Happy Birthday, Mom !

We love you, Mom!
Happy Birthday!
Sweet deal to be still celebrating Easter at the same time as your own birthday.
I'm jealous.
All hail the Queen of the House of Royals!
Hip Hip Huzzah!

Cardinal Ratzinger on ... Himself

Vatican Radio has been conceding to a multitude of requests to rebroadcast an interview it did with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger after the publication of his 2001 book "God and the World."

Asked to paint himself in words, the then cardinal said:

"A self-portrait would be impossible. It's difficult to judge oneself. All I can say is that I come from a very simple and humble family and I don't really feel like a cardinal. I feel I'm just a man."

"In Germany I lived in a small town with people who work in agriculture and handicrafts and there I feel at home. At the same time, I try to be that way in the office too. If that's what I succeed in doing, I'm not the one to say."

The then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith continued: "I always remember, with great affection, the goodness of my father and mother. And for me goodness also means the ability to say 'no,' because goodness that lets anything go can't be good for another. "Sometimes goodness can also mean saying 'no,' even with the risk of sounding contradictory. But this must be nourished not by a sense of power or vindication but by an ultimate goodness which is the desire to do good to others. These are my criteria, this is my background; other people can add to it what they wish." * * *

The Son is Risen ! Silent explosion of interior Light. 

Easter !

We spent a quiet Easter at home.... missed all the folks who usually accompany us this day.... Here's hoping for a Blessed Easter to everyone and looking forward to seeing you at the many blessed events that this year has in store for us. Love, Mom

Called to orders !!!

The Cardinal called Andrew
to receive the sacrament of holy orders
on Monday March 21, 2005. Andrew accepted the call. We are all so happy!
The events have been set in motion for him to be ordained a deacon sometime in May 2005.
We will keep you posted. That means we, his loving and supporting community, must pray for him that he may be as holy as God wants him to be, no more, no less.
Love, Mom

On blogging photos...

We have a program called "Hello."
We can post pictures to our blog using this program.
1-You need a username and password to run this program.
Do not download this program onto our computer, because, again, we already have it.
***Click here to get a username.***
(If you're not on "our computer" and you want to download it, by all means...)
2-Run the program and sign-in your username and password.
3-upper-left click on "Send Pictures"
4-click on "Use explorer" on the right
5-click on the picture you want to post
6-click on "BloggerBot" and "send"
7-top-row click on "Blogger" and select "The House of Royals"
8-enter a caption for your photo
9-bottom-right click "publish."
You're done! You may remove the picture bottom-left. You may logout.
Questions...? Comments...?

Mike proposed to Ellen !

Ellen accepted Mike's proposal. We are so happy. It was just past mid-night at the Jefferson memorial at the very dawn of St. Joseph's Feast Day.

Hello, Uncle Andrew

We hope you visit often. To comment simply click on the comment button bellow and follow the prompt. Don't forget to scroll down to the bottom to submit, publish your comment. Come visit us often.

Update from upstate

Providence College plays Mt. St. Mary's in the men's lacrosse conference opener this Saturday (3/19) @ 1pm here in Emmitsburg. I'll come home after that game. That's Maryland Day at the Heights, no?
Two papers due before that, though.
1-The theme of Sacramentality in the Nicodemus discourse (due fri.)
2-Review articles on a particular theme related to the Canon Law of Marriage (due tues).
I'll likely receive the call from the Cardinal to Holy Orders next Monday (3/21) at which point I'll also learn when the ordination date will be. More prayers please.
And, no Terps in NCAAs...bummer.

Eleven ! ! John Paul is Eleven ! !

Happy Birthday! We are so proud of you, John Paul! You are becoming a fine young man. Congratulations on your great day! Love Mom

Carpe diem

Today is a day that will go down in the annals/archives (whichever you prefer) as the day James blogged his first blog. It was also the day Mom went to New York. So thats how you can remember it. Mom went to New York the day James Blogged. In addition in the near future things will not be dated AD but AJB After James's Blog. Remember this day. Huzzah!

IT'S LEE'S BIRTHDAY

Two-hour delay.
Happy Birthday Leelee. We love you so much. We had Congressman Delay order you a 2 hour delay just for your birthday. He's got pull.