Our Hearts Are Restless

Just realized that, what with Easter and the play, I never posted a poem for this month. One of my friends here at school, a literature major, is going into the convent soon.  She showed me this poem, since my sister is a Carmelite nun.  Having been blessed to speak with her a little bit on the phone on Easter Sunday, I thought I would share this short verse this month. Heaven-Haven: A Nun Takes the Veil Gerard Manley Hopkins I have desired to go Where springs not fail, To fields where fly no sharp and sided hail And a few lilies blow. And I have asked to be Where no storms come, Where the green swell is in the havens dumb, And out of the swing of the sea.

I was inaugurated into the life of the stage this past week, while working in the costume department for our school play, Nicholas Nickleby .  Since this was my very first time involved in the theatre, it was quite an intense experience!  We'd spent several months designing and organizing the costume department, and the last month or so doing most of the sewing.  Since this was a Dickens story, we obviously had to use Victorian costumes.  You can get a lot of good Victorian looks by means of tailcoats and hoop skirts, as we discovered! The cast was about 45 people, including close to 20 extras (who of course also had to be clothed.)  Most of the characters had at least one costume change.  We made about a dozen tailcoat for the men, and borrowed and rented hoop skirts for the women.  I'll try to post some pictures in here to give you an idea. The set itself was amazing!  Dickens' books ordinarily have dozens of subplots and supporting characters, so the play version of this...

Christos anesti!  Alethos anesti!  Had a lovely Easter Break - would not have missed the Holy Rosary Triduum for the world.  I love all the ceremonies for the Paschal Triduum, but one of my favorite moments is the glorious end of Lent.  After three days of silence and darkness, and an hour of a church lit only by candles and a few lights, the shadows are lifted.  All the bells ring out their glad peals; the choir sings the Gloria at full volume; the organ plays its mightiest; the lights are turned on and all the violet covers on the statues are removed.  Then it is that the full joy of the Resurrection comes! Before that, though, in the darkness with the light of the Paschal Candle and a few candelabra, the priest chants an incredibly beautiful piece of writing.  He sings about the Paschal Candle; about the night on which Christ rose from the dead; and rejoices in the light in the darkness, and even in the darkness for manifesting the light.  Here is a translation of the Exsultet. Now,...