Here we go again. The reconquista to Islam in action from the Great Spencer. A four post day...

Thousands of Muslims call for Hagia Sophia to be turned into a mosque again

There is no significant call for turning it back into a church. Christians get no "right of return" to Constantinople. "Muslims praying that historic museum in Turkey be turned into mosque," by Ayla Jean Yackley for Reuters, May 27 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Thousands of devout Muslims prayed outside Turkey's historic Hagia Sophia museum on Saturday to protest a 1934 law that bars religious services at the former church and mosque.

Worshippers shouted, "Break the chains, let Hagia Sophia Mosque open," and "God is great" before kneeling in prayer as tourists looked on.

Turkey's secular laws prevent Muslims and Christians from formal worship within the 6th-century monument, the world's greatest cathedral for almost a millennium before invading Ottomans converted it into a mosque in the 15th century.

"Keeping Hagia Sophia Mosque closed is an insult to our mostly Muslim population of 75 million. It symbolises our ill-treatment by the West," Salih Turhan, head of the Anatolian Youth Association, which organised the event, told the crowd, whose male and female worshippers prayed separately according to Islamic custom.

The government has rejected requests from both Christians and Muslims to hold formal prayers at the site, historically and spiritually significant to adherents of both religions....

In 2010, 200 or so Greek American Orthodox aborted plans to pray at Hagia Sophia after the Turkish government threatened to block their entry into the country on security grounds.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate, spiritual leader of the world's 250 million Orthodox, does not support efforts to revert its former dominion into a church.

"We want it to remain a museum in line with the Republic of Turkey's principles," said Father Dositheos Anagnostopulos, the patriarch's spokesman.

"If it were to become a mosque, Christians wouldn't be able to pray there, and if it became a church it would be chaos."

And everyone knows why there would be chaos.

Post-script, script-post on the Sacred Heart

A real post-script, pun intended. I thought of another Sacred Heart thread in my life. My parish was, in Sherborne, Dorset, when the family lived there, Sacred Heart and St. Aldhelm.

And, JonathanCatholic put this prayer on Father Z and I am putting it here--excellent reminder.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, to Thee I consecrate and offer up my person and my life, my actions, trials, and sufferings, that my entire being may henceforth only be employed in loving, honoring and glorifying Thee. This is my irrevocable will, to belong entirely to Thee, and to do all for Thy love, renouncing with my whole heart all that can displease Thee.

I take Thee, O Sacred Heart, for the sole object of my love, the protection of my life, the pledge of my salvation, the remedy of my frailty and inconstancy, the reparation for all the defects of my life, and my secure refuge at the hour of my death. Be Thou, O Most Merciful Heart, my justification before God Thy Father, and screen me from His anger which I have so justly merited. I fear all from my own weakness and malice, but placing my entire confidence in Thee, O Heart of Love, I hope all from Thine infinite Goodness. Annihilate in me all that can displease or resist Thee. Imprint Thy pure love so deeply in my heart that I may never forget Thee or be separated from Thee.

I beseech Thee, through Thine infinite Goodness, grant that my name be engraved upon Thy Heart, for in this I place all my happiness and all my glory, to live and to die as one of Thy devoted servants.

Amen.
- St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

More gardens, more flowers

Barrington Court is a Tudor house with a strange background. The best things about it, in my opinion, are a few fireplaces and the Delft Tiles. But, the gardens are magnificent in the late Spring. The roses are spectacular, the irises are iridescent, and the various plants green beyond description.


However, I want to concentrate on one of the most beautiful poppies I have ever seen. This large poppy, a photo found here from another garden, took my breath away.

The famous Gertrude Jekyll, of gardening design fame, had some influence at Barrington Court.

Most may think that high summer is the best time to visit English gardens, but I highly recommend Spring.

Cor Ad Cor Loquitur

As it is the Month of the Sacred Heart, I thought I would highlight several churches which include chapels to that devotion. I have been to all of these churches in my lifetime, most more than once.

The first is, of course, the Gesu in Rome, where the famous Batoni painting, on the right of this blog, holds the honor of being the first depiction of the Sacred Heart. I attended a Mass there said by Blessed John Paul II.

The second is the Church of the Circumcision of the Lord in Valletta, Malta, which has a chapel with an exact copy of the painting. The chapel also holds a letter from St Ignatius of Loyola. The Batoni painting is small, but dynamic. I went there almost daily when I lived in Valletta.

The third is the famous Chapel of the Sacred Heart at the Maryvale Institute in Birmingham, which has yet another depiction of the Batoni painting, but in glass. This has been in England for over 150 years and the chapel is the first ever dedication to the Sacred Heart in England. I was there last week.

The fourth is the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Davenport, Iowa, my hometown, the first Cathedral ever dedicated to that devotion in America. I grew up going there for special feasts and it was my place for daily Mass when I was working.

The fifth is the Brompton Oratory, dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary but containing a chapel of the Sacred Heart. I was married at the Oratory, as it was my parish and I went to daily Mass there..

The sixth is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame, my alma mater. I was there almost daily.

The seventh is the Ordinariate, which although dedicated to Our Lady of Walsingham, also honors Newman as a patron, and his hearts from his crest are on their pin. I have many friends in the Ordinariate.

The last connection to the Sacred Heart is not a church, but a person, Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman, not only one of my personal patrons, but the subject of my current study, and in the past, as well.

I wonder if I shall think of some other Sacred Heart threads in my life?