St. Mary of the Angels

My roses on our
BVM altar

Yesterday was the Feast of the Portiuncula or St. Mary of the Angels. That's the very tiny chapel that St. Francis rebuilt with his own hands ... one of a dozen ... and which he loved so much he was brought there to die. There's the famous indulgence of the Portiuncula ... a very unique one ... in that its privilege is extended to all franciscan churches and it can be attained in as many times as you enter a franciscan church during that feast day. Well we're only 4 of us at home so there wasn't much of a celebration. I did cut all my roses and placed them in a vase for our BVM statue in the refectory. They are stunning and they smell incredibly sweet.

On a sad side, I noticed yesterday that 3 very old Sleeping Hibiscus bushes were chopped down and uprooted from St. Helena's Courtyard at St. Saviour's monastery. What a pity ... the cold stone courtyard looks lifeless now. They were already quite ancient when I was a student 28 years go. It's really too bad.

Empty courtyard without the hibiscus

I've been feeling sick still and with my ankle hurting again, I decided I won't go to work in the other library today. Everyone at home told me to rest and sleep ... I managed to do that for a couple of hours in the morning. After lunch I had confessions and some meetings. I hope to keep the rest of the evening as slow as possible. No more stress ... at least for today.

Someone on a FB group posted this complain about banks. All I can say is "been there, done that". Banks are a nightmare. My advise to the writer is "keep your money under your pillow". This is her post
"Am I the crazy one?
Recently I did a job for a client abroad and got paid $300. Bank Hapoalim took $30 for the transfer fee and now they want another .19% for changing it from dollars to shekels. 
Does that sound normal to all of you??

Back to the jewish nation-state law, police and security chiefs have voiced concern over it and now the State Prosecutor personally criticised it. Somehow with all the assurances, minorities still feel their rights are no longer protected.   http://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/state-prosecutor-criticizes-jewish-state-law-calls-for-upholding-of-minority-rights/