Gender: Male
Status: Engaged
Age: 25
Sign: Gemini
City: 舊金山 (サンフランシスコ) & ラスベガス, ネバダ / 宮城道城, Mister
State: Miyagi
Country: JP
Signup Date:
10/26/05
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Monday, August 11, 2008
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YOURS IS THE ONLY VERSION OF MY DESERTION THAT I COULD EVER SUBJECT TO...haha
Current mood:  blustery
Category: Writing and Poetry
"AGAINST TIME"
O that Time this blessed Moment
Forever froze His fleeting Sand!
This my merry mortal Core,
Stricken with the Gilded Gladness
of a Love seem'd set in Fate,
Hath Fear now snared:
Drenched in dreaded Dearth and Dole
The autumnal Resignation
of Summer's sad and destin'd Death
Belay, thou tempermental tosséd Tide!
Billow not this sullen Coast
to wash away mine hard-wrought Toil!
Glee not Thyself in wanton Waves
that crash upon this cherish'd Shore!
Time-
Malicious Measure meting out Woe and Mourn
Swiftly hast Thou brought me down,
fallen and forlorn!
-§antos, 2008
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Currently
listening
:
Ma Jeunesse Fout Le Camp
By
Françoise Hardy
Release date: 1996-03-06
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1:21 PM
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I SUBMIT MY INCENTIVE IS ROMANCE...haha
Current mood:  blah
Category: Writing and Poetry
She came in on a sunny Thursday once more into my view
In winter's waning dying days acquaintance was made anew
Two long-time parted friends once more
shared space, and time, and air
The fragrant scent of fair March's flor'
was tinged within her hair
Her greeting was terse, though bless'd with smiles
The which I thought I'd never see
Once more those shimmering shining island isles
of her eyes brought gladdened glee
Into my life made void and dark: and sundering fruitlessly
Bittersweet brevity weighed down as we conversed
Upon the past two years, when our stars traversed
This tiny earth on paths that were not one
And then , alas! She spoke those words,
a sword into my chest
Betroth'd was she to one for whom
she always seemed behest'd
Within I sighed, without I bared
my teeth as if to show
That this was wondrous news to hear
and tidings great to know
Knowing well the feelings betrayed, deeply welled inside
And that I was but delaying tears that I would surely cry
Buried quickly those torn emotions
as I strove to accept the Doom
That she would wed some other man
within the space of seven moons
When golden are the fading days
and glimmering the falling leaves,
Silver soft the sullen haze
which the dawn in her beauty weaves
Thus we spake, a fleeting moment, the world around us stilled
As if to witness this turning point, all hope within me killed
Peradventure this was the final crossing
when she and I are met
I had at least made calm the tossing
within my heart that would not set
"My best regards" said I to her
as we fast approached our parting
She smiled and thanked for those kind words
and I readied for her departing
I watched her leave and walk ahead
till her form was passing far
And as she shrank amidst the world
with its lights, noise, never healing scars,
I came to and knew with waning dread:
'Twas the final crossing of our stars...
-§antos, 2008
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Currently
listening
:
Singles
By
The Smiths
Release date: 1995-05-23
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1:01 PM
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Friday, January 04, 2008
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TALES OF KING ARTHUR : BOOK IV - Merlin and Morgana
Current mood:  creative
Category: Writing and Poetry
Merlin's entombment by Nimue | Arthur's fifth battle (Humber) | Morgan le Fay's various attempts on Arthur's life | The adventures of Gawaine, Uwaine and Marhaus.
In time, Merlin became so enamoured of Nimue that desperate for her love, he told her all his secrets. However she found him old, noisome, and frightening (being the son of a demon). He predicted to Arthur how he would soon be gone, how Arthur and Merlin would badly miss one another, and how Arthur must guard Excalibur and its scabbard.
Nimue left Camelot, followed everywhere by Merlin. They visited King Ban and his family in France, where they met Ban's wife Elaine and young son Launcelot (originally christened Galahad). Merlin predicted Launcelot would one day defeat Ban's greatest enemy King Claudas. Then Merlin followed Nimue to Cornwall, where she imprisoned him beneath a huge rock.
Not long after, the five kings of Denmark, Ireland (his brother), the Vale, Soleise, and the Isle of Longtains invaded Arthur's realm. Arthur hastily headed North with Guenevere and some of his knights, ordering the rest to follow as soon as possible. The five kings learned of this and ambushed his small camp by night in a forest near the river Humber (the site of Arthur's fifth battle). Fleeing in the confusion, Arthur, his queen and three knights were encountered by the five kings alone by the foaming river. In the ensuing fight, Kay killed two kings, and Arthur, Gawaine and Griflet killed one each.
During the next day's battle, they slew 30,000 of the now leaderless enemy host, losing only 200 ordinary knights and 8 knights of the Round Table.
Safely back home in Camelot, Arthur discussed with Pellinore whom to promote to the eight vacated Round Table seats. They picked four old knights: King Uriens (his former enemy), the King of the Lake, Sir Hervise de Revel, and Sir Galagars. They also chose four young ones: Sir Gawaine, Sir Griflet, Sir Kay, and deliberated over either Bagdemagus or Tor. Pellinore's bastard son Tor was chosen, and Arthur's cousin Bagdemagus rode off in anger.
