A Victorian Palace in 2010 XXI: Sanfilippo Estate in Barrington, Illinois USA

Eden Palais: A Victorian Palace from Gardenia Hung on Vimeo.

Browsing through Sr. CONNECTION, I found the Sanfilippo Estate, once again, on the front page, for the Victorian Palace in 2010 XXI. Have you ever visited a Victorian Palace in the 21st century? Look for the European Salon Carousel and the Tiffany Dome at the Victorian mansion with crystal chandeliers in Barrington Hills, Illinois USA.

Seven years ago, the Italian American Chamber of Commerce Midwest and the French American Chamber of Commerce Midwest invited joint members with the Groupe Professionel Francophone for a Sunday afteroon soirée at the Victorian Palace for the Sanfilippo Estate Plum Tree Farm in Barrington Hills. All guests were personally greeted by Jasper Sanfillippo and his wife. We were treated to a special tour of the Victorian Palace at the Sanfilippo Estate, valet parking, hors d’oeuvres, beverages, refreshments, good-hearted hospitality and a warm personal welcome from Jasper Sanfililippo and his wife at the Plum Tree Farm in Barrington Hills.

Everyone was dazed and amazed at the objet d’art and wonderful memorabilia displayed at the Victorian Palace.

I remembered the beautiful antique organ played by classical organist Frank Pugno who entertained the guests all afternoon at the Grand Salon. During his performance, I interviewed Ray Pugno, who was kind to share his impressions with me during the visit to the Victorian Palace. I filmed a Digital Video for San Filippo Plum Tree Farm, Barrington Hills, Illinois, English in color, 2H30, 2000 for Communications, Languages & Culture, Inc.

Now on May 22, 2010, Catholic Charities is sponsoring another dinner event at the Sanfilippo Estate. Hearts for the Homeless in the Eighth Wonder of the World Tour is making a public effort to raise funds for homeless families in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. This fundraising dinner and auction offer unique auction items which include a yacht cruise, a TV news station tour and talk time with Garry Meier, WGN Radio personality, to benefit Catholic Charities Northwest Regional Services and the New Hope Apartments Program, a supportive housing initiatives program intended to help end the cycle of homelessness for local families.

The Sanfilippo Estate reminds us of Victorian Times (1837-1901), when young Victoria became Queen of Britain at age 18, on June 1837, and many changes took place along with her reign until 1901. Queen Victoria defined her time, trends, fashions, mores, world exploration, navigation, progress, thought, and places, as a turning point in the history of Europe and the world. The 19th century is also known as Victorian Times; in turn, these gave way to the Industrial Revolution. Victorian times marked a transition point between the old and the new modern era in Europe and the Americas, driven by new thoughts, ideas, and man-made machines during the 20th century.

The Victorian Palace is a private residence displaying treasured antiques which include the world’s renown theatre organs with 8,000 pipes, the 1881 Grant Steam Locomotive, featuring the 1890 European Eden Palais Carousel at the Sanfilippo Estate; Victorian memorabilia, antique music, arcade, gambling machines; original Comfort Tiffany lamps and dome; an old-fashioned ice cream parlor; 200 gramaphones used as mechanical music boxes; phonographs; 64 coin-operated pianos; automated violins; and a street clock standing 20 feet tall.

In the 21st century, the Victorian Palace is still drawing attention and recollections when we remember things from past centuries at the Sanfilippo Estate in Barrington Hills, Illinois USA.

A Franciscan Prayer on National Prayer Day

The Prayer of Saint Francis is a Christian prayer. It is attributed to the 13th-century saint Francis of Assisi, although the prayer in its present form cannot be traced back further than 1912, when it was printed in France in French, in a small spiritual magazine called La Clochette (The Little Bell) as an anonymous prayer, as demonstrated by Dr Christian Renoux in 2001. The prayer has been known in the United States since 1936 and Cardinal Francis Spellman and Senator Hawkes distributed millions of copies of the prayer during and just after World War II.[1]

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon:
where there is doubt, faith ;
where there is despair, hope
where there is darkness, light
where there is sadness, joy
O divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.
Perhaps the original publication of the prayer was submitted anonymously to the French publication La Clochette in 1912.

Seigneur, faites de moi un instrument de votre paix.
Là où il y a de la haine, que je mette l'amour.
Là où il y a l'offense, que je mette le pardon.
Là où il y a la discorde, que je mette l'union.
Là où il y a l'erreur, que je mette la vérité.
Là où il y a le doute, que je mette la foi.
Là où il y a le désespoir, que je mette l'espérance.
Là où il y a les ténèbres, que je mette votre lumière.
Là où il y a la tristesse, que je mette la joie.
Ô Maître, que je ne cherche pas tant à être consolé qu'à consoler,
à être compris qu'à comprendre,
à être aimé qu'à aimer,
car c'est en donnant qu'on reçoit,
c'est en s'oubliant qu'on trouve, c'est en pardonnant qu'on est pardonné,
c'est en mourant qu'on ressuscite à l'éternelle vie.
An alternate version is found in Chapter 11 (Page 99) of the "Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions", a book published by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.

