#happy feast of st. stephen :)

[apesoformythoughts]

'Mother Cabrini is one of those saints whose extraordinary feats can only be attributed to something miraculous, to something beyond any human being's most noble of intentions or earnest efforts. Seriously, how can a small, sickly person—who was told by her doctors that she wouldn't live past her thirties (she died at 67)— found over 67 hospitals across North and South America with no regular source of income? People like her make me wonder how secular humanists chock up such supernatural acts of charity to mere "benevolence" […]

All that being said, I must admit to how painful it was to watch Angel Studios' rendering of her story. The film smacked of all of my worst pet peeves: blatant and simplistic moralizing, kitschy sentimental piety, and a flimsy commitment to artistic integrity. It managed to take the story of an Italian Catholic and pass it through the food processor of the American Protestant imagination...so as to make it easier to digest for American audiences, I suppose [...]

My main purpose of pushing Paglia and Wilde's line of thought is to emphasize that art should not "spoon feed" the right moral conclusions to viewers. Rather, it should provoke us to contemplate the nature of humanity, morality, and God...and to arrive at the answers ourselves—trusting in our intelligence and good will rather than spoon-feeding us like dumb children. Conveying a "good" moral message does not make up for making a crappy piece of art. It especially pisses me off when Christians do this. Good Christian art should not be preachy. A good piece of Christian art should bank on its inherent beauty to provoke viewers to pursue the Good, rather than telling them what is Good.'

— Stephen G. Adubato: "'Cabrini,' 'American Fiction,' & the American aversion to subtlety"

[banji-effect]

Joy, health, love and peace, Be all here in this place; By your leave, we will sing Concerning our King.

Our King is well dressed, In the silks of the best, In ribbons so rare, No King can compare.

We have travelled many miles, over hedges and stiles, In search of our King, Unto you we bring.

We have powder and shot To conquer the lot; We have cannon and ball To conquer them all.

Old Christmas is past, Twelfth-tide is the last; And we bid you adieu, Pray joy to the new.

[why-bless-your-heart]

Happy feast of St. Stephen!

[livingasaghost]

okay @permanentreverie did this in honor of book lovers day (aug 9) so here i am being obnoxious and sorting my favorite books based on genres bc i'm procrastinating editing

put it under read more because i'm annoying and this is longer than i thought it'd be ahjflksd

classics:

les miserables by victor hugo

1984 by george orwell

a midsummer night's dream by william shakespeare

hamlet by william shakespeare

the crucible by arthur miller

the great gatsby by f scott fitzgerald

contemporary romances:

red white and royal blue by casey mcquiston

with you forever by chloe liese

everything for you by chloe liese

beach read by emily henry

happy place by emily henry

a very merry bromance by lyssa kay adams

crazy stupid bromance by lyssa kay adams

love, theoretically by ali hazelwood

the love hypothesis by ali hazelwood

not in love by ali hazelwood

let's talk about love by claire kann

roomies by christina lauren

the hating game by sally thorne

fantasy:

tower of dawn by sarah j maas

kingdom of ash by sarah j maas

a court of mist and fury by sarah j maas

a court of silver flames by sarah j maas

the starless sea by erin morgenstern

a storm of swords by george r.r. martin

a feast for crows by george r.r. martin

wizard's first rule by terry goodkind

temple of the winds by terry goodkind

prince's gambit by c.s. pacat

kings rising by c.s. pacat

a discovery of witches by deborah harkness

jade legacy by fonda lee

the dragon republic by r.f. kuang

babel by r.f. kuang

every heart a doorway by seanan mcguire

the magician's nephew by c.s. lewis

priory of the orange tree by samantha shannon

strange the dreamer by laini taylor

sci-fi:

the host by stephenie meyer

nona the ninth by tamsyn muir

graphic novels / comics:

monstress by marjorie liu & sana takeda

check please by ngozi ukazu

the boy the mole the fox and the horse by charlie mackesy

heartstopper by alice oseman

lore olympus by rachel smythe

fence by c.s. pacat & johanna the mad

heart of gold by eliot baum & viv tanner

the prince & the dressmaker by jen wang

historical fiction:

cloud cuckoo land by anthony doerr

the book thief by markus zusak

literary fiction:

evenings & weekends by oisín mckenna

henry henry by allen bratton

a little life by hanya yanagihara

piranesi by suzanna clarke

malibu rising by taylor jenkins reid

if we were villains by m.l. rio

the invisible life of addie larue by v.e. schwab

real life by brandon taylor

s by doug dorst

horror:

house of leaves by mark z danielewski

imaginary friend by stephen chbosky

night film by marisha pessl

don't let the forest in by c.g. drews

middle grade:

magyk by angie sage

a kind of spark by elle mcnicoll

sir callie and the champions of helston by esme symes-smith

holes by louis sachar

the mighty heart of sunny st james by ashley herring blake

new adult:

loveless by alice oseman

obsidian by jennifer l armentrout

masters of death by olivie blake

alone with you in the ether by olivie blake

angelfall by susan ee

the sunshine court by nora sakavic

the king's men by nora sakavic

vicious by v.e. schwab

queenie by candice carty-williams

hell bent by leigh bardugo

nonfiction:

into the wild by john krakauer

it was vulgar and it was beautiful by jack lowery

the last lecture by randy pausch

what i want to talk about by pete wharmby

furiously happy by jenny lawson

ace by angela chen

blood sweat and chrome by kyle buchanan

refusing compulsory sexuality by sherronda j brown

the great divorce by c.s. lewis

the cancer journals by audre lorde

the dark interval by rilke

inverse cowgirl by alicia roth weigel

translated works:

the memory police by yōko ogawa

vita nostra by marina dyachenko

the strange library by haruki murakami

young adult:

the mask falling by samantha shannon

check & mate by ali hazelwood

i was born for this by alice oseman

the hunger games by suzanne collins

just listen by sarah dessen

ignite me by tahereh mafi

the unexpected everything by morgan matson

save the date by morgan matson

tash hearts tolstoy by kathryn ormsbee

neverworld wake by marisha pessl

the spirit bares its teeth by andrew joseph white

compound fracture by andrew joseph white

the wicked king by holly black

short story collections:

the tangleroot palace by marjorie liu

what is not your is not yours by helen oyeyemi

the late americans by brandon taylor

filthy animals by brandon taylor

seven empty houses by samanta schweblin

[pagan-stitches]

St. Stephen’s Carol

In the civil calendar, this day [December 26] is the feast of St. Stephen, and it falls on the 2nd day of Christmas.  Stephen was the saint to whom this day is dedicated.  In folk tradition this day was characterized by caroling, which had already begun on Christmas Day, when carolers they went around the houses and wished for happiness and health.  Carols were usually sung until St. Three kings.  Christmas rounds were customary for other holidays as well, but on St. Stephen were the most abundant and they were called "St. Stephen's Carol". Overall, it was caroling most at Christmas and enjoyed the greatest popularity at this time.  "Caroling was once associated wit the belief in magically influencing fate.' Ceremonies were held to wish for good luck, which were usually performed by the most respected members of the village.  With the spread of Christianity, belief in the magical effect of these rites faded away and was replaced by prayers and ceremonies.

However, some folk ceremonies remained, albeit in a slightly different form.  It was walking to visit families who were wished success.  Gradually, these rounds were connected rather with a carol, which was especially for the less well-off rural residents opportunity to beg at lease some gift from the wealthier ones. " In the 19 century carolers sometimes walked around with a small nativity scene arranged in a cupboard, other times with a big star on a stick.

--Czech and Moravian Christmas Traditions by Veronika Mrtkova 

I’ve transcribed this exactly the way google translated it.

[thessalian]

Thess vs Boxing Day

Huh. You learn some really interesting historical shit, and a fair bit about how low your country of residence has stooped, when you look up a simple little thing like “How did Boxing Day start?” to add a little historical sidebar to a Tumblr post.

Well, for starters, I always kind of wondered which were the twelve days of Christmas, specifically. Well, apparently we should be getting or giving turtle doves today, because it is the second day of what is liturgically known as Christmastide.

Anyway, Boxing Day started here in the UK, and mostly you’ll find Commonwealth countries ceiebrating it today, and some other parts of what were considered part of the British Empire (except for the US, who apparently yeeted that into the harbour along with the tea or something, I dunno). In Europe, it’s St Stephen’s Day. Now, here in its country of origin, Boxing Day is a Bank Holiday, which means reduced shop opening hours, reduced bus service, and everybody stays home and eats leftovers, basically. Most of the countries I know about, though ... whether or not they call it Boxing Day specifically, it’s a shopping holiday; kind of like Black Friday, just with a different sort of historical revisionism attached. I mean, when I was a kid, my father told me that we called it “Boxing Day” because we boxed up all the gifts we didn’t want, picked up the gift receipts, and headed out to exchange them. That never quite rang right to me - I was pretty sure that Boxing Day existed before gift receipts, at least - but I never bothered to look up what it actually meant. Until today.