Sir Bagdemagus and his squire rode past strange portents such as mysterious writing on crosses and herbs of the Holy Grail in the course of having many adventures. On one occasion he found Merlin's rock, but failed however, in trying to budge it. After his many exploits Sir Bagdemagus finally returned to Camelot, having won the renown to be admitted to the Round Table.
Kings Arthur and Uriens (seemingly friends all of a sudden), and Sir Accolon of Gaul, became lost pursuing a hart, and were invited by twelve mysterious women aboard their tiny ship on a great lake. Inside the vessel were luxurious dining and sleeping quarters, and all three were banqueted, then shown separate cabins.
The next morning King Uriens awoke at Camelot safe in the arms of his wife Morgan le Fay, but Arthur and Accolon were nowhere to be found. Arthur awoke in a dungeon, minus his sword and scabbard, where twenty fellow prisoners explained how their evil captor Sir Damas sought to force them to champion him against his own good brother Sir Ontzlake. One of Morgan le Fay's damsels appeared and offered Arthur the same deal the others had been refusing for seven years; he accepted and they were all released.
Meanwhile Sir Accolon awoke uncomfortably close to a fountain, where a dwarf sprang up and reminded him of his agreement with Morgan le Fay to fight an unspecified knight in return for Excalibur and its scabbard - which he duly handed over. Accolon was escorted to Sir Ontzlake, for whom he agreed to fight on account of Ontzlake's thigh wounds.
The next morning Morgan sent a counterfeit Excalibur to her half-brother, but Nimue knew Merlin's prediction of these events and turned up to help Arthur. Neither recognising the other, Accolon and Arthur fought. At first Accolon, protected by the magic scabbard, gained the advantage over Arthur and smashed his fake sword. However Nimue used her magic to make him drop Excalibur, and Arthur immediately grabbed it and the scabbard. He was on the verge of killing Accolon, when he asked him his name. They learned one another's identities, and swapped stories. Accolon admitted he was Morgan's lover and had agreed to kill Arthur in return for the kingship, but had not realised today was the day. Despite his treason, Arthur spared Accolon.
Arthur revealed his identity to the throng and told Sir Damas to give all his lands to his brother or die. Then he and Accolon rode to a convenient nunnery for medical attention, where Accolon eventually died. Still recovering, Arthur despatched Accolon's remains to his half-sister at Camelot as a warning.
Meanwhile, back in Camelot, Morgan had assumed her evil plan had worked, and was about to get rid of her husband Uriens in a similar brutal fashion. One of her maids warned her son Sir Uwaine and he stopped Morgan in the very act of chopping off her husband's head with his own sword. When Accolon's corpse arrived, she realised the game was up. Morgan hastily fled Camelot with her own men-at-arms and rode to the nunnery for another desperate attempt at stealing the sword. Though she got the scabbard she failed to acquire Excalibur, because Arthur slept with it in his hand.
When Arthur awoke, he set off in pursuit with Sir Ontzlake, but Morgan cast the scabbard into a deep lake and used her magic to disguise herself and her men as standing stones. So the magic scabbard was lost forever.
After her escape, Morgan met Accolon's cousin, Manassen, who was about to be executed on the charge of having seduced a knight's wife. She rescues him, murders the cuckolded husband, and makes Manassen her new defender.
Not long afterwards, Morgan sent a peace offering to Arthur — a mantle wrought of jewels. He is impressed but says nothing. Nimue, the Damsel of the Lake, advises Arthur to ask the messenger from Morgan to put on the mantle herself. When she is forced to do so, the messenger bursts into flame and burns to ashes. In his fury Arthur banishes Morgan's son Uwaine, suspecting him of complicity. Gawaine leaves with him saying, "whoever banishes my cousin, banishes me as well."
As Gawaine and Uwaine ride through a forest they find twelve maidens spitting on a white shield. When they ask what this means, the maidens explain that the shield belongs to the knight Sir Marhaus, a man who scorns all women. When Marhaus arrives, Uwaine and Gawaine fight him. After he overcomes them both, Marhaus does not kill them, but tells them that he has been falsely accused. The twelve maidens are enchantresses. The three knights resolve to ride together.
In the mysterious country of Arroy they find a fountain and three damsels, one old, one middle-aged, one young. The three damsels are here, they say, to guide errant knights to adventure. Each knight must choose a lady and ride with her for a year. Uwaine takes the oldest, Marhaus takes the next, and Gawaine takes the youngest. Then each knight goes his separate way with his guide.
Sir Gawaine is quickly abandoned by his lady: he avoids a fight she advises him to take upon himself. When later he does help the knight he was earlier advised to help, he betrays his trust. He tells the knight, Sir Pelleas (son of the maimed king, Pellam), that he will win the love of his haughty lady for him; but Gawain lies with her instead. Pelleas is tempted to kill Gawaine for his treachery when he finds the two laying together, but at the last moment he merely leaves a sign that he was there (and could have killed them,) then retires. Nimue avenges Sir Pelleas unrequited love and betrayal by forcing his disdainful lady to dote on him and by freeing Pelleas of his passion for her. With the tables turned and brokenhearted, the lady dies not long afterwards. By yet another spell, Nineve makes Pelleas her own lover and they live together happily.
