Jesus)
4. THE ASSUMPTION of Our Blessed Mother (into Heaven, body and soul)
5. THE CORONATION of the Blessed Virgin Mary (as the Queen of Heaven and all of Creation)
HAIL! HOLY QUEEN!
HAIL! HOLY QUEEN! Mother of mercy, hail our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To Thee do we send up our sigh, mourning, and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then O Most Gracious Advocate, Thine eyes of mercy towards us and after this our exile, show unto us, the Blessed Fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet, Virgin Mary.
V. Pray for us O Holy Mother of God,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let Us Pray O GOD, Whose Only Begotten Son, by His Life, Death and Resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life. Grant, we beseech Thee, that by meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.
V. May the Divine Assistance remain always with us, +
R. And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
11. Prayers After The Rosary
LITANY OF THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD
Lord, have mercy on us, Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us!
Christ, hear us, Christ graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.
Blood of Christ, Only Begotten Son of The Eternal Father, Save us.
Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God,
Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament,
Blood of Christ, first shed in the Presentation at the temple,
Blood of Christ, falling upon the Earth in Agony in the garden of Olives,
Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging at the pillar,
Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with thorns,
Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross,
Blood of Christ, the price of our Salvation,
Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness,
Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and Refreshment of souls,
Blood of Christ, stream of mercy,
Blood of Christ, victor over demons,
Blood of Christ, courage of martyrs,
Blood of Christ, strength of confessors,
Blood of Christ, bringing forth virgins,
Blood of Christ, help of those in peril,
Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened,
Blood of Christ, solace of the sorrowful,
Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent,
Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying,
Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts,
Blood of Christ, the pledge of Eternal Life,
Blood of Christ, freeing souls from Purgatory,
Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor,
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us
V. You have redeemed us, O Lord, by Your Precious Blood,
R. And made us, for Our God, a kingdom.
Let Us Pray
OMNIPOTENT and Eternal God, You have chosen Your Only Begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world and You have been appeased by the shedding of His Most Precious Blood. Grant, we humbly pray, that we may always cherish the value of our redemption and forget not the grief You and our Blessed Virgin Mother have to bear in the suffering and death of Your Dearly Beloved Son. Through His Precious Blood and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may we be delivered from all evil in this world that we may enjoy the fruits of our redemption in Your kingdom for all eternity. Amen.
FIRST DAY
“FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.” (Luke 23:34)
1. Meditation (Read pages 10 to 16 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Turn to page 1)
3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
SECOND DAY
“AMEN, I SAY TO YOU, THIS DAY THOU SHALT BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.” (Luke 23:43)
1. Meditation (Read pages 18 to 24 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
THIRD DAY
“WOMAN, BEHOLD THY SON.”
(After that, He said to the disciple:) “BEHOLD THY MOTHER.” (John 19:26-27)
1. Meditation (Read pages 26 to 31 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
FOURTH DAY
“MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME.”
(Matt. 27:46 and Mk. 15:34)
1. Meditation (Read pages 34 to 40 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
FIFTH DAY
“I THIRST.” (John 19:28)
1. Meditation (Read pages 42 to 47 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
SIXTH DAY
“IT IS CONSUMMATED.” (John 19:28)
1. Meditation (Read pages 50 to 55 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
SEVENTH DAY
“FATHER, INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT.” (Luke 23:46)
1. Meditation (Read pages 58 to 64 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
HEART of JESUS
Heart of Jesus! Meek and Mild!
Hear, O hear, Thy feeble child!
And when the tempest most severe
Heart of Jesus, hear!
(Refrain)
Sweetly we’ll rest on The Sacred Heart
Never from Thee, Oh let us part
Hear then Thy loving children’s prayer
O Heart of Jesus, Heart of Jesus, hear!
FAREWELL
(This Section to Be Used on the SEVENTH & LAST Day)
O Most Loving Father, the time has come for You to leave us and our dwelling which have been Your home for the past seven days. Words are not enough to render You praise and thanksgiving for the love that You have shown us. Our Father, You have always loved us. You have deigned to be with us even for a short time, and this Thou has done through this novena devotion to Your Son, The Lord of Pardon. We give Thee our heartfelt thanks through Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Farewell, Lord Jesus and we thank Thee for the great gifts of knowledge and understanding You have given us through Your Holy Spirit: of why You died for us and what we have to do in order that Your Passion and Death will be bear the fruits that You expect.
Farewell, O Holy Spirit and thank You for all Your gifts. Grant us also your fruits that we may live our lives in conformance and for the pleasure of Our Almighty God.
Farewell, O Queen and Delight of Heaven. We thank Thee, for all the blessings and graces you brought in to our dwelling by your constant intercession and for Your Motherly Love.
We look forward to Your next visit, O Blessed Trinity and Our Mother. We pray that we will again enjoy Your company soon, if not in this life, then, by Your compassion and forgiveness which You shower upon us with the Precious Blood of Your Dearly Beloved Son, may it be in Your kingdom. Amen.
TO JESUS’ HEART
To Jesus’ Heart all burning
With fervent love for men
My heart with fondest yearning
Shall raise its joyful strain.
Refrain
While ages course along
Blest be with loudest song
The Sacred Heart of Jesus
By every heart and tongue
Too true I have forsaken
Thy love by willful sin
Yet now let me be taken
Back by Thy grace again. (Ref)
THE OLD RUGGED CROSS
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
The emblem of suff’ring and shame. Has wondrous attraction for me,
And I love that old cross, where the dearest and best For, The Dear Lamb of God left His glory above,
For a world of lost sinners was slain To bear it to dark Calvary (Ref)
Refrain
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine
Till my trophies at last I lay down. A wondrous beauty I see.
I will cling to the old rugged cross, For ‘twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
And exchange some day for a crown. To pardon and sanctify me. (Ref)
The Fifteen Prayers
of St. Bridget of Sweden
These prayers are prayed daily, each beginning with a Pater and an Ave. Then follows a concluding prayer. There are alleged promises from Our Lord attached to these prayers, but they are problematic, inconsistent with Catholic teaching, and their publication was once forbidden. It may be that the vision wasn't properly written down, properly translated, consistently handed-down, or otherwise kept intact, but in any case, beware of any "Magnificent Promises" you may hear of in association with the following perfectly pious prayers.
First Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus Christ! Eternal Sweetness to those who love Thee, joy surpassing all joy and all desire, Salvation and Hope of all sinners, Who hast proved that Thou hast no greater desire than to be among men, even assuming human nature at the fullness of time for the love of men, recall all the sufferings Thou hast endured from the instant of Thy conception, and especially during Thy Passion, as it was decreed and ordained from eternity in the Divine plan.
Remember, O Lord, that during the Last Supper with Thy disciples having washed their feet, Thou gavest them Thy Most Precious Body and Blood, and while at the same time Thou didst sweetly console them, Thou didst fortell them Thy coming Passion.
Remember the sadness and bitterness which Thou didst experience in Thy Soul as Thou Thyself bore witness saying: "My Soul is sorrowful even unto death."
Remember all the fear, anguish and pain that Thou didst suffer in Thy delicate Body before the torment of the Crucifixion, when, after having prayed three times, bathed in a sweat of blood, Thou wast betrayed by Judas, Thy disciple, arrested by the people of a nation Thou hadst chosen and elevated, accused by false witnesses, unjustly judged by three judges during the flower of Thy youth and during the solemn Paschal season.
Remember that Thou wast despoiled of Thy garments and clothed in those of derision; that Thy Face and Eyes were veiled, that Thou wast buffeted, crowned with thorns, a reed placed in Thy Hands, that Thou wast crushed with blows and overwhelmed with affronts and outrages.
In memory of all these pains and sufferings which Thou didst endure before Thy Passion on the Cross, grant me before my death true contrition, a sincere and entire confession, worthy satisfaction and the remission all my sins. Amen.
Second Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! True liberty of angels, paradise of delights, remember the horror and sadness which Thou didst endure when Thy enemies, like furious lions, surrounded Thee, and by thousands of insults, spits, blows, lacerations and other unheard-of cruelties, tormented Thee at will. In consideration of these torments and insulting words, I beseech Thee, O my Savior, to deliver me from all my enemies, visible and invisible, and to bring me, under Thy protection, to the perfection of eternal salvation. Amen.
Third Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Creator of Heaven and earth Whom nothing can encompass or limit, Thou Who dost enfold and hold all under Thy loving power, remember the very bitter pain Thou didst suffer when the Jews nailed Thy Sacred Hands and Feet to the Cross by blow after blow with big blunt nails, and not finding Thee in a pitiable enough state to satisfy their rage, they enlarged thy Wounds, and added pain to pain, and with indescribable cruelty stretched Thy Body on the Cross, pulling Thee from all sides, thus dislocating Thy limbs.
I beg of Thee, O Jesus, by the memory of this most Loving suffering of the Cross, to grant me the grace to fear Thee and to Love Thee. Amen.
Fourth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Heavenly Physician, raised aloft on the Cross to heal our wounds with Thine, remember the bruises which Thou didst suffer and the weakness of all Thy Members which were distended to such a degree that never was there pain like unto Thine. From the crown of Thy Head to the Soles of Thy Feet there was not one spot on Thy Body that was not in torment, and yet, forgetting all Thy sufferings, Thou didst not cease to pray to Thy Heavenly Father for Thy enemies, saying: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."
Through this great Mercy, and in memory of this suffering, grant that the remembrance of Thy Most Bitter Passion may effect in us a perfect contrition and the remission of all our sins. Amen.
Fifth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Mirror of eternal splendor, remember the sadness which Thou experienced, when contemplating in the light of Thy Divinity the predestination of those who would be saved by the merits of Thy Sacred Passion, Thou didst see at the same time, the great multitude of reprobates who would be damned for their sins, and Thou didst complain bitterly of those hopeless, lost, and unfortunate sinners.
Through this abyss of compassion and pity, and especially through the goodness which Thou displayed to the good thief when Thou saidst to him: "This day, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, that at the hour of my death, Thou wilt show me mercy. Amen.
Sixth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Beloved and most desirable King, remember the grief Thou didst suffer, when naked and like a common criminal, Thou wast fastened and raised on the Cross, when all Thy relatives and friends abandoned Thee, except Thy Beloved Mother, who remained close to Thee during Thy agony and whom Thou didst entrust to Thy faithful disciple when Thou saidst to Mary: "Woman, behold thy son!", and to St. John: "Son, behold thy Mother!".
I beg of Thee O my Savior, by the sword of sorrow which pierced the soul of Thy holy Mother, to have compassion on me in all my afflictions and tribulations, both corporal and spiritual, and to assist me in all my trials, and especially at the hour of my death. Amen.
Seventh Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Inexhaustible Fountain of compassion, Who by a profound gesture of Love, said from the Cross: "I thirst," suffered from the thirst for the salvation of the human race. I beg of Thee, O my Savior, to inflame in our hearts the desire to tend toward perfection in all our acts, and to extinguish in us the concupiscence of the flesh and the ardor of worldly desires. Amen.
Eighth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Sweetness of hearts, delight of the spirit, by the bitterness of the gall and vinegar which Thou didst taste on the Cross for Love of us, grant us the grace to receive worthily Thy Precious Body and Blood during our life and at the hour of our death, that they may serve as a remedy and consolation for our souls. Amen.
Ninth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Royal virtue, joy of the mind, recall the pain Thou didst endure when plunged in an ocean of bitterness at the approach of death, insulted, outraged by the Jews, Thou didst cry out in a loud voice that Thou wast abandoned by Thy Father, saying: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
Through this anguish, I beg of Thee, O my Savior, not to abandon me in the terrors and pains of my death. Amen.
Tenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Who art the beginning and the end of all things, life and virtue, remember that for our sakes Thou wast plunged in an abyss of suffering from the soles of Thy Feet to the crown of Thy Head. In consideration of the enormity of Thy Wounds, teach me to keep, through pure love, Thy Commandments, whose way is wide and easy for those who love Thee. Amen.
Eleventh Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Deep abyss of mercy, I beg of Thee, in memory of Thy Wounds which penetrated to the very marrow of Thy Bones and to the depth of Thy being, to draw me, a miserable sinner, overwhelmed by my offenses, away from sin and to hide me from Thy Face justly irritated against me; hide me in Thy Wounds, until Thy anger and just indignation shall have passed away. Amen.
Twelfth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Mirror of truth, symbol of unity, link of charity, remember the multitude of wounds with which Thou wast covered from head to foot, torn and reddened by the spilling of Thy adorable Blood. O great and universal pain which Thou didst suffer in Thy virginal flesh for love of us! Sweetest Jesus! What is there that Thou couldst have done for us which Thou hast not done?
May the fruit of Thy sufferings be renewed in my soul by the faithful remembrance of Thy Passion, and may Thy love increase in my heart each day until I see Thee in eternity, Thou Who art the treasury of every real good and every joy, which I beg Thee to grant me, O sweetest Jesus, in Heaven. Amen.
Thirteenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Strong lion, immortal and invincible King, remember the pain Thou didst endure when all Thy strength, both moral and physical, was entirely exhausted; Thou didst bow Thy Head, saying: "It is consummated."
Through this anguish and grief, I beg of Thee Lord Jesus, to have mercy on me at the hour of my death when my mind will be greatly troubled and my soul will be in anguish. Amen.
Fourteenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Only Son of the Father, splendor and figure of His Substance, remember the simple and humble recommendation Thou didst make of Thy Soul to Thy Eternal Father, saying: "Father, into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit!" And with Thy Body all torn, and Thy Heart broken, and the bowels of Thy Mercy open to redeem us, Thou didst expire.
By this Precious Death, I beg of Thee O King of Saints, to comfort me and help me to resist the devil, the flesh and the world, so that being dead to the world, I may live for Thee alone. I beg of Thee at the hour of my death to receive me, a pilgrim and an exile returning to Thee. Amen.
Fifteenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! True and fruitful Vine! Remember the abundant outpouring of blood which Thou didst so generously shed from Thy Sacred Body as juice from grapes in a wine press.
From Thy Side, pierced with a lance by a soldier, blood and water issued forth until there was not left in Thy Body a single drop, and finally, like a bundle of myrrh lifted to the top of the Cross, Thy delicate Flesh was destroyed, the very substance of Thy Body withered, and the marrow of Thy Bones dried up.
Through this bitter Passion, and through the outpouring of Thy Precious Blood, I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, to receive my soul when I am in my death agony. Amen.
Concluding Prayer
O Sweet Jesus! Pierce my heart so that my tears of penitence and love will be my bread day and night; may I be converted entirely to Thee, may my heart be Thy perpetual habitation, may my conversation be pleasing to Thee, and may the end of my life be so praiseworthy that I may merit Heaven and there with Thy saints, praise Thee forever. Amen.
ETERNAL REST (PRAYER FOR THE DEPARTED)
01
JAN
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.
Amen.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come to you.
Let us pray:
O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Your servants departed the remission of all their sins, that through our pious supplication they may obtain that pardon which they have always desired; who live and reign for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
Supernova block for April's Humility Circle quilt! (So glad this one is done. I love the way it turned out so much, I want to do another one to make a toss pillow. It was tough one, though! I ended up following the designer's suggestion of basting those angles that needed to line up before stitching them with a shorter stitch length.)
Season's Greetings to all who chance upon this!
May all of us, of whatever Belief, put bigotry and righteousness aside and unite in humility before the wonder of Creation!
Small wooden figures, finely handcrafted by Peter Staffler, a carver who was born and trained in Gröden (South-Tyrol ), but worked in Vienna.
(For best effect view "large" (L) on full screen...)
Good old Elmo.
Humble Pie or Eat humble pie :
It is something that most people have to eat at one time or another . And most people think they know.
The roots of this phrase go back to the 14th century when Middle English speakers adopted the middle french word ( nombles ) , meaning the edible visera ( heart , liver , kidneys , and various small pieces of the entrails ) of an animal , such as a deer , a hog , sheep ....
This word is the plural of ( nomble ) a modification of latin ( lumbulus ) meaning , a small lion .
Middle English developed the variant spelling ( noumbles ) . In Modern English the Principal spelling is ( numbles ) with ( nombles ) as a secondary spelling .
In the 15th century , the word ( umbles) evolved as a shortened form of ( noumbles ) and ( nombles ) .
The next major step came in the 16th century when ( umbles ) came to be spelled ( humbles).
In the 17th century , people began recording the making of pies from the animal viscera ( of course the pies themselves may have existed long before then ) .
Any of the variant forms of the word could be used as in ( humble - pyes )and ( umble pie ) . 1663 Oxford.
Humble Pies were eaten mainly by the poorer classes . They were fit to be served only to the servants , not to the landowners
Pietro Lorenzetti, Siena ca. 1280/85 – ca. 1348
Beata Umiltà porta i mattoni raccolti per costruire il convento / Die Selige Humilitas transportiert Backsteine für den Klosterbau /Blessed Humility Transports Bricks to the Monastery (1341)
Pietro Lorenzetti, der ältere Bruder von Ambrogio Lorenzetti, gilt als Nachfolger Giottos, da er den Freskenzyklus in der Unterkirche der Basilika San Francesco in Assisi ab etwa 1325 fertigstellte. Zusammen mit seinem Bruder malte er die allegorische Darstellung der Auswikungen guten und schlechten Regierung im Palazzo Pubblico, dem Rathaus von Siena. Da nach 1348 Nachrichten über die Brüder Lorenzetti fehlen, ist anzunehmen, dass sie der Pestepidemie von 1348 zum Opfer fielen.
Diese Tafel gehört zum Polyptychon der seligen Humiltas aus der Kirche San Giovanni Evangelista in Florenz. Beeinflusst von der Kunst Giottos stellte Pietro Lorenzetti die selige Humilitas und elf lebendige Szenen aus ihrem Leben dar.
Text aus www.heiligenlexikon.de:
Rosanna, die eigentlich in einen Orden eintreten wollte, heiratete 1241 ihren Mann Ugolotto Negusanti. Als der an einer Geschlechtskrankheit erkrankte, traten beide nach neun Ehejahren in das Doppelkloster S. Perpetua in Faënza ein. 1252 wurde Rosanna Reklusin am Vallombrosanerkloster S. Apollonare in Faënza, wo sie zwölf Jahre lebte. Auf Bitten des Ordensgenerals Plebano begann sie um 1266 mit dem Aufbau des neuen Frauenklosters S. Maria Novella alla Malta nahe Faënza und wurde dort Äbtissin. 1282 wurde sie Äbtissin des von ihr gegründeten Klosters S. Giovanni Evangelista bei Florenz. Humilitas verfasste einige mystische Lobgesänge und Predigten. Humilitas' Lebensgeschichte wurde vor 1332 verfasst. Ihre Gebeine lagen seit 1584 im Kloster San Salvi in Florenz, inzwischen sind sie im Kloster San Spirito im Stadtteil Varlungo in Florenz.
Sandy Lane St. James, Barbados, West Indies
Barbados was under English rule from 1625 until its independence in 1966, one of the few islands in the West Indies that was not bounced from one foreign power to another. Barbados is known as the Little England of the Caribbean. The island is 166 square miles, 21 miles long and 14 miles wide. Barbados was named by Portuguese mariners as the land of bearded fig trees. The Portuguese sailors thought the gnarled, aerial roots of the fig trees looked like beards - thus it was charted in 1536 as Los Barbados or the Bearded Ones.
When the first British arrived in 1627 at present day Holetown, there were no indigenous Arawak around whatsoever. Originally covered by dense forests of bearded fig trees, the island was cleared for use in giant sugar plantations and was known as "Britain's Sugar Bowl". Some 26 forts, the remains of which are now sightseeing attractions, protected the plantations from pirates who roamed the Caribbean Sea.
Barbados has averaged about 8.7 hours of bright sunshine each day throughout a typical year. There is no rainy season. A temperature in the high 80's is considered unusually high. Barbados ocean water temperatures are deliciously warm 79-84 degrees F all year round. Barbados is approximately 1,200 miles from Miami, 2,100 miles from New York City and 300 miles from Venezuela.
In January 1946, at the end of WWII, Ronald Tree visited Barbados to stay at Sir Edward Cunard's (of the famous shipping family) home Glitter Bay. Ronald Tree, was the grandson of Marshal Field the Chicago department store scion and son of Lambert Tree who served as the Ambassador to Belgium. Ronnie Tree served in the British Parliament for 15 years. Tree was captivated by the island and within twelve months he had bought a piece of coastal land at Porters and built a magnificent home, Heron Bay. Less than ten years later, as the number of his visitors to Heron Bay escalated beyond capacity, he began to realize the enormous potential of Barbados as an exclusive tourist destination. Tree decided to buy the Sandy Lane sugar estate and factory on the St. James coast to build a hotel on what was a 1,000 feet beach front and build a golf course on the remaining land. Thus it was that Tree with a syndicate of wealthy friends designed and built Sandy Lane, a resort that opened in 1961. Beyond the resort, Tree took an interest in Barbados and its problems as it moved from a British dependency to independence in 1966. The British have left their mark on Barbados. The language is English, the sport is cricket, you drive on the left and the island has the highest literacy rate in the Caribbean.
The Sandy Lane Hotel was built of coral stone and surrounded by 380 acres of gardens. It faced a mile long sandy beach and offered billiards and a nine hole golf course - Rockley Beach Golf Club (green fee $2.50). Service and cuisine were carefully directed by a team imported from London's Claridges Hotel. When the 53-room hotel opened in 1961, Sandy Lane was considered the ultimate in Caribbean resorts. It was an elegant, exquisitely appointed and incredibly expensive jet setter's getaway spot. The opening rate was $45-50 per day for two including breakfast and dinner. In 1964 the green fee at Sandy Lane Golf Club was $3.25 per person per day. Caddies were available for 80 cents per round. Nicholas Behard, formerly of Claridge's, was the Sandy Lane manager in early 60's. Later Behard ran the Intercontinental Hotel in Auckland, New Zealand. Henry C. Petteys was the Manager also in the mid-60's. Petteys was manager of the Black Point Inn in Maine in the 70's.
Sandy Lane architects were "Happy" Robertson Ward and locally Jimmy Walker. Happy Ward's resort projects were designed to harmonize with their settings and were known for their use of coral stone and other natural materials. Robertson earlier designed the Mill Reef Club in Antigua, the Samanna in St. Martin and the Cotton Bay Club in Eleuthera. Said Ward of his design for the neo-Palladian style hotel, "I put myself in the position of a well-educated English gentleman of the late 18th century going to the West Indies to build a Great House."
The Sandy Lane Hotel legal owner was West Coast Development LTD and had a Canadian director, James A. Gairdner, a Toronto investment dealer. By 1963 Ronald Tree and West Coast Ltd were selling plots on the 378-acre Sandy Lane Estate for residential retirement or holiday homes. The sites at Sandy Lane were selling at $6,000 to $12,000 per acre in 1963. In the 60's everyone who was anyone came to stay. Aristotle Onassis, Maria Callas, Claudette Colbert, Greta Garbo. David Niven dreamed up cocktails at the bar, and Elton John once adhered to the New Year's Eve black-tie rule by wearing a bow tie as a garter. Other regulars included Sidney Poitier, Mick Jagger, Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II, and Frank Sinatra.
Ronald Tree sold the Sandy Lane Hotel in 1967 to Trust Houses which owned many of England's oldest and most famous hotels, including Brown's, The Cavendish, the Hyde Park Hotel, and the Grosvenor House. By 1970 Trust Houses had merged with Carmine Monforte, later known as Charles Forte. Forte started with a chain of ice cream shops and was the first to contract for food service at Heathrow Airport in 1955. By the mid-60's he purchase three of the finest hotels in Paris, the George V, Plaza Athenee, and Hotel de la Tremoille. Trust Houses became Trusthouse Forte (THF), then the largest hotel company in the world. Sandy Lane was a special favorite of Trusthouse Forte head Lord Forte, who frequented it often. Guy Macpherson was from 1971-74 the general manager at Sandy Lane Hotel. He later moved to Trust House Forte at its London headquarters.
In 1996 Granada plc was successful with its hostile takeover of THF. In 1997 Granada sold the Sandy Lane for approximately US $50 million to five Irish businessmen, including J. P. McManus, Dermot Desmond and John Magnier. The new owners are affectionately known as the "Coolmore mafia" - Coolmore is where they stable their race horses in Ireland. Dermot Desmond is the chairman of the board.
Due to the wear of over 30 years and several structural problems, the jet setter resort playground of the 60's was demolished then rebuilt and expanded, in the same neo-Palladian style as the original, complete with its white coral stone rotunda - albeit larger and even more luxurious. At the peak of construction, 1,400 people from 40 countries worked on the site. In March 2001 the hotel reopened.
The new Sandy Lane modus operandi was to spare no expense in the drive to be unrivaled. General Manager Colm Hannon was quoted - "The budget went out the window very early in the project." During the 3 year closure the old building was knocked down and then put back up, right down to the rusticated archways and distinctive roofline cornices - but with a level of luxury intended to put Sandy Lane on a par with the world's, not just the Caribbean's, top resorts. Dermot Desmond cherry-picked the world's top hotels and resorts for ideas. Taking a cue from a hotel in Dubai he had tunnels dug beneath the buildings for the housekeeping and room-service carts so guests wouldn't see (or hear) them trundling down the halls. He went through mock-up room after mock-up room. Sandy Lane has perhaps the most beautiful and luxurious guest rooms in the Caribbean. Desmond had to be sold on the spa--it wasn't part of the original plan--but when he bought in, he did so in characteristic fashion: "Build the best spa in the Caribbean," he told interior designer Fiona Thompson. Thompson (principal with Richmond International) was also the lead interior designer for the Moscow Four Seasons, Shangri-La Singapore and the Langham in London. Desmond built the largest spa in the Caribbean, a 47,000-square-foot building with a Las Vegasy faux waterfall in front that flows into the 7,500-square-foot resort pool. When the hotel re-opened in 2001 it was said up to 50% of the passengers on the Concorde flights from London were transported to the Sandy Lane. The Concorde's last flight to Barbados was on November 17th 2003.
The plan to cover the costs of the 112-room resort was to sell 110 vacant lots surrounding the resort and golf courses with price tags of around US $3 million each. The sites would include membership in the Tom Fazio-designed private golf club, the Green Monkey. US $25 million went into the Green Monkey's construction. Carved out of an abandoned coral quarry and flanked by mature mahogany trees, the Green Monkey is all about dramatic changes in elevation. The ninth hole par five has a 100-foot drop to the green on your third shot. The super exclusive Green Monkey golf course has a separate apparel line that can only be purchased after completion of a round of golf at $450 each. The course is named from one of Barbados’ most famous residents - the green monkey. The green monkey was initially brought over to Barbados as a pet from regions of West Africa during the slave trade over 350 years ago. Many monkeys then escaped or were released and became ‘naturalized’ in Barbados.
The original 18-hole course built in 1961 was reduced in size to a nine-hole layout known as The Old Nine and nicknamed "Tough Augusta." The par-36 course is known for its postage-stamp greens and tight tree-lined fairways. Part of the reclaimed original course was then reshaped into the new Country Club Course, an 18-hole Tom Fazio track that, unlike the Green Monkey, welcomes the general public. The 7,060 yard Country Club Course incorporates five lakes and grand vistas of the turquoise Caribbean. It is said you could steer the Queen Mary through the ultra wide fairways. This is resort golf so the intention is to make guests happy about golf. The scorecard cleverly names each of the five tee blocks: Ability, 7060 yards; Hope, 6542 yards; Humility, 6107 yards; Respect, 5661 yards and Reality, 5089.
On October 5, 2004, golfer Tiger Woods married his Swedish fiancée Elin Nordegren on Sandy Lane's Green Monkey golf course. The rock group Hootie and the Blowfish performed under a tent located on the course. Woods and Dermot Desmond are friends - Desmond paid at auction in 2000 $1.5 million just to get Woods to sign a flag from Pebble Beach where he won the U.S. Open. On a side-note the Sandy Lane owners ( Coolmore) purchased a 2 year old colt at auction in 2006 for $16 million. They named the horse Green Monkey, after their golf course. At the time Green Monkey was the most expensive thoroughbred racehorse ever purchased. The horse retired with total earnings of $10,440 and was euthanized at the age of 14.
Colm Hannon was the General Manager at Sandy Lane for 8 1/2 years starting in 1996. Hannon ran the property as it went through the 3 year closure and re-opening. Hannon is a graduate of Shannon College of Hotel Management in Ireland. Sandy Lane's co-owner, JP McManus, moved Hannon to the West Coast of Ireland to be the CEO of Adare Manor, a five star castle hotel and golf course.
Michael Pownall named Chief Executive of the Sandy Lane Hotel & Golf Resort in 2005. Michael Pownall graduated in 1983 from the Blackpool Hotel School. In 2008 Pownall opened the five star Taj Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa before co-founding PMR Hospitality Partners in 2016, which operates 5 propertes in South Africa.
Robert Logan was Sandy Lane's general manager from 2008-2012. He previously was General Manager of Raffles Hotel, Singapore and currently is the General Manager for the One&Only Palmilla in Los Cabos, Mexico,
Randall Wilkie was named the new General Manager of Sandy Lane Barbados in 2012. Previously his was General Manager at Cobblers Cove Hotel in Barbados. Wilkie maintains a staff of around 700 for the 113 rooms.
Photos and text by Dick Johnson, February 2020.
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
There is a sense of tenderness and humility in these small flowers - difficult to say exactly why - perhaps it is the white coloring and the downward facing habit. Their appearance in gardens signals that the worst of the winter weather has passed and that it will soon be springtime.
N.B., Identification of these flowers was kindly supplied by Stephen Hopkins - see comments.
[ Location - Braddon, Australian Capital Territory, Australia ]
Photography notes ...
The photograph was taken using the following hardware configuration ...
(Year of manufacture indicated in braces where known.)
- Hasselblad 500C/M body (1994).
- Hasselblad CFV-50c Digital Back for Hasselblad V mount camera.
- Hasselblad Focusing Screen for the CFV-50c digital back, with focussing prism and crop markings.
- Hasselblad 45 Degree Viewfinder PME-45 42297 (2001).
- Hasselblad Carl Zeiss lens - Planar T* 80mm f2.8 CFE (2000).
- FotodioX B60 Lens Hood for Select Hasselblad Standard Length CF Lenses.
- Hasselblad Extension Tube 56E (56mm) for 200 and 500 Series - MFR # 30 40656.
I acquired the photograph (8272 x 6200 pixels) with an ISO of 800, exposure time of 1/500 seconds, and aperture of f/11.0
Post-processing ...
Finder - Removed the CF card from the camera digital back and placed it in a Lexar 25-in-1 USB card reader. Then used Finder on my MacBook Air to download the raw image file (3FR extension) from the card.
Lightroom - Imported the 3FR image.
Lightroom - Used the Map module to add the location details to the EXIF header.
Lightroom - Applied various basic lighting and color adjustments in the Develop module.
Lightroom - Saved the Develop module settings as preset 20160911-001.
Lightroom - Applied a square (1:1 aspect ratio) crop.
Lightroom - Saved the result as preset 20160911-002.
Lightroom - Output the image as a JPEG image using the "Maximum" quality option (6200 x 6200 pixels).
PhotoSync - Copied the JPEG file to my iPad Mini for any final processing, review, enjoyment, and posting to social media.
@MomentsForZen #MomentsForZen #MFZ #Hasselblad #500C/M #CFV-50c #Flower #Flowers #SummerSnowflake #LeucojumAestivum #Macro #Closeup #Lightroom #Square
"Lord Jesus, be the King and Ruler of my heart, mind, life, and home. May my life reflect your meekness and humility that you may be honored as the King of glory!" Www.Dailyscripture.Net
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Filename - DSC_7585 Disneyland Water Reflection - Topaz tag
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Art4TheGlryOfGod Photography by Sharon
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Faith, Hope & Love in daily Art meditations...
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Made for Macro Mondays: Humility (the snails are just handy models in this setup)
The story behind this tricky task: The Olympic Winter Games took place in Nagano in 1998. One of the event, 15 kilometer cross-country skiing, was won by the norwegian Bjørn Daehlie (by the way the greatest cross-country skier in the world ever). After the race he waited for the contender that finished in last place, Philip Boit, and congrated him with the race. Not very unusual except that Boit came from Kenya (Africa) and not exactly very used to snow. Bjærn acknowledged Boit´s achievement. The flower ceremony for the winners had to wait that day.
Boit later named his newborn son Dæhlie Boit. In this year the World Championship where held in Oslo, Norway. Bjærn Dæhlie attended Boit´s final championship in the stands together with the Boit´s family.
www.fisheaters.com/15prayersofstbridget.html
The LORD of PARDON Devotion
RECEPTION PRAYER TO THE LORD OF PARDON [i]
The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father, and of The Son and of The Holy Ghost. Amen.
1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi [ii]
ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.
2. Welcome Prayer [iii]
O LORD, OUR GOD, our All, we welcome You into our humble dwelling. We thank You, we honor You and we praise You for Your Infinite humility; because You have deigned to bless our earthly dwelling with Your Divine and Majestic Presence, though we are full of unworthiness and our humble dwelling is inadequate for Your glory.
BLESS OUR family and our home, O Lord, that we may be worthy of Your Love and Your Divine Presence. May our home be a true nest of Your Divine Love not only for the next seven days of Your visit but for the rest of our pilgrimage on this earth. Grant that we may make Your stay in our home very pleasurable.
LORD, WE are Yours and we humbly pray that You will take care of us as Your true possession, now and forever. Amen.
3. Prayer for All of Humanity (From the Beginning to the End of the World) [iv]
O THOU MOST BELOVED, Most Merciful Lord Jesus Christ, into Thy Holy Almighty Hands we commend ourselves for all eternity, as well as in the Heart of the Most High God of the Eternal Trinity! We take refuge in the deep Wounds of Thy Most Holy Body. May Thy Most Holy Body nourish us, Thy Most Precious shed Blood, Fear and Suffering purify us of all our sins and vices! Oh, Our Dear Lord God, we humbly offer Thy Great Fear and Need to Thy Heavenly Father in expiation for all our sins and debts! May the terrible blows Thou didst endure plead for us! May Thy most painful scourging cover our great guilt! We offer All Thine injustices, deep wounds, great pains and sighs to Thy Heavenly Father for all our neglects. May Thy Great Love, Oh Dearest Jesus, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice and with Thee! Oh, Most Merciful Jesus, may Thy Faultless Judgment be for us the forgiveness of all our sins, known and unknown; may Thy Holy Footsteps in so much Misery lead and guide us in the way of Thy Divine Justice; may Thy Shameful Denuding make us pure in body and sanctify our souls! May Thy Bitter Agony, Thy Holy Wounds shield us from our visible and invisible enemies! May Thy Pierced Hands and Feet lead us to All Good. Oh Dearest Lord, place us and hide us in Thy Five Most Holy Wounds! Forget not our poor souls for which Thou didst so agonizingly trembled on the stem of the Holy Cross! For the sake of all the Martyrdom Thou didst suffer, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice! May Thy Most Holy and Bitter Death protect us, and lead us to Eternal Salvation! May Thy Most Blessed Power and Divine Omnipotence drive away and keep away from us every evil of body and soul! May Thy Most Holy Wounds, Dearest Jesus, bless and protect us in our death agony from all power of the infernal enemy! At the hour of our death, may Thy Most Precious Blood erase all our sins before our Beloved Heavenly Father, and let die in us all inclination to sin! May Thy Most Precious Blood lead us to all Angels and Saints! We commend and place all our suffering friends and enemies and all deceased persons to and into Thy most Loyal Redeemer’s Heart! Oh, Dearest Jesus, give to us all Thine Infinite Merits, the Power and the Blessing of Thy Most Bitter Passion and Death! Oh, Eternal Divinity, Oh, True Humanity of Jesus, Oh, Most Blessed Trinity, protect us now, according to Thy Divine desire and forever! Oh, Almighty and Immortal God, have mercy on us all! Amen. (It is highly recommended that this prayer be kept in one’s home and said daily.)
4. The ‘Constant’ Prayer of St. Catherine of Siena [v]
Precious Blood, Ocean of Divine Mercy: Flow upon us!
Precious Blood, Most Pure Offering: Procure Us Every Grace!
Precious Blood, Hope and Refuge of Sinners: Atone for Us!
Precious Blood, Delight of Holy Souls: Draw Us! Amen.
5. An Offering of The Holy Wounds and The Precious Blood [vi]
ETERNAL FATHER, we offer You the Holy Wounds of Your Son, and His Precious Blood, for the conversion of sinners and for the relief of the souls in Purgatory.
ETERNAL FATHER, we offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ in atonement for our sins, and in supplication for the souls in Purgatory and for the needs of the Holy Church. – The Raccolta
6. Invocations
O God the Father, Omnipotent and Merciful Creator, Who has so much love and mercy for such miserable creatures like us; Have mercy on us, save us from hell, and protect us from all evil. (3X)
O Jesus Christ, The Lord of Pardon, Have mercy on us and forgive us our sins. (3X)
O Most Precious Blood of Jesus, Save and protect us from all that is evil. (3X)
O Holy Ghost, Paraclete and Comforter of All Mankind, Have Mercy on Us (3X)
Immaculate Hear of Mary, Pray for us, now and at the hour of our
death. Amen.
O Mary, Mother of Sorrows, Pray for Us
O Mother of the Sorrowful Heart, Pray for Us.
Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for Us
O Mary, Conceived without sin, Pray for Us who have recourse to Thee.
Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Pray for Us
Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for Us
Today/Tonight, we protect ourselves with the shield of the Imma-culate Conception!
THE SEVEN-DAY DEVOTION TO THE LORD OF PARDON
OPENING PRAYERS FOR EACH DAY
The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father +, and of The Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi
ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.
2. Come, Holy Ghost
COME HOLY GHOST, fill the hearts of Thy faithful
And kindle in them the fire of Thy Divine Love.
V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created,
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
Let Us Pray
O GOD, Who has taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Ghost, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may always be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. Grant this through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
(The following hymn may be sung in place of the above prayer.)
VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS
Come Holy Ghost, Creator blest O, Comforter, to Thee we cry
And in our hearts take up Thy Rest Thou heavenly gift of God, Most High
Come with Thy grace, and heavenly aid O Fount of Life and Fire of Love
To fill our hearts which Thou has made And Sweet Anointing from above
To fill our hearts which Thou has made. And Sweet Anointing from above.
3. Divine Will Prayer [1]
THROUGH THE Immaculate Heart of Mary, I enter today/tonight into the Holy Will of God and pray – Come Divine will to pray in my prayer, in my name (and the name of those whom we pray for daily) and the name of all souls, for the love, honor and (greater) glory of God, Our Father, in reparation for all sins and for the salvation of souls. Amen.
4. To Obtain Love of Prayer [2]
O, LORD JESUS CHRIST, for the sake of Thy sufferings, grant to us, (and to all those whom we pray for daily,) such faith, hope, charity, sorrow for sins and love of prayer, that will help sanctify and save our souls.
5. To Learn the Science of Salvation [3]
JESUS, EXTEND to us in the light, in Thine infinite knowledge, the power through the light, to understand the task that lies ahead for all of us, who wish to be saved. Amen.
6. Act of Contrition
O MY GOD, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee. And I confess all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. But most all, because I love Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.
7. Daily Prayer [4]
O GOD, Who for the redemption of the world didst vouchsafe to be born among men, rejected by the Jews, betrayed with a kiss by the traitor Judas, bound with cords, to be led as an innocent lamb to the slaughter, to be treated with indignity, accused by false witnesses, afflicted with scourges and reproaches, to be spit upon, crowned with thorns, beaten with blows, struck with a reed, to have Your face veiled, to be stripped of Your garments, to be nailed to the cross and raised high thereon, to be ranked among thieves, to be offered gall and vinegar to drink, and to be pierced with a lance.
O LORD, by these Your most holy pains, which I, though unworthy, now call to mind, and by Your Holy cross
and death, deliver us from the pains of hell and take us where You took the good thief who was crucified with You, Who with The Father and The Holy Ghost, livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.
8. Hymns
O SACRED HEART
O Sacred Heart! O Love Divine! Ref: Heart of Jesus, Hear!
Do keep us near to Thee. O Heart of Love Divine!
And make our hearts so like to Thine Listen to Our Prayer!
That we may holy be Make us always Thine.
HAIL MARY
Hail! Mary, Full of Grace! Holy Mary, Mother of God,
The Lord is with Thee! Pray for us, sinners,
Blessed art Thou amongst women! Now, and at the hour --
And blessed is the Fruit Of Thy Womb, Jesus! Of our death. Amen.
9. Prayers before The Rosary
THE LAST VISION OF FATIMA PRAYER [5]
O Queen of the most holy rosary, Thou hast deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three shepherd children the treasures of grace hidden in the rosary. Inspire our hearts with a sincere love for this devotion, that by meditating upon the mysteries of our redemption which are recalled in it, we may be enriched. With its fruits, obtain peace for the world, the conversion of sinners and of Russia, (the remission of the temporal punishment of the poor souls in Purgatory, the triumph of Your Son’s church over the gates of hell) and the favor which we ask of you in this rosary. (MAKE YOUR REQUEST.) We ask it for the greater glory of God, for your own honor, and for the good of souls, including our own. Amen.
ST. LOUIS DE MONFORT’S PRAYER [6]
WE UNITE ourselves with all the Saints in heaven, and with all the just on earth; we unite ourselves with Thee, Our Jesus, in order to praise Your holy Mother worthily and to praise You in her and by her. We renounce all the distractions that may have during this rosary which we wish to say with modesty, attention and devotion just as if it were to be the last one of our lives. Amen.
WE OFFER to Thee, O Most Holy Trinity this creed – in honor of the mysteries of our faith; this Our Father and these three Hail Marys – in honor of the Unity of Thy Essence and the Trinity of Thy Persons.
WE ASK of Thee a lively faith, a firm hope and an ardent charity. Amen.
10. The Proper of The Most Holy Rosary
THE APOSTLE’S CREED
I BELIEVE in God, the Father the Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ His Only Son, Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell, the third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God, The Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in The Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.
