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Monday 17 April 2017

Ceremonies (Easter Everywhere)




#Lebanon A float bearing a sculpture of Jesus is seen during a procession marking Holy Friday in Beirut. Photo  @PatrickBaz: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017

John Donne: Good Friday, 1613. Riding Westward

Let mans Soule be a Spheare, and then, in this,  
The intelligence that moves, devotion is,
And as the other Spheares, by being growne
Subject to forraigne motion, lose their owne,
And being by others hurried every day,
Scarce in a yeare their naturall forme obey:
Pleasure or businesse, so, our Soules admit
For their first mover, and are whirld by it.
Hence is't, that I am carryed towards the West
This day, when my Soules forme bends toward the East.
There I should see a Sunne, by rising set,
And by that setting endlesse day beget;
But that Christ on this Crosse, did rise and fall,
Sinne had eternally benighted all.
Yet dare I'almost be glad, I do not see
That spectacle of too much weight for mee.
 

Who sees Gods face, that is selfe life, must dye;
What a death were it then to see God dye?
It made his owne Lieutenant Nature shrinke,
It made his footstoole crack, and the Sunne winke.
Could I behold those hands which span the Poles,
And tune all spheares at once peirc'd with those holes?
Could I behold that endlesse height which is
Zenith to us, and our Antipodes,
Humbled below us? or that blood which is
The seat of all our Soules, if not of his,
Made durt of dust, or that flesh which was worne
By God, for his apparell, rag'd, and torne?
If on these things I durst not looke, durst I
Upon his miserable mother cast mine eye,
Who was Gods partner here, and furnish'd thus
Halfe of that Sacrifice, which ransom'd us?
Though these things, as I ride, be from mine eye,
They'are present yet unto my memory,
For that looks towards them; and thou look'st towards mee,
 

O Saviour, as thou hang'st upon the tree;
I turne my backe to thee, but to receive
Corrections, till thy mercies bid thee leave.
O thinke mee worth thine anger, punish mee,
Burne off my rusts, and my deformity,
Restore thine Image, so much, by thy grace,
That thou may'st know mee, and I'll turne my face.


John Donne (1572-1631): Good Friday, 1613. Riding Westward

... | by Fermin Guzman

Matacuero "el que idaga" "el que busca...". Semana Santa. Yecapixtla, Morelos.: photo by Fermin Guzman, 14 April 2017

... | by Fermin Guzman

Matacuero "el que idaga" "el que busca...". Semana Santa. Yecapixtla, Morelos.: photo by Fermin Guzman, 14 April 2017

... | by Fermin Guzman

Matacuero "el que idaga" "el que busca...". Semana Santa. Yecapixtla, Morelos.: photo by Fermin Guzman, 14 April 2017


#Mexico Catholic faithful take part in the "Procession of Silence" religious celebration in Guadalajara. Photo @cobitos100: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017


Syrian #Christian girls attend mass at the Syriac church of the Holy Virgin in the city of Qamishli @Delilsouleman @AFPphoto: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 16 April 2017#Syrian


#France A ceremony presents the Crown of Thorns - a relic of the passion of Christ - to the faithful at the @notredameparis in Paris. Photo @philippe_lopez: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017  
 

#Bulgaria East-Orthodox believer prays in front of a wooden crucifix during a Good Friday service at Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia. Photo @dilkoff: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017 
 

#Greece Orthodox worshipper prays to and kisses to a wooden crucifix during a Good Friday's Apokathelosis at Pendeli monastery near Athens. Photo @lgouliam: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017


#Greece Christian Ethiopians living in Greece attend the Resurrection Mass, at the Ethiopian Coptic church, in Athens. Photo Panayotis Tzamaros #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 16 April 2017


#Haiti Voodoo followers wearing white clothes dance while participating in a voodoo ceremony in Souvenance. Photo @hectorretamal: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 16 April 2017


#Pakistan The Easter Sunday service at the Sacred Heart Cathedral Church in Lahore. Photo Arif Ali: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 16 April 2017


#Kosovo An Orthodox believer takes part in midnight Easter Service at the Gracanica medieval monastery in the town of Gracanica. @armend_nimani: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 16 April 2017


#Iraq An Iraqi Christian woman holds a rosary as she attends a Good Friday mass at the church of Mart Shmoni in Arbil. Photo @safinphoto: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017
 

