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walkswithmyfather · 1 year

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“The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.” —Matthew 28:5‭-‬6 (NASB)

“Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. On the way they were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside. When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.” The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened.” —Mark 16:1‭-‬8 (NLT)

“Easter Explained: An 8-Day Guide to Celebrating Holy Week.” A Devotional By Spoken Gospel - Day 8: “Easter Sunday”:

“For the last 1,600 years, Christians around the world remember the last days of Jesus' life during Holy Week. Today is Resurrection Sunday. Easter Sunday remembers the day Jesus was raised from the dead.

After being executed as a threat to Roman and Jewish power, Jesus laid in his grave for two full nights. For two full nights Jesus' disciples, followers, and family wept. For two full nights the schemes of Rome, corrupt religion, and darkness seemed to have won...until there was an earthquake. And an angel dressed in white appeared, rolled back the stone covering Jesus' tomb, and scared the guards away (Matthew 28:2-3).

At sunrise, a group of women approach Jesus' tomb to embalm his body (Mark 16:1-2). But as they approach, they see that Jesus' tomb has been opened (Mark 16:4). And inside the tomb is an angel dressed in white. He tells them, 'Don't be alarmed...You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him' (Mark 16:6). The angel then tells these women to leave the cemetery and tell Jesus' disciples what they have seen: Jesus is alive!

But before they could get far, Jesus appears and they immediately bow before their King (Matthew 28:8-9). With his grave behind him, Jesus is now the King of both Life and Death. And he remains the only person in human history to have risen from the dead, never to die again. Later, Jesus tells his disciples that he has been given all authority in heaven and on earth and that he is with them (Matthew 28:18). He then sends them out to make new disciples and citizens of his Kingdom, just before he ascends into the clouds and takes his throne at God's right hand (Luke 24:51-52).

Holy Week doesn't simply remember the final week of Jesus' life, but the days leading to Jesus' coronation and enthronement. On Palm Sunday Jesus rode into Jerusalem like a rival king. He challenged the power structure of the temple on Monday and invited others into his rebellion on Tuesday. On Wednesday Jesus was anointed with perfumed oil, like his forefather King David. Like a monarch, on Thursday he announced a New Covenant treaty with God. And on Friday Jesus was killed as 'King of Jews' in a battle with death. But Resurrection Sunday is good news because it is the day Jesus is raised from the dead and is enthroned over all other nations, powers, and rulers. Jesus is the true King of the world, life, and death, just as he claimed to be.

When people came into contact with the resurrected Jesus, almost everyone responded the same way - they were all terrified. The soldiers guarding the tomb fell down as if dead. The women at the tomb cowered. Jesus needed to tell his own disciples not to be alarmed. The religious elite didn't even believe Jesus rose from the dead, but were still scared that others believed it! And in one sense, this is the most appropriate response to a King who can wrestle death and win. But another response to Jesus' enthronement is to run and tell others that good news.

So I pray that on this Easter Sunday you will accept the good news that Jesus has risen from the dead as the world's only resurrected King and run to tell others the good news as well.”

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artemis-pendragon · 8 months

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Heat of the Moment (an un-ironic post-canon kind of fix-it Destiel fic for Nov 5th 2023)

Summary: Dean and Cas are attempting to escape Heaven through a secret exit, but before they can get there, they have to make it past the darker, memory-driven corners of the ethereal plane and survive the angels sent to retrieve Dean's soul...

It was Thursday and rain battered the cheap glass windows at the cheap-ass motel they’d stopped at when the Impala’s highbeams failed around midnight. Dean and Cas had been arguing for at least twenty minutes before the decision was made for them, and Dean wondered (not for the first time) if there wasn’t a hint of acquired sentience about his car. Maybe she didn’t want to end up wrapped around a tree, or perhaps she was just tired of the bickering. Either way (although Dean would never admit it) stopping for the night had been the right call.

Cas was supposedly in the shower, but the water hadn’t come on and Dean had the feeling that Cas was taking a few minutes to arrange his face into an expression of angelic neutrality. Dean hated losing arguments, but Cas seemed to hate winning them. Maybe it was because Dean sulked afterward.

Real mature, said the evil little voice in Dean’s head that, if he stopped to examine it for more than a second, was labeled ‘The Voice of Reason’ in big gold letters.

“Fuck off,” he muttered, and threw himself onto the twin bed nearest the window. He crossed his arms behind his head, stared up at the ceiling, and wondered if he should check for bed bugs. Nah. Heaven probably didn’t have any. Even here, in this dark corner of the eternal realm designed to frighten him back toward the heart of it, that would be a bit too much.

Cas came out of the bathroom, still fully clothed, and lied to Dean’s face about having showered. And there it was: the neutral expression. The careful concealing of smugness or triumph.

“I’m done with the bathroom,” said Cas, and walked to the twin bed at the other end of the (tiny, dingy, barely lit) room. “If you need to—”

“Nah, I’m good.” Dean cut him off, staring at the ceiling and watching Cas in his periphery. “Could go for a drink, though. Did you see a vending machine out—?”

Crash. Shards of glass, an explosion, fiery, blistering.

Dean rolled off the bed into darkness. He hadn’t closed his eyes, had he? Oh, shit. Had the glass gotten—

“Dean, Dean, stay down,” Cas’s voice growled in his ear, and oh, yeah, feathers. Cas had wrapped them in his wings.

“Ready or not, here I come!” a voice yelled. Angelic, pitched high, reverberating between walls stained with substances unknown even to God, wherever the fuck He’d gotten off to. “I told you—”

Dean reached up and under the hotel pillow, shifting black feathers, fingers searching until there! He extracted a silver dagger, the hilt a polished cylinder, the tapered blade an exquisitely narrow pyramid ending in a wicked point.

“Dean—” said Cas, low, warning.

“Oh three,” said Dean. “One, two, th—”

Cas rolled over, opened his wings, and Dean used his momentum to dodge a blast of holy white light aimed at the spot he’d been a moment before. He clutched the blade in one hand, the other clenched into a fist, and dove at the slightly glowing man standing just inside the shattered window.

Dean was a shadow. A ghost. A breath of wind, the crack of thunder after the lightning has already struck. He ducked another blast, rolled to the side, and grabbed the avenging angel by the wrist. Tug down, over, a shove, and his opponent was on the ground.

Thunk. The angel blade sank into the carpet. It nicked the angel’s throat but missed the mark. Dean struggled to pull it back out, and as he did—

“You haven’t been authorized to leave Heaven,” said the angel. “Your soul must be returned to the Fold, and if I have to damage it in the process, then—”

“No,” said Cas. And there he was, wings flared, eyes glowing blue. His hands cupped blinding light. Poised. Ready. “Rakiel. You will leave us alone. You will stop pursuing us. You will let Dean go.”

“Your words are powerless,” said Rakiel. He raised a hand and summoned an angel blade of his own. “We should have killed you many years ago, Castiel.”

“Yeah, you should’ve,” said Dean. The angel blade unstuck and he straightened, sweat beading on his neck, his face, heart pounding like a blacksmith’s hammer. Rakiel was facing Cas. Ready to strike. And Dean, in a moment of time-slowed clarity, had an idea. “But you didn’t. And now you can’t. Funny how that works.”

Rakiel whirled. His eyes, glowing, furious, raked over Dean’s now-kneeling form. On the angel blade, held as if still stuck fast in the carpet, Dean’s only defense.

Dean stayed where he was.

Rakiel lunged at him, blade raise.

And Dean, lifting his dagger and bracing it in front of his chest, prepared for the blinding eruption that came with an angel’s death.

The blade stopped just shy of Rakiel’s chest. Or, rather, Rakiel stopped just shy of the blade. For all Dean’s speed and battle prowess, this man-shaped being was an angel. He should’ve known a cheap trick like that wouldn’t work.

Dean lunged. He knocked Rakiel’s weapon hand aside. With his focus on the dagger that’d almost impaled him, the angel lost his grip and the silver blade spun away across the room, landing with a thud just outside the bathroom door.

All this happened in under two seconds. A flash, the first chain reaction at the center of a nuclear explosion.

Rakiel reached out and grabbed Dean’s blade by the hilt, pushing away as Dean shoved forward. A stalemate that Dean couldn’t possibly win.

“You think you can best me, Righteous Man?” sneered Rakiel. “You, human, think that—”

The blade shifted, started to turn toward Dean.

“No.” Cas. Cas vaulting over the twin bed and seizing Rakiel by the shoulders, standing behind the other angel, wings spread like a starless night. “You will not hurt him.” His eyes, still glowing, dimmed just enough for Dean to see the pupils at their center: black holes surrounded by stardust. “Dean,” he said: a question. A request.

“Yeah,” said Dean. “Do it. We know what these bastards want. No need for prisoners.”

Cas shoved Rakiel forward.

Shenk. The blade slid into Rakiel’s body just under the V in his chest. Dean leaned into it, got in close, face inches from the dying angel’s.

“You know what they say about fucking around,” Dean said.

Rakiel screamed, head thrown back, light spilling around the fatal wound. His eyes shone, a flash of ethereal white, and then the angel was gone, vanished, erased.

Dean dropped the angel blade. He blinked, vision clearing, and there was Cas. Standing right in front of him, expression open, neutrality forgotten.

