Today is the First Friday of the month, dedicated to Devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Today is the Feast of Saint Philip (died c. 80) and Saint James (died c.62), Apostles. It is also World Press Freedom Day. And today is the Second Day of the Second Weekend of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
The First Friday of each month is dedicated to devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The most significant source for the devotion to the Sacred Heart in the form it is known today was Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647–1690), a nun of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, who received apparitions of Jesus Christ in the Burgundian French village of Paray le Monial, the first on December 27th, 1673, the feast of Saint John the Evangelist, and the final apparition eighteen months later. The Promises of the Sacred Heart as given to Saint Margaret Mary are:
1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will give peace in their families.
3. I will console them in all their troubles.
4. I will be their refuge in life and especially in death.
5. I will abundantly bless all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfection.
9. I will bless those places wherein the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated.
10. I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
11. Persons who propagate this devotion shall have their names eternally written in my Heart.
12. In the excess of the mercy of my Heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour.
Saint Philip, Apostle (died c. 80) was born in Bethsaida, Palestine, and was a disciple of Saint John the Baptist. Becoming one of the Twelve Apostles, he brought Nathanael to Christ. Little is known about him, but scriptural episodes give the impression of a shy, naive, but practical individual. He preached in Greece and Asia Minor. Various legendary accounts give his form of martyrdom either that of crucifixion or beheading. Gnostic Christians appealed to the apostolic authority of Philip, ascribing a number of Gnostic texts to him, most notably the Gospel of Philip from the Nag Hammadi library. He is the Patron Saint of hatters, of pastry chefs, of Cape Verde, and of Uruguay. Saint James, Apostle (died c.62) was a cousin of Jesus, and the brother of Saint Jude Thaddeus, and raised in a Jewish home of the time with all the training in Scripture and Law that was part of that life. One of the Twelve Apostles, he was one of the first to see the risen Christ. Becoming the first Bishop of Jerusalem, he met with Saint Paul the Apostle to work out Paul’s plans for evangelization; he supported the position that Gentile converts did not have to obey all Jewish religious law, though he continued to observe it himself as part of his heritage. A just and apostolic man known for his prayer life and devotion to the poor, he was martyred when beaten to death with a fuller’s club at Ostrakine in Lower Egypt, where he was preaching the Gospel. He is the Patron Saint of apothecaries, pharmacists, and druggists, of fullers and milliners, and of Uruguay. Our Gospel Reading for this Feast comes to us from John 14:6-14: “Jesus said to Thomas, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else, believe because of the works themselves. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.”” Today is also World Press Freedom Day. The United Nations General Assembly in 1993 declared May 3rd to be World Press Freedom Day to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and marking the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek, a statement of free press principles put together by African newspaper journalists in 1991. UNESCO marks World Press Freedom Day by conferring the UNESCO / Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize on a deserving individual, organization or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the defense and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, especially when this has been achieved in the face of danger. UNESCO also marks World Press Freedom Day each year by bringing together media professionals, press freedom organizations and United Nations agencies to assess the state of press freedom worldwide and discuss solutions for addressing challenges. Each conference is centered on a theme related to press freedom, including good governance, media coverage of terrorism, impunity and the role of media in post-conflict countries. This year’s conference is in Santiago, Chile. The theme of this year’s World Press Freedom Day, 2024, is “A Press for the Planet: Journalism in the face of the Environmental Crisis.” Today is also the Second Day of the Second Weekend of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. There is much more than music at Jazz Fest; the Louisiana Folklife Village features master artisans and tradition-bearers creating cultural treasures by using generations-old techniques. The Native American Village, a component of the Folklife Village, celebrates the rich heritage of our state’s indigenous peoples. And The Grandstand gives Festival-goers a chance to take an intimate look at the vibrant culture, cuisine and art of Louisiana in an air-conditioned environment. Today at Jazz Fest one can see Foo Fighters, HOZIER, Steel Pulse, Allison Russell, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, and Terence Blanchard featuring The E-Collective & Turtle Island Quartet.
Last night my replacement Spice Jars were delivered, and I started reading The Cat Who Talked Turkey by Lilian Jackson Braun (Ebook).
