Comparing the texts - Shakespeare in quarto
Yes, you can see some of the orginal Quarto editions of Shakespeare's work! Wonderful! Magnificent! Exciting! Even for people who are not Shakespearian Scholars. This is one of the reasons I love the web!
Read the entire, informative entry here
But this excerpt speaks volumes:
Excerpted from Dappled Things
Father Jim TuckerFifth, while it's useful to compare and contrast the traditional Roman Mass with Paul VI's version and with the various Eastern Liturgies, it is obnoxious to make disparaging comments about any of them. The excellence of one or another of these Liturgies doesn't require anyone to criticize the rest.
As with the preference for Macintosh or PCs, there is a strong subjective strain to our preference of one form of celebration over another. We do well to bear this in mind as we recognize that they are all approved of God through his Bride.
Floridians all over the state anxiously check the NOAA site on the web to see where Ivan is heading. If they check with each update they see amazing swings in the five day forecast. Two days ago, Ivan was on a crash-course for Appalachicola Bay; yesterday early morning, he was coming straight up the penisula through the everglades; yesterday mid-morning he was following a Charley-like course; yesterday evening he was back in the gulf. This morning he is crashing into Tampa/St. Pete and heading north.
Why can't they seem to decide what he's doing? This, in large, is the central difficulty with any weather forecasting beyond the most immediate future. Weather, like a great many other natural phenomena is essentially a chaotic system. The truth of this was uncovered by the mathematical models of Edward Lorenz in the 1960s. His work gave rise to the dictum that "The flapping of a butterfly's wings over Peking will change the weather in Washington three days later."
What chaos theory tells us is that most natural situations are weakly deterministic. That is, they are not merely random occurrences, but that what happens today has roots that go back days, months, years, perhaps even to the very beginnings of time. And this is part of what I love about Chaos theory--because whether they recognize it or not, scientists who ascribe to it, ascribe to a reasonable proof of the existence of God.
Chaos theory, in some small part, reflects on the question of free will and determinism. I have not considered deeply enough what the ramifications of such a reflection are, but I find them both intriguing and worthy of consideration. God wishes that all will be saved, there is every possibility that some, perhaps many will be lost, but the driving dynamic of the system is the vector toward salvation. The "unknown" factor in the equation, the variable as it were that introduces the chaotic dynamic, is free will. God may know the outcome, but those of us on Earth see a violent lurching first toward and then away from Home and Heart. These erratic motions make no sense unless we understand them as the motions of free-will on a body already in motion sending it into currents and eddies that are not predictable to the human mind; however, God knows everything. Everything we say can't be known--the famous Heisenberg uncertainty (you cannot know both the velocity and the position of an electron or sub atomic particle)--even the outcome of the day's weather is known and has been known by God from the beginning.
Nothing is uncertain with Him and our hope lies in the fact that He is the dynamic system behind it all. It is His will that is the driving motivation behind all of our motions. Now, we can go with the flow or spin off in any of seven million directions (Strait is the gate and narrow is the path that leads to salvation, but that unto destruction is broad and wide and smooth). Nevertheless, at each stage, at each point along the way, the overriding dynamic comes back into play. And at any point we can choose to abandon our own willfulness and allow the dynamic of Love to carry us Home to Him who drives all things toward salvation.
And so the bridegroom is one with the Father and one with the bride. Whatever he found in his bride alien to her own nature he took from her and nailed to his cross when he bore her sins and destroyed them on the tree. He received from her and clothed himself in what was hers by nature and gave her what belonged to him as God. He destroyed what was diabolical, and took to himself what was human, and conferred on her what was divine. So all that belonged to the bride was shared in by the bridegroom, and he who had done no wrong and on whose lips was found no deceit could say: Have pity on me, Lord, for I am weak. . . .
Do not destroy the whole Christ by separating head from body, for Christ is not complete without the Church, nor is the Church complete without Christ. The whole and complete Christ is head and body. --Sermon--Blessed Isaac of Stella
Praise
Frances is gone and the damage done is not so fearful as might have been. Pray hard to keep Ivan at bay and far from all human habitation. As much as Frances may hurt us, the Bahamas were far more battered and bruised. So too with any hurricane--what scares and frightens us for a while means life and death for many hundreds living in shelters less secure than our own.
Prayer Requests
Please continue to pray for Dylan until he returns to us.
For the continued recovery of Katherine's mother, for her spiritual awakening and well-being, and for the will to put herself right with God.
Please pray that Ivan, whose course is yet quite uncertain misses everything it possibly can miss.
