bloggy pope?

Last Wednesday I picked up my cell phone, and was surprised to
hear the charming lyrical accent of my dear friend, FireLight on the
other end.

"Hey, are you listening to NPR?"

"No, I usually do, but don't have the radio on yet."

"Well, turn it on right now! They're talking about the Pope blogging!"

If you recall, I posted last November, about having a certain German
visitor on my blog site meter from the Holy See, the Vatican City
State. I enjoyed relishing in the possibility that it was His Holiness,
Pope Benedict XVI, popping in from his laptop to visit my humble
Willow Manor, since he is, after all, very computer savvy.

The program on NPR mentioned that the 82 year old Pope already
has a Facebook page and it is very possible he will soon start his own
blog, since in a recent message, he called on priests to "proclaim the
Gospel" through blogs, videos and Web sites.

David Weinberger, who writes about politics and culture on
Joho the Blog, warns that whatever the Pope does blog, "people take
it up, they republish it, they make fun of it, they contextualize it".

Obviously, he will have to have thick skin, in dealing so directly
with the public. I'm sure he is well aware of the ramifications of
blogging, like any other form of media. I happen to think it's a
fantastic way to connect with real, everyday people, on their level.

What kind of advice would you experienced bloggers have to give to
His Holiness? Gosh, I wonder if he'll start twittering, as well?

Like I said before, Holy Father, if you happen to be reading this,
please know you're always welcome at the manor. ~xx
.

Holy Father, you're always welcome at the manor

From time to time, I have unusual hits on my sitemeter; Disney, Random House and Turner Broadcasting, to name a few. But this past Saturday, was the most unique in my whole existence of blogging. I actually had a hit from the Holy See, the Vatican City State. Okay, I realize there are 900 some residents of the Vatican, but it's fun to think that His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, just might have been reading my humble little blog, himself.

Wait, it gets more interesting. The search words for this particular hit were "Colonel Bogey March lyrics". I can just see His Holiness bopping around his quarters whistling Colonel Bogey, then curious as to the lyrics, sitting down with his laptop to Google-up Willow Manor, and read my post.

By the way, did you know the pope has his own Pontifical March? It's played at solemn occasions of the State and ceremonies in which he is present. When the Vatican's flag is ceremonially raised, only the first eight bars are played. The music was composed in 1869 by Charles Gounod, for the celebration on April 11, 1869 of Pope Pius IX's silver jubilee. Click [HERE] for a listen. The English version of the lyrics are as follows:

O Rome immortal of Martyrs and Saints,
O immortal Rome, accept our praises:
Glory in the heavens to God our Lord,
And peace to men who love Christ!
To You we come, Angelic Pastor,
In You we see the gentle Redeemer,
The Holy Heir of true and holy Faith;
Comfort and refuge of those who believe and fight.
Force and terror will not prevail,
But Truth and Love will reign.

It is a tad more pure and majestic than the common Colonel Bogey March, sung by British artillery men. I hope he wasn't too taken aback to discover the lyrics. There are several versions, but this is one of the most well known:

Hitler has only one left ball
Göring has two but they are small.
Himmler was somewhat similar
And poor old Goebbels has no balls at all.

Oh, and another clue that His Holiness, himself, might have visited Willow Manor? The language used on this particular search was notItalian, but happened to be German, his native tongue.

Happy Easter

To me, Easter always brings thoughts of renewal and restoration.
I simply adore this photo of a Vatican nun repairing a tapestry
designed by Raphael. It is so rich with symbolism. The subject of
Christ, the gentle, loving hands of the nun, the gold threads of repair,
and even the pierced heart shaped pincushion; all lovely reminders
of what Easter is all about.

This photo was taken by James L. Stanfield and is included in the
National Geographic book, Inside the Vatican, 1991.

Happy Easter Wishes to you and yours, dear bloggy friends!