“Dean,” said Cas. His voice was a low rasp, sharp with adrenaline.

“Cas,” said Dean. “Fuck it.”

And he kissed him.

Cas kissed him back.

“Let’s get out of here,” said Dean. “You know we’re getting close to the exit if they’re sending big shots after us.”

Cas stared at him with such a blend of surprise and shock and hope and elation that Dean felt like he was staring at the summer sun.

“What?” he said.

“Dean,” said Cas. “I’m picking the music.”

“Oh hell no. You know the rules: driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his—”

“I’m driving,” said Cas, and dodging around Dean, he headed for the still-locked motel door.

“Like hell you are,” Dean yelled, and sprinted after him, out into the parking lot. “Cas! Don’t you dare!”

The Impala’s heart would have sunk, if she’d had one. Despite her best efforts, it seemed she was, once again, doomed to a long rainy night of sexual tension disguised as the most pointless arguments that Heaven, in all its vast eternity, had ever heard.

#welcome back to me writing soup or natural fic in thee year of our lord 2023 #destiel #supernatural #spn #destiel fic #nov 5th #spn fanfic

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roman-catholic-mass-readings · 1 year

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2nd March >> Mass Readings (Except USA)

Thursday, First Week of Lent

(Liturgical Colour: Violet: Year A (1))

First Reading Esther 4:17 I am alone, Lord, and have no-one but you.

Queen Esther took refuge with the Lord in the mortal peril which had overtaken her. She besought the Lord God of Israel in these words:

‘My Lord, our King, the only one, come to my help, for I am alone and have no helper but you and am about to take my life in my hands.

‘I have been taught from my earliest years, in the bosom of my family, that you, Lord, chose Israel out of all the nations and our ancestors out of all the people of old times to be your heritage for ever; and that you have treated them as you promised.

‘Remember, Lord; reveal yourself in the time of our distress.

‘As for me, give me courage, King of gods and master of all power. Put persuasive words into my mouth when I face the lion; change his feeling into hatred for our enemy, that the latter and all like him may be brought to their end.

‘As for ourselves, save us by your hand, and come to my help, for I am alone and have no one but you, Lord.’

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 137(138):1-3,7-8

R/ On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.

I thank you, Lord, with all my heart: you have heard the words of my mouth. In the presence of the angels I will bless you. I will adore before your holy temple.

R/ On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.

I thank you for your faithfulness and love, which excel all we ever knew of you. On the day I called, you answered; you increased the strength of my soul.

R/ On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.

You stretch out your hand and save me, your hand will do all things for me. Your love, O Lord, is eternal, discard not the work of your hands.

R/ On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.

Gospel Acclamation Joel2:12-13

Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God! Now, now – it is the Lord who speaks – come back to me with all your heart, for I am all tenderness and compassion. Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!

Or:

Psalm 50:12,14

Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God! A pure heart create for me, O God, and give me again the joy of your help. Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!

Gospel Matthew 7:7-12 Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find.

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. Is there a man among you who would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or would hand him a snake when he asked for a fish? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

‘So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 2 years

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28th July >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Matthew 13:47-53 for Thursday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet net cast into the sea’.

Thursday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)

Matthew 13:47-53

The fishermen collect the good fish and throw away those that are no use.

Jesus said to the crowds: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet cast into the sea that brings in a haul of all kinds. When it is full, the fishermen haul it ashore; then, sitting down, they collect the good ones in a basket and throw away those that are no use. This is how it will be at the end of time: the angels will appear and separate the wicked from the just to throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.

‘Have you understood all this?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ And he said to them, ‘Well then, every scribe who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out from his storeroom things both new and old.’

Gospel (USA)

Matthew 13:47-53

They put what is good into buckets, what is bad they throw away.

Jesus said to the disciples: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”

“Do you understand all these things?” They answered, “Yes.” And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.” When Jesus finished these parables, he went away from there.

Reflections (5)

(i) Thursday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Day to day human experience often speaks to us about God’s relationship with us and our relationship with God. For the prophet Jeremiah, the potter at his wheel speaks of God’s ability to reshape our lives when they come out wrong. God does not give up on us when our lives do not turn out as God desires for us, just as the potter does not give up on the clay when the vessel he is trying to make comes out wrong. God can work on lives that are out of shape. Whenever we turn out wrong, and we all turn out wrong from time to time, we can be tempted to give up on ourselves, to lose heart. However, at such moments. God’s way of looking upon us is very different. God always sees the potential for good in us. Like the potter, he recognizes that there is material here to work on. We all need to learn to see ourselves and others more as God sees us. Jesus also saw in the daily event of fishermen catching all kinds of fish an image of how God was relating to people in his own ministry. God, through Jesus, was casting his net far and wide without making distinctions. Jesus was drawing all sorts of people into the new community he was gathering about himself. He was revealing the God who makes his sun to shine on the bad and the good alike. He shared table with those considered sinners and those who were regarded as holy. The net of God’s abundant love is always being cast over all, as the fishermen bring in all kinds of fish in their nets. As we are drawn into the net of God’s love we are called to open ourselves to his love and allow ourselves to be shaped by it, as clay is shaped by the potter. There will be a separation at the end, as the parable suggests, but it won’t be based on God’s preferences because God’s love embraces all, but on whether or not, over time, we open ourselves up to God’s loving, renewing, presence in our lives.

And/Or

(ii) Thursday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

The parable of the dragnet cast into the sea suggests that at the end of time there will be a separation out of the good from the wicked. However, this is God’s work and it will happen at the end of time. We often make the mistake of thinking that it is our work and that it should happen in the course of time. We can be prone to deciding who is good and who is bad here and now and behaving in the light of that judgement. Yet, when we make such a judgement, we are prone to getting it wrong. We see the good in ourselves more easily than the good in others and the bad in others more easily than the bad in ourselves. We also fail to appreciate that people can change for the better, with God’s help. The image of God as the potter in this morning’s first reading suggests that God can take what comes out wrong in our lives and reshape it into something good. We are all a work in progress. God may have begun a good work in us but God has yet to bring it to completion. Judgement belongs to God at the end of time, and the judging God is also the creator God who is constantly at work to bring good out of evil and new life out of what has come out wrong. As humans, we should be very slow to take on God’s work of separating the good from the evil. As Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, ‘Do not pronounce judgement before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness’.

And/Or

(iii) Thursday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Much of Jesus’ ministry was around the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The sight of fishermen casting a large dragnet into the sea would have been an everyday occurrence. All kinds of fish – clean and unclean from a Jewish point of view – would have been caught in such a net. Jesus declares in today’s gospel reading that the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, is like this everyday reality. Because Jesus announced that the kingdom of God was present in his own ministry, he is really saying that his own ministry has something of the quality of the casting of the dragnet. There was nothing selective about Jesus’ ministry. He cast a very wide net which embraced those considered clean and unclean according to the Jewish Law. Jesus revealed and continues to reveal a gracious God who has no favourites. If God present in Jesus has favourites it is those regarded by others as ‘sinners’, just as a doctor favours the sick over the healthy. Jesus is saying that you don’t have to be ‘good’ to be grasped by God’s reign present in his ministry. The parable also declares that just as the fishermen sit down by the shore of the sea, to separate out the good fish from the bad, so at the end of time there will be a separation of the good and the bad. God’s grace embraces us all, but we need to respond to that grace. Jesus reveals a God who loves us before we love God. He assures us that we stand within God’s love; we are God’s beloved. Yet, he also calls on us to keep on receiving that love so that we can love others as God has loved us. We are to allow God’s goodness towards us to make us good or, at least, to keep us on the path towards personal goodness, so that, in the words of Paul, we ‘may be blameless before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints’.

And/Or

(iv) Thursday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

The parable in today’s gospel reading is based on one of the standard ways of fishing in the Sea of Galilee at the time of Jesus. Two boats pull a very large dragnet between them. As a result, all sorts of fish are caught. Some of the fish would not be suitable for selling at the local fish market, and, so, when the catch is brought to land, these fish would have to be separated out from the fish that could be sold. In what way is the kingdom of heaven like that everyday reality by the Sea of Galilee? Perhaps Jesus is suggesting that as he goes about his ministry, he casts the net of God’s loving presence very broadly. The gospel is preached to all and sundry; Jesus does not discriminate. Everyone needs to hear the gospel of God’s unconditional love for all. No one is considered unworthy of the gospel. As Jesus says elsewhere in Matthew’s gospel, using a different image, God makes his sun to shine and his rain to fall on good and bad alike. However, Jesus is aware that not everyone will respond to his proclamation of the reign of God’s merciful and faithful love. Just as the fishermen have to separate out fish which can be sold from fish that can’t, so there will come a moment, at the end of time, when God will separate out those who tried to respond to Jesus’ proclamation of God’s loving presence and those who refused to do so. In the meantime, the Lord continues to throw the net of God’s love over our lives and his grace at work within us continues to move us to respond. The Lord does not give up on us, even if our initial response leaves a lot to be desired. He is like the potter in the first reading who keeps shaping our lives, taking even what is wrong in our lives and making something new and good from it. We, of course, are not passive clay in the Lord’s hands. We can help the efforts of the potter by continuing to open ourselves to his loving work in our lives, or we can hinder his work.

