Quote of the Week - Carl Sandburg

Related reading: Carl Sandburg on Happiness

Quote of the Week - Saul Bellow

“We are funny creatures. We don't see the stars as they are, so why do we love them? They are not small gold objects, but endless fire.” ― Saul Bellow, Henderson the Rain King

G. K. Chesterton's A Christmas Carol

Poem for Thanksgiving

                The Veining

The veining of each golden leaf

Grows clearer in the icy winds,

So the seeing of each graying soul

Grows eager to view the whole

Of all that passed through last seasons,

Searching for good reasons…

As my hair stripes in platinum

I settle on my wondrous children

First and grand, they bring me joy.

Each grown and growing girl and boy

Like the leaves their veining show

That in past and present, they do know

The Father Reason that they live-

To trust, and love, and give

In Christ who graciously came

To forgive us deserved blame.

And if I’ve done my mother’s part,

They’ll abide within that Spirit’s heart.

  Thanksgiving, 2014

  Hope Ellen Rapson

Halloween or All Hallows Eve?

Icon of all Saints

O ALMIGHTY God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship, in the mystical body of thy Son Christ our Lord; Grant us grace so to follow thy blessed Saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those unspeakable joys which thou hast prepared for those who unfeignedly love thee; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In the Church calendar All Saints' Day (All Hallows or Hallowmas) refers to a feast celebrated on November 1 in honor of all the saints. Halloween, or the Eve of All Hallows, is the day preceding it. In catholicism (the universal expression of the Christian Faith), the feast remembers all those who have attained the beatific vision in heaven, while the next day, All Souls' Day remembers and gives thanks for the lives of those who have died and Christ and now repose or rest in Him.

Here is a family prayer used after treat or treating:

“Thank you Christ our God for having conquered Death by Death. Thank You that You are greater than all evil. Even the demons obey You. Lord, help us to always flee from evil or to struggle against it when we see it around us or in our own souls. Thank You for the blessings that come from struggling against evil. Lord, we thank you for the candy we received from our generous neighbors, and help us to remember that You, Holy Spirit, are the Treasury of good things and the Giver of Life. Amen.”

Here are links to a poem and a novel related to this subject, as well as information about All Saints Day.

The Deeper Mysteries of Halloween

Charles Williams' novel All Hallows Eve is the story of a man and woman whose love was so great it could bridge the gap of death; of evil so terrible as to be unmentionable, of a vision so beautiful it must be true.

All Saints Day

Quote of the Week - Rita Mae Brown

“Writers will happen in the best of families.” – Rita Mae Brown

Rita Mae Brown is an American writer and feminist. She is best known for her first novel Rubyfruit Jungle. Published in 1973, it dealt with lesbian themes.

Autumn Pentecost

Autumn Pentecost

by Cynthia Erlandson

Shining wine-red trees tremble
in a rushing Whitsuntide wind
that rattles the breathing, bornagain world
with vibrant revival,
quickening ten thousand quaking tongues
to sing a fiery sanctus.
Flickering sun-colored flames crackle,
shake, break the blue,
rejoicing in orange exuberance.
Golden glorias explode in October ecstasy,
quickening the pentecostal pulse.
Burning bushes burst into sursum corda for
the season’s second coming.
The zealous horizon resounds:
variegated voices
sing staccato doxologies,
speaking of him who spake by the prophets,
shouting their credo:
I believe in the Holy Ghost.

Related reading: These Holy Mysteries