Boxing Day is supposed to be a day about giving to the poor, servants, or any less fortunate. It’s a day where people gave a parcel to their household staff, postal worker, errand boy, people like that. But before that ... aaaaaaaand now I know what the Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas is all about. The church would give alms to the poor on St Stephen’s Day (or the Feast of Stephen), and the ‘Good King Wenceslas’ of the carol is based on an actual person - Saint Wenceslaus 1, Duke of Bohemia, who was canonised for his generosity and charity after his death. According to legend, he was assassinated by his brother, Boselaus the Cruel. Apparently Wenceslaus is some kind of Arthur figure, complete with myth about his resurrection and discovery of Very Important Sword (under a stone, though, sensibly enough). Gotta love the Czechs.

Anyway, point is that today’s supposed to be a day of giving to the less fortunate, and in this country at least, to those who worked so hard for you all year, for far less than you make. And what’s happening today? Massive queues outside Selfridge’s as people hunt for bargains, and strike action by public transport workers who don’t want their jobs downsized to oblivion and maybe to be paid enough to live on. Honestly, I don’t blame anyone for wanting to get the things they need as cheaply as possible at this point, and insane Boxing Day sale prices are probably the only way a lot of people can afford some things. But while Boxing Day hasn’t been about giving for a long time, the fact that it’s currently a day to claw just anything needful away from those who have been taking from us all year just to add to their hoard of money so large that it’s functionally meaningless ... it makes me really sad.

So there you have it: another historical snippet and piece of socioeconomic commentary by everybody’s favourite tick in the “Other” box crammed into human form, Thess. Happy Boxing Day, or St Stephen’s Day, or whatever you celebrate. I may not be able to give you all a parcel or meaningfully provide a tangible gift, this is supposed to be a time for appreciating those who work hard with little or no reward for the ultimate benefit of others. So I’m going to appreciate you guys; everybody on this hellsite. You don’t do this for profit. You don’t do this for fame. Yet you provide stories and songs and artwork and fun trivia facts and tutorials on everything from science to history and way, way beyond. You provide support of the emotional variety so often. You give what’s so often taken for granted - enjoyment, comfort, carefully-researched facts, and ... I guess hope? Hope that not everyone in the world is a complete shitbird. So thank you, Tumblr and those who lurk within. For being you.

[noahsbookhoard]

📚 Hi! I'm Noah avid reader since age 6 and always happy to discuss books! 📚

I read almost all genre with sweet tooth for fantasy and sci-fi. I also have a growing interest in murder mystery and horror. Lots of queer fiction. I'm also catching up on my classics.

Mostly adult and some young adult but I have enjoy middle grade from time to time.

I especially love Terry Pratchett, Victor Hugo, Agatha Christie and T J Klune.

I read in both english and french, english not being my first language but I'm close to fluent.

Yearly book count : 123

Last finished reading

Une belle vie by Virginie Grimaldi

Reading in progress

La Dame du manoir de Wildfell Hall (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall) by Anne Brontë

The Restaurang at the End of the Universe (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy #2) by Douglas Adams

Already read this year (in reverse chronological order)

If We Were Villains by M L Rio

(The lines in pink are book crushes)

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Wintersmith (Discworld #34) by Terry Pratchett

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone (Ernest Cunningham #1) by Benjamin Stevenson

What Feast at Night (Sworn Soldier #2) by T Kingfisher

Le Bastion des Larmes by Abdellah Taïa

War and Peace by Leon Tolstoi

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

Rule of Two (Darth Bane Trilogy #2) by Drew Karpyshyn

Les Dragons by Jérôme Colin

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J Taylor

Le dieu d'automne et d'hiver by Pauline Sidre

Les Possibles by Virginie Grimaldi

A Close and Common Orbit (Wayfarer #2) by Becky Chambers

The Outsider by Stephen King

Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow

Tous les silence ne font pas le même bruit by Baptiste Beaulieu

Trois battements un silence by Anne Fakhouri

Kiss Kiss by Roal Dahl

Assassin's Apprentice (Realm of the Elderlings #1) by Robin Hobb

Halloween Party by Agatha Christie

Artificial Condition (Murderbot Diary #2) by Martha Wells

The Light Throught the Leaves by Glendy Vanderah

Et que ne durent que les moments doux by Virginie Grimaldi

The Eyes are the Best Part by Monika Kim

Ring Shout by P Djeli Clark

The Rest of the Robots (Robots #2) by Isaac Asimov

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

On the Way to the Wedding (Bridgerton #8) by Julia Quinn

Our Missing Heart by Celeste Ng

Book of Blood I by Clive Barker

Ilos by Marion Brunet

Babel by R F Kuang

Rosemary and Rue (October Daye #1) by Seanan McGuire

Thud! (Discworld #34) by Terry Pratchett

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel

Les aventures de Billy et du Pyrobarbare : la forteresse du chaudron noir by Bob Lennon

Space Opera by Catherynne M Valente

Magie et Sentiments : les secrets de Longdawn by Ariel Holzl

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

It's in His Kiss (Brigerton #7) by Julia Quinn

Les Cinq by Matthieu Rochelle

Did You Hear About Kitty Karr by Crystal Paul Smith

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia #1) by C S Lewis

How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub by P Djeli Clark

An Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie

The Oleander Sword (The Burning Kingdoms #2) by Tasha Suri

Time to Orbit : Unknown by Derin Edala

It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane

Under the Whispering Door by T J Klune

The Moth Keeper by Kay O'Neill

Cain's Jawbone by E Powys Mathers

Darth Bane : Path of Destruction (Darth Bane #1) by Drew Karpyshyn

Du thé pour les fantômes by Chris Vuklisevic

Labyrinthes (Caleb Tracksman #3) by Franck Thiliez

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) by Becky Chambers

Le dernier des siens by Sibylle Grimbert

Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie

Going Postal (Discworld #33) by Terry Pratchett

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

Blanche-Neige et les lances-missiles (Du temps où les dieux buvaient #1) by Catherine Dufour

When He Was Wicked (Bridgerton #6) by Julia Quinn

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Celle qu'il attendait by Baptiste Beaulieu

Jusqu'à ce que mort s'ensuive by Olivier Rolin

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

The Umbrella Academy Vol 1-3 by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bà

Il était deux fois (Caleb Tracksman #2) by Franck Thilliez

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

To Sir Phillip With Love (Bridgerton #5) by Julia Quinn

Le papillon des étoiles by Bernard Werber

Beren and Luthien by J R R Tolkien

A Hat Full of Sky (Discworld #32) by Terry Pratchett

Le manuscrit inachevé (Caleb Tracksman #1) by Frnaxk Thiliez

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Akata Witch (Akata Witch #1) by Nnedi Okorafor

Romancing Mr Bridgerton (Bridgerton #4) by Julia Quinn

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

An Offer from a Gentleman (Bridgerton #3) by Julia Quinn

Delicious in Dungeon vol 1-14 by Ryoko Kui

Doctor Who : the Star Beast by Gary Russell

La promesse de l'aube by Romain Gary

The Jasmine Throne (The Burning Kingdoms #1) by Tasha Suri

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adam

The Illiad by Homer (trad Emily Wilson)

The Viscount Who Loved Me (Bridgerton #2) by Julia Quinn

The Me You Love in the Dark by Scotty Young and

The Duke and I (Bridgerton #1) by Julia Quinn

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

Nona the Ninth (Locked Tomb #3) by Tamsyn Muir

The Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger

House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T J Klune

I, Robot (Robot #1) by Isaac Asimov

Monstrous Regiment (Discworld #31) by Terry Pratchett

The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in your Home by Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink

Fullmetal Alchemist Vol 1-27 by Hiromu Arakawa

The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fischer by E M Anderson

All System Red (Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells

Veiller sur elle by Jean-Baptiste Andrea

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Segurant le chevalier au dragon by Emanuele Arioli

Chanson Douce by Leila Sleimane

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

He Who Drowned The World (The Radiant Emperor #2) by Shelley Parker Chan

Et à la fin ils meurent by Lou Lubie

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

The Wee Free Men (Discworld #30) by Terry Pratchett

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Harrow the Ninth (Locked Tomb #2) by Tamsyn Muir

Histoire de coming out by Baptiste Beaulieu and Sophie Nanteuil

Heartstopper Vol 1-4 by Alice Oseman

The Old Guard by Greg Rucka

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

Le Comte de Monte-Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

La Cicatrice by Bruce Lowrey

Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Us by Sara Soler

Gideon the Ninth (Locked Tomb #1) by Tamsyn Muir

[brookston]

Holidays 12.26

Holidays

Alexandria Day

Annabel Nostra’s National Cozy Day

Awful Tie Day

Boxing Day [26th unless Sunday, then 27th, but generally ignored] (a.k.a. ... 

