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buddha-da

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You can download it here: oroonoko.

So, I had it a bit wrong in class. Here are the colors of the Liturgical year and when they are used.

Violet – Expectation, Purification and Penance. This is used during Lent and Advent (the four weeks leading up to Christmas.

White or Gold – Joy and Triumph. Used for the Pascal Tridium (Holy Thursday/ The Last Supper, Good Friday, and the following Saturday – So basically the three days before Easter), Easter, Christmas, Holy days and Feasts days.

Red- Royalty, Fire, and Martyrdom. Used on Holy days and Feast days.

Green – Life and Growth. Used for ordinary time. Ordinary Time occurs twice in the Liturgical year. Once from the Epiphany on January 6 until Ash Wednesday. And then again from Pentecost Sunday until Advent.

So I was wrong in the fact that it was ordinary time in the Church so he was wearing red. He would have been wearing green, if that were the case. However, since he began his journey on November 1 or All Saints Day the church would have been wearing red for the day since lots of Saints are Martyrs and if nothing else is considered “royalty” of the church in a way. So I was right but didn’t know it!

Also, I found out about the joyful mysteries. I was confusing the Joyful and the Glorious Mysteries today in class. First of all the joyful mysteries are one part of the entire rosary, which includes four different mysteries. Those parts are the joyful mysteries, the sorrowful mysteries, the glorious mysteries, and the light/ luminous mysteries. Each contains five decades in which we as Catholics pray a series of prayers in each decade including ten Hail Mary’s. Each decade is associated with a particular “mystery” in which the love and faithfulness of the Lord and Christ was revealed to Mary throughout her life on earth and in Heaven. The Joyful Mysteries include (in order) the Annunciation of the Angel to Mary. This is when the Angel Gabriel went to Mary tell her that she was carrying Jesus Christ, the son of man. The second is the Visitation of Mary to Saint Elizabeth. This is when Mary visits her cousin whom is pregnant at an old age. It is by God she is pregnant and when Mary touches her stomach the baby inside leaps. At this time Elizabeth proclaims the child, a boy, will be a child for the Lord. Her son is born he is later to become known as (Saint) John the Baptist who baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. The Third is the Nativity of Jesus in Bethlehem. This is self explanatory, Jesus’ birth. The fourth joyful mystery is the presentation of Jesus in the Temple. This is in accordance with the Laws of Moses that the first born male of every family should be brought to the temple and consecrated to the Lord. The fifth and final joyful mystery is finding Jesus in the Temple. When Jesus was twelve he was celebrating the Passover with his parents and suddenly wonders off. After three days of searching Joseph and Mary find him in the Temple among doctors and other “intelligent” people. Everyone is amazed at the wisdom of Jesus. It is at this time that Jesus tells them, “Why did you search for me. Don’t you know I am in my father’s house?”

We say the different mysteries on different days: Sunday’s and Wednesday’s – the Glorious Mysteries, Monday’s and Saturday’s – the Joyful mysteries, Tuesday’s and Friday’s – the Sorrowful Mysteries, and Thursday – the Light/ Luminous Mysteries.

We believe that Our Lady of Fatima (a vision of Mary) appeared to different people teaching them how to pray the Rosary and saying “pray the rosary every day.” We believe by doing so it brings us certain graces.

So with all this (way more than you ever wanted I am sure) I began to ask why the Joyful mysteries would be so much more fitting for the pentangle than the others. Well the obvious thing to me at first was that the other four points were “positive” ones, such as his knightly virtues. The Joyful Mysteries are one of the more “happy” mysteries. They all deal with Jesus being revealed to Mary and then reinforced as the Son of God. But maybe it is just me reading into it too much but I didn’t feel that sufficed. Is there anything I do not know about the life and culture at this time that might lead to a more suitable answer for why it was the Joyful Mysteries over the others? I’m probably looking into it WAY too much as I often do!F

As you read Fitt 2 (p. 157-172) for Tuesday (17 June), Take note of: seasons, color, numbers, Christianity, wilderness/nature, chivalry, women, games.

So far, we have read two different “medieval” epics; one an Anglo-Saxon saga of the bravery of one man against a man-eating descendant of Cain; the other, a romantic tale of a quest one of Arthur’s knights accepts to prove his valour and bravery.

Consider the “monsters” in each tale; how is each described? How do we know they’re the “monsters”? Compare and contrast Grendel to the Green Knight in both appearance and manner. In which ways are both outsiders, and in which ways do they uphold or reinforce the comitatus group’s ideals? Are the “monsters” largely from pagan tradition, largely from Christian tradition, or a combination of the two–and how can you tell? Based on these two figures, how can we define the medieval concept of the “monster”?

There have been a fairly large number of adaptations of the Anglo-Saxon heroic epic Beowulf, though few if any have enjoyed much critical success.

A quick search on the Internet Movie DataBase shows the number of film adaptations of the text, here.
There was also a recent show, Beowulf: A Rock Musical; review here.

And, of course, there is always John Gardner’s book Grendel.

Take a few minutes to read about these different adaptations, and then compose a short comment, answering the following questions:

What is it about Beowulf that continues to capture the interest of people, even to this day? Why are people still interested in adapting the text and presenting it to a modern audience?

How would you characterize the themes and tone of Anglo-Saxon literature, and how would you depict these themes and tones in a modern adaptation (poem, novel, film, musical, video game, etc.)?

What would you include/exclude/add to an adaptation?

Why do you think that modern adaptations of Anglo-Saxon texts tend to fail? Is it because they alter the text and disturb the value and integrity of the text, or do modern audiences need the text to be altered so they can understand and relate to it?

Why is it so easy to satirize medieval texts and doctrines (think Monty Python here)?

Attached here.

Anglo-Saxon Riddles

Everyone will write a short paragraph today, as a comment to this post, briefly introducing him or herself and giving a quick response to your assigned poem, think of the following questions: Who is the “other” in the poem? How is he defined? How do we know he’s “the other”? What does this poem tell us about Anglo-Saxon culture?

Group 1 will respond to: “The Seafarer”
Group 2 will respond to: “The Wanderer”
Group 3 will respond to: “The Dream of the Rood”