20e anniversaire de mariage

Flash-back

Le 4 septembre 2019 nous célébrons notre 20e anniversaire de mariage. Ce fut un événement mémorable et bien spécial. Quelques flash-back sont à enregistrer…

C'était la canicule ce jour-là. On me disait que c'était moi qui avais apporté la chaleur du Brésil.

Le fiancé voulait aller à l’église en bermuda, c'est moi qui l’ai empêché. Il portait des sandales, un style plus « fermé », mais des sandales, quand même. Et il était très content de voir que le curé, lui aussi portait des sandales semblables aux siennes. La chemise était rose, manches courtes, le pantalon blanc et la cravate décorée avec un violon.

J’étais sobrement habillée, avec une belle blouse en crochet, cadeau de ma belle-sœur Sarah, et une jupe achetée par ici, tout en tonalité beige pâle, comme le lin écru presque blanc, les chaussures en style escarpin de la même couleur. Le collier était emprunté d’une autre belle-sœur, Clélia. Les autres accessoires je les avais déjà, les boucles d’oreilles en perle, la bague de fiançailles, et c’était tout. Je me suis occupée du maquillage, moi-même. La peau bronzée ne pouvait pas manquer, j’avais testé l’été nordique, en préparation pour le grand jour, et j’ai eu un bon résultat, pour bien représenter le Brésil à cet égard; les vêtements blancs ont aidé pour faire le contraste.

Pas de voile ni de guirlande à la tête, je ne pouvais pas m'imaginer de cette façon. Je me suis coiffée avec un chignon, tout simplement, un peu plus élaboré que celui d'habitude, car ma belle-sœur m'a aidé. Mais je l'ai averti que je ne voulais pas de chignon à la mode "Miss Venezuela". Je ne sais pas s'il y a toujours Miss Venezuela, dernièrement, mais les filles y sont très belles. Dans mon cas, n'étant pas une «Miss Brésil», moins j'attirais l'attention, mieux c'était.

Ma cousine Lurdinha m'avait prêté une belle robe pour porter lors du mariage. Mais après un mois au Canada, ça ne m’allait plus. Quand les gens de ma famille ont vu mes photos, ils ont cru que j'étais enceinte; le changement des horaires à manger et de type de nourriture a pesé dans la balance.

Nous avons tout fait le plus simplement possible, nous n’avions engagé personne pour photographier ni pour filmer... et nous avons deux superbes films et des photos sous tous les angles possibles et imaginables. Ma mère et ma sœur nous avaient demandé de filmer parce qu'elles ne pouvaient pas venir. À l'improvisation, en arrivant à l'église, Léo a glissé sa caméra à un ami et lui a demandé de filmer. L'autre film a été fait par mon beau-frère.

La famille et les amis de Léo ont pris beaucoup de photos, personne ne soupçonnait qu'il se marierait un jour, encore moins à l'église et, en plus, avec une Brésilienne – changer de pays et me marier ne faisaient pas partie de mes projets non plus. Mon frère, Chico Lima, et ma belle-sœur, Clélia, étaient les seuls Brésiliens présents. Ils ont également pris de superbes photos.

Nous nous sommes mariés à l'église St-Pie. J'ai été agréablement surprise, je ne savais pas que les cloches sonnaient à l'arrivée de la fiancée. Nous sommes arrivés ensemble, j'ai trouvé ça superbe.

Quand nous sommes rentrés de l'église, certains de nos voisins étaient au bord de la rue, chacun devant sa maison, ils agitaient des mouchoirs au passage de la voiture dans laquelle nous nous trouvions; et la file d'autos derrière nous klaxonnaient tout le temps, et ce, depuis la ville de St-Pie jusqu'à ce que nous rentrions à Acton Vale.

Les invités étaient peu nombreux, seulement la famille proche et quelques amis de Léo. Le méchoui était délicieux et très bien servi. Quelques musiciens du quartier sont venus jouer le soir, nous avons été chanceux ! Une fête en plein air jusqu'à tard la nuit, avec feu de camp et beaucoup de joie.