THE PATER
Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.
THE AVE
HAIL MARY! Full of grace! The Lord is with Thee! Blessed art Thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus! Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.
THE GLORIA
GLORY BE to The Father, and to The Son and to The Holy Ghost! As it was in the beginning, now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
THE ANGEL of FATIMA PRAYER *
MY GOD, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee, and I beg pardon for all those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust and do not love Thee.
O MY JESUS, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls into heaven, especially those who most need of Thy mercy.
PEACE PRAYER
O MOST SWEET Heart of Jesus, lead us unto salvation. Grant peace to the entire world, specially the United States/Philippines/(Name Your Country). Bring back to You all sinners and grant that they may find the path that leads to you.
IMMACULATE HEART INVOCATION *
O BLESSED VIRGIN Mother protect us with your most Immaculate Heart. Amen.
PRAYER of POPE LEO XIII *
St. MICHAEL, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
THE MYSTERIES of THE HOLY ROSARY
The Joyful Mysteries (Monday and Thursday)
1. THE ANNUNCIATION (by the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary of her selection by
The Blessed Trinity as the Mother of the forthcoming Messiah)
2. THE VISITATION (of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth)
3. THE BIRTH of Our Lord Jesus (in the small town of Bethlehem)
4. THE PRESENTATION of Our Lord Jesus (in the temple)
5. THE FINDING of the Child Jesus (in the Temple, three days after He was found missing)
The Sorrowful Mysteries (Tuesday and Friday)
1. THE AGONY of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane
2. THE SCOURGING of Our Lord Jesus Christ at the Pillar
3. THE CROWNING of Our Lord Jesus Christ with the Crown of Thorns
4. THE CARRYING of the Cross by Our Lord Jesus Christ to Calvary
5. THE CRUCIFIXION and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross
The Glorious mysteries (Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday)
1. THE RESURRECTION of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead (on the third day after His
burial)
2. THE ASCENSION of Our Lord Jesus Christ (into Heaven, forty days after His resurrection)
3. THE DESCENT of The Holy Ghost (upon Our Blessed Mother and the Apostles on the 50th day
after The Ascension of Jesus)
4. THE ASSUMPTION of Our Blessed Mother (into Heaven, body and soul)
5. THE CORONATION of the Blessed Virgin Mary (as the Queen of Heaven and all of Creation)
HAIL! HOLY QUEEN!
HAIL! HOLY QUEEN! Mother of mercy, hail our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To Thee do we send up our sigh, mourning, and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then O Most Gracious Advocate, Thine eyes of mercy towards us and after this our exile, show unto us, the Blessed Fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet, Virgin Mary.
V. Pray for us O Holy Mother of God,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let Us Pray O GOD, Whose Only Begotten Son, by His Life, Death and Resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life. Grant, we beseech Thee, that by meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.
V. May the Divine Assistance remain always with us, +
R. And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
11. Prayers After The Rosary
LITANY OF THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD
Lord, have mercy on us, Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us!
Christ, hear us, Christ graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.
Blood of Christ, Only Begotten Son of The Eternal Father, Save us.
Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God,
Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament,
Blood of Christ, first shed in the Presentation at the temple,
Blood of Christ, falling upon the Earth in Agony in the garden of Olives,
Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging at the pillar,
Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with thorns,
Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross,
Blood of Christ, the price of our Salvation,
Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness,
Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and Refreshment of souls,
Blood of Christ, stream of mercy,
Blood of Christ, victor over demons,
Blood of Christ, courage of martyrs,
Blood of Christ, strength of confessors,
Blood of Christ, bringing forth virgins,
Blood of Christ, help of those in peril,
Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened,
Blood of Christ, solace of the sorrowful,
Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent,
Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying,
Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts,
Blood of Christ, the pledge of Eternal Life,
Blood of Christ, freeing souls from Purgatory,
Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor,
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us
V. You have redeemed us, O Lord, by Your Precious Blood,
R. And made us, for Our God, a kingdom.
Let Us Pray
OMNIPOTENT and Eternal God, You have chosen Your Only Begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world and You have been appeased by the shedding of His Most Precious Blood. Grant, we humbly pray, that we may always cherish the value of our redemption and forget not the grief You and our Blessed Virgin Mother have to bear in the suffering and death of Your Dearly Beloved Son. Through His Precious Blood and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may we be delivered from all evil in this world that we may enjoy the fruits of our redemption in Your kingdom for all eternity. Amen.
FIRST DAY
“FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.” (Luke 23:34)
1. Meditation (Read pages 10 to 16 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Turn to page 1)
3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
SECOND DAY
“AMEN, I SAY TO YOU, THIS DAY THOU SHALT BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.” (Luke 23:43)
1. Meditation (Read pages 18 to 24 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
THIRD DAY
“WOMAN, BEHOLD THY SON.”
(After that, He said to the disciple:) “BEHOLD THY MOTHER.” (John 19:26-27)
1. Meditation (Read pages 26 to 31 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
FOURTH DAY
“MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME.”
(Matt. 27:46 and Mk. 15:34)
1. Meditation (Read pages 34 to 40 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
FIFTH DAY
“I THIRST.” (John 19:28)
1. Meditation (Read pages 42 to 47 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
SIXTH DAY
“IT IS CONSUMMATED.” (John 19:28)
1. Meditation (Read pages 50 to 55 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
SEVENTH DAY
“FATHER, INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT.” (Luke 23:46)
1. Meditation (Read pages 58 to 64 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
HEART of JESUS
Heart of Jesus! Meek and Mild!
Hear, O hear, Thy feeble child!
And when the tempest most severe
Heart of Jesus, hear!
(Refrain)
Sweetly we’ll rest on The Sacred Heart
Never from Thee, Oh let us part
Hear then Thy loving children’s prayer
O Heart of Jesus, Heart of Jesus, hear!
FAREWELL
(This Section to Be Used on the SEVENTH & LAST Day)
O Most Loving Father, the time has come for You to leave us and our dwelling which have been Your home for the past seven days. Words are not enough to render You praise and thanksgiving for the love that You have shown us. Our Father, You have always loved us. You have deigned to be with us even for a short time, and this Thou has done through this novena devotion to Your Son, The Lord of Pardon. We give Thee our heartfelt thanks through Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Farewell, Lord Jesus and we thank Thee for the great gifts of knowledge and understanding You have given us through Your Holy Spirit: of why You died for us and what we have to do in order that Your Passion and Death will be bear the fruits that You expect.
Farewell, O Holy Spirit and thank You for all Your gifts. Grant us also your fruits that we may live our lives in conformance and for the pleasure of Our Almighty God.
Farewell, O Queen and Delight of Heaven. We thank Thee, for all the blessings and graces you brought in to our dwelling by your constant intercession and for Your Motherly Love.
We look forward to Your next visit, O Blessed Trinity and Our Mother. We pray that we will again enjoy Your company soon, if not in this life, then, by Your compassion and forgiveness which You shower upon us with the Precious Blood of Your Dearly Beloved Son, may it be in Your kingdom. Amen.
TO JESUS’ HEART
To Jesus’ Heart all burning
With fervent love for men
My heart with fondest yearning
Shall raise its joyful strain.
Refrain
While ages course along
Blest be with loudest song
The Sacred Heart of Jesus
By every heart and tongue
Too true I have forsaken
Thy love by willful sin
Yet now let me be taken
Back by Thy grace again. (Ref)
THE OLD RUGGED CROSS
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
The emblem of suff’ring and shame. Has wondrous attraction for me,
And I love that old cross, where the dearest and best For, The Dear Lamb of God left His glory above,
For a world of lost sinners was slain To bear it to dark Calvary (Ref)
Refrain
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine
Till my trophies at last I lay down. A wondrous beauty I see.
I will cling to the old rugged cross, For ‘twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
And exchange some day for a crown. To pardon and sanctify me. (Ref)
The Fifteen Prayers
of St. Bridget of Sweden
These prayers are prayed daily, each beginning with a Pater and an Ave. Then follows a concluding prayer. There are alleged promises from Our Lord attached to these prayers, but they are problematic, inconsistent with Catholic teaching, and their publication was once forbidden. It may be that the vision wasn't properly written down, properly translated, consistently handed-down, or otherwise kept intact, but in any case, beware of any "Magnificent Promises" you may hear of in association with the following perfectly pious prayers.
First Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus Christ! Eternal Sweetness to those who love Thee, joy surpassing all joy and all desire, Salvation and Hope of all sinners, Who hast proved that Thou hast no greater desire than to be among men, even assuming human nature at the fullness of time for the love of men, recall all the sufferings Thou hast endured from the instant of Thy conception, and especially during Thy Passion, as it was decreed and ordained from eternity in the Divine plan.
Remember, O Lord, that during the Last Supper with Thy disciples having washed their feet, Thou gavest them Thy Most Precious Body and Blood, and while at the same time Thou didst sweetly console them, Thou didst fortell them Thy coming Passion.
Remember the sadness and bitterness which Thou didst experience in Thy Soul as Thou Thyself bore witness saying: "My Soul is sorrowful even unto death."
Remember all the fear, anguish and pain that Thou didst suffer in Thy delicate Body before the torment of the Crucifixion, when, after having prayed three times, bathed in a sweat of blood, Thou wast betrayed by Judas, Thy disciple, arrested by the people of a nation Thou hadst chosen and elevated, accused by false witnesses, unjustly judged by three judges during the flower of Thy youth and during the solemn Paschal season.
Remember that Thou wast despoiled of Thy garments and clothed in those of derision; that Thy Face and Eyes were veiled, that Thou wast buffeted, crowned with thorns, a reed placed in Thy Hands, that Thou wast crushed with blows and overwhelmed with affronts and outrages.
In memory of all these pains and sufferings which Thou didst endure before Thy Passion on the Cross, grant me before my death true contrition, a sincere and entire confession, worthy satisfaction and the remission all my sins. Amen.
Second Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! True liberty of angels, paradise of delights, remember the horror and sadness which Thou didst endure when Thy enemies, like furious lions, surrounded Thee, and by thousands of insults, spits, blows, lacerations and other unheard-of cruelties, tormented Thee at will. In consideration of these torments and insulting words, I beseech Thee, O my Savior, to deliver me from all my enemies, visible and invisible, and to bring me, under Thy protection, to the perfection of eternal salvation. Amen.
Third Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Creator of Heaven and earth Whom nothing can encompass or limit, Thou Who dost enfold and hold all under Thy loving power, remember the very bitter pain Thou didst suffer when the Jews nailed Thy Sacred Hands and Feet to the Cross by blow after blow with big blunt nails, and not finding Thee in a pitiable enough state to satisfy their rage, they enlarged thy Wounds, and added pain to pain, and with indescribable cruelty stretched Thy Body on the Cross, pulling Thee from all sides, thus dislocating Thy limbs.
I beg of Thee, O Jesus, by the memory of this most Loving suffering of the Cross, to grant me the grace to fear Thee and to Love Thee. Amen.
Fourth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Heavenly Physician, raised aloft on the Cross to heal our wounds with Thine, remember the bruises which Thou didst suffer and the weakness of all Thy Members which were distended to such a degree that never was there pain like unto Thine. From the crown of Thy Head to the Soles of Thy Feet there was not one spot on Thy Body that was not in torment, and yet, forgetting all Thy sufferings, Thou didst not cease to pray to Thy Heavenly Father for Thy enemies, saying: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."
Through this great Mercy, and in memory of this suffering, grant that the remembrance of Thy Most Bitter Passion may effect in us a perfect contrition and the remission of all our sins. Amen.
Fifth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Mirror of eternal splendor, remember the sadness which Thou experienced, when contemplating in the light of Thy Divinity the predestination of those who would be saved by the merits of Thy Sacred Passion, Thou didst see at the same time, the great multitude of reprobates who would be damned for their sins, and Thou didst complain bitterly of those hopeless, lost, and unfortunate sinners.
Through this abyss of compassion and pity, and especially through the goodness which Thou displayed to the good thief when Thou saidst to him: "This day, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, that at the hour of my death, Thou wilt show me mercy. Amen.
Sixth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Beloved and most desirable King, remember the grief Thou didst suffer, when naked and like a common criminal, Thou wast fastened and raised on the Cross, when all Thy relatives and friends abandoned Thee, except Thy Beloved Mother, who remained close to Thee during Thy agony and whom Thou didst entrust to Thy faithful disciple when Thou saidst to Mary: "Woman, behold thy son!", and to St. John: "Son, behold thy Mother!".
I beg of Thee O my Savior, by the sword of sorrow which pierced the soul of Thy holy Mother, to have compassion on me in all my afflictions and tribulations, both corporal and spiritual, and to assist me in all my trials, and especially at the hour of my death. Amen.
Seventh Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Inexhaustible Fountain of compassion, Who by a profound gesture of Love, said from the Cross: "I thirst," suffered from the thirst for the salvation of the human race. I beg of Thee, O my Savior, to inflame in our hearts the desire to tend toward perfection in all our acts, and to extinguish in us the concupiscence of the flesh and the ardor of worldly desires. Amen.
Eighth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Sweetness of hearts, delight of the spirit, by the bitterness of the gall and vinegar which Thou didst taste on the Cross for Love of us, grant us the grace to receive worthily Thy Precious Body and Blood during our life and at the hour of our death, that they may serve as a remedy and consolation for our souls. Amen.
Ninth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Royal virtue, joy of the mind, recall the pain Thou didst endure when plunged in an ocean of bitterness at the approach of death, insulted, outraged by the Jews, Thou didst cry out in a loud voice that Thou wast abandoned by Thy Father, saying: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
Through this anguish, I beg of Thee, O my Savior, not to abandon me in the terrors and pains of my death. Amen.
Tenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Who art the beginning and the end of all things, life and virtue, remember that for our sakes Thou wast plunged in an abyss of suffering from the soles of Thy Feet to the crown of Thy Head. In consideration of the enormity of Thy Wounds, teach me to keep, through pure love, Thy Commandments, whose way is wide and easy for those who love Thee. Amen.
Eleventh Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Deep abyss of mercy, I beg of Thee, in memory of Thy Wounds which penetrated to the very marrow of Thy Bones and to the depth of Thy being, to draw me, a miserable sinner, overwhelmed by my offenses, away from sin and to hide me from Thy Face justly irritated against me; hide me in Thy Wounds, until Thy anger and just indignation shall have passed away. Amen.
Twelfth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Mirror of truth, symbol of unity, link of charity, remember the multitude of wounds with which Thou wast covered from head to foot, torn and reddened by the spilling of Thy adorable Blood. O great and universal pain which Thou didst suffer in Thy virginal flesh for love of us! Sweetest Jesus! What is there that Thou couldst have done for us which Thou hast not done?
May the fruit of Thy sufferings be renewed in my soul by the faithful remembrance of Thy Passion, and may Thy love increase in my heart each day until I see Thee in eternity, Thou Who art the treasury of every real good and every joy, which I beg Thee to grant me, O sweetest Jesus, in Heaven. Amen.
Thirteenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Strong lion, immortal and invincible King, remember the pain Thou didst endure when all Thy strength, both moral and physical, was entirely exhausted; Thou didst bow Thy Head, saying: "It is consummated."
Through this anguish and grief, I beg of Thee Lord Jesus, to have mercy on me at the hour of my death when my mind will be greatly troubled and my soul will be in anguish. Amen.
Fourteenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Only Son of the Father, splendor and figure of His Substance, remember the simple and humble recommendation Thou didst make of Thy Soul to Thy Eternal Father, saying: "Father, into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit!" And with Thy Body all torn, and Thy Heart broken, and the bowels of Thy Mercy open to redeem us, Thou didst expire.
By this Precious Death, I beg of Thee O King of Saints, to comfort me and help me to resist the devil, the flesh and the world, so that being dead to the world, I may live for Thee alone. I beg of Thee at the hour of my death to receive me, a pilgrim and an exile returning to Thee. Amen.
Fifteenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! True and fruitful Vine! Remember the abundant outpouring of blood which Thou didst so generously shed from Thy Sacred Body as juice from grapes in a wine press.
From Thy Side, pierced with a lance by a soldier, blood and water issued forth until there was not left in Thy Body a single drop, and finally, like a bundle of myrrh lifted to the top of the Cross, Thy delicate Flesh was destroyed, the very substance of Thy Body withered, and the marrow of Thy Bones dried up.
Through this bitter Passion, and through the outpouring of Thy Precious Blood, I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, to receive my soul when I am in my death agony. Amen.
Concluding Prayer
O Sweet Jesus! Pierce my heart so that my tears of penitence and love will be my bread day and night; may I be converted entirely to Thee, may my heart be Thy perpetual habitation, may my conversation be pleasing to Thee, and may the end of my life be so praiseworthy that I may merit Heaven and there with Thy saints, praise Thee forever. Amen.
ETERNAL REST (PRAYER FOR THE DEPARTED)
01
JAN
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.
Amen.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come to you.
Let us pray:
O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Your servants departed the remission of all their sins, that through our pious supplication they may obtain that pardon which they have always desired; who live and reign for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
water colour on paper
www.fisheaters.com/15prayersofstbridget.html
The LORD of PARDON Devotion
RECEPTION PRAYER TO THE LORD OF PARDON [i]
The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father, and of The Son and of The Holy Ghost. Amen.
1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi [ii]
ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.
2. Welcome Prayer [iii]
O LORD, OUR GOD, our All, we welcome You into our humble dwelling. We thank You, we honor You and we praise You for Your Infinite humility; because You have deigned to bless our earthly dwelling with Your Divine and Majestic Presence, though we are full of unworthiness and our humble dwelling is inadequate for Your glory.
BLESS OUR family and our home, O Lord, that we may be worthy of Your Love and Your Divine Presence. May our home be a true nest of Your Divine Love not only for the next seven days of Your visit but for the rest of our pilgrimage on this earth. Grant that we may make Your stay in our home very pleasurable.
LORD, WE are Yours and we humbly pray that You will take care of us as Your true possession, now and forever. Amen.
3. Prayer for All of Humanity (From the Beginning to the End of the World) [iv]
O THOU MOST BELOVED, Most Merciful Lord Jesus Christ, into Thy Holy Almighty Hands we commend ourselves for all eternity, as well as in the Heart of the Most High God of the Eternal Trinity! We take refuge in the deep Wounds of Thy Most Holy Body. May Thy Most Holy Body nourish us, Thy Most Precious shed Blood, Fear and Suffering purify us of all our sins and vices! Oh, Our Dear Lord God, we humbly offer Thy Great Fear and Need to Thy Heavenly Father in expiation for all our sins and debts! May the terrible blows Thou didst endure plead for us! May Thy most painful scourging cover our great guilt! We offer All Thine injustices, deep wounds, great pains and sighs to Thy Heavenly Father for all our neglects. May Thy Great Love, Oh Dearest Jesus, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice and with Thee! Oh, Most Merciful Jesus, may Thy Faultless Judgment be for us the forgiveness of all our sins, known and unknown; may Thy Holy Footsteps in so much Misery lead and guide us in the way of Thy Divine Justice; may Thy Shameful Denuding make us pure in body and sanctify our souls! May Thy Bitter Agony, Thy Holy Wounds shield us from our visible and invisible enemies! May Thy Pierced Hands and Feet lead us to All Good. Oh Dearest Lord, place us and hide us in Thy Five Most Holy Wounds! Forget not our poor souls for which Thou didst so agonizingly trembled on the stem of the Holy Cross! For the sake of all the Martyrdom Thou didst suffer, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice! May Thy Most Holy and Bitter Death protect us, and lead us to Eternal Salvation! May Thy Most Blessed Power and Divine Omnipotence drive away and keep away from us every evil of body and soul! May Thy Most Holy Wounds, Dearest Jesus, bless and protect us in our death agony from all power of the infernal enemy! At the hour of our death, may Thy Most Precious Blood erase all our sins before our Beloved Heavenly Father, and let die in us all inclination to sin! May Thy Most Precious Blood lead us to all Angels and Saints! We commend and place all our suffering friends and enemies and all deceased persons to and into Thy most Loyal Redeemer’s Heart! Oh, Dearest Jesus, give to us all Thine Infinite Merits, the Power and the Blessing of Thy Most Bitter Passion and Death! Oh, Eternal Divinity, Oh, True Humanity of Jesus, Oh, Most Blessed Trinity, protect us now, according to Thy Divine desire and forever! Oh, Almighty and Immortal God, have mercy on us all! Amen. (It is highly recommended that this prayer be kept in one’s home and said daily.)
4. The ‘Constant’ Prayer of St. Catherine of Siena [v]
Precious Blood, Ocean of Divine Mercy: Flow upon us!
Precious Blood, Most Pure Offering: Procure Us Every Grace!
Precious Blood, Hope and Refuge of Sinners: Atone for Us!
Precious Blood, Delight of Holy Souls: Draw Us! Amen.
5. An Offering of The Holy Wounds and The Precious Blood [vi]
ETERNAL FATHER, we offer You the Holy Wounds of Your Son, and His Precious Blood, for the conversion of sinners and for the relief of the souls in Purgatory.
ETERNAL FATHER, we offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ in atonement for our sins, and in supplication for the souls in Purgatory and for the needs of the Holy Church. – The Raccolta
6. Invocations
O God the Father, Omnipotent and Merciful Creator, Who has so much love and mercy for such miserable creatures like us; Have mercy on us, save us from hell, and protect us from all evil. (3X)
O Jesus Christ, The Lord of Pardon, Have mercy on us and forgive us our sins. (3X)
O Most Precious Blood of Jesus, Save and protect us from all that is evil. (3X)
O Holy Ghost, Paraclete and Comforter of All Mankind, Have Mercy on Us (3X)
Immaculate Hear of Mary, Pray for us, now and at the hour of our
death. Amen.
O Mary, Mother of Sorrows, Pray for Us
O Mother of the Sorrowful Heart, Pray for Us.
Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for Us
O Mary, Conceived without sin, Pray for Us who have recourse to Thee.
Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Pray for Us
Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for Us
Today/Tonight, we protect ourselves with the shield of the Imma-culate Conception!
THE SEVEN-DAY DEVOTION TO THE LORD OF PARDON
OPENING PRAYERS FOR EACH DAY
The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father +, and of The Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi
ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.
2. Come, Holy Ghost
COME HOLY GHOST, fill the hearts of Thy faithful
And kindle in them the fire of Thy Divine Love.
V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created,
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
Let Us Pray
O GOD, Who has taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Ghost, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may always be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. Grant this through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
(The following hymn may be sung in place of the above prayer.)
VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS
Come Holy Ghost, Creator blest O, Comforter, to Thee we cry
And in our hearts take up Thy Rest Thou heavenly gift of God, Most High
Come with Thy grace, and heavenly aid O Fount of Life and Fire of Love
To fill our hearts which Thou has made And Sweet Anointing from above
To fill our hearts which Thou has made. And Sweet Anointing from above.
3. Divine Will Prayer [1]
THROUGH THE Immaculate Heart of Mary, I enter today/tonight into the Holy Will of God and pray – Come Divine will to pray in my prayer, in my name (and the name of those whom we pray for daily) and the name of all souls, for the love, honor and (greater) glory of God, Our Father, in reparation for all sins and for the salvation of souls. Amen.
4. To Obtain Love of Prayer [2]
O, LORD JESUS CHRIST, for the sake of Thy sufferings, grant to us, (and to all those whom we pray for daily,) such faith, hope, charity, sorrow for sins and love of prayer, that will help sanctify and save our souls.
5. To Learn the Science of Salvation [3]
JESUS, EXTEND to us in the light, in Thine infinite knowledge, the power through the light, to understand the task that lies ahead for all of us, who wish to be saved. Amen.
6. Act of Contrition
O MY GOD, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee. And I confess all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. But most all, because I love Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.
7. Daily Prayer [4]
O GOD, Who for the redemption of the world didst vouchsafe to be born among men, rejected by the Jews, betrayed with a kiss by the traitor Judas, bound with cords, to be led as an innocent lamb to the slaughter, to be treated with indignity, accused by false witnesses, afflicted with scourges and reproaches, to be spit upon, crowned with thorns, beaten with blows, struck with a reed, to have Your face veiled, to be stripped of Your garments, to be nailed to the cross and raised high thereon, to be ranked among thieves, to be offered gall and vinegar to drink, and to be pierced with a lance.
O LORD, by these Your most holy pains, which I, though unworthy, now call to mind, and by Your Holy cross
and death, deliver us from the pains of hell and take us where You took the good thief who was crucified with You, Who with The Father and The Holy Ghost, livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.
8. Hymns
O SACRED HEART
O Sacred Heart! O Love Divine! Ref: Heart of Jesus, Hear!
Do keep us near to Thee. O Heart of Love Divine!
And make our hearts so like to Thine Listen to Our Prayer!
That we may holy be Make us always Thine.
HAIL MARY
Hail! Mary, Full of Grace! Holy Mary, Mother of God,
The Lord is with Thee! Pray for us, sinners,
Blessed art Thou amongst women! Now, and at the hour --
And blessed is the Fruit Of Thy Womb, Jesus! Of our death. Amen.
9. Prayers before The Rosary
THE LAST VISION OF FATIMA PRAYER [5]
O Queen of the most holy rosary, Thou hast deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three shepherd children the treasures of grace hidden in the rosary. Inspire our hearts with a sincere love for this devotion, that by meditating upon the mysteries of our redemption which are recalled in it, we may be enriched. With its fruits, obtain peace for the world, the conversion of sinners and of Russia, (the remission of the temporal punishment of the poor souls in Purgatory, the triumph of Your Son’s church over the gates of hell) and the favor which we ask of you in this rosary. (MAKE YOUR REQUEST.) We ask it for the greater glory of God, for your own honor, and for the good of souls, including our own. Amen.
ST. LOUIS DE MONFORT’S PRAYER [6]
WE UNITE ourselves with all the Saints in heaven, and with all the just on earth; we unite ourselves with Thee, Our Jesus, in order to praise Your holy Mother worthily and to praise You in her and by her. We renounce all the distractions that may have during this rosary which we wish to say with modesty, attention and devotion just as if it were to be the last one of our lives. Amen.
WE OFFER to Thee, O Most Holy Trinity this creed – in honor of the mysteries of our faith; this Our Father and these three Hail Marys – in honor of the Unity of Thy Essence and the Trinity of Thy Persons.
WE ASK of Thee a lively faith, a firm hope and an ardent charity. Amen.
10. The Proper of The Most Holy Rosary
THE APOSTLE’S CREED
I BELIEVE in God, the Father the Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ His Only Son, Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell, the third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God, The Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in The Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.
THE PATER
Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.
THE AVE
HAIL MARY! Full of grace! The Lord is with Thee! Blessed art Thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus! Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.
THE GLORIA
GLORY BE to The Father, and to The Son and to The Holy Ghost! As it was in the beginning, now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
THE ANGEL of FATIMA PRAYER *
MY GOD, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee, and I beg pardon for all those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust and do not love Thee.
O MY JESUS, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls into heaven, especially those who most need of Thy mercy.
PEACE PRAYER
O MOST SWEET Heart of Jesus, lead us unto salvation. Grant peace to the entire world, specially the United States/Philippines/(Name Your Country). Bring back to You all sinners and grant that they may find the path that leads to you.
IMMACULATE HEART INVOCATION *
O BLESSED VIRGIN Mother protect us with your most Immaculate Heart. Amen.
PRAYER of POPE LEO XIII *
St. MICHAEL, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
THE MYSTERIES of THE HOLY ROSARY
The Joyful Mysteries (Monday and Thursday)
1. THE ANNUNCIATION (by the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary of her selection by
The Blessed Trinity as the Mother of the forthcoming Messiah)
2. THE VISITATION (of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth)
3. THE BIRTH of Our Lord Jesus (in the small town of Bethlehem)
4. THE PRESENTATION of Our Lord Jesus (in the temple)
5. THE FINDING of the Child Jesus (in the Temple, three days after He was found missing)
The Sorrowful Mysteries (Tuesday and Friday)
1. THE AGONY of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane
2. THE SCOURGING of Our Lord Jesus Christ at the Pillar
3. THE CROWNING of Our Lord Jesus Christ with the Crown of Thorns
4. THE CARRYING of the Cross by Our Lord Jesus Christ to Calvary
5. THE CRUCIFIXION and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross
The Glorious mysteries (Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday)
1. THE RESURRECTION of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead (on the third day after His
burial)
2. THE ASCENSION of Our Lord Jesus Christ (into Heaven, forty days after His resurrection)
3. THE DESCENT of The Holy Ghost (upon Our Blessed Mother and the Apostles on the 50th day
after The Ascension of Jesus)
4. THE ASSUMPTION of Our Blessed Mother (into Heaven, body and soul)
5. THE CORONATION of the Blessed Virgin Mary (as the Queen of Heaven and all of Creation)
HAIL! HOLY QUEEN!
HAIL! HOLY QUEEN! Mother of mercy, hail our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To Thee do we send up our sigh, mourning, and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then O Most Gracious Advocate, Thine eyes of mercy towards us and after this our exile, show unto us, the Blessed Fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet, Virgin Mary.
V. Pray for us O Holy Mother of God,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let Us Pray O GOD, Whose Only Begotten Son, by His Life, Death and Resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life. Grant, we beseech Thee, that by meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.
V. May the Divine Assistance remain always with us, +
R. And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
11. Prayers After The Rosary
LITANY OF THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD
Lord, have mercy on us, Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us!
Christ, hear us, Christ graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.
Blood of Christ, Only Begotten Son of The Eternal Father, Save us.
Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God,
Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament,
Blood of Christ, first shed in the Presentation at the temple,
Blood of Christ, falling upon the Earth in Agony in the garden of Olives,
Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging at the pillar,
Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with thorns,
Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross,
Blood of Christ, the price of our Salvation,
Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness,
Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and Refreshment of souls,
Blood of Christ, stream of mercy,
Blood of Christ, victor over demons,
Blood of Christ, courage of martyrs,
Blood of Christ, strength of confessors,
Blood of Christ, bringing forth virgins,
Blood of Christ, help of those in peril,
Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened,
Blood of Christ, solace of the sorrowful,
Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent,
Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying,
Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts,
Blood of Christ, the pledge of Eternal Life,
Blood of Christ, freeing souls from Purgatory,
Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor,
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us
V. You have redeemed us, O Lord, by Your Precious Blood,
R. And made us, for Our God, a kingdom.
Let Us Pray
OMNIPOTENT and Eternal God, You have chosen Your Only Begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world and You have been appeased by the shedding of His Most Precious Blood. Grant, we humbly pray, that we may always cherish the value of our redemption and forget not the grief You and our Blessed Virgin Mother have to bear in the suffering and death of Your Dearly Beloved Son. Through His Precious Blood and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may we be delivered from all evil in this world that we may enjoy the fruits of our redemption in Your kingdom for all eternity. Amen.
FIRST DAY
“FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.” (Luke 23:34)
1. Meditation (Read pages 10 to 16 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Turn to page 1)
3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
SECOND DAY
“AMEN, I SAY TO YOU, THIS DAY THOU SHALT BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.” (Luke 23:43)
1. Meditation (Read pages 18 to 24 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
THIRD DAY
“WOMAN, BEHOLD THY SON.”
(After that, He said to the disciple:) “BEHOLD THY MOTHER.” (John 19:26-27)
1. Meditation (Read pages 26 to 31 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
FOURTH DAY
“MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME.”
(Matt. 27:46 and Mk. 15:34)
1. Meditation (Read pages 34 to 40 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
FIFTH DAY
“I THIRST.” (John 19:28)
1. Meditation (Read pages 42 to 47 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
SIXTH DAY
“IT IS CONSUMMATED.” (John 19:28)
1. Meditation (Read pages 50 to 55 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
SEVENTH DAY
“FATHER, INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT.” (Luke 23:46)
1. Meditation (Read pages 58 to 64 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
HEART of JESUS
Heart of Jesus! Meek and Mild!
Hear, O hear, Thy feeble child!
And when the tempest most severe
Heart of Jesus, hear!
(Refrain)
Sweetly we’ll rest on The Sacred Heart
Never from Thee, Oh let us part
Hear then Thy loving children’s prayer
O Heart of Jesus, Heart of Jesus, hear!
FAREWELL
(This Section to Be Used on the SEVENTH & LAST Day)
O Most Loving Father, the time has come for You to leave us and our dwelling which have been Your home for the past seven days. Words are not enough to render You praise and thanksgiving for the love that You have shown us. Our Father, You have always loved us. You have deigned to be with us even for a short time, and this Thou has done through this novena devotion to Your Son, The Lord of Pardon. We give Thee our heartfelt thanks through Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Farewell, Lord Jesus and we thank Thee for the great gifts of knowledge and understanding You have given us through Your Holy Spirit: of why You died for us and what we have to do in order that Your Passion and Death will be bear the fruits that You expect.
Farewell, O Holy Spirit and thank You for all Your gifts. Grant us also your fruits that we may live our lives in conformance and for the pleasure of Our Almighty God.
Farewell, O Queen and Delight of Heaven. We thank Thee, for all the blessings and graces you brought in to our dwelling by your constant intercession and for Your Motherly Love.
We look forward to Your next visit, O Blessed Trinity and Our Mother. We pray that we will again enjoy Your company soon, if not in this life, then, by Your compassion and forgiveness which You shower upon us with the Precious Blood of Your Dearly Beloved Son, may it be in Your kingdom. Amen.
TO JESUS’ HEART
To Jesus’ Heart all burning
With fervent love for men
My heart with fondest yearning
Shall raise its joyful strain.
Refrain
While ages course along
Blest be with loudest song
The Sacred Heart of Jesus
By every heart and tongue
Too true I have forsaken
Thy love by willful sin
Yet now let me be taken
Back by Thy grace again. (Ref)
THE OLD RUGGED CROSS
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
The emblem of suff’ring and shame. Has wondrous attraction for me,
And I love that old cross, where the dearest and best For, The Dear Lamb of God left His glory above,
For a world of lost sinners was slain To bear it to dark Calvary (Ref)
Refrain
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine
Till my trophies at last I lay down. A wondrous beauty I see.
I will cling to the old rugged cross, For ‘twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
And exchange some day for a crown. To pardon and sanctify me. (Ref)
The Fifteen Prayers
of St. Bridget of Sweden
These prayers are prayed daily, each beginning with a Pater and an Ave. Then follows a concluding prayer. There are alleged promises from Our Lord attached to these prayers, but they are problematic, inconsistent with Catholic teaching, and their publication was once forbidden. It may be that the vision wasn't properly written down, properly translated, consistently handed-down, or otherwise kept intact, but in any case, beware of any "Magnificent Promises" you may hear of in association with the following perfectly pious prayers.
First Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus Christ! Eternal Sweetness to those who love Thee, joy surpassing all joy and all desire, Salvation and Hope of all sinners, Who hast proved that Thou hast no greater desire than to be among men, even assuming human nature at the fullness of time for the love of men, recall all the sufferings Thou hast endured from the instant of Thy conception, and especially during Thy Passion, as it was decreed and ordained from eternity in the Divine plan.
Remember, O Lord, that during the Last Supper with Thy disciples having washed their feet, Thou gavest them Thy Most Precious Body and Blood, and while at the same time Thou didst sweetly console them, Thou didst fortell them Thy coming Passion.
Remember the sadness and bitterness which Thou didst experience in Thy Soul as Thou Thyself bore witness saying: "My Soul is sorrowful even unto death."
Remember all the fear, anguish and pain that Thou didst suffer in Thy delicate Body before the torment of the Crucifixion, when, after having prayed three times, bathed in a sweat of blood, Thou wast betrayed by Judas, Thy disciple, arrested by the people of a nation Thou hadst chosen and elevated, accused by false witnesses, unjustly judged by three judges during the flower of Thy youth and during the solemn Paschal season.
Remember that Thou wast despoiled of Thy garments and clothed in those of derision; that Thy Face and Eyes were veiled, that Thou wast buffeted, crowned with thorns, a reed placed in Thy Hands, that Thou wast crushed with blows and overwhelmed with affronts and outrages.
In memory of all these pains and sufferings which Thou didst endure before Thy Passion on the Cross, grant me before my death true contrition, a sincere and entire confession, worthy satisfaction and the remission all my sins. Amen.
Second Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! True liberty of angels, paradise of delights, remember the horror and sadness which Thou didst endure when Thy enemies, like furious lions, surrounded Thee, and by thousands of insults, spits, blows, lacerations and other unheard-of cruelties, tormented Thee at will. In consideration of these torments and insulting words, I beseech Thee, O my Savior, to deliver me from all my enemies, visible and invisible, and to bring me, under Thy protection, to the perfection of eternal salvation. Amen.
Third Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Creator of Heaven and earth Whom nothing can encompass or limit, Thou Who dost enfold and hold all under Thy loving power, remember the very bitter pain Thou didst suffer when the Jews nailed Thy Sacred Hands and Feet to the Cross by blow after blow with big blunt nails, and not finding Thee in a pitiable enough state to satisfy their rage, they enlarged thy Wounds, and added pain to pain, and with indescribable cruelty stretched Thy Body on the Cross, pulling Thee from all sides, thus dislocating Thy limbs.
I beg of Thee, O Jesus, by the memory of this most Loving suffering of the Cross, to grant me the grace to fear Thee and to Love Thee. Amen.
Fourth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Heavenly Physician, raised aloft on the Cross to heal our wounds with Thine, remember the bruises which Thou didst suffer and the weakness of all Thy Members which were distended to such a degree that never was there pain like unto Thine. From the crown of Thy Head to the Soles of Thy Feet there was not one spot on Thy Body that was not in torment, and yet, forgetting all Thy sufferings, Thou didst not cease to pray to Thy Heavenly Father for Thy enemies, saying: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."
Through this great Mercy, and in memory of this suffering, grant that the remembrance of Thy Most Bitter Passion may effect in us a perfect contrition and the remission of all our sins. Amen.
Fifth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Mirror of eternal splendor, remember the sadness which Thou experienced, when contemplating in the light of Thy Divinity the predestination of those who would be saved by the merits of Thy Sacred Passion, Thou didst see at the same time, the great multitude of reprobates who would be damned for their sins, and Thou didst complain bitterly of those hopeless, lost, and unfortunate sinners.
Through this abyss of compassion and pity, and especially through the goodness which Thou displayed to the good thief when Thou saidst to him: "This day, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, that at the hour of my death, Thou wilt show me mercy. Amen.
Sixth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Beloved and most desirable King, remember the grief Thou didst suffer, when naked and like a common criminal, Thou wast fastened and raised on the Cross, when all Thy relatives and friends abandoned Thee, except Thy Beloved Mother, who remained close to Thee during Thy agony and whom Thou didst entrust to Thy faithful disciple when Thou saidst to Mary: "Woman, behold thy son!", and to St. John: "Son, behold thy Mother!".
I beg of Thee O my Savior, by the sword of sorrow which pierced the soul of Thy holy Mother, to have compassion on me in all my afflictions and tribulations, both corporal and spiritual, and to assist me in all my trials, and especially at the hour of my death. Amen.
Seventh Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Inexhaustible Fountain of compassion, Who by a profound gesture of Love, said from the Cross: "I thirst," suffered from the thirst for the salvation of the human race. I beg of Thee, O my Savior, to inflame in our hearts the desire to tend toward perfection in all our acts, and to extinguish in us the concupiscence of the flesh and the ardor of worldly desires. Amen.
Eighth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Sweetness of hearts, delight of the spirit, by the bitterness of the gall and vinegar which Thou didst taste on the Cross for Love of us, grant us the grace to receive worthily Thy Precious Body and Blood during our life and at the hour of our death, that they may serve as a remedy and consolation for our souls. Amen.
Ninth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Royal virtue, joy of the mind, recall the pain Thou didst endure when plunged in an ocean of bitterness at the approach of death, insulted, outraged by the Jews, Thou didst cry out in a loud voice that Thou wast abandoned by Thy Father, saying: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
Through this anguish, I beg of Thee, O my Savior, not to abandon me in the terrors and pains of my death. Amen.
Tenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Who art the beginning and the end of all things, life and virtue, remember that for our sakes Thou wast plunged in an abyss of suffering from the soles of Thy Feet to the crown of Thy Head. In consideration of the enormity of Thy Wounds, teach me to keep, through pure love, Thy Commandments, whose way is wide and easy for those who love Thee. Amen.
Eleventh Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Deep abyss of mercy, I beg of Thee, in memory of Thy Wounds which penetrated to the very marrow of Thy Bones and to the depth of Thy being, to draw me, a miserable sinner, overwhelmed by my offenses, away from sin and to hide me from Thy Face justly irritated against me; hide me in Thy Wounds, until Thy anger and just indignation shall have passed away. Amen.
Twelfth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Mirror of truth, symbol of unity, link of charity, remember the multitude of wounds with which Thou wast covered from head to foot, torn and reddened by the spilling of Thy adorable Blood. O great and universal pain which Thou didst suffer in Thy virginal flesh for love of us! Sweetest Jesus! What is there that Thou couldst have done for us which Thou hast not done?
May the fruit of Thy sufferings be renewed in my soul by the faithful remembrance of Thy Passion, and may Thy love increase in my heart each day until I see Thee in eternity, Thou Who art the treasury of every real good and every joy, which I beg Thee to grant me, O sweetest Jesus, in Heaven. Amen.
Thirteenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Strong lion, immortal and invincible King, remember the pain Thou didst endure when all Thy strength, both moral and physical, was entirely exhausted; Thou didst bow Thy Head, saying: "It is consummated."
Through this anguish and grief, I beg of Thee Lord Jesus, to have mercy on me at the hour of my death when my mind will be greatly troubled and my soul will be in anguish. Amen.
Fourteenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Only Son of the Father, splendor and figure of His Substance, remember the simple and humble recommendation Thou didst make of Thy Soul to Thy Eternal Father, saying: "Father, into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit!" And with Thy Body all torn, and Thy Heart broken, and the bowels of Thy Mercy open to redeem us, Thou didst expire.