And/Or

(v) Thursday, Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

In the Scriptures, day to day human experience is understood to speak about God’s relationship with us and our relationship with God. A potter at his wheel speaks of God’s ability to reshape our lives when it comes out wrong. God does not give up on us when our lives do not turn out as God desires for us, just as the potter does not give up on the clay when the vessel he is trying to make comes out wrong. God can work on lives that are out of shape, in the sense of not being genuine images of God. Whenever we turn out wrong, we can be tempted to give up on ourselves, closing down a better future for ourselves. At such moments. God’s way of looking upon us is very different. God sees the potential for good there, recognizing that there is material here to work on. We all need to learn to see ourselves and others more as God sees us. Jesus also saw in the daily event of fishermen catching all kinds of fish an image of how God is relating to people in his own ministry. God, through Jesus, was casting his net far and wide, without discrimination. The Lord was drawing all sorts of people into the new community he was gathering about himself. He was revealing the God who makes his sun to shine on the bad and the good alike. He shared table with those considered sinners and those regarded as holy. The net of God’s abundant love was being cast over all, as the fishermen brought in all kinds of fish. Yet, those drawn into the net of God’s love would need to open themselves to that love and allow themselves to be shaped by it, as clay is shaped by the potter. There will be a separation, but it will be based not on God’s preferences but on how well or otherwise we open ourselves up to God’s creative and renewing presence in our lives.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

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superjakethegreat · 3 months

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Jesus is Committed

March 23, 2024

[Jesus said] “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. 

John:12:27-29

Jesus spoke these words during Holy Week. No one else knew what was coming next for Jesus, but Jesus knew. In a matter of hours, Jesus would be arrested. He would endure the indignity of a sham of a trial before the religious leaders. He would be paraded between two politicians. Soldiers would mock Him, spit on Him, and whip Him. He would be executed like a common criminal.

But that’s not what truly troubled His soul. Jesus knew the agony that was waiting for Him on that Roman cross. Worse than the crucifixion itself would be the weight of the sins of the whole world. Worse than the slow and painful suffocation would be the separation of Jesus from His Father, the punishment for sin.

It is no wonder Jesus said that His soul was troubled. But even as he could count the hours to the torment of hell He would suffer, He remained resolute. He was committed to saving God’s people and the glory it would bring His Father.

Next week, we start our Holy Week. We will travel with Jesus from Palm Sunday to Easter, with long and important stops at Holy Thursday and Good Friday. We will meditate, once again, on Jesus’ great love for sinners and the cost of our sin. As Jesus hangs from the cross, it will look anything but glorious. But it is there on the cross, an instrument of death and torture, that Jesus wins glory. It is there that Jesus does what the angels pronounced at His birth. Jesus brings, “Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14).

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catolinewsdailyreadings · 10 months

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Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

Readings of Thursday, August 24, 2023

Reading 1

RV 21:9B-14

The angel spoke to me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” He took me in spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It gleamed with the splendor of God. Its radiance was like that of a precious stone, like jasper, clear as crystal. It had a massive, high wall, with twelve gates where twelve angels were stationed and on which names were inscribed, the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. There were three gates facing east, three north, three south, and three west. The wall of the city had twelve courses of stones as its foundation, on which were inscribed the twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.

Responsorial Psalm

PS 145:10-11, 12-13, 17-18

R./ Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.

Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD, and let your faithful ones bless you. Let them discourse of the glory of your Kingdom and speak of your might. R./ Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.

Making known to men your might and the glorious splendor of your Kingdom. Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages, and your dominion endures through all generations. R./ Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.

The LORD is just in all his ways and holy in all his works. The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. R./ Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of your Kingdom.

Gospel

JN 1:45-51

Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” But Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him.” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

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jesusismyredeemer · 1 year

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For the last 1,600 years, Christians around the world remember the last days of Jesus' life during Holy Week. Today is Resurrection Sunday. Easter Sunday remembers the day Jesus was raised from the dead.

So I pray that on this Easter Sunday you will accept the good news that Jesus has risen from the dead as the world's only resurrected King and run to tell others the good news as well.

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shaykhpod-blog · 1 year

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PODSERIES: SERVANTS OF THE MOST MERCIFUL – PART 1

This blog series will discuss the characteristics of the true servants of Allah, the Exalted, which are mentioned in chapter 25 Al Furqan, verses 63 to 77. It is these muslims who will be granted safety and great blessings in this world and in the next. Chapter 10 Yunus, verse 62:

“Unquestionably, [for] the allies of Allah there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve.”

Whenever they face a trial they will be given the strength to overcome them so that they reap further blessings. When the entire creation will face the Day of Judgement Allah, the Exalted, will remove all grief from them. Chapter 21 Al Anbiya, verse 103:

“They will not be grieved by the greatest terror and the angels will meet them, [saying], "This is your Day which you have been promised"”

Allah, the Exalted, boasts of these special servants to the Angels in the Heavens. This has been confirmed in a Hadith found in Sunan An Nasai, number 5428. They are the ones who are brought near to Allah, the Exalted, in this world and will gain the special proximity of Allah, the Exalted, in the hereafter. Chapter 56 Al Waqi’ah, verses 10-12:

“And the forerunners, the forerunners. Those are the ones brought near [to Allah]. In the Gardens of Pleasure.”

They freed themselves from the servanthood of all other things and devoted themselves to the true obedience of Allah, the Exalted, by fulfilling His commands, refraining from His prohibitions and by facing destiny with patience. When they became His servants they became independent of the entire creation. But those who sought freedom from this servanthood only became servants of their desires and the material world. Chapter 45 Al Jathiyah, verse 23:

“Have you seen he who has taken as his god his [own] desire…”

They have reached this rank by striving to emulate the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and his blessed Companions, May Allah be pleased with them all. But it is important to note this is not possible to achieve without knowledge. It was why the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, declared in a Hadith found in Sunan Ibn Majah, number 224, that gaining useful knowledge is a duty on all muslims.

It must be the mission of all muslims to emulate their good character so that they too can achieve success in this world and in the next. A muslim must always remember that nothing will be heavier in the Scales of Judgment Day than good character. This has been confirmed in a Hadith found in Jami At Tirmidhi, number 2003.

The next blog in this series will begin by discussing the first characteristic of the servants of the Most Merciful namely, humility.

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ongole · 2 years

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DAILY SCRIPTURE READINGS (DSR) 📚 GROUP, Thu Sept 29th, 2022...Thursday of the Twenty Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year C...Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels

▪︎【Read God's Word daily on "DSR 📚 GROUPS"' WhatsApp Tel. +256751540524】

Reading 1

---‐------

(Dan 7,9-10.13-14)

I watched until thrones were set up, and the ancient of days sat down. His garment was radiant like snow, and the hair of his head like clean wool; his throne was flames of fire, its wheels had been set on fire. A river of fire rushed forth from his presence. Thousands upon thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times hundreds of thousands attended before him. The trial began, and the books were opened. I watched, therefore, in the vision of the night, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man arrived, and he approached all the way to the ancient of days, and they presented him before him. And he gave him power, and honor, and the kingdom, and all peoples, tribes, and languages will serve him. His power is an eternal power, which will not be taken away, and his kingdom, one which will not be corrupted.

Responsorial Psalm

-----------------

(Ps 138)

Of David himself. O Lord, I will confess to you with my whole heart, for you have heard the words of my mouth. I will sing psalms to you in the sight of the Angels. I will adore before your holy temple, and I will confess your name: it is above your mercy and your truth. For you have magnified your holy name above all.

I will adore before your holy temple, and I will confess your name: it is above your mercy and your truth. For you have magnified your holy name above all. On whatever day that I will call upon you: hear me. You will multiply virtue in my soul.

May all the kings of the earth confess to you, O Lord. For they have heard all the words of your mouth. And let them sing in accordance with the ways of the Lord. For great is the glory of the Lord.

Gospel

-------

(John 1,47-51)

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, and he said about him, “Behold, an Israelite in whom truly there is no deceit.” Nathanael said to him, “From where do you know me?” Jesus responded and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him and said: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.” Jesus responded and said to him: “Because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree, you believe. Greater things than these, you will see.” And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the Angels of God ascending and descending over the Son of man.”

***

DAILY SCRIPTURE READINGS (DSR) 📚 GROUP, Thu Sept 29th, 2022...Thursday of the Twenty Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year C...Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels

FOCUS AND LITURGY OF THE WORD

“… you will see Heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

About a month from now, the Church will celebrate All Saints’ Day, when we spend time thinking about the “lives of the saints”. But it’s difficult to read and learn about the lives of today’s saints since they haven’t led “lives” in our normal sense of the word. Furthermore, their lives are still going on as always. Still, these three saints—the archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael—are a very important part of our Catholic prayer and belief.

These archangels—among the most important of all the angels—are messengers who carry the most important messages from God to human beings like us.

St. Michael, in the beginning, was the one who had to fight against the devil, and force him out of Heaven as punishment for turning against God. At the end of time, it will be St. Michael who will lead all the good angels in battle against the fallen angels in league with the devil. But in between the beginning and end of time, Michael protects all those who call upon him, to defend them in the day of battle, which is any day when we face temptation, and are tempted not to love God completely, or tempted not to love our neighbor as our self.

