Earth's Creatures Stop to Smell the Flowers

Spring & Summer are the perfect time to celebrate the rebirth of Earth's Beauty & Bounty.  Flowers gave beauty & inspiration to mankind's basic struggle to live & to populate & to protect his home-base, The Earth.  Holding on to The Sweet Divine - The Lord God took man & put him in the Garden of Eden to work it & to keep it...Genesis 2:15.

Earth's Creatures Stop to Smell the Flowers

Spring & Summer are the perfect time to celebrate the rebirth of Earth's Beauty & Bounty.  Flowers gave beauty & inspiration to mankind's basic struggle to live & to populate & to protect his home-base, The Earth.  Holding on to The Sweet Divine - The Lord God took man & put him in the Garden of Eden to work it & to keep it...Genesis 2:15.

Earth's Creatures Stop to Smell the Flowers

Spring & Summer are the perfect time to celebrate the rebirth of Earth's Beauty & Bounty.  Flowers gave beauty & inspiration to mankind's basic struggle to live & to populate & to protect his home-base, The Earth.  Holding on to The Sweet Divine - The Lord God took man & put him in the Garden of Eden to work it & to keep it...Genesis 2:15.

Earth's Creatures Stop to Smell the Flowers

 

Earth's Creatures Stop to Smell the Flowers

Earth's Creatures Stop to Smell the Flowers

Earth's Creatures Stop to Smell the Flowers

Earth's Creatures Stop to Smell the Flowers

Earth's Creatures Stop to Smell the Flowers

Spring often means it is time for you & your pet to explore the great outdoors. But before you & your furry best friend stop & smell the spring flowers, make sure they are not toxic. If you suspect your pet has ingested or been in contact with the plants below, call Pet Poison Helpline ASAP & then contact your veterinary team to keep them updated on the situation.

See Toxic & Non-Toxic Plant List - Dogs     https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/dogs-plant-list

Toxic and Non-Toxic Plant List - Cats     https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/cats-plant-list

These services provide immediate expert advice, and include consultation with your veterinarian if needed. Follow-up of the case is also included, if needed.

Animal Poison Control Center (ASPCA): 888-426-4435

Pet Poison Helpline: 855-764-7661

Easter - Preparing to Anoint Christ's Body

The Three Marys by Michael  Wolgemut or Wolgemuth (German 1434-1519) 

Biblical Holy Women associated with Christ's Resurrection buying anointing spices from merchant in the “Egmont Breviary.” New York, Morgan Library (M.87, fol. 202v). Utrecht, c. 1440. 

 The Marys buying ointment at the ointment shop.  Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome had bought sweet spices, that they might come to the tomb to anoint him.  The Gospel of Mark has this happening on the Saturday evening. The author of Matthew may have copied the wording from the Saturday spice buying & combined it with their visit to the tomb, creating the ambiguity in the timing.

In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. Matthew 28:1

The Lamentation of Christ by Simon Marmion (French, 1425-1489) c 1473  

The Met tells us that the lifeless body of Christ rests in his mother's lap, his torso supported by Joseph of Arimathea & Nicodemus. Just behind, and somewhat apart from the Virgin, Saint John the Evangelist kneels in prayer. Mary Magdalen & a female companion express their quiet grief at far left. Essentially a Pietà in concept, this image of mourning foregrounds Christ's limp body, reminding the viewer that his sacrifice makes possible mankind's salvation through the celebration of the Eucharist. The drooping poppy at bottom left symbolizes sleep and death.

This man [Joseph of Arimathea] went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. … It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning.  The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid.  Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.  On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment. 
Luke 23

Wall mosaic of entombment of Jesus near Stone of anointing at Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

By the Jewish calendar, the new day begins at sundown, thus the beginning of the day would have been Saturday evening. One debate over this verse is what it says about the time of the visit, & thus the resurrection. The 3 other gospels & the current Christian tradition, have the empty tomb discovered the day after Sabbath, today known as Easter Sunday. This verse actually contains 2 time indicators. The 1st can be translated as "late on Sabbath" and the 2nd as "at the beginning of the first day of the week." It literally translates as dawning of the day, but as at Luke 23:54 this term can also refer to the time at sundown as the beginning of night. Thus the verse can be read as describing the resurrection as happening on Saturday rather than Sunday.

