Lord, Have Mercy on Me a Sinner

 "On the tree of the cross 

the Heart of Jesus, 

our beloved, 

beheld your heart 

and loved it.  

By the love he bore it 

he obtained every good 

that you shall ever have."

- St. Francis de Sales

 (Image from the 1880's, courtesy of the NYPL Digital Database)

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real - Holy Week Edition

~Pretty~

I must confess, I did not actually take this photo this week. But, because Comb Jellies are so gorgeous, I could not resist posting it. (Also, I was rather at a loss for finding a good photo for "pretty" anyways!) As the comb jelly's splendidness cannot really be captured in a photo, I have posted a short video as well.

~Happy~

We were all pretty happy that night: dinner was underway, there would be leftovers for the morning and, well, who doesn't love pancakes?

 ~Funny~

My little sister loves music. When I showed her a short video of someone playing a harp, she ran over to the stairs and called out, "Hey! Look! I'm playing a harp!" 

~Real~

(This photo was taken by someone else several years ago, but it will have to do! I was present, though!;) )

What or rather Who is more real than the Eucharist? Thank God for his blessed gift to us! Have a blessed Easter Triduum!  

Update on Holy Week Notes

As you can see, I have not posted any more about the events of Passion Tide. The reason is because I would like to get permission from Dr. Anne Carroll before I post more. I am sure that she would not object to my posting my notes from her class, but I would like to verify. Due to extenuating circumstances, I probably will not be able to contact her until after Easter. Therefore, I will not be posting the notes from her class for the rest of the week. I apologize for the mixup! :)

A Look into the Events of Passion Tide - Part 1

As I mentioned earlier, I will be posting some notes about the events of Passion Tide this week. As Dr. Anne Carroll phrased it, it is especially important to look at Our Lord's words during this week as they were what most occupied his mind before his death. Today's post will discuss Palm Sunday and Monday of Holy Week.

Palm Sunday

Jn 12:12, Matt 21--Jesus allows the people to call him the Messiah publicly. He did not allow it before because the Jews thought that the Christ would be a military messiah. But he allows it now because the crucifixion is so imminent. 

Several Messianic signs are contained in the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. 

1. Jesus's riding on a donkey (Zechariah 9:9 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass."). This is also appropriate because the donkey is a beast of burden, not a conqueror's horse, and is thus fitting for the suffering servant.
2. Jesus allows the people to call him "Son of David," a Messianic title.
3. The presence of palms signify the presence of a king.
4. The people call him the King of Israel 
5. The crowd cries out, "Hosanna!" which means "come and save us"

After the triumphant entry into Jerusalem, Jesus gives a homily (Jn 12:23). In it, he mentions that, "unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." He instructs us that those who follow him must be willing to lay down their lives for him: "If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him."

Monday of Holy Week

Depiction of the Temple courtesy of the NYPL Digital Database

For the second time, Christ chases the money changers and their animals out of the temple (Matt 21:12). This is significant for two main reasons: first, now that the Messiah has come, there will no longer be a need for animal sacrifice; second, the Court of the Gentiles (where the money changers had been) is now cleared out allowing the Gentiles access to the temple.

Print showing the Temple's floor-plan (1784), courtesy of the NYPL Digital Database

Holy Week

(Image part of a manuscript dating from 1475-1499; courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery)

I still cannot believe that it is already Holy Week! But time will continue whether I am ready or not, so I suppose I should try to get ready asap! In order to help "get in the mood" (should I really use that expression?),  I will be posting some notes about the Passion of Christ and the events leading up to it. They are taken from a class by Dr. Anne Carroll, the founder of Seton High School (who is wife of Dr. Warren Carroll, the founder of Christendom College). They have been very helpful for me in the past, and I have been meaning to type them up so that I do not lose them by some freak accident. This will give me an opportunity to do so! I hope that you can use them as much as I have!

Seven Quick Takes

1. The blog is up! Finally! I still have to modify the title design, but in terms of functionality- Little Dorrit's Diary is up and running!
2. Have you heard of Just for Laughs? Apparently, it consists of  people from Canada and Great Britain who perform gags or pranks on the unsuspecting public in order to make people laugh. There are so many, and they are each so hilarious that I will have to moderate how often I can watch them! Most of the videos are clean, and I heartily recommend them! (It is usually apparent in the title if it is not clean/family friendly). Here is one of my favorites: 
3. Holy week is next week?! How on earth did that happen? Or rather when did that happen?! Wow. 
4. If you have any questions about makeup essentials/want recommendations regarding makeup check out this post by Jennifer Fulwiler. It's totally worth the read! 
5. While making a visit the other day, bombarding God with over-stipulated prayers, I happened to overhear the simple, fervent prayer of a lady behind me: "Help us, Lord!" She was not trying to be overly pious or showy; I do not even think she realized she uttered it aloud. But, the simplicity of her prayer struck me, providing a huge contrast to the overcomplicated "demands" that I was making. Hopefully, I can learn to be more simple in prayer!
6. This semester I am taking Anatomy and Physiology, and on Monday I finished my two tests on muscles! YAY! I'm done with origins, insertions, extensors, and flexors etc. Now all I have to study is breathing and circulation and I'll be done for the semester in terms of A&P!                                               
7. A quick question for the seventh quick take! There is a group of young adults going swing dancing this weekend. It is supposedly one of the biggest swing dances of the year, but because of Lent/Holy Week, I'm not sure if I want to go. What would you do? 