Boxing Day (UK, Commonwealth) 

Day of Goodwill (South Africa, Namibia)

Family Day (Namibia, Vanuatu)

J’Ouvert (Saint Kitts and Nevis)

Le Lendemain de Noël (Quebec, Canada)

Thanksgiving (Solomon Islands)

Dissolution of the Soviet Union Day

Father’s Day (Bulgaria)

Holiday Magic Days begin (Mystic Seaport, Connecticut) [thru 1.1]

Junkanoo (Bahamas)

Lava Day (French Republic)

Lunes Siguiente a Navidad (Spain)

Maomas

Mauro Hamza Day (Houston, Texas)

Mummer's Day (Cornwall, UK)

National Homeowners Day

National Ranboo Day

National Safety Day (South Africa)

National Thank You Note Day

National Whiner's Day

Proclamation Day (South Australia)

Recyclable Packaging Day

Sakewa (Sikkim, India)

Second Day of Christmas (Baltic states, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden)

Shenandoah National Park Day

Sports Day (Falkland Islands)

Stairway to Heaven Day

Utamanduni Day (Kenya)

Wren Day (a.k.a. Day of the Wren; Ireland, Isle of Man, Wales)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Blessing of the Wine (Luxembourg)

Candy Cane Day

Coffee Percolator Day

Irish Pub Day

Kitty Dukakis Day (Challenge to Drink 750ml in 24 Hours)

National Leftovers Day (Australia)

Unbottling Day

4th & Last Tuesday in December

Charity Giving Day [4th Tuesday]

National Co-op Day [4th Tuesday]

Independence Days

Essexia (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Independence and Unity Day (Slovenia)

Istria (Declared; 1935) [unrecognized]

Marienbourg (Declared; 1935) [unrecognized]

Monmark (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

West Sayville (Declared; 2022) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Abadiu of Antinoe (Coptic Church)

Day of Horus (Pagan)

Day of Theotokos (Byzantium)

Dionysius, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Feast of Fools, Day 1 (St. Stephen's Day)

Full Moon [12th of the Year] (a.k.a. ... 

Bitter Moon (China)

Christmas Moon (Colonial)

Cold Moon (Amer. Indian, Celtic, North America, Traditional)

Fruit Moon (South Africa)

Hoar Frost Moon (Traditional)

Long Night’s Moon (Alternate, Amer. Indian, Neo-Pagan)

Moon of the Popping Trees (Traditional)

Oak Moon (England, Wicca)

Peach Moon (Choctaw)

Snow Moon (Cherokee)

Southern Hemisphere: Honey, Rose, Strawberry

Unduwap Full Moon Poya Day (Sri Lanka)

Winter Maker Moon (Traditional)

Iarlath (Christian; Saint)

James the Just (Eastern Orthodox Church)

John Calvin Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Kwanzaa, Day 1: Umoja (Unity)

Linnæus (Positivist; Saint)

Maurice Utrillo (Artology)

Proclamation Day (Australia)

Saka Sirhind Martyrdom Day (India)

Scudge (Muppetism)

2nd Day of Noodlemas (Pastafarian)

Stephen (Western Church)

Synaxis of the Mother of God (Greek Orthodox Church)

Synaxis of the Theotokos (Eastern Orthodox Church)

Twelve Holy Days #1 (Aries, the head; Esoteric Christianity)

Twelvetide, Day #2; St. Stephens Day (a.k.a. the Twelve Days of Christmas or Christmastide) [until 1.5]

Veer Bal Dias (India)

Zartosht No-Diso (Zoroastrianism)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

The ABC Murders (BBC TV Mini-Series; 2018)

The Art of Self Defense (Disney Cartoon; 1941)

Brighton Beach Memoirs (Film; 1986)

The Exorcist (Film; 1973)

Fast & Furious Spy Racers (Animated TV Series; 2019) [F&F]

The Glass Menagerie (Play; 1944)

Happy, by Matthew West (Album; 2003)

I Want To Hold Your Hand, by The Beatles (US Song; 1963)

King Lear, by William Shakespeare (Play; 1606)

The Last Edition or Five-Scar Final (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 138; 1961)

Magical Mystery Tour (BBC TV Special; 1967)

Marvin the Martian in the Third Dimension (WB LT Cartoon; 1997)

Mati Hari (Film; 1931)

Measure for Measure, by William Shakespeare (Play; 1604)

Monterey Pop (Music Documentary; 1968)

Pluto’s Blue Note (Disney Cartoon; 1947)

The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann (Adult Film; 1974)

Purple Haze, lyrics written by Jimi Hendrix (Song; 1966)

Queen Christina (Film; 1933)

Rashomon (Film; 1951)

Red-Headed Baby (WB MM Cartoon; 1931)

Rickety Gin (Disney Cartoon; 1927)

The Ritz (Film; 1976)

Road to Andalay (WB MM Cartoon; 1964)

Spice World (Film; 1997)

Subway Finish or An Underground Round (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 137; 1961)

Tequila, by The Champs (Song; 1957)

We Bought a Zoo (Film; 2011)

Wool: The Unraveling, by Hugh Howey (Novel; 2011)

Today’s Name Days

Stephan, Stephanie (Austria)

Iosif, Yosif (Bulgaria)

Kruno, Krunoslav, Stjepan (Croatia)

Štěpán (Czech Republic)

Stefan (Denmark)

Sten, Taban, Tahvo, Teho, Tehvan, Tehvo (Estonia)

Tahvo, Tapani, Teppo (Finland)

Étienne (France)

Stephan, Stephanie (Germany)

Constantios, Emmanouela, Emmanouil, Emmanuel, Manolis, Panagiotis (Greece)

István (Hungary)

Santo (Italy)

Dainuvite, Gija, Saulvedis (Latvia)

Gaudilas, Gindvilė, Steponas (Lithuania)

Stefan, Steffen (Norway)

Dionizy, Szczepan, Wróciwoj (Poland)

Štefan (Slovakia)

Esteban (Spain)

Staffan, Stefan (Sweden)

Joseph, Josephine (Ukraine)

Esteban, Estefania, Estefany, Estevan, Stefan, Stefanie, Stephan, Stephanie, Stephany, Stephen, Steve, Steven, Stevie (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 360 of 2024; 5 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of week 52 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Beth (Birch) [Day 1 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Jia-Zi), Day 14 (Wu-Wu)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 14 Teveth 5784

Islamic: 13 Jumada II 1445

J Cal: 30 Zima; Nineday [30 of 30]

Julian: 13 December 2023

Moon: 100%: Full Moon

Positivist: 24 Bichat (13th Month) [Linnæus]

Runic Half Month: Eihwaz or Eoh (Yew Tree) [Day 1 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 6 of 89)

Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 5 of 31)

Calendar Changes

Beth (Birch) [Celtic Tree Calendar; Month 13 of 13]

Eihwaz or Eoh (Yew Tree) [Half-Month 1 of 24; Runic Half-Months] (thru 1.12)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 12.26

Holidays

Alexandria Day

Annabel Nostra’s National Cozy Day

Awful Tie Day

Boxing Day [26th unless Sunday, then 27th, but generally ignored] (a.k.a. ... 

Boxing Day (UK, Commonwealth) 

Day of Goodwill (South Africa, Namibia)

Family Day (Namibia, Vanuatu)

J’Ouvert (Saint Kitts and Nevis)

Le Lendemain de Noël (Quebec, Canada)

Thanksgiving (Solomon Islands)

Dissolution of the Soviet Union Day

Father’s Day (Bulgaria)

Holiday Magic Days begin (Mystic Seaport, Connecticut) [thru 1.1]

Junkanoo (Bahamas)

Lava Day (French Republic)

Lunes Siguiente a Navidad (Spain)

Maomas

Mauro Hamza Day (Houston, Texas)

Mummer's Day (Cornwall, UK)

National Homeowners Day

National Ranboo Day

National Safety Day (South Africa)

National Thank You Note Day

National Whiner's Day

Proclamation Day (South Australia)

Recyclable Packaging Day

Sakewa (Sikkim, India)

Second Day of Christmas (Baltic states, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden)

Shenandoah National Park Day

Sports Day (Falkland Islands)

Stairway to Heaven Day

Utamanduni Day (Kenya)

Wren Day (a.k.a. Day of the Wren; Ireland, Isle of Man, Wales)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Blessing of the Wine (Luxembourg)

Candy Cane Day

Coffee Percolator Day

Irish Pub Day

Kitty Dukakis Day (Challenge to Drink 750ml in 24 Hours)

National Leftovers Day (Australia)

Unbottling Day

4th & Last Tuesday in December

Charity Giving Day [4th Tuesday]

National Co-op Day [4th Tuesday]

Independence Days

Essexia (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Independence and Unity Day (Slovenia)

Istria (Declared; 1935) [unrecognized]

Marienbourg (Declared; 1935) [unrecognized]

Monmark (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

West Sayville (Declared; 2022) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Abadiu of Antinoe (Coptic Church)

Day of Horus (Pagan)

Day of Theotokos (Byzantium)

Dionysius, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Feast of Fools, Day 1 (St. Stephen's Day)

Full Moon [12th of the Year] (a.k.a. ... 