Marhaus, riding with the middle-aged lady, avenges wrongs as a true knight should. He meets a duke who is a sworn enemy to King Arthur's court because Gawaine long ago murdered the duke's seventh son. Marhaus fought the duke and his remaining six sons, beats them, and gets their vow to drop the feud. Marhaus fights afterward in a great tournament and wins the same prize Pelleas won in another tournament. Finally, he fought a giant for the Earl of Fergus and destroyed him.
Uwaine, riding with the oldest damsel, wins a tournament prize (as did Pelleas and Marhaus), then fights two cowardly knights who had seized land by extortion. Uwaine wins the fight but is so badly hurt that it takes him half a year to recover.
The three knights of Arthur's court come together again and learn that Arthur has repented of banishing Uwaine. On the day of Pentecost, (the day on which Arthur's knights each year renewed their vow to live by Arthur's code) Gawaine, Uwaine, and Marhaus, as well as Sir Pelleas and Nimue, returned to Camelot. Pelleas and Marhaus took first and second place, respectively, at a tournament held by Arthur. For this, and also for the past year's deeds, the both are honoured by appointment to the Round Table. Only for love of Arthur does Pelleas spare Gawaine. However he took pleasure all the rest of his life in shaming Gawaine at tournaments.
Thus end the early years of Arthur's reign...
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Currently
listening
:
It’s a Quiet Thing
By
Morgana King
Release date: 19 September, 2006
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1:06 AM
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Wednesday, December 05, 2007
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Friday, November 16, 2007
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TALES OF KING ARTHUR : Book III – The Round Table
Current mood:  quixotic
Category: Writing and Poetry
The Wedding of Arthur and Guenevere and the adventures of Gawaine, Gaheris and Tor | Pellinore brings Nimue to court | The Knights of the Round Table are first sworn in.
Despite Merlin's warnings that she would be unfaithful, Arthur decided it was time to marry Guenevere, daughter of King Leodegrance of Cameliard. As a wedding gift he received his father Uther's old Round Table - (which Leodegrance had been keeping) - along with one hundred knights into the bargain. The table seated 150 total, so Arthur started looking for knights to fill the remainder, but could only find another 28. Through Merlin's magic every seat was personalised in gold, except for two.
Merlin explained that one seat at the Round Table would destroy any who sat there, except for one person, yet to be revealed, who would prove to be the most worthy knight in the world. The two seats next to it were slightly less perilous, and in one of these he put King Pellinore. The newly knighted Sir Gawaine and his as yet unknighted brother, Gaheris, had quietly sworn revenge against Pellinore, as he was the man who slew their father at the Battle of Terrabil.
Before the wedding, Aries the cowherd begged Arthur to dub his workshy, violent eldest son Tor, and Arthur agreed. Merlin then revealed how Sir Tor was a bastard sired by King Pellinore, who had been passing by and half-forced Aries' wife when she was but a virgin.
Arthur and Guenevere were wed in St Stephen's church in Camelot, but at the reception a traditional other-worldly white hart ran into the hall. It was pursued by sixty black hounds and a small white one (or brachet). There was a fracas, and a hart-buffeted knight got up and left on his horse with the brachet. Then a lady rode in on a white palfrey complaining about her stolen hound, until, to Arthur's relief, another knight appeared and forcibly rode off with her. Merlin declared that these adventures must be pursued, therefore he appointed Sir Gawaine to retrieve the hart; Sir Tor the brachet and knight; and King Pellinore to pursue the lady and knight.
Sir Gawaine set off after the hart, with his brother Gaheris as squire, and six hounds. After settling a quarrel between the brothers Sorlouse and Brian of the Forest and killing Sir Allardin of the Isles at a river, they brought the hart down in the castle of Sir Ablamar of the Marsh. Gawaine's hounds killed the hart, Ablamar killed Gawaine's hounds for killing his lady's hart, and Gawaine accidentally decapitated Ablamar's lady whilst aiming for Ablamar (even though he had asked for mercy). Gawaine then forced Ablamar to go and tell the account at Camelot. That night in the castle, four knights attacked the brothers in revenge for the death of the lady, until four other ladies appealed for mercy, and sent the pair back to Camelot, festooned with the corpse.
Guenevere convened a court of ladies who sentenced Gawaine, in future, to fight for any lady who required championing, and to show mercy to any who asked it.
Picking up a servile dwarf from two recreant knights he had defeated at joust, Sir Tor tracked the brachet to the bed of a damsel in a white pavillion in a forest (next to a similar pavillion containing three other damsels), and stole the bratchet. On the way home to Camelot Sir Abellus caught up with them and demanded that he return the bratchet to his lady. However, at a passing damsel's insistence, Tor chopped his head off (for having killed her brother).