By this Precious Death, I beg of Thee O King of Saints, to comfort me and help me to resist the devil, the flesh and the world, so that being dead to the world, I may live for Thee alone. I beg of Thee at the hour of my death to receive me, a pilgrim and an exile returning to Thee. Amen.
Fifteenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! True and fruitful Vine! Remember the abundant outpouring of blood which Thou didst so generously shed from Thy Sacred Body as juice from grapes in a wine press.
From Thy Side, pierced with a lance by a soldier, blood and water issued forth until there was not left in Thy Body a single drop, and finally, like a bundle of myrrh lifted to the top of the Cross, Thy delicate Flesh was destroyed, the very substance of Thy Body withered, and the marrow of Thy Bones dried up.
Through this bitter Passion, and through the outpouring of Thy Precious Blood, I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, to receive my soul when I am in my death agony. Amen.
Concluding Prayer
O Sweet Jesus! Pierce my heart so that my tears of penitence and love will be my bread day and night; may I be converted entirely to Thee, may my heart be Thy perpetual habitation, may my conversation be pleasing to Thee, and may the end of my life be so praiseworthy that I may merit Heaven and there with Thy saints, praise Thee forever. Amen.
ETERNAL REST (PRAYER FOR THE DEPARTED)
01
JAN
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.
Amen.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come to you.
Let us pray:
O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Your servants departed the remission of all their sins, that through our pious supplication they may obtain that pardon which they have always desired; who live and reign for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
“Who has seen the wind? Neither you nor I but when the trees bow down their heads, the wind is passing by.”—Christina Rossetti
“By bringing nature into our lives, we invite humility.”—Richard Louv
Richard Louv
"Thank you" is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding. -Alice Walker
“Humility, that low, sweet root, from which all heavenly virtues shoot.”—Thomas Moore
Me. My girlish pink toenails. I have feminine feet. I am so ashamed and humiliated. Humiliation. Humility. Shame. Soft, girly feet. A foot fetish paradise. Especially since I am a man dressed as a woman. Foot fetish nation? Toes and feet lovers will love me.
Nobody knew I masqueraded as a woman and went to bars to pickup men. My girlfriend caught me walking down the street dressed as a woman. There I stood, in little black dress, in front of a busy restaurant, confronted by my girlfriend. I was humiliated as she pointed out my hot pink pedicure and toe ring visible through the black pantyhose I was wearing with my high heeled sandals. She was freaked out how I had deep cleavage and great legs. Ugh.
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#footfetish #transmilf #curvy #cougar #transcougar #footmodel #transmodel #SugarBaby #hijrah #transsexual #genderfluid #nailsonfleek #instanails #transgender #transpride #SoccerMom #wife #bride #wifey #secretary #sissy #sissygirl #feet #pantyhose #nylons
Me.
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#footfetish #transmilf #curvy #cougar #transcougar #footmodel #transmodel #SugarBaby #hijrah #transsexual #genderfluid #nailsonfleek #instanails #transgender #transpride #SoccerMom #wife #bride #wifey #secretary #sissy #sissygirl
Nobody knew I masqueraded as a woman and went to bars to pickup men. My girlfriend caught me walking down the street dressed as a woman. There I stood, in little black dress, in front of a busy restaurant, confronted by my girlfriend. I was humiliated as she pointed out my hot pink pedicure and toe ring visible through the black pantyhose I was wearing with my high heeled sandals. She was freaked out how I had deep cleavage and great legs. Ugh.
soft girl
bimbo
For a blog I am working on.
When I started this journey I never thought I would loose my past so completely.
I became a woman.
It's important to me to put 100% off my energy into claiming the power of the feminine by adhering to the feminine gender. Now, I state plainly, for the record: I am an airhead, no lie, an attractive unintelligent woman who loves clothes and shoes. I am sooooo on board with my women's subordinate status that it's scary. I am compliant and submissive because that is what my job requires. I am perfectly fine standing in the shadow of a man as long as I look cute and can do my nails.
I am a model. It's a thing. Don't judge.
My coworkers and I do what we can to look and feel our best. The girls helped me see I am a soft girl and being a model brought forward my hotness with a polished new hyper feminine identity. I'm a girl. A girly girl. Like, work only requires a plain mani, but my coworkers decided I should really go above and beyond in my femininity with the coffin nails look and I have had at least 1 1/2 inch fingernails since. So swish and perfect for my girly style. I'm such a follower and don't have to make my own style decisions lately. Why think when you're getting waxed and long pink glittery fingernails attached?
When work made me model exclusively strappy heels or wedges because of my soft and girly feet, the girls took that decision and we extended it to my personal life. I won't go anywhere without wearing pantyhose, short dresses or skirts showcasing my toned feminine legs and sky high heels that show off my foot model pedicure with toe rings and ankle bracelets on display. I've got nice feet.
In my work success is partiay determined by maintaining a romantic relationship with a man, and I found my sexuality can be used to maintain the relationship. My work uses sexual objectification of women and I am a willing cog in that machine. I have no choice. I have a contract. I'm just a woman. I use my assets to make a living. I'm just a girl, what difference can I make.
Even while grocery shopping I'm fully made up. Men are nice to a pretty woman. They help me, hold doors open, carry my groceries, and I just bat my eyelashes, bend my leg at the knee and bite my lip. I see them checking out my seamed stockings or staring at my bosom or watch my butt wiggle as I walk heel toe heel toe down the magazine isle in my 5 inch spikes and pink leather mini.
Oh em gee I had to go to home depot one day after work, wearing a sheer diaphanous red dress and strappy Manolo Blahnik's, red lipstick, red nails, silk stockings, dressed to the nines, and every man there wanted to help and I didn't have to do a thing. I sat at the front on a bench with my legs crossed, clicked through my social media, refreshed my lipstick and just looked pretty.
The girls and I are all like that. A fem pack of fashion conscious women in the city. I am a part of it. I fit in. I certainly look the part now.
The girls helped me discover that pinks and their various hues are definitely my color, like, I am totes a fem woman so I should breathe it in. I have pink heels, pink skirts, pink jewelry, pink lipstick, pink nails and pink nose ring. I am a pink girl. Also I am one of the bimbo girls. A high heeled glorfied secretary with sexy legs oozing sexiness with my plump pink lips and low cut dress in the office, walking around in designer pumps looking gorgeous, organizing racks of nylons, smiling at the men coz they can't keep their eyes off me.
After modeling? I will be hawt a buxom beautician doing hair and gossiping with long designer nails in a coral frock with heavy makeup, a pierced nose and tongue, dangly earrings, bangle bracelets, kissable pink lips, deep cleavage in my sundress, shapely legs in sheer nude pantyhose with shocking hot pink toenails showing from my strappy heeled sandals drawing admiring glances from men wherever I go. Me. I'm cool with that. It's why I became a woman. I am living my dream to have transformed from man to basically a painted up Barbie. I get to dress up and play with makeup and shoes.
forced femme force feminization femdom
And sell a little pantyhose in the process.
Nobody knew I masqueraded as a woman and went to bars to pickup men. My girlfriend caught me walking down the street dressed as a woman. There I stood, in little black dress, in front of a busy restaurant, confronted by my girlfriend. I was humiliated as she pointed out my hot pink pedicure and toe ring visible through the black pantyhose I was wearing with my high heeled sandals. She was freaked out how I had deep cleavage and great legs. Ugh.
soft girl
bimbo
When I started this journey I never thought I would loose my past so completely.
It's important to me to put 100% off my energy into claiming the power of the feminine by adhering to the feminine gender. Now, I state plainly: I am an airhead, no lie, an attractive unintelligent woman. I am sooooo on board with my women's subordinate status that it's scary. I am compliant and submissive because that is what my job requires. I am a model. It's a thing. Don't judge.
My coworkers and I do what we can to look and feel our best. The girls helped me see I am a soft girl and being a model brought forward my hotness with a polished new hyper feminine identity. I'm a girl. A girly girl. Like, work only requires a plain mani, but my coworkers decided I should really go for the coffin nails look and I have had at least 1 1/2 inch fingernails since. So swish and perfect for my girly style. I'm such a follower and don't have to make my own style decisions lately. Why think when you've got pink and glittery fingernails?
When work made me model exclusively strappy heels or wedges because of my soft and girly feet, the girls took that decision and we extended it to my personal life so I won't go any where without wearing pantyhose, short dresses or skirts showcasing my toned feminine legs and sky high heels that show off my foot model pedicure with toe rings and ankle bracelets on display.
In my work success is partiay determined by maintaining a romantic relationship with a man, and I found my sexuality can be used to maintain the relationship. My work uses sexual objectification of women and I am a willing cog in that machine. I have no choice. I have a contract. I'm just a woman. I use my assets to make a living. I'm just a girl, what difference can I make.
Even while grocery shopping I'm fully made up. Men are nice to a pretty woman. They help me, hold doors open, carry my groceries, and I just bat my eyelashes, bend my leg at the knee and bite my lip. I see them checking out my legs or staring at my bosom or watch my butt wiggle as I walk heel toe heel toe down the magazine isle in my 5 inch spikes.
Oh em gee I had to go to home depot one day after work, wearing a sheer diaphanous red dress and strappy Manolo Blahnik's, red lipstick, red nails, silk stockings, dressed to the nines, and every man there wanted to help and I didn't have to do a thing. I sat at the front on a bench with my legs crossed, clicked through my social media, refreshed my lipstick and just looked pretty.
The girls and I are all like that. A fem pack of fashion conscious women in the city. I am a part of it. I fit in. I certainly look the part now.
The girls helped me discover that pinks and their various hues are definitely my color, like, I am totes a fem woman so I should breathe it in. I am just one of the bimbo girls.
Transgender bride
Sissy bride
Transsexual wife
Sissy wife
Trans Sissy
Housewife
June cleaver
1950s vintage housewife
House husband
Sissy husband
Black men love my transsexual sissy sexy secretary housewife curvy trans self. My pretty feet and toes turn them on. When I caress them with my long painted fingernails they love it. Indian men from India love me also. Especially when I wear a burka burqa.
www.fisheaters.com/15prayersofstbridget.html
The LORD of PARDON Devotion
RECEPTION PRAYER TO THE LORD OF PARDON [i]
The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father, and of The Son and of The Holy Ghost. Amen.
1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi [ii]
ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.
2. Welcome Prayer [iii]
O LORD, OUR GOD, our All, we welcome You into our humble dwelling. We thank You, we honor You and we praise You for Your Infinite humility; because You have deigned to bless our earthly dwelling with Your Divine and Majestic Presence, though we are full of unworthiness and our humble dwelling is inadequate for Your glory.
BLESS OUR family and our home, O Lord, that we may be worthy of Your Love and Your Divine Presence. May our home be a true nest of Your Divine Love not only for the next seven days of Your visit but for the rest of our pilgrimage on this earth. Grant that we may make Your stay in our home very pleasurable.
LORD, WE are Yours and we humbly pray that You will take care of us as Your true possession, now and forever. Amen.
3. Prayer for All of Humanity (From the Beginning to the End of the World) [iv]
O THOU MOST BELOVED, Most Merciful Lord Jesus Christ, into Thy Holy Almighty Hands we commend ourselves for all eternity, as well as in the Heart of the Most High God of the Eternal Trinity! We take refuge in the deep Wounds of Thy Most Holy Body. May Thy Most Holy Body nourish us, Thy Most Precious shed Blood, Fear and Suffering purify us of all our sins and vices! Oh, Our Dear Lord God, we humbly offer Thy Great Fear and Need to Thy Heavenly Father in expiation for all our sins and debts! May the terrible blows Thou didst endure plead for us! May Thy most painful scourging cover our great guilt! We offer All Thine injustices, deep wounds, great pains and sighs to Thy Heavenly Father for all our neglects. May Thy Great Love, Oh Dearest Jesus, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice and with Thee! Oh, Most Merciful Jesus, may Thy Faultless Judgment be for us the forgiveness of all our sins, known and unknown; may Thy Holy Footsteps in so much Misery lead and guide us in the way of Thy Divine Justice; may Thy Shameful Denuding make us pure in body and sanctify our souls! May Thy Bitter Agony, Thy Holy Wounds shield us from our visible and invisible enemies! May Thy Pierced Hands and Feet lead us to All Good. Oh Dearest Lord, place us and hide us in Thy Five Most Holy Wounds! Forget not our poor souls for which Thou didst so agonizingly trembled on the stem of the Holy Cross! For the sake of all the Martyrdom Thou didst suffer, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice! May Thy Most Holy and Bitter Death protect us, and lead us to Eternal Salvation! May Thy Most Blessed Power and Divine Omnipotence drive away and keep away from us every evil of body and soul! May Thy Most Holy Wounds, Dearest Jesus, bless and protect us in our death agony from all power of the infernal enemy! At the hour of our death, may Thy Most Precious Blood erase all our sins before our Beloved Heavenly Father, and let die in us all inclination to sin! May Thy Most Precious Blood lead us to all Angels and Saints! We commend and place all our suffering friends and enemies and all deceased persons to and into Thy most Loyal Redeemer’s Heart! Oh, Dearest Jesus, give to us all Thine Infinite Merits, the Power and the Blessing of Thy Most Bitter Passion and Death! Oh, Eternal Divinity, Oh, True Humanity of Jesus, Oh, Most Blessed Trinity, protect us now, according to Thy Divine desire and forever! Oh, Almighty and Immortal God, have mercy on us all! Amen. (It is highly recommended that this prayer be kept in one’s home and said daily.)
4. The ‘Constant’ Prayer of St. Catherine of Siena [v]
Precious Blood, Ocean of Divine Mercy: Flow upon us!
Precious Blood, Most Pure Offering: Procure Us Every Grace!
Precious Blood, Hope and Refuge of Sinners: Atone for Us!
Precious Blood, Delight of Holy Souls: Draw Us! Amen.
5. An Offering of The Holy Wounds and The Precious Blood [vi]
ETERNAL FATHER, we offer You the Holy Wounds of Your Son, and His Precious Blood, for the conversion of sinners and for the relief of the souls in Purgatory.
ETERNAL FATHER, we offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ in atonement for our sins, and in supplication for the souls in Purgatory and for the needs of the Holy Church. – The Raccolta
6. Invocations
O God the Father, Omnipotent and Merciful Creator, Who has so much love and mercy for such miserable creatures like us; Have mercy on us, save us from hell, and protect us from all evil. (3X)
O Jesus Christ, The Lord of Pardon, Have mercy on us and forgive us our sins. (3X)
O Most Precious Blood of Jesus, Save and protect us from all that is evil. (3X)
O Holy Ghost, Paraclete and Comforter of All Mankind, Have Mercy on Us (3X)
Immaculate Hear of Mary, Pray for us, now and at the hour of our
death. Amen.
O Mary, Mother of Sorrows, Pray for Us
O Mother of the Sorrowful Heart, Pray for Us.
Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for Us
O Mary, Conceived without sin, Pray for Us who have recourse to Thee.
Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Pray for Us
Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for Us
Today/Tonight, we protect ourselves with the shield of the Imma-culate Conception!
THE SEVEN-DAY DEVOTION TO THE LORD OF PARDON
OPENING PRAYERS FOR EACH DAY
The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father +, and of The Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi
ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.
2. Come, Holy Ghost
COME HOLY GHOST, fill the hearts of Thy faithful
And kindle in them the fire of Thy Divine Love.
V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created,
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
Let Us Pray
O GOD, Who has taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Ghost, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may always be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. Grant this through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
(The following hymn may be sung in place of the above prayer.)
VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS
Come Holy Ghost, Creator blest O, Comforter, to Thee we cry
And in our hearts take up Thy Rest Thou heavenly gift of God, Most High
Come with Thy grace, and heavenly aid O Fount of Life and Fire of Love
To fill our hearts which Thou has made And Sweet Anointing from above
To fill our hearts which Thou has made. And Sweet Anointing from above.
3. Divine Will Prayer [1]
THROUGH THE Immaculate Heart of Mary, I enter today/tonight into the Holy Will of God and pray – Come Divine will to pray in my prayer, in my name (and the name of those whom we pray for daily) and the name of all souls, for the love, honor and (greater) glory of God, Our Father, in reparation for all sins and for the salvation of souls. Amen.
4. To Obtain Love of Prayer [2]
O, LORD JESUS CHRIST, for the sake of Thy sufferings, grant to us, (and to all those whom we pray for daily,) such faith, hope, charity, sorrow for sins and love of prayer, that will help sanctify and save our souls.
5. To Learn the Science of Salvation [3]
JESUS, EXTEND to us in the light, in Thine infinite knowledge, the power through the light, to understand the task that lies ahead for all of us, who wish to be saved. Amen.
6. Act of Contrition
O MY GOD, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee. And I confess all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. But most all, because I love Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.
7. Daily Prayer [4]
O GOD, Who for the redemption of the world didst vouchsafe to be born among men, rejected by the Jews, betrayed with a kiss by the traitor Judas, bound with cords, to be led as an innocent lamb to the slaughter, to be treated with indignity, accused by false witnesses, afflicted with scourges and reproaches, to be spit upon, crowned with thorns, beaten with blows, struck with a reed, to have Your face veiled, to be stripped of Your garments, to be nailed to the cross and raised high thereon, to be ranked among thieves, to be offered gall and vinegar to drink, and to be pierced with a lance.
O LORD, by these Your most holy pains, which I, though unworthy, now call to mind, and by Your Holy cross
and death, deliver us from the pains of hell and take us where You took the good thief who was crucified with You, Who with The Father and The Holy Ghost, livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.
8. Hymns
O SACRED HEART
O Sacred Heart! O Love Divine! Ref: Heart of Jesus, Hear!
Do keep us near to Thee. O Heart of Love Divine!
And make our hearts so like to Thine Listen to Our Prayer!
That we may holy be Make us always Thine.
HAIL MARY
Hail! Mary, Full of Grace! Holy Mary, Mother of God,
The Lord is with Thee! Pray for us, sinners,
Blessed art Thou amongst women! Now, and at the hour --
And blessed is the Fruit Of Thy Womb, Jesus! Of our death. Amen.
9. Prayers before The Rosary
THE LAST VISION OF FATIMA PRAYER [5]
O Queen of the most holy rosary, Thou hast deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three shepherd children the treasures of grace hidden in the rosary. Inspire our hearts with a sincere love for this devotion, that by meditating upon the mysteries of our redemption which are recalled in it, we may be enriched. With its fruits, obtain peace for the world, the conversion of sinners and of Russia, (the remission of the temporal punishment of the poor souls in Purgatory, the triumph of Your Son’s church over the gates of hell) and the favor which we ask of you in this rosary. (MAKE YOUR REQUEST.) We ask it for the greater glory of God, for your own honor, and for the good of souls, including our own. Amen.
ST. LOUIS DE MONFORT’S PRAYER [6]
WE UNITE ourselves with all the Saints in heaven, and with all the just on earth; we unite ourselves with Thee, Our Jesus, in order to praise Your holy Mother worthily and to praise You in her and by her. We renounce all the distractions that may have during this rosary which we wish to say with modesty, attention and devotion just as if it were to be the last one of our lives. Amen.
WE OFFER to Thee, O Most Holy Trinity this creed – in honor of the mysteries of our faith; this Our Father and these three Hail Marys – in honor of the Unity of Thy Essence and the Trinity of Thy Persons.
WE ASK of Thee a lively faith, a firm hope and an ardent charity. Amen.
10. The Proper of The Most Holy Rosary
THE APOSTLE’S CREED
I BELIEVE in God, the Father the Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ His Only Son, Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell, the third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God, The Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in The Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.
THE PATER
Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.
THE AVE
HAIL MARY! Full of grace! The Lord is with Thee! Blessed art Thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus! Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.
THE GLORIA
GLORY BE to The Father, and to The Son and to The Holy Ghost! As it was in the beginning, now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
THE ANGEL of FATIMA PRAYER *
MY GOD, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee, and I beg pardon for all those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust and do not love Thee.
O MY JESUS, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls into heaven, especially those who most need of Thy mercy.
PEACE PRAYER
O MOST SWEET Heart of Jesus, lead us unto salvation. Grant peace to the entire world, specially the United States/Philippines/(Name Your Country). Bring back to You all sinners and grant that they may find the path that leads to you.
IMMACULATE HEART INVOCATION *
O BLESSED VIRGIN Mother protect us with your most Immaculate Heart. Amen.
PRAYER of POPE LEO XIII *
St. MICHAEL, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
THE MYSTERIES of THE HOLY ROSARY
The Joyful Mysteries (Monday and Thursday)
1. THE ANNUNCIATION (by the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary of her selection by
The Blessed Trinity as the Mother of the forthcoming Messiah)
2. THE VISITATION (of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth)
3. THE BIRTH of Our Lord Jesus (in the small town of Bethlehem)
4. THE PRESENTATION of Our Lord Jesus (in the temple)
5. THE FINDING of the Child Jesus (in the Temple, three days after He was found missing)
The Sorrowful Mysteries (Tuesday and Friday)
1. THE AGONY of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane
2. THE SCOURGING of Our Lord Jesus Christ at the Pillar
3. THE CROWNING of Our Lord Jesus Christ with the Crown of Thorns
4. THE CARRYING of the Cross by Our Lord Jesus Christ to Calvary
5. THE CRUCIFIXION and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross
The Glorious mysteries (Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday)
1. THE RESURRECTION of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead (on the third day after His
burial)
2. THE ASCENSION of Our Lord Jesus Christ (into Heaven, forty days after His resurrection)
3. THE DESCENT of The Holy Ghost (upon Our Blessed Mother and the Apostles on the 50th day
after The Ascension of Jesus)
4. THE ASSUMPTION of Our Blessed Mother (into Heaven, body and soul)
5. THE CORONATION of the Blessed Virgin Mary (as the Queen of Heaven and all of Creation)
HAIL! HOLY QUEEN!
HAIL! HOLY QUEEN! Mother of mercy, hail our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To Thee do we send up our sigh, mourning, and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then O Most Gracious Advocate, Thine eyes of mercy towards us and after this our exile, show unto us, the Blessed Fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet, Virgin Mary.
V. Pray for us O Holy Mother of God,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let Us Pray O GOD, Whose Only Begotten Son, by His Life, Death and Resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life. Grant, we beseech Thee, that by meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.
V. May the Divine Assistance remain always with us, +
R. And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
11. Prayers After The Rosary
LITANY OF THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD
Lord, have mercy on us, Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us!
Christ, hear us, Christ graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.
Blood of Christ, Only Begotten Son of The Eternal Father, Save us.
Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God,
Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament,
Blood of Christ, first shed in the Presentation at the temple,
Blood of Christ, falling upon the Earth in Agony in the garden of Olives,
Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging at the pillar,
Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with thorns,
Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross,
Blood of Christ, the price of our Salvation,
Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness,
Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and Refreshment of souls,
Blood of Christ, stream of mercy,
Blood of Christ, victor over demons,
Blood of Christ, courage of martyrs,
Blood of Christ, strength of confessors,
Blood of Christ, bringing forth virgins,
Blood of Christ, help of those in peril,
Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened,
Blood of Christ, solace of the sorrowful,
Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent,
Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying,
Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts,
Blood of Christ, the pledge of Eternal Life,
Blood of Christ, freeing souls from Purgatory,
Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor,
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us
V. You have redeemed us, O Lord, by Your Precious Blood,
R. And made us, for Our God, a kingdom.
Let Us Pray
OMNIPOTENT and Eternal God, You have chosen Your Only Begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world and You have been appeased by the shedding of His Most Precious Blood. Grant, we humbly pray, that we may always cherish the value of our redemption and forget not the grief You and our Blessed Virgin Mother have to bear in the suffering and death of Your Dearly Beloved Son. Through His Precious Blood and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may we be delivered from all evil in this world that we may enjoy the fruits of our redemption in Your kingdom for all eternity. Amen.
FIRST DAY
“FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.” (Luke 23:34)
1. Meditation (Read pages 10 to 16 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Turn to page 1)
3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
SECOND DAY
“AMEN, I SAY TO YOU, THIS DAY THOU SHALT BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.” (Luke 23:43)
1. Meditation (Read pages 18 to 24 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
THIRD DAY
“WOMAN, BEHOLD THY SON.”
(After that, He said to the disciple:) “BEHOLD THY MOTHER.” (John 19:26-27)
1. Meditation (Read pages 26 to 31 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
FOURTH DAY
“MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME.”
(Matt. 27:46 and Mk. 15:34)
1. Meditation (Read pages 34 to 40 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
FIFTH DAY
“I THIRST.” (John 19:28)
1. Meditation (Read pages 42 to 47 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
SIXTH DAY
“IT IS CONSUMMATED.” (John 19:28)
1. Meditation (Read pages 50 to 55 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
SEVENTH DAY
“FATHER, INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT.” (Luke 23:46)
1. Meditation (Read pages 58 to 64 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
HEART of JESUS
Heart of Jesus! Meek and Mild!
Hear, O hear, Thy feeble child!
And when the tempest most severe
Heart of Jesus, hear!
(Refrain)
Sweetly we’ll rest on The Sacred Heart
Never from Thee, Oh let us part
Hear then Thy loving children’s prayer
O Heart of Jesus, Heart of Jesus, hear!
FAREWELL
(This Section to Be Used on the SEVENTH & LAST Day)
O Most Loving Father, the time has come for You to leave us and our dwelling which have been Your home for the past seven days. Words are not enough to render You praise and thanksgiving for the love that You have shown us. Our Father, You have always loved us. You have deigned to be with us even for a short time, and this Thou has done through this novena devotion to Your Son, The Lord of Pardon. We give Thee our heartfelt thanks through Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Farewell, Lord Jesus and we thank Thee for the great gifts of knowledge and understanding You have given us through Your Holy Spirit: of why You died for us and what we have to do in order that Your Passion and Death will be bear the fruits that You expect.
Farewell, O Holy Spirit and thank You for all Your gifts. Grant us also your fruits that we may live our lives in conformance and for the pleasure of Our Almighty God.
Farewell, O Queen and Delight of Heaven. We thank Thee, for all the blessings and graces you brought in to our dwelling by your constant intercession and for Your Motherly Love.
We look forward to Your next visit, O Blessed Trinity and Our Mother. We pray that we will again enjoy Your company soon, if not in this life, then, by Your compassion and forgiveness which You shower upon us with the Precious Blood of Your Dearly Beloved Son, may it be in Your kingdom. Amen.
TO JESUS’ HEART
To Jesus’ Heart all burning
With fervent love for men
My heart with fondest yearning
Shall raise its joyful strain.
Refrain
While ages course along
Blest be with loudest song
The Sacred Heart of Jesus
By every heart and tongue
Too true I have forsaken
Thy love by willful sin
Yet now let me be taken
Back by Thy grace again. (Ref)
THE OLD RUGGED CROSS
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
The emblem of suff’ring and shame. Has wondrous attraction for me,
And I love that old cross, where the dearest and best For, The Dear Lamb of God left His glory above,
For a world of lost sinners was slain To bear it to dark Calvary (Ref)
Refrain
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine
Till my trophies at last I lay down. A wondrous beauty I see.
I will cling to the old rugged cross, For ‘twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
And exchange some day for a crown. To pardon and sanctify me. (Ref)
The Fifteen Prayers
of St. Bridget of Sweden
These prayers are prayed daily, each beginning with a Pater and an Ave. Then follows a concluding prayer. There are alleged promises from Our Lord attached to these prayers, but they are problematic, inconsistent with Catholic teaching, and their publication was once forbidden. It may be that the vision wasn't properly written down, properly translated, consistently handed-down, or otherwise kept intact, but in any case, beware of any "Magnificent Promises" you may hear of in association with the following perfectly pious prayers.
First Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus Christ! Eternal Sweetness to those who love Thee, joy surpassing all joy and all desire, Salvation and Hope of all sinners, Who hast proved that Thou hast no greater desire than to be among men, even assuming human nature at the fullness of time for the love of men, recall all the sufferings Thou hast endured from the instant of Thy conception, and especially during Thy Passion, as it was decreed and ordained from eternity in the Divine plan.
Remember, O Lord, that during the Last Supper with Thy disciples having washed their feet, Thou gavest them Thy Most Precious Body and Blood, and while at the same time Thou didst sweetly console them, Thou didst fortell them Thy coming Passion.
Remember the sadness and bitterness which Thou didst experience in Thy Soul as Thou Thyself bore witness saying: "My Soul is sorrowful even unto death."
Remember all the fear, anguish and pain that Thou didst suffer in Thy delicate Body before the torment of the Crucifixion, when, after having prayed three times, bathed in a sweat of blood, Thou wast betrayed by Judas, Thy disciple, arrested by the people of a nation Thou hadst chosen and elevated, accused by false witnesses, unjustly judged by three judges during the flower of Thy youth and during the solemn Paschal season.
Remember that Thou wast despoiled of Thy garments and clothed in those of derision; that Thy Face and Eyes were veiled, that Thou wast buffeted, crowned with thorns, a reed placed in Thy Hands, that Thou wast crushed with blows and overwhelmed with affronts and outrages.
In memory of all these pains and sufferings which Thou didst endure before Thy Passion on the Cross, grant me before my death true contrition, a sincere and entire confession, worthy satisfaction and the remission all my sins. Amen.
Second Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! True liberty of angels, paradise of delights, remember the horror and sadness which Thou didst endure when Thy enemies, like furious lions, surrounded Thee, and by thousands of insults, spits, blows, lacerations and other unheard-of cruelties, tormented Thee at will. In consideration of these torments and insulting words, I beseech Thee, O my Savior, to deliver me from all my enemies, visible and invisible, and to bring me, under Thy protection, to the perfection of eternal salvation. Amen.
Third Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Creator of Heaven and earth Whom nothing can encompass or limit, Thou Who dost enfold and hold all under Thy loving power, remember the very bitter pain Thou didst suffer when the Jews nailed Thy Sacred Hands and Feet to the Cross by blow after blow with big blunt nails, and not finding Thee in a pitiable enough state to satisfy their rage, they enlarged thy Wounds, and added pain to pain, and with indescribable cruelty stretched Thy Body on the Cross, pulling Thee from all sides, thus dislocating Thy limbs.
I beg of Thee, O Jesus, by the memory of this most Loving suffering of the Cross, to grant me the grace to fear Thee and to Love Thee. Amen.
Fourth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Heavenly Physician, raised aloft on the Cross to heal our wounds with Thine, remember the bruises which Thou didst suffer and the weakness of all Thy Members which were distended to such a degree that never was there pain like unto Thine. From the crown of Thy Head to the Soles of Thy Feet there was not one spot on Thy Body that was not in torment, and yet, forgetting all Thy sufferings, Thou didst not cease to pray to Thy Heavenly Father for Thy enemies, saying: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."
Through this great Mercy, and in memory of this suffering, grant that the remembrance of Thy Most Bitter Passion may effect in us a perfect contrition and the remission of all our sins. Amen.
Fifth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Mirror of eternal splendor, remember the sadness which Thou experienced, when contemplating in the light of Thy Divinity the predestination of those who would be saved by the merits of Thy Sacred Passion, Thou didst see at the same time, the great multitude of reprobates who would be damned for their sins, and Thou didst complain bitterly of those hopeless, lost, and unfortunate sinners.
Through this abyss of compassion and pity, and especially through the goodness which Thou displayed to the good thief when Thou saidst to him: "This day, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, that at the hour of my death, Thou wilt show me mercy. Amen.
Sixth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Beloved and most desirable King, remember the grief Thou didst suffer, when naked and like a common criminal, Thou wast fastened and raised on the Cross, when all Thy relatives and friends abandoned Thee, except Thy Beloved Mother, who remained close to Thee during Thy agony and whom Thou didst entrust to Thy faithful disciple when Thou saidst to Mary: "Woman, behold thy son!", and to St. John: "Son, behold thy Mother!".
I beg of Thee O my Savior, by the sword of sorrow which pierced the soul of Thy holy Mother, to have compassion on me in all my afflictions and tribulations, both corporal and spiritual, and to assist me in all my trials, and especially at the hour of my death. Amen.
Seventh Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Inexhaustible Fountain of compassion, Who by a profound gesture of Love, said from the Cross: "I thirst," suffered from the thirst for the salvation of the human race. I beg of Thee, O my Savior, to inflame in our hearts the desire to tend toward perfection in all our acts, and to extinguish in us the concupiscence of the flesh and the ardor of worldly desires. Amen.
Eighth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Sweetness of hearts, delight of the spirit, by the bitterness of the gall and vinegar which Thou didst taste on the Cross for Love of us, grant us the grace to receive worthily Thy Precious Body and Blood during our life and at the hour of our death, that they may serve as a remedy and consolation for our souls. Amen.
Ninth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Royal virtue, joy of the mind, recall the pain Thou didst endure when plunged in an ocean of bitterness at the approach of death, insulted, outraged by the Jews, Thou didst cry out in a loud voice that Thou wast abandoned by Thy Father, saying: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
Through this anguish, I beg of Thee, O my Savior, not to abandon me in the terrors and pains of my death. Amen.
Tenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Who art the beginning and the end of all things, life and virtue, remember that for our sakes Thou wast plunged in an abyss of suffering from the soles of Thy Feet to the crown of Thy Head. In consideration of the enormity of Thy Wounds, teach me to keep, through pure love, Thy Commandments, whose way is wide and easy for those who love Thee. Amen.
Eleventh Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Deep abyss of mercy, I beg of Thee, in memory of Thy Wounds which penetrated to the very marrow of Thy Bones and to the depth of Thy being, to draw me, a miserable sinner, overwhelmed by my offenses, away from sin and to hide me from Thy Face justly irritated against me; hide me in Thy Wounds, until Thy anger and just indignation shall have passed away. Amen.
Twelfth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Mirror of truth, symbol of unity, link of charity, remember the multitude of wounds with which Thou wast covered from head to foot, torn and reddened by the spilling of Thy adorable Blood. O great and universal pain which Thou didst suffer in Thy virginal flesh for love of us! Sweetest Jesus! What is there that Thou couldst have done for us which Thou hast not done?
May the fruit of Thy sufferings be renewed in my soul by the faithful remembrance of Thy Passion, and may Thy love increase in my heart each day until I see Thee in eternity, Thou Who art the treasury of every real good and every joy, which I beg Thee to grant me, O sweetest Jesus, in Heaven. Amen.
Thirteenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Strong lion, immortal and invincible King, remember the pain Thou didst endure when all Thy strength, both moral and physical, was entirely exhausted; Thou didst bow Thy Head, saying: "It is consummated."
Through this anguish and grief, I beg of Thee Lord Jesus, to have mercy on me at the hour of my death when my mind will be greatly troubled and my soul will be in anguish. Amen.
Fourteenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Only Son of the Father, splendor and figure of His Substance, remember the simple and humble recommendation Thou didst make of Thy Soul to Thy Eternal Father, saying: "Father, into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit!" And with Thy Body all torn, and Thy Heart broken, and the bowels of Thy Mercy open to redeem us, Thou didst expire.
By this Precious Death, I beg of Thee O King of Saints, to comfort me and help me to resist the devil, the flesh and the world, so that being dead to the world, I may live for Thee alone. I beg of Thee at the hour of my death to receive me, a pilgrim and an exile returning to Thee. Amen.
Fifteenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! True and fruitful Vine! Remember the abundant outpouring of blood which Thou didst so generously shed from Thy Sacred Body as juice from grapes in a wine press.
From Thy Side, pierced with a lance by a soldier, blood and water issued forth until there was not left in Thy Body a single drop, and finally, like a bundle of myrrh lifted to the top of the Cross, Thy delicate Flesh was destroyed, the very substance of Thy Body withered, and the marrow of Thy Bones dried up.
Through this bitter Passion, and through the outpouring of Thy Precious Blood, I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, to receive my soul when I am in my death agony. Amen.
Concluding Prayer
O Sweet Jesus! Pierce my heart so that my tears of penitence and love will be my bread day and night; may I be converted entirely to Thee, may my heart be Thy perpetual habitation, may my conversation be pleasing to Thee, and may the end of my life be so praiseworthy that I may merit Heaven and there with Thy saints, praise Thee forever. Amen.
ETERNAL REST (PRAYER FOR THE DEPARTED)
01
JAN
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.
Amen.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come to you.
Let us pray:
O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Your servants departed the remission of all their sins, that through our pious supplication they may obtain that pardon which they have always desired; who live and reign for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
www.fisheaters.com/15prayersofstbridget.html
The LORD of PARDON Devotion
RECEPTION PRAYER TO THE LORD OF PARDON [i]
The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father, and of The Son and of The Holy Ghost. Amen.
1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi [ii]
ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.
2. Welcome Prayer [iii]
O LORD, OUR GOD, our All, we welcome You into our humble dwelling. We thank You, we honor You and we praise You for Your Infinite humility; because You have deigned to bless our earthly dwelling with Your Divine and Majestic Presence, though we are full of unworthiness and our humble dwelling is inadequate for Your glory.
BLESS OUR family and our home, O Lord, that we may be worthy of Your Love and Your Divine Presence. May our home be a true nest of Your Divine Love not only for the next seven days of Your visit but for the rest of our pilgrimage on this earth. Grant that we may make Your stay in our home very pleasurable.
LORD, WE are Yours and we humbly pray that You will take care of us as Your true possession, now and forever. Amen.
3. Prayer for All of Humanity (From the Beginning to the End of the World) [iv]
O THOU MOST BELOVED, Most Merciful Lord Jesus Christ, into Thy Holy Almighty Hands we commend ourselves for all eternity, as well as in the Heart of the Most High God of the Eternal Trinity! We take refuge in the deep Wounds of Thy Most Holy Body. May Thy Most Holy Body nourish us, Thy Most Precious shed Blood, Fear and Suffering purify us of all our sins and vices! Oh, Our Dear Lord God, we humbly offer Thy Great Fear and Need to Thy Heavenly Father in expiation for all our sins and debts! May the terrible blows Thou didst endure plead for us! May Thy most painful scourging cover our great guilt! We offer All Thine injustices, deep wounds, great pains and sighs to Thy Heavenly Father for all our neglects. May Thy Great Love, Oh Dearest Jesus, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice and with Thee! Oh, Most Merciful Jesus, may Thy Faultless Judgment be for us the forgiveness of all our sins, known and unknown; may Thy Holy Footsteps in so much Misery lead and guide us in the way of Thy Divine Justice; may Thy Shameful Denuding make us pure in body and sanctify our souls! May Thy Bitter Agony, Thy Holy Wounds shield us from our visible and invisible enemies! May Thy Pierced Hands and Feet lead us to All Good. Oh Dearest Lord, place us and hide us in Thy Five Most Holy Wounds! Forget not our poor souls for which Thou didst so agonizingly trembled on the stem of the Holy Cross! For the sake of all the Martyrdom Thou didst suffer, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice! May Thy Most Holy and Bitter Death protect us, and lead us to Eternal Salvation! May Thy Most Blessed Power and Divine Omnipotence drive away and keep away from us every evil of body and soul! May Thy Most Holy Wounds, Dearest Jesus, bless and protect us in our death agony from all power of the infernal enemy! At the hour of our death, may Thy Most Precious Blood erase all our sins before our Beloved Heavenly Father, and let die in us all inclination to sin! May Thy Most Precious Blood lead us to all Angels and Saints! We commend and place all our suffering friends and enemies and all deceased persons to and into Thy most Loyal Redeemer’s Heart! Oh, Dearest Jesus, give to us all Thine Infinite Merits, the Power and the Blessing of Thy Most Bitter Passion and Death! Oh, Eternal Divinity, Oh, True Humanity of Jesus, Oh, Most Blessed Trinity, protect us now, according to Thy Divine desire and forever! Oh, Almighty and Immortal God, have mercy on us all! Amen. (It is highly recommended that this prayer be kept in one’s home and said daily.)
4. The ‘Constant’ Prayer of St. Catherine of Siena [v]
Precious Blood, Ocean of Divine Mercy: Flow upon us!
Precious Blood, Most Pure Offering: Procure Us Every Grace!
Precious Blood, Hope and Refuge of Sinners: Atone for Us!
Precious Blood, Delight of Holy Souls: Draw Us! Amen.
5. An Offering of The Holy Wounds and The Precious Blood [vi]
ETERNAL FATHER, we offer You the Holy Wounds of Your Son, and His Precious Blood, for the conversion of sinners and for the relief of the souls in Purgatory.
ETERNAL FATHER, we offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ in atonement for our sins, and in supplication for the souls in Purgatory and for the needs of the Holy Church. – The Raccolta
6. Invocations
O God the Father, Omnipotent and Merciful Creator, Who has so much love and mercy for such miserable creatures like us; Have mercy on us, save us from hell, and protect us from all evil. (3X)
O Jesus Christ, The Lord of Pardon, Have mercy on us and forgive us our sins. (3X)
O Most Precious Blood of Jesus, Save and protect us from all that is evil. (3X)
O Holy Ghost, Paraclete and Comforter of All Mankind, Have Mercy on Us (3X)
Immaculate Hear of Mary, Pray for us, now and at the hour of our
death. Amen.
O Mary, Mother of Sorrows, Pray for Us
O Mother of the Sorrowful Heart, Pray for Us.
Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for Us
O Mary, Conceived without sin, Pray for Us who have recourse to Thee.
Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Pray for Us
Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for Us
Today/Tonight, we protect ourselves with the shield of the Imma-culate Conception!
THE SEVEN-DAY DEVOTION TO THE LORD OF PARDON
OPENING PRAYERS FOR EACH DAY
The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father +, and of The Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi
ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.
2. Come, Holy Ghost
COME HOLY GHOST, fill the hearts of Thy faithful
And kindle in them the fire of Thy Divine Love.
V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created,
R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
Let Us Pray
O GOD, Who has taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Ghost, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may always be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. Grant this through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
(The following hymn may be sung in place of the above prayer.)
VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS
Come Holy Ghost, Creator blest O, Comforter, to Thee we cry
And in our hearts take up Thy Rest Thou heavenly gift of God, Most High
Come with Thy grace, and heavenly aid O Fount of Life and Fire of Love
To fill our hearts which Thou has made And Sweet Anointing from above
To fill our hearts which Thou has made. And Sweet Anointing from above.