Please pray that I might find a roofer quickly, who will repair my house correctly the first time.
A quick sale and an easy move for Tom and his family as they set out on another exciting adventure in life.
Pour out prayers on the people of Florida who have lost their homes, their livelihoods, and their lives in this storm.
For a deeper understanding of and commitment to the strengthening grace of the sacrament of marriage, especially for those who are presently undergoing trials.
Please storm heaven for my friends in Louisiana, they've had a long string of misfortune and could do with some good news.
For a dear friend who is undergoing a troubling period in her life, beset with a number of problems, physical, financial, emotional. May God hold her close to His heart.
For a St. Blog's parishioner in need of work to forestall financial catastrophe, that the Lord provide all that is needed in both material and spiritual blessings.
For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.
For the people of the Sudan that they may know peace and security and that they might learn to live together.
A special request from two gentleman battling particularly troublesome and besetting sins for grace and help as they continue forward.
For all those in the process of discerning vocations to the religious life, for guidance, prudence and good counsel
For our children, that they grow up in security, comfort, and the certain knowledge that they are loved and that they be released from any bonds of darkness, fear, anger, or sadness that bind and threaten them
For all those living under the curse of generational sins, that they may have protection and the inheritance of the past may be made void in their lives.
For all who are suffering from marital problems, most particularly those in our own families or communities, that the Lord may intervene and remind them that a marriage is of three persons.
For mothers and families that struggle with autism and autistic-related disabilities: particularly for M'Lynn, Melissa, Christine, and Betty.
For families that desire more children
For the conversion or return of spouses and loved ones to the Catholic Church, most particularly for Amanda's husband
For the men and women of the American Armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and for their families, may the Good Lord provide sustenance, support, compassion, and love that these separated families might continue to grow in strength and love.
Special Prayer Projects:
(1) For Katherine and Franklin, Gordon and Christine, Peter Kucera, and for all who are seeking employment and suffering through difficult times as they wait.
(2)Healthy Pregnancies and good and safe deliveries: For Suki, for a healthy pregancy and a safe delivery. For JCecil3 and Wife. For Pansy Moss. For Mrs. White and child. For Katherine and her friend Corren. Our Lady of La Leche, pray for us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. St. Gerard Majella, pray for us. Blessed Gianna, pray for us.
Robert Browning--G.K. Chesterton
The Vanity of Human Wishes and Rambler Papers--Samuel Johnson
Hills and the Sea--Hillaire Belloc
In reading the Gospel of Luke, I happened upon several passages that were intriguing and worthy of much more comment than I am likely to give here. But one thing that crossed my mind is God's apparent obsession with free will in creation. How much more harmonious a world might He have established if He had just done something about Free Will.
It also brought into sharp focus the plight of the fallen Angels and of humanity. In fact, we both committed the same sin for the same or similar reasons. Pride says distinctly non serviam. When Adam took a bite of the forbidden fruit, he was saying, in essence, I shall not serve. When we get up each morning to face the day, immediately after our morning offering or morning prayer, many of us begin to say, "I will not serve."
But why was the sin of the Angels so much greater than our own? Why will we be forgiven and saved, but the fallen Angels cast away from God's presence? The answer lies, I think, in the fact that the choice of the angels was made with much more information at their disposal. That is, the angels directly experienced the Beatific Vision. They saw and understood precisely what it was that they were rejecting. Even in our clearest Human sight, our faulty forefather did not engage in this direct experience of God. Yes, communion was far closer than it is today. Adam and God walked in the Garden together. But we are spirits trapped in a body of flesh. Angels are pure spirit experiencing pure spirit. They knew what they rejected. They knew with long knowledge.
But another passage in the Gospel of Luke makes me wonder about the fate of the Angels. I know that the Church teaches that they will be cast out--I will hold to that faith regardless of the tantilizing suggestions that led to the "heresy" of Universalism in the west. (I'm given to understand that the Eastern Church does not regard universalism as a heresy.) The passage I find intriguing in this regard is the story of the Gerasene demoniac. When Jesus is ready to cast out the demons, they plead with HIm and beg not to be cast into the abyss, but into the bodies of a nearby herd of swine. Jesus acquiesces nd allows this to happen. How so? Why should Jesus pay attention to the pleadings of demons?
No matter how disobedient the children, I think it is very hard even for a human parent to completely repudiate them. It can be done, but it is difficult. The fallen Angels are also God's children. Even if their crime was serious, and their sin more deeply injurious because of greater knowledge and responsibility, God still sees them as part of His creation which flowed out of pure love. When they beg "for a loaf of bread" He does not "hand them a stone."
