This morning we got up bright and early for mass. Father Richard had a nice homily this morning about Blessed Virgin Mary, reminding us that May is Mary’s month. At the altar, he had placed several paintings, icons, and other religious items depicting Mary. The neatest of all was an antique “home altar” someone had purchased for him. I say, “home altar” because I don’t know the proper name for this item (and knowing the Catholic faith as I do…I’m positive there is a proper name for this item.) It is wooden framed shadow box-like item with a depiction of the Pieta behind decorated glass.
Below is a little door which opens to expose two candle holders, a card of prayers and possibly a font for holy water. The purpose of this “home altar” was to place it in the room of the very ill/dying. It would have been appropriate for the family to have gathered around this “altar” when the priest was anointing the sick or offering last rites. These “home altars” are antiques nowadays since persons frequently do their dying in hospitals/hospices/nursing homes instead of their own homes. Side note: It is very interesting how our culture of death/dying has changed with changes in medicine.
After church, we went to brunch at a local restaurant then came home. I worked on scrap booking pictures from our cross-country trip in September 2007 (eeek, I’m behind) and Dave worked diligently on some computer work for his mother. Around 1:30, I noticed how beautiful it was outside so the plan was to go for a walk at Bigelow State Park…on the pavement as it has been rainy lately and I didn’t want to get muddy. Hmmm, then Dave noticed the availability of trail maps… Soon we were hiking. Since both of us are rather out of shape, a .9 mile hike through Connecticut woods isn’t a cake walk. 3/10 of a mile into our adventure I was certain we were lost in the Alps. At 4/10 of a mile, I was pretty sure we’d past Mt. Everest’s base camp. 5/10 of a mile, I think we were past by a sherpa. After that, my feet just plain hurt so I stopped being sarcastic about finding Sir Edmund Hillary and wasted oxygen bottles. We did make it out and back to our car, but on the map, that short squiggly line running along side the lake isn’t an easy route!
Speaking of Sir Edmund Hillary, I was just looking him up online to make sure to spell his last name properly and I noticed that he died earlier this year on the same exact day as my Grandmother (January 11, 2008). May God bless your soul, Sir Hillary.