Poems before Easter

Once upon a time, a child was born. He was fair and beautiful, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He came so secretly, born in a stable, in the most humble circumstances. No one knew who He was, what he came for. His little Mother knew. His Father in heaven knew. For us, they gave the Son, our Holy One, our Redeemer.

Our Jesus.

THE SAVIOUR CHILD:

A Haiku

He was born to die.
He died - to ransom a world.
How can we repay?

Christ Child

In secret he grew, and became a man. For three years he preached and worked miracles. Then, on a Sunday, he rode into Jerusalem upon the back of the donkey, amid Hosannas from the people, and cries of praise. Four days later, the love of the people had turned to hate. They turned on Him, delivered Him up to His death. For this, He had come into the world. For this, He had been born. Because He loved much.

THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE

A Shadorma

"No! Not Him!
Give us Barrabas!"
The crowd roars,
hate-blinded,
and the Innocent Lover
is condemned to death.

Release Barrabas!

Oh sorrowful moment, when God Himself is rejected, and a murderer is chosen in His stead. Now waits the cross, the death, and our salvation. Now, God goes to die.

LIFE TO DEATH

A Diamante

Tree
Sprouting, growing.
Majestic, lordly, beautiful.
Roots, forest, woodsmen, axe.
Hewn, destroyed, remade.
Dying, waiting - 
Cross

Hail, Holy Cross!

Arms outspread, encompassing the world in his embrace, Christ our God and mightiest Hero hangs upon the cross, suffering much that we might be with Him one day. His blood, precious bounty of redemption, pearls upon his body like rubies. Only more precious. Each drop more ransom than any jewel could ever be.

ONLY ONE SACRIFICE

A Villanelle

He came to save, He came to die -
His Sacrifice encompassed all
beneath the shadows of the sky.

Men mock and jeer with jaundiced eye -
their bitter hearts do not recall
He came to save, He came to die.

"Behold Thy Son." Who will reply?
His blood, as drops of payment fall,
beneath the shadows of the sky.

The Magdalen is standing nigh -
His Mother gazes, strong and small.
He came to save, He came to die.

In pain he hangs - the wind keens by,
they offer vinegar and gall.
beneath the shadows of the sky.

At last it comes! He gives a cry!
His blood is spent - He's given all.
He came to save, He came to die,
beneath the shadows of the sky.

It is consummated.

The death has been suffered. All He lived for has been accomplished. The resignation of Holy Thursday, the suffering of Good Friday, the sorrow and loss of Holy Saturday has been fulfilled. At the end, the rising sun, the dawning of resurrection. The accomplishment. Our salvation, wrought in Creator's hands, bought by the blood shed by that same sacrificing Creator.

There can be no glory without the cross, no joy without the sorrow, no gain without suffering. There can be no life...

Without God.

EASTER

A Diamante

Thursday,
preparatory, penitential,
Sacrificing, depriving, mortifying.
Days, hours, minutes, moments.
Dawning, conquering, resurrecting.
Glory, Triumph,
Easter.

He is risen, as He said.

God bless!

Cat

That's So Sweet!

You know, this is really was so sweet! Amanda over at Old Fashioned Girl (Yes, that's right, the blog with the cute hairstyle tutorials and mouth-watering cookie recipes that only appear during Lent) gave me this blog award. Thanks so much, Pandy!!!

This is a very sweet blog award in more ways than one, because the rules are very simple. Look here, what one must do in order to accept it:

1.) Thank the person that gave you the award. (Thank you, Pandy!)

2.) Answer three questions. (I'm guessing you can make up your own questions for the bloggers you nominate, but since there weren't any, I'm using the questions Amanda answered.)
3.) Nominate four bloggers. (Will do!)
4.) Notify the bloggers you nominate. (Will do!)

That's it. Three questions! Not seven, eleven, twenty-seven, plus random facts and an extra three more questions "for fun." Just three questions. That's pretty sweet, don't you think?

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Ahem. So here I go.

Question Numero Uno:

What famous person would you like to meet?

Le Moi: I would love, love, love to meet Josh Groban! And not only meet. I would love to sing a duet with him. Not The Prayer, either. Something cooler than THAT. Like All I Ask Of You. Yes.

Source

Question Numero Dos

What's your favorite flower?

Le Moi: I freakin' love lilacs. They have that special, "tra-la-la, spring has sprung, the bird is on the wing!" kind of scent that I love. It makes me feel fuzzy inside, and spring-ish.

Question Numero Tres:

What is your least favorite food?

Le Moi: Hmmm. I can't say I'd be willing and eager to eat a tray-ful of uncooked mushrooms. If they are well-done, Portobello mushrooms served between two slices of bread, that's something else. I'll eat that. Oh! I think it was Jack in the Box's chicken sandwich. I will never, ever eat that again!

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Okay, now to NOMINATE!

I choose:

Treskie at Occasional Randomness

Bella at To Say Nothing Of Reality

Claudine at CarryUsOffBooks

Katie at Katie Clark Books

That's all for now, until Saturday! God bless, and have a very lovely Holy Week.