3. Divine Will Prayer [1]
THROUGH THE Immaculate Heart of Mary, I enter today/tonight into the Holy Will of God and pray – Come Divine will to pray in my prayer, in my name (and the name of those whom we pray for daily) and the name of all souls, for the love, honor and (greater) glory of God, Our Father, in reparation for all sins and for the salvation of souls. Amen.
4. To Obtain Love of Prayer [2]
O, LORD JESUS CHRIST, for the sake of Thy sufferings, grant to us, (and to all those whom we pray for daily,) such faith, hope, charity, sorrow for sins and love of prayer, that will help sanctify and save our souls.
5. To Learn the Science of Salvation [3]
JESUS, EXTEND to us in the light, in Thine infinite knowledge, the power through the light, to understand the task that lies ahead for all of us, who wish to be saved. Amen.
6. Act of Contrition
O MY GOD, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee. And I confess all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. But most all, because I love Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.
7. Daily Prayer [4]
O GOD, Who for the redemption of the world didst vouchsafe to be born among men, rejected by the Jews, betrayed with a kiss by the traitor Judas, bound with cords, to be led as an innocent lamb to the slaughter, to be treated with indignity, accused by false witnesses, afflicted with scourges and reproaches, to be spit upon, crowned with thorns, beaten with blows, struck with a reed, to have Your face veiled, to be stripped of Your garments, to be nailed to the cross and raised high thereon, to be ranked among thieves, to be offered gall and vinegar to drink, and to be pierced with a lance.
O LORD, by these Your most holy pains, which I, though unworthy, now call to mind, and by Your Holy cross
and death, deliver us from the pains of hell and take us where You took the good thief who was crucified with You, Who with The Father and The Holy Ghost, livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.
8. Hymns
O SACRED HEART
O Sacred Heart! O Love Divine! Ref: Heart of Jesus, Hear!
Do keep us near to Thee. O Heart of Love Divine!
And make our hearts so like to Thine Listen to Our Prayer!
That we may holy be Make us always Thine.
HAIL MARY
Hail! Mary, Full of Grace! Holy Mary, Mother of God,
The Lord is with Thee! Pray for us, sinners,
Blessed art Thou amongst women! Now, and at the hour --
And blessed is the Fruit Of Thy Womb, Jesus! Of our death. Amen.
9. Prayers before The Rosary
THE LAST VISION OF FATIMA PRAYER [5]
O Queen of the most holy rosary, Thou hast deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three shepherd children the treasures of grace hidden in the rosary. Inspire our hearts with a sincere love for this devotion, that by meditating upon the mysteries of our redemption which are recalled in it, we may be enriched. With its fruits, obtain peace for the world, the conversion of sinners and of Russia, (the remission of the temporal punishment of the poor souls in Purgatory, the triumph of Your Son’s church over the gates of hell) and the favor which we ask of you in this rosary. (MAKE YOUR REQUEST.) We ask it for the greater glory of God, for your own honor, and for the good of souls, including our own. Amen.
ST. LOUIS DE MONFORT’S PRAYER [6]
WE UNITE ourselves with all the Saints in heaven, and with all the just on earth; we unite ourselves with Thee, Our Jesus, in order to praise Your holy Mother worthily and to praise You in her and by her. We renounce all the distractions that may have during this rosary which we wish to say with modesty, attention and devotion just as if it were to be the last one of our lives. Amen.
WE OFFER to Thee, O Most Holy Trinity this creed – in honor of the mysteries of our faith; this Our Father and these three Hail Marys – in honor of the Unity of Thy Essence and the Trinity of Thy Persons.
WE ASK of Thee a lively faith, a firm hope and an ardent charity. Amen.
10. The Proper of The Most Holy Rosary
THE APOSTLE’S CREED
I BELIEVE in God, the Father the Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ His Only Son, Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell, the third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God, The Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in The Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.
THE PATER
Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.
THE AVE
HAIL MARY! Full of grace! The Lord is with Thee! Blessed art Thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus! Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.
THE GLORIA
GLORY BE to The Father, and to The Son and to The Holy Ghost! As it was in the beginning, now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
THE ANGEL of FATIMA PRAYER *
MY GOD, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee, and I beg pardon for all those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust and do not love Thee.
O MY JESUS, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls into heaven, especially those who most need of Thy mercy.
PEACE PRAYER
O MOST SWEET Heart of Jesus, lead us unto salvation. Grant peace to the entire world, specially the United States/Philippines/(Name Your Country). Bring back to You all sinners and grant that they may find the path that leads to you.
IMMACULATE HEART INVOCATION *
O BLESSED VIRGIN Mother protect us with your most Immaculate Heart. Amen.
PRAYER of POPE LEO XIII *
St. MICHAEL, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
THE MYSTERIES of THE HOLY ROSARY
The Joyful Mysteries (Monday and Thursday)
1. THE ANNUNCIATION (by the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary of her selection by
The Blessed Trinity as the Mother of the forthcoming Messiah)
2. THE VISITATION (of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth)
3. THE BIRTH of Our Lord Jesus (in the small town of Bethlehem)
4. THE PRESENTATION of Our Lord Jesus (in the temple)
5. THE FINDING of the Child Jesus (in the Temple, three days after He was found missing)
The Sorrowful Mysteries (Tuesday and Friday)
1. THE AGONY of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane
2. THE SCOURGING of Our Lord Jesus Christ at the Pillar
3. THE CROWNING of Our Lord Jesus Christ with the Crown of Thorns
4. THE CARRYING of the Cross by Our Lord Jesus Christ to Calvary
5. THE CRUCIFIXION and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross
The Glorious mysteries (Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday)
1. THE RESURRECTION of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead (on the third day after His
burial)
2. THE ASCENSION of Our Lord Jesus Christ (into Heaven, forty days after His resurrection)
3. THE DESCENT of The Holy Ghost (upon Our Blessed Mother and the Apostles on the 50th day
after The Ascension of Jesus)
4. THE ASSUMPTION of Our Blessed Mother (into Heaven, body and soul)
5. THE CORONATION of the Blessed Virgin Mary (as the Queen of Heaven and all of Creation)
HAIL! HOLY QUEEN!
HAIL! HOLY QUEEN! Mother of mercy, hail our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To Thee do we send up our sigh, mourning, and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then O Most Gracious Advocate, Thine eyes of mercy towards us and after this our exile, show unto us, the Blessed Fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet, Virgin Mary.
V. Pray for us O Holy Mother of God,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let Us Pray O GOD, Whose Only Begotten Son, by His Life, Death and Resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life. Grant, we beseech Thee, that by meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.
V. May the Divine Assistance remain always with us, +
R. And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
11. Prayers After The Rosary
LITANY OF THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD
Lord, have mercy on us, Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us!
Christ, hear us, Christ graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.
Blood of Christ, Only Begotten Son of The Eternal Father, Save us.
Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God,
Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament,
Blood of Christ, first shed in the Presentation at the temple,
Blood of Christ, falling upon the Earth in Agony in the garden of Olives,
Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging at the pillar,
Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with thorns,
Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross,
Blood of Christ, the price of our Salvation,
Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness,
Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and Refreshment of souls,
Blood of Christ, stream of mercy,
Blood of Christ, victor over demons,
Blood of Christ, courage of martyrs,
Blood of Christ, strength of confessors,
Blood of Christ, bringing forth virgins,
Blood of Christ, help of those in peril,
Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened,
Blood of Christ, solace of the sorrowful,
Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent,
Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying,
Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts,
Blood of Christ, the pledge of Eternal Life,
Blood of Christ, freeing souls from Purgatory,
Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor,
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us
V. You have redeemed us, O Lord, by Your Precious Blood,
R. And made us, for Our God, a kingdom.
Let Us Pray
OMNIPOTENT and Eternal God, You have chosen Your Only Begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world and You have been appeased by the shedding of His Most Precious Blood. Grant, we humbly pray, that we may always cherish the value of our redemption and forget not the grief You and our Blessed Virgin Mother have to bear in the suffering and death of Your Dearly Beloved Son. Through His Precious Blood and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may we be delivered from all evil in this world that we may enjoy the fruits of our redemption in Your kingdom for all eternity. Amen.
FIRST DAY
“FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.” (Luke 23:34)
1. Meditation (Read pages 10 to 16 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Turn to page 1)
3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
SECOND DAY
“AMEN, I SAY TO YOU, THIS DAY THOU SHALT BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.” (Luke 23:43)
1. Meditation (Read pages 18 to 24 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
THIRD DAY
“WOMAN, BEHOLD THY SON.”
(After that, He said to the disciple:) “BEHOLD THY MOTHER.” (John 19:26-27)
1. Meditation (Read pages 26 to 31 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
FOURTH DAY
“MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME.”
(Matt. 27:46 and Mk. 15:34)
1. Meditation (Read pages 34 to 40 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
FIFTH DAY
“I THIRST.” (John 19:28)
1. Meditation (Read pages 42 to 47 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
SIXTH DAY
“IT IS CONSUMMATED.” (John 19:28)
1. Meditation (Read pages 50 to 55 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
SEVENTH DAY
“FATHER, INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT.” (Luke 23:46)
1. Meditation (Read pages 58 to 64 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)
2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)
3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)
HEART of JESUS
Heart of Jesus! Meek and Mild!
Hear, O hear, Thy feeble child!
And when the tempest most severe
Heart of Jesus, hear!
(Refrain)
Sweetly we’ll rest on The Sacred Heart
Never from Thee, Oh let us part
Hear then Thy loving children’s prayer
O Heart of Jesus, Heart of Jesus, hear!
FAREWELL
(This Section to Be Used on the SEVENTH & LAST Day)
O Most Loving Father, the time has come for You to leave us and our dwelling which have been Your home for the past seven days. Words are not enough to render You praise and thanksgiving for the love that You have shown us. Our Father, You have always loved us. You have deigned to be with us even for a short time, and this Thou has done through this novena devotion to Your Son, The Lord of Pardon. We give Thee our heartfelt thanks through Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Farewell, Lord Jesus and we thank Thee for the great gifts of knowledge and understanding You have given us through Your Holy Spirit: of why You died for us and what we have to do in order that Your Passion and Death will be bear the fruits that You expect.
Farewell, O Holy Spirit and thank You for all Your gifts. Grant us also your fruits that we may live our lives in conformance and for the pleasure of Our Almighty God.
Farewell, O Queen and Delight of Heaven. We thank Thee, for all the blessings and graces you brought in to our dwelling by your constant intercession and for Your Motherly Love.
We look forward to Your next visit, O Blessed Trinity and Our Mother. We pray that we will again enjoy Your company soon, if not in this life, then, by Your compassion and forgiveness which You shower upon us with the Precious Blood of Your Dearly Beloved Son, may it be in Your kingdom. Amen.
TO JESUS’ HEART
To Jesus’ Heart all burning
With fervent love for men
My heart with fondest yearning
Shall raise its joyful strain.
Refrain
While ages course along
Blest be with loudest song
The Sacred Heart of Jesus
By every heart and tongue
Too true I have forsaken
Thy love by willful sin
Yet now let me be taken
Back by Thy grace again. (Ref)
THE OLD RUGGED CROSS
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
The emblem of suff’ring and shame. Has wondrous attraction for me,
And I love that old cross, where the dearest and best For, The Dear Lamb of God left His glory above,
For a world of lost sinners was slain To bear it to dark Calvary (Ref)
Refrain
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine
Till my trophies at last I lay down. A wondrous beauty I see.
I will cling to the old rugged cross, For ‘twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
And exchange some day for a crown. To pardon and sanctify me. (Ref)
The Fifteen Prayers
of St. Bridget of Sweden
These prayers are prayed daily, each beginning with a Pater and an Ave. Then follows a concluding prayer. There are alleged promises from Our Lord attached to these prayers, but they are problematic, inconsistent with Catholic teaching, and their publication was once forbidden. It may be that the vision wasn't properly written down, properly translated, consistently handed-down, or otherwise kept intact, but in any case, beware of any "Magnificent Promises" you may hear of in association with the following perfectly pious prayers.
First Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus Christ! Eternal Sweetness to those who love Thee, joy surpassing all joy and all desire, Salvation and Hope of all sinners, Who hast proved that Thou hast no greater desire than to be among men, even assuming human nature at the fullness of time for the love of men, recall all the sufferings Thou hast endured from the instant of Thy conception, and especially during Thy Passion, as it was decreed and ordained from eternity in the Divine plan.
Remember, O Lord, that during the Last Supper with Thy disciples having washed their feet, Thou gavest them Thy Most Precious Body and Blood, and while at the same time Thou didst sweetly console them, Thou didst fortell them Thy coming Passion.
Remember the sadness and bitterness which Thou didst experience in Thy Soul as Thou Thyself bore witness saying: "My Soul is sorrowful even unto death."
Remember all the fear, anguish and pain that Thou didst suffer in Thy delicate Body before the torment of the Crucifixion, when, after having prayed three times, bathed in a sweat of blood, Thou wast betrayed by Judas, Thy disciple, arrested by the people of a nation Thou hadst chosen and elevated, accused by false witnesses, unjustly judged by three judges during the flower of Thy youth and during the solemn Paschal season.
Remember that Thou wast despoiled of Thy garments and clothed in those of derision; that Thy Face and Eyes were veiled, that Thou wast buffeted, crowned with thorns, a reed placed in Thy Hands, that Thou wast crushed with blows and overwhelmed with affronts and outrages.
In memory of all these pains and sufferings which Thou didst endure before Thy Passion on the Cross, grant me before my death true contrition, a sincere and entire confession, worthy satisfaction and the remission all my sins. Amen.
Second Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! True liberty of angels, paradise of delights, remember the horror and sadness which Thou didst endure when Thy enemies, like furious lions, surrounded Thee, and by thousands of insults, spits, blows, lacerations and other unheard-of cruelties, tormented Thee at will. In consideration of these torments and insulting words, I beseech Thee, O my Savior, to deliver me from all my enemies, visible and invisible, and to bring me, under Thy protection, to the perfection of eternal salvation. Amen.
Third Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Creator of Heaven and earth Whom nothing can encompass or limit, Thou Who dost enfold and hold all under Thy loving power, remember the very bitter pain Thou didst suffer when the Jews nailed Thy Sacred Hands and Feet to the Cross by blow after blow with big blunt nails, and not finding Thee in a pitiable enough state to satisfy their rage, they enlarged thy Wounds, and added pain to pain, and with indescribable cruelty stretched Thy Body on the Cross, pulling Thee from all sides, thus dislocating Thy limbs.
I beg of Thee, O Jesus, by the memory of this most Loving suffering of the Cross, to grant me the grace to fear Thee and to Love Thee. Amen.
Fourth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Heavenly Physician, raised aloft on the Cross to heal our wounds with Thine, remember the bruises which Thou didst suffer and the weakness of all Thy Members which were distended to such a degree that never was there pain like unto Thine. From the crown of Thy Head to the Soles of Thy Feet there was not one spot on Thy Body that was not in torment, and yet, forgetting all Thy sufferings, Thou didst not cease to pray to Thy Heavenly Father for Thy enemies, saying: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."
Through this great Mercy, and in memory of this suffering, grant that the remembrance of Thy Most Bitter Passion may effect in us a perfect contrition and the remission of all our sins. Amen.
Fifth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Mirror of eternal splendor, remember the sadness which Thou experienced, when contemplating in the light of Thy Divinity the predestination of those who would be saved by the merits of Thy Sacred Passion, Thou didst see at the same time, the great multitude of reprobates who would be damned for their sins, and Thou didst complain bitterly of those hopeless, lost, and unfortunate sinners.
Through this abyss of compassion and pity, and especially through the goodness which Thou displayed to the good thief when Thou saidst to him: "This day, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, that at the hour of my death, Thou wilt show me mercy. Amen.
Sixth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Beloved and most desirable King, remember the grief Thou didst suffer, when naked and like a common criminal, Thou wast fastened and raised on the Cross, when all Thy relatives and friends abandoned Thee, except Thy Beloved Mother, who remained close to Thee during Thy agony and whom Thou didst entrust to Thy faithful disciple when Thou saidst to Mary: "Woman, behold thy son!", and to St. John: "Son, behold thy Mother!".
I beg of Thee O my Savior, by the sword of sorrow which pierced the soul of Thy holy Mother, to have compassion on me in all my afflictions and tribulations, both corporal and spiritual, and to assist me in all my trials, and especially at the hour of my death. Amen.
Seventh Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Inexhaustible Fountain of compassion, Who by a profound gesture of Love, said from the Cross: "I thirst," suffered from the thirst for the salvation of the human race. I beg of Thee, O my Savior, to inflame in our hearts the desire to tend toward perfection in all our acts, and to extinguish in us the concupiscence of the flesh and the ardor of worldly desires. Amen.
Eighth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Sweetness of hearts, delight of the spirit, by the bitterness of the gall and vinegar which Thou didst taste on the Cross for Love of us, grant us the grace to receive worthily Thy Precious Body and Blood during our life and at the hour of our death, that they may serve as a remedy and consolation for our souls. Amen.
Ninth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Royal virtue, joy of the mind, recall the pain Thou didst endure when plunged in an ocean of bitterness at the approach of death, insulted, outraged by the Jews, Thou didst cry out in a loud voice that Thou wast abandoned by Thy Father, saying: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
Through this anguish, I beg of Thee, O my Savior, not to abandon me in the terrors and pains of my death. Amen.
Tenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Who art the beginning and the end of all things, life and virtue, remember that for our sakes Thou wast plunged in an abyss of suffering from the soles of Thy Feet to the crown of Thy Head. In consideration of the enormity of Thy Wounds, teach me to keep, through pure love, Thy Commandments, whose way is wide and easy for those who love Thee. Amen.
Eleventh Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Deep abyss of mercy, I beg of Thee, in memory of Thy Wounds which penetrated to the very marrow of Thy Bones and to the depth of Thy being, to draw me, a miserable sinner, overwhelmed by my offenses, away from sin and to hide me from Thy Face justly irritated against me; hide me in Thy Wounds, until Thy anger and just indignation shall have passed away. Amen.
Twelfth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Mirror of truth, symbol of unity, link of charity, remember the multitude of wounds with which Thou wast covered from head to foot, torn and reddened by the spilling of Thy adorable Blood. O great and universal pain which Thou didst suffer in Thy virginal flesh for love of us! Sweetest Jesus! What is there that Thou couldst have done for us which Thou hast not done?
May the fruit of Thy sufferings be renewed in my soul by the faithful remembrance of Thy Passion, and may Thy love increase in my heart each day until I see Thee in eternity, Thou Who art the treasury of every real good and every joy, which I beg Thee to grant me, O sweetest Jesus, in Heaven. Amen.
Thirteenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Strong lion, immortal and invincible King, remember the pain Thou didst endure when all Thy strength, both moral and physical, was entirely exhausted; Thou didst bow Thy Head, saying: "It is consummated."
Through this anguish and grief, I beg of Thee Lord Jesus, to have mercy on me at the hour of my death when my mind will be greatly troubled and my soul will be in anguish. Amen.
Fourteenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! Only Son of the Father, splendor and figure of His Substance, remember the simple and humble recommendation Thou didst make of Thy Soul to Thy Eternal Father, saying: "Father, into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit!" And with Thy Body all torn, and Thy Heart broken, and the bowels of Thy Mercy open to redeem us, Thou didst expire.
By this Precious Death, I beg of Thee O King of Saints, to comfort me and help me to resist the devil, the flesh and the world, so that being dead to the world, I may live for Thee alone. I beg of Thee at the hour of my death to receive me, a pilgrim and an exile returning to Thee. Amen.
Fifteenth Prayer
Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary
O Jesus! True and fruitful Vine! Remember the abundant outpouring of blood which Thou didst so generously shed from Thy Sacred Body as juice from grapes in a wine press.
From Thy Side, pierced with a lance by a soldier, blood and water issued forth until there was not left in Thy Body a single drop, and finally, like a bundle of myrrh lifted to the top of the Cross, Thy delicate Flesh was destroyed, the very substance of Thy Body withered, and the marrow of Thy Bones dried up.
Through this bitter Passion, and through the outpouring of Thy Precious Blood, I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, to receive my soul when I am in my death agony. Amen.
Concluding Prayer
O Sweet Jesus! Pierce my heart so that my tears of penitence and love will be my bread day and night; may I be converted entirely to Thee, may my heart be Thy perpetual habitation, may my conversation be pleasing to Thee, and may the end of my life be so praiseworthy that I may merit Heaven and there with Thy saints, praise Thee forever. Amen.
ETERNAL REST (PRAYER FOR THE DEPARTED)
01
JAN
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.
Amen.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come to you.
Let us pray:
O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Your servants departed the remission of all their sins, that through our pious supplication they may obtain that pardon which they have always desired; who live and reign for ever and ever.
R. Amen.
Although technically ranking second to Rene Fonck among the French aces of World War I, Georges Guynemer was first in the hearts of his countrymen during the war due to his humility, skill and devotion to his country. Born in Paris in 1894, he was a frail, sickly child and was home schooled until age 14. Though lacking in physical skills, Georges showed an aptitude for both target shooting and mechanics - two skills which would serve him well as a military aviator. Although he was originally rejected from military service due to his poor physical condition, he finally passed the medical examination on the fourth attempt after his father intervened on his behalf. He succeeded as an aviator through his enormous drive and self-confidence.
Guynemer joined Escadrille MS.3 in June of 1915 and served in the same unit for his entire service. Over the course of his service the unit transitioned from Moraine Saulniers to Nieuports to SPAD VIIs and XIIIs, thus changing designations from MS.3 to N.3 and the SPA.3. The aircraft of SPA.3 were famous for the red storks which emblazoned their fuselages. The stork was known to nest annually in the chimneys of Alsace-Lorraine, and the squadron’s logo symbolized France’s determination to return and retake that region. Guymener’s personal aircraft often bore the marking “Vieux Charles” (Old Charles), and this particular SPAD VII, S'254, now hangs on display at the Musée de l'air et de l’Espace at Le Bourget Airport in Paris.
In February 1917 Guynemer became the first Allied pilot to shoot down a German heavy bomber, and in March, 1917, he became the first Frenchman to shoot down three enemy planes in one day. In May, 1917,he downed seven German aircraft. Perhaps the greatest story from his career was one told by German Ace Ernst Udet (A Lesson From the Master). His success earned him enough influence to affect French fighter aircraft development. In December 1916, he wrote a letter to the chief designer at SPAD criticizing the SPAD VII as inferior to the German Halberstadt. As a result, SPAD developed two new but very similar models, the SPAD XII and SPAD XIII. On Sept. 11, 1917 he failed to return from a combat mission. He was confirmed missing in action by his squadron commander Major Brocard. His death was finally confirmed by the Germans who stated that a sergeant in the 413th Regiment found and identified the pilot's body, and news of his death was officially announced in Paris two weeks later.
Sandy Lane St. James, Barbados, West Indies
Barbados was under English rule from 1625 until its independence in 1966, one of the few islands in the West Indies that was not bounced from one foreign power to another. Barbados is known as the Little England of the Caribbean. The island is 166 square miles, 21 miles long and 14 miles wide. Barbados was named by Portuguese mariners as the land of bearded fig trees. The Portuguese sailors thought the gnarled, aerial roots of the fig trees looked like beards - thus it was charted in 1536 as Los Barbados or the Bearded Ones.
When the first British arrived in 1627 at present day Holetown, there were no indigenous Arawak around whatsoever. Originally covered by dense forests of bearded fig trees, the island was cleared for use in giant sugar plantations and was known as "Britain's Sugar Bowl". Some 26 forts, the remains of which are now sightseeing attractions, protected the plantations from pirates who roamed the Caribbean Sea.
Barbados has averaged about 8.7 hours of bright sunshine each day throughout a typical year. There is no rainy season. A temperature in the high 80's is considered unusually high. Barbados ocean water temperatures are deliciously warm 79-84 degrees F all year round. Barbados is approximately 1,200 miles from Miami, 2,100 miles from New York City and 300 miles from Venezuela.
In January 1946, at the end of WWII, Ronald Tree visited Barbados to stay at Sir Edward Cunard's (of the famous shipping family) home Glitter Bay. Ronald Tree, was the grandson of Marshal Field the Chicago department store scion and son of Lambert Tree who served as the Ambassador to Belgium. Ronnie Tree served in the British Parliament for 15 years. Tree was captivated by the island and within twelve months he had bought a piece of coastal land at Porters and built a magnificent home, Heron Bay. Less than ten years later, as the number of his visitors to Heron Bay escalated beyond capacity, he began to realize the enormous potential of Barbados as an exclusive tourist destination. Tree decided to buy the Sandy Lane sugar estate and factory on the St. James coast to build a hotel on what was a 1,000 feet beach front and build a golf course on the remaining land. Thus it was that Tree with a syndicate of wealthy friends designed and built Sandy Lane, a resort that opened in 1961. Beyond the resort, Tree took an interest in Barbados and its problems as it moved from a British dependency to independence in 1966. The British have left their mark on Barbados. The language is English, the sport is cricket, you drive on the left and the island has the highest literacy rate in the Caribbean.
The Sandy Lane Hotel was built of coral stone and surrounded by 380 acres of gardens. It faced a mile long sandy beach and offered billiards and a nine hole golf course - Rockley Beach Golf Club (green fee $2.50). Service and cuisine were carefully directed by a team imported from London's Claridges Hotel. When the 53-room hotel opened in 1961, Sandy Lane was considered the ultimate in Caribbean resorts. It was an elegant, exquisitely appointed and incredibly expensive jet setter's getaway spot. The opening rate was $45-50 per day for two including breakfast and dinner. In 1964 the green fee at Sandy Lane Golf Club was $3.25 per person per day. Caddies were available for 80 cents per round. Nicholas Behard, formerly of Claridge's, was the Sandy Lane manager in early 60's. Later Behard ran the Intercontinental Hotel in Auckland, New Zealand. Henry C. Petteys was the Manager also in the mid-60's. Petteys was manager of the Black Point Inn in Maine in the 70's.
Sandy Lane architects were "Happy" Robertson Ward and locally Jimmy Walker. Happy Ward's resort projects were designed to harmonize with their settings and were known for their use of coral stone and other natural materials. Robertson earlier designed the Mill Reef Club in Antigua, the Samanna in St. Martin and the Cotton Bay Club in Eleuthera. Said Ward of his design for the neo-Palladian style hotel, "I put myself in the position of a well-educated English gentleman of the late 18th century going to the West Indies to build a Great House."
The Sandy Lane Hotel legal owner was West Coast Development LTD and had a Canadian director, James A. Gairdner, a Toronto investment dealer. By 1963 Ronald Tree and West Coast Ltd were selling plots on the 378-acre Sandy Lane Estate for residential retirement or holiday homes. The sites at Sandy Lane were selling at $6,000 to $12,000 per acre in 1963. In the 60's everyone who was anyone came to stay. Aristotle Onassis, Maria Callas, Claudette Colbert, Greta Garbo. David Niven dreamed up cocktails at the bar, and Elton John once adhered to the New Year's Eve black-tie rule by wearing a bow tie as a garter. Other regulars included Sidney Poitier, Mick Jagger, Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II, and Frank Sinatra.
Ronald Tree sold the Sandy Lane Hotel in 1967 to Trust Houses which owned many of England's oldest and most famous hotels, including Brown's, The Cavendish, the Hyde Park Hotel, and the Grosvenor House. By 1970 Trust Houses had merged with Carmine Monforte, later known as Charles Forte. Forte started with a chain of ice cream shops and was the first to contract for food service at Heathrow Airport in 1955. By the mid-60's he purchase three of the finest hotels in Paris, the George V, Plaza Athenee, and Hotel de la Tremoille. Trust Houses became Trusthouse Forte (THF), then the largest hotel company in the world. Sandy Lane was a special favorite of Trusthouse Forte head Lord Forte, who frequented it often. Guy Macpherson was from 1971-74 the general manager at Sandy Lane Hotel. He later moved to Trust House Forte at its London headquarters.
In 1996 Granada plc was successful with its hostile takeover of THF. In 1997 Granada sold the Sandy Lane for approximately US $50 million to five Irish businessmen, including J. P. McManus, Dermot Desmond and John Magnier. The new owners are affectionately known as the "Coolmore mafia" - Coolmore is where they stable their race horses in Ireland. Dermot Desmond is the chairman of the board.
Due to the wear of over 30 years and several structural problems, the jet setter resort playground of the 60's was demolished then rebuilt and expanded, in the same neo-Palladian style as the original, complete with its white coral stone rotunda - albeit larger and even more luxurious. At the peak of construction, 1,400 people from 40 countries worked on the site. In March 2001 the hotel reopened.
The new Sandy Lane modus operandi was to spare no expense in the drive to be unrivaled. General Manager Colm Hannon was quoted - "The budget went out the window very early in the project." During the 3 year closure the old building was knocked down and then put back up, right down to the rusticated archways and distinctive roofline cornices - but with a level of luxury intended to put Sandy Lane on a par with the world's, not just the Caribbean's, top resorts. Dermot Desmond cherry-picked the world's top hotels and resorts for ideas. Taking a cue from a hotel in Dubai he had tunnels dug beneath the buildings for the housekeeping and room-service carts so guests wouldn't see (or hear) them trundling down the halls. He went through mock-up room after mock-up room. Sandy Lane has perhaps the most beautiful and luxurious guest rooms in the Caribbean. Desmond had to be sold on the spa--it wasn't part of the original plan--but when he bought in, he did so in characteristic fashion: "Build the best spa in the Caribbean," he told interior designer Fiona Thompson. Thompson (principal with Richmond International) was also the lead interior designer for the Moscow Four Seasons, Shangri-La Singapore and the Langham in London. Desmond built the largest spa in the Caribbean, a 47,000-square-foot building with a Las Vegasy faux waterfall in front that flows into the 7,500-square-foot resort pool. When the hotel re-opened in 2001 it was said up to 50% of the passengers on the Concorde flights from London were transported to the Sandy Lane. The Concorde's last flight to Barbados was on November 17th 2003.
The plan to cover the costs of the 112-room resort was to sell 110 vacant lots surrounding the resort and golf courses with price tags of around US $3 million each. The sites would include membership in the Tom Fazio-designed private golf club, the Green Monkey. US $25 million went into the Green Monkey's construction. Carved out of an abandoned coral quarry and flanked by mature mahogany trees, the Green Monkey is all about dramatic changes in elevation. The ninth hole par five has a 100-foot drop to the green on your third shot. The super exclusive Green Monkey golf course has a separate apparel line that can only be purchased after completion of a round of golf at $450 each. The course is named from one of Barbados’ most famous residents - the green monkey. The green monkey was initially brought over to Barbados as a pet from regions of West Africa during the slave trade over 350 years ago. Many monkeys then escaped or were released and became ‘naturalized’ in Barbados.
The original 18-hole course built in 1961 was reduced in size to a nine-hole layout known as The Old Nine and nicknamed "Tough Augusta." The par-36 course is known for its postage-stamp greens and tight tree-lined fairways. Part of the reclaimed original course was then reshaped into the new Country Club Course, an 18-hole Tom Fazio track that, unlike the Green Monkey, welcomes the general public. The 7,060 yard Country Club Course incorporates five lakes and grand vistas of the turquoise Caribbean. It is said you could steer the Queen Mary through the ultra wide fairways. This is resort golf so the intention is to make guests happy about golf. The scorecard cleverly names each of the five tee blocks: Ability, 7060 yards; Hope, 6542 yards; Humility, 6107 yards; Respect, 5661 yards and Reality, 5089.
On October 5, 2004, golfer Tiger Woods married his Swedish fiancée Elin Nordegren on Sandy Lane's Green Monkey golf course. The rock group Hootie and the Blowfish performed under a tent located on the course. Woods and Dermot Desmond are friends - Desmond paid at auction in 2000 $1.5 million just to get Woods to sign a flag from Pebble Beach where he won the U.S. Open. On a side-note the Sandy Lane owners ( Coolmore) purchased a 2 year old colt at auction in 2006 for $16 million. They named the horse Green Monkey, after their golf course. At the time Green Monkey was the most expensive thoroughbred racehorse ever purchased. The horse retired with total earnings of $10,440 and was euthanized at the age of 14.
Colm Hannon was the General Manager at Sandy Lane for 8 1/2 years starting in 1996. Hannon ran the property as it went through the 3 year closure and re-opening. Hannon is a graduate of Shannon College of Hotel Management in Ireland. Sandy Lane's co-owner, JP McManus, moved Hannon to the West Coast of Ireland to be the CEO of Adare Manor, a five star castle hotel and golf course.
Michael Pownall named Chief Executive of the Sandy Lane Hotel & Golf Resort in 2005. Michael Pownall graduated in 1983 from the Blackpool Hotel School. In 2008 Pownall opened the five star Taj Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa before co-founding PMR Hospitality Partners in 2016, which operates 5 propertes in South Africa.
Robert Logan was Sandy Lane's general manager from 2008-2012. He previously was General Manager of Raffles Hotel, Singapore and currently is the General Manager for the One&Only Palmilla in Los Cabos, Mexico,
Randall Wilkie was named the new General Manager of Sandy Lane Barbados in 2012. Previously his was General Manager at Cobblers Cove Hotel in Barbados. Wilkie maintains a staff of around 700 for the 113 rooms.
Photos and text by Dick Johnson, February 2020.
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
Sandy Lane St. James, Barbados, West Indies
Barbados was under English rule from 1625 until its independence in 1966, one of the few islands in the West Indies that was not bounced from one foreign power to another. Barbados is known as the Little England of the Caribbean. The island is 166 square miles, 21 miles long and 14 miles wide. Barbados was named by Portuguese mariners as the land of bearded fig trees. The Portuguese sailors thought the gnarled, aerial roots of the fig trees looked like beards - thus it was charted in 1536 as Los Barbados or the Bearded Ones.
When the first British arrived in 1627 at present day Holetown, there were no indigenous Arawak around whatsoever. Originally covered by dense forests of bearded fig trees, the island was cleared for use in giant sugar plantations and was known as "Britain's Sugar Bowl". Some 26 forts, the remains of which are now sightseeing attractions, protected the plantations from pirates who roamed the Caribbean Sea.
Barbados has averaged about 8.7 hours of bright sunshine each day throughout a typical year. There is no rainy season. A temperature in the high 80's is considered unusually high. Barbados ocean water temperatures are deliciously warm 79-84 degrees F all year round. Barbados is approximately 1,200 miles from Miami, 2,100 miles from New York City and 300 miles from Venezuela.
In January 1946, at the end of WWII, Ronald Tree visited Barbados to stay at Sir Edward Cunard's (of the famous shipping family) home Glitter Bay. Ronald Tree, was the grandson of Marshal Field the Chicago department store scion and son of Lambert Tree who served as the Ambassador to Belgium. Ronnie Tree served in the British Parliament for 15 years. Tree was captivated by the island and within twelve months he had bought a piece of coastal land at Porters and built a magnificent home, Heron Bay. Less than ten years later, as the number of his visitors to Heron Bay escalated beyond capacity, he began to realize the enormous potential of Barbados as an exclusive tourist destination. Tree decided to buy the Sandy Lane sugar estate and factory on the St. James coast to build a hotel on what was a 1,000 feet beach front and build a golf course on the remaining land. Thus it was that Tree with a syndicate of wealthy friends designed and built Sandy Lane, a resort that opened in 1961. Beyond the resort, Tree took an interest in Barbados and its problems as it moved from a British dependency to independence in 1966. The British have left their mark on Barbados. The language is English, the sport is cricket, you drive on the left and the island has the highest literacy rate in the Caribbean.
The Sandy Lane Hotel was built of coral stone and surrounded by 380 acres of gardens. It faced a mile long sandy beach and offered billiards and a nine hole golf course - Rockley Beach Golf Club (green fee $2.50). Service and cuisine were carefully directed by a team imported from London's Claridges Hotel. When the 53-room hotel opened in 1961, Sandy Lane was considered the ultimate in Caribbean resorts. It was an elegant, exquisitely appointed and incredibly expensive jet setter's getaway spot. The opening rate was $45-50 per day for two including breakfast and dinner. In 1964 the green fee at Sandy Lane Golf Club was $3.25 per person per day. Caddies were available for 80 cents per round. Nicholas Behard, formerly of Claridge's, was the Sandy Lane manager in early 60's. Later Behard ran the Intercontinental Hotel in Auckland, New Zealand. Henry C. Petteys was the Manager also in the mid-60's. Petteys was manager of the Black Point Inn in Maine in the 70's.
Sandy Lane architects were "Happy" Robertson Ward and locally Jimmy Walker. Happy Ward's resort projects were designed to harmonize with their settings and were known for their use of coral stone and other natural materials. Robertson earlier designed the Mill Reef Club in Antigua, the Samanna in St. Martin and the Cotton Bay Club in Eleuthera. Said Ward of his design for the neo-Palladian style hotel, "I put myself in the position of a well-educated English gentleman of the late 18th century going to the West Indies to build a Great House."
The Sandy Lane Hotel legal owner was West Coast Development LTD and had a Canadian director, James A. Gairdner, a Toronto investment dealer. By 1963 Ronald Tree and West Coast Ltd were selling plots on the 378-acre Sandy Lane Estate for residential retirement or holiday homes. The sites at Sandy Lane were selling at $6,000 to $12,000 per acre in 1963. In the 60's everyone who was anyone came to stay. Aristotle Onassis, Maria Callas, Claudette Colbert, Greta Garbo. David Niven dreamed up cocktails at the bar, and Elton John once adhered to the New Year's Eve black-tie rule by wearing a bow tie as a garter. Other regulars included Sidney Poitier, Mick Jagger, Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II, and Frank Sinatra.
Ronald Tree sold the Sandy Lane Hotel in 1967 to Trust Houses which owned many of England's oldest and most famous hotels, including Brown's, The Cavendish, the Hyde Park Hotel, and the Grosvenor House. By 1970 Trust Houses had merged with Carmine Monforte, later known as Charles Forte. Forte started with a chain of ice cream shops and was the first to contract for food service at Heathrow Airport in 1955. By the mid-60's he purchase three of the finest hotels in Paris, the George V, Plaza Athenee, and Hotel de la Tremoille. Trust Houses became Trusthouse Forte (THF), then the largest hotel company in the world. Sandy Lane was a special favorite of Trusthouse Forte head Lord Forte, who frequented it often. Guy Macpherson was from 1971-74 the general manager at Sandy Lane Hotel. He later moved to Trust House Forte at its London headquarters.
In 1996 Granada plc was successful with its hostile takeover of THF. In 1997 Granada sold the Sandy Lane for approximately US $50 million to five Irish businessmen, including J. P. McManus, Dermot Desmond and John Magnier. The new owners are affectionately known as the "Coolmore mafia" - Coolmore is where they stable their race horses in Ireland. Dermot Desmond is the chairman of the board.
Due to the wear of over 30 years and several structural problems, the jet setter resort playground of the 60's was demolished then rebuilt and expanded, in the same neo-Palladian style as the original, complete with its white coral stone rotunda - albeit larger and even more luxurious. At the peak of construction, 1,400 people from 40 countries worked on the site. In March 2001 the hotel reopened.
The new Sandy Lane modus operandi was to spare no expense in the drive to be unrivaled. General Manager Colm Hannon was quoted - "The budget went out the window very early in the project." During the 3 year closure the old building was knocked down and then put back up, right down to the rusticated archways and distinctive roofline cornices - but with a level of luxury intended to put Sandy Lane on a par with the world's, not just the Caribbean's, top resorts. Dermot Desmond cherry-picked the world's top hotels and resorts for ideas. Taking a cue from a hotel in Dubai he had tunnels dug beneath the buildings for the housekeeping and room-service carts so guests wouldn't see (or hear) them trundling down the halls. He went through mock-up room after mock-up room. Sandy Lane has perhaps the most beautiful and luxurious guest rooms in the Caribbean. Desmond had to be sold on the spa--it wasn't part of the original plan--but when he bought in, he did so in characteristic fashion: "Build the best spa in the Caribbean," he told interior designer Fiona Thompson. Thompson (principal with Richmond International) was also the lead interior designer for the Moscow Four Seasons, Shangri-La Singapore and the Langham in London. Desmond built the largest spa in the Caribbean, a 47,000-square-foot building with a Las Vegasy faux waterfall in front that flows into the 7,500-square-foot resort pool. When the hotel re-opened in 2001 it was said up to 50% of the passengers on the Concorde flights from London were transported to the Sandy Lane. The Concorde's last flight to Barbados was on November 17th 2003.
The plan to cover the costs of the 112-room resort was to sell 110 vacant lots surrounding the resort and golf courses with price tags of around US $3 million each. The sites would include membership in the Tom Fazio-designed private golf club, the Green Monkey. US $25 million went into the Green Monkey's construction. Carved out of an abandoned coral quarry and flanked by mature mahogany trees, the Green Monkey is all about dramatic changes in elevation. The ninth hole par five has a 100-foot drop to the green on your third shot. The super exclusive Green Monkey golf course has a separate apparel line that can only be purchased after completion of a round of golf at $450 each. The course is named from one of Barbados’ most famous residents - the green monkey. The green monkey was initially brought over to Barbados as a pet from regions of West Africa during the slave trade over 350 years ago. Many monkeys then escaped or were released and became ‘naturalized’ in Barbados.
The original 18-hole course built in 1961 was reduced in size to a nine-hole layout known as The Old Nine and nicknamed "Tough Augusta." The par-36 course is known for its postage-stamp greens and tight tree-lined fairways. Part of the reclaimed original course was then reshaped into the new Country Club Course, an 18-hole Tom Fazio track that, unlike the Green Monkey, welcomes the general public. The 7,060 yard Country Club Course incorporates five lakes and grand vistas of the turquoise Caribbean. It is said you could steer the Queen Mary through the ultra wide fairways. This is resort golf so the intention is to make guests happy about golf. The scorecard cleverly names each of the five tee blocks: Ability, 7060 yards; Hope, 6542 yards; Humility, 6107 yards; Respect, 5661 yards and Reality, 5089.