In his zealous pursuit of the knight and the lady, Pellinore ignored a damsel nursing her own dying knight by a well and pleading for aid. Before committing suicide by falling on her paramour's sword, the damsel cursed Pellinore to one day need help as much as she had. Pellinore finally found the lady he had been pursuing being fought over by her abductor Sir Hontzlake of Wentland and her own kinsman Sir Meliot of Logurs. He killed the former and lodged with the latter. After inviting his host to visit Camelot with his pacifist brother, Sir Brian of the Isles, Pellinore headed for home with the lady, but she had a riding accident and they had to stop and sleep in the open field.
That night they overheard two unknown knights (one from the South and one from the North) meeting and plotting to poison Arthur with the help of a traitor in the court. They returned to Camelot, pausing only to bury the dead knight by the well and collect the damsel's head (all that the lions had left). There, Merlin explained that the dead damsel Eleine was the result of another of Pellinore's promiscuous exploits, this time with the Lady of the Rule. The dead knight that had been in her arms was called Sir Miles of the Lands and had been speared in the back by Loraine le Savage. Furthermore, Merlin predicted that Pellinore's penance for failing to help them would be to die abandoned by his best friend. He also revealed that the lady Pellinore had rescued successfully was Nimue, one of the Damsels of the Lake. Over time, Merlin fell hopelessly in love with her.
Arthur swore in all his knights of the Round Table, binding them to chivalry, mercy and the law: "Unto this were all the knights sworn of the Table Round, both old and young. And every year were they sworn at the High Feast of Pentecost"....
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Currently
listening
:
Knights of the Round Table/The King’s Thief
By
Miklos Rozsa
Release date: 11 January, 2005
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9:22 AM
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Tuesday, November 13, 2007
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MELANCHOLY MELODY
Current mood:  melancholy
Category: Writing and Poetry
*This is my somewhat FREEHAND translation or rather, paraphrase of URAMI BUSHI... (I had to change the meaning a little, since it's hard to translate literally, to make it sound good in English.) *
''MELANCHOLY MELODY''
Flower, so pretty, so flattered
Petals in full blossom, soon scattered
Foolishly, so foolishly I fell!
For her foolish, bitter melancholy melody.
Harsh fate, she accepts it
Tears of crying, she has wept it
Weepingly, Weepingly tears fell
From her icy, bitter melancholy melody
Remorseless wrath, unforgiven
Unerased, forever stricken
Piercingly, piercingly she pierces
With her sharply bitter melancholy melody.
Regretful dreams, she laughs to scorn
Her waking eyes for no one mourns
Mournful, mournful and without fear
Is her torn heart's bitter melancholy melody
Flower, so thorny, so shattered
Pricked in full bloom, so battered
Deeply, deeply vengeance fumes
In her burning bitter melancholy melody
Flower dies fruitless, blood-splattered
Dead petals doomed and tattered
Sadly, sadly the ending looms
For her doleful bitter melancholy melody...
*TRUE VERSION :*
URAMI BUSHI
Hanayo kireito odaterare
Saitte misereba sugu chiraseraru
Baka-na Baka-na Baka-na onna-no urami bushi
Sadane kanashito akiramete
Naki o misereba mata nakasareru
Onna onna onna-no namida-no urami bushi
Nikui kuyashii yursenai
kesunai kisenai wasurarenai
Tsukinu tsukinu tsukinu onna-no urami bushi
Yuumei-yo mirento warawarete
Samete misemasu mada samekireru
Onna onna onna gokoro-no urami bushi
Makka-na bara-nya toge ga aru
Sashitaka naiga sasazu nya okanu
Moeru moeru moeru onna-no urami bushi
Shinde hanami ga saku jyanashi
Urami hitosuji ikite iku
Onna onna onna-no inochi-no urami bushi
As sung by Meiko Kaji in ''Lady Snowblood'' & ''Kill Bill Vol. 1''
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Currently
listening
:
Syura No Hana
By
Meiko Kaji
Release date: 29 December, 2003
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3:13 AM
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Thursday, November 08, 2007
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TALES OF KING ARTHUR : Book II – The Adventures of Sir Balin le Savage
Current mood:  exanimate
Category: Writing and Poetry
Balin's part in Arthur's fourth battle (Terrabil, in which most of Arthur's main enemies are defeated and his grip on the kingship of Britain is made secure) | How he deals the Dolorous Stroke to King Pellam, who becomes the Maimed King | The deaths of Balin and his brother Balan.
Whilst in London, Arthur learned of a new attack on his lands by King Rience of North Wales, so he called a council of war at Camelot. There arrived a mysterious damsel from the great lady Lile of Avelion, sporting a sword that could only be drawn from its scabbard by a completely virtuous knight. Everyone (including Arthur) failed, until young Sir Balin of Northumberland wandered by, fresh out of prison (six months for killing Arthur's cousin). He drew the sword and swore to keep it, even though the damsel predicted it would kill him and his best friend.
Then the Lady of the Lake arrived to remind Arthur what his sword was called (Excalibur, meaning Cut-steel) and to claim her favour, that being either the head of Balin (for killing her brother) or the damsel (for killing her father), or both. But Balin cut off her head for killing his own mother, and rode off with it to his squire nearby, whom he told to go home to Northumberland and spread the news.