Aujourd'hui, en regardant nos photos, je me suis étonnée encore, comment le temps s'est écoulé vite... déjà vingt ans.

~~~~~

Liens connexes :

L’amour est bleu

Aniversário de casamento (en portugais)

Sapatos made in Brazil

Podemos ser desapegados ou estarmos longe de nossas origens, nos atirarmos no mundo como cidadãos sem pátria, "mas de tudo fica um pouco" (1) daquela gota absurda que pinga na memória; se não foi um pouco do queixo da minha mãe no meu queixo, ficou um pouco da pele macia do braço dela, com preguinha de neném, ou do excesso de carne colada nas unhas do meu pai – não se pode cortar rente. "Fica sempre um pouco de perfume" (2) que se evaporou das mãos que não tocamos mais.

Impossível sair completamente do molde em que fomos formados; até o gosto, as escolhas, em tudo trazemos um legado genético ou adquirido com o aprendizado.

Temos, literalmente, a nossos pés, um exemplo banal disso, que são os sapatos e sandálias. Já repararam como é comum as filhas usarem calçados parecidos com os da mãe? Não bastasse o fato de os pés já terem traços genéticos semelhantes, fica também o resquício de uma preferência materna.

Essas predileções acabam tendo um reflexo na grande família nacional. Tenho provas disso por experiência própria. Já aconteceu comigo mais de uma vez – duas 😄 – de ir comprar calçados para o verão e escolher, sem premeditação, um modelo feito no Brasil. Os de inverno feitos aqui são imbatíveis, obviamente. Sempre olho de onde os produtos vêm, mas vi que era “Made in Brazil” depois de ter escolhido. Fui em direção ao modelo como que magnetizada por ele. E que surpresa boa!

No que diz respeito a essa alegria de encontrar, tão longe, um pedacinho da nossa Pátria Mãe, não aconteceu comigo só por minhas escolhas. Aqui em casa mesmo, encontrei dois produtos fabricados no Brasil: a nossa vassoura para uso interior, que já estava aqui antes de mim, ou seja, há mais de vinte anos, e dura até hoje, apesar de ser utilizada diariamente; e a nossa lavadora de roupa, também de ótima qualidade! (3)

Ouvi uma conhecida daqui dizendo que os imigrantes, saudosos de suas origens, têm a tendência a supervalorizar seu país, esquecendo-se das mazelas. Penso que não é o caso dos brasileiros. Já há tantos anos que estamos sofrendo com os males do Brasil que, quando nos deparamos com alguma coisa boa, ficamos contentes. Mas o que eu penso do meu país é que, se está dormindo em berço esplêndido, deve ser sonâmbulo. Sofrendo ou não com mazelas, ele continua caminhando, impávido colosso (4).

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Links relacionados:

(1) Resíduo - Drummond

(2) Um pouco de perfume – Ir.Missionárias de Jesus Crucificado

            (3) Made in Brazil

(4) Hino Nacional

(5) Sapatos ululantes

Substantially

 Em português

En français

Continuing my series on Transubstantiation, a tempting idea came to my mind as an analogy, though grotesque in the face of the grandeur of the theme. I watched a video of Father Paulo Ricardo (1) talking about the subject, and his attempt to explain the mystery of the Eucharist made me think of water. Yes, water.

In short, he says that Jesus is present in bread and wine in "substance", though the "accidental" form remains bread and wine, and we cannot experience Him, so it is not an empirical presence. The explanation is very interesting; it is worth watching the video at the link at the end of this text (in Portuguese).

Immediately, I thought of the water and its numerous and varied solid presentations in the glacial winter, where I live. There is ice, which we all know, and there is snow that varies enormously in its shape and consistency according to weather conditions. I am delighted, for example, by the lace and fancy embroideries that appear on panes of my kitchen window which, by its location, receives the North Pole winds and suffers the most vigorous and direct action of the cold.

All of these presentations are substantially H₂O, but accidentally different in appearance and consistency. In the case of water, the presence is also empirical, we can experience it. In the Eucharist, on the contrary, what remains are the accidental characteristics: appearance, consistency, taste – of bread and wine; the substance in each one changes: bread and wine become body and blood of Christ respectively.

Obviously, the analogy is precarious, but somehow didactic, don't you think?

