Christianity and Georgia

May our Lord bring peace to this suffering nation!

From the Historic Annals of World War II

Kalimafi tip to Fr Z



Keep liquid away from your mouth when watching this.

(Some people have way TOO MUCH time on their hands; thank God!)

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words - Enough Said

(Hat tip to GetReligion.Org.)

O Virgin Pure (in Greek)

O Virgin Pure
by St. Nectarios
Plagal First Tone (Tone Five)

Refrain: O Rejoice, Bride Unwedded.

O Virgin pure, immaculate/ O Lady Theotokos
O Virgin Mother, Queen of all/ and fleece which is all dewy
More radiant than the rays of sun/ and higher than the heavens
Delight of virgin choruses/ superior to Angels.
Much brighten than the firmament/ and pure than the sun's light
More holy than the multitude/ of all the heav'nly armies.
O Rejoice, Bride Unwedded.

O Ever Virgin Mary/ of all the world, the Lady
O bride all pure, immaculate/ O Lady Panagia
O Mary bride and queen of all/ our cause of jubilation
Majestic maiden, Queen of all/ O our most holy Mother
More hon'rable than Cherubim/ beyond compare more glorious
than immaterial Seraphim/ and greater than angelic thrones.

O Rejoice, Bride Unwedded.

Rejoice, O son of Cherubim/ Rejoice, O hymn of angels
Rejoice, O ode of Seraphim/ the joy of the archangels
Rejoice, O peace and happiness/ the harbor of salvation
O sacred chamber of the Word/ flower of incorruption
Rejoice, delightful paradise/ of blessed life eternal
Rejoice, O wood and tree of life/ the fount of immortality

O Rejoice, Bride Unwedded.

I supplicate you, Lady/ now do I call upon you
And I beseech you, Queen of all/ I beg of you your favor
Majestic maiden, spotless one/ O Lady Panagia
I call upon you fervently/ O sacred, hallowed temple
Assist me and deliver me/ protect me from the enemy
And make me an inheritor/ of blessed life eternal.

O Rejoice, Bride Unwedded.

(Source and translation from: Holy Nativity Convent, Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.)

The Blogging Cardinal is also doing YouTube!

Check out his little corner of the YouTube world here.

New Online Video Service

HT to Catholic World News for an article about a new Christian Video service called GodTube. The website intends to provide an alternative to the popular YouTube and is designed in in similar fashion, but with Christian videos. While some of the material is decidedly anti-Catholic (so caution is in order) and a few videos are mocking (Weird Al Yankovic, etc. have not been pulled - I guess they haven't noticed these yet), I have found a few good videos. Amongst them, the below video featuring the Vespers Hymn O Joyful Light sung in Arabic. Beautiful! (The text in English is below the video.)



O Joyful Light of the holy glory of the Father immortal: heavenly, holy, blessed Jesus Christ! Since we have come to the setting of the sun and have seen the evening light, we praise God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is proper for You to be praised at all times by fitting melodies. O Son of God, Giver of Life, therefore the world glorifies You!

And here is the same hymn in Greek (although not the more popular tune used in most parishes)!



Finally, as a bonus, a nice Arabic language description of the traditional Byzantine Iconistasion. Perhaps someone with better Arabic skills will send me a translation of the written commentary (although it's fairly easy to see what is intended). On the other hand, I might post a description and reflection on the Iconistasion in the near future.



PS, Blessed All Souls Day to our Roman brethren! And a belated Blessed All Saints Day as well. (Byzantine Catholics and Orthodox celebrate All Saints Day on the Sunday after Pentecost and commemorate All Souls on the Saturdays of Great Lent and other occasions.)

And Then There Was YouTube....

Okay, you all know by now that I'm not above including a bit of fun from YouTube.Com and Father Tom Finigan is the kind of blogger I appreciate.

So for all those Roman folk who have been longing for the Motu Proprio, view the following take on the matter by one of the Church's more serious commentators.



PS, Be sure you aren't drinking coffee when you view this one!

PPS, A certain section of this piece reminds me of Life on The Rock (no pun intended). Don't you agree?

Litany of Fervent Supplication from the Divine Liturgy

This short YouTube piece features the late Bishop Sleiman Hajjar of blessed memory. Sayidna was a wonderful bishop and holy man who died too young in a swimming accident. May his memory be eternal!

A Young Person's Commentary From You Tube

I don't know who the young man/woman is who made this video over at You Tube. The 'graphic' retelling of history is somewhat loose in its details, however it is an amusing and thought-provoking commentary on the divisions between the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. Check it out.

PS, His/her name is also very amusing!

Learn Your Faith

Fr John is one of the best evangelists around. I hear he's intending to 'retire' and return to parish ministry. While I can understand his probable reasons for this, it seems a shame for such a powerful voice for Christianity to recede from the larger arena. Thanks be to God for the gift of modern technology.

And since, I'm adding You Tube multimedia, here are beautiful images as an excellent Byzantine Choir chants the Great Doxology.



Indeed, may our Fast contribute to the Unity of the Faith!