It's been a lovely couple of days but with such a beautiful rainfall these 36 hours am concerned that it is perhaps the last of it until September. I hope not, and past years have been occasionally wet through June; we shall see. It is the feast of Saint Basil the Great, Bishop, Confessor, and great Doctor Ecclesiae (Introibo, CE, Wiki) and the Monday, the fourth day, infra Octavam Sacratissimi Cordis Domini Nostri Iesu Christi (Introibo).
Am listening to Magdalena Lisak's recital of Chopin from yesterday at Żelazowa Wola: from three op 25 Etudes, to the first three op 56 Mazurkas, ending with the Scherzo in B flat minor op 31.
I have a difficult time imagining a Heaven in which I can't be listening to the Chopin Etudes, drinking a first glass of tea with the background accompaniment of a gentle rain-- while I can discard the tea and perhaps the rain, with the assistance of reason and sound theology, I do wonder about the Chopin; is the musical taste of the elect made so pure in the heavenly Glory that... hmm. A corollary might be that what's his name's, Luther something or other's, ecological symphonies are consigned to being a minor element of the soundtrack of Hell; I don't suppose that can be right, however. It is commonly understood that the great music of Heaven is the sound of the myriads upon myriads of voices, angelic and human, raised in praise of the ineffable divine Majesty, leaving Chopin's piano altogether out of it. From the one perspective, I reckon, this is more or less the same question asked by those awful people for whom Heaven is pointless without the presence also of dear, dear Sparkles the cat. And yet it is doubtless true that slinking Sparkles is alive, body and non-rational, animal soul, whereas the human artefact 'Barcarolle in F sharp major op 60' isn't.
Post Primam. Today is also the anniversary of the first martyrdoms of religious in France, on June 14th 1790 at Nîmes-- five Capuchins: Père Benoît de Beaucaire, Père Siméon de Sanilhac, Père Séraphin de Nîmes, Frère Célestin de Nîmes, and Frère Fidèle d’Annecy-- after which came the deluge of the Revolution.
Ante Vesperas. The rain's been stopped for a few hours and the Sun is shining although there are still rain clouds hanging about. The landscapers were here in the morning and cut the grass, so there is that lovely scent in the air. The only real 'cloud' is that it looks as if the temperature will be in the 90s again at the beginning of next week for at least three days or so, tsk.
It is the feast of Saint Dogmaels (6th century), of Saints Savin and Cyprien (5th century), and of Saints Valerius and Rufinus (4th century).
V. Et álibi aliórum plurimórum sanctórum Mártyrum et Confessórum, atque sanctárum Vírginum. R. Deo grátias.
LDVM
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