Lord, make me a channel of thy peace;
that where there is hatred, I may bring love;
that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;
that where there is discord, I may bring harmony;
that where there is error, I may bring truth;
that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;
that where there is despair, I may bring hope;
that where there are shadows, I may bring light;
that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;
to understand, than to be understood;
to love, than to be loved.
For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
It is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.
Amen.
The hymn version of Make Me A Channel of Your Peace is an anthem of the Royal British Legion and is usually sung every year at the Service of Remembrance in November at the Royal Albert Hall, London. It goes as follows:

Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there is hatred let me bring your love,
Where there is injury your pardon Lord,
And where there's doubt true faith in you.
Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope,
Where there is darkness, only light,
And where there's sadness, ever joy.
O Master grant that I may never seek,
So much to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
In giving to all men that we receive
And in dying that we are born to eternal life.

European Citizens' Convention Connected to Human Rights

Ines Caloisi May 1 at 1:22pm Reply
Dear ALL,

I'd like to invite you to the European Citizens' Convention that will be held in Rome at University Roma Tre organized by MFE ( European Federalist Movement)-
I enclose the fb weblink to visualize the event
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=204445492816&ref=ts
and the website
www.diritticollettivi.eu
It could be a good chance to support a European event connected to Human rights !
All the best

Ines

Carissimi,
un invito a partecipare alla Convenzione Europea dei Beni Pubblici e diritti comuni organizzata dal Movimento Federalista Europeo.
Prego visitate il link di fb per i dettagli
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=204445492816&ref=ts
e il sito web online
www.diritticollettivi.eu
Un altro modo per sostenere e promuovere i diritti umani,
saluti
Ines

On Friday morning, April 16, 2010, I found a Prayer To Obtain Favors While Walking...

Hail and blessed be the hour and the moment in which the son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen.

Today is a blessed day to reach out to others and share the faith in Jesus Christ, Our Lord, as the son of God, begotten by the Virgin Mary.

Aramaic is an Endangered Language in the 21st century, BBC News

The common language in the time of Jesus, Aramaic, is now so endangered the written version has become practically extinct.

Now the only place left in the world where it has remained virtually unchanged since biblical times is losing its Aramaic speakers, as people leave to find work elsewhere.

Natalia Antelava reports from Maaloula in Syria.

Fraternity of Mary Immaculate Queen

22 February 2010: Grace

"Grace purifies us, calms us, and delivers us from ourselves. But this is not all: after having accomplished this primary work, grace covers our whole being with its beauty and perfection. It enrobes us in light, clothing us with holiness, simplicity, brightness and truth.

Dear children, grace is wedded to the nature of each person: it adapts itself to correspond to each one's needs, their character and temperament, the dispositions of their heart and mind. But also, grace utterly transforms our nature, enriching and illuminating us, making us grow in beauty. Grace corrects our imperfections, bringing us harmony; it adorns us with a celestial and divine splendour."

Clemence Ledoux, December 1964
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NEW: "You Are My Beloved Child" by Father Marie Pierre Faye (based on a preached retreat, 118 pages).
You can order from us in Barna (address below), label cheque to "Fraternity of Mary Immaculate Queen".
Cost - Ireland: Euro 13 + 1.50 postage; Britain: £12 + £3 postage;
Other Europe: Euro 13 + 3 postage; USA: $20 + $4.50 postage.

Each Fraternity priest offers Mass once a month for our benefactors - with our thanks for prayers and donations.

Fraternity of Mary Immaculate Queen
"Síol Dóchais", Ballard, Barna, Co. Galway, Ireland
Tel: +353-(0)91-592196
Email: miq@eircom.net - for all correspondence, to subscribe/unsubscribe to "Thought of Mere" (monthly meditation), or to receive the "Letter to the Messengers of Mary Immaculate Queen" (quarterly magazine)
Fraternity website: www.maryimmaculatequeen.com

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity for the World Council of Churches

Olivier Schopfer January 12 at 1:50am Reply

Dear Friend of the World Council of Churches,

At the beginning of a new year, let me share the poem that our new general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, quoted in his introductory sermon, when he took office yesterday:

This is the dream we carry through the world
that something fantastic will happen
that it has to happen
that time will open by itself
that doors shall open by themselves
that the heart will find itself open
that mountain springs will jump up
that the dream will open by itself
that we one early morning
will slip into a harbour
that we have never known.

Olav H. Hauge (Norwegian poet)

The full text of the sermon can be found here:
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=7495

For many communities, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will start on the 18th of January. Resources for this week are available in English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese on the WCC website:
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3193

A Facebook group on the Week of Prayer allows you to learn about related events and share the events that you are aware of:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2232091100

With friendly greetings from the WCC Communications Team.

Rev. Olivier Schopfer
Executive web editor