I don't know what all of this means, but it opens my eyes to the wonder of the love of God. He is gentle even with the worst and blackest of his creation. What does it mean? Honestly, I don't know, but it does seem to reinforce St. Paul's magnificent paean to love--"Love is gentle, love is kind." Surely here, we see it enduring all things and exercising tremendous forebearance.
[from Yesterday's Office of Readings]
The first stage of contemplation,my dear brothers, is constantly to consider what God wants, what is pleasing to him, and what is acceptable in his eyes. We all offend in many things; our strength cannot match the rectitude of God's will, being neither one with it nor wholly in accord with it; let us then humble ourselves under the powerful hand of the most high God and be concerned to show ourselves unworthy before his merciful gaze. . . from a Sermon--St. Bernard
Praise
Frances is gone and the damage done is not so fearful as might have been. Pray hard to keep Ivan at bay and far from all human habitation. As much as Frances may hurt us, the Bahamas were far more battered and bruised. So too with any hurricane--what scares and frightens us for a while means life and death for many hundreds living in shelters less secure than our own.
Prayer Requests
Please continue to pray for Dylan until he returns to us.
Please pray that Ivan, whose course is yet quite uncertain misses everything it possibly can miss and is sent harmlessly into the Atlantic to spin away and die.
Please pray that I might find a roofer quickly, who will repair my house correctly the first time.
A quick sale and an easy move for Tom and his family as they set out on another exciting adventure in life.
Pour out prayers on the people of Florida who have lost their homes, their livelihoods, and their lives in this storm.
For the continued recovery of Katherine's mother.
For a deeper understanding of and commitment to the strengthening grace of the sacrament of marriage, especially for those who are presently undergoing trials.
Please storm heaven for my friends in Louisiana, they've had a long string of misfortune and could do with some good news.
For a dear friend who is undergoing a troubling period in her life, beset with a number of problems, physical, financial, emotional. May God hold her close to His heart.
For a St. Blog's parishioner in need of work to forestall financial catastrophe, that the Lord provide all that is needed in both material and spiritual blessings.
For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.
For the people of the Sudan that they may know peace and security and that they might learn to live together.
A special request from two gentleman battling particularly troublesome and besetting sins for grace and help as they continue forward.
For all those in the process of discerning vocations to the religious life, for guidance, prudence and good counsel
For our children, that they grow up in security, comfort, and the certain knowledge that they are loved and that they be released from any bonds of darkness, fear, anger, or sadness that bind and threaten them
For all those living under the curse of generational sins, that they may have protection and the inheritance of the past may be made void in their lives.
For all who are suffering from marital problems, most particularly those in our own families or communities, that the Lord may intervene and remind them that a marriage is of three persons.
For mothers and families that struggle with autism and autistic-related disabilities: particularly for M'Lynn, Melissa, Christine, and Betty.
For families that desire more children
For the conversion or return of spouses and loved ones to the Catholic Church, most particularly for Amanda's husband
For the men and women of the American Armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and for their families, may the Good Lord provide sustenance, support, compassion, and love that these separated families might continue to grow in strength and love.
Special Prayer Projects:
(1) For Katherine and Franklin, Gordon and Christine, Peter Kucera, and for all who are seeking employment and suffering through difficult times as they wait.
(2)Healthy Pregnancies and good and safe deliveries: For Suki, for a healthy pregancy and a safe delivery. For JCecil3 and Wife. For Pansy Moss. For Mrs. White and child. For Katherine and her friend Corren. Our Lady of La Leche, pray for us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. St. Gerard Majella, pray for us. Blessed Gianna, pray for us.
I know that St. Blogs is filled with inveterate readers and so I thought I'd pose this question that niggles at me from time to time. If I am such an inveterate reader, why do I not read scripture with the avidity with which I approach Walker Percy, Flannery O'Connor, and others?
The Gospels are far shorter than the novels we read. They are, in fact, easily read in one sitting, were we so inclilned. So why is it that we seem to be so little inclined? Why is it that I do not read the Gospels through at least once a month. (One a week for four weeks.)
I can make all sorts of excuses and suggest reasons why I do not spend time in the scriptures, but the reality of the matter is that they do not mean to me what they should mean. They are not as important in my life as they should be to a person who purports to follow the leadership of the One whose life they describe.