Good Friday" - The Holy Women by Hans Memling (1435-1494)

Hans Memling (German-born Flemish painter, 1435-1494) The Holy Women, right hand panel of the Granada Deposition Diptych

Hans Memling (German-born Flemish painter, 1435-1494) The Mourning Virgin

Good Friday" - Crown of Thorns

Lucas Cranach the Elder (German Northern Renaissance Painter, 1472-1553) Christ Crowned with Thorns c 1510

Unknown Flemish painter, Jesus

Petrus Christus (Netherlandish painter, active c 1444–1476 Bruges)  Head of Christ c 1445

1460-75. Philadelphia Museum of Art Christ Crowned with Thorns. Artist unknown, Austrian

In the Christian religion, Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. As early as the 1C, the Christian church set aside every Friday as a special day of prayer and fasting. It was not until the 4C, however, that Christians began observing the Friday before Easter as the day associated with the crucifixion of Christ. Good Friday is the most solemn day in the Christian calendar.  First called Holy or Great Friday by the Greek Church, the name "Good Friday" was adopted by the Roman Church around the 6C or 7C.

There are two possible origins for the name "Good Friday". The first may have come from the Gallican Church in Gaul (modern-day France and Germany). The name "Gute Freitag" is Germanic in origin and literally means "good" or "holy" Friday. The 2nd possibility is a variation on the name "God's Friday," where the word "good" was used to replace the word "God," which was often viewed as too holy to be spoken aloud.

Good Friday rituals and traditions are somber. To many Christians, Good Friday is a day of sorrow mingled with hope, a time to grieve for mankind's failings and for the suffering of Jesus and to meditate upon the ultimate redemption of loving and of forgiving ourselves and others.

Good Friday - lluminated Manuscripts

Crucifixion of Christ. British Library Royal 15 DI.f.353. Guyart des Moulins.La Bible Historiale, part 4 (Bible Historiale of Edward IV) Netherlands, S. (Bruges)1470 and c.1479. French.

In the Christian Bible, Good Friday marks the day on which Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross for the sins of the the people of the world. Good Friday is a day of mourning and sorrow over the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. It's also a day of gratitude for the supreme sacrifice that he made.

Missal and Book of Hours, Lombardy ca. 1385-1390 (Paris, BnF, Latin 757, fol. 79r)

Prayer Book (Use of Rome), Entombment, Walters Manuscript W.438, fol. 354vb11

Good Friday" - Giotto 1267-1337

1305  Giotto di Bondone (Florentine painter, c 1267-1337). The Crucifixion

Good Friday marks the day that the Bible explains Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross for the sins of the the people of the world. Good Friday is a day of mourning and sorrow over the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. It's also a day of gratitude for the supreme sacrifice, that he made.

1303 Giotto di Bondone (Florentine painter, c 1267-1337). The Lamentation

Good Friday - Duccio 1255-1319

1308-11 Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255-1319)  (Italian artist, 1255-1319) Jesus Accused by the Pharisees

1308-11 Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255-1319)  (Italian artist, 1255-1319) The Flagellation

Good Friday marks the day on which Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross for the sins of the the people of the world. Some believe that its name was originally God's Friday, which, over the years, became its present name. Good Friday is a day of mourning and sorrow over the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. It's also a day of gratitude for the supreme sacrifice that he made.

1308-11 Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255-1319)  (Italian artist, 1255-1319) Crown of Thorns

1308-11 Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255-1319)  (Italian artist, 1255-1319) The Carrying of the Cross

1308-11 Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255-1319)  (Italian artist, 1255-1319) Deposition