Prayer On behalf of the Whole

OH MY LORD – Not one among us is spotless and pure in thought, word, and deed. I give thanks that no one can claim they are better than another, and give thanks for your offering of Unconditional Love – that we might Love One Another, as we are, right where we are on the Path to Becoming the personification of YOUR Light. By God’s WORD, it SHALL BE.

AMEN, AMEN, AMEN

Looking back, my worst choices were always made when there was no light of love to be found below. ANYTHING was better than NOTHING, I thought. “NOTHING” is better than the Love of ANYTHING offered by the world… ONLY the Beauty of Mother Earth.  The GREATEST love I’ve known since I moved to the Great Plains, was the Unconditional Love of  Compassion between me and my neighbors. NOTHING less than the LOVE OF A FRIEND is worth the Time of  Day.

 

Wikipedia – Vestal Virgins, in Roman religion, six priestesses, representing the daughters of the royal house, who tended the state cult of Vesta, the goddess of the hearth. The cult is believed to date to the 7th century BC; like other non-Christian cults, it was banned in AD 394 by Theodosius I.

Chosen between the ages of 6 and 10 by the pontifex maximus (“chief priest”), Vestal Virgins served for 30 years, during which time they had to remain virgins. Afterward they could marry, but few did. Those chosen as Vestal Virgins had to be of the required age, be freeborn of freeborn and respectable parents (though later the daughters of freedmen were eligible), have both parents alive, and be free from physical and mental defects. They lived in the House of the Vestal Virgins on the Roman Forum, near the Temple of Vesta. Their duties included tending the perpetual fire in the Temple of Vesta, keeping their vow of chastity, fetching water from a sacred spring (Vesta would have no water from the city water-supply system), preparing ritual food, caring for objects in the temple’s inner sanctuary, and officiating at the Vestalia (June 7–15), the period of public worship of Vesta. Failure to attend to their duties was punished by a beating; violation of the vow of chastity, by burial alive (the blood of a Vestal Virgin could not be spilled). But the Vestal Virgins also enjoyed many honours and privileges not open to married or single women of equivalent social status, including emancipation from their fathers’ rule and the ability to handle their own property.

The best Nessun dorma – Luciano Pavarotti – Turandot – Puccini

Lyrics:

No sleep!
Nessun dorma!

No sleep!
Nessun dorma!

You too, oh princess,
Tu pure, o, principessa,

In your cold room,
Nella tua fredda stanza,

Look at the stars
Guardi le stelle

Who tremble with love
Che tremano d’amore

And of hope.
E di speranza.
But my mystery is closed in me,
Ma il mio mistero e chiuso in me,

No one will know my name!
Il nome mio nessun saprá!

No, no, I’ll say it on your mouth
No, no, sulla tua bocca lo diró

When the light shines!
Quando la luce splenderá!
And my kiss will dissolve the silence
Ed il mio bacio sciogliera il silenzio

That makes you mine!
Che ti fa mia!
Vanish, O night!
Dilegua, o notte!

Set, stars!
Tramontate, stelle!

Set, stars!
Tramontate, stelle!

I’ll win at dawn!
All’alba vinceró!

I will win, I will win!
Vinceró, vinceró!

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Giacomo Puccini / R. Simoni / F. Alfano / G. Adami

love, in lak’ech, Debra