I become more convinced through time that immersion in scripture and Tradition is what helps to make saints. Avoidance of this immersion is part of what holds us back. How can we be like Christ if the only time we hear anything about Him is at Sunday Mass? How can we hope to imitate, indeed become, Him, if we don't know who He is? And more importantly, who WE are? Because the scriptures, like any great work of literature, but par excellance, are a mirror for the reader. We read them and they accuse us of our faults and failings. They point out how we fail to be what God calls us to be. I know that in real life I avoid mirrors at all costs. I do not like to look at myself--I don't much care for what I see. (One of the chief advantages of being me is that I am on the inside looking out.) How much more then will I dislike looking in the mirror of the soul. How much less likely I am to like what I see there.
The pain of the mirror may be one reason for avoiding Scriptures, on the other hand, it is also one of the most compelling reasons to frequently visit and revisit them. This pain is a purifying pain, it is God's word of love. Just as we would not allow one of our own loved ones to go out into the world in deshabille, so too God wants us to internalize the fact that, to quote the young people of today, "You're not all that." Once this happens, perhaps we are closer to realizing that God is "all that."
So scripture reading, for those of us who love to read, seems to be de rigeur. And as we are a people set up on a hill, a lampstand to light the world, perhaps we would do well to act the part.
Mr. Core celebrates this day as the day John Bannister Tabb, poet and priest ws received into full communion with the Catholic Church.
This radiant and manifest coming of God to men most certainly needed a joyful prelude to introduce the great gift of salvation to us. The present festival, the birth of the Mother of God, is the prelude, while the final act is the foreordained union of the Word with flesh. Today the Virgin is born, tended and formed, and prepared for her role as Mother of God, who is the universal King of the ages.
Justly then do we celebrate this mystery since it signifies for us a double grace. We are led toward the truth and we are led away from our condition of slavery to the letter of the law. . . .
Therefore, let all creation sing and dance and unite to make worthy contribution to the celebration of this day. . . . Today this created world is raised to the dignity of a holy place for him who made all things. The creature is newly prepared to be a divine dwelling place for the Creator. from a Discourse--St. Andrew of Crete
Praise
Frances is gone and the damage done is not so fearful as might have been. Pray hard to keep Ivan at bay and far from all human habitation. As much as Frances may hurt us, the Bahamas were far more battered and bruised. So too with any hurricane--what scares and frightens us for a while means life and death for many hundreds living in shelters less secure than our own.
Prayer Requests
Please continue to pray for Dylan until he returns to us.
Please pray that I might find a roofer quickly, who will repair my house correctly the first time.
A quick sale and an easy move for Tom and his family as they set out on another exciting adventure in life.
Pour out prayers on the people of Florida who have lost their homes, their livelihoods, and their lives in this storm.
For the continued recovery of Katherine's mother.
For a deeper understanding of and commitment to the strengthening grace of the sacrament of marriage, especially for those who are presently undergoing trials.
Please storm heaven for my friends in Louisiana, they've had a long string of misfortune and could do with some good news.
For a dear friend who is undergoing a troubling period in her life, beset with a number of problems, physical, financial, emotional. May God hold her close to His heart.
For a St. Blog's parishioner in need of work to forestall financial catastrophe, that the Lord provide all that is needed in both material and spiritual blessings.
For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.
Does anyone know of some well-researched books on these two from a Catholic Perspective. Too often, it seems, we get one side of a story. I think of this particularly with respect to Galileo who was censored less for his astronomical speculations as for his unbearable arrogance and insulting demeanor. (Neither constitutes a good reason for censorship, but it becomes more understandable when one analyzes the whole event from an interpersonal rather than a theological perspective.)
One of the great "black marks" on the Catholic record is the persecution of men like Wycliff and Tyndale in their attempts to translate the Bible. These men are often made out to be martyrs to the truth, but I suspect there is something more to the tale that does not often emerge in partisan retellings. So if you all have any recommendations, they would be welcome.
Do you really want to be? Some chillingly direct commentary at Disputations. Well said and sobering.
Apparently King James himself developed fifteen rules for the translation of the Bible that he ordered. In these rules we see a remarkable wisdom, indeed, in one so vain and so full of himself, we see the light of the Holy Spirit Himself, assuring a translation that would guide His people for a great many years and resonate throughout all of our literature for four centuries and more. Much of what we read after this translation of the Bible was deeply influenced by its cadences and its beauty.