Arthur solemnly buried the Lady of the Lake, while Sir Lanceor of Ireland set off after Sir Balin to avenge the insult to Arthur's court. Merlin meanwhile explained how they had all been tricked by the damsel with the evil virtue-detecting sword, who was plotting to kill her own brother for having killed her lover, helped by the Lady Lile of Avelion. He explained also how Balin and his brother, despite being true virtuous knights, were now doomed.
Balin killed Lanceor, and Lanceor's paramour Colombe killed herself with his sword. Balin found his brother Balan and both decided to attack King Rience (currently laying siege to Castle Terrabil) to make ammends with Arthur. Then King Mark of Cornwall turned up and built a tomb over the two dead lovers, followed by Merlin who defaced it with the names of the two greatest knights of the world, whom he predicted would fight there one day (Sirs Lancelot and Tristan). Old Merlin then added to the Balin and Balan prediction he had made after the battle of Bedegraine, saying that Balin would one day strike a truly dolorous stroke (dealing the truest knight alive a wound that would not heal for years, and making three kingdoms desolate for twelve years), before riding off with them both to Cornwall.
At midnight, Balin and Balan ambushed King Rience on his way to sleep with the Lady de Vance, and took him before Arthur, fulfilling part of the earlier prophecy. This prompted his brother King Nero to rally the eleven kings Arthur had defeated before at the Battle of Bedegraine, and to lay seige to Castle Terrabil (the site of Arthur's fourth and most decisive battle).
Arthur triumphed, and all twelve kings were slain or defeated. Merlin distracted King Lot while Arthur destroyed Nero and his host. Then Pellinore killed Lot, and Balin and Balan killed or captured all the rest, in accordance with Merlin's prophecies.
All were buried in St Stephen's Church in Camelot, in a tomb built by Merlin. King Lot's widow, Margawse, was there with her offspring, the future Orkney Knights (except for Mordred who was still lost at sea, presumed drowned) and her two sisters Morgan le Fay and Elaine, and their husbands Kings Uriens and Nentres (who were in fact still alive). Merlin there made further prophecies regarding Sirs Balin and Balan, Kings Pellinore and Bagdemagus (Arthur's cousin), Arthur's near killing by Sir Accolon, Merlin's own death, and the Holy Grail.
Sir Balan rode off adventuring and happened to slay a knight on an island by a castle, and came under a spell to take his place and similarly challenge all who passed by.
Meanwhile his brother Sir Balin promised to protect Sir Herleus le Berbeus on his way to Arthur under horse arrest. Balin tried to get the weeping knight to explain why he was sad, but an invisible knight called Garlon slew Herleus and Balin was forced to take over his quest for a damsel. Sir Perin de Mountebeliard joined them, but was similarly slain and buried in a graveyard where gold letters appeared prophesying Sir Gawaine's revenge on King Pellinore for killing his father King Lot. Soon afterwards the damsel was forced to give blood in a fruitless attempt to heal a sick lady in a castle (where the Grail Knights would turn up about fifty years later.)
Eventually Balin and the damsel tracked Garlon to a huge feast in the castle of King Pellam of Listeneise, where Balin successfully clave his head in two to the shoulders. Disarmed by the angry King Pellam and then pursued throughout his castle, Balin was eventually forced to defend himself with a Dolorous Stroke from the mysterious but convenient Spear of Longinus (the Roman who had tormented Christ on the cross and pierced his side). King Pellam collapsed, and so did the entire castle, killing the damsel.
After three days, Merlin dug Balin out, explaining that Pellam was related to Joseph of Aramathaea, and that they (Merlin and Balin) would never meet again.
Riding home, Balin discovered three countries which had become desolate wastelands, devastated by his single stroke, thus fulfilling Merlin's prophecy. King Pellam's wound festered for many years, until he was eventually healed by the virtuous Sir Galahad on his quest for the Holy Grail.
Sir Balin rode off again on his adventures, including attempting to help Sir Garnish woo his duke's daughter away from her lover, but causing them all to be killed instead. Eventually he came to a castle where he was told he would not pass without first jousting with a local knight (unbeknownst to him, his brother) who lived on an island. Unfortunately neither he nor his brother Balan recognised one another since they both were fighting with borrowed shields, so therefore they hacked each other to death.
Merlin buried them together on the island, and left the scabbard of the virtue-detecting sword there for Sir Galahad to find, many years later. Merlin set the sword itself in a block of marble that hovered over the river, and it eventually floated off to Camelot, where Galahad would find it half a century later...
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Currently
listening
:
The Fisher King: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
By
George Fenton
Release date: 17 September, 1991
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5:10 AM
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Wednesday, November 07, 2007
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TALES OF KING ARTHUR : Book I -- The Rise of Arthur
Current mood: creative
Category: Writing and Poetry
The rape of Igraine by King Uther | Arthur is born, fostered by Sir Ector, and draws the sword from the stone | His coronation and his first three battles (Carlion, Bedegraine and Cameliard) | He receives Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake | By his half-sister Margawse, he unknowingly begets Mordred who is then lost at sea.