On October 5, 2004, golfer Tiger Woods married his Swedish fiancée Elin Nordegren on Sandy Lane's Green Monkey golf course. The rock group Hootie and the Blowfish performed under a tent located on the course. Woods and Dermot Desmond are friends - Desmond paid at auction in 2000 $1.5 million just to get Woods to sign a flag from Pebble Beach where he won the U.S. Open. On a side-note the Sandy Lane owners ( Coolmore) purchased a 2 year old colt at auction in 2006 for $16 million. They named the horse Green Monkey, after their golf course. At the time Green Monkey was the most expensive thoroughbred racehorse ever purchased. The horse retired with total earnings of $10,440 and was euthanized at the age of 14.
Colm Hannon was the General Manager at Sandy Lane for 8 1/2 years starting in 1996. Hannon ran the property as it went through the 3 year closure and re-opening. Hannon is a graduate of Shannon College of Hotel Management in Ireland. Sandy Lane's co-owner, JP McManus, moved Hannon to the West Coast of Ireland to be the CEO of Adare Manor, a five star castle hotel and golf course.
Michael Pownall named Chief Executive of the Sandy Lane Hotel & Golf Resort in 2005. Michael Pownall graduated in 1983 from the Blackpool Hotel School. In 2008 Pownall opened the five star Taj Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa before co-founding PMR Hospitality Partners in 2016, which operates 5 propertes in South Africa.
Robert Logan was Sandy Lane's general manager from 2008-2012. He previously was General Manager of Raffles Hotel, Singapore and currently is the General Manager for the One&Only Palmilla in Los Cabos, Mexico,
Randall Wilkie was named the new General Manager of Sandy Lane Barbados in 2012. Previously his was General Manager at Cobblers Cove Hotel in Barbados. Wilkie maintains a staff of around 700 for the 113 rooms.
Photos and text by Dick Johnson, February 2020.
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
Sandy Lane St. James, Barbados, West Indies
Barbados was under English rule from 1625 until its independence in 1966, one of the few islands in the West Indies that was not bounced from one foreign power to another. Barbados is known as the Little England of the Caribbean. The island is 166 square miles, 21 miles long and 14 miles wide. Barbados was named by Portuguese mariners as the land of bearded fig trees. The Portuguese sailors thought the gnarled, aerial roots of the fig trees looked like beards - thus it was charted in 1536 as Los Barbados or the Bearded Ones.
When the first British arrived in 1627 at present day Holetown, there were no indigenous Arawak around whatsoever. Originally covered by dense forests of bearded fig trees, the island was cleared for use in giant sugar plantations and was known as "Britain's Sugar Bowl". Some 26 forts, the remains of which are now sightseeing attractions, protected the plantations from pirates who roamed the Caribbean Sea.
Barbados has averaged about 8.7 hours of bright sunshine each day throughout a typical year. There is no rainy season. A temperature in the high 80's is considered unusually high. Barbados ocean water temperatures are deliciously warm 79-84 degrees F all year round. Barbados is approximately 1,200 miles from Miami, 2,100 miles from New York City and 300 miles from Venezuela.
In January 1946, at the end of WWII, Ronald Tree visited Barbados to stay at Sir Edward Cunard's (of the famous shipping family) home Glitter Bay. Ronald Tree, was the grandson of Marshal Field the Chicago department store scion and son of Lambert Tree who served as the Ambassador to Belgium. Ronnie Tree served in the British Parliament for 15 years. Tree was captivated by the island and within twelve months he had bought a piece of coastal land at Porters and built a magnificent home, Heron Bay. Less than ten years later, as the number of his visitors to Heron Bay escalated beyond capacity, he began to realize the enormous potential of Barbados as an exclusive tourist destination. Tree decided to buy the Sandy Lane sugar estate and factory on the St. James coast to build a hotel on what was a 1,000 feet beach front and build a golf course on the remaining land. Thus it was that Tree with a syndicate of wealthy friends designed and built Sandy Lane, a resort that opened in 1961. Beyond the resort, Tree took an interest in Barbados and its problems as it moved from a British dependency to independence in 1966. The British have left their mark on Barbados. The language is English, the sport is cricket, you drive on the left and the island has the highest literacy rate in the Caribbean.
The Sandy Lane Hotel was built of coral stone and surrounded by 380 acres of gardens. It faced a mile long sandy beach and offered billiards and a nine hole golf course - Rockley Beach Golf Club (green fee $2.50). Service and cuisine were carefully directed by a team imported from London's Claridges Hotel. When the 53-room hotel opened in 1961, Sandy Lane was considered the ultimate in Caribbean resorts. It was an elegant, exquisitely appointed and incredibly expensive jet setter's getaway spot. The opening rate was $45-50 per day for two including breakfast and dinner. In 1964 the green fee at Sandy Lane Golf Club was $3.25 per person per day. Caddies were available for 80 cents per round. Nicholas Behard, formerly of Claridge's, was the Sandy Lane manager in early 60's. Later Behard ran the Intercontinental Hotel in Auckland, New Zealand. Henry C. Petteys was the Manager also in the mid-60's. Petteys was manager of the Black Point Inn in Maine in the 70's.
Sandy Lane architects were "Happy" Robertson Ward and locally Jimmy Walker. Happy Ward's resort projects were designed to harmonize with their settings and were known for their use of coral stone and other natural materials. Robertson earlier designed the Mill Reef Club in Antigua, the Samanna in St. Martin and the Cotton Bay Club in Eleuthera. Said Ward of his design for the neo-Palladian style hotel, "I put myself in the position of a well-educated English gentleman of the late 18th century going to the West Indies to build a Great House."
The Sandy Lane Hotel legal owner was West Coast Development LTD and had a Canadian director, James A. Gairdner, a Toronto investment dealer. By 1963 Ronald Tree and West Coast Ltd were selling plots on the 378-acre Sandy Lane Estate for residential retirement or holiday homes. The sites at Sandy Lane were selling at $6,000 to $12,000 per acre in 1963. In the 60's everyone who was anyone came to stay. Aristotle Onassis, Maria Callas, Claudette Colbert, Greta Garbo. David Niven dreamed up cocktails at the bar, and Elton John once adhered to the New Year's Eve black-tie rule by wearing a bow tie as a garter. Other regulars included Sidney Poitier, Mick Jagger, Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II, and Frank Sinatra.
Ronald Tree sold the Sandy Lane Hotel in 1967 to Trust Houses which owned many of England's oldest and most famous hotels, including Brown's, The Cavendish, the Hyde Park Hotel, and the Grosvenor House. By 1970 Trust Houses had merged with Carmine Monforte, later known as Charles Forte. Forte started with a chain of ice cream shops and was the first to contract for food service at Heathrow Airport in 1955. By the mid-60's he purchase three of the finest hotels in Paris, the George V, Plaza Athenee, and Hotel de la Tremoille. Trust Houses became Trusthouse Forte (THF), then the largest hotel company in the world. Sandy Lane was a special favorite of Trusthouse Forte head Lord Forte, who frequented it often. Guy Macpherson was from 1971-74 the general manager at Sandy Lane Hotel. He later moved to Trust House Forte at its London headquarters.
In 1996 Granada plc was successful with its hostile takeover of THF. In 1997 Granada sold the Sandy Lane for approximately US $50 million to five Irish businessmen, including J. P. McManus, Dermot Desmond and John Magnier. The new owners are affectionately known as the "Coolmore mafia" - Coolmore is where they stable their race horses in Ireland. Dermot Desmond is the chairman of the board.
Due to the wear of over 30 years and several structural problems, the jet setter resort playground of the 60's was demolished then rebuilt and expanded, in the same neo-Palladian style as the original, complete with its white coral stone rotunda - albeit larger and even more luxurious. At the peak of construction, 1,400 people from 40 countries worked on the site. In March 2001 the hotel reopened.
The new Sandy Lane modus operandi was to spare no expense in the drive to be unrivaled. General Manager Colm Hannon was quoted - "The budget went out the window very early in the project." During the 3 year closure the old building was knocked down and then put back up, right down to the rusticated archways and distinctive roofline cornices - but with a level of luxury intended to put Sandy Lane on a par with the world's, not just the Caribbean's, top resorts. Dermot Desmond cherry-picked the world's top hotels and resorts for ideas. Taking a cue from a hotel in Dubai he had tunnels dug beneath the buildings for the housekeeping and room-service carts so guests wouldn't see (or hear) them trundling down the halls. He went through mock-up room after mock-up room. Sandy Lane has perhaps the most beautiful and luxurious guest rooms in the Caribbean. Desmond had to be sold on the spa--it wasn't part of the original plan--but when he bought in, he did so in characteristic fashion: "Build the best spa in the Caribbean," he told interior designer Fiona Thompson. Thompson (principal with Richmond International) was also the lead interior designer for the Moscow Four Seasons, Shangri-La Singapore and the Langham in London. Desmond built the largest spa in the Caribbean, a 47,000-square-foot building with a Las Vegasy faux waterfall in front that flows into the 7,500-square-foot resort pool. When the hotel re-opened in 2001 it was said up to 50% of the passengers on the Concorde flights from London were transported to the Sandy Lane. The Concorde's last flight to Barbados was on November 17th 2003.
The plan to cover the costs of the 112-room resort was to sell 110 vacant lots surrounding the resort and golf courses with price tags of around US $3 million each. The sites would include membership in the Tom Fazio-designed private golf club, the Green Monkey. US $25 million went into the Green Monkey's construction. Carved out of an abandoned coral quarry and flanked by mature mahogany trees, the Green Monkey is all about dramatic changes in elevation. The ninth hole par five has a 100-foot drop to the green on your third shot. The super exclusive Green Monkey golf course has a separate apparel line that can only be purchased after completion of a round of golf at $450 each. The course is named from one of Barbados’ most famous residents - the green monkey. The green monkey was initially brought over to Barbados as a pet from regions of West Africa during the slave trade over 350 years ago. Many monkeys then escaped or were released and became ‘naturalized’ in Barbados.
The original 18-hole course built in 1961 was reduced in size to a nine-hole layout known as The Old Nine and nicknamed "Tough Augusta." The par-36 course is known for its postage-stamp greens and tight tree-lined fairways. Part of the reclaimed original course was then reshaped into the new Country Club Course, an 18-hole Tom Fazio track that, unlike the Green Monkey, welcomes the general public. The 7,060 yard Country Club Course incorporates five lakes and grand vistas of the turquoise Caribbean. It is said you could steer the Queen Mary through the ultra wide fairways. This is resort golf so the intention is to make guests happy about golf. The scorecard cleverly names each of the five tee blocks: Ability, 7060 yards; Hope, 6542 yards; Humility, 6107 yards; Respect, 5661 yards and Reality, 5089.
On October 5, 2004, golfer Tiger Woods married his Swedish fiancée Elin Nordegren on Sandy Lane's Green Monkey golf course. The rock group Hootie and the Blowfish performed under a tent located on the course. Woods and Dermot Desmond are friends - Desmond paid at auction in 2000 $1.5 million just to get Woods to sign a flag from Pebble Beach where he won the U.S. Open. On a side-note the Sandy Lane owners ( Coolmore) purchased a 2 year old colt at auction in 2006 for $16 million. They named the horse Green Monkey, after their golf course. At the time Green Monkey was the most expensive thoroughbred racehorse ever purchased. The horse retired with total earnings of $10,440 and was euthanized at the age of 14.
Colm Hannon was the General Manager at Sandy Lane for 8 1/2 years starting in 1996. Hannon ran the property as it went through the 3 year closure and re-opening. Hannon is a graduate of Shannon College of Hotel Management in Ireland. Sandy Lane's co-owner, JP McManus, moved Hannon to the West Coast of Ireland to be the CEO of Adare Manor, a five star castle hotel and golf course.
Michael Pownall named Chief Executive of the Sandy Lane Hotel & Golf Resort in 2005. Michael Pownall graduated in 1983 from the Blackpool Hotel School. In 2008 Pownall opened the five star Taj Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa before co-founding PMR Hospitality Partners in 2016, which operates 5 propertes in South Africa.
Robert Logan was Sandy Lane's general manager from 2008-2012. He previously was General Manager of Raffles Hotel, Singapore and currently is the General Manager for the One&Only Palmilla in Los Cabos, Mexico,
Randall Wilkie was named the new General Manager of Sandy Lane Barbados in 2012. Previously his was General Manager at Cobblers Cove Hotel in Barbados. Wilkie maintains a staff of around 700 for the 113 rooms.
Photos and text by Dick Johnson, February 2020.
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
Detail from The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins: Painted by Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow ( 1789-1862) Städel Museum: Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Colossians 3:13-14The Message (MSG)
12-14 So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
=========================================
Francis Chan - Fighting For Authenticity
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CteRJCbD1I0
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Joz..photo bombing on the left hand..i decided to not crop him off :-)
Sandy Lane St. James, Barbados, West Indies
Barbados was under English rule from 1625 until its independence in 1966, one of the few islands in the West Indies that was not bounced from one foreign power to another. Barbados is known as the Little England of the Caribbean. The island is 166 square miles, 21 miles long and 14 miles wide. Barbados was named by Portuguese mariners as the land of bearded fig trees. The Portuguese sailors thought the gnarled, aerial roots of the fig trees looked like beards - thus it was charted in 1536 as Los Barbados or the Bearded Ones.
When the first British arrived in 1627 at present day Holetown, there were no indigenous Arawak around whatsoever. Originally covered by dense forests of bearded fig trees, the island was cleared for use in giant sugar plantations and was known as "Britain's Sugar Bowl". Some 26 forts, the remains of which are now sightseeing attractions, protected the plantations from pirates who roamed the Caribbean Sea.
Barbados has averaged about 8.7 hours of bright sunshine each day throughout a typical year. There is no rainy season. A temperature in the high 80's is considered unusually high. Barbados ocean water temperatures are deliciously warm 79-84 degrees F all year round. Barbados is approximately 1,200 miles from Miami, 2,100 miles from New York City and 300 miles from Venezuela.
In January 1946, at the end of WWII, Ronald Tree visited Barbados to stay at Sir Edward Cunard's (of the famous shipping family) home Glitter Bay. Ronald Tree, was the grandson of Marshal Field the Chicago department store scion and son of Lambert Tree who served as the Ambassador to Belgium. Ronnie Tree served in the British Parliament for 15 years. Tree was captivated by the island and within twelve months he had bought a piece of coastal land at Porters and built a magnificent home, Heron Bay. Less than ten years later, as the number of his visitors to Heron Bay escalated beyond capacity, he began to realize the enormous potential of Barbados as an exclusive tourist destination. Tree decided to buy the Sandy Lane sugar estate and factory on the St. James coast to build a hotel on what was a 1,000 feet beach front and build a golf course on the remaining land. Thus it was that Tree with a syndicate of wealthy friends designed and built Sandy Lane, a resort that opened in 1961. Beyond the resort, Tree took an interest in Barbados and its problems as it moved from a British dependency to independence in 1966. The British have left their mark on Barbados. The language is English, the sport is cricket, you drive on the left and the island has the highest literacy rate in the Caribbean.
The Sandy Lane Hotel was built of coral stone and surrounded by 380 acres of gardens. It faced a mile long sandy beach and offered billiards and a nine hole golf course - Rockley Beach Golf Club (green fee $2.50). Service and cuisine were carefully directed by a team imported from London's Claridges Hotel. When the 53-room hotel opened in 1961, Sandy Lane was considered the ultimate in Caribbean resorts. It was an elegant, exquisitely appointed and incredibly expensive jet setter's getaway spot. The opening rate was $45-50 per day for two including breakfast and dinner. In 1964 the green fee at Sandy Lane Golf Club was $3.25 per person per day. Caddies were available for 80 cents per round. Nicholas Behard, formerly of Claridge's, was the Sandy Lane manager in early 60's. Later Behard ran the Intercontinental Hotel in Auckland, New Zealand. Henry C. Petteys was the Manager also in the mid-60's. Petteys was manager of the Black Point Inn in Maine in the 70's.
Sandy Lane architects were "Happy" Robertson Ward and locally Jimmy Walker. Happy Ward's resort projects were designed to harmonize with their settings and were known for their use of coral stone and other natural materials. Robertson earlier designed the Mill Reef Club in Antigua, the Samanna in St. Martin and the Cotton Bay Club in Eleuthera. Said Ward of his design for the neo-Palladian style hotel, "I put myself in the position of a well-educated English gentleman of the late 18th century going to the West Indies to build a Great House."
The Sandy Lane Hotel legal owner was West Coast Development LTD and had a Canadian director, James A. Gairdner, a Toronto investment dealer. By 1963 Ronald Tree and West Coast Ltd were selling plots on the 378-acre Sandy Lane Estate for residential retirement or holiday homes. The sites at Sandy Lane were selling at $6,000 to $12,000 per acre in 1963. In the 60's everyone who was anyone came to stay. Aristotle Onassis, Maria Callas, Claudette Colbert, Greta Garbo. David Niven dreamed up cocktails at the bar, and Elton John once adhered to the New Year's Eve black-tie rule by wearing a bow tie as a garter. Other regulars included Sidney Poitier, Mick Jagger, Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II, and Frank Sinatra.
Ronald Tree sold the Sandy Lane Hotel in 1967 to Trust Houses which owned many of England's oldest and most famous hotels, including Brown's, The Cavendish, the Hyde Park Hotel, and the Grosvenor House. By 1970 Trust Houses had merged with Carmine Monforte, later known as Charles Forte. Forte started with a chain of ice cream shops and was the first to contract for food service at Heathrow Airport in 1955. By the mid-60's he purchase three of the finest hotels in Paris, the George V, Plaza Athenee, and Hotel de la Tremoille. Trust Houses became Trusthouse Forte (THF), then the largest hotel company in the world. Sandy Lane was a special favorite of Trusthouse Forte head Lord Forte, who frequented it often. Guy Macpherson was from 1971-74 the general manager at Sandy Lane Hotel. He later moved to Trust House Forte at its London headquarters.
In 1996 Granada plc was successful with its hostile takeover of THF. In 1997 Granada sold the Sandy Lane for approximately US $50 million to five Irish businessmen, including J. P. McManus, Dermot Desmond and John Magnier. The new owners are affectionately known as the "Coolmore mafia" - Coolmore is where they stable their race horses in Ireland. Dermot Desmond is the chairman of the board.
Due to the wear of over 30 years and several structural problems, the jet setter resort playground of the 60's was demolished then rebuilt and expanded, in the same neo-Palladian style as the original, complete with its white coral stone rotunda - albeit larger and even more luxurious. At the peak of construction, 1,400 people from 40 countries worked on the site. In March 2001 the hotel reopened.
The new Sandy Lane modus operandi was to spare no expense in the drive to be unrivaled. General Manager Colm Hannon was quoted - "The budget went out the window very early in the project." During the 3 year closure the old building was knocked down and then put back up, right down to the rusticated archways and distinctive roofline cornices - but with a level of luxury intended to put Sandy Lane on a par with the world's, not just the Caribbean's, top resorts. Dermot Desmond cherry-picked the world's top hotels and resorts for ideas. Taking a cue from a hotel in Dubai he had tunnels dug beneath the buildings for the housekeeping and room-service carts so guests wouldn't see (or hear) them trundling down the halls. He went through mock-up room after mock-up room. Sandy Lane has perhaps the most beautiful and luxurious guest rooms in the Caribbean. Desmond had to be sold on the spa--it wasn't part of the original plan--but when he bought in, he did so in characteristic fashion: "Build the best spa in the Caribbean," he told interior designer Fiona Thompson. Thompson (principal with Richmond International) was also the lead interior designer for the Moscow Four Seasons, Shangri-La Singapore and the Langham in London. Desmond built the largest spa in the Caribbean, a 47,000-square-foot building with a Las Vegasy faux waterfall in front that flows into the 7,500-square-foot resort pool. When the hotel re-opened in 2001 it was said up to 50% of the passengers on the Concorde flights from London were transported to the Sandy Lane. The Concorde's last flight to Barbados was on November 17th 2003.
The plan to cover the costs of the 112-room resort was to sell 110 vacant lots surrounding the resort and golf courses with price tags of around US $3 million each. The sites would include membership in the Tom Fazio-designed private golf club, the Green Monkey. US $25 million went into the Green Monkey's construction. Carved out of an abandoned coral quarry and flanked by mature mahogany trees, the Green Monkey is all about dramatic changes in elevation. The ninth hole par five has a 100-foot drop to the green on your third shot. The super exclusive Green Monkey golf course has a separate apparel line that can only be purchased after completion of a round of golf at $450 each. The course is named from one of Barbados’ most famous residents - the green monkey. The green monkey was initially brought over to Barbados as a pet from regions of West Africa during the slave trade over 350 years ago. Many monkeys then escaped or were released and became ‘naturalized’ in Barbados.
The original 18-hole course built in 1961 was reduced in size to a nine-hole layout known as The Old Nine and nicknamed "Tough Augusta." The par-36 course is known for its postage-stamp greens and tight tree-lined fairways. Part of the reclaimed original course was then reshaped into the new Country Club Course, an 18-hole Tom Fazio track that, unlike the Green Monkey, welcomes the general public. The 7,060 yard Country Club Course incorporates five lakes and grand vistas of the turquoise Caribbean. It is said you could steer the Queen Mary through the ultra wide fairways. This is resort golf so the intention is to make guests happy about golf. The scorecard cleverly names each of the five tee blocks: Ability, 7060 yards; Hope, 6542 yards; Humility, 6107 yards; Respect, 5661 yards and Reality, 5089.
On October 5, 2004, golfer Tiger Woods married his Swedish fiancée Elin Nordegren on Sandy Lane's Green Monkey golf course. The rock group Hootie and the Blowfish performed under a tent located on the course. Woods and Dermot Desmond are friends - Desmond paid at auction in 2000 $1.5 million just to get Woods to sign a flag from Pebble Beach where he won the U.S. Open. On a side-note the Sandy Lane owners ( Coolmore) purchased a 2 year old colt at auction in 2006 for $16 million. They named the horse Green Monkey, after their golf course. At the time Green Monkey was the most expensive thoroughbred racehorse ever purchased. The horse retired with total earnings of $10,440 and was euthanized at the age of 14.
Colm Hannon was the General Manager at Sandy Lane for 8 1/2 years starting in 1996. Hannon ran the property as it went through the 3 year closure and re-opening. Hannon is a graduate of Shannon College of Hotel Management in Ireland. Sandy Lane's co-owner, JP McManus, moved Hannon to the West Coast of Ireland to be the CEO of Adare Manor, a five star castle hotel and golf course.
Michael Pownall named Chief Executive of the Sandy Lane Hotel & Golf Resort in 2005. Michael Pownall graduated in 1983 from the Blackpool Hotel School. In 2008 Pownall opened the five star Taj Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa before co-founding PMR Hospitality Partners in 2016, which operates 5 propertes in South Africa.
Robert Logan was Sandy Lane's general manager from 2008-2012. He previously was General Manager of Raffles Hotel, Singapore and currently is the General Manager for the One&Only Palmilla in Los Cabos, Mexico,
Randall Wilkie was named the new General Manager of Sandy Lane Barbados in 2012. Previously his was General Manager at Cobblers Cove Hotel in Barbados. Wilkie maintains a staff of around 700 for the 113 rooms.
Photos and text by Dick Johnson, February 2020.
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
Barack Obama's Inauguration.
The Mall: Washington, D.C. 20th January 2009.
photograph: A. Golden - c. 2009.
~ Today marks a very important day in the history of the United States of America.
Today, a man of mixed parentage, black and white, was inaugurated as the 44th
president of the US. Although his mother was an American, his father was an
immigrant, who came to the US to study, a Black African and also a Muslim.
One may say that these facts may not, rather should not, have any bearing on why he be allowed to fight a national presidential election. Yet all these facts do carry much reason to rejoice. Obama stated in the opening speech of the 2004 Democratic convention, that he was 'grateful of the history of my heritage,' that he held much importance to his familial background. His wife, Michelle, is a descendent of slaves, meaning that her family exists in the United States simply because they were brought to the country as slaves, and who were forced to exist without an identity.
As a Black man, he has fought and won the most important job of public service in a country, possibly the world, that only granted full enfranchisement (full voting rights) a little less than 60 years' ago. The political writer and activist, Andrew Sullivan, rightly said it is 'the arc of 300 years of difference', of why this moment in world history is so important. Who could have guessed that a Black man could become the presidential of a country such as the United States of America?!
I would like to remember those who lived, suffered, fought, campaigned, took offence, stood strong against, refused to accept the status quo, died or were killed, that brought this truly awesome, remarkable to fruition! Only yesterday, the US marked Dr Martin Luther King Day, an annual holiday that honours the life, struggle and sad murder of the Civil Rights leader, and which ushered in a phenominal event. There are also the nameless masses. Not to be forgotten. Indeed, the inauguration was held in the arena of Washington monuments that symbolise the freedoms for which the country fought against imperial power, buildings erected, brick by brick, with the blood, sweat and tears of slaves.
President Obama will be watched very carefully, and willed to succeed by countless masses to bring in much needed change for the general good. President Barack Hussein Obama, Allah aap ka muhafiz rahe.
As the forty-fourth president, Barack Obama offered his inaugural address, already being dissected by political pundits, who state Obama spoke 2401 words on the first day of his posting as president:
'My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and co-operation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and travelled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and ploughed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
As for our common defence, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the spectre of a warming planet. We will not apologise for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the fire-fighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have travelled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people: 'Let it be told to the future world... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].'
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Thank you. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.'
Ramadan (Arabic : رمضان Ramaḍān, Arabic pronunciation: [rɑmɑˈdˤɑːn] ) (also Ramadhan, Ramadaan, Ramazan) is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar , which lasts 29 to 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting , in which participating Muslims refrain from eating and drinking [1] and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, humility, and spirituality. Muslims fast for the sake of God (Arabic : الله, trans: Allah ) and to offer more prayer than usual. Compared to the solar calendar , the dates of Ramadan vary, moving backwards by about eleven days each year depending on the moon ; thus, a person will have fasted every day of the calendar year in 34 years' time. Muslims believe Ramadan to be an auspicious month for the revelations of God to humankind, being the month in which the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to the Islamic prophet , Muhammad .
Contents
[hide ]
· 1 Origins of Ramadan
· 2 The Beginning of Ramadan
· 3 Practices during Ramadan
o 3.1 Fasting
o 3.2 Prayer and reading of the Qur'an
o 3.3 Iftar
o 3.4 Charity
o 3.5 Laylat al-Qadr
· 4 Eid ul-Fitr
· 5 Cultural aspects
o 5.1 Decorations
· 6 Economic aspects
· 7 See also
· 8 References
· 9 External links
[edit ] Origins of Ramadan
The word Ramadan is derived from an Arabic root rmḍ, as in words like "ramiḍa" or "ar-ramaḍ" denoting intense heat,[2] scorched ground and shortness of rations. Ramadan, as a name for the month, is of Islamic origin. Prior to Islam and the exclusion of intercalary days from the Islamic calendar, the name of the month was Natiq and the month fell in the warm season.[3] The word was thus chosen as it well represented the original climate of the month and the physiological conditions precipitated from fasting. In the Qur'an, God proclaims that "fasting has been written down (as obligatory) upon you, as it was upon those before you". According to a hadith , it might refer to the Jewish practice of fasting on Yom Kippur .[4] [5]
[edit ] The Beginning of Ramadan
Hilāl (the crescent ) is typically a day (or more) after the astronomical new moon. Since the new moon indicates the beginning of the new month, Muslims can usually safely estimate the beginning of Ramadan.[6]
There are many disagreements each year however, on when Ramadan starts. This stems from the tradition to sight the moon with the naked eye and as such there are differences for countries on opposite sides of the globe.[7] More recently however, some Muslims are leaning towards using astronomical calculations to avoid this confusion.
For the year of 1432 Hijri , the first day of Ramadan was determined to be August 1, 2011.
[edit ] Practices during Ramadan
[edit ] Fasting
Main article: Sawm
During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.
The month of Ramadan is the one in which the Qur'an was sent down - right Guidance to mankind, and clear signs of Guidance and Distinction of truth from falsehood. Those among you who witness it, let him fast therein. Whoever is sick or on a journey, then a number of other days. God desires ease for you, and desires not hardship. Thus may you fulfil the number of days assigned, magnify God for having guided you, and perhaps you will be thankful.
Ayah 185, Sura 2 (Al-Baqara ), translation by Tarif Khalidi see:[2] [8]
Ramadan is a time of reflecting, believing and worshiping God. Muslims are expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam and to avoid obscene and irreligious sights and sounds. Sexual intercourse among spouse is allowed after one has ended the fast. During fasting intercourse is prohibited as well as eating and drinking, one is also encouraged to resist all temptations while you are fasting. Purity of both thoughts and actions is important. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly activities, its purpose being to cleanse the inner soul and free it from harm. It also teaches Muslims to practice self-discipline, self-control,[9] sacrifice, and empathy for those who are less fortunate; thus encouraging actions of generosity and charity (Zakat ).[10]
Muslims should start observing the fasting ritual upon reaching the age of puberty , so long as they are healthy, sane and have no disabilities or illnesses. The elderly, the chronically ill, and the mentally ill are exempt from fasting, although the first two groups must endeavor to feed the poor in place of their missed fasting. Also exempt are pregnant women if they believe it would be harmful to them or the unborn baby, women during the period of their menstruation, and women nursing their newborns. A difference of opinion exists among Islamic scholars as to whether this last group must make up the days they miss at a later date, or feed poor people as a recompense for days missed.[11] While fasting is not considered compulsory in childhood , many children endeavour to complete as many fasts as possible as practice for later life. Lastly, those traveling (musaafir) are exempt, but must make up the days they miss.[12] More specifically, Twelver Shī‘ah define those who travel more than 14 mi (23 km) in a day as exempt.[10]
[edit ] Prayer and reading of the Qur'an
In addition to fasting, Muslims are encouraged to read the entire Qur'an. Some Muslims perform the recitation of the entire Qur'an by means of special prayers, called Tarawih , which are held in the mosques every night of the month, during which a whole section of the Qur'an (Juz' , which is 1/30 of the Qur'an) is recited. Therefore the entire Qur'an would be completed at the end of the month.
Ramadan is also a time when Muslims are to slow down from worldly affairs and focus on self-reformation, spiritual cleansing and enlightenment; this is to establish a link between themselves and God through prayer, supplication, charity, good deeds, kindness and helping others. Since it is a festival of giving and sharing, Muslims prepare special foods and buy gifts for their family and friends and for giving to the poor and needy who cannot afford it; this can involve buying new clothes, shoes and other items of need. There is also a social aspect involving the preparation of special foods and inviting people for Iftar .
[edit ] Iftar
Main article: Iftar
Iftar in Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Is Istanbul ,Turkey
Muslims all around the world will abstain from food and drink, through fasting, from dawn to sunset. At sunset, the family will gather the fast-breaking meal known as Iftar . The meal starts with the eating of a date — just as Prophet Muhammad used to do. Then it's time for the Maghrib prayer, which is the fourth of the five daily prayers, after which the main meal is served. [13]
Over time, Iftar has grown into banquet festivals. This is a time of fellowship with families, friends and surrounding communities, but may also occupy larger spaces at mosques or banquet halls, where a hundred or more may gather at a time.[14]
Most markets close down during evening prayers and the Iftar meal, but then re-open and stay open for a good part of the night. Muslims can be seen shopping, eating, spending time with their friends and family during the evening hours. In many Muslim countries, this can last late into the evening, to early morning. However, if they try to attend to business as usual, it can become a time of personal trials, fasting without coffee or water.
[edit ] Charity
Charity is very important in Islam, and even more so during Ramadhan. According to tradition, Ramadhan is a particularly blessed time to give in charity, as the reward is 700 times greater than any other time of the year. For that reason, Muslims will spend more in charity (sadaqa), and many will pay their zakat during Ramadhan, to receive the blessings (reward). In many Muslim countries, it is not uncommon to see people giving food to the poor and the homeless, and to even see large public areas for the poor to come and break their fast. It is said that if a person helps a fasting person to break their fast, then they receive a reward for that fast, without diminishing the reward that the fasting person got for their fast.
[edit ] Laylat al-Qadr
Main article: Laylat al-Qadr
Sometimes referred to as "the night of decree or measures", Laylat al-Qadr is considered the most holy night of the year.[15] Muslims believe that Laylat al-Qadr is the night in which the Qur'an was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad . Also, it is believed to have occurred on an odd-numbered night during the last 10 days of Ramadan, either the night of the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th or 29th. Shiites also commemorate the attack on Imam `Ali ibn Abi Talib and his subsequent martyrdom every year on the 19th, 21st and 23rd of Ramadan.
[edit ] Eid ul-Fitr
Main article: Eid ul-Fitr
The holiday of Eid ul-Fitr (Arabic : عيد الفطر) marks the end of the fasting period of Ramadan and the first day of the following month, after another new moon has been sighted. The Eid falls after 29 or 30 days of fasting, per the lunar sighting. Eid ul-Fitr means the back to the fitrah ; usually a special celebration is made. Food is donated to the poor (Zakat al-fitr ); everyone puts on their best, usually new, clothes; and communal prayers are held in the early morning, followed by feasting and visiting relatives and friends. The prayer is two Raka'ah only, and it is sunnah muakkad [16] as opposed to the compulsory (Fard) five daily prayers. Muslims are expected to do this as an act of worship, and to thank God.
[edit ] Cultural aspects
[edit ] Decorations
Ramadan is met with various decorations throughout the streets. In Egypt , lanterns are known to be a symbol of Ramadan. They are hung across the cities of Egypt, part of an 800 year old tradition, the origin of which is said to lie in the Fatimid era where the Caliph Al-Muizz Lideenillah was greeted by people holding lanterns to celebrate his ruling. From that time lanterns were used to light mosques and houses throughout the city.
In other Muslim countries, lights are strung up in public squares, and across city streets, to add to the festivities of the month. In the West, many Muslim households have taken to decorating the inside of their homes to make Ramadhan a more special time for their children.
[edit ] Economic aspects
In Egypt, national statistics have pointed to substantial increase in consumption of food, electricity, and medications related to digestive disorders during the month of Ramadan as compared with the monthly average in the rest of the year.[17]
Sandy Lane St. James, Barbados, West Indies
Barbados was under English rule from 1625 until its independence in 1966, one of the few islands in the West Indies that was not bounced from one foreign power to another. Barbados is known as the Little England of the Caribbean. The island is 166 square miles, 21 miles long and 14 miles wide. Barbados was named by Portuguese mariners as the land of bearded fig trees. The Portuguese sailors thought the gnarled, aerial roots of the fig trees looked like beards - thus it was charted in 1536 as Los Barbados or the Bearded Ones.
When the first British arrived in 1627 at present day Holetown, there were no indigenous Arawak around whatsoever. Originally covered by dense forests of bearded fig trees, the island was cleared for use in giant sugar plantations and was known as "Britain's Sugar Bowl". Some 26 forts, the remains of which are now sightseeing attractions, protected the plantations from pirates who roamed the Caribbean Sea.
Barbados has averaged about 8.7 hours of bright sunshine each day throughout a typical year. There is no rainy season. A temperature in the high 80's is considered unusually high. Barbados ocean water temperatures are deliciously warm 79-84 degrees F all year round. Barbados is approximately 1,200 miles from Miami, 2,100 miles from New York City and 300 miles from Venezuela.
In January 1946, at the end of WWII, Ronald Tree visited Barbados to stay at Sir Edward Cunard's (of the famous shipping family) home Glitter Bay. Ronald Tree, was the grandson of Marshal Field the Chicago department store scion and son of Lambert Tree who served as the Ambassador to Belgium. Ronnie Tree served in the British Parliament for 15 years. Tree was captivated by the island and within twelve months he had bought a piece of coastal land at Porters and built a magnificent home, Heron Bay. Less than ten years later, as the number of his visitors to Heron Bay escalated beyond capacity, he began to realize the enormous potential of Barbados as an exclusive tourist destination. Tree decided to buy the Sandy Lane sugar estate and factory on the St. James coast to build a hotel on what was a 1,000 feet beach front and build a golf course on the remaining land. Thus it was that Tree with a syndicate of wealthy friends designed and built Sandy Lane, a resort that opened in 1961. Beyond the resort, Tree took an interest in Barbados and its problems as it moved from a British dependency to independence in 1966. The British have left their mark on Barbados. The language is English, the sport is cricket, you drive on the left and the island has the highest literacy rate in the Caribbean.
The Sandy Lane Hotel was built of coral stone and surrounded by 380 acres of gardens. It faced a mile long sandy beach and offered billiards and a nine hole golf course - Rockley Beach Golf Club (green fee $2.50). Service and cuisine were carefully directed by a team imported from London's Claridges Hotel. When the 53-room hotel opened in 1961, Sandy Lane was considered the ultimate in Caribbean resorts. It was an elegant, exquisitely appointed and incredibly expensive jet setter's getaway spot. The opening rate was $45-50 per day for two including breakfast and dinner. In 1964 the green fee at Sandy Lane Golf Club was $3.25 per person per day. Caddies were available for 80 cents per round. Nicholas Behard, formerly of Claridge's, was the Sandy Lane manager in early 60's. Later Behard ran the Intercontinental Hotel in Auckland, New Zealand. Henry C. Petteys was the Manager also in the mid-60's. Petteys was manager of the Black Point Inn in Maine in the 70's.
Sandy Lane architects were "Happy" Robertson Ward and locally Jimmy Walker. Happy Ward's resort projects were designed to harmonize with their settings and were known for their use of coral stone and other natural materials. Robertson earlier designed the Mill Reef Club in Antigua, the Samanna in St. Martin and the Cotton Bay Club in Eleuthera. Said Ward of his design for the neo-Palladian style hotel, "I put myself in the position of a well-educated English gentleman of the late 18th century going to the West Indies to build a Great House."
The Sandy Lane Hotel legal owner was West Coast Development LTD and had a Canadian director, James A. Gairdner, a Toronto investment dealer. By 1963 Ronald Tree and West Coast Ltd were selling plots on the 378-acre Sandy Lane Estate for residential retirement or holiday homes. The sites at Sandy Lane were selling at $6,000 to $12,000 per acre in 1963. In the 60's everyone who was anyone came to stay. Aristotle Onassis, Maria Callas, Claudette Colbert, Greta Garbo. David Niven dreamed up cocktails at the bar, and Elton John once adhered to the New Year's Eve black-tie rule by wearing a bow tie as a garter. Other regulars included Sidney Poitier, Mick Jagger, Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II, and Frank Sinatra.
Ronald Tree sold the Sandy Lane Hotel in 1967 to Trust Houses which owned many of England's oldest and most famous hotels, including Brown's, The Cavendish, the Hyde Park Hotel, and the Grosvenor House. By 1970 Trust Houses had merged with Carmine Monforte, later known as Charles Forte. Forte started with a chain of ice cream shops and was the first to contract for food service at Heathrow Airport in 1955. By the mid-60's he purchase three of the finest hotels in Paris, the George V, Plaza Athenee, and Hotel de la Tremoille. Trust Houses became Trusthouse Forte (THF), then the largest hotel company in the world. Sandy Lane was a special favorite of Trusthouse Forte head Lord Forte, who frequented it often. Guy Macpherson was from 1971-74 the general manager at Sandy Lane Hotel. He later moved to Trust House Forte at its London headquarters.
In 1996 Granada plc was successful with its hostile takeover of THF. In 1997 Granada sold the Sandy Lane for approximately US $50 million to five Irish businessmen, including J. P. McManus, Dermot Desmond and John Magnier. The new owners are affectionately known as the "Coolmore mafia" - Coolmore is where they stable their race horses in Ireland. Dermot Desmond is the chairman of the board.
Due to the wear of over 30 years and several structural problems, the jet setter resort playground of the 60's was demolished then rebuilt and expanded, in the same neo-Palladian style as the original, complete with its white coral stone rotunda - albeit larger and even more luxurious. At the peak of construction, 1,400 people from 40 countries worked on the site. In March 2001 the hotel reopened.
The new Sandy Lane modus operandi was to spare no expense in the drive to be unrivaled. General Manager Colm Hannon was quoted - "The budget went out the window very early in the project." During the 3 year closure the old building was knocked down and then put back up, right down to the rusticated archways and distinctive roofline cornices - but with a level of luxury intended to put Sandy Lane on a par with the world's, not just the Caribbean's, top resorts. Dermot Desmond cherry-picked the world's top hotels and resorts for ideas. Taking a cue from a hotel in Dubai he had tunnels dug beneath the buildings for the housekeeping and room-service carts so guests wouldn't see (or hear) them trundling down the halls. He went through mock-up room after mock-up room. Sandy Lane has perhaps the most beautiful and luxurious guest rooms in the Caribbean. Desmond had to be sold on the spa--it wasn't part of the original plan--but when he bought in, he did so in characteristic fashion: "Build the best spa in the Caribbean," he told interior designer Fiona Thompson. Thompson (principal with Richmond International) was also the lead interior designer for the Moscow Four Seasons, Shangri-La Singapore and the Langham in London. Desmond built the largest spa in the Caribbean, a 47,000-square-foot building with a Las Vegasy faux waterfall in front that flows into the 7,500-square-foot resort pool. When the hotel re-opened in 2001 it was said up to 50% of the passengers on the Concorde flights from London were transported to the Sandy Lane. The Concorde's last flight to Barbados was on November 17th 2003.
The plan to cover the costs of the 112-room resort was to sell 110 vacant lots surrounding the resort and golf courses with price tags of around US $3 million each. The sites would include membership in the Tom Fazio-designed private golf club, the Green Monkey. US $25 million went into the Green Monkey's construction. Carved out of an abandoned coral quarry and flanked by mature mahogany trees, the Green Monkey is all about dramatic changes in elevation. The ninth hole par five has a 100-foot drop to the green on your third shot. The super exclusive Green Monkey golf course has a separate apparel line that can only be purchased after completion of a round of golf at $450 each. The course is named from one of Barbados’ most famous residents - the green monkey. The green monkey was initially brought over to Barbados as a pet from regions of West Africa during the slave trade over 350 years ago. Many monkeys then escaped or were released and became ‘naturalized’ in Barbados.
