Saturday, March 25, 2006

A Very Special Day

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation, the day on which the Angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary and asked her if she would be the Mother of God. Today is the beggining of the Novena for Impossible Intentions which you can find here.

I discovered recently in the Gilbert magazine that today is also Tolkien Reading Day. Pull out of one of Tolkien's wonderful books and enjoy. Celebrate the downfall of the evil lord Sauron by diving into one or more of his books.
So today we celebrate the annunciation and the downfall of Sauron. I don't think that is a coincidence. Tolkien was a Catholic and most likely chose that date on purpose.
But I must leave you to reflect on the possibilities for I should to follow my own advice and pull out a Tolkien book to celebrate these two joyous events.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Outlaws of Ravenhurst By Sr M. Imelda Wallace

This morning I finished a fabulous book entitled Outlaws of Ravenhurst, not for the first time, nor will it be the last.

Although it is set mainly in 18th century Scotland, its opening scenes are in America. A baby found by the roadside by the parish priest has grown up with the Abells, a hardworking Catholic family. Then one day visitors come, not just any visitors, the boy's relatives, nobles of Scotland come to take the boy back with them to Scotland. He is the heir of the castle Ravenhurst. There he meets his mother and she tells him much, the church is persecuted in Scotland, his father is imprisoned or perhaps dead. No, all is not well in Scotland. The next day he is rather bewildered, his room has changed and his mother is gone. One of the servants assures him it was a dream. Months go past and still his mother does not return. He is told that he will be sent to school and that in time he will become the Earl of Ravenhurst but before any of that he must give up his Catholic faith. His test is to come, so is the greater part of this book, which by the way I highly reccomend.

This book is excellent, speedily read but slowly (if ever) forgotten. The rich backround and exciting story make it a simply wonderful book.