Bitter Moon (China)

Christmas Moon (Colonial)

Cold Moon (Amer. Indian, Celtic, North America, Traditional)

Fruit Moon (South Africa)

Hoar Frost Moon (Traditional)

Long Night’s Moon (Alternate, Amer. Indian, Neo-Pagan)

Moon of the Popping Trees (Traditional)

Oak Moon (England, Wicca)

Peach Moon (Choctaw)

Snow Moon (Cherokee)

Southern Hemisphere: Honey, Rose, Strawberry

Unduwap Full Moon Poya Day (Sri Lanka)

Winter Maker Moon (Traditional)

Iarlath (Christian; Saint)

James the Just (Eastern Orthodox Church)

John Calvin Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Kwanzaa, Day 1: Umoja (Unity)

Linnæus (Positivist; Saint)

Maurice Utrillo (Artology)

Proclamation Day (Australia)

Saka Sirhind Martyrdom Day (India)

Scudge (Muppetism)

2nd Day of Noodlemas (Pastafarian)

Stephen (Western Church)

Synaxis of the Mother of God (Greek Orthodox Church)

Synaxis of the Theotokos (Eastern Orthodox Church)

Twelve Holy Days #1 (Aries, the head; Esoteric Christianity)

Twelvetide, Day #2; St. Stephens Day (a.k.a. the Twelve Days of Christmas or Christmastide) [until 1.5]

Veer Bal Dias (India)

Zartosht No-Diso (Zoroastrianism)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

The ABC Murders (BBC TV Mini-Series; 2018)

The Art of Self Defense (Disney Cartoon; 1941)

Brighton Beach Memoirs (Film; 1986)

The Exorcist (Film; 1973)

Fast & Furious Spy Racers (Animated TV Series; 2019) [F&F]

The Glass Menagerie (Play; 1944)

Happy, by Matthew West (Album; 2003)

I Want To Hold Your Hand, by The Beatles (US Song; 1963)

King Lear, by William Shakespeare (Play; 1606)

The Last Edition or Five-Scar Final (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 138; 1961)

Magical Mystery Tour (BBC TV Special; 1967)

Marvin the Martian in the Third Dimension (WB LT Cartoon; 1997)

Mati Hari (Film; 1931)

Measure for Measure, by William Shakespeare (Play; 1604)

Monterey Pop (Music Documentary; 1968)

Pluto’s Blue Note (Disney Cartoon; 1947)

The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann (Adult Film; 1974)

Purple Haze, lyrics written by Jimi Hendrix (Song; 1966)

Queen Christina (Film; 1933)

Rashomon (Film; 1951)

Red-Headed Baby (WB MM Cartoon; 1931)

Rickety Gin (Disney Cartoon; 1927)

The Ritz (Film; 1976)

Road to Andalay (WB MM Cartoon; 1964)

Spice World (Film; 1997)

Subway Finish or An Underground Round (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S3, Ep. 137; 1961)

Tequila, by The Champs (Song; 1957)

We Bought a Zoo (Film; 2011)

Wool: The Unraveling, by Hugh Howey (Novel; 2011)

Today’s Name Days

Stephan, Stephanie (Austria)

Iosif, Yosif (Bulgaria)

Kruno, Krunoslav, Stjepan (Croatia)

Štěpán (Czech Republic)

Stefan (Denmark)

Sten, Taban, Tahvo, Teho, Tehvan, Tehvo (Estonia)

Tahvo, Tapani, Teppo (Finland)

Étienne (France)

Stephan, Stephanie (Germany)

Constantios, Emmanouela, Emmanouil, Emmanuel, Manolis, Panagiotis (Greece)

István (Hungary)

Santo (Italy)

Dainuvite, Gija, Saulvedis (Latvia)

Gaudilas, Gindvilė, Steponas (Lithuania)

Stefan, Steffen (Norway)

Dionizy, Szczepan, Wróciwoj (Poland)

Štefan (Slovakia)

Esteban (Spain)

Staffan, Stefan (Sweden)

Joseph, Josephine (Ukraine)

Esteban, Estefania, Estefany, Estevan, Stefan, Stefanie, Stephan, Stephanie, Stephany, Stephen, Steve, Steven, Stevie (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 360 of 2024; 5 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 2 of week 52 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Beth (Birch) [Day 1 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Jia-Zi), Day 14 (Wu-Wu)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 14 Teveth 5784

Islamic: 13 Jumada II 1445

J Cal: 30 Zima; Nineday [30 of 30]

Julian: 13 December 2023

Moon: 100%: Full Moon

Positivist: 24 Bichat (13th Month) [Linnæus]

Runic Half Month: Eihwaz or Eoh (Yew Tree) [Day 1 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 6 of 89)

Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 5 of 31)

Calendar Changes

Beth (Birch) [Celtic Tree Calendar; Month 13 of 13]

Eihwaz or Eoh (Yew Tree) [Half-Month 1 of 24; Runic Half-Months] (thru 1.12)

[geleafa-ond-faederethel]

Fr O’Shea’s Midweek Message 3rd June.

Dear Parishioners,

‘Does it bother you, living at number thirteen? Not a very lucky number, is it?’ So a visitor said to me recently. Catholics of course don’t believe in luck. We believe in Divine Providence, but all the same I was happy to tell him that when England was a Catholic country the number thirteen was considered a lucky number, suggesting as it did Our Lord assembled with His twelve Apostles. It’s just one example of the quite deliberate ‘reprogramming’ that took place in our country at the time of the Reformation. The state didn’t just set about destroying monasteries and shrines but also attempted to erase England’s Catholic memory.

Sadly they had a great deal of success. But you don’t have to look far to find things that slipped through the net. In a previous message I encouraged you to enjoy praying outdoors in your garden and in the countryside. Did you find Marigolds in your garden? Or come across Our Lady’s Slipper, Our Lady’s Mantle, Our Lady’s Smock, Our Lady’s Fingers, Our Lady’s Bedstraw, Our Lady’s Tresses, Our Lady’s Thistle or Our Lady’s Seal? All reminders of the time when England knew it was Our Lady’s Dowry. And crawling between the flowers you may also have spotted a Ladybird.

I hope you had your ��breakfast’ this morning. In Catholic times many people went each day to a very early morning Mass, and of course fasted beforehand if they were going to receive Holy Communion. After Mass they ‘broke their fast’ with the first meal of the day before going off to the fields. Wedding Masses were usually celebrated early in the day too and the couple fasted before receiving Holy Communion. The reception afterwards was their ‘Wedding Breakfast.’

Perhaps they had their celebration in a pub called ‘The Salutation’, or ‘The Angel’ or ‘The Seven Stars’, all names which survive and which recall the Annunciation and Our Lady. Or they went instead to the ‘Crossed Keys’ which was almost certainly near a church dedicated to St Peter, the first Pope.

If you’ve ever said, ‘He hasn’t a halfpenny to bless himself with’, it comes from the pre-reformation practice of blessing oneself with the first coin you received that day. If you hadn’t received so much as a halfpenny you were indeed poor. Your house may have the name, ‘Dun Roaming’. It should of course be ‘Done Roming’. The word recalls England’s ancient devotion to the Holy See and the popularity of pilgrimages to the tomb of St Peter.

I hope you’ve never had cause to ‘Send someone to Coventry’, meaning to ‘snub’ someone. Apparently, unruly members of the Cistercian Order were sent to Coventry to cool off, in the hope that they would change their ways. Most of us have on at least one occasion come back from holiday having bought a souvenir that other people thought cheap or tasteless, like the trinkets that pilgrims used to buy around St Audrey’s shrine at Ely. Hence ‘Tawdry’.