Many hundreds of years ago in Britain, King Uther Pendragon of England warred against the Cornish Duke of Tintagil, and so called him to parley. Unfortunately Uther fell in lust for his enemy's wife, Igraine. So the duke and his spouse abandoned the peace process and fled home to Cornwall. The duke holed up in the Castle Terrabil, and his wife in Castle Tintagil.
Uther laid seige upon both, unsuccessfully. Then he asked his friend Sir Ulfius to fetch Merlin, who made a bargain to use his magic to make himself, Uther, and Ulfius look like Sir Jordanus, the duke, and Sir Brastias respectively in exhange for a future favor. Seeing them leaving Terrabil en route for Tintagil, the real duke followed, but was killed. The three unrecognized imposters entered Tintagil Castle, where the disguised Uther lay with Igraine, who thereby conceived by him. Shortly thereafter Uther married her himself.
Igraine's existing three daughters by the old duke were Margawse, Elaine, and Morgan le Fay, each of whom eventually married King Lot of Lothian and Orkney (by whom she begot Gawaine and the other Orkney Knights), King Nentres of Garlot, and King Uriens of the land of Gore respectively.
Nine months later, Arthur was born, but he was taken away by Merlin as the price of the bargain which Uther made with him. Merlin took Arthur to be fostered and raised by Sir Ector, a humble but worthy knight. Two years later Uther fell sick, thus prompting his Northern enemies to make battle. But he fought back, leading his armies from his horse-drawn sick-bed (Merlin's idea) and drove them off. He died anyway, and kingless, the land fell into strife for many years.
Eventually Merlin advised the Archbishop of Canterbury to invite the many warring lords striving for the crown to London for Christmas. Mysteriously there appeared in the churchyard, against the high altar, a four foot marble cube. Set upon it was a steel anvil, in which was stuck fast a beautiful sword. Written in gold on the sword were the words :
"Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of all England".
Several tried, but all failed, so the Archbishop called a joust for New Year's Day, so that any deemed worthy through feats of arms would be given the chance to pull out the sword.
Of the many who came were Sir Ector, his son Sir Kay, and young Arthur. At the joust Sir Kay discovered that he had left his sword at his lodging, so Arthur ran back for it. Everybody there was out watching the joust, so instead of breaking in he decided to take the sword in the stone instead, removing it with ease, and he delivered it to Sir Kay. After giving several demonstrations of his pulling power to the growing crowd, Arthur finally had the truth revealed to him by Sir Ector that he was fostered on Merlin's orders, but did not tell him his true lineage, which was still a mystery to all but Merlin. The other lords were still dubious and demanded repeat performances at Twelfth Night, Candlemass, Easter, and finally Pentecost, during which Arthur was protected by Sirs Baudwin of Britain, Kay, Ulfius, Brastias and others.
The peasants demanded Arthur's coronation, following which he promoted his associates and removed to Carlion in Wales, where he was promptly beseiged by the Six Kings: Lot of Lothian and of Orkney, Uriens of Gore, Nentres of Garlot (each of the three married to one of Arthur's half sisters), the King of Scotland, the King of the Hundred Knights, and the King of Carados. All these lords wanted someone older as king, and their forces combined to number 3,000 knights. There Merlin explained Arthur's righteousness and heritage to the angry kings (though somehow keeping it a secret from Arthur himself at this time), but they rejected his argument, so with his sturdy friends, 300 turncoats, and the local peasants, Arthur attacked and drove them all away (his first battle).
Next, young Arthur headed for London and his barons, where Merlin appeared again with a cunning plan...
Sirs Ulfius and Brastias sped off across The Channel with letters for Kings Ban of Benwick and Bors of Gaul, overcoming King Claudas' eight minions on the way, with letters offering to help the French kings in their struggle with the aforesaid King Claudas if they would but first help Arthur with his own bid for kingship. This worked, and the two kings arrived in London with 300 knights in time for a tournament at All Hallowmass.
At the tournament all had a merry violent time, until people started to get tired and emotional, at which Arthur and his two new royal friends called a halt. Sir Kay the Seneschal received the prize for vanquishing the most French knights, along with Sir Lucas the butler and Griflet the butler's assistant. Sirs Ladinas, Gracian and Placidas (both French) came second.
After a council of war, Merlin set off to France with King Ban's ring and Gracian and Placidas, later returning with 10,000 horsemen which he hid in the forest of Bedegraine, where the three kings joined them.
Meanwhile, the six kings whom Arthur had defeated at Carlion had found five more allies: Brandegoris of Stranggore, Clariance of Northumerland, Idres of Cornwall, Cradelmas, and Agwisance of Ireland in addition to the Duke of Cambenet, a total force of over 50,000 men. Some laid seige to the castle of Bedegraine, while the rest searched for Arthur.
The King with the Hundred Knights had a dream of terrible destruction by wind and water, presaging great battle, and two nights later Arthur attacked (his second battle).
By morning 10,000 were dead, but Arthur was still outnumbered, so Merlin devised a pincer movement in a nearby wood and a further prolonged battle followed. Eventually Merlin pointed out that of the original total warring forces of over 60,000, now barely 15,000 remained, so why not call that a result? He also predicted that the eleven kings would find their own lands invaded by Saracens and that they would not dare to attack again for at least three years.