There are two major points of these fifteen precepts I want to touch upon. One serious, and one quite humorous.
from God’s Secretaries
Adam Nicolson4. When a word hath divers Significations, that to be kept which hath ben most commonly used by the most of the ancient Fathers being agreeable to the propertie of ye place and the analogies of fayth.The Church of England, like the Church of Rome, but unlike the more fully reformed churches of Europe, relied for its understanding of the often complex texts of scripture on the ancient inherited traditions of Christianity, the statements and resolutions of the councils of the early church and the great body of patristic scholarship, in particular those church fathers—above all Jerome, St John Chrysostom, Augustine, and Origen—of whom sixteenth-century English scholars, including several of the Translators, had made a particular study. This instruction is part of that widespread Reformation phenomenon, the search for primitive authenticity, for avoiding all hint of dreaded ‘innovation,’ looking for true meaning in the most ancient and hence most reliable texts. This too is a mark of the moderate: a historical consciousness and a sense that the world now has fallen away from the more perfect state in which it once existed.
Whether we like the fact or not, the King James Version of the Bible was guided by very “Catholic” understandings of the meaning of Scripture. We tend to think of the times as Puritan, and because the translation was eventually embraced by the Protestant Church, we tend to regard KJV as somehow “sullied” by its Protestant provenance. However, if one were to judge objectively on the base of guiding principles, the notion of interpreting scripture by Tradition is very, very Catholic.
This, coupled with another James’s edicts (7) that there should be no marginal notes beyond those required to clarify linguistic difficulties, actually resulted in a translation that was far from partisan. To quote Nicolson, “ The words of this translation, then, could embrace both gorgeousness and ambiguity, did not have to settle into a single doctrinal mode but could embrace different meanings, either within the text itself or in the margins. This is the heart of the new Bible as an irenicon, an organism that absorbed and integrated difference, that included ambiguity and by doing so established peace. “ The resultant work could reflect both the difficulties of translation and the multiplicity of meanings inherent in written language in such a way as to create both a profound work of literature and a meaningful instance of the Word of God. What is most interesting is that the tension between the Puritan Translators and the Anglican Translators forced the Anglicans into a more “high church” mode resulting in adherence to Catholic Traditions (which, of course, they insisted were “reformed” by the true Church founded by Henry VIII). Whatever the cause, James’s edict for the translation resulted in a deep, meaningful, and fruitful translation that has yet to be equaled in beauty, if not in clarity. (I will point out though, that it was clear enough to my grandfather and his generation—my Grandfather himself having graduated only 8th grade. (This could be likened today to having graduated from a junior college at least.)
Anyway, now for the more amusing point, which was actually a side note to the main body of the text. One of James’s rules stated that the names of persons in the Bible should remain as names and not be translated into what they meant. Thus, Timothy was to remain Timothy and not be translated as “Fear of God.”
Bancroft himself had written about the absurdity of calling your children ‘The Lord-is-near, More-trial, Reformation, More-fruit, Dust and many other such-like.’ These were not invented. Puritan children at Warbleton in Sussex, the heartland of this practice laboured under the names of Eschew-evil, Lament, No-merit, Sorry-for-sin, Learn-wisdom, Faint-not, Give-thanks, and the most popular, Sin-deny, which was landed on ten children baptized between 1586 and 1596. One family, the children of the curate Thomas Hely, would have been introduced by their proud father as Much-mercy Hely, Increased Hely, Sin-deny Hely, Fear-not Hely and sweet little Constance Hely.
Now, would that I had only known this before we had Samuel. Then we could have “The-Lord-is-My-Shepherd” Riddle. Or perhaps If-Thine-Eye-Offend-Thee-Pluck-it-Out Riddle. Can you imagine bubbling THAT name in on those stupid standardized test forms? Maybe we should have a Puritan name-giving contest for our next goldfish or turtle.
I assured you my brothers, that even to this day it is clear to some that the words which Jesus speaks are spirit and life, and for this reason they follow him. To others these words seem hard, and so they look elsewhere for some pathetic consolation. Yet wisdom cries out in the streets, in the broad and spacious way that leads to death, to call back those who take this path. from a Sermon—St. Bernard
Praise
Frances is gone and the damage done is not so fearful as might have been. Pray hard to keep Ivan at bay and far from all human habitation. As much as Frances may hurt us, the Bahamas were far more battered and bruised. So too with any hurricane--what scares and frightens us for a while means life and death for many hundreds living in shelters less secure than our own.
Prayer Requests
A quick sale and an easy move for Tom and his family as they set out on another exciting adventure in life.
Pour out prayers on the people of Florida who have lost their homes, their livelihoods, and their lives in this storm.
For the continued recovery of Katherine's mother.