If you watch proceedings in Parliament on television you’ll notice that MPs frequently bow towards the Speaker. It’s seen as a mark of respect for his office. But in fact it’s because Parliament used to meet in St Stephen’s Chapel in the Palace of Westminster and the custom of bowing towards the altar has been continued.

On St George’s Day the Queen and the other Knights of the Garter gather at Windsor for their annual service in St George’s Chapel. And splendid they all look in their blue cloaks. Why blue? Because King Edward III founded the Order of the Garter to the ‘honour of the Blessed Virgin’. On Our Lady’s feasts knights used to wear a golden image of Our Lady on the right shoulder of their blue mantles.

A ship is never launched on a Friday because of a now forgotten respect for Our Lord’s Passion. And on board ship sailors still salute the quarterdeck. The salute is given to the place where a crucifix always hung in Catholic days.

A flower which blossoms around the feast of St Michael in September is the MichaelMAS(S) Daisy. And of course ChristMAS(S) is still the highpoint of England’s year.

And so on. Next time you’re out and about, keep your eyes and ears open for the customs, names and sayings that speak of our country’s past.

Many of the snippets for this week’s message come from a little book, ‘Catholic Trivia’, by the late Fr Mark Elvins OFM(Cap). May he rest in peace. If his book is still in print, you might like to buy it. It’s a cheerful read but has a genuine message. You’ve only to lift the hem of Britannia’s cloak a little to find that she’s Catholic underneath.

God bless you,

Father O’Shea

(via Fr O’Shea’s… - St John's RC Church, Standishgate, Wigan | Facebook)

[etiennepaddywrites]

The Curse by Etienne Paddy: Chapter Two

Later that week, I accompanied three of my friends to St. Stephen’s village for some shopping the afternoon they arrived back at school. After a long day of retail therapy in the quaint tudor-esque shops, we settled in The Powdered Newt, the local pub, to feast and play catch-up. That being said, I did not have much of an appetite for eating or merriment in the wake of my sudden singledom.

I clocked the group of Kiltrasners across the room, with the addition of two girls. One white blonde, weapons-grade beauty was nestled under Rafael’s arm, purring into his ear, and a pixie-faced redhead was draped over Asp.

As far as I was aware, Rafael had been linked romantically with Anousheh Fatemi for the past six months or so, who was still in Iran for the break. I imagined she wouldn’t be too happy with the scene unfolding before me. I wrinkled my nose and turned away.

“Honestly, I’m gonna boke,” said Irena, delicately as ever in her thick Northern Irish accent. As I looked at her she gestured towards the group with her fork, mimicking a gagging noise. Janie and Henry, our other companions, also followed her motion.

“Isn’t Rafael seeing someone?” Janie asked, brushing her blonde hair out of her round, pink face. “Why’s Delphine Draxton clung to him like a limpet?”

I tried not to roll my eyes at Janie’s innocence in the face of such flagrant infidelity.

“Delphine Draxton’s done quite a lot of clinging to boys this year, so I’ve heard” Irena sniggered. Janie looked scandalised, where Henry scrunched his nose in distaste. “Irena, please.”

Irena often carried herself with the decorum of a streaker pelting through a funeral service.

“Where do you guys think he and Ariadne have been all this time?” Henry asked in a hushed tone, peering at us through his tight brown curls. I braced myself for Irena’s standard inappropriate comment but she remained silent, her pale blue eyes searching each of ours with raised eyebrows, waiting for our suggestions.

“Who knows— they’re Duclairs. For all we know they may have just been on a long, expensive family holiday,” Janie offered, always prepared to cast anyone the benefit of the doubt.

Irena scoffed loudly. “Don’t be a dope, Janes. They’ve obviously joined the Reapers — everyone’s been saying it.”

“You don’t know that” Janie pointed out stubbornly, her cheeks flushing. “The Duclairs basically fund the school, they can take time off whenever they want. That makes far more sense than kids joining the Reapers.”

Irena gave us a look of don’t be so sure, and I ruminated on it for a moment, my finger tracing the rim of my forgotten drink. I was inclined to agree with Janie. Rafael was only sixteen, like us, and Ariadne, his cousin, was a year older. Far too young to join the terrorist group, even if their uncle was — unofficially — at the helm of it all.

Irena shamelessly ogled the group across the room before raising an eyebrow at us. “Well if one of us could get his kit off, we’d know for sure.”

Even after years of Irena’s lewdness, we still awkwardly avoided each others’ eyes.

“You know they say they all have those marks on their chests—” she expanded with a giggle, tracing a circle over her left breast. “I, for one, would happily volunteer.”

We all sighed in weary unison and the conversation then moved on to all the boys Irena thought were ‘rides’ this year. After ten more minutes of pushing my food around my plate and listening to the various positions Irena would like to practice with a burly Longfield boy in our year, I decided to excuse myself. I wasn’t in the mood to hear about Irena’s romantic endeavours, imagined or otherwise.

“Aw Fleur, it’ll get easier,” Janie said kindly.

“Edward didn’t deserve you. He was an absolute snooze,” Irena chimed in, helping me hoop my scarf around my neck and giving it a little pat when she was done. I crinkled my nose. She’d kept that assessment quiet over the past couple of months.

I said my goodbyes and left, making my way over to a low wall opposite the building, savouring the smell of peat fire smoke as it bloomed out of the pub’s wonky old chimney. I leaned against the jagged stone, taking a minute to myself before I made the journey back up to school.

The creak of hinges drew my attention to the rickety wooden door where Rafael was shrugging on a black cloak just beyond the threshold. He slid a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket with long, thin fingers, throwing a glance over at me. I quickly looked away, embarrassed to have been caught staring.

He was obviously a complete tool, but he’d grown up to be devastatingly good-looking. The last summer holiday had been kind to him, his boyish youth having become sculpted and refined. Here he stood, willowy and toned, with ear-length hair so dark it swallowed the light, falling effortlessly in loose curls over heavy black eyebrows. It was no wonder he had a harem.

I realized then that I was staring at him and quickly moved to redirect my gaze. Not, however, before he’d noticed.

To my utter horror, he sauntered over to me. I didn’t know what to do with my face in case this was one of those situations where you think someone was waving at you, only to wave back and realize you were entirely mistaken. He stopped next to me, leaving a little room. Leaning back against the wall, he took a drag on his freshly-lit cigarette, his golden signet ring glinting in the sunlight.

“Everwood” he greeted me smoothly whilst I gawped at him, mute. “Sorry about Verner earlier. He’s become a bit of a dolt of late, hasn’t he?” His musical voice was so beautifully modulated that all I could think of was how I longed to hear him speak again. “Or a colossal twit, was it?” He chuckled as he brought his cigarette to his lips. “It was a pleasure to see a glimpse of that forked tongue of yours again. More’s the pity it’s so seldom.”

“What’s it to you? We haven’t spoken in years,” I pointed out bitterly, finally finding my voice.

“Now, now, play fair,” he chided me.

“By all means, correct me.”

“It’s been a fractious time.”

“You mean your uncle?”

“No, the weather,” he said, sliding me a contemptuous look.

Being from an elite, ancient family, any whiff that Rafael had anything to do with someone as inferior as a halfling would indeed cause an uproar.

I did understand that, but I couldn’t forgive it.

“And the change in weather means you’ve decided to acknowledge me after so long?” I snipped as I pulled my cloak tighter around me and filled my lungs with the cold, January air.

After burying our friendship in the garden of our youth, I couldn’t believe his shameless impudence in unearthing this familiarity as if things had never changed.

Standing here with him now, I could still feel the lump that’d been lodged in my throat as I’d torn up the aeditrium’s stone staircases three years ago. I’d been struggling to fend off the oncoming tears after a run-in with a group of Kiltrasners when I’d heard a voice out of nowhere.

I stopped and listened, before realising that I hadn’t actually heard anything with my ears.

It was a strange sensation, and even stranger to process the connotations of what was indisputable: Someone’s voice was in my head.

I heard the cry again and stopped, trying to discern where the voice had come from. I deliberated for a moment before closing my eyes and succumbing to the peculiar feeling. I didn’t know how, but my body just knew what to do. After a deep breath, I let my consciousness peter out of my body, rooting around for the source of this voice. I found that its shaking wrath was like breadcrumbs in the air, leading me directly to its master.

It was my first true encounter with him. We’d shared a few classes at this point but had never spoken beyond pass the book, although hisnoble lineage and pleasing face had always made him a person of note to me. Upon pinpointing his mind, I couldn’t restrain my curiosity. Working actively against my better judgement, I decided to probe.

Who’s there? GET OUT OF MY HEAD, Rafael bellowed, as soon as I’d entered, the words reverberating around his mind like a scream in a tunnel.

