Happy (belated) birthday!

To Britain’s longest-ever reigning monarch: Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

God save our gracious Queen!
Long live our noble Queen!
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us:
God save the Queen!

O Lord our God arise,
Scatter her enemies,
And make them fall:
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On Thee our hopes we fix:
God save us all.

Thy choicest gifts in store,
On her be pleased to pour;
Long may she reign:
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause,
To sing with heart and voice,
God save the Queen!

I just heard...

Putin: should Turkey's Erdoğan not stop supporting terrorists in Syria, I shall end the job Tsar Nicholas II left unfinished; restoring Constantinople to Christendom

 

 

Here’s one for the books. It seems that sometime last month, Putin made a politically incorrect pronouncement, which somehow found its way to print. But as I am not one to trust politicians, I highly doubt that these words will carry any weight, and become more than what they are already: an empty threat. Nevertheless, one could only hope.

If only…  

Meanwhile in the Dar al-Islam

60-year-old Christian woman caned for selling alcohol in unprecedented Sharia law case

Must be Friday: let us all imbibe and rejoice with the moderateness of the religion of peace.

Easter Sunday

Lima – Easter Sunday

 

The Lord Resurrected

A day of joy and elation, for Christ has risen. From the monastery of Our Lady of Carmen the Lord Resurrected and the Virgin of Joy set out, along different routes to reunite in front of the Cathedral Basilica, where a gleeful Easter Mass is celebrated.

Arequipa – Easter Sunday

 

This morning, the procession of the Divine Child of the Resurrection from the Monastery of St. Rose goes forth, with bells ringing throughout the city. Although the image of Jesus as a child trampling a skull underfoot, representing His triumph over death, arrived in Peru in 1800, the tradition of his procession only dates from the mid-19^th century. At the end of the march, there are solemn Easter Masses celebrated throughout the city.

The nuns of St. Rose turning over the Divine Child

In some areas (Cayma, Yanahuara) the “burning of Judas” takes place, in which a life-size representation of the traitor is burnt amidst fireworks and the jeers of the public.

***

With this post we wrap up the Holy Week series. It is with no small amount of satisfaction that I realize that these devout traditions, handed down from the time of the monarchy in many cases, endure and thrive not only in these two cities, but in much of the country. It is essential then to pray to the Almighty to grant the faithful in Peru the necessary strength to fight back against all assaults from modernist secularism, which has already mortally wounded much of the West.

Holy Saturday

Lima – Holy Saturday

 

Today there is no mass and the churches are closed with the notable exception of the Chapel of Solitude, in which there is a wake, starting around noon, for the Lord of the Holy Burial (an image made in Lima in 1620) under the watchful eyes of Our Lady of Loneliness and St. John the Evangelist. During this service the Stabat Mater is sung.

Lord of the Holy Burial

At night, the Paschal Vigil takes place.

Arequipa – Holy Saturday

 

In the White City, as Arequipa is also known, there are no masses celebrated either, but in the convent of St. Francis, there is vigil called the Loneliness of Mary, after which a procession with the Virgin of Anguish (a replica of Virgin of Hope of Macarena of Seville, that arrived in the mid-20^th century) along with St. John the Apostle and the Most Holy Cross with the Shroud departs.

Our Lady of Anguish

Once night has fallen, the Paschal Vigil begins.