Check out Conversion Diary for some other Quick Takes!

Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real

Like Mother, Like Daughter is hosting {Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real} a way of "Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life." Here's my attempt for the week!

{Pretty} Or rather beautiful: Mother Mary!

{Happy} Does it take a lot to make me happy? :)

{Funny} When toothpicks for fondue are wanting, matches will suffice!

{Real} Today I realized that my younger sister has more shoes than I do! (Several pairs are not shown as they are scattered around the *ahem* messy house--another unfortunate reality!) ;)

He is Our Vanishing Point

I've never really liked modern art. I should clarify--let's just say, I do not like art that does not portray proper order/perspective. Hence, I'm not a huge fan of Cubism or Surrealism. 


In high school, when I learned about vanishing points, I was amazed at how they were used to "real"-ize any object from any angle. Now, I could actually draw a table instead of some misshapen, unrecognizable scribble. I could draw a whole scene and make each aspect of it the correct size in relation to the rest of the scene. It was as if I were nearsighted and someone had given me the key to clear vision.... ok. perhaps I am exaggerating a little bit, but you get the point. 

Needless to say, the concept of a vanishing point is probably one of the only things I remember from my high school art class. Therefore, when I came upon a reference to it in Little Dorrit, it caught my attention. In this case, Charles Dickens uses the concept allegorically in reference to one of the character's love life. 

Looking back upon his own poor story, she was its vanishing-point. 
Every thing in its perspective led to her innocent figure. He had
travelled thousands of miles towards it; previous unquiet hopes and
doubts had worked themselves out before it; it was the centre of
the interest of his life; it was the termination of everything that
was good and pleasant in it; beyond, there was nothing but mere
waste and darkened sky.                                                                                 (http://www.literaturecollection.com/a/dickens/little-dorrit/64/)

As I read this paragraph, it entered my mind that although this is a fitting allegory for romance, it is even more apropos in reference to Christ. He is this world's true vanishing point. Everything in life gets its proper perspective in relation to Him. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Through the distortion caused by sin, we lose our proper perspective on everything.  We get our perspective back only when we focus on Christ. 

Do you have any thoughts about it?

My First Post--I finally wrote it!!!

Hello! One of the hardest things about starting a blog--harder than even choosing its background--is writing the first post. After the initial enthusiasm for starting a blog wanes, I find myself writing a thousand "first posts:" none of which make it to the actual blog. So, basically, I figured that I'd introduce myself and perhaps say why I am blogging in the first place.


To begin with, my name really isn't Little Dorrit,  nor is it for that matter Amy Dorrit. When I first "began" blogging some time ago, I found that it would be much easier for me to blog, if I were to write under an alias. It takes the pressure off blogging and it's just plain fun! After having read Little Dorrit  by Charles Dickens and after having seen BBC's adaptation of the story, I fell in love with the it and thought that it'd be intriguing to post as Amy Dorrit (otherwise known as Little Dorrit). Little Dorrit is a very interesting character--some might criticize Dickens for making her too perfect--but I think we could all learn something from her character. I will leave that topic for another post, otherwise this will be far too long a post! 

Why am I blogging, one might ask? Well, basically, it's rather enjoyable and it helps me sort and organize my thoughts. 


A short introduction about me? I am currently a college student. I am not sure where my life is headed after college but in the long term, with God's grace, aspire to heaven with Him forever. I am a Roman Catholic (not to be confused with "I'm Catholic, but....") and ask God for the grace to get to know Him better each day. My favorite hobbies include, but are not limited to: playing ultimate frisbee, reading, watching period dramas, hiking, cooking, writing letters (yes, people in my generation do write letters every once in a while), and spending time with my family and friends. As of now, I am living at home, although perhaps next fall I may be living independently. Um... let's see... is there anything else? I am extremely blessed. What more can I say? God is so good! May His name be praised forever! 


Well, that appears to be all for today! God bless! 

Little Dorrit