I recoiled in shock, before collecting myself and shouldering in once more. How did you know I was here? I asked obstinately, determined to work out how he’d identified an intruder. It would be just typical for me to discover this rare new skill only to find I was useless at it. All my other abilities had required such hard work to be considered noteworthy in this world, after all.

Because I’m not stupid.

An unseen force began to scoot me out. Nevertheless, I clung on.

Training? I asked, groping for answers — willingly surrendered, or otherwise. Training would make sense. A powerful family like the Duclairs wouldn’t risk enemies infiltrating their minds or those of their children, no matter how unlikely that would be given that telepaths were a dead breed if the media was anything to go by. Which, I supposed, it wasn’t.

The very mention of the word ‘training’ swung open a door in his mind that confirmed my theory. A hazy vision of a young Rafael next to his older brother Sacha, being instructed by a private tutor in blocking telepathic invasion. A Professor Demonstras. Rafael didn’t like him. Sacha loved to wind him up.

I flinched as the door slammed shut on Sacha’s face.

If you won’t leave, I’ll eject you, he warned, and I didn’t doubt it. I did wonder, however, how I’d managed to gain entry in the first place considering his obvious extensive coaching.

Where are you? I asked, blinking back to my own consciousness before trying a few doors around me.

In here, his voice carried through the ether, and a door materialised at the end of the corridor, embedded in the stone wall that encased the Bell Tower. I gasped, eliminating the distance with a few strides before closing my fingers around the door handle.

The exertion of mind-hopping had my head thumping and a prickle gathering in the corner of my eye. I daubed at it with my forefinger and brought my hand back before me, the tip of my finger now glistening red.

I smeared the blood on my black habit and entered the room. My mouth swung open as I glanced around in awe. The gothic windows looking over the grounds reached up to a vast ceiling adorned with cobwebs. The room itself was enormous, allowing for the bells in the room above, the mouth of each presumably the size of a small boat judging by the width and depth of the space. Not only that, the room itself was filled with forgotten oddities and an eclectic assortment of shabby furniture.

I could see the residue of magic clouding the room in the light from the window, like dust in an attic. There were boxes of trinkets thrumming with mystical properties, mounds of clothes and hundreds upon hundreds of books. It was like a hoarder’s trove.

“It’s you,” Rafael breathed in surprise. I ignored him, instead reaching to touch a little silver box on the table next to me which emitted a squeak and shot off the edge. He sneered. “Pick up your jaw, it’s only a load of old rubbish.”

I was shocked by his lack of amazement. I still harboured a childlike wonder where magic was concerned. Where everyone around me considered these incredible things par for the course, I wanted to rifle through everything, to learn more about this captivating world I was so lucky to be a part of. But a Duclair? I suppose his lack of interest wasn’t actually shocking at all.

“Are you okay?” I asked, turning my attention to him, which he promptly swatted away like a meddlesome fly.

“Why are you here?” he deflected imperiously.

I processed his words, remembering the heated call with my father in the phone room and the vicious glee on Woodrow Kilbrook’s face as he’d eaten up my humiliation and left no crumbs. I bit my lip, the degradation washing over me afresh.

Rafael’s face changed dramatically. He clearly hadn’t meant to incite a breakdown, yet here I was, eyes watering and lip a-quiver.

“I— I—” he stammered, his shoulders tumbling out of their aggressive stance as he floated awkwardly over to me. “I’m sorry.”

“False etiquette doesn’t suit you” I managed, focusing on the floor as I schooled my twitching face back to neutrality.

“I am,” he said with sincerity, stiffly putting a hand on my arm— although I imagine he’d meant to be comforting. At this age, Rafael hadn’t quite developed his intoxicating hold over women and his touch lacked the self-assuredness that would soon inform his every movement. Too soon, arguably.

We stood there for a moment, standoffishly regarding one another, both unsure of how to proceed. I was aware of the things he and his friends said about me behind my back, which made me wonder why he was bothering to feign kindness now.

“You know that’s rare?” he offered. “Your ability?”

“A magical halfling?” I snipped. “Yes, I’m painfully aware, thank you.”

There were only a handful of halflings in the entire world. According to everything known about magic and DNA, it shouldn’t be possible to have magical halflings at all— all other children born to inter-magical parents possessed no abilities whatsoever. You’d think I’d have been revered as a medical marvel, but halflings had always been scorned, even before the birth crisis. Our teeth were less sharp, our movements more sluggish, our senses less refined… We were considered a blight on the race.

Rafael frowned at me. “No, I meant the telepathy — even amongst magiceans, it’s very rare. Does anyone know you can do it?”

“No” I admitted. “I didn’t until just now.”

“That’s quite remarkable for a —”

He caught himself before he uttered the slur dancing on the tip of his tongue.

“Fleur?” Rafael asked as I snapped back to the present, breaking forth out of my reverie and back to The Powdered Newt. The wafts of cigarette smoke and the crisp chill of the day settled once more upon my senses. I nodded, inviting him to continue.

“We’re not children any more” he reiterated, giving me an icy look.

“Sorry?”

“You’re a halfling, your father a race traitor, no less—”

“We were friends,” I said, and he flinched backwards slightly, as if I’d sworn at him. The corners of my mouth began to twitch, threatening to tug downwards. “Why does any of that matter? No one ever knew!”

“We could never be friends” he asserted with a scowl, twisting that final word over his tongue like it had a bad taste.

“Oh, well thank the gods you sought me out to make that clear.”

“I just thought I’d check on you. Don’t read into it” he said brusquely, casting away his cigarette butt.

I suddenly felt a burning desire to strike him. “I don’t know why you scorned me all of a sudden. I’m just as bright as you” I snapped. “All this talk about halflings being less magical is rubbish and you knowit.”

“Even so,” he said, refusing to meet my eyes, “but facing a birth dearth? Half-br—halflings shouldn’t be allowed in magical circles— race treachery cannot be condoned. It sets a bad precedent and it won’t help the crisis.” He took a step towards me, lowering his voice. “You might be able to navigate your obvious physical drawbacks,” he said, pulling his wand out of his pocket and spinning it around his fingers with impossible speed to embellish his point, before snapping it to a stop, “but no amount of practice will ever have a magical child quicken your womb. And now, that’s what really matters.”

Anger flared in my chest. “You didn’t seem to mind me being here when we were helping each other with our homework.” I hissed. “Last I checked, my womb didn’t even come into it.”

The look of utter insult that flashed across his face was interrupted by the Kiltrasner rabble bursting out of the pub. Asp stopped to assess our proximity. “Raf, is that mule bothering you?” he called over. Rafael recoiled from me.

All I did was frown and curl my mouth, but it was enough. “What was that, Never-Would?” Asp fired at me. “Nothing smart to say today?” The lanky boy stalked over to us as Rafael slowly backed away from me towards his friends.

Hot tears began to pool in my eyes as I put my hands up to bat Asp away, but he was too quick. “Just you wait you little half-breed”hespat, grabbing my upper arm as I shrank away from him, afraid. “Once the New Order is underway we’ll be a supreme race once more. Our lands will be reclaimed and you’ll be cast out of this world where you belong,back to that Unspirited dung heap you hail from. I, for one, hope they slit your throat at some altar, like they used to. Either way, enjoy your days here, for they’re numbered.”

He shoved my arm back and I massaged where his fingers had gripped me. Each sore spot was like a button pressed, and fury began to swell within me. I wished I could slap him. I wished I could muster the courage to punch him right between the eyes. “Any success you’ve had has been 99% perspiration and don’t you forget it.” He held a finger up to my face. “True magiceans do not sweat.”

“Don’t play with your food, Vern,” Rafael lectured in a bored tone. “It’s so bloody common.”

Asp scowled, but quickly directed his vexation at me. “You should know better than to approach him. Do you need a reminder of your place here?” He spat at my feet.

“And yet you’ll have me linger” Rafael stated impatiently, turning on his heel. “Get a fucking move on.”

“Mark my words mule” Asp warned as he began to back away. “You can’t hear it now,” he raised his hand to his ear and twitched his fingers menacingly, imitating raindrops falling from the sky, “but the thunder is coming.”

I clenched my teeth, trying to govern my swimming eyes. I waited until the boys were over the hill and out of sight before I let the tears escape.