Cat

Ecce Ancilla Domine

The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary,

and she was conceived of the Holy Ghost.

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Today is the feast of the Annunciation. On this day, the angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and requested Mary's consent to become the Mother of God. The fate of the world hung upon her yea or nay.

Behold the Handmaid of the Lord.

Be it done unto me according to thy word.

Source

Mary was given the choice; either to say yes or no to this mighty request. "Yes," she said. "Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum. Be it done unto me according to thy word." And the angel departed from her, and God the Son was conceived within her womb.

And the Word was made flesh,

and dwelt among us.

Source

Mary said yes. And our great God, our King of heaven and earth, Creator of humanity, the Son of God condescended to take on human nature. He became Man, so he could suffer and die for us.

Behold the mighty moment,

beneath God's waiting sky,

When redemption hung upon

a virgin's small reply.

The angel brought the message,

the earth and sky grew still.

The handmaid bent her humble head

to God's almighty will.

"Fiat," our Mary answered,

"Let it be done to me."

And God became the Son of Man;

Divine Humanity.

Immaculate humility

Her soul was sweet perfume.

And God, Incarnate, was conceived,

within Our Lady's womb.

~Katrina DeLallo, 2013

For more on the Annunciation, go to the Fisheaters forum.

Eventually, Maria over at her blog, Fire, Fleet, and Candlelight, will post cool pictures of what we did with the blessed palms we received yesterday, on Palm Sunday.

And stay tuned! I received a blog award from Amanda at Old Fashioned Girl, so I'll be posting that sometime this week.

Cheers! God bless. :)

Cat

'Tis the Feast of St. Joseph

And apparently in Italy, it is traditional to wear red. Otherwise, you get an ice cube down your back! So, always being in the mood for starting new traditions, my family has dressed in red! (Also, who really wants an ice cube down their back? We are *that* kind of family.)

So all of us are wearing some kind of red garment. Me, I'm sporting a red shirt, black skirt, and some wee red flowers in my hair. Very pretty, I think. :)

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It is a new, beautiful week, and I have new items in my shop! I was feeling un-enthusiastic about molding yet another Phantom mask, so instead, I made a couple things I've been wanting to make.

Namely, THESE Captain America Shield Earrings:

And THIS Iron Man Arc Reactor:

 (I use my sisters as models. Aren't they kind?)

The Arc Reactor photographs really well. I love how the "lights" on the edge seem to shine a little bit. That's because of how I made the cane clay for those. Aren't I clever?

The Arc Reactor was originally going to be THIS:

(These photographs were taken with my phone)

 But I decided, every good artist needs a prototype! (Or rather, I fell in love with it and was reluctant to sell it, so my sisters convinced me to keep it as a prototype... just like Iron Man!) So, I kept the little box Arc Reactor, and instead made one that you can wear. Which I think is pretty cool.

So, that's what's new in my neck of the woods.

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Hope the rest of you have a lovely St. Joseph's Feast Day! God bless. :)

Cat

P.S. I don't know WHY that one Arc Reactor picture refuses to stay centered. I apologize for the distracting lack of symmetry it gives the overall page. :)

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!! And a Tag :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day. :) I hope youse all have a wonderful, lovely day. Me, I am going to have a BEAUTIFUL day. Count on it. We are going to have Irish coffees, and yummy desserts, and all kinds of good stuff. Wine and beer and things like that. :)

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Now, the Literary Dinner Party Tag! I will be honest. I was not tagged. But Treskie shared the idea with me, so I decided I was going to do it, tag or no tag! For that reason, I'm not tagging either. However, if you want to do this cool tag, by all means do! Just let me know, kay? I want to read your post too as well. :)

So, for this tag you are going to plan a dinner party. The guests? Characters from your favorite books! So review all the books you own, and get ready.

FOR THIS PARTY, INVITE:

1.) One character who likes to cook.

I'm going to invite dear old Mr. Clarkson from Mixed Blessings. He's an eccentric man who takes over the cooking duties from his distracted, too-busy landlady. :)

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2. One character who has money to fund the party.

Sara Crewe from A Little Princess: either before her father died and she lost her money, or after the Indian gentleman takes her in as his daughter.

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3. One character who might cause a scene.

Nick Mallory, from the Merlin Conspiracy. MmmHmmm. :)

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4. One character who is funny/amusing.

He is not a person. Does that matter? I'd invite Polar Bear from The Father Christmas Letters. He's always good for a laugh!

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5. One character who is super social/popular.

Peter Guthrie, from Bloomability. "Sono Libero, Libero, Liberooooo!"

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6. One villain.

The Man Jack, from Neil Gaiman's Graveyard Book. He is creeeeeeepy!

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7. One couple (doesn't have to be romantic).

Well, it's gonna be! Morgon of Hed and Raederle! I love, love, love these two. Quite so much. :)

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8. One hero/heroine.

Cyril from Pageant of Life. He. Is. Amazing.

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9. One under-appreciated character.

Faramir, son of Denethor, from The Lord of the Rings. There is a man completely under-appreciated by most readers. 

