Universalis, your very own breviary in pixels...

Saturday 26 February 2011

Chant and Becoming a Community

I heard a smidge of an NPR piece on a movie (new? old?), that I would very much like to see, Of Gods and Men.
The actor being interviewed was unfamiliar to me, (apparently famous as part of some big-budget, 'splosion franchise,) but he talked about how the actors "became" the seven (heroic,) French Trappists they were called upon to play.

Hmm... monks work, they read, they eat, but we all do that, what do they do that makes them different?
And what they came up with was, "Monks chant."

And so, they chanted.
And by singing the chant, by singing together, (which, whether the actors knew it or not, whether they intended it or not, as long as they did not deliberately intend not to do so, was praying together,) they became a community.

Of Gods and Men

What a shame such a powerful tool is wasted in parishes across the country, no, around the world...

Anyone seen this?

Sunday 13 February 2011

Caution, Tripping Hazard....

... is apparently the intended message of this sign.
ISO W007 Tripping Hazard Label

I am not certain what it says about my state of mind that, every time I pass the uneven sidewalk where it is posted, I think, "Oh, how interesting, 'MONKEY Crossing'."
Is my life ever going to get back to normal?