[tim961art]

A Lewis traditional Boxing Day meal. In addition to the forepictured ham and turkey, cold slices with chips (aka French fries.) With a side plate of cheeses and my own bread. Humbolt Fog (California,) Cabot cheddar (Vermont,) Amish butter (Pennsylvania,) and ploughman chutney (UK.) Is this appealing? Happy Feast of St Stephen. (at Greer, South Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cmppxc2tkdIGnSkBPR1yy_w02KoEGwxNLKONN40/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[foreverpraying]

December 26 is the feast day of St. Stephen, First Martyr

Source of picture: https://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com 

The Litany of St. Stephen

 (For private recitation only)

Lord, have mercy on us

Christ, have mercy on us

Lord, have mercy on us,

Christ, hear us,

Christ, graciously hear us.

God, the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.

God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.

God, the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.

 St. Stephen, first martyr,

pray for us. *

St. Stephen, who suffered for preaching the name of Jesus Christ,*

St. Stephen, who so closely imitated Jesus Christ in that great virtue of charity for your enemies,*

St. Stephen, who, when stoned by your enemies, cast forth sparks, not of anger, but of love, to set on fire their hearts, harder than the stones which they threw,*

St. Stephen, having recommended your own soul to God, cried for your enemies, Pardon them, O Lord, and punish them not for their sins,*

St. Stephen, most zealous for the glory of God,*

St. Stephen, most patient and constant,*

St. Stephen, pattern of chastity and purity,*

St. Stephen, whose heavenly fortitude caused admiration in all,*

St. Stephen, by whom so many miracles were wrought,*

St. Stephen, who, in the love of God, was not inferior to the Apostles themselves,*

St. Stephen, who converted many to the faith of Christ,*

St. Stephen, by whom the Church has received and does continually receive such singular benefits,*

St. Stephen, of whom it is said, that the Holy Ghost, Who inhabited your soul, shone and darted forth his rays into your body,*

St. Stephen, whose face shone like that of an angel,*

St. Stephen, an angel in chastity,*

St. Stephen, full of faith and of the Holy Ghost,*

St. Stephen, dear to the heart of Jesus,*

 Let us pray:

O glorious saint, faithful imitator of Jesus Christ martyr in will and in reality, so full of charity, zeal, love, and purity, deign to intercede for us poor exiles; you who are so high in the favor of God, we do entreat you to procure for us a little spark of that divine love which animated your heart, that we too one day may have the happiness of seeing our God face to face.

Oh! obtain for us that virtue for which you were so eminent, and which in our holy vocation is particularly required--Charity. Amen.

Source: https://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com

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Saint Ladislas I King of Hungary

(1031-1095)

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Ladislas I was the grandson of the cousin of Saint Stephen of Hungary and the second son of his father, King Bela. It was only with sadness that as a young man he had seen his father ascend the throne, since it was by a war against his father's own brother that he did so. Bela's virtuous son would gladly have escaped the honors of royalty, but his cousin Solomon, legitimate heir, was cruel and had been driven out by Ladislas' older brother, Geiza, who after taking his place had reigned for only three years before his death. The people of Hungary knew of Ladislas's bravery in combat, his chastity, and his sobriety, above all his charity; everywhere the poor were showing the clothing and the silver he had given them from his own house. He knew many of them by name, and they had named him the pious Prince, for he had built magnificent Christian churches in a land where many still honored the pagan idols. It was with joy that the people chose Ladislas to replace his brother as King of Hungary.

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He soon showed himself to be a perfect Christian king by the moderation of his judgments, his affability in receiving even the least of his vassals, his fatherly kindness to all. He restored the good laws and discipline which Saint Stephen had established, and which seem to have been obliterated by the confusion of the times. Chastity, meekness, gravity, charity, and piety were from his infancy the distinguishing traits of his character.

Avarice and ambition were his sovereign aversion, so perfectly had the maxims of the Gospel extinguished in him all propensity to those base passions. His life in the palace continued to be very austere; he was very frugal and mortified personally, but very liberal to the Church and the poor. Vanity, pleasure, or idle amusements had no share in his actions or time, because all his moments were consecrated to the exercises of religion and the duties of his station. He had only the divine will in view, and always sought God's greater honor. Generous and merciful to his enemies, he was vigorous in the defense of his country and the Church.

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During his reign his kingdom was attacked by numerous neighboring peoples. Before going out to repulse them he always commanded public prayers and a fast of three days, then at the head of his armies fought and was invariably victorious with the help of God, whom he did not cease to implore. He was preparing to depart, at the request of the princes of France, Spain and England, as General-in-chief of the 300,000 recruits of the great first crusade of the Christians against the Saracens for the recovery of the Holy Land, when God called him to Himself, on July 30, 1095, at the age of fifty-four years. Miracles were numerous at his tomb, and he was canonized one hundred years later, in 1199. The same day a small child born without hands and feet was cured by the invocation of Saint Ladislas.

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Reflection. The Saints filled all their moments with good works and admirable actions; and while they labored for an immortal crown, the peace of Christ, the greatest share of worldly happiness of which this life is capable, was given them without their having sought it. In their afflictions virtue afforded them the most solid comfort, pointed out the remedy, and converted their tribulations into great advantages.

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Prayer to Venerate Any Saint

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Saint Ladislas I: Feast Day June 27

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I desire therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men: For kings, and for all that are in high station: that we may lead a quiet and a peaceable life in all piety and chastity. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

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And another angel came, and stood before the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given to him much incense, that he should offer of the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which is before the throne of God. And the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascended up before God from the hand of the angel. (Rev. 8:3-4)

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ETERNAL Father, I wish to honor St. (Name), and I give Thee thanks for all the graces Thou has bestowed upon him (her). I ask Thee to please increase grace in my soul through the merits of this saint, and I commit the end of my life to him (her) by this special prayer, so that by virtue of Thy goodness and promise, St. (Name) might be my advocate and provide whatever is needed at that hour. Amen.

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PROMISE: "When you wish to honor any particular saint and give Me thanks for all the graces I have bestowed on that saint, I increase grace in your soul through the merits of that saint. When you commit the end of your life to any of the saints by special prayers, I appoint those saints to be your advocates and to provide whatever you need at that hour."-Our Lord to St. Gertrude

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Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich revealed in her Visions that saints are particularly powerful on their feast days and should be invoked then.

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https://sanctoral.com/en/saints/saint_ladislas_i.html

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Happy Birthday Hungary! August 20th was first celebrated in 1092, when another saint king, Ladislaus I declared it a sacred day. Until 1687, August 20th was St. Stephens feast day and thus became Hungary's national day, even after the feast day itself has switched around in the calendar a few times. In 1945 Communist leaders prohibited celebrations due to its religious nature and in 1950 it was changed to Constitution Day. It was reinstated as a celebration of St. Stephen in 1990 by the Hungarian Parliament. St. Stephen of Hungary (Szent István király) was the first king of Hungary and he laid the foundation of the state by converting the Magyar people to Christianity. After a serious military loss in 955 AD, Hungarian tribal leaders decided to abandon their nomadic existence. Stephen, the Grand Prince of the Hungarians, realised that conversion to Christianity would be a way of strengthening the idea of Hungarian nationhood. Stephen received the "Sacred Crown" from Pope Sylvester II becoming Hungary's first king on Christmas Day in 1000 AD, ruling until his death on August 15th 1038. The Holy Crown has survived the centuries since and it is now Hungary's most precious treasure. Stephen was made a saint on August 20th 1083. He became the patron saint of Hungary. As part of the canonization process, King Stephen's remains were dug up and legend has it that his right hand had not decayed at all. The hand was removed from the body and can still be seen in St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest.

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The Feast of the Holy Innocents - December 28, 2020

by Father Francis Xavier Weninger, 1876

By the Holy Innocents, who are honored as martyrs today by the Catholic Church, we understand those happy infants, who, by the command of King Herod, were put to death, for no other cause than that the new-born King of the Jews might be deprived of life. When Christ was born, Herod, well known for his cruelty, reigned at Jerusalem. He was not of the Jewish nation, but a foreigner, and was therefore hated by the Jews. Herod knew this well; hence he feared that they would dethrone him, and he had several illustrious persons executed, whom he suspected of aspiring to the throne. Meanwhile it happened that the three Magi or Kings from the East came to Jerusalem, to find and adore the new-born King, who had been announced to them by a star; as they doubted not that they would learn more of Him in the capital of Judea. They therefore asked without hesitation: “Where is he, that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East, and have come to adore him.”

This question seemed very strange to the Jews, and the news of it spread through the whole city, until it reached the King. His fear can hardly be described; for he already believed his crown and sceptre lost. To escape the danger in which he supposed himself, he called the chief priests and scribes together, and inquired of them where the Messiah should be born. They answered: “In Bethlehem, according to the Prophets.” Satisfied with this answer, Herod had the three wise men brought to court, and speaking very confidentially with them, he asked diligently when and where the star had appeared to them. After this, he advised them to go to Bethlehem and inquire after the new-born child, and when they had found and adored it, to return and inform him, as he wished to go and adore it also. These words of the king, who was not less cunning than cruel, were only a deceit, as he had already resolved to kill the new-born child.