St. Gabriel, by contrast , goes to the heart and center of history, with the most important message that God ever wanted delivered. It was Gabriel whom God chose to deliver the message to Mary that she should be our Blessed Mother, because God’s own Son should be born from her, that Son destined to be the Savior of all mankind.

In these archangels, we honor three models for the vocation to which God has called all of us through the Sacrament of Baptism. In word and action, we—like the angels—serve God, and bear His messages to others, all of which are about the sort of love with which God loves us.

Even when we have sinned, God continues to love us, and wants us to draw closer to Him through Jesus. But when we pray and realize how great God’s mercy towards us is, we are called to take that same message to others, and let others know of God’s love for them. Even more, we are called to offer forgiveness to others: to be God’s messenger of love and mercy by forgiving others in the same way that God has forgiven us.

***

DAILY SCRIPTURE READINGS (DSR) 📚 GROUP, Thu Sept 29th, 2022...Thursday of the Twenty Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year C...Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels...SAINT OF THE DAY

Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael’s Story

Angels—messengers from God—appear frequently in Scripture, but only Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are named.

Michael appears in Daniel’s vision as “the great prince” who defends Israel against its enemies; in the Book of Revelation, he leads God’s armies to final victory over the forces of evil. Devotion to Michael is the oldest angelic devotion, rising in the East in the fourth century. The Church in the West began to observe a feast honoring Michael and the angels in the fifth century.

Gabriel also makes an appearance in Daniel’s visions, announcing Michael’s role in God’s plan. His best-known appearance is an encounter with a young Jewish girl named Mary, who consents to bear the Messiah.

Raphael’s activity is confined to the Old Testament story of Tobit. There he appears to guide Tobit’s son Tobiah through a series of fantastic adventures which lead to a threefold happy ending: Tobiah’s marriage to Sarah, the healing of Tobit’s blindness, and the restoration of the family fortune.

The memorials of Gabriel and Raphael were added to the Roman calendar in 1921. The 1970 revision of the calendar joined their individual feasts to Michael’s.

Reflection

---------

Each of the archangels performs a different mission in Scripture: Michael protects; Gabriel announces; Raphael guides. Earlier belief that inexplicable events were due to the actions of spiritual beings has given way to a scientific world-view and a different sense of cause and effect. Yet believers still experience God’s protection, communication, and guidance in ways which defy description. We cannot dismiss angels too lightly.

Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael are the Patron Saints of:

Death

Germany

Grocers

Police Officers/First Responders

Radiologists

Saint Gabriel is the Patron Saint of:

Broadcasters/Communicators

Saint Raphael is the Patron Saint of:

The Blind

Travelers

***

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bookoftruth · 2 years

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Great Tribulation is being mitigated through prayer

Thursday, August 18, 2011 20:45

My daughter, those followers of Mine, who are well-read in matters of Holy Scripture, tend to get carried away with their own human interpretation, so that the lesson I have preached to love one another is so easily forgotten. Love one another. Honour your mother and father. Honour your Creator, God the Father, and live as I have told you in love and fear of My Father.

So many learned men, caught up in their analysis of My Teachings, forget one thing. That is, when I will come again to Judge. Never for one moment do they consider that this time may well happen in their own lifetime and not in the distant future. Why then do they search and continue to search for further meanings in Holy Scripture when the Truth is so simple? Why do they not remember that love is all I ask? Love for Me, your Saviour. Love for God the Father and love for each other.

For those intellectual experts who proclaim to be able to analyse My Teachings and then go as far as attempting to predict a date for when I will come again, I say this. If you try to assume that you have been able to discern the year for My return, then you are sadly mistaken. No one will be given this date, not even the angels in Heaven or My beloved Mother. But this I can reveal. The Tribulation started some time ago. The Great Tribulation will begin at the end of 2012. This terrible period is being mitigated through the prayers of My dearly beloved followers. It will also be diluted through the conversion achieved after The Warning takes place. This event is good news, My children. It is to help eradicate the slavery by man to the evil one.

Religious experts display an arrogance, which I find repulsive Many, sadly, will ignore My pleas to prepare, so caught up are they in this so-called intellectual religious debate, based on human reasoning, one trying to outdo the other to prove that he or she is more knowledgeable. These experts display an arrogance, which I find repulsive. They are no better than the Pharisees were. Their ignorance blocks out the Truth when it is presented before their very eyes.

My Word is being ignored by My sacred servants My Word has fallen on deaf ears. My Word is ignored by My sacred servants, as I attempt to communicate with them at this point in history. Yet, after The Warning there will be no excuse for them not to sit up and listen to My instructions. For then they will hold out their arms pleading with Me to guide them through the Great Chastisement. For when this prophecy is unveiled to those who doubt My Word, through this messenger, I urge you then to take up My Sacred Cup, drink from it and fight to save souls.

I urge all of you, including those self-proclaimed scriptural experts, to sit down in humility and ask this question. Why would I encourage simple believers to become embroiled in an argument over My return to Earth? All that matters now is that I Am coming. Be prepared at all times. Never judge others in My Name. Seek out the gift of humility at all costs for it will be your passport to Heaven.

Your beloved Saviour

Jesus Christ

#The Book of Truth #truth #Volume One #Message from Jesus #Jesus Christ

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leebird-simmer · 3 years

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Russian Fairy Tales Test Prep: Pagan Deities

The best known roster of pagan deities is that of the six whose statues Prince Vladimir erected upon assuming sole rule of Kiev. According to the Primary Chronicle for the year 980, he “placed idols on a hill, outside the palace yard, a wooden Perun with a silver head and a golden mustache, and Khors and Dazhbog and Stribog and Simargl and Mokosh.” Missing from this list is Volos/Veles, the god of cattle (skotnii bog) and commerce, whose veneration in ancient Rus’ is widely attested, and by whose name (along with that of Perun) ancient Russians ratified oaths.

A. Perun/Bog

1. equivalent to: Lithuanian Perkunas, Latvian Perkons, Albanian Perendi, Roman Jupiter, Greek Zeus, Hittite Teshub, Norse Thor/Donar, Celtic Taranis. 2. primary sources: Nestor’s Chronicle, mid-6th century Procopius, 10th-century Varangian treaties 3. primary story: a creation myth, in which he battles Veles, the Slavic god of the underworld, for the protection of his wife (Mokosh, goddess of summer) and the freedom of atmospheric water, as well as for the control of the universe. 4. dvoeverie: After Christianization in the 11th century CE, Perun's cult became associated with St. Elias (Elijah), also known as the Holy Prophet Ilie (or Ilija Muromets or Ilja Gromovik), who is said to have ridden madly with a chariot of fire across the sky, and punished his enemies with lightning bolts.

In Slavic mythology: Perun was the supreme god of the pre-Christian Slavic pantheon, although there is evidence that he supplanted Svarog (the god of the sun) as the leader at some point in history. Perun was a pagan warrior of heaven and patron protector of warriors. As the liberator of atmospheric water (through his creation tale battle with the dragon Veles), he was worshipped as a god of agriculture, and bulls and a few humans were sacrificed to him. In 988, the leader of the Kievan Rus' Vladimir I pulled down Perun's statue near Kyiv (Ukraine) and it was cast into the waters of the Dneiper River. As recently as 1950, people would cast gold coins in the Dneiper to honor Perun.

Appearance & Reputation: Perun is portrayed as a vigorous, red-bearded man with an imposing stature, with silver hair and a golden mustache. He carries a hammer, a war ax, and/or a bow with which he shoots bolts of lightning. He is associated with oxen and represented by a sacred tree—a mighty oak. He is sometimes illustrated as riding through the sky in a chariot drawn by a goat. In illustrations of his primary myth, he is sometimes pictured as an eagle sitting in the top branches of the tree, with his enemy and battle rival Veles the dragon curled around its roots.

Perun is associated with Thursday—the Slavic word for Thursday "Perendan" means "Perun's Day"—and his festival date was June 21.

Reports: The earliest reference to Perun is in the works of the Byzantine scholar Procopius (500–565 CE), who noted that the Slavs worshipped the "Maker of Lightning" as the lord over everything and the god to whom cattle and other victims were sacrificed.

Perun appears in several surviving Varangian (Rus) treaties beginning in 907 CE. In 945, a treaty between the Rus' leader Prince Igor (consort of Princess Olga) and the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII included a reference to Igor's men (the unbaptized ones) laying down their weapons, shields, and gold ornaments and taking an oath at a statue of Perun—the baptized ones worshipped at the nearby church of St. Elias. The Chronicle of Novgorod (compiled 1016–1471) reports that when the Perun shrine in that city was attacked, there was a serious uprising of the people, all suggesting that the myth had some long-term substance.

B. Kors/Xors/Chors

- most frequently mentioned Slavic god, after Perun - dvoeverie: appears in the apocryphal work Sermon and Apocalypse of the Holy Apostles, which mentions Perun and Khors as old men; Khors is said to live in Cyprus. Khors also appears in the apocryphal text Conversation of the Three Saints, a text which combines Slavic + Christian + Bogomil traditions. In it, he is referred to as “an angel of thunder” and it is said that he is Jewish. - his functions are uncertain and there are multiple interpretations of his name.

