Cave Ides Martium?

 Oh, yes

In March, July, October, May
The Ides fall on the fifteenth day,
The Nones the seventh, and all besides
Have two days less for Nones and Ides.

I'm finding that this post is filled with a lot of uncertainties.  First of all, the certain things:
1.  Today is the second holiday of holiday week, the Ides of March!
2.  It was on the Ides of March in 44 B.C. that Julius Caesar was assassinated by Brutus, Cassius, and other members of the Senate.
3.  Yes, as the little poem above states, all the months have Ides and, though lesser-known, Nones!  The Ides of March are just the most famous.
4.  Latin is awesome.  :-)

So, uncertainties abounding . . . firstly, I'm not even sure if the Latin in this post title is correct.  :-\  Secondly, I am positive that I remember hearing that Caesar was NOT assassinated on the Senate steps as is widely believed.  We were in Rome on our honeymoon and I was sure that I heard such a thing.  John can't support me on this, but I typically have the more detailed memory, anyway.

The tour guide whom, I testify, told us that Julius Caesar was not murdered on the Senate steps.  Interestingly, he was from Glasgow.

Why Caesar was stabbed is a bit clearer than whether it was right that he was stabbed.  He had acted as dictator for Rome, leading them in tremendous military victories.  "Dictator" in its original sense did not have all the wretched connotations it has today.  It was meant to be a position taken by a single strong leader to help the Roman Republic through a difficult time.  And it was meant to be temporary.  Certainly Caesar had been an able dictator, but when was pronounced/pronounced himself dictator for life, members of the senate took matters into their own hands.  But, we know how much people look up to a single, strong leader who has helped them through a difficult time.  The result was not a peaceful return to rule by representation, but a breakout of civil war, leading ultimately to the establishment of rule by emperor.  Take that, Brutus.

Anyway, I have fond memories of observing the Ides of March in conjunction with Latin class in high school.  Magistra Sadlon, our teacher, offered 10 bonus points for wearing a black armband to every class and 50 points for wearing a black toga!  She herself wore a handsome black suit/skirt and a pin with the proper rendering of "Cave Ides Martium," whatever it is.  I don't have pictures of those days, but I do recall, senior year, gliding through the halls in my makeshift black toga, grimly celebrating/mourning the death of Julius Caesar.  I was never quite sure which it was supposed to be.  ;-)

The Pantheon in Rome.  Was it here?

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus

During the last two months, the choral society with which John and I sing has been working on Dvorak's Requiem, and our concert was, unfortunately, yesterday.  Those who know us well know that we believe new covenant Christians are joyfully to keep and celebrate Sunday, the Lord's Day, as the basic equivalent of the old covenant Sabbath.  That's why I put in the word "unfortunately."  Sometimes the legitimacy of a given activity on the Lord's Day isn't too clear, and that was true in this case.  If we'd been singing in a church service instead of a concert, it would have been a clearer "no" to me.  Surprising?  See, I definitely don't believe in worship "by proxy" as some have put it.  We know that the early Christians in the New Testament sang in worship, but the Bible doesn't say that other people, like a soloist or choir, sang on their behalf.  In fact, the privilege of direct access to the throne of God which we all share as new covenant believers seems rather contrary to such a notion.  This particular issue kept me from seeking to join any of the choirs in college, but it wasn't an issue here. 

If singing in our concert had completely interfered with attending the stated meetings of our church, it would have been a definite "no" to me as well.  We did end up singing in our concert, and this may be the area where we compromised most.  Though the concert started at 4 pm, it didn't finish in time for us to make it to the evening service, and all we could do was catch the bulk of the sermon by listening in online.  We're commanded, as Christians, not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Hebrews 10:25) and John and I did toe the line yesterday.  Hmm.

It would have been a clearer issue, still, if we'd been singing show tunes instead of Dvorak.  But this is deeply religious music.  Yes, it is the music of a tradition steeped in darkness, but there are precious shards of Scripture light beaming brightly through the Latin in places.  I didn't put in the work it would have required me to translate it all, but at quiet times in rehearsal last week when the soloists were singing, I worked at some of the phrases.  They were deeply moving, perhaps because they gained meaning for me word by word and couldn't be rushed over.  In some places I was overwhelmed with gratitude that we are free from the vain practice of praying for the dead.  But hearing the soloists as we approached the Sanctus turned my heart for another reason. 

A week ago on Sunday night, Pastor Andy was preaching on the glory of Christ from Isaiah 6.  As he preached, I could just about envision the seraphim--those lofty, splendid, and altogether real beings surrounding Christ's throne.  But I could not come close to seeing the King of Glory Himself in my mind's eye.  What can it mean that the train of His robe fills the temple?  I do not know if we're intended not to be able to picture Him or if my own mind is just too feeble.  The song the seraphim sing is "Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory!"  Pastor Andy pointed out that nothing else, not justice, not love, not grace, is attributed to Christ with such repetition in the whole Bible.  Holiness is the very essence of His being. 

"Sanctus," we know, means "holy."  In fact, half of the Sanctus movement of the Requiem is the Latin translation of the seraphim's song of praise.  (The rest is "BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!" taken from the gospels.)  That sermon and the seraphim filled my mind as I gazed up past the gothic stone arches at the light streaming through the stained glass windows in the chapel.  Holy, Holy, Holy, truly holy is He!  Somehow, thinking on Christ caused me to forget how high the notes were, and they flew out of my mouth nearly involuntarily.  And that, I think, is a little glimpse of what heaven may be like.

Mittens

The title of this post makes me smile because "mittens" is also a Latin word for "sending."  (Present active participle, if I remember correctly, for those who know and care!)

This is the second pair of four-needle mittens I've made and kept; the fourth, I suppose that I've actually made, because I ripped out a couple of early attempts with weird patterns I tried.  This pattern is from freevintageknitting (http://www.freevintageknitting.com/mittens/615-mittens-pattern.html).  It's great because it has numbers for five different sizes!  I just added the cables and some increases to adjust for the cables.  And since I was using Paton's Shetland Chunky yarn, they came out a bit larger than the pattern said, which, come to think of it, may be why one of my attempts got ripped out.  Anyway, it's a nice wool-blend yarn with the washability of acrylic.  They were a present, along with an Olivia book, for John's dear little niece turning 7. 

It's great to be back at our home on cottage lane, though I do feel a bit overwhelmed with all there is to be caught up on.