The original 18-hole course built in 1961 was reduced in size to a nine-hole layout known as The Old Nine and nicknamed "Tough Augusta." The par-36 course is known for its postage-stamp greens and tight tree-lined fairways. Part of the reclaimed original course was then reshaped into the new Country Club Course, an 18-hole Tom Fazio track that, unlike the Green Monkey, welcomes the general public. The 7,060 yard Country Club Course incorporates five lakes and grand vistas of the turquoise Caribbean. It is said you could steer the Queen Mary through the ultra wide fairways. This is resort golf so the intention is to make guests happy about golf. The scorecard cleverly names each of the five tee blocks: Ability, 7060 yards; Hope, 6542 yards; Humility, 6107 yards; Respect, 5661 yards and Reality, 5089.
On October 5, 2004, golfer Tiger Woods married his Swedish fiancée Elin Nordegren on Sandy Lane's Green Monkey golf course. The rock group Hootie and the Blowfish performed under a tent located on the course. Woods and Dermot Desmond are friends - Desmond paid at auction in 2000 $1.5 million just to get Woods to sign a flag from Pebble Beach where he won the U.S. Open. On a side-note the Sandy Lane owners ( Coolmore) purchased a 2 year old colt at auction in 2006 for $16 million. They named the horse Green Monkey, after their golf course. At the time Green Monkey was the most expensive thoroughbred racehorse ever purchased. The horse retired with total earnings of $10,440 and was euthanized at the age of 14.
Colm Hannon was the General Manager at Sandy Lane for 8 1/2 years starting in 1996. Hannon ran the property as it went through the 3 year closure and re-opening. Hannon is a graduate of Shannon College of Hotel Management in Ireland. Sandy Lane's co-owner, JP McManus, moved Hannon to the West Coast of Ireland to be the CEO of Adare Manor, a five star castle hotel and golf course.
Michael Pownall named Chief Executive of the Sandy Lane Hotel & Golf Resort in 2005. Michael Pownall graduated in 1983 from the Blackpool Hotel School. In 2008 Pownall opened the five star Taj Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa before co-founding PMR Hospitality Partners in 2016, which operates 5 propertes in South Africa.
Robert Logan was Sandy Lane's general manager from 2008-2012. He previously was General Manager of Raffles Hotel, Singapore and currently is the General Manager for the One&Only Palmilla in Los Cabos, Mexico,
Randall Wilkie was named the new General Manager of Sandy Lane Barbados in 2012. Previously his was General Manager at Cobblers Cove Hotel in Barbados. Wilkie maintains a staff of around 700 for the 113 rooms.
Photos and text by Dick Johnson, February 2020.
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
The question almost everyone asks after seeing this image is "What is that they're holding?"
The answer is "Why, the Brown Scapular, of course!"
In the Spanish-speaking world, this image is known as Nuestra Señora del Carmen. Here, she's Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
According to Wikipedia:
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land during the late 12th and early to mid-13th century.
Since the 15th century, popular devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel has centered on the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, also known as the Brown Scapular, a sacramental associated with promises of Mary's special aid for the salvation of the devoted wearer.
Traditionally, Mary is said to have given the Scapular to an early Carmelite named Saint Simon Stock. The liturgical feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is celebrated on 16 July.
A 1996 doctrinal statement approved by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments states that
"Devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel is bound to the history and spiritual values of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and is expressed through the scapular. Thus, whoever receives the scapular becomes a member of the order and pledges him/herself to live according to its spirituality in accordance with the characteristics of his/her state in life."
According to the Church on the Brown Scapular:
"The scapular is a Marian habit or garment. It is both a sign and pledge. A sign of belonging to Mary; a pledge of her motherly protection, not only in this life but after death. As a sign, it is a conventional sign signifying three elements strictly joined: first, belonging to a religious family particularly devoted to Mary, especially dear to Mary, the Carmelite Order; second, consecration to Mary, devotion to and trust in her Immaculate Heart; third, an urge to become like Mary by imitating her virtues, above all her humility, chastity, and spirit of prayer."
Since the Middle Ages, Our Lady of Mount Carmel has been related to Purgatory, where souls are purged of sins in the fires.
In some images, she is portrayed as accompanied with angels and souls wearing Brown Scapulars, who plead for her mediation.
In 1613, the Church forbade images to be made of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel descending into purgatory, due to errors being preached about certain privileges associated with the Brown Scapular (known as "the Sabbatine Privilege").
That privilege appears in the noted Decree of the Holy Office (1613). It was inserted in its entirety (except for the words forbidding the painting of the pictures) into the list of the indulgences and privileges of the Confraternity of the Scapular of Mount Carmel.
In the 21st century, the Carmelites do not promote the Sabbatine Privilege. They encourage a belief in Mary's general aid and prayerful assistance for their souls beyond death, especially her aid to those who devoutly wear the Brown Scapular, and commend devotion to Mary especially on Saturdays, which are dedicated to her.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Mount_Carmel
Cathedral Basilica of Montevideo, Uruguay.
Ramadan (Arabic : رمضان Ramaḍān, Arabic pronunciation: [rɑmɑˈdˤɑːn] ) (also Ramadhan, Ramadaan, Ramazan) is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar , which lasts 29 to 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting , in which participating Muslims refrain from eating and drinking [1] and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, humility, and spirituality. Muslims fast for the sake of God (Arabic : الله, trans: Allah ) and to offer more prayer than usual. Compared to the solar calendar , the dates of Ramadan vary, moving backwards by about eleven days each year depending on the moon ; thus, a person will have fasted every day of the calendar year in 34 years' time. Muslims believe Ramadan to be an auspicious month for the revelations of God to humankind, being the month in which the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to the Islamic prophet , Muhammad .
Contents
[hide ]
· 1 Origins of Ramadan
· 2 The Beginning of Ramadan
· 3 Practices during Ramadan
o 3.1 Fasting
o 3.2 Prayer and reading of the Qur'an
o 3.3 Iftar
o 3.4 Charity
o 3.5 Laylat al-Qadr
· 4 Eid ul-Fitr
· 5 Cultural aspects
o 5.1 Decorations
· 6 Economic aspects
· 7 See also
· 8 References
· 9 External links
[edit ] Origins of Ramadan
The word Ramadan is derived from an Arabic root rmḍ, as in words like "ramiḍa" or "ar-ramaḍ" denoting intense heat,[2] scorched ground and shortness of rations. Ramadan, as a name for the month, is of Islamic origin. Prior to Islam and the exclusion of intercalary days from the Islamic calendar, the name of the month was Natiq and the month fell in the warm season.[3] The word was thus chosen as it well represented the original climate of the month and the physiological conditions precipitated from fasting. In the Qur'an, God proclaims that "fasting has been written down (as obligatory) upon you, as it was upon those before you". According to a hadith , it might refer to the Jewish practice of fasting on Yom Kippur .[4] [5]
[edit ] The Beginning of Ramadan
Hilāl (the crescent ) is typically a day (or more) after the astronomical new moon. Since the new moon indicates the beginning of the new month, Muslims can usually safely estimate the beginning of Ramadan.[6]
There are many disagreements each year however, on when Ramadan starts. This stems from the tradition to sight the moon with the naked eye and as such there are differences for countries on opposite sides of the globe.[7] More recently however, some Muslims are leaning towards using astronomical calculations to avoid this confusion.
For the year of 1432 Hijri , the first day of Ramadan was determined to be August 1, 2011.
[edit ] Practices during Ramadan
[edit ] Fasting
Main article: Sawm
During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.
The month of Ramadan is the one in which the Qur'an was sent down - right Guidance to mankind, and clear signs of Guidance and Distinction of truth from falsehood. Those among you who witness it, let him fast therein. Whoever is sick or on a journey, then a number of other days. God desires ease for you, and desires not hardship. Thus may you fulfil the number of days assigned, magnify God for having guided you, and perhaps you will be thankful.
Ayah 185, Sura 2 (Al-Baqara ), translation by Tarif Khalidi see:[2] [8]
Ramadan is a time of reflecting, believing and worshiping God. Muslims are expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam and to avoid obscene and irreligious sights and sounds. Sexual intercourse among spouse is allowed after one has ended the fast. During fasting intercourse is prohibited as well as eating and drinking, one is also encouraged to resist all temptations while you are fasting. Purity of both thoughts and actions is important. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly activities, its purpose being to cleanse the inner soul and free it from harm. It also teaches Muslims to practice self-discipline, self-control,[9] sacrifice, and empathy for those who are less fortunate; thus encouraging actions of generosity and charity (Zakat ).[10]
Muslims should start observing the fasting ritual upon reaching the age of puberty , so long as they are healthy, sane and have no disabilities or illnesses. The elderly, the chronically ill, and the mentally ill are exempt from fasting, although the first two groups must endeavor to feed the poor in place of their missed fasting. Also exempt are pregnant women if they believe it would be harmful to them or the unborn baby, women during the period of their menstruation, and women nursing their newborns. A difference of opinion exists among Islamic scholars as to whether this last group must make up the days they miss at a later date, or feed poor people as a recompense for days missed.[11] While fasting is not considered compulsory in childhood , many children endeavour to complete as many fasts as possible as practice for later life. Lastly, those traveling (musaafir) are exempt, but must make up the days they miss.[12] More specifically, Twelver Shī‘ah define those who travel more than 14 mi (23 km) in a day as exempt.[10]
[edit ] Prayer and reading of the Qur'an
In addition to fasting, Muslims are encouraged to read the entire Qur'an. Some Muslims perform the recitation of the entire Qur'an by means of special prayers, called Tarawih , which are held in the mosques every night of the month, during which a whole section of the Qur'an (Juz' , which is 1/30 of the Qur'an) is recited. Therefore the entire Qur'an would be completed at the end of the month.
Ramadan is also a time when Muslims are to slow down from worldly affairs and focus on self-reformation, spiritual cleansing and enlightenment; this is to establish a link between themselves and God through prayer, supplication, charity, good deeds, kindness and helping others. Since it is a festival of giving and sharing, Muslims prepare special foods and buy gifts for their family and friends and for giving to the poor and needy who cannot afford it; this can involve buying new clothes, shoes and other items of need. There is also a social aspect involving the preparation of special foods and inviting people for Iftar .
[edit ] Iftar
Main article: Iftar
Iftar in Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Is Istanbul ,Turkey
Muslims all around the world will abstain from food and drink, through fasting, from dawn to sunset. At sunset, the family will gather the fast-breaking meal known as Iftar . The meal starts with the eating of a date — just as Prophet Muhammad used to do. Then it's time for the Maghrib prayer, which is the fourth of the five daily prayers, after which the main meal is served. [13]
Over time, Iftar has grown into banquet festivals. This is a time of fellowship with families, friends and surrounding communities, but may also occupy larger spaces at mosques or banquet halls, where a hundred or more may gather at a time.[14]
Most markets close down during evening prayers and the Iftar meal, but then re-open and stay open for a good part of the night. Muslims can be seen shopping, eating, spending time with their friends and family during the evening hours. In many Muslim countries, this can last late into the evening, to early morning. However, if they try to attend to business as usual, it can become a time of personal trials, fasting without coffee or water.
[edit ] Charity
Charity is very important in Islam, and even more so during Ramadhan. According to tradition, Ramadhan is a particularly blessed time to give in charity, as the reward is 700 times greater than any other time of the year. For that reason, Muslims will spend more in charity (sadaqa), and many will pay their zakat during Ramadhan, to receive the blessings (reward). In many Muslim countries, it is not uncommon to see people giving food to the poor and the homeless, and to even see large public areas for the poor to come and break their fast. It is said that if a person helps a fasting person to break their fast, then they receive a reward for that fast, without diminishing the reward that the fasting person got for their fast.
[edit ] Laylat al-Qadr
Main article: Laylat al-Qadr
Sometimes referred to as "the night of decree or measures", Laylat al-Qadr is considered the most holy night of the year.[15] Muslims believe that Laylat al-Qadr is the night in which the Qur'an was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad . Also, it is believed to have occurred on an odd-numbered night during the last 10 days of Ramadan, either the night of the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th or 29th. Shiites also commemorate the attack on Imam `Ali ibn Abi Talib and his subsequent martyrdom every year on the 19th, 21st and 23rd of Ramadan.
[edit ] Eid ul-Fitr
Main article: Eid ul-Fitr
The holiday of Eid ul-Fitr (Arabic : عيد الفطر) marks the end of the fasting period of Ramadan and the first day of the following month, after another new moon has been sighted. The Eid falls after 29 or 30 days of fasting, per the lunar sighting. Eid ul-Fitr means the back to the fitrah ; usually a special celebration is made. Food is donated to the poor (Zakat al-fitr ); everyone puts on their best, usually new, clothes; and communal prayers are held in the early morning, followed by feasting and visiting relatives and friends. The prayer is two Raka'ah only, and it is sunnah muakkad [16] as opposed to the compulsory (Fard) five daily prayers. Muslims are expected to do this as an act of worship, and to thank God.
[edit ] Cultural aspects
[edit ] Decorations
Ramadan is met with various decorations throughout the streets. In Egypt , lanterns are known to be a symbol of Ramadan. They are hung across the cities of Egypt, part of an 800 year old tradition, the origin of which is said to lie in the Fatimid era where the Caliph Al-Muizz Lideenillah was greeted by people holding lanterns to celebrate his ruling. From that time lanterns were used to light mosques and houses throughout the city.
In other Muslim countries, lights are strung up in public squares, and across city streets, to add to the festivities of the month. In the West, many Muslim households have taken to decorating the inside of their homes to make Ramadhan a more special time for their children.
[edit ] Economic aspects
In Egypt, national statistics have pointed to substantial increase in consumption of food, electricity, and medications related to digestive disorders during the month of Ramadan as compared with the monthly average in the rest of the year.[17]
Sandy Lane St. James, Barbados, West Indies
Barbados was under English rule from 1625 until its independence in 1966, one of the few islands in the West Indies that was not bounced from one foreign power to another. Barbados is known as the Little England of the Caribbean. The island is 166 square miles, 21 miles long and 14 miles wide. Barbados was named by Portuguese mariners as the land of bearded fig trees. The Portuguese sailors thought the gnarled, aerial roots of the fig trees looked like beards - thus it was charted in 1536 as Los Barbados or the Bearded Ones.
When the first British arrived in 1627 at present day Holetown, there were no indigenous Arawak around whatsoever. Originally covered by dense forests of bearded fig trees, the island was cleared for use in giant sugar plantations and was known as "Britain's Sugar Bowl". Some 26 forts, the remains of which are now sightseeing attractions, protected the plantations from pirates who roamed the Caribbean Sea.
Barbados has averaged about 8.7 hours of bright sunshine each day throughout a typical year. There is no rainy season. A temperature in the high 80's is considered unusually high. Barbados ocean water temperatures are deliciously warm 79-84 degrees F all year round. Barbados is approximately 1,200 miles from Miami, 2,100 miles from New York City and 300 miles from Venezuela.
In January 1946, at the end of WWII, Ronald Tree visited Barbados to stay at Sir Edward Cunard's (of the famous shipping family) home Glitter Bay. Ronald Tree, was the grandson of Marshal Field the Chicago department store scion and son of Lambert Tree who served as the Ambassador to Belgium. Ronnie Tree served in the British Parliament for 15 years. Tree was captivated by the island and within twelve months he had bought a piece of coastal land at Porters and built a magnificent home, Heron Bay. Less than ten years later, as the number of his visitors to Heron Bay escalated beyond capacity, he began to realize the enormous potential of Barbados as an exclusive tourist destination. Tree decided to buy the Sandy Lane sugar estate and factory on the St. James coast to build a hotel on what was a 1,000 feet beach front and build a golf course on the remaining land. Thus it was that Tree with a syndicate of wealthy friends designed and built Sandy Lane, a resort that opened in 1961. Beyond the resort, Tree took an interest in Barbados and its problems as it moved from a British dependency to independence in 1966. The British have left their mark on Barbados. The language is English, the sport is cricket, you drive on the left and the island has the highest literacy rate in the Caribbean.
The Sandy Lane Hotel was built of coral stone and surrounded by 380 acres of gardens. It faced a mile long sandy beach and offered billiards and a nine hole golf course - Rockley Beach Golf Club (green fee $2.50). Service and cuisine were carefully directed by a team imported from London's Claridges Hotel. When the 53-room hotel opened in 1961, Sandy Lane was considered the ultimate in Caribbean resorts. It was an elegant, exquisitely appointed and incredibly expensive jet setter's getaway spot. The opening rate was $45-50 per day for two including breakfast and dinner. In 1964 the green fee at Sandy Lane Golf Club was $3.25 per person per day. Caddies were available for 80 cents per round. Nicholas Behard, formerly of Claridge's, was the Sandy Lane manager in early 60's. Later Behard ran the Intercontinental Hotel in Auckland, New Zealand. Henry C. Petteys was the Manager also in the mid-60's. Petteys was manager of the Black Point Inn in Maine in the 70's.
Sandy Lane architects were "Happy" Robertson Ward and locally Jimmy Walker. Happy Ward's resort projects were designed to harmonize with their settings and were known for their use of coral stone and other natural materials. Robertson earlier designed the Mill Reef Club in Antigua, the Samanna in St. Martin and the Cotton Bay Club in Eleuthera. Said Ward of his design for the neo-Palladian style hotel, "I put myself in the position of a well-educated English gentleman of the late 18th century going to the West Indies to build a Great House."
The Sandy Lane Hotel legal owner was West Coast Development LTD and had a Canadian director, James A. Gairdner, a Toronto investment dealer. By 1963 Ronald Tree and West Coast Ltd were selling plots on the 378-acre Sandy Lane Estate for residential retirement or holiday homes. The sites at Sandy Lane were selling at $6,000 to $12,000 per acre in 1963. In the 60's everyone who was anyone came to stay. Aristotle Onassis, Maria Callas, Claudette Colbert, Greta Garbo. David Niven dreamed up cocktails at the bar, and Elton John once adhered to the New Year's Eve black-tie rule by wearing a bow tie as a garter. Other regulars included Sidney Poitier, Mick Jagger, Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II, and Frank Sinatra.
Ronald Tree sold the Sandy Lane Hotel in 1967 to Trust Houses which owned many of England's oldest and most famous hotels, including Brown's, The Cavendish, the Hyde Park Hotel, and the Grosvenor House. By 1970 Trust Houses had merged with Carmine Monforte, later known as Charles Forte. Forte started with a chain of ice cream shops and was the first to contract for food service at Heathrow Airport in 1955. By the mid-60's he purchase three of the finest hotels in Paris, the George V, Plaza Athenee, and Hotel de la Tremoille. Trust Houses became Trusthouse Forte (THF), then the largest hotel company in the world. Sandy Lane was a special favorite of Trusthouse Forte head Lord Forte, who frequented it often. Guy Macpherson was from 1971-74 the general manager at Sandy Lane Hotel. He later moved to Trust House Forte at its London headquarters.
In 1996 Granada plc was successful with its hostile takeover of THF. In 1997 Granada sold the Sandy Lane for approximately US $50 million to five Irish businessmen, including J. P. McManus, Dermot Desmond and John Magnier. The new owners are affectionately known as the "Coolmore mafia" - Coolmore is where they stable their race horses in Ireland. Dermot Desmond is the chairman of the board.
Due to the wear of over 30 years and several structural problems, the jet setter resort playground of the 60's was demolished then rebuilt and expanded, in the same neo-Palladian style as the original, complete with its white coral stone rotunda - albeit larger and even more luxurious. At the peak of construction, 1,400 people from 40 countries worked on the site. In March 2001 the hotel reopened.
The new Sandy Lane modus operandi was to spare no expense in the drive to be unrivaled. General Manager Colm Hannon was quoted - "The budget went out the window very early in the project." During the 3 year closure the old building was knocked down and then put back up, right down to the rusticated archways and distinctive roofline cornices - but with a level of luxury intended to put Sandy Lane on a par with the world's, not just the Caribbean's, top resorts. Dermot Desmond cherry-picked the world's top hotels and resorts for ideas. Taking a cue from a hotel in Dubai he had tunnels dug beneath the buildings for the housekeeping and room-service carts so guests wouldn't see (or hear) them trundling down the halls. He went through mock-up room after mock-up room. Sandy Lane has perhaps the most beautiful and luxurious guest rooms in the Caribbean. Desmond had to be sold on the spa--it wasn't part of the original plan--but when he bought in, he did so in characteristic fashion: "Build the best spa in the Caribbean," he told interior designer Fiona Thompson. Thompson (principal with Richmond International) was also the lead interior designer for the Moscow Four Seasons, Shangri-La Singapore and the Langham in London. Desmond built the largest spa in the Caribbean, a 47,000-square-foot building with a Las Vegasy faux waterfall in front that flows into the 7,500-square-foot resort pool. When the hotel re-opened in 2001 it was said up to 50% of the passengers on the Concorde flights from London were transported to the Sandy Lane. The Concorde's last flight to Barbados was on November 17th 2003.
The plan to cover the costs of the 112-room resort was to sell 110 vacant lots surrounding the resort and golf courses with price tags of around US $3 million each. The sites would include membership in the Tom Fazio-designed private golf club, the Green Monkey. US $25 million went into the Green Monkey's construction. Carved out of an abandoned coral quarry and flanked by mature mahogany trees, the Green Monkey is all about dramatic changes in elevation. The ninth hole par five has a 100-foot drop to the green on your third shot. The super exclusive Green Monkey golf course has a separate apparel line that can only be purchased after completion of a round of golf at $450 each. The course is named from one of Barbados’ most famous residents - the green monkey. The green monkey was initially brought over to Barbados as a pet from regions of West Africa during the slave trade over 350 years ago. Many monkeys then escaped or were released and became ‘naturalized’ in Barbados.
The original 18-hole course built in 1961 was reduced in size to a nine-hole layout known as The Old Nine and nicknamed "Tough Augusta." The par-36 course is known for its postage-stamp greens and tight tree-lined fairways. Part of the reclaimed original course was then reshaped into the new Country Club Course, an 18-hole Tom Fazio track that, unlike the Green Monkey, welcomes the general public. The 7,060 yard Country Club Course incorporates five lakes and grand vistas of the turquoise Caribbean. It is said you could steer the Queen Mary through the ultra wide fairways. This is resort golf so the intention is to make guests happy about golf. The scorecard cleverly names each of the five tee blocks: Ability, 7060 yards; Hope, 6542 yards; Humility, 6107 yards; Respect, 5661 yards and Reality, 5089.
On October 5, 2004, golfer Tiger Woods married his Swedish fiancée Elin Nordegren on Sandy Lane's Green Monkey golf course. The rock group Hootie and the Blowfish performed under a tent located on the course. Woods and Dermot Desmond are friends - Desmond paid at auction in 2000 $1.5 million just to get Woods to sign a flag from Pebble Beach where he won the U.S. Open. On a side-note the Sandy Lane owners ( Coolmore) purchased a 2 year old colt at auction in 2006 for $16 million. They named the horse Green Monkey, after their golf course. At the time Green Monkey was the most expensive thoroughbred racehorse ever purchased. The horse retired with total earnings of $10,440 and was euthanized at the age of 14.
Colm Hannon was the General Manager at Sandy Lane for 8 1/2 years starting in 1996. Hannon ran the property as it went through the 3 year closure and re-opening. Hannon is a graduate of Shannon College of Hotel Management in Ireland. Sandy Lane's co-owner, JP McManus, moved Hannon to the West Coast of Ireland to be the CEO of Adare Manor, a five star castle hotel and golf course.
Michael Pownall named Chief Executive of the Sandy Lane Hotel & Golf Resort in 2005. Michael Pownall graduated in 1983 from the Blackpool Hotel School. In 2008 Pownall opened the five star Taj Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa before co-founding PMR Hospitality Partners in 2016, which operates 5 propertes in South Africa.
Robert Logan was Sandy Lane's general manager from 2008-2012. He previously was General Manager of Raffles Hotel, Singapore and currently is the General Manager for the One&Only Palmilla in Los Cabos, Mexico,
Randall Wilkie was named the new General Manager of Sandy Lane Barbados in 2012. Previously his was General Manager at Cobblers Cove Hotel in Barbados. Wilkie maintains a staff of around 700 for the 113 rooms.
Photos and text by Dick Johnson, February 2020.
richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com
The Burgtheater on the Dr.-Karl -Lueger-Ring (from now on, Universitätsring) in Vienna is an Austrian Federal Theatre. It is one of the most important stages in Europe and after the Comédie-Française, the second oldest European, as well as the largest German speaking theater. The original 'old' Burgtheater on Michaelerplatz was recorded from 1748 until the opening of the new building at the ring in October, 1888. The new house was completely on fire in 1945 as a result of bomb attacks, until the re-opening on 14 October 1955 was the Ronacher as temporary quarters. The Burgtheater is considered Austrian National Theatre.
Throughout its history, the theater was wearing different names, first kk Theater next to the castle, then to 1918 K.K. Court-Burgtheater and since then Burgtheater. Especially in Vienna it is often referred to as "The Castle (Die Burg)" , the ensemble members are known as Castle actors (Burgschauspieler).
History
St. Michael's Square with the old K.K. Theatre beside the castle (right) and the Winter Riding School of the Hofburg (left)
The interior of the Old Burgtheater, painted by Gustav Klimt. The people are represented in such detail that the identification is possible.
The 'old' Burgtheater at St. Michael's Square
The original castle theater was set up in a ball house that was built in the lower pleasure gardens of the Imperial Palace of the Roman-German King and later Emperor Ferdinand I in 1540, after the old house 1525 fell victim to a fire. Until the beginning of the 18th Century was played there the Jeu de Paume, a precursor of tennis. On 14 March 1741 finally gave the Empress Maria Theresa, who after the death of her father ruled a general theater lock order, the "Entrepreneur of the Royal Court Opera" and lessees of 1708 built theater at Kärntnertor, Joseph Karl Selliers, permission to change the ballroom into a theater. Simultaneously, a new ball house was built in the immediate vicinity, which todays Ballhausplatz is bearing its name.
In 1748, the newly designed "theater next to the castle" was opened. 1756 major renovations were made, inter alia, a new rear wall was built. The Auditorium of the Old Burgtheater was still a solid timber construction and took about 1200 guests. The imperial family could reach her royal box directly from the imperial quarters with them the Burgtheater was structurally connected. At the old venue at Michael's place were, inter alia, several works of Christoph Willibald Gluck, Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as well as Franz Grillparzer were premiered .
On 17 February 1776, Emperor Joseph II declared the theater to the German National Theatre (Teutsches Nationaltheater). It was he who ordered by decree that the pieces should not treat sad events to bring the imperial audience in a bad mood. Many pieces had changed and therefore a Vienna Final (Happy End) is provided, such as Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet. From 1794, the theater was bearing the name K.K. Court Theatre next to the castle.
1798 the poet August von Kotzebue was appointed as head of the Burgtheater, but after discussions with the actors he left Vienna in 1799. Under German director Joseph Schreyvogel was introduced German instead of French and Italian as a new stage language.
On 12 In October 1888 the last performance in the old house took place. The Burgtheater ensemble moved to the new venue on the ring. The Old Burgtheater had to give way to the completion of Michael's tract of Hofburg. The plans to this end had been drawn almost 200 years before the demolition of the old Burgtheater by Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach.
The "new" K.K. Court Theatre (as the inscription reads today) on the ring opposite the Town Hall, opened on 14th in October 1888 with Esther of Grillparzer and Schiller's Wallenstein's Camp, it was designed in neo-Baroque style by Gottfried Semper (plan) and Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer (facade), who had already designed the Imperial Forum in Vienna together. Construction began on 16 December 1874 and followed through 14 years, in which the architects quarreled. Already in 1876 Semper withdrew due to health problems to Rome and had Hasenauer realized his ideas alone, who in the dispute of the architects stood up for a mainly splendid designed grand lodges theater.
However, created the famous Viennese painter Gustav Klimt and his brother Ernst Klimt and Franz Matsch 1886-1888 the ceiling paintings in the two stairwells of the new theater. The three took over this task order for similar work in the city of Fiume theaters and Karlovy Vary and in the Bucharest National Theatre. In the grand staircase at the café Landtmann side facing the Burgtheater (Archduke stairs) reproduced Gustav Klimt the artists of ancient theater in Taormina in Sicily, in the stairwell on the "People's Garden"-side (Kaiserstiege, because it was reserved for the emperor), the London Globe Theatre and the final scene from William Shakespeare's " Romeo and Juliet" . Above the entrance to the auditorium is Molière's The Imaginary Invalid to discover. In the background the painter immortalized in the company of his two colleagues. Emperor Franz Joseph I liked the ceiling paintings so much that he gave the members of the company of artists of Klimt the Golden Cross of Merit.
The new building resembles externally the Dresden Semper Opera, but even more, due to the for the two theaters absolutely atypical cross wing with the ceremonial stairs, Semper Munich project from the years 1865/1866 for a Richard Wagner Festspielhaus on the Isar. Above the middle section, a loggia, which is framed by two side wings, and is divided from a stage house with a gable roof and auditorium with a tent roof. Across the center house is decorated with a statue of Apollo, the facade, the towers between the Muses of drama and tragedy. Over the main entrances are located friezes with Bacchus and Ariadne. On the exterior round busts can be seen the poet Calderon, Shakespeare, Moliere, Schiller, Goethe, Lessing, Halm, Grillparzer, and Hebbel. The masks are also to be seen here, indicating the ancient theater, also adorn the side wings allegories: love, hate, humility, lust, selfishness, and heroism. Although since 1919, the theater was named the Burgtheater, the old saying KK Hofburgtheater over the main entrance still exists. Some pictures of the old gallery of portraits having been hung in the new building are still visible today - but these images were originally small, they had to be "extended" to make them work better in high space. The locations of these "supplements" are visible as fine lines on the canvas.
The Burgtheater was initially well received due to its magnificent appearance and technical innovations such as electric lighting of the Viennese, but soon criticism of the poor acoustics was loud. Finally, in 1897 the auditorium was rebuilt to reduce the acoustic problems. The new theater was an important meeting place of social life and soon counted among the "sanctuaries" of the Viennese. In November 1918, the supervision on the theater was transferred from the High Steward of the emperor to the new state of German Austria.
1922/1923 the Academy Theatre was opened as a chamber play stage of the Burgtheater. 8th May 1925 was the Burgtheater in Austria's criminal history, as here Mentscha Karnitschewa perpetrated a revolver assassination on Todor Panitza .
The Burgtheater in time of National Socialism
The National Socialist ideas also left traces in the history of the Burgtheater. Appeared in 1939 in Adolf Luser Verlag the strongly anti-Semitic embossed book of theater scientist Heinz Kindermann "The Burgtheater. Heritage and mission of a national theater", in which he, among other things, analyzed the "Jewish influence "on the Burgtheater. On 14 October 1938 was the 50th anniversary of the opening of Burgtheater a production of Don Carlos of Karl-Heinz Stroux shown that served the Hitler's ideology. The role of the Marquis of Posa played the same Ewald Balser, who 'railed in a different Don Carlos production a year earlier (by Heinz Hilpert) at the Deutsches Theater in the same role with the set direction of Joseph Goebbels box: "Enter the freedom of thought". The actor and director Lothar Müthel, who was director of the Burgtheater between 1939 and 1945, staged 1943 Merchant of Venice, in which Werner Kraus Shylock the Jew clearlyanti-Semitic represented. The same director staged after the war Lessing 's parable Nathan the Wise. Adolf Hitler himself visited during the Nazi regime the Burgtheater only once (1938), and later he refused out of fear of an assassination.
For actors and theater staff who were classified according to the Reich Citizenship Law of 1935 as "Jewis ", were quickly imposed banned from performing, they were on leave, fired or arrested within days. The Burgtheater ensemble made between 1938 and 1945 no significant resistance against the Nazi ideology, the game plan was heavily censored, actively just joined the Resistance, as Judith Holzmeister (then also at the National Theatre committed ) or the actor Fritz Lehmann. Although Jewish members of the ensemble indeed have been helped to emigrate, was still an actor, Fritz Strassny, taken to a concentration camp and murdered there.
The Burgtheater end of the war and after the Second World War
In summer 1944, the Burgtheater had to be closed because of the general arranged theater lock. From 1 April 1945 as the Red Army approached Vienna, outsourced a military unit in the house, a portion was used as an arsenal. In a bomb attack the house at the Ring was damaged and burned on 12th April 1945 it burned completely. Auditorium and stage were useless, only the steel structure remained. The ceiling paintings and part of the lobby were almost undamaged.
The Soviet occupying power expected from Viennese City Councillor Viktor Matejka to bring Vienna 's cultural life as soon as possible again. The council called for 23 April (a state government did not yet exist), a meeting of all Viennese cultural workers into the town hall. Result of the discussions was that in late April 1945 eight cinemas and four theaters took up the operation again, including the Burgtheater. The house took over the Ronacher Theater, which was understood by many castle actors as "exile" as a temporary home (and remained there to 1955). This Venue chose the newly appointed director Raoul Aslan, who championed particularly active.
The first performance after the Second World War was on 30 April 1945 by Franz Grillparzer, Sappho, directed by Adolf Rott from 1943 with Maria Eis in the title role. Other productions from the Nazi era were resumed. With Paul Hoerbiger, a Nazi prisoner a few days ago still in mortal danger, was shown the piece of Nestroy Mädl (Girlie) from the suburbs. The Academy Theatre was recorded (the first performance was on 19 April 1945 Hedda Gabler, a production of Rott in 1941) and also in the ball room (Redoutensaal) at the Imperial Palace took performances place. Aslan had the Ronacher rebuilt in the summer because the stage was too small for classical performances. On 25 September 1945, Schiller's Maid of Orleans could be played on the larger stage.
The first new productions are associated with the name of Lothar Müthel: Anyone and Nathan the Wise, in both Raoul Aslan played the main role. The staging of The Merchant of Venice by Müthel to Nazi times seemed to be forgotten.
Great pleasure gave the public the return of the in 1938 from the ensemble expelled Else Wohlgemuth on stage. She performaed after seven years of exile in December 1945 in Clare Biharys The other mother in the Academy Theater. 1951 opened the Burgtheater its doors for the first time, but only the left wing, where the celebrations of the 175th anniversary of the theater took place.
1948, a competition was announced for the reconstruction: Josef Gielen, who was then director, first tended to support the design of ex aequo-ranked Otto Niedermoser, after which the house into a modern theater rank should be rebuilt. Finally, he agreed but then for the project by Michael Engelhardt, whose plan was conservative, but also cost effective. The character of the lodges theater was largely taken into account and maintaining the central royal box has been replaced by two ranks, and with a new slanted ceiling construction in the audience was the acoustics, the weakness of the home, improved significantly.
On 14 October 1955 was happening under Adolf Rott the reopening of the restored house on the Ring. For this occasion Mozart's A Little Night Music was played. On 15 and on 16 In October it was followed by the first performance (for reasons of space as a double premiere) in the restored theater: King Ottokar's Fortune and End of Franz Grillparzer, staged by Adolf Rott. A few months after the signing of the Austrian State Treaty was the choice of this piece, which explores the beginning of Habsburg rule in Austria and Ottokar of Hornecks eulogy on Austria (... it's a good country / Well worth that a prince among thread! / where have you already seen the same?... ) contains highly symbolic. Rott and under his successors Ernst Haeusserman and Gerhard Klingenberg the classic Burgtheater style and the Burgtheater German for German theaters were finally pointing the way .
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Burgtheater participated (with other well-known theaters in Vienna) on the so-called Brecht boycott.
Gerhard Klingenberg internationalized the Burgtheater, he invited renowned stage directors such as Dieter Dorn, Peter Hall, Luca Ronconi, Giorgio Strehler, Roberto Guicciardini and Otomar Krejča. Klingenberg also enabled the castle debuts by Claus Peymann and Thomas Bernhard (1974 world premiere of The Hunting Party). Bernhard Klingenberg's successor was talking, but eventually was appointed Achim Benning, whereupon the writer with the text "The theatrical shack on the ring (how I should become the director of the Burgtheater)" answered.
Benning, the first ensemble representative of the Burgtheater, was appointed Director, continued Klingenberg's way of Europeanization by other means, brought directors such as Adolf Dresen, Manfred Wekwerth or Thomas Langhoff to Vienna, looked with performances of plays of Vaclav Havel in the then politically separated East and took more account of the public taste .
Directorate Claus Peymann 1986-1999
Under the from short-term Minister of Education Helmut Zilk to Vienna fetched Claus Peymann, director from 1986 to 1999, there was further modernization of the match schedule and staging styles. Moreover Peymann was never at a loss for words for critical messages to the public, a hitherto unusual attitude for Burgtheater directors. Therefore, he and his program met with sections of the audience's rejection. The largest theater in Vienna scandal since 1945, this when in 1988 conservative politicians and zealots fiercely fought the premiere of Thomas Bernhard's Heldenplatz (Place of the Heroes) drama. The play deals with the past and illuminates the present management in Austria - with attacks on the then ruling Social Democratic Party - critically. Together with Claus Peymann Bernhard raised after the premiere to a challenge on the stage to applause and boos .
Bernard, to his home country bound in love-hate relationship, prohibited the performance of his plays in Austria before his death in 1989 by will. Peymann , to Bernhard bound in a difficult friendship (see Bernhard's play Claus Peymann buys a pair of pants and goes eating with me) feared harm for the author's work, should his pieces precisely in his home not being shown. First, it was through permission of the executor Peter Fabjan - Bernhard's half-brother - after all, possible the already in the Schedule of the Burgtheater included productions to continue. Finally, shortly before the tenth anniversary of the death of Bernard it came to the revival of the Bernhard piece Before retirement by the opening night director Peymann. The pieces by Bernhard are since continued on the board of the Burgtheater and they are regularly re-released.
In 1993, the sample stage of the castle theater was opened in the arsenal (architect Gustav Peichl) . Since 1999, the castle theater has been run as a limited liability.
Directorate Klaus Bachler 1999-2009
On Peymann followed in 1999 as director Klaus Bachler. He is a trained actor, but was mostly as a cultural manager (director of the Vienna Festival) active. Bachler moved the theater as a cultural event in the foreground and he engaged for this purpose directors such as Luc Bondy, Andrea Breth, Peter Zadek and Martin Kušej.
Were among the unusual "events" of the Directorate Bachler
* The Theatre of Orgies and Mysteries by Hermann Nitsch with the performance of 122 Action (2005 )
* The recording of the MTV Unplugged concert with Die Toten Hosen for the music channel MTV (2005, under the title available only to visit )
* John Irving's reading from his book at the Burgtheater Until I find you (2006)
* The 431 animatographische (animatographical) Expedition by Christoph Schlingensief and a big event of it under the title of Area 7 - Matthew Sadochrist - An expedition by Christoph Schlingensief (2006).
* Daniel Hoevels cut in Schiller's Mary Stuart accidentally his throat ( December 2008). Outpatient care is enough.
Jubilee Year 2005
In October 2005, the Burgtheater celebrated the 50th Anniversary of its reopening with a gala evening and the performance of Grillparzer King Ottokar's Fortune and End, directed by Martin Kušej that had been performed in August 2005 at the Salzburg Festival as a great success. Michael Maertens (in the role of Rudolf of Habsburg ) received the Nestroy Theatre Award for Best Actor for his role in this piece. Actor Tobias Moretti was awarded in 2006 for this role with the Gertrude Eysoldt Ring.
Furthermore, there were on 16th October 2005 the open day on which the 82-minute film "burg/private. 82 miniatures" of Sepp Dreissinger was shown for the first time. The film contains one-minute film "Stand portraits" of Castle actors and guest actors who, without saying a word, try to present themselves as a natural expression. Klaus Dermutz wrote a work on the history of the Burgtheater. As a motto this season was a quotation from Lessing's Minna von Barn-helm: "It's so sad to be happy alone."
The Burgtheater to the Mozart Year 2006
Also the Mozart Year 2006 was thought at the Burgtheater. As Mozart's Singspiel Die Entführung aus dem Serail in 1782 in the courtyard of Castle Theatre was premiered came in cooperation with the Vienna State Opera, the Vienna Festival in May 2006, a new production (directed by Karin Beier ) of this opera to the stage.
Directorate Matthias Hartmann since 2009
Since September 2009, Matthias Hartmann is Artistic Director of the Burgtheater. A native of Osnabrück, he directed the playhouses of Bochum and Zurich. With his directors like Alvis Hermanis, Roland Schimmelpfennig, David Boesch, Stefan Bachmann, Stefan Pucher, Michael Thalheimer and actresses like Dorte Lyssweski, Katharina Lorenz, Sarah Viktoria Frick, Mavie Hoerbiger, Lucas Gregorowicz and Martin Wuttke came firmly to the castle. Matthias Hartmann himself staged around three premieres per season, about once a year, he staged at the major opera houses. For more internationality and "cross-over ", he won the Belgian artist Jan Lauwers and his Need Company as "Artists in Residence" for the castle, the New York group Nature Theater of Oklahoma show their great episode drama live and Times of an annual continuation. For the new look - the Burgtheater presents itself without a solid logo with word games around the BURG - the Burgtheater in 2011 was awarded the Cultural Brand of the Year .
www.mariachiproductions.org/basel2012/index.php/tournamen...
Showing Humility And Attachment From Wordly Goods .
In the early hours of every morning even before break of dawn , monks can be seen walking along on their alms round in Bangkok .
