Even if you’re not among those who pray regularly for our courts
and judges — or are among those who pray not at all — you might
want to note in passing that December 9th is the Catholic Church’s
official Memorial Day for Saint John Roberts.
As we pointed out last September, St. John Roberts:
– had ancestors who were princes of Wales
– was raised Protestant
– studied law at the Inns of Court when he was 21, and
later that year converted to Catholicism while in France
– worked among London plague victims
– was arrested and exiled several times for performing his priestly
duties and associating with Catholic rebels.
– was finally convicted for the crime of “priesthood” in 1610, and
was martyred (hanged, drawn, and quartered).
– has two fingers [of his otherwise missing corpse] preserved at Downside
Abbey and Erdington Abbey (we don’t know which two fingers and
we don’t vouch for this or any other saintly body parts kept as relics)
If the patience and humility of St. John Roberts had anything to do with his
namesake’s new blow on behalf of Plain English on the Supreme Court, the
f/k/a Gang raises our eyes toward heaven and sends up a thank you.
all sorts of fools
moon-gaze too…
winter prayers
ain’t a devil
ain’t a saint…
just a sea slug
Kobayashi Issa — translated by David G. Lanoue
this body of mine
part temple
part tavern
the old priest dines
his wine
just wine
“this body” – Dewdrop World (2005; free download)
“the old priest dines” – the thin curve:; Modern Haiku XXX: 1
Your Editor probably would not have remembered
this date, except that it falls on the birthday of his [twin] brother, (who
still doesn’t have a website for me to link to). Happy 56th Birthday, Arthur!
p.s. With all this talk of saints and martyrs, here’s a reminder: we’re
still looking for more law school exam prayers.
December 8, 2005
Dec. 9th is St. John Roberts Day
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Now, I’m just a simple English-major-turned-lawyer, so I never had to wrestle with the higher mathematics or the intricacies of reproductive genetics, but it seems to me that in my vast reading of “weblogs” I have seen somewhere or other — maybe there’s a semi-reliable entry on Wikipedia? — that “twins” are commonly born on more or less the same day as one another. Am I reclling that correctly, David? Hmmmm?
Comment by George Wallace — December 9, 2005 @ 11:35 am
Now, I’m just a simple English-major-turned-lawyer, so I never had to wrestle with the higher mathematics or the intricacies of reproductive genetics, but it seems to me that in my vast reading of “weblogs” I have seen somewhere or other — maybe there’s a semi-reliable entry on Wikipedia? — that “twins” are commonly born on more or less the same day as one another. Am I reclling that correctly, David? Hmmmm?
Comment by George Wallace — December 9, 2005 @ 11:35 am
Interesting question, Mr. Wallace. Sadly, I’m even less of a mathematics or genetics expert than you are (no science nor math requirements at the G. U. Foreign Service School). Knowing you love good fiction, I can tell you, however, that one of the twins in Wally Lamb’s I Know This Much Is True was, like my brother, born in December 1949, while his brother was born in January 1950.
Comment by David Giacalone — December 9, 2005 @ 12:52 pm
Interesting question, Mr. Wallace. Sadly, I’m even less of a mathematics or genetics expert than you are (no science nor math requirements at the G. U. Foreign Service School). Knowing you love good fiction, I can tell you, however, that one of the twins in Wally Lamb’s I Know This Much Is True was, like my brother, born in December 1949, while his brother was born in January 1950.
Comment by David Giacalone — December 9, 2005 @ 12:52 pm