Our Lady of Lourdes

Today, February 11 is the national holiday of the foundation day of Japan, but also, Catholic memorial day of "Our Lady of Lourdes", too!

Lots of national holidays and histrorical events of Japan are the same days of Celebration days of St. Maria, eg., August 15, the end of war is Assumption of St. Mary.

...
Ever immaculate Virgin, Mother of mercy, health of the sick, refuge of sinners, comfort of the afflicted, you know my needs, my troubles, my sufferings; cast on me a look of pity.
By appearing in the grotto of Lourdes, you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary, from which you dispense your favours, and already many sufferers have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and physical.
I come, therefore, with the most unbounded confidence to implore your maternal intercession.
Obtain, most loving mother, my requests, through Jeses Christ your Son our Lord.
Amen.

Ash Wednesday in Japan, ...and Mardi Gras in America

I'm writing this entry, in Japan, on 7:30AM (that is 9 hours forward of the Greenwich Time in UK, and 17 hours forward of the Pacific Time in US) of Wednesday, March 1st 2006.
That is, the "Ash Wednesday", a beginning of 44 days of "Lent", a season of repentance and sacrifice, on the end of which we celebrate the Easter.

But, beyond the time zones over the globe, you might be enjoying some carnival, I imagine.
And I'm really concerning myself for The Mardi Gras, the finale of the carnival of New Orleans, Louisiana, where the Hurricane Katrina hit the region in the early autumn of 2005.

God bless especially this event this year. Amen

Father Peter's weblog site

Father Peter, who is actually one and only Capuccin priest living in Japan today, is publishing his weblog and other sites. A few of them are written in English. I'd like to introduce some to you readers.

>Today with Father Peter
A daily message from Father Peter.

>Let's go!
A weblog of Father Peter.

A Happy New Year!

This is a entry transplanted from one of my blogs on a Japanese server, which cannot show side bar menus correctly in English.
The original casting date is January 3rd, 2006:
------------------------------------------------

The January 1st is, of course, a new year's day, but also a Catholic holiday celebrating "Mary, Mother of God", too.Today's first reading in the mass was from "NUMBERS 6:22-27" (Old Testament).

This passage tells the way of the new year blessing of the Israelites by the Lord through their priests.
I like it so much and want to share it with all of you readers:

The Lord bless you and keep you!
The Lord let his face shine upon you,
and be gracious to you!

... The peace of God spread into every corner of the world, and a happy new year to you all!
The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!

Let's begin the novena...!

We Catholics (I'm baptized at the solemn mass of the Easter 1999), make a preparation well before celebrating a specific holy day, with a "novena" -- a series of nine-day prayers on the same intention.

I owe to a Carmelite saint, Edith Stein, for my christian name "Theresia Benedicta of the Cross" (the name by the baptism; on the confirmation, I've been given another christian name "Raphaella"), so I'm planning to prepare well for the day of July the 16th, the memorial day for "Our Lady of Mount Carmel". Today is the best day for kicking off the novena!

Fullerene...

I've been surprised a lot!
The fullerene, the soccorball-shaped carbon, is some material for cosmetics! They say this stuff has some anti-oxidant effect...

Do you know fullerene? I learned this material by the chemistry course about four years ago.
(See the shape of fullerene(a Japanese site) --> http://www.mcfullerene.com/world/index.html)

In 2002, the year of World Cup in Japan & Korea, there were lots of fullerene-shaped illuminations in the downtown of Yokohama. What a fantastic view it was! I loved it.

...And now you can put this on your face. Can you believe that?

Today is the first day.

I didn't noticed till today that I was invited to a new (Google) Group on Our Lady of Akita, and I realized I don't have any Google ID!
...So, registered, subscribed and launched a new blog in English...!
(... I'm editing a Japanese blog at http://raphaella.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/)

I don't know till when I can continue this trial.