Arthur rewarded Kings Ban & Bors, and Merlin visited his own master Bleise in Northumberland to have it all written down. Then he returned to Bedegraine Castle in Sherwood Forest the morn after Candlemas dressed as a poacher to give Arthur some entertainment.
Of the many lords who came to do homage to Arthur, one was Earl Sanam, and his daughter Lionors. Arthur was attracted to her, and they slept together, the eventual result being Sir Borre, about whom nothing else is ever said.
Then Kings Arthur, Ban, and Bors marched off to Cameliard to rescue King Leodegrance from King Rience of North Wales (Arthur's third battle) where Arthur met Leodegrance's daughter, Guenevere.
The two French kings subsequently returned home to deal with their own problem, King Claudas, as Merlin had made the remarkably detailed prediction that they would not need to visit Britain again, but that Arthur would soon visit them and destroy their enemies, and that all of the eleven kings would die in a day at the hands of two knights - Sirs Balin le Savage and his brother Balan. Meanwhile the eleven defeated kings returned to the city of Sorhaute in the land of Gore to discuss the Saracen problem, divide up Cornwall, Wales and the North between them, and plot revenge.
At Lughnasad the recently defeated King Lot of Orkney sent his wife Margawse (not Morgan le Fay) to Arthur's court to snoop; she ended up sleeping with her unsuspecting half-brother Arthur, and the result of this incest was the bastard Mordred.
After an unsettling dream, Arthur went hunting unsuccessfully after the traditional Celtic white hart. While on the chase, he saw The Questing Beast drinking from a well to quiet its stomach (from which the sound of barking was always heard). The Beast was being pursued by King Pellinore, who stole Arthur's horse and continued his ceaseless quest.
There Merlin turned up disguised as a fourteen year-old, and then as an eighty year-old, and finally told Arthur the whole truth of his lineage and who his father was, and how his recent foul deed of incest would one day destroy him and his realm. Then they all rode home to Carlion.
Learning of Arthur's lineage, Sir Ulfius accused Igraine of having been unfaithful to her husband Tintagil, but it was all resolved and blamed on Merlin, and Igraine was re-united with her long-lost son.
Arthur made the young squire Griflet into a knight so that he could avenge the death of Sir Miles, but he was beaten instead. Then twelve old knights arrived from Rome demanding tribute to the Emperor, but Arthur refused.
He went riding off alone and soon rescued Merlin from three churls before breaking his sword in a fight with King Pellinore, who would have taken Arthur's head but for Merlin's sleep-spell. After recuperating with a hermit for three days, the swordless Arthur was taken by Merlin on a special quest.
Merlin took Arthur to a nearby lake, in the middle of which rose an arm clothed in fine white silk grasping a most beautiful sword. Then the damsel who lived in the rock in the lake appeared, offering the sword to Arthur for an future favor, and so borrowing a nearby barge Arthur acquired both the sword and its scabbard. In the next book Arthur learns the sword's name - Excalibur.
Riding home, Merlin made several predictions regarding Pellinore's future worth to Arthur, whilst clouding Pellinore's mind for safety as they rode past, and also explained how the scabbard was greater than the sword, for it protected the wearer against all loss of blood.
A few years after his previous defeat, King Rience of North Wales and Ireland sent a messenger to Arthur explaining how he had defeated eleven (different) kings and woven a cloak out of their beards, and brashly demanded Arthur's beard to add to his collection, but Arthur was unimpressed.
Later, Merlin told Arthur that the enemy who would one day destroy him had been born on Beltayne (May 1st), so Arthur sent for every noble child with that birthday. The ship carrying the Northern children foundered, and all died save young Mordred, who was rescued by a good man who looked after him for the next 14 years.
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Monday, July 02, 2007
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DAILY SCRIPTURE READING: 60501.02
Current mood:  contemplative
Category: Religion and Philosophy
A Reading From the Book of Joshua: (Joshua 4:1-24)
Twelve Memorial Stones from the Jordan
When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, "Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, 'Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.'" Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. And Joshua said to them, "Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, 'What do those stones mean to you?' then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever."
And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the Lord told Joshua. And they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down there. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day. For the priests bearing the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua.
The people passed over in haste. And when all the people had finished passing over, the ark of the Lord and the priests passed over before the people. The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the people of Israel, as Moses had told them. About 40,000 ready for war passed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho. On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life.
And the Lord said to Joshua, "Command the priests bearing the ark of the testimony to come up out of the Jordan." So Joshua commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan." And when the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up on dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, as before.
The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. And he said to the people of Israel, "When your children ask their fathers in times to come, 'What do these stones mean?' then you shall let your children know, 'Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.' For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever."
A Reading From the Book of the Psalms: Psalms 129-131
They Have Afflicted Me from My Youth
A Song of Ascents.
"Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth"—
let Israel now say—
"Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth,
yet they have not prevailed against me.
The plowers plowed upon my back;
they made long their furrows."
The Lord is righteous;
he has cut the cords of the wicked.
May all who hate Zion
be put to shame and turned backward!