#Kosovo An Orthodox Christian nun arrives for an Easter service at the Gracanica medieval monastery in the town of Gracanica. Photo @armend_nimani: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017


#Belarus Worshippers attend the midnight Easter service in the village of Krevo. Photo @sergeygapon: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 16 April 2017



#Russia Believers prepare the Orthodox Easter celebration in Pokrovsky Cathedral in Saint Petersburg on the eve of Easter. Photo @Olga Maltseva: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017


SYRIA - Christian woman holds candles during a mass marking Easter Sunday at the Church of Saint Ephrem in Qamishli. Photo @Delilsouleman: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 16 April 2017


JERUSALEM - Christian Orthodox worshippers hold candles during the ceremony of "Holy Fire" in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Photo Gali Tibbon: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017

  
#Greece Fireworks explode over the Temple of Appolon in Ancient Corinth during the traditional celebrations of the Orthodox Easter. Photo Valerie Gache: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 16 April 2017
 

#Iraq A member of the Iraqi security forces stands guard as Christians attend an Easter mass at the Mar Shimoni church in Bartalla. Photo @safinphoto: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017


#Iraq A Syriac Christian militiaman stands guard on top of a building during an easter ceremony at Saint John's church in Qaraqosh. Photo @tofsimon: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 16 April 2017


#Iraq Displaced Iraqi men arrive at a processing center in western Mosul before they are transported to refugee camps. Photo @tofsimon #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 14 April 2017


 SYRIA - Smoke billows following a reported air strike on a rebel-held area in the southern Syrian city of Daraa. Photo @AbazidMohamad: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 16 April 2017


#Iraq  Iraqi forces preparing as they advance in Mosul during an offensive to recapture the city from IS group fighters. Photo Ahmad Al-Rubaye: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 16 April 2017


#Yemen A fighter loyal to the Saudi-backed Yemeni president aims his assault rifle towards a graffiti bearing the Huthi flag. Photo Saleh Al-Obeidi: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 16 April 2017


#Yemen A tribesman from the Popular Resistance Committee prepares to fire a rocket propelled grenade in Taez. Photo Ahmad Al-Basha: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 16 April 2017



SYRIA - Dozens dead as car bomb hits buses with evacuees near Aleppo. Photo Georges Ourfalian: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017


SYRIA - Syrians, evacuated from the besieged government-held towns of Fuaa and Kafraya, cry upon their arrival in Jibrin. Photo George Ourfalian: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 16 April 2017
 

#Yemen A woman cooks in a make-shift shelter at a camp for Internally Displaced Persons on the outskirts of Sanaa. Photo Mohammed Huwais: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 16 April 2017


#Afghanistan An Afghan chickpea soup vendor waits for customers on a street in Kabul. Photo @Arefkarimi: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017


An Afghan labourer works in a sweet factory in Mazar-i-Sharif. @Farshadusyan
: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017


#Iraq A member of the Iraqi forces fires towards IS group fighters in the old city of Mosul during #MosulOfensive. Photo Ahmad Al-Rubaye
: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017


#NorthKorea The 105th anniversary of the birth of late North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung in Pyongyang. Photo @edwardesjones #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017


A North Korean soldier sits on a fence near Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong. @johaynz: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017


#NorthKorea General view of Pyongyang at night. Photo @edwardesjones #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017


Military parade marking the 105th anniversary of the birth of late North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung in Pyongyang. Photo @edwardesjones #AFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017

  
#NorthKorea People queue to use a water slide at a swimming pool during an organised tour for foreign journalists in Pyongyang. @edwardesjones: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 16 April 2017


#India An Hindu devotee runs over smouldering charcoal during the ritual of Shiva Gajan in Pratapgarh on the outskirts of Agartala. Photo Arindam Dey: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017



#SouthAfrica A devotee walks across a 15 m burning pit during the Firewalking or #Thimithi" festival in Durban celebrating Draupadi. Photo @RajeshJantilal: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017
 

#Nepal Revellers toss vermillion powder during The Bisket Jatra Festival at Thimi, on the outskirts of Kathmandu. @PrakashMathema: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017
 

#India A youth jumps into the water of a decorative pool adorning the gardens surrounding the India Gate monument in New Delhi. @PrakashAFP: image via Frédérique Geffard @fgeffardAFP, 15 April 2017

"Donald Trump has got a lot to answer for" -- a righteously pissed off Berkeley citizen and lifelong pacifist, considering the events of Easter Weekend, 15 April 2017

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