History is Important - a message from Leslie Knope
Here's a short (about a minute) video I took going around the Holy Column in the church of Santa Prassede. This is the column that Jesus was tied to when he was scourged by Pontius Pilate. They don't always have the barrier down, so you usually don't get to see it from all the way around. I wanted to get video of the whole thing all the way around because I ran across a note in an ancient document that said that those who made a pilgrimage (at that time to the Holy Land, since it was still in Jerusalem) could visit the Holy Column, and could see marks left from the hands of Jesus where he gripped it as he was being whipped. I assume that this is pious legend, but I figured since the column has that dark & light marble, maybe there's a place where the dark parts look like hands. I did not see it, but if you do, let me know!
I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I hope you like the song!
Hello friends! Happy weekend-eve!
I had the good fortune to attend a retreat by "Sing the Hours" in Philadelphia last weekend. We spent the weekend learning, practicing, and discussing the beautiful Gregorian Chant tradition of the Church.
I left inspired and with a book recommendation: "The Liturgy of the Hours in the East and West".
I'm just now getting started and am really loving it! The author traces the development of the Liturgy of the Hours starting with the Early Church. The first section is packed with long quotations from the Church Fathers. It's incredible to learn how the daily prayer of our present time so closely mirrors that of the earliest Christians. Very cool!
Hi folks!
Well, I'm happy to say I just finished the book I have been working on. Wow, am I glad that's done.
But let me back up. As some of you know, we had a flood in our house in June (caused by water from the unit above us), and it wasn't until October that the house was livable again. Tammy, Anjela, Zeph, and Zach were all in the Philippines the whole time (working on Zeph's immigration to bring him here) so they missed it all, but it put me way behind on my projects:
The ROME Book - This year I revised my book ROME: A Pilgrim's Guide to the Eternal City, for a second edition, in time for the Jubilee year. Except that it wasn't done when it was supposed to be, so it's not out yet. Hopefully soon. That was supposed to be finished over the summer, and it wasn't actually finished until December.
The Original Church - This is a book I was asked to write, and it's going to be published by Scepter Press. It's basically everything on my YouTube channel turned into a book, but with extra ...