~~~~~~ 

Saint Carlo Acutis, pray for us.

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Related links:

(1) Vídeo do Padre Paulo Ricardo (in Portuguese)

~~~~~~ 
Substance accidents
Only for those who believe or would like to believe…
Transubstantiation
Scratching the head...
Excerpts
The Holy Shroud
We are “plague and cholera”

About religion

Only for those who believe or would like to believe...

    Em português                                         
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”  (Luke 22:19)

I wonder if there is a "function" of unusual concreteness for the act recommended in the sentence above... The order was really to eat the Body and drink the Blood! We enter, then, into the spiritual tangibility.

Let me explain what I mean:

From what we can grasp with our senses, it turns out that our "DNA" is trapped within a vicious circle, where the death we know plays a pivotal role, from the scene of a tiny atom being encased by a molecule to the scenario of pieces of meat, leaves and fruits, etc., being swallowed by humans as food. Thus, our DNA is maintained and "procreate" by assimilation of products from other beings' death, all summed up in that Lavoisier maxim - "Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed." – within this pool of elements we know.

If we believe that Jesus is the incarnation of God's word - a phenomenon of greatness unknown to us - there is something palpable in our belief that is no longer just philosophical conjecture. Thus, the fact that the "Word" is capable of transforming the altar bread into the Body of Christ becomes banal in comparison to the magnitude of the incarnation of the Divine Word.

The Sacramental bread could be, then, the Element of Life introduced into the vicious circle (mentioned above) with the exact function of "contaminating" that pool of death with Life. That is, as we eat this resurrected Bread, it breaks the vicious circle, preparing our matter for another stage (note that this "pool" is the same since time is time... goes for what we understand it as "past" and "future" as well).

Does it sound fabulous, a witchcraft thing? If we think like that, everything we experience is also strange… Can you see something weirder than a child being formed, growing up, becoming an adult, and then, this adult gets old? Does this really exist or is it a side effect of death? This old person you see in the mirror has something in common with that baby you were, doesn't it? Huh?

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Related links:

Transubstantiation
Substantially
Scratching the head...
Excerpts
The Holy Shroud
We are “plague and cholera”

Aparição

Ela me escutou,
Nossa Senhora em flor,

margarida – que Amor!

A flor se transformou

no bercinho com o Menino Jesus,

bracinhos abertos em Cruz.

Um encanto, que emoção!

Depois, Ele sumiu, procurei em vão.

No lugar, dois corações... num Ostensório?

Não sei como explicar.

Acabaram minhas aflições

naquele momento ímpar... aleatório?

Era um simples guardanapo de papel

sobre o vapor do café.

Queria escrever um poema em oração,

mas tamanha consolação não cabe em minha poesia.

Quero ter esperança,

continuar a rezar terços para a Santa Maria,
com minha fé de criança.

Transubstantiation

Em português
                     During His short but intense “public life”, Jesus Christ explained how we should behave to save ourselves, to reach the Kingdom of God, and that only He could be the Way to take for Salvation. Giving His body and blood to the Apostles in the form of bread and wine to eat and to drink, he commanded them to do this in remembrance of Him; which they did, with the power He gave them to expand His mission of love to the whole world, guided by the Holy Spirit.

He has given His life-giving humanity as food to us, and His ever-present Divine teachings will never perish.

This is exactly what the Apostles understood, that the bread and the wine were transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ. The understanding of all that was said to them was reinforced by the Holy Spirit, sent to them after the Ascension of Jesus, as promised by Him.

There was then evil-speaking about what was happening in the closed-door meetings early Christians did, related, among other things, to the misunderstanding of "eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ"; in the end, this is further evidence that the phenomenon of transubstantiation was not something invented later by the Church, as some people say. The disciples already believed this from the beginning.

There were persecutions and many Christians were martyred because of their faith and attitudes as a result of what they believed. Our faith is based on this heroic and superhuman testimony given by early Christians, who strictly followed the teachings of Jesus and transcribed His everlasting Word.

The Universe is wonderful

Em português
En français 
I am so grateful. I receive so many great little kind signals of Divine Mercy every day! And each such moment brings me immense consolation. I need to train my heart to be sweet - it's hard! I have to train a lot, because it is very difficult to feel I am nothing, but in this assumed misery, I can experience an incalculable comfort He gives us, sometimes in a fraction of a second that fills our soul with pleasure - they really are enjoyments of the spirit - and I become happy for the rest of the day. Of course, this won't fix nature, either inside or outside me. But it gives encouragement to remain firm, trying to improve, despite so much suffering.

Sometimes we think the world and ourselves are too bad. Many people wonder, with astonishment, how to believe a doctrine that says this is the work of God's goodness?

I believe because I accept that the universe, in which we live, including our own configuration, with the form of life we ​​know, in this painful and suffering evolution, is really our second chance. Everything is imperfect and corrupt, as in a vicious circle, because of the famous Original Sin - whatever it is - which I like to call "Big Bug", as in computer problems (1, 2). Still, it is God's gift to us, so that we can have the opportunity to choose the True Way.

Conclusion: The Universe is WONDERFUL! It is our sacred passport! The choice belongs to us: through Him, with Him, in Him. I try to visualize Jesus' eyes when they were opening at the moment of the Resurrection - the energy of this event is unimaginable! - still with that sadness because of death so suffered, but being filled with the brightness of Life... Pure love as Grace for us (3). 