1. Sun God hypothesis: associated with Dazhbog; in The Tale of Igor’s Campaign, Prince Vseslav, who “came to Tmutarakani before the cocks" and "Khors ran his way", traveled from west to east and thus reached the castle before the cocks crowed, and in this way "overtook" the Sun; his name means “rays.”

2. Moon God hypothesis: Prince Vseslav was called “wolf” and his journey takes place at night when the sun is absent from the sky; his name does mean “rays” but they’re the moon’s rays and not the sun’s rays.

3. Fertility God/Vegetation hypothesis: link between Thracian & early Slavic cultures indicates Kors is more of a Dionysus-type figure, who dies and is risen; like Dionysus, Dazhbog (who Kors is often linked to) has a double nature (Eastern Slavs assign him solar qualities, while Southern Slavs assign him chthonic qualities).

C. Dazhbog

1. equivalent to: Khors (Russian/Iranian), Mithra (Persian), Helios (Greek), Lucifer (Christian) 2. primary sources: John Malalas, The Song of Igor’s Campaign 3. family: Son of Svarog, brother of fire god Svarozhich, husband of Mesyats (the moon), father of the Zoryi and Zvezdy 4. primary myth: He resided in the east, in a land of everlasting summer and plenty, in a palace made of gold. The morning and evening auroras, known collectively as Zorya, were his daughters. In the morning, Zorya opened the palace gates to allow Dazbog to leave the palace and begin his daily journey across the sky; in the evening, Zorya closed the gates after the sun returned in the evening. 5. dvoeverie: There was a belief that each winter he would enter people's homes and gift gold to those who had been good. That belief passed into Christianity, especially in Serbia, and this visitor was called Položajnik. During Christianisation, his cult was exchanged with the cult of Saint Sava, while Dažbog became lame Daba - the most powerful demon in Hell. Reasons why he was demonized are various, possibly because his cult was the strongest in Serbia or because he was considered also as the god of Nav, the Slavic underworld and world of the dead.

In Slavic mythology: Dazbog was the Slavic sun god, a role that is common to many Indo-European people, and there is ample evidence that there was a sun cult in the pre-Christian tribes of central Europe. His name means "day god" or "giving god," to different scholars—"Bog" is generally accepted to mean "god," but Daz means either "day" or "giving."

His totem animal was a wolf, therefore wolves were sacred animals and killing them was considered a great sin. Wolves were considered to be messengers of Dazhbog, while he himself could shift into a white wolf.

According to one myth, Svarog became tired of reigning over the universe and passed on his power to his sons, Dazhbog and Svarogich.

Appearance & Reputation: Dazbog is said to ride across the sky in a golden chariot drawn by fire-breathing horses who are white, gold, silver, or diamonds. In some tales, the horses are beautiful and white with golden wings, and sunlight comes from the solar fire shield Dazbog always carries with him. At night, Dazbog wanders the sky from east to west, crossing the great ocean with a boat pulled by geese, wild ducks, and swans.

In some tales, Dazbog starts out in the morning as a young, strong man but by the evening he is a red-faced, bloated elderly gentleman; he is reborn every morning. He represents fertility, male power, and in "The Song of Igor's Campaign" he is mentioned as the grandfather of the Slavs.

4. Stribog

Very little is known about him, although he was clearly very important to early Slavic peoples. In the epic ”Slovo o polku Igorove “ it is said that the winds, the grandsons of Stribog, blow from the sea. This leads to conclusion that Stribog is imagined as an old person, since he has grandsons. The grandsons were the winds from all directions.

Eagle was the animal consecrated to Stribog. Plants consecrated to Stribog were hawthorn and oak. When pledges were made, Stribog was often warrantor. Festivities in Stribog’s honor were organized in the summer as well as in the winter. They were probably organized in the summer in order to invocate winds and rain, while in the winter they were organized in order to appease him. In the period of Christianization Stribog’s characteristics were overtaken by St. Bartholomew and Stevan vetroviti (windy).

5. Simargl/Semargl

- may be equivalent to Simurgh in Persian mythology, who is portrayed similarly (winged lion and/or dog). He can also take human form. - God of physical fire (as opposed to celestial fire; that’s Svarog) - He is said to be the husband of Kupalnica (or Kupalnitsa), goddess of night, from whom he got two children: Kupalo and Kostroma.

Zorya, solar goddesses who are servants or daughters of the deity Dazhbog, keep Simargl chained to the star Polaris in the constellation Ursa Minor. Should he break free and destroy this constellation, it will cause the world to end.

Why would he be worshipped in Rus’, you ask? A couple of possible answers: a. Eastern Slavs borrowed Simargl from Sarmatian-Alanian people and worshiped him. b. Eastern Slavs never worshiped Simargl. Just at that time, a significant number of Kiev residents were of Khazar and Sarmatian-Alanian origin. Vladimir included their deity in the pantheon to get their support.

6. Volos/Veles (also Vlas, Weles Vlasii, St. Blaise, or Blasius)

1. equivalent to: Velinas (Baltic), Varuna (Vedic), Hermes (Greek), Odin (Norse) 2. primary sources: The Tale of Igor’s Campaign, old Russian chronicles 3. primary myth: a creation myth, in which Veles abducts Mokosh (the Goddess of Summer and consort of Perun, God of Thunder). Perun and his enemy battle for the universe under a huge oak, Perun's holy tree, similar to both Greek and Norse (Yggdrasil) mythologies. The battle is won by Perun, and afterward, the waters of the world are set free and flowing. 4. dvoeverie: Velia remains a feast of the dead in old Lithuanian, celebrating the border between the world of the living and the world of the dead, with Veles operating as a role of guiding souls to the underworld. The battle between Perun (Ilija Muromets or St. Elias) and Veles (Selevkiy) is found in many different forms, but in later stories, instead of gods, they are complementary figures separated from one another by a furrow plowed by Christ, who converts them. Veles is also likely represented by St. Vlasii, depicted in Russian iconography as surrounded by sheep, cows, and goats.

In Slavic mythology: A second creation myth associated with Veles is the formation of the boundary between the underworld and the human world, a result of a treaty forged between Veles and a shepherd/magician.

In the treaty, the unnamed shepherd pledges to sacrifice his best cow to Veles and keep many prohibitions. Then he divides the human world from the wild underworld led by Veles, which is either a furrow plowed by Veles himself or a groove across the road carved by the shepherd with a knife which the evil powers cannot cross.

Veles is associated with a wide variety of powers and protectors: he is associated with poetry and wisdom, the lord of the waters (oceans, seas, ships, and whirlpools). He is both the hunter and protector of cattle and the lord of the underworld, a reflection of the Indo-European concept of the netherworld as a pasture. He is also related to an ancient Slavic cult of the deceased soul; the ancient Lithuanian term "welis" means "dead" and "welci" means "dead souls."

Appearance & Reputation: Veles is generally portrayed as a bald human man, sometimes with bull horns on his head. In the epic creation battle between Velos and Perun, however, Veles is a serpent or dragon lying in a nest of black wool or on a black fleece beneath the World Tree; some scholars have suggested he was a shape-shifter. In addition to domestic horses, cows, goats, and sheep, Veles is associated with wolves, reptiles, and black birds (ravens and crows).

Reports: The earliest reference to Veles is in the Rus-Byzantine Treaty of 971, in which the signers must swear by Veles' name. Violators of the treaty are warned of a menacing punishment: they will be killed by their own weapons and become "yellow as gold," which some scholars have interpreted as "cursed with a disease." If so, that would imply a connection to the Vedic god Varuna, also a cattle god who could send diseases to punish miscreants.

7. Mokosh

1. loosely comparable to: Gaia, Hera (Greek), Juno (Roman), Astarte (Semitic) 2. epithets: Goddess Who Spins Wool, Mother Moist Earth, Flax Woman 3. primary sources: Nestor Chronicle (a.k.a. Primary Chronicle), Christian-recorded Slavic tales 4. dvoeverie: With the coming of Christianity into the Slavic countries in the 11th century CE, Mokosh was converted to a saint, St. Paraskeva Pyanitsa (or possibly the Virgin Mary), who is sometimes defined as the personification of the day of Christ's crucifixion, and others a Christian martyr. Described as tall and thin with loose hair, St. Paraskeva Pyanitsa is known as "l'nianisa" (flax woman), connecting her to spinning. She is the patroness of merchants and traders and marriage, and she defends her followers from a range of diseases.

In Slavic mythology: The origins of Mokosh as mother earth may date to pre-Indo-European times (Cuceteni or Tripolye culture, 6th–5th millennia BCE) when a near-global woman-centered religion is thought to have been in place. Some scholars suggest she may be a version of Finno-Ugric sun goddess Jumala.

Mokosh, sometimes transliterated as Mokoš and meaning "Friday," is Moist Mother Earth and thus the most important (or sometimes only) goddess in the religion. As a creator, she is said to have been discovered sleeping in a cave by a flowering spring by the spring god Jarilo, with whom she created the fruits of the earth. She is also the protector of spinning, tending sheep, and wool, patron of merchants and fishermen, who protects cattle from plague and people from drought, disease, drowning, and unclean spirits.