Meanwhile the Magi followed the advice of the king, and, guided by the star, which again appeared to them when they had left Jerusalem, went to Bethlehem, found and adored the divine Child, and offered gold, frankincense and myrrh, as we read in Holy Writ. Having finished their devotion, they intended, in accordance with king Herod’s wish, to bring him word that they had happily found the Child. An angel, however, appeared to them in their sleep and admonished them not to return to Jerusalem, but to go into their own country by another way; which they accordingly did. When Herod perceived that they had deluded him, it was too late, and his rage was boundless. Hearing of what had taken place in the temple, at the Purification of Mary, that the venerable Simeon had pronounced a child, which he had taken into his arms, the true Messiah, the King’s heart was filled with inexpressible fear and anxiety. The danger in which he was, as he imagined, of losing his crown, left him no peace day or night. He secretly gave orders to search for this child; but all was of no avail; it could not be found.

After long pondering how he might escape the danger, his unbounded ambition led him to an act of cruelty unprecedented in history. He determined to murder all the male children, in and around Bethlehem, that were not over two years of age, as he thought that thus he could not fail to take the life of the child so dangerous to him. This fearful design was executed amidst the despairing shrieks of the parents, especially the mothers. How many children were thus inhumanly slaughtered is not known, but the number must have been very large. Yet the tyrant gained not his end; for, the divine Child was already in security. The Gospel tells us that an Angel appeared during the night to St. Joseph, saying to him: “Arise, take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt, and remain there until I tell thee. For, it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy him.” St. Joseph delayed not to obey, and fled, the same night, with the child and his mother, into the land indicated to him.

As this had happened before Herod executed his cruel determination, God thus frustrated the plot. Herod soon after, received his just punishment. Several terrible maladies suddenly seized him, as Josephus, the Jewish historian, relates. An internal fever consumed him, and all his limbs were covered with abominable ulcers, breeding vermin. His feet were swollen; his neck, shoulders and arms drawn together, and his breast so burdened, that the unfortunate man could hardly breathe, while his whole body exhaled so offensive an odor, that neither he nor others could endure it. Hence, in despair, he frequently cried for a knife or a sword, that he might end his own life. In this miserable condition, he ceased not his cruelties, and only five days before his death, he had his son, Antipater, put to death. As he had good reason to believe that the entire people would rejoice at his death, he wished at least to take to the grave the thought that many should grieve, if not for him, at least for their friends and relatives. Hence, he had the chief men of the nobility imprisoned, and gave orders to his sister Salome, that, as soon as he had closed his eyes, they were all to be murdered. This order, however, was not executed by Salome, who justly loathed its cruelty. In this lamentable condition, the cruel tyrant ended his life, but began one in eternity whose pains and torments were still more unendurable, and from which he cannot hope ever to be released; while the innocent children massacred by him, rejoice for all eternity in the glories of heaven, giving humble thanks to God for having thus admitted them into His presence. The Catholic Church has always honored them as martyrs; because, though not confessing Christ with their lips, as many thousands of others have done, yet they confessed Him with their death, by losing their lives for His sake. 

“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Matthew 2: 1-18) 

by Dom Gueranger.

The feast of the beloved Disciple, [St. John] is followed by that of the Holy Innocents. The Crib of Jesus, where we have already met and venerated the Prince of Martyrs and the Eagle of Patmos, has today standing round it a lovely choir of little Children, clad in snow-white robes, and holding green branches in their hands. The Divine Babe smiles upon them: He is their King; and these Innocents are smiling upon the Church of God. Courage and Fidelity first led us to the Crib; Innocence now comes, and bids us tarry there.

Herod intended to include the Son of God amongst the murdered Babes of Bethlehem. The Daughters of Rachel wept over their little ones, and the land streamed with blood; but the Tyrant’s policy can do no more: it cannot reach Jesus, and its whole plot ends in recruiting an immense army of Martyrs for Heaven. These Children were not capable of knowing what an honor it was for them to be made victims for the sake of the Savior of the world; but the very first instant after their immolation, all was revealed to them: they had gone through this world without knowing it, and now that they know it, they possess an infinitely better. God showed here the riches of His mercy: He asks of them but a momentary suffering, and that over, they wake up in Abraham’s Bosom: no further trial awaits them, they are in spotless innocence, and the glory due to a soldier who died to save the life of his Prince belongs eternally to them.

They died for Jesus’ sake; therefore their death was a real Martyrdom, and the Church calls them by the beautiful name of the Flowers of the Martyrs, because of their tender age and their innocence. Justly then does the ecclesiastical Cycle bring them before us today, immediately after the two valiant Champions of Christ, Stephen and John. The connection of these three Feasts is thus admirably explained by St. Bernard: In St. Stephen, we have both the act and the desire of Martyrdom; in St. John, we have but the desire; in the Holy Innocents, we have but the act.  . . . Will anyone doubt whether a crown was given to these Innocents? . . . If you ask me what merit could they have that God should crown them? Let me ask you what was the fault for which Herod slew them? What! is the mercy of Jesus less than the cruelty of Herod? and whilst Herod could put these Babes to death, who had done him no injury, Jesus may not crown them for dying for him?

Stephen, therefore, is a Martyr by a Martyrdom of which men can judge, for he gave this evident proof of his sufferings being felt and accepted, that, at the very moment of his death, his solicitude both for his own soul and for those of his persecutors increased; the pangs of his bodily passion were less intense than the affection of his soul’s compassion, which made him weep more for their sins than for his own wounds. John was a Martyr, by a Martyrdom which only Angels could see, for the proofs of his sacrifice being spiritual, only spiritual creatures could ken them. But the Innocents were Martyrs, to none other eye save Thine, O God! Man could find no merit; Angel could find no merit: the extraordinary prerogative of Thy grace is the more boldly brought out. From the mouth of the Infants and the Sucklings Thou hast perfected praise. The praise the Angels give Thee is: Glory be to God in the highest, and peace on earth to men of good will: it is a magnificent praise, but I make bold to say that it is not perfect till He cometh Who will say: “Suffer little Children to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of Heaven.” 

“Today, dearest brethren, we celebrate the birthday of those children who were slaughtered, as the Gospel tells us, by that exceedingly cruel king, Herod. Let the earth, therefore, rejoice and the Church exult — she, the fruitful mother of so many heavenly champions and of such glorious virtues. Never, in fact, would that impious tyrant have been able to benefit these children by the sweetest kindness as much as he has done by his hatred. For as today’s feast reveals, in the measure with which malice in all its fury was poured out upon the holy children, did heaven’s blessing stream down upon them.

“Blessed are you, Bethlehem in the land of Judah! You suffered the inhumanity of King Herod in the murder of your babes and thereby have become worthy to offer to the Lord a pure host of infants. In full right do we celebrate the heavenly birthday of these children whom the world caused to be born unto an eternally blessed life rather than that from their mothers’ womb, for they attained the grace of everlasting life before the enjoyment of the present. The precious death of any martyr deserves high praise because of his heroic confession; the death of these children is precious in the sight of God because of the beatitude they gained so quickly. For already at the beginning of their lives they pass on. The end of the present life is for them the beginning of glory. These then, whom Herod’s cruelty tore as sucklings from their mothers’ bosom, are justly hailed as “infant martyr flowers”; they were the Church’s first blossoms, matured by the frost of persecution during the cold winter of unbelief.” Saint Augustine 

The Latin Church instituted the feast of the Holy Innocents at a date now unknown, not before the end of the fourth and not later than the end of the fifth century. It is, with the feasts of St. Stephen and St. John, first found in the Leonine Sacramentary, dating from about 485. To the Philocalian Calendar of 354 it is unknown. The Latins keep it on 28 December, the Greeks on 29 December, the Syrians and Chaldeans on 27 December. These dates have nothing to do with the chronological order of the event; the feast is kept within the octave of Christmas because the Holy Innocents gave their life for the newborn Saviour. Stephen the first martyr (martyr by will, love, and blood), John, the Disciple of Love (martyr by will and love), and these first flowers of the Church (martyrs by blood alone) accompany the Holy Child Jesus entering this world on Christmas day. Only the Church of Rome applies the word Innocentes to these children; in other Latin countries they are called simply Infantes and the feast had the title “Allisio infantium” (Brev. Goth.), “Natale infantum”, or “Necatio infantum”. The Armenians keep it on Monday after the Second Sunday after Pentecost (Armen. Menology, 11 May), because they believe the Holy Innocents were killed fifteen weeks after the birth of Christ.