The Holy Fire

For this last entree I would like to talk about, what I think is the greatest miracle of all time, the Holy Fire. Most people in the West do not know about this miracle because it occurs in the East. The miracle takes place in Jerusalem at the Church of the Holy Scepulchre, during the time of Greek Orthodox Easter. On the day before Easter, thousands of people who are apart of the Eastern Orthodox Church, flock toward this spot so that way they can experience the awe of the miracle. The Patriarchs of the Eastern Church are the ones who must pray for the miracle to work. Before they do so the Jewish athorities inspect them and the church, for flammable substances that would make the miracle a fraud. The Patriarch then goes inside the inner chapel to pray to God, then at midnight a huge lightning bolt comes down into the chapel and ignites the Patriarch's candels. He then comes outside to the crowd of believers and lights their candles with the fire. The most extraordinary thing about this miracle is that people have stated that their candles have lighted on their own. Also ordinary people have placed their hands and faces in to their torches and the fire doesn't burn them. The fire will not burn any one for 33 minutes which is an interesting coincidence, because traditon says that Jesus Christ was crucified at the age of 33. This event is one of the things that I really want to witness.
Here is one such video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ys8hNr7BZ70&feature=related

Interviewing Catholic Nuns

Since I am a student of St. John's University it is required for me to take Theology as one of my classes. Although I didn't choose this class, I am glad I took this class because it was very interesting. For my final project I had to do an interview with a Catholic nun, to ask her what life as a Catholic was for her before, during, and after the Second Vatican Council. My professor told me that he would take care of finding us a nun, however the nun he got me in touch with, lived four hours away. My teacher told me I could do the interview by phone, but I wanted to do it face to face. At that moment I decided to find my own nun to interview, and thanks to my mother and a friend, I managed to find one at the Visitation Academy. The Visitation Academy was an all girl's Catholic school with a monastery for the nuns who teach there. At first I though I would meet strict women, however they proved to be very kind to me, and answered the interview with great enthusiasm. They even answered questions before I had a chance to ask the question.

Hunting

Hunting, the great outdoor American sport, an activity that has been around since the Stone Age. This weekend was the time I was waiting for my whole life because my brothers and I were finally going hunting after two years of being licensed to hunt big game. The big game included boar, deer, fox, etc. However I was only licensed to kill bucks not does. The hunting season just began this week so it was the perfect time to go hunt for some bucks. The site we went to was located on Bear Mountain which uninhabitable. When we got their we hiked up this hill that was so steep that it tired us out in 10 minutes especially with all the thick clothing and gear we were carrying. Yet when we reached the top, we found the perfect spot to ambush deer which was over looking the bottom of a small cliff, the perfect place for deer to cross over and be hunted. For those of you who think that hunting is just hiking around with a rifle until you kill an animal, you don't know what hunting is. Deer have keen senses and they know when hunting season is on, they can hear a single footstep from two minutes away and they will run for the hills. At the same time you must wear orange so that way other hunters will be aware of your presence. The best way to hunt is to sit in a good spot for hours and hours and let the deer come to you. It requires alot of patience, and most likely you would be unsuccessful. Nonetheless hunting is a good experience, and even though we didn't find any deer, I enjoyed the experience and would do it again any day.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, what a day that is. A day in which we, like the Pilgrims, have settled down and stuffed their faces with mashed potatoes, cranberries, yams, ham, peas, stuffing and most famous of all, big fat and juicy turkey. The classical feast held every year to celebrate being thankful for all the things that we have such as our family, our home, our lives, and our health. Unlike most holidays like Christmas, Passover, or Ramadan which are celebrated by distinctive religious people, Thanksgiving can be celebrated by all, including athiests. The holiday was founded by Christians who escaped Europe for a better and freer life. Their Native American neighbors also celebrated it with them and they were not really Christian. Yet the Natives celebrated Thanksgiving because they were thankful for what they had on behalf of whatever spiritual divinty they believed in.

Trip to the City

New York City the greatest city in the world, because of its prosperous economy, huge population, and its eye popping attractions. On November 8, 2007 I went on a trip to the center of New York, which is Msanhattan. The reason we went to the city was because we were going to take a tour of the places that involved the gangs of New York. While we took the tour we saw alot of awsome sites, such as the tall artistic skyscrapers, city hall and city hall park, and the Supreme Court which I was really impressed because it resembled the ancient Greek architecture, a feature I love to see on a building. The best part of the trip of course was that we didn't have class, and it was great enjoying the view of Manhattan. The only flaw of the trip was that it was freezing. I brought gloves and earmuffs with me, but sooner or later I was desperate for warmth. Thankfully we stopped to eat at a store in China town to eat some lunch. I ate pork dumplings and they were very delicious, plus they kept me warm. Overall the trip was incredible and I hope to go on another similar trip for Discover New York.

The Basketball game

Holy Cross church has a bsaketball team for teenagers. The players have to be 17 years old at the most. As a result I was unable to join the team since I was to old for it. However my younger brothers were able to join the team since they were younger than 17 years old. During Wensday nights my brothers go to practice with their friends at the gym and with each practice they always come out better than they were before. The last Sunday that past was the day of their game that I went to see. My youngest brother's team were very skilled players however they didn't win becaus e their oponents were like 3 feet taller than them not to mention they were wider. However my middle brother's game, ended in a very close victory and they all recieved cheers from girls they knew. The cheering those girls made were so loud that I thought my ear drums would explode. Luckely they didn't. Any way I had a good time spectating how well my brothers played.

Count Dracula

Count Dracula is known by many as the legendary vampire who has been out in the middle of the night sucking blood from the necks of innocent people. His legend is very popular amongst Westerners, but who was the real Count Dracula. Count Dracula was really a man nsamed Vlad who was born in 13th century as the the prince of the Eastern European kingdom of Wallacia. It was located in modern day Romania which was at that time a apart of the Eastern Orthodox Church. When Vlad became king of Wallacia he took the name Vlad Dracula, which meant "son of the dragon". He named himself this after the Order of the Dragon which was an Eastern European Organization dedicated to waging crusades against the Ottoman Turks who sought Muslim expansion into their homeland. However his connection to the dragon would later have him viewed by many as the son of the devil, especially after he commited his most infamous act in his reign.
To psychologically demoralize the Turks and to keep his enemies under control, Vlad Dracula had hundreds of thousands of people (the Turks and political rivals) impaled on wooden stakes, to the point where he would be nick named "Vlad the Impaler". It was at one battle against the Turks that he was finally killed, filling the Ottoman Empire with relief that the impaler was slain. However his castle still stands in the mountains of Romania and many claim it to be cursed. His infamous reign of terror inspired the publishing of the 19th century book "Drqacula". The Romanians today view him as a strong ruler who did what he did in order to stay strong. By the 1960's, Vlad the Impaler became a national hero because of his bravery in defending Romania from the Ottoman Turks despite his blood thirsty methods in impaling people.