Although the Great Goddess has a variety of consorts, both human and animal, in her role as a primary Slavic goddess, Mokosh is the moist earth goddess and is set against (and married to) Perun as the dry sky god. Some Slavic peasants felt it was wrong to spit on the earth or beat it. During the Spring, practitioners considered the earth pregnant: before March 25 ("Lady Day"), they would neither construct a building or a fence, drive a stake into the ground or sow seed. When peasant women gathered herbs they first lay prone and prayed to Mother Earth to bless any medicinal herbs.

Appearance & Reputation: Surviving images of Mokosh are rare—although there were stone monuments to her beginning at least as long ago as the 7th century. A wooden cult figure in a wooded area in the Czech Republic is said to be a figure of her. Historical references say she had a large head and long arms, a reference to her connection with spiders and spinning. Symbols associated with her include spindles and cloth, the rhombus (a nearly global reference to women's genitals for at least 20,000 years), and the Sacred Tree or Pillar.There are many goddesses in the various Indo-European pantheons who reference spiders and spinning. Historian Mary Kilbourne Matossian has pointed out that the Latin word for tissue "textere" means "to weave," and in several derivative languages such as Old French, "tissue" means "something woven." The act of spinning, suggests Matossian, is to create body tissue. The umbilical cord is the thread of life, transmitting moisture from the mother to the infant, twisted and coiled like the thread around a spindle. The final cloth of life is represented by the shroud or "winding sheet," wrapped around a corpse in a spiral, as thread loops around a spindle.

Our brief survey of agrarian holidays indicates that the peasant’s central concern is fertility and that special rites in the cemetery and/or rites involving a symbolic death & resurrection are a major component in these celebrations.

Belief in the absolute sanctity of “Mother Damp Earth” (Mat’syra zemlia) has been central to folk belief throughout the centuries. In remote areas, old people observed a ritual of asking the earth’s forgiveness prior to death into the 20th century. A number of scholars have maintained that peasants transferred attributes of earth worship to their particular veneration of Mary as “Mother of God.”

Fedotov: “At every step in studying Russian popular religion, one meets the constant longing for a great divine female power, be it embodied in the image of Mary or someone else. Is it too daring to hypothesize, on the basis of this religious propensity, the scattered elements of the cult of a Great Goddess who once...reigned upon the immense Russian plains?”

#Russian fairy tales #study blog #my notes #Slavic deities #slavic mythology #Russian paganism #russian folk belief

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roman-catholic-mass-readings · 2 years

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3rd November >> Mass Readings (USA)

Thursday, Thirty First Week in Ordinary Time

Saint Martin de Porres, Religious.

Thursday, Thirty First Week in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Colour: Green)

First Reading

Philippians 3:3-8a

But whatever gains I had, I even consider as a loss, because of Christ.

Brothers and sisters: We are the circumcision, we who worship through the Spirit of God, who boast in Christ Jesus and do not put our confidence in flesh, although I myself have grounds for confidence even in the flesh.

If anyone else thinks he can be confident in flesh, all the more can I. Circumcised on the eighth day, of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrew parentage, in observance of the law a Pharisee, in zeal I persecuted the Church, in righteousness based on the law I was blameless.

But whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ. More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 105:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

R/ Let hearts rejoice who search for the Lord. or R/ Alleluia.

Sing to him, sing his praise, proclaim all his wondrous deeds. Glory in his holy name; rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD!

R/ Let hearts rejoice who search for the Lord. or R/ Alleluia.

Look to the LORD in his strength; seek to serve him constantly. Recall the wondrous deeds that he has wrought, his portents, and the judgments he has uttered.

R/ Let hearts rejoice who search for the Lord. or R/ Alleluia.

You descendants of Abraham, his servants, sons of Jacob, his chosen ones! He, the LORD, is our God; throughout the earth his judgments prevail.

R/ Let hearts rejoice who search for the Lord. or R/ Alleluia.

Gospel Acclamation

Matthew 11:28

Alleluia, alleluia. Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest, says the Lord. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Luke 15:1-10

There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.

The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus addressed this parable to them. “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.

“Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it? And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’ In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

--------------------------------------------

Saint Martin de Porres, Religious

(Liturgical Colour: White)

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Thursday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading

Philippians 4:4-9

Think about whatever is worthy of praise.

Brothers and sisters: Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! Your kindness should be known to all. The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 131:1bcde, 2, 3

R/ In you, Lord, I have found my peace.

O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor are my eyes haughty; I busy not myself with great things, nor with things too sublime for me.

R/ In you, Lord, I have found my peace.

Nay rather, I have stilled and quieted my soul like a weaned child. Like a weaned child on its mother’s lap, so is my soul within me.

R/ In you, Lord, I have found my peace.

O Israel, hope in the LORD, both now and forever.

R/ In you, Lord, I have found my peace.

Gospel Acclamation

John 13:34

Alleluia, alleluia. I give you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Matthew 22:34-40

Love the Lord your God, and your neighbor as yourself.

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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onfreckledwings · 4 years

Text

hoping you’ll see (what your love means to me)

15x20 fix-it songfic. shameless feel-good fluff. because our babies deserved the world.

When Dean dies on a Thursday in November, Cas is there to welcome him at the proverbial pearly gates. Sort of.

He can’t really even call it a gate. It’s blue skies, sloping mountains, pine trees, and open fields. The sun shines more brilliantly and warmer here.

The air breathes cleaner; the breeze is cool and languid.

He doesn’t realize he’d been walking until he comes to a stop, dirt swirling around his legs. Nothing hurt: not his hip, not his knees, his back, or chest.

Nothing.

“Well at least I made it to Heaven,” Dean murmurs to himself. In the next moment, Harvelle’s appears a few yards away.

“No way.”

He walks the short distance before standing in front of the bar, and he’s smiling so wide and he can feel his laugh lines on his cheeks and the crinkles of his eyes.

Harvelle’s Roadhouse

The same neon lights in the windows, the same sign. Everything is exactly the same.

“Hell yeah,” and then he’s walking up the porch and has a palm on the door before he stills.

Dean shuts his eyes briefly before opening them with a silent chuckle. He knows who’s there. Even before he turns his head.

“Hello, Dean.”

Dean turns around to see Castiel standing a few yards away.

He feels his face cracking from smiling so wide, and he feels his eyes stinging with tears behind them. He faces Cas fully now, hands shoved into his pockets, and begins to walk towards him.

He ducks his head, almost shy, and glances up at him through his eyelashes. “Castiel,” he greets with pressed lips, eyes gleaming.

Heaven is strange, he thinks. He feels no sense of unease here. No nerves, no jitters. He only feels contentment. Peace. Joy.

Cas tilts his head in that fucking adorable way he does, and Dean can feel something behind his ribs melt. He stops when they are a few inches apart.

Cas’s eyes are bluer than Dean has ever seen them. Moss green and ethereal blue.

Sky and Earth.

The wind gusts gently around them. The blades of grass dance.

Cas lifts a hand and places it on Dean’s left shoulder. Cas’s shoulder. Dean smiles a small, watery thing.

“Are you...real? How-” and Dean trails off. He somehow already knows the answer. Cas squeezes his shoulder and smiles.

“Yes. It’s me.”

Dean’s eyes well up and his nose starts to tickle. He looks up to the sky and wets his lips in that way he does to hold tears at bay, before meeting blue again.

Dean reaches between them and grips Cas’s always-crooked tie. Cas looks confused at first, maybe even a little scared. But when Dean’s free hand comes to cradle the side of Cas’s neck and lets his fingers brush the strands of thick hair at its nape, Cas’s face smooths out and he stands a little taller.

One lone tear breaks free from the corner of Dean’s eye, and Cas’s thumb is there to catch it as he sweeps it over his cheekbone before cupping his jaw.

Dean tugs him close before snaking his arms around Cas’s waist under his trench coat and hugs him close, face buried in the angel’s shoulder. He melts when Cas envelopes him, cheek resting against his crown, hands rubbing soothing patterns against Dean’s back.

“You’re early,” Castiel whispers.

Dean gives a small chuckle. “Yeah, well...I’m a dumbass.” And then he’s inhaling slow and deep against Cas’s skin. Cas smells like sweet summer rain, the crisp air of fall.

He smells like Cas.

“And I missed you,” he murmurs against the warm swath of exposed skin on the angel’s neck before pressing a feather-light kiss there.

Cas seems to melt at the contact and grips Dean tighter. Dean feels fingers card through the short strands of his hair and Cas’s other hand comes up to cup the back of Dean’s head.

“I missed you too.”

Something occurs to Dean then, and he lifts his head to meet Cas’s eyes. His hands travel up Cas’s arms until they rest on his shoulders.

“Hang on...how did you get out? How did you get here?”

Cas simply smiles and gives Dean a knowing look. “Jack may have had something to do with it.”

Dean unfurls a bark of laughter from his chest before grasping that tie again.

“That’s our boy.”

Cas smiles again, and Dean thinks he’ll never ever tire of seeing it.

His eyes flit between Cas’s and his lips and back again, and he flattens his free palm on Cas’s chest, just over where his heart would be.

