Wednesday, September 4

Here is something that deserves more publicity.

One of the many commemorations planned in memory of the dead on September 11 is the Rolling Requiem

The Rolling Requiem is a worldwide concert to honor those lost and those who helped others on September 11, 2001. While this terrorist tragedy took place in three United States locations, people from all over the world were affected. The goal of the Rolling Requiem is to have choirs performing in each time zone around the globe, beginning at 8:46 AM, the moment of the first attack With choirs in each time zone performing, continuous signing, or Rolling Requiem, will be heard throughout a 24-hour period.

A list of participating localities is now available, with more specific concert information forthcoming, I believe.

Ignacio brings a beautiful church to our attention in a comment on the "regrettable churches" post below. Any more contributions?

By the way, as I've stated before, the uglychurch phenomenon is not a post-VII crime. It started a few decades before, with a peak of sort being reached in the late 1950's. My own parish church is a good example.

Peddling relics on Ebay?

A reader writes to say that WBZ radio was reporting this morning on the sale of saints' relics on Ebay. An Ebay spokesman apparently expressed little interest, saying something to the effect that "just about everything for sale on eBay would offend somebody."

This has been a concern for years. I did a piece for OSV a while back on the sale of vintage religious articles on Ebay, and I asked all the sellers I interviewed about this. Faithful Catholics all, they said they did not sell relics (or any known blessed items), and if any came into their possession, they donated them to a church. However, if you go to Ebay, you'll find plenty being offered. Most sellers, however, get around the church's prohibition of relic trafficking with the following language:

NOTE THAT YOU BID ON RELIQUARY AND DOCUMENT[of authenticity], THE RELIC WILL BE A GIFT.

Here's an article about the controversy:

Kevin Pursglove, an eBay spokesperson, says unless an individual can point out that the selling of an item is a violation of law, it's permissible to sell it on eBay. He adds, however, that eBay does not allow human remains to be sold on the site.

Here's a link to an organization dedicated to stopping the sale of saints' relics.

Any relation, Gerard?

Thanks for the information, Tom.

A settlement in Boston?

Lawyer says no.

Oh my, Dreher's collecting "regrettable churches"

Let the games begin!

I have to say, though, that just as regrettable as the design of St. Gerard's is the welcome on their website:

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

Welcome to the world of St. Gerard



We're a happy world

We're an always smiling world

We're a caring world



St. Gerard is a work in progress for its own sake and for people like you. We're a community of some of the nicest people you could ever meet - all of us moving along the journey of life together. Sure we stagger and stumble at times but we, more significantly help each other to get up, brush ourselves off and get back on the road with our eyes on the prize. If you're searching why not give us a try. You'll be glad you did.

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

Makers of religiously-themed...candy...see their market expand:

Christian confectioners are hustling to introduce new products and new packaging. A half-dozen candies have been introduced in the past six months, including lollipops by Birmingham-based Scripture Candy and chocolate candy bars by Sweet Blessings. At a recent trade show in Anaheim, Calif., of the CBA, a Christian retailers group, at least 10 new products were making the rounds, including a sampler pack of Testamints' fruit and mint varieties, Sweet Blessings' sour gummy line, and fish-shaped chocolaty mints by Scripture Candy.

An interesting article on traveling with the Pope that ends this way:

No one's written a book-length "boys on the bus" account of papal travels, maybe because, after 24 years and 700,000 miles, there are too many good stories to choose from.

What an interesting idea!

Coming soon to a CCD class near you:

Madonna and husband pen a collection of "spiritual allegories" for children.

The singer, 44, whose conical bra and aluminium-covered Sex, a £25 book picturing her in erotic poses, epitomised her image of brazen and at times foul-mouthed raunchiness, has produced a volume of "spiritual allegories" for children aged five to eight.In an interview for Vanity Fair magazine she describes how she has tempered her genius for outrage to the more sedate demands of becoming a children's novelist. "I have just written a collection of children's stories with my husband. In fact, I'm just finishing one at the moment," she said. It "does something to shatter the illusions that we're all misguided by... There's always a wise man or woman in each story," her husband adds.

From the NYTimes (LRR): a piece about a program to pay for 20 low income students to board and attend a Catholic girls' high school.
From LA (LRR): crowds attending daily Mass at the Cathedral have positive words:

Surprising even the priests who hoped for a good turnout, an estimated 1,200 people showed up for the first daily Mass at 7 a.m. An additional 2,500 attended the 12:10 p.m. Mass, part of a first-day crowd that archdiocese officials estimated at 12,000....Priests and others who had been present Monday said the mood was different Tuesday. There were far more displays of simple piety and many more tears.After the 12:10 p.m. Mass, a line 90 feet long formed inside the cathedral, as the devout waited to approach the 14-foot tall wooden cross bearing the cast-bronze corpus of the suffering Jesus.Officials of the archdiocese had invited cathedral visitors to walk around the altar and approach the crucifix. They did not expect what happened next.One after another, worshipers went up to the statue, crossed themselves and began to touch it, many with tears in their eyes. They rubbed the bronze feet of the suffering savior; they rubbed the flayed and abraded skin. They lingered.

Spiritual guru Marianne Williamson leaves her Detroit-area church for radio

Self-help guru Marianne Williamson quit her Warren church ministry to pursue the development of her own nationally syndicated radio talk show. Sunday's resignation, effective in January, ends her five-year run as spiritual director of Renaissance Unity in Warren.