Ramadan (Arabic : رمضان Ramaḍān, Arabic pronunciation: [rɑmɑˈdˤɑːn] ) (also Ramadhan, Ramadaan, Ramazan) is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar , which lasts 29 to 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting , in which participating Muslims refrain from eating and drinking [1] and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, humility, and spirituality. Muslims fast for the sake of God (Arabic : الله, trans: Allah ) and to offer more prayer than usual. Compared to the solar calendar , the dates of Ramadan vary, moving backwards by about eleven days each year depending on the moon ; thus, a person will have fasted every day of the calendar year in 34 years' time. Muslims believe Ramadan to be an auspicious month for the revelations of God to humankind, being the month in which the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to the Islamic prophet , Muhammad .
Contents
[hide ]
· 1 Origins of Ramadan
· 2 The Beginning of Ramadan
· 3 Practices during Ramadan
o 3.1 Fasting
o 3.2 Prayer and reading of the Qur'an
o 3.3 Iftar
o 3.4 Charity
o 3.5 Laylat al-Qadr
· 4 Eid ul-Fitr
· 5 Cultural aspects
o 5.1 Decorations
· 6 Economic aspects
· 7 See also
· 8 References
· 9 External links
[edit ] Origins of Ramadan
The word Ramadan is derived from an Arabic root rmḍ, as in words like "ramiḍa" or "ar-ramaḍ" denoting intense heat,[2] scorched ground and shortness of rations. Ramadan, as a name for the month, is of Islamic origin. Prior to Islam and the exclusion of intercalary days from the Islamic calendar, the name of the month was Natiq and the month fell in the warm season.[3] The word was thus chosen as it well represented the original climate of the month and the physiological conditions precipitated from fasting. In the Qur'an, God proclaims that "fasting has been written down (as obligatory) upon you, as it was upon those before you". According to a hadith , it might refer to the Jewish practice of fasting on Yom Kippur .[4] [5]
[edit ] The Beginning of Ramadan
Hilāl (the crescent ) is typically a day (or more) after the astronomical new moon. Since the new moon indicates the beginning of the new month, Muslims can usually safely estimate the beginning of Ramadan.[6]
There are many disagreements each year however, on when Ramadan starts. This stems from the tradition to sight the moon with the naked eye and as such there are differences for countries on opposite sides of the globe.[7] More recently however, some Muslims are leaning towards using astronomical calculations to avoid this confusion.
For the year of 1432 Hijri , the first day of Ramadan was determined to be August 1, 2011.
[edit ] Practices during Ramadan
[edit ] Fasting
Main article: Sawm
During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.
The month of Ramadan is the one in which the Qur'an was sent down - right Guidance to mankind, and clear signs of Guidance and Distinction of truth from falsehood. Those among you who witness it, let him fast therein. Whoever is sick or on a journey, then a number of other days. God desires ease for you, and desires not hardship. Thus may you fulfil the number of days assigned, magnify God for having guided you, and perhaps you will be thankful.
Ayah 185, Sura 2 (Al-Baqara ), translation by Tarif Khalidi see:[2] [8]
Ramadan is a time of reflecting, believing and worshiping God. Muslims are expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam and to avoid obscene and irreligious sights and sounds. Sexual intercourse among spouse is allowed after one has ended the fast. During fasting intercourse is prohibited as well as eating and drinking, one is also encouraged to resist all temptations while you are fasting. Purity of both thoughts and actions is important. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly activities, its purpose being to cleanse the inner soul and free it from harm. It also teaches Muslims to practice self-discipline, self-control,[9] sacrifice, and empathy for those who are less fortunate; thus encouraging actions of generosity and charity (Zakat ).[10]
Muslims should start observing the fasting ritual upon reaching the age of puberty , so long as they are healthy, sane and have no disabilities or illnesses. The elderly, the chronically ill, and the mentally ill are exempt from fasting, although the first two groups must endeavor to feed the poor in place of their missed fasting. Also exempt are pregnant women if they believe it would be harmful to them or the unborn baby, women during the period of their menstruation, and women nursing their newborns. A difference of opinion exists among Islamic scholars as to whether this last group must make up the days they miss at a later date, or feed poor people as a recompense for days missed.[11] While fasting is not considered compulsory in childhood , many children endeavour to complete as many fasts as possible as practice for later life. Lastly, those traveling (musaafir) are exempt, but must make up the days they miss.[12] More specifically, Twelver Shī‘ah define those who travel more than 14 mi (23 km) in a day as exempt.[10]
[edit ] Prayer and reading of the Qur'an
In addition to fasting, Muslims are encouraged to read the entire Qur'an. Some Muslims perform the recitation of the entire Qur'an by means of special prayers, called Tarawih , which are held in the mosques every night of the month, during which a whole section of the Qur'an (Juz' , which is 1/30 of the Qur'an) is recited. Therefore the entire Qur'an would be completed at the end of the month.
Ramadan is also a time when Muslims are to slow down from worldly affairs and focus on self-reformation, spiritual cleansing and enlightenment; this is to establish a link between themselves and God through prayer, supplication, charity, good deeds, kindness and helping others. Since it is a festival of giving and sharing, Muslims prepare special foods and buy gifts for their family and friends and for giving to the poor and needy who cannot afford it; this can involve buying new clothes, shoes and other items of need. There is also a social aspect involving the preparation of special foods and inviting people for Iftar .
[edit ] Iftar
Main article: Iftar
Iftar in Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Is Istanbul ,Turkey
Muslims all around the world will abstain from food and drink, through fasting, from dawn to sunset. At sunset, the family will gather the fast-breaking meal known as Iftar . The meal starts with the eating of a date — just as Prophet Muhammad used to do. Then it's time for the Maghrib prayer, which is the fourth of the five daily prayers, after which the main meal is served. [13]
Over time, Iftar has grown into banquet festivals. This is a time of fellowship with families, friends and surrounding communities, but may also occupy larger spaces at mosques or banquet halls, where a hundred or more may gather at a time.[14]
Most markets close down during evening prayers and the Iftar meal, but then re-open and stay open for a good part of the night. Muslims can be seen shopping, eating, spending time with their friends and family during the evening hours. In many Muslim countries, this can last late into the evening, to early morning. However, if they try to attend to business as usual, it can become a time of personal trials, fasting without coffee or water.
[edit ] Charity
Charity is very important in Islam, and even more so during Ramadhan. According to tradition, Ramadhan is a particularly blessed time to give in charity, as the reward is 700 times greater than any other time of the year. For that reason, Muslims will spend more in charity (sadaqa), and many will pay their zakat during Ramadhan, to receive the blessings (reward). In many Muslim countries, it is not uncommon to see people giving food to the poor and the homeless, and to even see large public areas for the poor to come and break their fast. It is said that if a person helps a fasting person to break their fast, then they receive a reward for that fast, without diminishing the reward that the fasting person got for their fast.
[edit ] Laylat al-Qadr
Main article: Laylat al-Qadr
Sometimes referred to as "the night of decree or measures", Laylat al-Qadr is considered the most holy night of the year.[15] Muslims believe that Laylat al-Qadr is the night in which the Qur'an was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad . Also, it is believed to have occurred on an odd-numbered night during the last 10 days of Ramadan, either the night of the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th or 29th. Shiites also commemorate the attack on Imam `Ali ibn Abi Talib and his subsequent martyrdom every year on the 19th, 21st and 23rd of Ramadan.
[edit ] Eid ul-Fitr
Main article: Eid ul-Fitr
The holiday of Eid ul-Fitr (Arabic : عيد الفطر) marks the end of the fasting period of Ramadan and the first day of the following month, after another new moon has been sighted. The Eid falls after 29 or 30 days of fasting, per the lunar sighting. Eid ul-Fitr means the back to the fitrah ; usually a special celebration is made. Food is donated to the poor (Zakat al-fitr ); everyone puts on their best, usually new, clothes; and communal prayers are held in the early morning, followed by feasting and visiting relatives and friends. The prayer is two Raka'ah only, and it is sunnah muakkad [16] as opposed to the compulsory (Fard) five daily prayers. Muslims are expected to do this as an act of worship, and to thank God.
[edit ] Cultural aspects
[edit ] Decorations
Ramadan is met with various decorations throughout the streets. In Egypt , lanterns are known to be a symbol of Ramadan. They are hung across the cities of Egypt, part of an 800 year old tradition, the origin of which is said to lie in the Fatimid era where the Caliph Al-Muizz Lideenillah was greeted by people holding lanterns to celebrate his ruling. From that time lanterns were used to light mosques and houses throughout the city.
In other Muslim countries, lights are strung up in public squares, and across city streets, to add to the festivities of the month. In the West, many Muslim households have taken to decorating the inside of their homes to make Ramadhan a more special time for their children.
[edit ] Economic aspects
In Egypt, national statistics have pointed to substantial increase in consumption of food, electricity, and medications related to digestive disorders during the month of Ramadan as compared with the monthly average in the rest of the year.[17]
Ramadan (Arabic : رمضان Ramaḍān, Arabic pronunciation: [rɑmɑˈdˤɑːn] ) (also Ramadhan, Ramadaan, Ramazan) is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar , which lasts 29 to 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting , in which participating Muslims refrain from eating and drinking [1] and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, humility, and spirituality. Muslims fast for the sake of God (Arabic : الله, trans: Allah ) and to offer more prayer than usual. Compared to the solar calendar , the dates of Ramadan vary, moving backwards by about eleven days each year depending on the moon ; thus, a person will have fasted every day of the calendar year in 34 years' time. Muslims believe Ramadan to be an auspicious month for the revelations of God to humankind, being the month in which the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to the Islamic prophet , Muhammad .
Contents
[hide ]
· 1 Origins of Ramadan
· 2 The Beginning of Ramadan
· 3 Practices during Ramadan
o 3.1 Fasting
o 3.2 Prayer and reading of the Qur'an
o 3.3 Iftar
o 3.4 Charity
o 3.5 Laylat al-Qadr
· 4 Eid ul-Fitr
· 5 Cultural aspects
o 5.1 Decorations
· 6 Economic aspects
· 7 See also
· 8 References
· 9 External links
[edit ] Origins of Ramadan
The word Ramadan is derived from an Arabic root rmḍ, as in words like "ramiḍa" or "ar-ramaḍ" denoting intense heat,[2] scorched ground and shortness of rations. Ramadan, as a name for the month, is of Islamic origin. Prior to Islam and the exclusion of intercalary days from the Islamic calendar, the name of the month was Natiq and the month fell in the warm season.[3] The word was thus chosen as it well represented the original climate of the month and the physiological conditions precipitated from fasting. In the Qur'an, God proclaims that "fasting has been written down (as obligatory) upon you, as it was upon those before you". According to a hadith , it might refer to the Jewish practice of fasting on Yom Kippur .[4] [5]
[edit ] The Beginning of Ramadan
Hilāl (the crescent ) is typically a day (or more) after the astronomical new moon. Since the new moon indicates the beginning of the new month, Muslims can usually safely estimate the beginning of Ramadan.[6]
There are many disagreements each year however, on when Ramadan starts. This stems from the tradition to sight the moon with the naked eye and as such there are differences for countries on opposite sides of the globe.[7] More recently however, some Muslims are leaning towards using astronomical calculations to avoid this confusion.
For the year of 1432 Hijri , the first day of Ramadan was determined to be August 1, 2011.
[edit ] Practices during Ramadan
[edit ] Fasting
Main article: Sawm
During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.
The month of Ramadan is the one in which the Qur'an was sent down - right Guidance to mankind, and clear signs of Guidance and Distinction of truth from falsehood. Those among you who witness it, let him fast therein. Whoever is sick or on a journey, then a number of other days. God desires ease for you, and desires not hardship. Thus may you fulfil the number of days assigned, magnify God for having guided you, and perhaps you will be thankful.
Ayah 185, Sura 2 (Al-Baqara ), translation by Tarif Khalidi see:[2] [8]
Ramadan is a time of reflecting, believing and worshiping God. Muslims are expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam and to avoid obscene and irreligious sights and sounds. Sexual intercourse among spouse is allowed after one has ended the fast. During fasting intercourse is prohibited as well as eating and drinking, one is also encouraged to resist all temptations while you are fasting. Purity of both thoughts and actions is important. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly activities, its purpose being to cleanse the inner soul and free it from harm. It also teaches Muslims to practice self-discipline, self-control,[9] sacrifice, and empathy for those who are less fortunate; thus encouraging actions of generosity and charity (Zakat ).[10]
Muslims should start observing the fasting ritual upon reaching the age of puberty , so long as they are healthy, sane and have no disabilities or illnesses. The elderly, the chronically ill, and the mentally ill are exempt from fasting, although the first two groups must endeavor to feed the poor in place of their missed fasting. Also exempt are pregnant women if they believe it would be harmful to them or the unborn baby, women during the period of their menstruation, and women nursing their newborns. A difference of opinion exists among Islamic scholars as to whether this last group must make up the days they miss at a later date, or feed poor people as a recompense for days missed.[11] While fasting is not considered compulsory in childhood , many children endeavour to complete as many fasts as possible as practice for later life. Lastly, those traveling (musaafir) are exempt, but must make up the days they miss.[12] More specifically, Twelver Shī‘ah define those who travel more than 14 mi (23 km) in a day as exempt.[10]
[edit ] Prayer and reading of the Qur'an
In addition to fasting, Muslims are encouraged to read the entire Qur'an. Some Muslims perform the recitation of the entire Qur'an by means of special prayers, called Tarawih , which are held in the mosques every night of the month, during which a whole section of the Qur'an (Juz' , which is 1/30 of the Qur'an) is recited. Therefore the entire Qur'an would be completed at the end of the month.
Ramadan is also a time when Muslims are to slow down from worldly affairs and focus on self-reformation, spiritual cleansing and enlightenment; this is to establish a link between themselves and God through prayer, supplication, charity, good deeds, kindness and helping others. Since it is a festival of giving and sharing, Muslims prepare special foods and buy gifts for their family and friends and for giving to the poor and needy who cannot afford it; this can involve buying new clothes, shoes and other items of need. There is also a social aspect involving the preparation of special foods and inviting people for Iftar .
[edit ] Iftar
Main article: Iftar
Iftar in Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Is Istanbul ,Turkey
Muslims all around the world will abstain from food and drink, through fasting, from dawn to sunset. At sunset, the family will gather the fast-breaking meal known as Iftar . The meal starts with the eating of a date — just as Prophet Muhammad used to do. Then it's time for the Maghrib prayer, which is the fourth of the five daily prayers, after which the main meal is served. [13]
Over time, Iftar has grown into banquet festivals. This is a time of fellowship with families, friends and surrounding communities, but may also occupy larger spaces at mosques or banquet halls, where a hundred or more may gather at a time.[14]
Most markets close down during evening prayers and the Iftar meal, but then re-open and stay open for a good part of the night. Muslims can be seen shopping, eating, spending time with their friends and family during the evening hours. In many Muslim countries, this can last late into the evening, to early morning. However, if they try to attend to business as usual, it can become a time of personal trials, fasting without coffee or water.
[edit ] Charity
Charity is very important in Islam, and even more so during Ramadhan. According to tradition, Ramadhan is a particularly blessed time to give in charity, as the reward is 700 times greater than any other time of the year. For that reason, Muslims will spend more in charity (sadaqa), and many will pay their zakat during Ramadhan, to receive the blessings (reward). In many Muslim countries, it is not uncommon to see people giving food to the poor and the homeless, and to even see large public areas for the poor to come and break their fast. It is said that if a person helps a fasting person to break their fast, then they receive a reward for that fast, without diminishing the reward that the fasting person got for their fast.
[edit ] Laylat al-Qadr
Main article: Laylat al-Qadr
Sometimes referred to as "the night of decree or measures", Laylat al-Qadr is considered the most holy night of the year.[15] Muslims believe that Laylat al-Qadr is the night in which the Qur'an was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad . Also, it is believed to have occurred on an odd-numbered night during the last 10 days of Ramadan, either the night of the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th or 29th. Shiites also commemorate the attack on Imam `Ali ibn Abi Talib and his subsequent martyrdom every year on the 19th, 21st and 23rd of Ramadan.
[edit ] Eid ul-Fitr
Main article: Eid ul-Fitr
The holiday of Eid ul-Fitr (Arabic : عيد الفطر) marks the end of the fasting period of Ramadan and the first day of the following month, after another new moon has been sighted. The Eid falls after 29 or 30 days of fasting, per the lunar sighting. Eid ul-Fitr means the back to the fitrah ; usually a special celebration is made. Food is donated to the poor (Zakat al-fitr ); everyone puts on their best, usually new, clothes; and communal prayers are held in the early morning, followed by feasting and visiting relatives and friends. The prayer is two Raka'ah only, and it is sunnah muakkad [16] as opposed to the compulsory (Fard) five daily prayers. Muslims are expected to do this as an act of worship, and to thank God.
[edit ] Cultural aspects
[edit ] Decorations
Ramadan is met with various decorations throughout the streets. In Egypt , lanterns are known to be a symbol of Ramadan. They are hung across the cities of Egypt, part of an 800 year old tradition, the origin of which is said to lie in the Fatimid era where the Caliph Al-Muizz Lideenillah was greeted by people holding lanterns to celebrate his ruling. From that time lanterns were used to light mosques and houses throughout the city.
In other Muslim countries, lights are strung up in public squares, and across city streets, to add to the festivities of the month. In the West, many Muslim households have taken to decorating the inside of their homes to make Ramadhan a more special time for their children.
[edit ] Economic aspects
In Egypt, national statistics have pointed to substantial increase in consumption of food, electricity, and medications related to digestive disorders during the month of Ramadan as compared with the monthly average in the rest of the year.[17]
Continued from: www.flickr.com/photos/42093313@N00/51871571321/in/datepos...
Uzair: “Then Allah does that even with the faiths that went headlong against His Tauheed, One-ness. The Christians who made the Prophet Isa (as), Jesus, His son. Many times, in about 30 some verses at least, He admonishes them. But then He also says:
مَّ قَفَّيْنَا عَلَىٰٓ ءَاثَرِهِم بِرُسُلِنَا وَقَفَّيْنَا بِعِيسَى ٱبْنِ مَرْيَمَ وَءَاتَيْنَهُ ٱلْإِنجِيلَ وَجَعَلْنَا فِى قُلُوبِ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّبَعُوهُ رَأْفَةًۭ وَرَحْمَةًۭ وَرَهْبَانِيَّةً ٱبْتَدَعُوهَا مَا كَتَبْنَهَا عَلَيْهِمْ إِلَّا ٱبْتِغَآءَ رِضْوَنِ ٱللَّهِ فَمَا رَعَوْهَا حَقَّ رِعَايَتِهَا ۖ
فَـَٔاتَيْنَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مِنْهُمْ أَجْرَهُمْ ۖ
وَكَثِيرٌۭ مِّنْهُمْ فَسِقُونَ
And We followed with Isa, son of Maryam, and We gave him the Injeel.
And We placed in the hearts of those who followed him compassion and mercy.
But monasticism they innovated - not that We prescribed it for them – they invented it themselves only seeking the Pleasure of Allah,
but then they did not observe with right observance.
So We gave those who believed among them their reward, but most of them are defiantly disobediently.
Surah Al Hadeed, Verse 27
Tafseer e Jilani
Wa: And after We caused them to be followed by…
Bi Isa ibn e Maryam: with the Prophet Isa (as) son of Maryam and we gave him the Injeel (Bible) and succored him with the Holy Spirit (Hazrat Gibrael (as))…
Wa: with perfected cleansing of him and nobility in his family and his behaviour…
Ja’alna fi quloobi illadina attaba’uhu: and We placed in their hearts, of those who followed him and believed in him and practiced his religion…
Rafa’tan: softness, affection and kindness, to the extent that they forgave murderers and did not fight with the ones who cursed them and those who were physically violent…
Wa rahmatan: and mercy, so they were merciful because of it with all of Allah’s Servants.
Wa: And because the intensity of their love and attachment with Allah by their connection with Him, they invented…
Rahbaaniatan: monasticism and transgressed the limits of worship to the extent that they wouldn’t eat and they wouldn’t drink for days at a time and never married and did not meet people and instead made their abodes in the heights of mountains and in caves and indeed…
Ibtadauha: they introduced it making it up from their own selves without any approval from Our Side because…
Ma katabnaha: We didn’t prescribe monasticism for them and We did not make it obligatory and We did not compel them towards it…
Alaihim: upon them in their religion and in their books but they didn’t choose it…
Illa abtigha’a ridwan illahe: except that they were seeking Allah’s Pleasure and were desiring of acquiring it and despite this…
Fama rauha haqqa ri’ayatiha: the monasticism did not match with their religion and their books because they disbelieved Muhammad (peace be upon him) even though he was the greatest credence in their religion and their books so they left that belief and didn’t recognize him knowingly with ignorance and obstinacy…
Fa’atayna alladina aamano: so We gave those who believed in Muhammad (peace be upon him)…
Minhum ajrahum: the reward of their faith and of their deeds multiplying them many times which they deserved because of those deeds…
Wa katheerum minhum fasiqoon: and most of them were defiantly disobedient, the ones who left the demand of their religion and their books by the denial of Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Uzair: “So Allah says about the Christians, not only do they feel empathy, the followers of the Prophet Jesus (as), they do something about it. Even in His Anger He points out the kindness they possess. Then He says they become ascetics which He did not oblige upon them. Then again even in that criticism, He says they did it thinking they could gain My Pleasure. But then they could not carry the burden of the act.
So coming back to the essence of the verses. forgive people and their mistakes, their shortcomings. Don’t just accept the goodness of their nature, highlight it.”
Subhan Allah!
The point Uzair wanted to make finally came;
“So if Allah has this approach for worship and deeds, giving the best ajr, reward, looking for the best of them, then will it not be the case that if we attach our beings, our own selves to those considered best by him, then by the blessings bestowed upon them, we will also become better and then best? If most mediocre deeds can be made perfect, then why won’t ordinary people be rendered extraordinary?”
The lecture had motivated me to contact those who had been acting crazy. We had been out of touch without animosity but weeks had gone by. In my usual haste, I made contact only to be rebuffed. Again! I felt bad. Iblis whispered words that made me feel slighted. My nafs felt wounded. It had been a while since that happened so I was taken aback by the emotions. They were all negative and draining.
For two nights I suffered. But then I came out of it because of the attempt to remind myself that they were my loved ones. And I was theirs. What I didn’t control so well was my tongue if I spoke about them. I would use sarcasm and berate them. They were just words not really my feelings. But that was exactly what made me insincere. I would know that as I saw them coming out of my mouth and entering my ears. It was pure reaction that was entirely habitual.
And then I came upon these words in the Tafseer e Tustari;
[6:152] …And if you speak, be just...
وَإِذَا قُلْتُمْ فَٱعْدِلُوا۟
And when you speak then be just.
Surah Al An’am, Verse 152
Hazrat Sahel (ra) said: “The people of veracity (ṣidq) speak in four ways: they speak in God, through God, for God or with God. There are other people who speak to themselves and for themselves, and so they are preserved from the evil of speech.
Yet other people speak about others and forget themselves, and so they innovate and go astray. Wretched is that which they have produced for themselves!
So abandon speech for knowledge, and then only speak when it is necessary, and you will be preserved from the ills of speech. What is meant [by ‘when it is necessary’] is that you should not speak unless you are afraid that you will otherwise fall into sin.
Then he said: Whoever makes a [false] assumption (ẓann) will be deprived of certainty, and whoever speaks about that which does not concern him will be deprived of veracity.”
That’s where I was landing more than anything. I found that badgumani, feeling mistrust towards others, almost always wrongly, was the most major bane of my nafs. That was the downside of being sensitive. I guess that is how I was depriving myself of certainty.
The narration I chose for my video to mark Imam Ali’s (as) birth is recorded in every tafseer of any merit; The blessed Imam (as) gives a silver ring he is wearing to a person asking for alms in the Masjid e Nabawi. He is mid-prayer in the position of ruku’, when one bends at right angles to the hip, touching their hands upon their knees. The verse that marks his gesture and the incident ends with the identifier of who it is revealed for; wa hum ra’kioon – they are the ones who give charity while they bow in prayer in ruku.’
The closing line of the video was a quote by the Imam (as) about his condition in every prayer;
لم اعبد ربا لم اره
“Never did I pray before The Lord who raised me
without seeing Him.”
I couldn’t stop marveling about what he said and how it connected to the giving of his alms precisely in the moment that he was seeing God. Then diverting himself from that seeing to loosen a ring and drop it from his finger for someone seeking charity. Because the ask was in His Name.
Was it any wonder that the act was purifying, that the Quran states to be the means of gaining forgiveness through the prayer of The Beloved (peace be upon him) which brought with it cleansing and purification, dignity, inner peace, calmness, tranquility for the heart, steadfastness in Tauheed and imaan. It’s true, there is no Bestower like Allah when He is Al Wahhab!
In one of my recent Quran classes at my cousins’ place, Danoo had told us all something that blew everyone away. As best as I can recall it, she said that they were those amongst Mankind who were bestowed the nazar, gaze of The Beloved (peace be upon him) such that Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) allowed them to see him in certain moments of his life.
Time travel has already been confirmed by many Spiritual Masters of the day as the miracle of the awaited last Imam, Mehdi (ra), but it always existed for all the Friends of God.
“So someone was able to see Huzoor (peace be upon him) in a sitting with his companions or perhaps in a signing of a treaty or in a state of travel or anything. It was Huzoor’s (peace be upon him) gift to them.”
Almost everyone in the room had let out a cry of the deepest envy. It was beyond anyone’s imagination that such a thing could occur. I had been thinking about what I would have liked to have seen. The list was long. High on it for me was the splitting of the moon. I was taken by the incident even though I didn’t want to see or hear the infidels backtracking on their word and denying its happening while it unfolded in front of their eyes.
But I did want to see the moon separate from itself at his beckon. I wanted to see him step away from the pulpit to take Imam Hassan (as) and Imam Hussain (as) into his arms when they entered the Mosque while he was giving a sermon. I wanted to see him sit with his friends, the four of them, around the well in Medina to tell them they would all have houses near his in Paradise. I would be mesmerized by the way he greeted his most beloved child, Bibi Fatima (as), when she came to see him. I would have loved to see him enter Mecca, 13 years after being made to flee the city under threat to his life, the heads of all his enemies bowed in fear and trepidation, his own head bowed as well despite being the victor, out of pure humility to his Lord for granting him such a victory.
My list was endless indeed.
From Imam Ali’s (as) life, I would have liked to have seen, again amongst many things, the incident of the ring. The tafseer of the verse was this for the video from the Tafseer e Jilani was superb;
إِنَّمَا وَلِيُّكُمُ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ
وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَهُمْ رَاكِعُونَ
Innama walliyyukum Allah: Only Allah is your Friend, The One who is in charge of your matters as related to all kinds of ordinary love…
Wa Rasooluhu: and so is His Messenger (peace be upon him), who is His Vice-regent second to Him, also in charge of your matters…
Walladina aamano: and those who brought faith in Allah with a love made special because of their following the Prophet (peace be upon him) and they…
Alladina yuqeemoona: are the ones who are forever…
As salata: in prayer that brings one close to Allah’s Essence…
And yu’toona az zakata: and they give charity which cleanses their hearts from focus on anything other than Allah…
Wa: in the state of…
Hum rak’ioon: ruku,’ bowing in their prayers, with humility.
Surah Al Maidah, Verse 55
The line made me look up something I had read months ago in the Tafseer e Tustari and no doubt quoted in a piece along the way;
Hazrat Sahl (ra) was asked about the words of the Prophet , ‘Seeking knowledge is an obligation (farīḍa) for every Muslim’.
He said, ‘This refers to the knowledge of [one’s]state (ḥāl).’
He was asked, ‘What is the knowledge of [one’s] state?’
Sahl (ra) replied: Inwardly it is sincerity (ikhlāṣ) and outwardly it is emulation (iqtidāʾ). Moreover, unless a person’s outward [self] (ẓāhir) is leading his inner [self] (bāṭin), and his inner self is the perfection (kamāl) of his outward self, he will merely be fatiguing his body.
Mālik b. Anas alluded to this point when he said, ‘Knowledge is not just about how much you can relate [from memory] (riwāya) but rather knowledge is a light that God places within the heart.’
He [Sahl] was asked, ‘How can a man recognise his state (ḥāl) and act upon it?’
He replied: “When you speak, your state is that of speech, and when you observe silence, your state is that of silence. When you stand your state is that of standing, and when you sit your state is that of sitting. [To have] knowledge of your state you should see whether it is for God or for other than Him. If it is for God you may settle in it, but if it is for other than Him you should abandon it.
This is the act of taking account of oneself (muḥāsaba) which ʿUmar enjoined when he said, ‘Call yourselves to account before you are called to account, and weigh yourselves up before you are weighed up…’ Indeed, ʿUmar used to beat his chest while calling himself to account.’”
The day I decided to end the piece was extraordinary. It was a Sunday. I was taking a friend visiting from the States for the best doughnuts in town and a street food lunch called a Bun Plaster. Towards the end she said she wanted to go by Daata Sahib’s (ra). It was the oldest and most revered shrine of the city and the Sub-continent, almost a 1,000 in existence. Her niece was driving the car and my first thought was, “Without a driver?”
The shrine is located in the inner city of Lahore and the place is always densely crowded. “Why not,” everyone else said. I knew Shaan had been dying to go there since I met him. He was wearing a baseball cap, black jeans that were always sliding down his waist, a shirt and jacket. The other thought that entered my mind was “How will we get Shaan to wear a veil to go inside?”
When we reached the entrance of the shrine, we basically breezed through security. One woman came running after us as if she had had an afterthought that a boy was coming into the women’s section. “Boy or girl?” she said pointing at Shaan. I was only too familiar with the question personally.
“Girl,” I said confidently. Shaan unzipped his jacket and let him pat her down. That was it. No one cared about the veil. He didn’t even take his hat off the whole time. We went in, placed flowers and prayed Maghrib with the congregation. I listened intently to the verses the Qari recited in the first two raka’t. Both were most beautiful.
The first ended with one of the most ma’roof lines of the Quran;
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِين
And did We not send you (O Beloved saw) except as a mercy for the Universe
and all that exists within it
Surah Al-Anbiya, Verse 107
My heart soared. The verse read aloud in the second raka’t had the same effect.
ٱرْجِعِىٓ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةًۭ مَّرْضِيَّةًۭ
فَٱدْخُلِى فِى عِبَدِى
وَٱدْخُلِى جَنَّتِى
Return to your Lord well pleased, and pleasing.
so enter then together with My Servants
and enter My Paradise.
Surah Al Fajr, Verse 89
We distributed cauldrons of food on our way to the car. We did everything one is meant to do! As we drove back, I told the younger kids about the verse`s we had prayed to. They listened silently. Shaan was quiet. When he did speak, he broke into extemporaneous poetry in Urdu. He always did that when he was excited. It never made sense to anyone except me who now knew him.
The first Coke Studio track in a year and a half had been released that morning. It was phenomenal; a beautiful duet by Naseebo Lal and Abeda Parveen. A woman who was unknown and supposedly from the humblest of backgrounds in Lahore, dirt poor, paired with the most important female Sufi artist of the continent, if not the world. All of us in the car from age 21 to 55 were moved by the sound of the music. It was one of those rare tracks that make the eyes cry and the heart soar.
The best thing about being cut off from the world, literally, because of the absence of being perpetually connected to the internet, is missing out on the bad news. And then the detail of the bad news. Many, including children, had recently died because of being stuck in snow in a hill station families had driven to just to see the snowfall. People kept talking about photos they couldn’t get out of their minds and the behaviour of hotel owners who had raised tariffs so much overnight that people had opted to sleep in their cars and therefore frozen to death.
I only knew about the incident because I saw a headline in Yahoo when I exited my mail. Luckily all I was thinking about was how the Person of the Shrine was the only one who decided what happened to those who came to him because there was a bulawa, invite, for them. Shaan, a 47 year old female, dressed like a 14 year old boy, had been welcomed with just a single question that had been posed to me my whole life. And not just in Lahore!
It made me think of the verse that all Honour belongs to Allah.
مَن كَانَ يُرِيدُ ٱلْعِزَّةَ فَلِلَّهِ ٱلْعِزَّةُ جَمِيعًاۚ إِلَيْهِ يَصْعَدُ ٱلْكَلِمُ ٱلطَّيِّبُ وَٱلْعَمَلُ ٱلصَّلِحُ يَرْفَعُهُۚۥ
Whoever desires for himself honor, (should know) then for Allah (alone) is all the Honor.
To Him ascends the good words, and righteous deeds raises it.
Surah Fatir, Verse 10
Tafseer e Jilani:
Man kana yureed ul izzata: The one who wants honour, endless, after which never comes humiliation ever, then he should turn towards Allah and makes his focus His One-ness.
Fa lillahe izzatu: For only Allah is the True Owner of Honour, which includes control, eternal majesty and all kingdoms…
Jami-an: overt (zahiri) and inner (batini). And the one who desires that Allah bestow upon him honour and control and absolute kingdoms and abundance that remains forever, then he should, in his initial stages toward Allah, praise Him by way of His Perfect Names and Exalted Attributes till his remembrance reaches the stages of their reflection in him.
This (the reflection) is the last effort and then he becomes a reflector of Allah’s Being, wanting to unveil the Veils of His Omnipotence, till he becomes present before Him, able to unveil Him and witness the Signs of His Names and Attributes on the surface of the Universe without the distortion created by others.
And overall (in summary), the one who seeks honour should be occupied in the Remembrance by Allah in the early stages because
Ilayhi yasadu alkalm at tayyabu: towards Him ascend good words which are the Prefect Names of Allah and His Exalted Attributes, increasing in frequency from the tongues of The Sincere and The Ones who Reflect in Allah’s Blessings and His Bounty…
Wal al amal as saleh: and (they should be occupied) in good deeds joined with ikhlas, sincerity and tabbatul, devotion to Him (also ascending towards Him)…
Yarfa’uhu: (which will be why) He then raises that deed founded upon sincerity and those good words allowing them to reach towards the stages of Closeness with Allah. So for the one whose sincerity in his deed is perfect, then the ranks of his words, which are raised towards Allah Subhanahu, are the highest and the most supreme to Him.
It was astonishing that link; the sincerity of my deeds being behind my tasbeeh of His Names reaching Him.
Just a few days after the visit to Daata Sahib (ra) I realized that Shaan was just a human being. Not perfected spirituality (albeit only in certain aspects) that I had made him out to be because he lived in a park. Because he had been homeless. Because he was alone. Because he possessed exactly nothing. Because he was attached to nothing. Because no one except God cared about him. He was simply human. He possessed the duality in his nature like everyone else. He felt anger and fear. He expressed resentment and envy.
The issue that unmasked his fragility was one that everyone faces. When his behaviour changed I discussed it with Qari Sahib. He said it was natural and it had to be waited out.
“Everyone needs time to heal,” he said. “From an old wound or a new one. Give it time.”
It was my fault anyway as usual. I had made Shaan out to be super human. He was not. His being alone had just made his idiosyncrasies more intense than other people’s. Being on the spectrum added its own layer on top of that. It had to be borne to see where he might land. Wherever that was, I would have to deal with it then.
In the beginning though when all options pointed towards him having to leave, I felt a deep anguish. I prayed and prayed and cried in those prayers. “Please God,” I begged, “Let Shaan become the way he was. Let him be happy and let his heart be calm and devoid of that which makes him now different.” I don’t believe I prayed that hard for a reversal in someone’s nature in my entire life. Even though he was not blood, he was not a friend.
The experience taught me something extremely important one day at Fajr when I lay in bed holding my tasbeeh, about to spin its beads. Every single thing and every single person in one’s life is an amanat of Allah. Everything is a bestowing, therefore it is only in a safe-keeping. There is no possession as such of anything. Nothing and no one belongs to anyone, except God.
It was like the second line in the video from the kalam. It was part of the tarana and everyone assumed it was just sounds that had no meaning. But they had meaning and it was the deepest meaning ever;
ہم تم تا نا نا نا، تا نانا رے
I reflect You,
I am yours,
I belong to You.
That night when I prayed Isha’ a thought came into my mind. Knowledge is a city, Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) says. He is that city, Madinat ul Ilm. But entrance into any city is through its door. And the Imam (as), he said, is that Bab oha, its Door. My learning about the faith before going to him in Iraq was like watching things from a drone; flying above but never being inside it.
It wasn’t until I arrived at that Door that my learning changed from the reading and listening and writing of words and edged somewhat slightly towards deed. Which incidentally is the third cure for a heart being shred to pieces from the onslaught of doubt and paranoia. For deed, says Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) is the path from which Satan, when he sees it, leaves. Deed, said the Imam (as), was what would bear witness to his faith. And faith, as I was made to learn in no uncertain terms, imaan, was nothing except the prize for the emulation of Allah’s Beloved (peace be upon him).
Hence for every act there was really only one deed. Just like for every path that lead to spirituality, there was only one door.
In the Tafseer e Jilani, Ghaus Pak (ra) writes again and again about the the verses of Paradise under which flow rivers. Those rivers are of ma’raifat, the Recognition of Allah Subhanahu, specifically three; Ilm ul Yaqeen, the Knowledge of Certainty, Ayn ul Yaqeen, the Witnessing of Certainty, Haq ul Yaqeen, the Truth of Knowledge.
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّلِحَتِ يَهْدِيهِمْ رَبُّهُم بِإِيمَنِهِمْ ۖ
تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهِمُ ٱلْأَنْهَرُ فِى جَنَّتِ ٱلنَّعِيمِ
Indeed, those who believed and did good deeds, Allah will guide them by that faith.
Underneath them will flow the rivers in Gardens of Delight.
Surah Yunus, Verse 9
Tafseer e Jilani
Then said Allah Subhanahu, Exalted is He, according to His Way as it is always, when comes after admonishment glad tidings and vice versa…
Innalladina aamino: indeed, they who attained to faith in Allah and His Tauheed, One-ness…
Wa amilo salihaat: and they did good deeds as commanded by Him to better their states…
Yahdihim Rabbohum: their Lord will guide them towards the cosmos of His Tauheed…
Bi imaanihim: by their faith and their Ilm Yaqeeni, certainty of the Divine, that comes from knowledge…
Tajri min tahtahi mul anhaar: from rivers that flow beneath their feet i.e. streams of Ma’arif, Recognition of God and sprouting purls of the Truth of His Reality from the Ocean of His One-ness, with the colours of Ayn al Yaqeen, The Witnessing of Divine Certainty and Al Haq, the Truth of Divine Certainty…
Fi Jannaatin Naeem: i.e. they will be forever placed in the realm of these spiritual pleasures.
I started celebrating the month of Rajab at its advent. Like I do with Rabul Awwal, the month of the blessed birth of Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) and the month of Rabbu Thani, the month of the birth of Ghaus Pak (ra). This year a bunch of my friends sent money to partake in the distribution of food with me mostly because they were deeply affected by the verse about charity bringing them the prayer of Allah’s Beloved (peace be upon him).
Then I started a prayer I have only said once before in my life. When I secluded myself for three days in Ramadan, also only once in my life. It was a prayer favoured by the Imam (as), two nafal reading Surak Ikhlas a 100 times in each rak’at. It was not lost on me, the name of the Surah, sincerity, that it was the Surah of Tauheed, One-ness.
It was a distracted utterance, except for the beginning but it was joyous. Before I started I said a prayer for myself that I had just learnt from the Hazrat Yousuf (as), the Prophet Joseph.
رَبِّ قَدْ ءَاتَيْتَنِى مِنَ ٱلْمُلْكِ وَعَلَّمْتَنِى مِن تَأْوِيلِ ٱلْأَحَادِيثِ ۚ
فَاطِرَ ٱلسَّمَوَتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ أَنتَ وَلِىِّۦ
فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْءَاخِرَةِ ۖ
تَوَفَّنِى مُسْلِمًۭا وَأَلْحِقْنِى بِٱلصَّلِحِينَ
My Lord, indeed, you have given of the sovereignty and taught me of the interpretation of the events.
Creator of the heavens and the earth, You are my Protector, in the world and the Hereafter. Cause me to die as a Muslim, and join me with the righteous."
Hazrat Yusuf, Verse 101
Tafseer e Jilani
Then prayed Hazrat Yousuf (as) for himself and he said softly to his Lord, a prayer, that uttered from him only with wisdom, intellect and reasoning, with his invocation:
Rabbi: O my Lord who raises me, by Your Unmerited Affection and Your Bounty, with different kinds of guidance and favour that you have granted me…
Qad Aataytani: indeed You bestowed upon me and blessed me…
Min al mulk: from the Overt Kingdom i.e. the Kingship which is concerned with the realm of the existing world…
Wa allamtani min taaweel il hadeeth: and You taught me the interpretation of matters i.e. extracting conclusions from the events which happen in this world to what is in the Realm of the Unseen and its true explanation.
Faatir is samawat e wal ard: O One who created the heavens and the Earth i.e. the Realm of Allah’s Names, the reflection of which are the disappearing shadows apparent…
Anta: You are by Your Own Self, after you made me steadfast in Your One-ness and You disclosed to me Your Tauheed, that One-ness, and lifted the veils between me and it…
Walliya: You are my Supporter and The Controller of my affairs and The One who keeps my secrets…
Fi duniya wal akhira: in this world and the Hereafter i.e. in this life and the Afterlife…
Tawwafini: make me die and take my soul…
Muslim-an: surrendering, entrusting all my matters to you…
Walhiqni: and join me, with Your Special Favour…
Bi saliheen: with the righteous ones who are the ones who reformed their selves in this life and the Hereafter until they achieved success from You with the honour of meeting You.
For the second time I noted how the word salih was connected to reforming of one’s state, bettering it. It was markedly prominent in a line from the namaz which Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) uttered after Allah Subhanahu sends Salam upon him, thus bringing others into the Peace that Allah was bestowing upon him alone:
As-Salamu 'Alayna wa 'Ala 'Ibad-Allah-is-Saliheen
Peace be upon us and on the Righteous Servant of Allah.