Let them be like the grass on the housetops,
which withers before it grows up,
with which the reaper does not fill his hand
nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
nor do those who pass by say,
"The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord!"
My Soul Waits for the Lord
A Song of Ascents.
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his Word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.
I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, hope in the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore.
A Reading From the Prophecy of Isaiah: (Isaiah 64:1-12)
Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains might quake at your presence—
as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.
You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
There is no one who calls upon your name,
who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.
But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
Be not so terribly angry, O Lord,
and remember not iniquity forever.
Behold, please look, we are all your people.
Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
Our holy and beautiful house,
where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
Will you restrain yourself at these things, O Lord?
Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?
*ALLELUIA*
A Reading From the Gospel According to Matthew: (Matthew 12:1-50)
Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath
At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, "Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath." He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
A Man with a Withered Hand
He went on from there and entered their synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"—so that they might accuse him. He said to them, "Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.
God's Chosen Servant
Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
"Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
He will not quarrel or cry aloud,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
a bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory;
and in his name the Gentiles will hope."
Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, "Can this be the Son of David?" But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons." Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit
"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."
The Sign of Jonah
Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
Return of an Unclean Spirit
"When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation."
Jesus' Mother and Brothers
While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.
A/IX Session: 60501.02 20:55:01 UTC-7 2007.07.02
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Sunday, July 01, 2007
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Daily Scripture Reading No. 60498.22
Current mood: contemplative
Category: Religion and Philosophy
1 July, 2007
A Reading From the Book of Joshua: (Joshua 3:1-17)
Israel Crosses the Jordan
Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. At the end of three days the officers went through the camp and commanded the people, "As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it. Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before." Then Joshua said to the people, "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you." And Joshua said to the priests, "Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people." So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.
The Lord said to Joshua, "Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. And as for you, command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, 'When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.'" And Joshua said to the people of Israel, "Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God." And Joshua said, "Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap."
So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.
A Reading From the Book of the Psalms: Psalms 126-128
Restore Our Fortunes, O Lord
A Song of Ascents.
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
"The Lord has done great things for them."
The Lord has done great things for us;
we are glad.
Restore our fortunes, Lord,
like streams in the South!
Those who sow in tears
shall reap with shouts of joy!
He who goes out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
bringing his sheaves with him.
Unless the Lord Builds the House
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labour in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one's youth.
Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears the Lord
A Song of Ascents.
Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
who walks in his ways!
You shall eat the fruit of the labour of your hands;
you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
around your table.
Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
who fears the Lord.
The Lord bless you from Zion!
May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life!
May you see your children's children!
Peace be upon Israel!
A Reading From the Prophecy of Isaiah: (Isaiah 63:1-19)
The Lord's Day of Vengeance
Who is this who comes from Edom,
in crimsoned garments from Bozrah,
he who is splendid in his apparel,
marching in the greatness of his strength?
"It is I, speaking in righteousness,
mighty to save."
Why is your apparel red,
and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?
"I have trodden the winepress alone,
and from the peoples no one was with me;
I trod them in my anger
and trampled them in my wrath;
their lifeblood spattered on my garments,
and stained all my apparel.
For the day of vengeance was in my heart,
and my year of redemption had come.
I looked, but there was no one to help;
I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold;
so my own arm brought me salvation,
and my wrath upheld me.
I trampled down the peoples in my anger;
I made them drunk in my wrath,
and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth."
The Lord's Mercy Remembered
I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord,
the praises of the Lord,
according to all that the Lord has granted us,
and the great goodness to the house of Israel
that he has granted them according to his compassion,
according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
For he said, "Surely they are my people,
children who will not deal falsely."
And he became their Savior.
In all their affliction he was afflicted,
and the angel of his presence saved them;
in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
But they rebelled
and grieved his Holy Spirit;
therefore he turned to be their enemy,
and himself fought against them.
Then he remembered the days of old,
of Moses and his people.
Where is he who brought them up out of the sea
with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is he who put in the midst of them
his Holy Spirit,
who caused his glorious arm
to go at the right hand of Moses,
who divided the waters before them
to make for himself an everlasting name,
who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in the desert,
they did not stumble.
Like livestock that go down into the valley,
the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest.
So you led your people,
to make for yourself a glorious name.
Prayer for Mercy
Look down from heaven and see,
from your holy and beautiful habitation.
Where are your zeal and your might?
The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion
are held back from me.
For you are our Father,
though Abraham does not know us,
and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O Lord, are our Father,
our Redeemer from of old is your name.
O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways
and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?
Return for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your heritage.
Your holy people held possession for a little while;
our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.
We have become like those over whom you have never ruled,
like those who are not called by your name.
*ALLELUIA*
A Reading From the Gospel According to Matthew: (Matthew 11:1-30)
Messengers from John the Baptist
When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.
Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?" And Jesus answered them, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me."
As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written,
"'Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you.'
Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
"But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,
"'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.'
For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds."
Woe to Unrepentant Cities
Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you."
Come to Me, and I Will Give You Rest
At that time Jesus declared, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.
A/IX Session: 60498.20 20:15:01 UTC-7 2007.07.01
8:24 PM
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