Paddy O'Furniture's Pub: United States Papal Visit 2008

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

United States Papal Visit 2008

I was reading a friends blog today KansasCityCatholic and I liked today's post (You can click on the previous to go there or read on). I essentially have all the same information here...anyway, It was simple and informative about some of the official places one could go to on the WWW (World Wide Web) to gain news and information about His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and his historic visit to the United States including a trip to the White House. To commemorate the event and provide information on Pope Benedict XVI's visit there has been an official website set up by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for the Apostolic Visit to the United States.It is http://www.uspapalvisit.com/ . If you click on that link it will take you there. Today is actually his Holiness's birthday and he is celebrating 81 years. Let us all pray that his visit will bring about wonderful works here in the United States.

There is also a blog set up for his visit and you can click here to go there. Last, if you lucky enough to have an audience with or to meet the Pope there is also a website that will give you pointers on protocol and papal etiquette. You can click here to go there, as well.

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Pope Quotes - As Quoted by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI

"The new pope knows that his task is to make the light of Christ shine before men and women of the world - not his own light, but that of Christ. Pope Benedict XVI
"Entrusting ourselves to Christ, we lose nothing, we gain everything. In his hands our life acquires its true meaning." Homily - Pilsudzki Sq Warsaw Poland (2005)
"As I have had the occasion to say, it is not the proper task of the Church to engage in the political work of bringing about the most just society possible; nonetheless, she cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the struggle for justice." (2007)
"In truth, peace" World Day of Prayer for Peace Jan 1 (2006)
"The words of Pope John Paul II constantly echo in my ears: " Do not be afraid! Open wide the doors for Christ!" (2005)

Irish Facts (At least I believe so...)

There are no postal or ZIP codes in Ireland outside of Dublin. If you wanted to write a letter to someone in Ireland, you’d only need to know their city, street and the county their town is in.
• Couples in Ireland could marry legally on St. Brigid's Day (February 1st) in Teltown, County Meath, as recently as the 1920’s by simply walking towards each other. If the marriage failed, they could "divorce'" by walking away from each other at the same spot, on St. Brigid’s day the following year. The custom was a holdover from old Irish Brehon laws, which allowed temporary marriage contracts.
A village known as "Dun Bleisce" recently won the right to change it's name back to an old-time local favorite. The town will now be called "Fort of the Harlot," as it was in the distant past. After a variety of names were used to describe the town over the years, the government christened it "An Dun," which translates simply into "The Fort," in 2003. But a recent petition by townspeople has prompted officials to put "the Harlot" back into the name. The historical harlot involved here may have simply been a powerful woman, and not a harlot in the modern sense of the word.
• “Cemetery Sunday” is a lesser-known tradition still practiced around Ireland, although it seems to take place on whatever date is most convenient for local church leaders. A mass is celebrated for families of those buried in the local church graveyard, after which an effort is made over several days to clean up the churchyard. Special attention is traditionally given to the graves of those who have no one left among the living to remember them.
• An old legend says that, while Christ will judge all nations on judgment day, St. Patrick will be the judge of the Irish.
• Celtic rock group the Pogues were originally called "Pogue Mahone," which translates into "kiss my a**" in Gaelic.
The original Guinness Brewery in Dublin has a 9,000 year lease on it's property, at a perpetual rate of 45 Irish pounds per year.
• An odd Irish birthday tradition is to lift the birthday child upside down and give his head a few gentle bumps on the floor for good luck. The number of bumps should allegedly correspond to the child’s age plus one.
• The longest place name in Ireland is Muckanaghederdauhaulia, in County Galway.
• It is a biological fact that there are no snakes in Ireland, not even the tiniest grass snake.
• The 1st St. Patrick's Day celebration in America was in 1737 in Boston
• Current estimates put the Irish birth rate at 1.8 births per woman
• Worldwide consumption of Bailey's Irish Cream is 1000 glasses a minute
• A potato is sometimes called a Smiling Murphy
• In Ireland you sing at a wake and cry at a birth
• Ireland's official color was originally blue, not green
• The Irish coastline is more than 3500 miles