It was almost always translated as righteous but Ghaus Pak (ra) was saying that the Saliheen were those who were in a perpetual state of reforming. Hazrat Yousuf’s (as), a Prophet’s invocation, was about being made to die in surrender and being joined with the ones who continue to reform themselves.
At sunset when the month started I was googling different things to gain more information on Rajab to preface my first email to my friends. Then I came across this:
The Imam Abdul Qadir Jilani (ra) said:
رجب شھر الزرع و شعبان شھر السقی و رمضان شھر الحصاد
و کل یحصد ما زرع و یجزی ما صنع
و من ضیع الزراعۃ ندم یوم حصادہ و احلف ظنہ مع سوء معادہ
Rajab is the month for sowing seeds, Sha’ban is the month for watering, and Ramadan is the month for reaping.
And all reap what they sow
and will be rewarded for what they did.
And the one who wasted the (season of) planting regretted it on the day of harvest
and found it to be against what he thought would be the result.
I was blown away by his words. That the cycle bore fruit in just 90 days!
For two nights I thought and thought about what seeds to plant and could not figure out what I should choose. Scholars had a singular take on what that seed should be; of worship. But worship was a function of ability granted. Meanwhile, my nafs only steered me in one direction; towards those I knew who were willfully absent. Because their hearts were shredded.
“Plant seeds of love for them,” it said to me earnestly, not with deceit. “Maybe they will come back.” I could almost hear the hope it felt, the need it was feeling for that return. I didn’t say anything. Then I started asking my Lord who raises me to choose my seeds for me.
The next day I went to the shrine of Hazrat Pir Turat Murad Shah (ra) in the park. I sat next to his blessed grave reading the Names of Allah and Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him) that had just been put up inside it in a recent renovation.
Those Names of theirs that were His Manifestations in the Universe, His Signs and what paved the way towards Him.
I thought about my youth and how my seeds of love burst forth with the most gorgeous bloom in my early life when I was a seed myself. For decades we only flourished and grew more beautiful. In one decade alone everything began to wilt. No one knew that it was what became the state of the soul when it felt lonely. Or was it the nafs? It was as if the sun disappeared and water vanished.
I prayed and in the prayer I had a thought and in the thought I saw the seeds I wanted to sow. A seed for steadfastness in Tauheed, a seed of the deepest love for The Beloved (peace be upon him), a seed of wishing to be informed of the beings of who were the Saliheen who had been informed of Allah Subhanahu’s Essence by Him as the success granted to them for reforming themselves. And then, lastly, a seed for the ones I loved in the world. This time without names and faces and memories of a past that would never return. Not pegged with desire for reigniting what had turned to cold ashes. Just seeds, just love.
Then after weeks of not even opening Ghaus Pak’s (ra) Al Fath Ar Rabbani, the next night I lay in bed unable to sleep. I decided to read a line. The line that came was very familiar to me. It was a well known, hadith of Nabi Pak (peace be upon him):
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ
الدُّنْيَا سِجْنُ الْمُؤْمِنِ
“The world is a prison for the believer.”
As someone who feels entrapped in the world, I felt like the hadith made me a Mo’min sometimes. But then came the explanation of the words;
Al Fath Ar Rabbani: “The world is a prison for the Mo’min. Thus when he will forget that prison, only then will he gain freedom for it.”
One line is all I had read and I had to pause. So it wasn’t about being attached to the world, being drawn to it, attracted to it, that made it a prison. It was the same entrapment for the one thinking everything about it was torment. For that meant that one was not forgetting it at all. Thus it was not freedom from it.
I realized how exactly the notion applied to people and attachment to them. Not one iota of any association lessened because of thinking badly of them or feeling unhappy because of them. It seemed to appear to be worse than being connected to them with happiness. At least that was not negative. For the tongue or the heart. The world was a prison for anyone aware of it.
My sighs just kept getting deeper!
Al Fath Ar Rabbani: “Those who attain to faith are in that prison (of the world) while those who gain ma’rifa, Recognition of Allah Subhanahu, are in a state of intoxication. Therefore they are entirely unaware of that prison because indeed, their Lord has made them sip the Drink of His Love for Him, and the Drink of His Affection for Him, and the Drink of His Desire for Him and the Drink of obliviousness from Creation and are only mindful of Him so they became detached from the prison and its inmates.”
Subhan Allah!
And once again my perception of myself, where I was at, what I thought, was turned upside down. The most massive revelation it bore for me what my usage of the word that meant the most to me all of my life; “love.” In the blooming decades I had used it rarely and therefore only sincerely with unquestionable devotion. It took me years for my tongue to utter it for the first time to anyone. I think I must have been well into my 20s. I don’t think I ever said it face to face to my mother or sister who died or my brother who is alive.
But in this decade of wilting, I overused it constantly. Mostly I echoed others until I started copying them and initiating it. Sometimes I thought it might make a bridge between those and myself who felt so far apart. But it was no longer true except in its desire to be true. It became just another word without meaning.
The Sufis say that the first movement of the Universe was love. Because Allah loved to be known.
كُنتُ كنزاً مَخفياً فأحببتُ أن أُعْرَف فخَلَقتُ الخَلْقَ لكي أُعرف
I, Allah, was a Treasure Hidden so I loved to be known
Therefore I created Creation so that I will be known.
Ahbabtu – “Loved”, not wanted to be known!
In my translation of another verse from Surah Yunus, I had learnt about the metaphysics of Creation and in it again was the word, love.
Hazrat Najmuddin Kubra (ra): So Allah called His Servants from Divine Knowledge (al ilm) towards existence (al wujood) by blowing His Breath and it is His saying:
فَإِذَا سَوَّيْتُهُۥ وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِى
So, when I have fashioned him and I breathed into him of My Spirit.
Surah Al Hijr, Verse 29
And He invites them from existence (al wujood) towards nothingness (al adam) and Divine Knowledge with love and it His saying:
ٱرْجِعِىٓ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةًۭ
Return to your Lord well pleased,
Surah Al Fajr, Verse 28
Qari Sahib was the one who had pointed it out: “Do you see how from nothingness to existence the impetus is the Breath of Allah and in the end of time, from existence to nothingness, the impetus is Allah’s Jazba, His Love.”
It was strange. So much about the Day of Judgement was about fear and loud trumpets and the skies rolling as if wrapping up a stage. And here it was said, Allah invited the nafs back to it with love.
And at 51 I no longer knew nothing about it!
So on the 2nd of Rabaj, I changed my fourth seed. I didn’t know how to plant seeds of love. I didn’t know what that meant in the ever changing context of life. So I decided to take a step back. I went to Nabi Kareem’s (peace be upon him) hadith;
عن جابر بن عبد الله قال : لما نزلت سورة "براءة" قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم :
بعثت بمداراة الناس
From Jābir b. ʿAbd Allāh (may God be pleased with them all), that he reported that when Sūrat Barāʾa (Tauba) was sent down, the Messenger of God said,
“I was sent to treat people with affability (mudārāt).”
In another hadith though he had used the word love and it was in relation to imaan, faith.
“The Momin is the one who loves and is loved.
And there is no goodness for the one who does not give love and receive love. The best amongst people is the one who gives others benefit.”
Then I was jumping up and down about how I had perceived it. Everyone wanted to love and be loved. Therefore everyone must be a Mo’min. Now it revealed to me that the state of being Mo’min was fluid. I loved and was loved intensely in my youth. I gave and received love happily. With sincerely, with certainty. I wasn’t praying much but was I a Mo’min then?
Rajab makes every single deed a seed. And makes mindfulness not a word but an existence in constancy. As much as I focus on what I do want to sow, I became aware of what I do not. For that too would end up bearing fruit. Bitter! I was being made aware of seeds planted from ages ago that were now just weeds taking up space and nutrients, taking up what plants needed in terms of light and water. I now knew it was the love that they sucked out first. That’s what caused them to begin to wither and die. Rajab was indeed a game-changer!
I even asked Qari Sahib about the last line of Ghaus Pak (ra), what it meant to have the opposite result.
“If you sow seeds of ingratitude, knowingly or unknowingly, or of being angry or being heedless, or uncharitable then what will happen come Ramadan is that you will have no desire to worship, or you will waste the chance to give to others, which is what the month is only and only for.”
It was decided; affability would be my fourth seed. Strangely enough the one seed that had to do with Creation might be the one that bears the least results. For I would not be taking initiatives. But when moments appeared, and they were already starting to, I could practice patience and gentleness, friendliness and warmth. For those were prerequisites. There wasn’t any need for gestures behind which lay murky intentions, convoluted. The need for pursuit was eliminated.
As the days progressed, on the 7th of Rajab, I found that my mindfulness, which always and only always emerged after the fact, after I had wronged, after I had erred, changed the timing of its appearance. For the first time I saw myself before I did something. The interactions were repetitive as was my behaviour in them despite everything. And suddenly, I paused before I spoke so as to not regret it immediately after.
And this was how I began, yet again, the process of entrusting my matters, all of them, as they related to ordinary love, to the ones who were in reality my only friends; Allah Subhanahu wa Rusooluhu (peace be upon him) and those who give charity, which cleanses the heart from focus on anything except Him, in the state of bowing in their prayers with humility.
Hildegard von Bingen
Liber divinorum operum -
Lucca, Biblioteca Statale
Codex Latinus 1942 fol-132r
Vision: The Fountain of God’s Work; Theophany of Divine Love, with Humility and Peace
Ramadan (Arabic : رمضان Ramaḍān, Arabic pronunciation: [rɑmɑˈdˤɑːn] ) (also Ramadhan, Ramadaan, Ramazan) is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar , which lasts 29 to 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting , in which participating Muslims refrain from eating and drinking [1] and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, humility, and spirituality. Muslims fast for the sake of God (Arabic : الله, trans: Allah ) and to offer more prayer than usual. Compared to the solar calendar , the dates of Ramadan vary, moving backwards by about eleven days each year depending on the moon ; thus, a person will have fasted every day of the calendar year in 34 years' time. Muslims believe Ramadan to be an auspicious month for the revelations of God to humankind, being the month in which the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to the Islamic prophet , Muhammad .
Contents
[hide ]
· 1 Origins of Ramadan
· 2 The Beginning of Ramadan
· 3 Practices during Ramadan
o 3.1 Fasting
o 3.2 Prayer and reading of the Qur'an
o 3.3 Iftar
o 3.4 Charity
o 3.5 Laylat al-Qadr
· 4 Eid ul-Fitr
· 5 Cultural aspects
o 5.1 Decorations
· 6 Economic aspects
· 7 See also
· 8 References
· 9 External links
[edit ] Origins of Ramadan
The word Ramadan is derived from an Arabic root rmḍ, as in words like "ramiḍa" or "ar-ramaḍ" denoting intense heat,[2] scorched ground and shortness of rations. Ramadan, as a name for the month, is of Islamic origin. Prior to Islam and the exclusion of intercalary days from the Islamic calendar, the name of the month was Natiq and the month fell in the warm season.[3] The word was thus chosen as it well represented the original climate of the month and the physiological conditions precipitated from fasting. In the Qur'an, God proclaims that "fasting has been written down (as obligatory) upon you, as it was upon those before you". According to a hadith , it might refer to the Jewish practice of fasting on Yom Kippur .[4] [5]
[edit ] The Beginning of Ramadan
Hilāl (the crescent ) is typically a day (or more) after the astronomical new moon. Since the new moon indicates the beginning of the new month, Muslims can usually safely estimate the beginning of Ramadan.[6]
There are many disagreements each year however, on when Ramadan starts. This stems from the tradition to sight the moon with the naked eye and as such there are differences for countries on opposite sides of the globe.[7] More recently however, some Muslims are leaning towards using astronomical calculations to avoid this confusion.
For the year of 1432 Hijri , the first day of Ramadan was determined to be August 1, 2011.
[edit ] Practices during Ramadan
[edit ] Fasting
Main article: Sawm
During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.
The month of Ramadan is the one in which the Qur'an was sent down - right Guidance to mankind, and clear signs of Guidance and Distinction of truth from falsehood. Those among you who witness it, let him fast therein. Whoever is sick or on a journey, then a number of other days. God desires ease for you, and desires not hardship. Thus may you fulfil the number of days assigned, magnify God for having guided you, and perhaps you will be thankful.
Ayah 185, Sura 2 (Al-Baqara ), translation by Tarif Khalidi see:[2] [8]
Ramadan is a time of reflecting, believing and worshiping God. Muslims are expected to put more effort into following the teachings of Islam and to avoid obscene and irreligious sights and sounds. Sexual intercourse among spouse is allowed after one has ended the fast. During fasting intercourse is prohibited as well as eating and drinking, one is also encouraged to resist all temptations while you are fasting. Purity of both thoughts and actions is important. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly activities, its purpose being to cleanse the inner soul and free it from harm. It also teaches Muslims to practice self-discipline, self-control,[9] sacrifice, and empathy for those who are less fortunate; thus encouraging actions of generosity and charity (Zakat ).[10]
Muslims should start observing the fasting ritual upon reaching the age of puberty , so long as they are healthy, sane and have no disabilities or illnesses. The elderly, the chronically ill, and the mentally ill are exempt from fasting, although the first two groups must endeavor to feed the poor in place of their missed fasting. Also exempt are pregnant women if they believe it would be harmful to them or the unborn baby, women during the period of their menstruation, and women nursing their newborns. A difference of opinion exists among Islamic scholars as to whether this last group must make up the days they miss at a later date, or feed poor people as a recompense for days missed.[11] While fasting is not considered compulsory in childhood , many children endeavour to complete as many fasts as possible as practice for later life. Lastly, those traveling (musaafir) are exempt, but must make up the days they miss.[12] More specifically, Twelver Shī‘ah define those who travel more than 14 mi (23 km) in a day as exempt.[10]
[edit ] Prayer and reading of the Qur'an
In addition to fasting, Muslims are encouraged to read the entire Qur'an. Some Muslims perform the recitation of the entire Qur'an by means of special prayers, called Tarawih , which are held in the mosques every night of the month, during which a whole section of the Qur'an (Juz' , which is 1/30 of the Qur'an) is recited. Therefore the entire Qur'an would be completed at the end of the month.
Ramadan is also a time when Muslims are to slow down from worldly affairs and focus on self-reformation, spiritual cleansing and enlightenment; this is to establish a link between themselves and God through prayer, supplication, charity, good deeds, kindness and helping others. Since it is a festival of giving and sharing, Muslims prepare special foods and buy gifts for their family and friends and for giving to the poor and needy who cannot afford it; this can involve buying new clothes, shoes and other items of need. There is also a social aspect involving the preparation of special foods and inviting people for Iftar .
[edit ] Iftar
Main article: Iftar
Iftar in Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Is Istanbul ,Turkey
Muslims all around the world will abstain from food and drink, through fasting, from dawn to sunset. At sunset, the family will gather the fast-breaking meal known as Iftar . The meal starts with the eating of a date — just as Prophet Muhammad used to do. Then it's time for the Maghrib prayer, which is the fourth of the five daily prayers, after which the main meal is served. [13]
Over time, Iftar has grown into banquet festivals. This is a time of fellowship with families, friends and surrounding communities, but may also occupy larger spaces at mosques or banquet halls, where a hundred or more may gather at a time.[14]
Most markets close down during evening prayers and the Iftar meal, but then re-open and stay open for a good part of the night. Muslims can be seen shopping, eating, spending time with their friends and family during the evening hours. In many Muslim countries, this can last late into the evening, to early morning. However, if they try to attend to business as usual, it can become a time of personal trials, fasting without coffee or water.
[edit ] Charity
Charity is very important in Islam, and even more so during Ramadhan. According to tradition, Ramadhan is a particularly blessed time to give in charity, as the reward is 700 times greater than any other time of the year. For that reason, Muslims will spend more in charity (sadaqa), and many will pay their zakat during Ramadhan, to receive the blessings (reward). In many Muslim countries, it is not uncommon to see people giving food to the poor and the homeless, and to even see large public areas for the poor to come and break their fast. It is said that if a person helps a fasting person to break their fast, then they receive a reward for that fast, without diminishing the reward that the fasting person got for their fast.
[edit ] Laylat al-Qadr
Main article: Laylat al-Qadr
Sometimes referred to as "the night of decree or measures", Laylat al-Qadr is considered the most holy night of the year.[15] Muslims believe that Laylat al-Qadr is the night in which the Qur'an was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad . Also, it is believed to have occurred on an odd-numbered night during the last 10 days of Ramadan, either the night of the 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th or 29th. Shiites also commemorate the attack on Imam `Ali ibn Abi Talib and his subsequent martyrdom every year on the 19th, 21st and 23rd of Ramadan.
[edit ] Eid ul-Fitr
Main article: Eid ul-Fitr
The holiday of Eid ul-Fitr (Arabic : عيد الفطر) marks the end of the fasting period of Ramadan and the first day of the following month, after another new moon has been sighted. The Eid falls after 29 or 30 days of fasting, per the lunar sighting. Eid ul-Fitr means the back to the fitrah ; usually a special celebration is made. Food is donated to the poor (Zakat al-fitr ); everyone puts on their best, usually new, clothes; and communal prayers are held in the early morning, followed by feasting and visiting relatives and friends. The prayer is two Raka'ah only, and it is sunnah muakkad [16] as opposed to the compulsory (Fard) five daily prayers. Muslims are expected to do this as an act of worship, and to thank God.
[edit ] Cultural aspects
[edit ] Decorations
Ramadan is met with various decorations throughout the streets. In Egypt , lanterns are known to be a symbol of Ramadan. They are hung across the cities of Egypt, part of an 800 year old tradition, the origin of which is said to lie in the Fatimid era where the Caliph Al-Muizz Lideenillah was greeted by people holding lanterns to celebrate his ruling. From that time lanterns were used to light mosques and houses throughout the city.
In other Muslim countries, lights are strung up in public squares, and across city streets, to add to the festivities of the month. In the West, many Muslim households have taken to decorating the inside of their homes to make Ramadhan a more special time for their children.
[edit ] Economic aspects
In Egypt, national statistics have pointed to substantial increase in consumption of food, electricity, and medications related to digestive disorders during the month of Ramadan as compared with the monthly average in the rest of the year.[17]
The Burgtheater at Dr.-Karl -Lueger-Ring (from now on, that means 2013, Universitätsring) in Vienna is an Austrian Federal Theatre. It is one of the most important stages in Europe and after the Comédie-Française, the second oldest European one, as well as the greatest German speaking theater. The original 'old' Burgtheater at Saint Michael's square was utilized from 1748 until the opening of the new building at the ring in October, 1888. The new house in 1945 burnt down completely as a result of bomb attacks, until the re-opening on 14 October 1955 was the Ronacher serving as temporary quarters. The Burgtheater is considered as Austrian National Theatre.
Throughout its history, the theater was bearing different names, first Imperial-Royal Theater next to the Castle, then to 1918 Imperial-Royal Court-Burgtheater and since then Burgtheater (Castle Theater). Especially in Vienna it is often referred to as "The Castle (Die Burg)", the ensemble members are known as Castle actors (Burgschauspieler).
History
St. Michael's Square with the old K.K. Theatre beside the castle (right) and the Winter Riding School of the Hofburg (left)
The interior of the Old Burgtheater, painted by Gustav Klimt. The people are represented in such detail that the identification is possible.
The 'old' Burgtheater at St. Michael's Square
The original castle theater was set up in a ball house that was built in the lower pleasure gardens of the Imperial Palace of the Roman-German King and later Emperor Ferdinand I in 1540, after the old house 1525 fell victim to a fire. Until the beginning of the 18th Century was played there the Jeu de Paume, a precursor of tennis. On 14 March 1741 finally gave the Empress Maria Theresa, ruling after the death of her father, which had ordered a general suspension of the theater, the "Entrepreneur of the Royal Court Opera" and lessees of 1708 built theater at Kärntnertor (Carinthian gate), Joseph Karl Selliers, permission to change the ballroom into a theater. Simultaneously, a new ball house was built in the immediate vicinity, which todays Ballhausplatz is bearing its name.
In 1748, the newly designed "theater next to the castle" was opened. 1756 major renovations were made, inter alia, a new rear wall was built. The Auditorium of the Old Burgtheater was still a solid timber construction and took about 1200 guests. The imperial family could reach her royal box directly from the imperial quarters, the Burgtheater structurally being connected with them. At the old venue at Saint Michael's place were, inter alia, several works of Christoph Willibald Gluck, Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as well as Franz Grillparzer premiered .
On 17 February 1776, Emperor Joseph II declared the theater to the German National Theatre (Teutsches Nationaltheater). It was he who ordered by decree that the stage plays should not deal with sad events for not bring the Imperial audience in a bad mood. Many theater plays for this reason had to be changed and provided with a Vienna Final (Happy End), such as Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet. From 1794 on, the theater was bearing the name K.K. Court Theatre next to the castle.
1798 the poet August von Kotzebue was appointed as head of the Burgtheater, but after discussions with the actors he left Vienna in 1799. Under German director Joseph Schreyvogel was introduced German instead of French and Italian as a new stage language.
On 12 October 1888 took place the last performance in the old house. The Burgtheater ensemble moved to the new venue at the Ring. The Old Burgtheater had to give way to the completion of Saint Michael's tract of Hofburg. The plans to this end had been drawn almost 200 years before the demolition of the old Burgtheater by Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach.
The "new" K.K. Court Theatre (as the inscription reads today) at the Ring opposite the Town Hall, opened on 14 October 1888 with Grillparzer's Esther and Schiller's Wallenstein's Camp, was designed in neo-Baroque style by Gottfried Semper (plan) and Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer (facade), who had already designed the Imperial Forum in Vienna together. Construction began on 16 December 1874 and followed through 14 years, in which the architects quarreled. Already in 1876 Semper withdrew due to health problems to Rome and had Hasenauer realized his ideas alone, who in the dispute of the architects stood up for a mainly splendid designed grand lodges theater.
However, created the famous Viennese painter Gustav Klimt and his brother Ernst Klimt and Franz Matsch 1886-1888 the ceiling paintings in the two stairwells of the new theater. The three took over this task after similar commissioned work in the city theaters of Fiume and Karlovy Vary and in the Bucharest National Theatre. In the grand staircase on the side facing the café Landtmann of the Burgtheater (Archduke stairs) reproduced Gustav Klimt the artists of the ancient theater in Taormina on Sicily, in the stairwell on the "People's Garden"-side (Kaiserstiege, because it was reserved for the emperor) the London Globe Theatre and the final scene from William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". Above the entrance to the auditorium is Molière's The Imaginary Invalid to discover. In the background the painter immortalized himself in the company of his two colleagues. Emperor Franz Joseph I liked the ceiling paintings so much that he gave the members of the company of artists of Klimt the Golden Cross of Merit.
The new building resembles externally the Dresden Semper Opera, but even more, due to the for the two theaters absolutely atypical cross wing with the ceremonial stairs, Semper's Munich project from the years 1865/1866 for a Richard Wagner Festspielhaus above the Isar. Above the middle section there is a loggia, which is framed by two side wings, and is divided from a stage house with a gable roof and auditorium with a tent roof. Above the center house there decorates a statue of Apollo the facade, throning between the Muses of drama and tragedy. Above the main entrances are located friezes with Bacchus and Ariadne. At the exterior facade round about, portrait busts of the poets Calderon, Shakespeare, Moliere, Schiller, Goethe, Lessing, Halm, Grillparzer, and Hebbel can be seen. The masks which also can be seen here are indicating the ancient theater, furthermore adorn allegorical representations the side wings: love, hate, humility, lust, selfishness, and heroism. Although the theater since 1919 is bearing the name of Burgtheater, the old inscription KK Hofburgtheater over the main entrance still exists. Some pictures of the old gallery of portraits have been hung up in the new building and can be seen still today - but these images were originally smaller, they had to be "extended" to make them work better in high space. The points of these "supplements" are visible as fine lines on the canvas.
The Burgtheater was initially well received by Viennese people due to its magnificent appearance and technical innovations such as electric lighting, but soon criticism because of the poor acoustics was increasing. Finally, in 1897 the auditorium was rebuilt to reduce the acoustic problems. The new theater was an important meeting place of social life and soon it was situated among the "sanctuaries" of Viennese people. In November 1918, the supervision over the theater was transferred from the High Steward of the emperor to the new state of German Austria.
1922/1923 the Academy Theatre was opened as a chamber play stage of the Burgtheater. On 8th May 1925, the Burgtheater went into Austria's criminal history, as here Mentscha Karnitschewa perpetrated a revolver assassination on Todor Panitza.
The Burgtheater in time of National Socialism
The National Socialist ideas also left traces in the history of the Burgtheater. In 1939 appeared in Adolf Luser Verlag the strongly anti-Semitic characterized book of theater scientist Heinz Kindermann "The Burgtheater. Heritage and mission of a national theater", in which he, among other things, analyzed the "Jewish influence "on the Burgtheater. On 14 October 1938 was on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Burgtheater a Don Carlos production of Karl-Heinz Stroux shown that served Hitler's ideology. The role of the Marquis of Posa played the same Ewald Balser, who in a different Don Carlos production a year earlier (by Heinz Hilpert) at the Deutsches Theater in the same role with the sentence in direction of Joseph Goebbels box vociferated: "just give freedom of thought". The actor and director Lothar Müthel, who was director of the Burgtheater between 1939 and 1945, staged 1943 the Merchant of Venice, in which Werner Kraus the Jew Shylock clearly anti-Semitic represented. The same director staged after the war Lessing's parable Nathan the Wise. Adolf Hitler himself visited during the Nazi regime the Burgtheater only once (1938), and later he refused in pure fear of an assassination.
For actors and theater staff who were classified according to the Reich Citizenship Law of 1935 as "Jews ", were quickly imposed stage bans, within a few days, they were on leave, fired or arrested. The Burgtheater ensemble between 1938 and 1945 did not put up significant resistance against the Nazi ideology, the repertoire was heavily censored, only a few joined the Resistance, as Judith Holzmeister (then also at the People's Theatre engaged) or the actor Fritz Lehmann. Although Jewish members of the ensemble indeed have been helped to emigrate, was still an actor, Fritz Strassny, taken to a concentration camp and murdered there.
The Burgtheater at the end of the war and after the Second World War
In summer 1944, the Burgtheater had to be closed because of the decreed general theater suspension. From 1 April 1945, as the Red Army approached Vienna, camped a military unit in the house, a portion was used as an arsenal. In a bomb attack the house at the Ring was damaged and burned down on 12th April 1945 completely. Auditorium and stage were useless, only the steel structure remained. The ceiling paintings and part of the lobby were almost undamaged.
The Soviet occupying power expected from Viennese City Councillor Viktor Matejka to launch Vienna's cultural life as soon as possible again. The council summoned on 23 April (a state government did not yet exist) a meeting of all Viennese cultural workers into the Town Hall. Result of the discussions was that in late April 1945 eight cinemas and four theaters took up the operation again, including the Burgtheater. The house took over the Ronacher Theater, which was understood by many castle actors as "exile" as a temporary home (and remained there to 1955). This venue chose the newly appointed director Raoul Aslan, who championed particularly active.
The first performance after the Second World War was on 30 April 1945 Sappho by Franz Grillparzer directed by Adolf Rott from 1943 with Maria Eis in the title role. Also other productions from the Nazi era were resumed. With Paul Hoerbiger, a few days ago as Nazi prisoner still in mortal danger, was shown the play of Nestroy Mädl (Girlie) from the suburbs. The Academy Theatre could be played (the first performance was on 19 April 1945 Hedda Gabler, a production of Rott from the year 1941) and also in the ball room (Redoutensaal) at the Imperial Palace took place performances. Aslan the Ronacher in the summer had rebuilt because the stage was too small for classical performances. On 25 September 1945, Schiller's Maid of Orleans could be played on the enlarged stage.
The first new productions are associated with the name of Lothar Müthel: Everyone and Nathan the Wise, in both Raoul Aslan played the main role. The staging of The Merchant of Venice by Müthel in Nazi times seemed to have been fallen into oblivion.
Great pleasure gave the public the return of the in 1938 from the ensemble expelled Else Wohlgemuth on stage. She performaed after seven years in exile in December 1945 in Clare Biharys The other mother in the Academy Theater. 1951 opened the Burgtheater its doors for the first time, but only the left wing, where the celebrations on the 175th anniversary of the theater took place.
1948, a competition for the reconstruction was tendered: Josef Gielen, who was then director, first tended to support the design of ex aequo-ranked Otto Niedermoser, according to which the house was to be rebuilt into a modern gallery theater. Finally, he agreed but then for the project by Michael Engelhardt, whose plan was conservative but also cost effective. The character of the lodges theater was largely taken into account and maintained, the central royal box but has been replaced by two balconies, and with a new slanted ceiling construction in the audience was the acoustics, the shortcoming of the house, improved significantly.
On 14 October 1955 was happening under Adolf Rott the reopening of the restored house at the Ring. For this occasion Mozart's A Little Night Music was played. On 15 and on 16 October it was followed by the first performance (for reasons of space as a double premiere) in the restored theater: King Ottokar's Fortune and End of Franz Grillparzer, staged by Adolf Rott. A few months after the signing of the Austrian State Treaty was the choice of this play, which the beginning of Habsburg rule in Austria makes a subject of discussion and Ottokar of Horneck's eulogy on Austria (... it's a good country / Well worth that a prince bow to it! / where have you yet seen the same?... ) contains highly symbolic. Rott and under his successors Ernst Haeusserman and Gerhard Klingenberg the classic Burgtheater style and the Burgtheater German for German theaters were finally pointing the way .
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Burgtheater participated (with other well-known theaters in Vienna) on the so-called Brecht boycott.
Gerhard Klingenberg internationalized the Burgtheater, he invited renowned stage directors such as Dieter Dorn, Peter Hall, Luca Ronconi, Giorgio Strehler, Roberto Guicciardini and Otomar Krejča. Klingenberg also enabled the castle debuts of Claus Peymann and Thomas Bernhard (1974 world premiere of The Hunting Party). Bernhard was as a successor of Klingenberg mentioned, but eventually was appointed Achim Benning, whereupon the writer with the text "The theatrical shack on the ring (how I should become the director of the Burgtheater)" answered.
Benning, the first ensemble representative of the Burgtheater which was appointed director, continued Klingenberg's way of Europeanization by other means, brought directors such as Adolf Dresen, Manfred Wekwerth or Thomas Langhoff to Vienna, looked with performances of plays of Vaclav Havel to the then politically separated East and took the the public taste more into consideration.
Directorate Claus Peymann 1986-1999
Under the by short-term Minister of Education Helmut Zilk brought to Vienna Claus Peymann, director from 1986 to 1999, there was further modernization of the programme and staging styles. Moreover Peymann was never at a loss for critical contributions in the public, a hitherto unusual attitude for Burgtheater directors. Therefore, he and his program within sections of the audience met with rejection. The greatest theater scandal in Vienna since 1945 occurred in 1988 concerning the premiere of Thomas Bernhard's Heldenplatz (Place of the Heroes) drama which was fiercly fought by conservative politicians and zealots. The play deals with the Vergangenheitsbewältigung (process of coming to terms with the past) and illuminates the present management in Austria - with attacks on the then ruling Social Democratic Party - critically. Together with Claus Peymann Bernhard after the premiere dared to face on the stage applause and boos.
Bernard, to his home country bound in love-hate relationship, prohibited the performance of his plays in Austria before his death in 1989 by will. Peymann, to Bernhard bound in a difficult friendship (see Bernhard's play Claus Peymann buys a pair of pants and goes eating with me) feared harm for the author's work, should his plays precisely in his homeland not being shown. First, it was through permission of the executor Peter Fabjan - Bernhard's half-brother - after all, possible the already in the schedule of the Burgtheater included productions to continue. Finally, shortly before the tenth anniversary of the death of Bernard it came to the revival of the Bernhard play Before retirement by the first performance director Peymann. The plays by Bernhard are since then continued on the programme of the Burgtheater and they are regularly newly produced.
In 1993, the rehearsal stage of the Castle theater was opened in the arsenal (architect Gustav Peichl). Since 1999, the Burgtheater has the operation form of a limited corporation.
Directorate Klaus Bachler 1999-2009
Peymann was followed in 1999 by Klaus Bachler as director. He is a trained actor, but was mostly as a cultural manager (director of the Vienna Festival) active. Bachler moved the theater as a cultural event in the foreground and he engaged for this purpose directors such as Luc Bondy, Andrea Breth, Peter Zadek and Martin Kušej.
Were among the unusual "events" of the directorate Bachler
* The Theatre of Orgies and Mysteries by Hermann Nitsch with the performance of 122 Action (2005 )
* The recording of the MTV Unplugged concert with Die Toten Hosen for the music channel MTV (2005, under the title available)
* John Irving's reading from his book at the Burgtheater Until I find you (2006)
* The 431 animatographische (animatographical) Expedition by Christoph Schlingensief and a big event of him under the title of Area 7 - Matthew Sadochrist - An expedition by Christoph Schlingensief (2006).
* Daniel Hoevels cut in Schiller's Mary Stuart accidentally his throat (December 2008). Outpatient care is enough.
Jubilee Year 2005
In October 2005, the Burgtheater celebrated the 50th Anniversary of its reopening with a gala evening and the performance of Grillparzer's King Ottokar's Fortune and End, directed by Martin Kušej that had been performed in August 2005 at the Salzburg Festival as a great success. Michael Maertens (in the role of Rudolf of Habsburg) received the Nestroy Theatre Award for Best Actor for his role in this play. Actor Tobias Moretti was awarded in 2006 for this role with the Gertrude Eysoldt Ring.
Furthermore, there were on 16th October 2005 the open day on which the 82-minute film "burg/private. 82 miniatures" of Sepp Dreissinger was shown for the first time. The film contains one-minute film "Stand portraits" of Castle actors and guest actors who, without saying a word, try to present themselves with a as natural as possible facial expression. Klaus Dermutz wrote a work on the history of the Burgtheater. As a motto of this season served a quotation from Lessing's Minna von Barnhelm: "It's so sad to be happy alone."
The Burgtheater on the Mozart Year 2006
Also the Mozart Year 2006 was at the Burgtheater was remembered. As Mozart's Singspiel Die Entführung aus dem Serail in 1782 in the courtyard of Castle Theatre was premiered came in cooperation with the Vienna State Opera on the occasion of the Vienna Festival in May 2006 a new production (directed by Karin Beier) of this opera on stage.
Directorate Matthias Hartmann since 2009
From September 2009 to 2014, Matthias Hartmann was Artistic Director of the Burgtheater. A native of Osnabrück, he directed the stage houses of Bochum and Zurich. With his directors like Alvis Hermanis, Roland Schimmelpfennig, David Bösch, Stefan Bachmann, Stefan Pucher, Michael Thalheimer, came actresses like Dorte Lyssweski, Katharina Lorenz, Sarah Viktoria Frick, Mavie Hoerbiger, Lucas Gregorowicz and Martin Wuttke came permanently to the Burg. Matthias Hartmann himself staged around three premieres per season, about once a year, he staged at the major opera houses. For more internationality and "cross-over", he won the Belgian artist Jan Lauwers and his Need Company as "Artists in Residence" for the Castle, the New York group Nature Theater of Oklahoma show their great episode drama Live and Times of an annual continuation. For the new look - the Burgtheater presents itself without a solid logo with word games around the BURG - the Burgtheater in 2011 was awarded the Cultural Brand of the Year .
Since 2014, Karin Bergmann is the commander in chief.
Today is Lent.
For those who wonder what Lent is (it's not the stuff belly buttons accumulate - that would be "lint") it's a liturgical season (liturgical meaning of, or pertaining to liturgy, or public worship, especially Christian worship, and most frequently Catholic, Anglican, Greek Orthodox). More specifically, it's the season leading up to the passion of the Christ. "Passion," in this context, is chiefly a term in Christian theology, and derives from the from Latin pati, meaning "suffer."
It is the time in which Christ was betrayed, tortured, then sentenced to death by crucifixion by Roman authority, specifically, Pontius Pilate, who was a Roman procurator of Judaea c.26– c.36.
What you're seeing here is what is referred to as the "imposition of ashes," and is a practice that predates Christ, and is mentioned several times in Scripture, including Isaiah, Esther, Daniel, Jonah, and Jeremiah, among others, wherein people are called to repent and to don humble clothing known as "sackcloth" (a coarse, black cloth made from goat’s hair) that was worn together with the burnt ashes of wood as a sign of mourning for personal and national disaster, as a sign of repentance and at times of prayer for deliverance.
To wear "sackcloth and ashes" is representative of humility, of a desire to not merely to apologize to the Almighty, but more importantly, to get right with your fellow human being, and thereby in that process, to "get right with God," and ultimately, an acknowledgement of one's mortality.
When ashes are smeared upon the penitent's forehead, it is typically made in a form of a crucifix (†), and with the application, the individual applying them says "you were made from dust, and to dust you will return," which is a passage directly taken from the Genesis account, in which the Almighty informs Adam that he will die.
As this practice relates to the Lenten season, it is specifically in the Judaic calendar a time known as "Purim," which is among of the most joyous and fun holidays on the Jewish calendar, and commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination, which is also recorded in the book of Esther. It is also coincidental with Pesach (Passover), which is one of the best known Jewish holidays, as much for its connection to Jewish redemption and the figure of Moses as for its ties with Christian history (the Last Supper was apparently a Passover seder).
Passover was the time in which Jesus the Christ was crucified, which - as Scripture records - is called the agnus Dei (Latin for "Lamb of God") who, as the prophet John (the cousin of Jesus) said, "takes away the sin of the world."
For the Christian, the liturgical season of Lent culminates with Easter, in which the resurrection of Christ is celebrated.
All of Christendom is based upon the resurrection of Christ.
This video was made at:
St. Stephen Catholic Church
7111 Lee Highway
Chattanooga, TN 37421
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-A bit more about Passover, from Jewish Virtual Library-
"Passover begins on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Nissan. It is the first of the three major festivals with both historical and agricultural significance (the other two are Shavu’ot and Sukkot). Agriculturally, it represents the beginning of the harvest season in Israel. The primary observances of Passover are related to the Exodus from Egypt after 400 years of slavery as told in the biblical Book of Exodus from chapters 1 to 15.
"Passover lasts for seven days (eight days outside of Israel). The first and last days of the holiday (first two and last two outside of Israel) are days on which no work is permitted. Work is permitted on the intermediate days, referred to as Chol Ha-Mo’ed.
"The name “Passover” is derived from the Hebrew word Pesach which is based on the root “pass over” and refers to the fact that G-d “passed over” the houses of the Jews when he was slaying the firstborn of Egypt during the last of the ten plagues. Passover is also widely referred to as Chag he-Aviv (the "Spring Festival"), Chag ha-Matzoth (the "Festival of Matzahs"), and Zeman Herutenu (the "Time of Our Freedom").
"Many of the Passover observances still held were instituted in chapters 12 to 15 of the Exodus story in the Torah. Probably the most significant observance involves the removal of chametz (leavened bread) from homes and property. Chametz includes anything made from the five major grains (wheat, rye, barley, oats and spelt) that has not been completely cooked within 18 minutes after coming into contact with water (Ashkenazic Jews also consider rice, corn, peanuts, and legumes as chametz). The removal of chametz commemorates the fact that the Jews left Egypt in a hurry and did not have time to let their bread rise. It is also a symbolic way of removing the “puffiness” (arrogance, pride) from our souls.
"In fact, Jews are not only prohibited from eating chametz during Passover, but they may not own or derive any sort of benefit from it either, including using it to feed pets. This important stipulation requires Jews to sell all remaining leavened products before Passover begins, including utensils used to cook chametz.
"The grain product we eat during Passover in place of chametz is called matzah. Matzah is unleavened bread made simply from flour and water and cooked very quickly. This is traditionally viewed as the bread that the Jews made for their flight from Egypt. Matzah is also referred to as Lechem Oni ("Bread of Affliction")."
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-A bit more about Purim, from Jewish Virtual Library-
"The story of Purim is told in the Biblical book of Esther. The heroes of the story are Esther, a beautiful young Jewish woman living in Persia, and her cousin Mordecai, who raised her as if she were his daughter. Esther was taken to the house of Ahasuerus, King of Persia, to become part of his harem, and he loved her more than his other women and made her queen. But the king did not know that Esther was a Jew, because Mordecai told her not to reveal her nationality.
"The villain of the story is Haman, an arrogant, egotistical advisor to the king. Haman hated Mordecai because Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman, so Haman plotted to destroy the Jewish people. In a speech that is all too familiar to Jews, Haman told the king, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from those of every people; neither keep they the king's laws; therefore it does not profit the king to suffer them.” Esther 3:8. The king gave the fate of the Jewish people to Haman, to do as he pleased to them. Haman planned to exterminate all of the Jews.
"Mordecai persuaded Esther to speak to the king on behalf of the Jewish people. This was a dangerous thing for Esther to do, because anyone who came into the king's presence without being summoned could be put to death, and she had not been summoned. Esther fasted for three days to prepare herself, then went into the king. He welcomed her. Later, she told him of Haman's plot against her people. The Jewish people were saved, and Haman was hanged on the gallows that had been prepared for Mordecai.
"The book of Esther is unusual in that it is the only book of the bible that does not contain the name of G-d. In fact, it includes virtually no reference to G-d. Mordecai makes a vague reference to the fact that the Jews will be saved by someone else, if not by Esther, but that it the closest the book comes to mentioning G-d. Thus, one important message that can be gained from the story is that G-d often works in ways that are not apparent, in ways that appear to be chance, coincidence or ordinary good luck.
"Purim is celebrated on the 14th day of Adar, which is usually in March. The 14th of Adar is the day that Haman chose for the extermination of the Jews. In leap years, when there are two months of Adar, Purim is celebrated in the second month of Adar, so it is always one month before Passover. In cities that were walled in the time of Joshua, Purim is celebrated on the 15th of the month, because the book of Esther says that in Shushan (a walled city), deliverance from the massacre was not complete until the next day.
"The word “Purim” means “lots” and refers to the lottery that Haman used to choose the date for the massacre."