“Cas,” he begins, Adam’s apple bobbing up and down, “about what you said..before you left-”

“You don’t have to say anything, Dean,” Cas offers quietly. “I don’t expect-”

“Well that’s good,” he cuts Cas off, “‘cause I wasn’t really plannin’ on talkin’. I’m shit with words.”

Cas blinks quizzically. “Wha-” but he trails off when Dean grazes the stubble of his cheeks with the soft pads of his thumbs.

Dean starts to tremble slightly when he cups either side of Cas’s jaw again.

He dives in.

Their mouths slot together perfectly; Cas’s is warm and soft and pliant, and Dean brushes his tongue against the crease of Cas’s lips, and Cas lets him in.

Dean knows then that he’s in Heaven.

Everyone’s here.

Dean’s eyes scan the entire barroom from the table where he and Cas sit: at the bar, there’s Ellen, Jo, Ash, Bobby, and Karen discussing their hunting glory days. Charlie and Kevin are huddled with their laptops at one of the booths (because there’s WiFi in Heaven, apparently), and are probably discussing the latest sci-fi series or some other nerdy thing.

John and Mary are sitting at one of the candle-lit tables, holding hands and murmuring in each other’s ears that is always met with soft laughter.

Rufus is there too with Aretha at one end of the bar, Johnnie Walker Blue in hand. Dean doesn’t think he’s ever seen the man smile the way he is right now, so earnest and genuine.

Missouri and Pamela sit at the table nearest to Dean and Cas, talking about when Pamela séance’d Cas after Dean was rescued from Hell.

“I think he was just trying to show off in front of his boyfriend,” Pamela teases with a laugh as Missouri drops her face in one hand.

“Good Lord,” she marvels. “Some first impression there, Castiel. Burning out a woman’s eyes? Oh!”

Cas ducks his head. “It was an accident, I assure you,” and Dean can’t help but feel a little bad for the guy.

Pamela pats Cas on the back. “All in the past, sweetie. No harm done. Well, no permanent damage anyway,” and then tilts her head back in laughter. Dean can’t help but snicker.

Everything is fucking perfect.

Contentedness blooms in his belly, warming his insides until he feels like his body is humming. Everybody he has ever loved and lost in one room.

Sam, Eileen, and the others will be along, Bobby had said. And he feels complete peace knowing that Sam is in good hands, and that they will take care of each other until their times come.

Dean sits back in his chair, glass of wine in hand. They’re a bottle and a half in, celebrating Dean’s arrival, and his head is buzzing in the best possible way.

He glances at Cas from across the table through his eyelashes.

His trench coat, suit jacket, and tie are all draped on the backrest of the chair, because we gotta get you out of this holy tax accountant get up, man, and if he’s honest, Dean wants to feast his eyes a little.

Cas’s white shirt is unbuttoned at the neck, and Dean’s mouth goes a little dry at the naked dip of his collar bone. His sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, and Dean marvels at the ripples of muscle and bone in the angel’s forearms, his fingers itching to touch.

Dean smiles. His cheeks are warm, and something curious blossoms behind his ribs.

“Dean?”

He snaps out of his trance and meets Cas’s eyes. “Hmm?”

“Are you alright?” Cas asks, and Dean realizes that he’s been caught staring.

Dean smirks. “Mhm. Jus’ enjoyin’ the view.”

Dean almost dies (again) when Cas blushes and ducks his chin with a roll of his eyes.

Yeah, he can get used to this.

The jukebox in the corner starts playing a new song, and Dean straightens in his chair with a wild grin.

“Oh hell yes,” he shouts with a slap to the table, wine bottles and glasses clattering. “I love this song. C’mon Cas, you’re dancin’ with me.” He stands and reaches for Cas with an outstretched hand.

Horror flashes across the angel’s face. “Dean, no. I’m a terrible dancer. I couldn’t-”

“Well, that makes two of us then” he says and grabs Cas’s hand and pulls him to his feet. “Come on. My ‘got-dead’ party, my rules.”

Cas groans and throws his head back with a grimace as he lets Dean guide him to the dance floor. “‘Got-dead’ party? Really?”

“Yeah, yeah, shhh,” Dean smirks as he turns to face Cas. “Here, lemme lead.”

Dean clasps Cas’s hand with his own and draws them to his chest, his other hand wrapping around his waist coming to rest on his back. Cas’s free arm mimics Dean’s.

Attached at the...everything.

Their mouths are inches apart, and Dean’s bowed legs go a little weak as he stares into Cas’s eyes. The lighting in the bar changes to ambient, almost candle-like glow.

Lying beside you, here in the dark,

Feeling your heartbeat with mine.

Softly you whisper, you're so sincere;

How could our love be so blind?

They sway somewhat in tune with the rhythm, but Dean’s a little wine drunk and accidentally steps on Cas’s toes. More than once.

“Sorry,” Dean giggles—giggles?— and lets all of his weight lean into Cas, who accepts it willingly. Dean’s lips press against his temple, and Cas hums appreciatively as Dean starts to sing low into Cas’s ear.

We sailed on together,

We drifted apart,

And here you are, by my side.

So now I come to you with open arms,

Nothing to hide, believe what I say.

So here I am, with open arms,

Hoping you'll see what your love means to me,

Open arms.

“‘s how I feel about you, you know,” Dean murmurs as he nuzzles the bolt of Castiel’s jaw. “I’m not good with words, but..,” Dean slurs and sucks a gentle kiss into his neck. “This could totally be our song.”

“Dean…” and Dean pulls back slightly at the crack in Cas’s voice. Tears spill over from those cobalt blues, and Dean’s thumbs are quick to catch them as he frames Cas’s face.

“Hey, hey. None of that,” he says through a smile, licking his lips. “You’ve got me. You always have. And I’ve got you, so…” he smiles and presses the softest of kisses to Castiel’s mouth before resting their foreheads together.

They never stop dancing.

Living without you, living alone,

This empty house seems so cold.

Wanting to hold you,

Wanting you near,

How much I wanted you home.

Now that you've come back,

Turned night into day,

I need you to stay.

“I love you,” Castiel says, and he brings their joint hands to his lips and presses a kiss to Dean’s knuckles.

Dean squeezes his eyes shut and nods knowingly. It may be a little easier to accept love up here, but sometimes old habits die hard. Even in death.

“Me too,” he murmurs, and he wraps his free arm even tighter around the soft, curved line of Cas’s waist for emphasis.

So now I come to you with open arms,

Nothing to hide, believe what I say,

So here I am, with open arms;

Hoping you'll see what your love means to me,

Open arms.

As the song ends, Dean thinks maybe this could be his forever. Surrounded by family, both given and chosen; blissful in his angel’s arms. The love of his life. The one who has saved him more times than Dean can count. At utter peace knowing that Eileen will take good care of Sam, and he looks forward to the day when they can all be together once again.

Until then, he’ll take this. The life he’s always dreamed of but was too scared to hope for. A life of love, warmth, comfort, and peace.

A life after death.

And he’ll think, maybe, just maybe, he deserves it.

fin.

@blacklightguidesnic tortured me this morning and put this incredibly soft scene in my head. here you go ♥️

#destiel #I did a thing #15x20 #SPN fix it #supernatural #deancas #self reblog #fix-it fic #spn finale #spn coda #deancas coda

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itsclydebitches · 5 years

Text

Discredit Pt. 2: More Recommended Reviews For A.Z. Fell’s

Alright, folks. Some notes first:

1. You all rock. I’m sending out 20k+ virtual hugs for all the notes I NEVER expected to get on this nonsense.

2. This is probably the final section, just because I’m not sure I can adequately follow up part one and it might be foolish to attempt it here. Let alone twice. But for now, here we go.

3. Kudos to the anon who reminded me of Aziraphale’s cash-only policy <3

4. Nicole Y’s review is based off an actual comment I read years ago, but heaven only knows where online it was. I’ve got the memory of a goldfish.

5. Trigger warning for the use of a queer slur in this. It’s the same review as above, number 5 if you want to avoid it.

6. There’s a text-only version of just the reviews at the end, after all the images. I’ll upload that to my Sparse Clutter collection on AO3 in a bit.

Bonus 7. People thinking this is a real shop deserve all the good things in this world.

That’s all I’ve got. Hope you enjoy! 👍

****************************************************************************

I’m a simple guy who likes simple jokes. If there’s a whoopee cushion I plant it. I will call you up to ask if your refrigerator is running and then tell you to go catch it. (Actually that one died out so thoroughly it’s actually capable of a comeback now!). Yes, I’m a dad and yes, I have a t-shirt that says Dad Jokes? I Think You Mean Rad Jokes! which I wear un-ironically every Saturday. All of which is just to say that my wife was well prepared for my stupidity when I walked into Fell’s.

I? I was not.

You see the bibles when you walk in? The ones to the left? Let them be. Don’t even look at them. Definitely don’t pick out the fanciest one you can find and absolutely don’t walk up to the owner with it held in your pudgy little fingers, grinning like a loon, cheerfully asking whether this should be in the fiction section. Just don’t. Mark my words you’ll regret it. Though your wife won’t. She’ll get a great old laugh out of it all.

In conclusion: it’s quite possible that mama did raise a fool and he just got his ass verbally whooped by a guy in a bowtie.