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10. One character of your own choosing.
Just one? Very well. It'll have to be a Diana Wynne Jones character. I'd invite Chrestomanci!

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There you go! I hope you enjoyed that. I rather did. It would be quite an epic gathering: some high fantasy characters, talking their archaic talk, some normal fantasy characters nattering away like Brits, some saintly people, some not-so-saintly people, and some not people! It would be interesting, indeed. :)

I have a couple new items I'm going to post in my Etsy shop in the next couple days, so when I do that I'll post some pictures here for you. :)

If you decide to do this tag, let me know! I want to check out your post. :) :)

Until next time,

God bless!

Cat

P.S. This is my 300th post! That's exciting. :)

I Find This Hilarious - And A Blog Giveaway!!!

So, I guess I know what's popular in my shop!

Phantom of the Opera things.

That's what's popular.

This is how I acted when I discovered my Phantom of the Opera necklace - which I made last week, and posted yesterday - already sold.

I can't seem to get them Phantom things to stick around! It's so funny. The last three items sold amazingly quickly, and I'm super glad, but wow! People must really love the masks. :) This time was really cool, because this time I know the buyer. (Winkety) I'll get that sent out to you as soon as I can!

Thank you, all my lovely buyers, and stay tuned! As soon as possible, I shall supply you all with another Phantom of the Opera inspired creation!

On another note, there is a fabulous, fabulous, FABULOUS Sherlock giveaway currently going on over at The Golden Road. If you are in any way addicted to Sherlock, head over there NOW! This giveaway will only last another four days, so you'll have to be quick if you want to enter!

Go now! You will LOVE what's being offered!

http://thegoldenroadblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Sherlock%20Week

And that's my quick blog for today. Laugh with me my friends. And pull out the white clay. We're going to need another mask.

Habemus Papam! And smaller things of note.

I noticed, while pinning my newest Etsy item to Pinterest, that we now know who our new Pope is! Pope Francis I. May God shower blessings down on him. :)

Now here are the pictures I promised to post last week.

I haz created a NEW item for my Etsy Shop! Since I like to have a little of something of everything in there, (and since my two Phantom of the Opera items sold so fast) I present to you...

THIS! THIS THIS THIS!!

TA DA!!!

A very lovely (if I do say so myself) Phantom of the Opera necklace. I glazed it quite heavily to give it a nice, smooth finish, and the glaze brought out the subtle tints of gold I'd added into the stem. It made it look almost metallic. Really cool!

Also, since I said I'd show these to you as well, here are the cute wee boxes I've made for my items. First, here's a shot of a largish box made to fit a "Ladybug Bloom" inside it, and a blue box for my Doctor Who Jewelry Box. (You can see the picture of the item on the side. Isn't that COOL?!)

Then a couple shots of the Ladybug Bloom box. Isn't it purty? It's nice and big and flat, just the right custom-made design for my pretty blooms. :)






Last, ALL the boxes! Right now I've only got six done, because I ran out of ink. Yes, my friends. Ink. The magenta ink, specifically. I mean, WHAT?! Oh well. I was ready for a break, anyhoozle. Those things are tedious. Seriously, I have to size the box. Then, I have to decide what kind of a design I want to fill it with. Then I have to make sure I have my logo on top, and an item picture on the side or the bottom, wherever it fits. Then I print it out, cut it out, fold, glue, and package. It takes awhile. But, the result is worth it! Don't you think?

Anyway, that's really all I have to share today. I must away and do some writing now.

Oh yes, and scan something into my computer for my sister. I promised, forgotted, promised again like ten minutes ago, and nearly forgotted again! She waved it in my face. Like this: *wavewavewave* So I shall do that now. Before I forget thrice.

Habemus Papam!! Here's praying that Pope Francis I is a strong, holy, and traditional Pope. God bless him!

Right ho! God bless, and have a lovely Wednesday!

Cat

Six-Sentence Saturday 03/09/2013

Ever have one of those days where your brain just goes, "Uuuuuugh!"?

I'm sort of having that kind of day.

1.) I'm editing a story, and though I'm pleased to say I'm cutting a lot and adding stuff that's much better, I'm feeling rather blah about the whole idea.

source: Tumblr

2.) However, my instructor loves it, so that's what really counts, right?

source: Tumblr

3.) I'm working on a project for my Etsy Shop! I shall hopefully have it completed and posted by Monday! :)

source: Tumblr

4.) Oh my goodness, you should SEE the cute boxes I'm making for my Shop! When I get to camera again, I'll try to remember to post some pics.

source: Tumblr

5.) Maybe I'll do that when I post my new Etsy item.

source: Tumblr

6.) I no longer have fingernails. It might just be me, but there will be times when something in me goes, "PANIC!!!" and I chew on my nails until I have these ugly little things that I endeavor to repair with a file and lotion and lemon finger scrub. Sorrows.

source: Tumblr

That's all for now! Hope youse all have a lovely weekend! It's Sunday tomorrow. I love Sundays. You can have cookies on Sundays. And cake. And foods. Yanno, all that stuff you crave during Lent. :)

God bless!

Cat