~~~

Related links:

1. Scratching the head...

2. Excerpts

3.  Consolação desejada (in Portuguese)

L'Univers est magnifique

Em português
In English 

Je veux remercier infiniment. Je reçois tellement de petites-grandes délicatesses de la Miséricorde Divine, tous les jours ! Et chacun de ces moments apporte une immense consolation. Il faut entraîner notre cœur à s’adoucir – c’est dur ! Je dois beaucoup m'entraîner parce qu'il est très difficile de ressentir que je ne suis rien, mais que, dans cette misère assumée, je peux expérimenter le réconfort incalculable qu'Il concède, parfois pour une fraction de seconde qui remplit l'âme de plaisir – ce sont, vraiment, des jouissances de l'esprit – et  je deviens contente pour le reste de la journée. Bien sûr, cela ne corrigera pas la nature, ni à l'intérieur ni à l'extérieur de moi. Mais cela encourage à rester ferme, à essayer de s’améliorer malgré tant de souffrances.

Parfois, nous pensons que le monde et que nous-mêmes sommes trop méchants. Beaucoup se demandent, avec étonnement, comment croire à une doctrine qui dit que cela est l'œuvre du bon Dieu?

Je crois parce que j'accepte que l'univers dans lequel nous vivons, y compris notre propre configuration, avec la forme de vie que nous connaissons, dans cette évolution douloureuse et souffrante, soit vraiment notre deuxième chance. Tout est imparfait et corrompu, comme dans un cercle vicieux, à cause du fameux Péché Originel – quoi que cela puisse être et que j'aime appeler de «Big Bug», comme en informatique (1, 2). De toute façon, c’est un cadeau de Dieu pour que l'on puisse avoir la possibilité de choisir la Vraie Voie.

Conclusion: L'Univers est MAGNIFIQUE! C'est notre passeport sacré! Le choix nous appartient: par Lui, avec Lui et en Lui. J’essaie de visualiser le regard de Jésus alors que ses yeux étaient en train de s'ouvrir, au moment de la Résurrection – l’énergie de cet événement est inimaginable ! – encore avec de la tristesse, à cause de la mort tellement souffrante, mais en train de se remplir de l'éclat de la Vie... Pur amour comme Grâce pour nous (3).

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Liens connexes :

1.     À se tordre les neurones

2.     Extraits

3.     Consolação desejada (en portugais)