***

Shout-out to Mr. Fell for being the only decent bloke in this city. I’ve popped in and out of his store for years—including before I started transitioning. So he knew my dead name, dead look, whole shebang and I was definitely nervous to play the ‘You know me, but this is what’s changed and are you gonna throw a fit about it?’ game.

You know what he said? “Oh, Rose! What a lovely choice. Crowley dear, why aren’t you growing any roses? Some white ones would look splendid next to my Henredon chair.”

That’s it. He just went straight into dragging his partner for not giving him roses. So hey, Mom? Next time you’re snooping through my social media why don’t you explain to all these nice people why the 50+yo book seller accepts me in ways you won’t. Don’t go telling me age is an excuse or that you’re ‘Stuck in your ways.’ I’ve watched Fell dress in the same damn clothes since I was ten!!

Yeah. Sorry. Rant over. Fell’s a gem. That’s my take. Rose out.

***

Anyone else in the shop when that guy started yelling about buying pornography? And then got escorted into the back room for some ‘private conversation’? Well done, Mr. Fell! Didn’t know you had it in you.

***

Alright alright alright alright I am TOTALLY calm about this.

Went into A.Z. Fell’s last Thursday. Not because I knew anything about the place. Just because I’ve been hitting up every bookshop within a twenty-mile radius, asking if they’re hosting any book signings. Long story short I self-published my novel Blight last month—which you can get for a mere £5 here but I swear this isn’t a promotional thing I’m just BROKE—and have been looking for networking opportunities, tips, stuff like that. So the owner listened politely as I explained all this. Then said he didn’t do anything of that sort, which didn’t surprise me given the shop’s vibe.

But then? Then??? He offered to let me do a signing there??????

As said. Totally calm about this. This man either plans to kidnap me or is actually giving me my first shot at an audience outside my blog. AKA totally worth the risk.

Tuesday the 9th. 7:00pm. Just in case anyone’s interested ;)

***

holy sweet baby jesus i was tripping balls last week you tryin’ to tell me that kING KONG SIZED FANGED FUCK SNAKE IS REAL

***

Witnessed the most perfect exchange the other day:

Grumpy Dude With No Manners: “You. Boy. Where’s the man I spoke with over the phone?”

Mr. Fell’s Partner Who Knows Damn Well Only Two of Them Work There But Clearly Doesn’t Like This Guy’s Tone: “Did this man give you his name?”

Grumpy Dude: “Might have. Don’t remember. Sounded like a fairy though.”

Me: “....”

My girlfriend: “....”

This Poor Sweet Startled Kid On Our Left: “?!?!?!?”

Fell’s Partner In The Drollest Voice I’ve Ever Heard: “None of us have wings. Out!”

***

This shop gets full stars simply because every time I walk in they’re playing Queen.

I mean, I’ve walked in once, but once is enough when you’ve got Crazy Little Thing Called Love blasting full volume.

***

Okay, I’m still kind of shaken up but I needed to write this out somewhere and this seemed as good a place as any.

I spilled my latte on a book. Just tripped on thin air, popped the lid, and chucked a venti’s worth of coffee all over a very expensive looking text. I didn’t mean to, obviously, but it happened and I just started bawling on the spot. Full on sobs because this semester has been absolute hell, I ruined this guy’s antique, there’s no way I can pay for it, I can’t even sneak away because I’m drawing the whole store’s attention...just all the things all at once. I really was straight up panicking and was seconds away from pulling out my inhaler. I couldn’t breathe.

And then Mr. Fell showed up.

Jesus it’s embarrassing to admit but I think I hit him once or twice. On the arms I mean, because he was trying to touch me and I figured, I don’t know, it was a restraint or something. He was going to call the police and hold me until they got there. But then he managed to start rubbing my back and I lost it like I hadn’t already been bawling my eyes out in this shop. Ever cry into a perfect stranger’s chest? I have! But if Mr. Fell seemed to mind he definitely didn’t show it. Just kept holding me while I probably ruined his shirt and then took me into the back and made me a new coffee in this cute little angel mug. He let me stay there while I called my sister and waited for her to arrive.

She’s a good twenty minutes outside of Soho, so we talked for a while. It’s not like Mr. Fell could fix my shit roommate or bio classes, but I guess just talking about it all really helped. I was a lot calmer by the time my sis arrived and Mr. Fell insisted I come back any time I wanted—for browsing or more coffee.

Of course, sis offered to pay for the book herself. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone look so surprised in my life. “Certainly not!” he said. “Contrary to popular belief, no one should pay for their mistakes. It’s what makes you all so wonderfully human.”

So yeah. Thanks, Mr. Fell.

***

This little shop must have started a book club for kids! Lately I’ve seen the same group of children hanging out at Fell’s. Three boys and a girl. They’re a bit rambunctious at times, but who isn’t at that age? So wonderful seeing literature passed down to the next generation. Even if some of it is rather questionable looking...

***

It’s an honest crime that more of you aren’t talking about what a wonderful bookstore this is.

I’m a book lover at heart and Fell’s always makes me feel like I’m coming home. I just arrived somewhere safe and familiar after a particularly harrowing day. I’ve slipped under the covers of my bed after dinner and a bubble bath. It’s something like that, but with an element of surprise too. One of the reasons why I adore private and used shops over chain stores is that little touch of chaos. You walk in and sure, there are general sections to browse, but everything is just a little bit disorganized from people leafing through books and then putting them back somewhere else. There’s no real record keeping, you’ve just gotta head to one particular corner and hope for the best. It’s not the sort of place you go to if you want something specific because the chances of them having it are slim—that’s just how the universe works—and even if they did no employee knows where it is anymore.

But if you wander the shelves for a while, crouch down low to get a look at everything on the bottom shelf, pay attention to the books that don’t have easy to read titles or any summaries to speak of... you just might find something you didn’t know you were looking for. That’s Fell’s: the comfort of the familiar and the excitement of the unknown.

*** A lot of people might assume that these stories are embellished or outright made up, but as a bookseller myself going on twenty years I believe every single one of them.

That being said, I accidentally moved a rug and found chalk sigils that look like they belong in a cult. Make of that what you will.

***

There’s a special place in hell for 21st century shop owners that only take cash. Who carries cash anymore? Not me! I haven’t bothered with that nonsense in years! You can get a card reader for 15 pounds on Amazon. Or you know what? Be stingy and pay 7 for the little attachment on your phone. This place is nuts if it thinks it’s going to survive much longer on a cash-only policy, especially with some books that look like they’re worth hundreds or thousands of pounds! Yeah, yeah, just let me pull out this giant wad of bills for you. I’ll carry them around a crime-laden city because there’s no ATM near you either.

I mean jesus, you’d think this guy didn’t want to sell anything.

***

I walked in. There was a man screaming at a fern while another threatened him with an umbrella. I walked out.

5 stars do recommend.

***

I once walked in on the same (?) guy yelling at a book for daring to fall on the owner’s head. I think that’s just a Thing over there.

***

Like a lot of people here I didn’t actually go to Fell’s for any books (flat tire, Angel Recovery taking forever) and ended up staying three hours (not because of Angel). No, I wandered towards the back and found this ancient CRT set propped on a table of books, the kind that my Dad used to watch Twilight Zone on. This lanky guy had a marathon of Gilmore Girls going... though how he was managing that with a broken antenna and no DVR, I really don’t know. But yeah. He told me to pull up a chair and I did. Guy gave me popcorn.

I wish I’d paid a little more attention to his name. Charlie? Curley? I really can’t remember, but thanks for the enjoyable afternoon, man.

***

I BOUGHT A BOOK HERE

Not sure how though. Just kinda happened. First edition of Just William. Frankly I didn’t even want the thing, but the owner basically shoved me out the door with it when I took two seconds to look at the spine. Odd that he was so willing to part with this one.

Update: ... hold up. I didn’t buy a book because I never actually paid the guy. ‘Basically shoved me out the door’ was literal. Do I go back??

***

This page has really gone feral the last couple of months so I’m just gonna bite the bullet and say it:

Anyone notice that Fell’s snake and Fell’s partner are never in the same room together?

***

I really don’t like the implications of this…

***

This is precisely why the Internet has turned into a cesspool. You all should be ashamed of some of the stuff you’re writing here. Can’t two men just be friends anymore? Two real life men? These guys aren’t some characters for you to ‘ship’ or whatever. Quit making outrageous assumptions about their sexualities and use this website for what it’s actually for: reviewing the bookshop. Honestly I’m so sick of this sort of this shit.

***

Dude. They run a queer-focused shop together with a flat on the second floor. Fell calls the guy ‘Dear’ and he’s always calling him ‘Angel.’ People have literally seen them kissing. If you want I can give you the number of my physician. He might be able to help you pull your head out of your ass.

***

What the hell is your problem? I’m literally just reminding people to stop making assumptions. It’s gross and insulting. These guys check their Yelp page. You really think they’re gonna be okay with this stuff?

Also: I’m not the five-year-old relying on insults, so.

***

Making an account purely to set the record straight: I’m the hot twink in question and I married that angel. Peace

#good omens #ineffable husbands #air conditioning #good omens fic #guess who spent 48 hours doing nothing but writing and formatting #can I get a wahoo

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