Text Messages from Pope Benedict to WYD pilgrims

So Cool.

The first one:

"Young friend, God & his people expect much from u, because u have within u the Father's supreme gift: the Spirit of Jesus - BXVI"

The second:

"The Holy Spirit gave the Apostles & gives u the power boldly 2 proclaim that Christ is risen! - BXVI"

And while we're on the topic of "iReporting," a confirmed picture of Pope2008 blogger Tim Drake!

Picture: The pope's latest wheels!

"STPG" (Stuff The Pope Gets):

"Pope Benedict XVI looks at two 'Ape Calessino' three-wheel cars he was presented by Italian scooter maker Piaggio at the end of a general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, June 25, 2008. The Ape, a reproduction of the special version used to carry tourists in the fashionable island of Capri and other sea resorts along the Amalfi cost in southern Italy, was presented to the pontiff to mark its 60th anniversary. (AP Photo/Filippo Monteforte, Pool)"

I'm feeling a PPOTD coming on....

Picture: A Text Message from Pope Benedict

This sure beats the "LOL" or "TTYS" texts I'm used to receiving on my phone....

Okay, so actually this is a CNS concept photo, but you get the idea.

Also cool? The surfer cross. Yeah.

Ph/t: Pope2008.

Awesome Procession Pic (+other things liturgical)

Shawn Tribe at New Liturgical Movement gives us something else to rejoice and wonder at:

In second place, this picture from the Chartres pilgrimage (which I narrowly missed attending when I was in Europe the summer of 2003).

Also see the breathtaking photopost on English rood screens.

update: and for good measure, Damian Thompson on the Latin Mass in England:

...Interestingly, [a Cardinal] added that the Pope wants this Mass to become normal in parishes, so that ‘young communities can also become familiar with this rite’.”

[Damian Thompson:] "The idea of young people discovering the ancient Mass, said entirely in Latin with zero opportunity for congregational showing-off, will truly horrify with-it bishops and their Sandalista worship leaders. And what will Bobbie (“Cry me a river”) Mickens have to say?

I do wonder, however, whether the Pope realises that if he wants the classical Mass celebrated widely in this country he will have to make one extra provision. New bishops. Lots of them. And fast."

Get your piece of papal visit history today!

Officially "super cool":

Flemington Department Store co-owner Ted Resnick always thought the ultimate job would be working with the pope. After several meetings with the Archdiocese of New York, he got his wish.

His store provided 20,000 square feet of white and yellow carpet for the pope to walk on at two of his recent appearances in the United States.

And now he's giving it away.

Store workers are giving away 1-foot-by-1-foot sections of the carpet that Pope Benedict XVI walked on during his recent American visit. The white carpet sections are from his April 20 Mass at Yankee Stadium; the yellow pieces are from his April 19 visit to St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers.

....

For more information contact the department store at 1-888-877-2192.

(Newhouse News Service)

My personal piece of papal visit paraphernalia?

Certified sawdust shavings from the papal altar used in Washington DC, courtesy of Will Cubbedge.

Ph/t: AmP reader Deirdre.

Photo: Pope uses Cross Staff of Pius XI, XII & John XXIII today

Papist bloggers are buzzing about the Pope's Cross Staff seen today at the Palm Sunday Mass:

Ken88 found this photo, and has several more of similar high-quality. Fr. Z has more from the Mass.

It appears that this is the same papal cross staff used by Popes Pius XI & XII, as this photo suggests. update: and now TNLM notes that Pope John XIII used the "conciliar cross" as well.

Pope Benedict also strongly decried the atrocities in Iraq, saying "enough with massacres, enough violence, enough hatred in Iraq!" This week, Iragi Archbishop Rahho was found dead after being kidnapped.

Discovery: 2,500-yr-old Jewish seal which confirms claim in book of Nehemiah

Darn cool:

A stone seal bearing the name of one of the families who acted as servants in the First Temple and then returned to Jerusalem after being exiled to Babylonia has been uncovered in an archeological excavation in Jerusalem's City of David, a prominent Israeli archeologist said Wednesday.

The 2,500-year-old black stone seal, which has the name "Temech" engraved on it, was found earlier this week amid stratified debris in the excavation under way just outside the Old City walls near the Dung Gate, said archeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar, who is leading the dig.

According to the Book of Nehemiah, the Temech family were servants of the First Temple and were sent into exile to Babylon following its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 BCE.

The family was among those who later returned to Jerusalem, the Bible recounts.

...

"The seal of the Temech family gives us a direct connection between archeology and the biblical sources and serves as actual evidence of a family mentioned in the Bible," she said. "One cannot help being astonished by the credibility of the biblical source as seen by the archaeological find."

Why so astonished? I rather expect this sort of thing.