Richard fed the cats and went to drink coffee; a thunderstorm arrived at 8:00 am, and I woke up at 8:15 am. I posted to Facebook that today was World Press Freedom Day. Richard came home, and I did my Book Devotional Reading. I worked on my spice jars, and ate my breakfast toast and read the Acadiana Advocate out on the porch (with it raining quite hard). I then did my Internet Devotional Reading, said the First Day of my Ascension Novena, called my General Practitioner’s office to have them call in a prescription to the pharmacy, and showered the porch plants. Richard went to Walmart for groceries and prescriptions, and I finished reading Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout. I then did my Book Review for the book for this weblog and for my Goodreads and Facebook accounts. Richard came home with two of my prescriptions (one will be ready on May 10th, and the other when they get the word from my general practitioner’s office). Matthew called and we had a long conversation. I started reading The Library Book by Susan Orlean, then we watched Jeopardy! I left the house at 5:00 pm and went to the Chapel. I did my First Friday Devotions, said the Way of the Cross (from my Magnificat Stations of the Cross booklet), then I went to the St. Edmund School Fair and played bingo (no wins). I got home at 6:15 pm. For dinner we had shrimp fettuccine with garlic knots, and we watched How Green Was My Valley (1941), which won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, and Best Black-and-White Art Direction-Interior Decoration. (And with only one actual Welsh person in the cast, and being filmed in Southern California, I suspect that in Wales they watch the film to laugh at the accents.) Our #10 LSU Lady Tigers won the first game of a three-game, three-day College Softball Series with the Liberty Flames by the score of 4 to 0. And our LSU Tigers won the first game of a three-game, three-day Home SEC College Baseball Series with the #1 Texas A&M Aggies by the score of 6 to 4.
Tomorrow is the First Saturday of the month, dedicated to Devotions to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. With no Saints to honor tomorrow, we note that tomorrow is Star Wars Day (as in, May the Fourth be with you). Tomorrow is the 150th Running of the Kentucky Derby, the first race in the Triple Crown, run in Louisville, Kentucky (all I know about racehorses is which end eats). And tomorrow is the Third Day of the Second Weekend of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. I will be going to Church to do my First Saturday Devotions and to say my Rosary, to attend the 4:00 pm Saturday Anticipation Mass for the Sixth Sunday of Easter (Alleluia!), and then to the Fair to play bingo. Our #10 LSU Lady Tigers (37-13, 12-12) will be playing the second game of a three-game, three-day College Softball Series with the Liberty Flames (31-21, 19-5). And our LSU Tigers (30-17, 8-14) will be playing the second game of a three-game, three-day Home SEC College Baseball Series with the #1 Texas A&M Aggies (38-7, 15-7).
Our Parting Quote on this First Friday evening comes to us from Daliah Lavi, Israeli actress (died 2019). Born as Daliah Lewinbuk (or Levenbuch) in 1942 in Shavei Tzion, British Mandate of Palestine, her parents were of German Jewish and Russian Jewish descent. At her tenth birthday party in 1952 she met Kirk Douglas, who was in Israel to film The Juggler (1953), and told him she would like to be a dancer. Douglas helped persuade her parents to send her to Stockholm, Sweden to study ballet. In 1955 Lavi appeared in her first film, Hemsöborna, a Swedish adaptation of August Strindberg’s 1887 novel The People of Hemsö. Her stage name of “Lavi” means “lioness” in Hebrew. She returned to Israel that same year due to the death of her father, and did her mandatory service in the Israeli Army. She also worked as a swimsuit model. Her career took off in 1960, when she started appearing in a large number of European and American productions. She was fluent in Hebrew, English, German, French, Italian and Spanish, which aided her in getting parts in international productions. Lavi was reunited with Douglas in her first American film, Vincente Minnelli’s Two Weeks in Another Town (1962). Her portrayal of The Girl, Peter O’Toole’s love interest, in 1965’s Lord Jim was to have been her breakout American role. But audiences’ tepid reaction to the film prompted Lavi to accept a new career path, frequently playing a scantily clad femme fatale. She appeared in Mario Bava’s Gothic classic La Frusta e il corpo, or The Whip and the Body (1963). Lavi played Ilona Bergen in Ten Little Indians, and was in the first Matt Helm film, The Silencers (1966), opposite Dean Martin. Perhaps her most visible role was as The Detainer in Casino Royale (1967). Her last American feature film was Catlow (1971), a western directed by Sam Wanamaker and based on a Louis L’Amour novel; it also starred Yul Brynner, Richard Crenna and Leonard Nimoy. After her film career faded, she was “discovered” by record producer Jimmy Bowien and she began a successful singing career in Germany. She recorded German-language covers of Melanie’s “Look What They’ve Done to My Song, Ma” and Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind”, and was on seven episodes of Die Drehscheibe in 1970, 1971, and 1973. Her hits included “Oh, wann kommst du?”, “Willst du mit mir gehn?” and “C’est ça, la vie (So ist das Leben)”. Lavi then retired to North Carolina with her fourth husband. She returned to acting in the 1991 German television film Mrs. Harris und der Heiratsschwindler, and she her last acting role was in a 1997 episode of the German series Duell zu dritt (died 2019): “I like acting and it pays well, and they say one day I will become a big star. But I don’t really care about an acting career. I’d rather be a dancer.”
From The Recamier 