This is kind of fun

In 1586, Pope Sixtus V, to complete the design of St. Peter’s Square, ordered architect Domenico Fontana to place in the center of the square a giant Egyptian obelisk which had been brought to Rome in 39 A.D. by Emperor Caligula. For centuries it has been in the emperor’s circus, in what today is Vatican City, and moving the obelisk from that point to the center of St. Peter’s Square would be a herculean task. On September 10, the day the 85-foot high, 350 ton obelisk was transported by 900 workers, 140 horses and 44 winches, Benedetto Bresca, a ship’s captain from the Italian Riviera area of San Remo-Bordighera, was in the square. The head engineer had told Pope Sixtus that total silence was needed to raise the obelisk, once it was in the square. Thus, the Pope announced to the huge crowd that had assembled to watch the manoeuvre that anyone who spoke during the delicate and risky operation would face the death penalty. As work was underway, the ropes used to raise the obelisk gave signs of fraying and weakening and the obelisk itself began to sway. However, Benedetto, as a sailor, knew what the problem was – and how to solve it and so, notwithstanding the pontiff’s ultimatum, he shouted “water on the cords, water on the cords.” The head engineer realized the sailor was right, the cords were watered, they became taut and strong and the obelisk was raised, without further danger to anyone. Instead of punishing the audacious sailor, Pope Sixtus rewarded him by giving Benedetto and his descendants the privilege of providing the Vatican with the famous Ligurian palms used for Holy Week ceremonies in the Vatican. And so it has been for over four centuries, with only a few brief interruptions. Known as parmureli, the leaves from date palm trees in San Remo and Bordighera are woven and braided into intricate sculptures, some only inches high, others several meters high. For Palm Sunday 2006, the cities provided the Vatican with 240 parmureli, including one parmurelo for Pope Benedict that was over six feet high and 80 five-foot high palms for cardinals and bishops. Many years ago, when the parmureli arrived by sea, the ship that carried them placed one of the palm leaf sculptures on the mast that usually displayed a flag. The palm “flag” thus gave that vessel from San Remo-Bordighera precedence into the port over all other vessels.

From http://www.ewtn.com/news/blog.asp?blog_ID=1

Exultet

As we draw to the culmination of the Church's liturgical year, I thought I'd post the exultet (the hymn sung at the Easter Vigil that's quite amazing and sweet). It's great for meditation.

Have a blessed Easter!


Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing choirs of angels!Exult, all creation around God's throne!Jesus Christ, our King is risen!Sound the trumpet of salvation!
Rejoice, O earth, in shining splendor, radiant in the brightness of your King!Christ has conquered! Glory fills you!Darkness vanishes for ever!
Rejoice, O Mother Church! Exult in glory!The risen Savior shines upon you!Let this place resound with joy,echoing the mighty song of all God's people!
My dearest friends, standing with me in this holy light,join me in asking God for mercy,that he may give his unworthy minister grace to sing his Easter praises.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give him thanks and praise. It is truly right that with full hearts and minds and voiceswe should praise the unseen God, the all-powerful Father,and his only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
For Christ has ransomed us with his blood, and paid for us the price of Adam's sin to our eternal Father!
This is our passover feast,When Christ, the true Lamb, is slain,whose blood consecrates the homes of all believers.
This is the night,when first you saved our fathers:you freed the people of Israel from their slav'ry,and led them dry-shod through the sea.
This is the night,when the pillar of fire destroyed the darkness of sin.
This is night,when Christians ev'rywhere,washed clean of sin and freed from all defilement,are restored to grace and grow together in holiness.
This is the night,when Jesus broke the chains of deathand rose triumphant from the grave.
What good would life have been to us,had Christ not come as our Redeemer?
Father, how wonderful your care for us!How boundless your merciful love!To ransom a slave you gave away your Son.
O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam,which gained for us so great a Redeemer!
Most blessed of all nights,chosen by God to see Christ rising from the dead!
Of this night scripture says: "The night will be as clear as day:it will become my light, my joy."
The power of this holy night dispels all evil,washes guilt away, restores lost innocence,brings mourners joy;it casts out hatred, brings us peace,and humbles earthly pride.
Night truly blessed,when heaven is wedded to earthand we are reconciled to God!
Therefore, heavenly Father, in the joy of this night,receive our evening sacrifice of praise, your Church's solemn offering.
Accept this Easter candle,a flame divided but undimmed,a pillar of fire that glows to the honor of God.
Let it mingle with the lights of heavenand continue bravely burningto dispel the darkness of this night!
May the Morning Star which never setsfind this flame still burning:Christ, that Morning Star,who came back from the dead,and shed his peaceful light on all mankind,your Son, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Adoremus te Christe et benedicimus tibi...Quia per Sanctam Crucem Redemisti Mundum

People foolishly thought: God is dead!
But if God is dead, who will still give us life?
If God is dead, what is life itself?
Life is Love!

So the cross is not God’s death,
but the moment when the fragile shell
of the humanity taken up by God
is shattered
and a flood of love bursts forth
to renew all humanity.

From the cross was born the new life of Saul,
from the cross was born the conversion of Augustine,
from the cross was born the joyful poverty of Francis of Assisi,
from the cross was born the radiant goodness of Vincent de Paul;
from the cross was born the heroism of Maximilian Kolbe,
from the cross was born the amazing charity of Mother Teresa of Calcutta,
from the cross was born the courage of John Paul II,
from the cross was born the revolution of love:
so the cross is not the death of God,
but the birth of his Love in our world.

Blessed be the cross of Christ!

-The 12th Station: Jesus dies on the cross


Archbishop ANGELO COMASTRI
-Composer of the meditations for the Stations of the Cross led by the Holy Father this year.

Cardinal Arinze: Pretty much amazing

It's quality time with the cardinal:

http://www.rcdow.org.uk/fileupload/upload/CardArinze24200615015.pdf

""A do-it-yourself mentality, an attitude of nobody-will-tell-me-what-to-do, or a defiant sting of if-you-do-not-like-my-Mass-you-can-go-to-another-parish, is not only against sound theology and ecclesiology, but also offends against common sense," the Cardinal said."

In Other News...

The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is now available in Spanish on the Vatican's website...Luckily, I speak much more Spanish than Italian. While I would enjoy having the compenium in English I'll have to let El Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica: Compendio tide me over for now.

Long Live the Pope!

"Palm Sunday, however, tells us that the authentic great "yes" is, in fact, the cross, that the cross is the authentic tree of life. We do not attain to life by seizing it, but by giving it. Love is the giving of ourselves and, for this reason, is the way of authentic life symbolized by the cross. Today the cross is handed over, which was the center of World Youth Day in Cologne, to a delegation to begin its journey to Sydney, where in the year 2008 the youth of the world want to meet again around Jesus to build with him the kingdom of peace. "

-Benedict XVI's Homily for Palm Sunday http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=87502

This really seems like it'll be a theme of the Holy Father's pontificate. I'm looking forward to WYD 2008!

Welcome to the Corpus Christi blog, feel free to post about whatever.