For a deeper understanding of and commitment to the strengthening grace of the sacrament of marriage, especially for those who are presently undergoing trials.
Please storm heaven for my friends in Louisiana, they've had a long string of misfortune and could do with some good news.
For a dear friend who is undergoing a troubling period in her life, beset with a number of problems, physical, financial, emotional. May God hold her close to His heart.
For a St. Blog's parishioner in need of work to forestall financial catastrophe, that the Lord provide all that is needed in both material and spiritual blessings.
For those struggling against self to attain holiness, that the Good Lord will raise up new Saints for our times, visible beacons that draw all people toward Christ.
For the people of the Sudan that they may know peace and security and that they might learn to live together.
A special request from two gentleman battling particularly troublesome and besetting sins for grace and help as they continue forward.
For all those in the process of discerning vocations to the religious life, for guidance, prudence and good counsel
For our children, that they grow up in security, comfort, and the certain knowledge that they are loved and that they be released from any bonds of darkness, fear, anger, or sadness that bind and threaten them
For all those living under the curse of generational sins, that they may have protection and the inheritance of the past may be made void in their lives.
For all who are suffering from marital problems, most particularly those in our own families or communities, that the Lord may intervene and remind them that a marriage is of three persons.
For mothers and families that struggle with autism and autistic-related disabilities: particularly for M'Lynn, Melissa, Christine, and Betty.
For families that desire more children
For the conversion or return of spouses and loved ones to the Catholic Church, most particularly for Amanda's husband
For the men and women of the American Armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and for their families, may the Good Lord provide sustenance, support, compassion, and love that these separated families might continue to grow in strength and love.
Special Prayer Projects:
(1) For Katherine and Franklin, Gordon and Christine, Peter Kucera, and for all who are seeking employment and suffering through difficult times as they wait.
(2)Healthy Pregnancies and good and safe deliveries: For Suki, for a healthy pregancy and a safe delivery. For JCecil3 and Wife. For Pansy Moss. For Mrs. White and child. For Katherine and her friend Corren. Our Lady of La Leche, pray for us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. St. Gerard Majella, pray for us. Blessed Gianna, pray for us.
Please pray for those still in the path of Frances. Please pray that she speed up greatly and move swiftly through the remainder of her path. Pray for all those who suffered damage or total destruction of their homes. Pray that all other tropical storms this season avoid Florida and the United States entirely--that they take the more predictable routes that send them back out to the Atlantic.
The main body of the storm had some effect. But the trail rains are devastating to everyone. I have two large patches of ceiling in the family room that show signs of leaks in the roof. and we have one long rain band that has yet to fully have passed through. Pray that the ceilings do not leak.
More importantly, please pray that Ivan, which is a fast-moving powerful storm does not follow on the same track and take up residense in Florida and the East Coast. Right now that looks so improbable as to be ludicrous. You look at the map and it seems to be skirting the Brazilian/Venezuelan coast. Yet, the predicted courses all come up through that narrow corridor into the Caribbean, somehow keeping the storm in the Atlantic proper. We could really do without even the minimal side effects of such a storm.
And we still have power, internet access, water, and all other commodities. The predicted 20 inches did not arrive (praise God). We still have some of the far side rain bands to endure. So far the roof has stood up to the storm (and we have a contractor on line already to come out and fix it). No water flooded into the house (as I had been led to fear, even though we are well out of the 100 year flood plain. Nevertheless, you can never tell about these things. ) Everyone is getting cabin fever, I sure hope tomorrow is better so i can get out of here!
Hope you all had a better Labor Day weekend.
It's amazing--the storm has come ashore, and the winds continue unabated at the locality of entry. (Winds declined from 105 mph to 100 mph.) Here we have constant winds of about 55-60 m.p.h with rain harder at some times than at others. So far the patch on the roof is holding--in part, I think because the winds are from the opposite direction. However, when the storm passes and the winds are from the other direction we may not be so fortunate. Continue to pray--the storm moves exceedingly slowly--we have a curfew until at least 9:00 am and it may be longer, so I suspect we shall not be able to make it to Mass. Pray for us if you are able to receive the Lord and join your communion to those of us unable to get out of our houses.
At this writing (6:46 am) the storm center is just north of Lake Okeechobee which is quite a bit south of us and the rain is constant in this particularly arm or band. Pray that it all can flow away and spare us a flood. I can't see outside yet, so I don't know the state of the land around me.
It is all in God's will, and I suppose it could be much worse (and is in the path of the very slow-moving eye). Please keep praying.
Thank you.