Rainbow...

The Colors Of Friendship
Adrain Iron Thunder



Once upon a time the colors of the world started to quarrel. All claimed that they were the best. The most important. The most useful. The most beautiful. The favorite.

Green said:
"Clearly I am the most important. I am the sign of life and of hope. I was chosen for grass, trees and leaves. Without me, all animals would die. Look over the countryside and you will see that I am in the majority."

Blue interrupted:
"You only think about the earth, but consider the sky and the sea. It is the water that is the basis of life and drawn up by the clouds from the deep sea. The sky gives space and peace and serenity. Without my peace, you would all be nothing."

Yellow chuckled:
"You are all so serious. I bring laughter, gaiety, and warmth into the world. The sun is yellow, the moon is yellow, the stars are yellow. Every time you look at a sunflower, the whole world starts to smile. Without me there would be no fun."

Orange started next to blow her trumpet:
"I am the color of health and strength. I may be scarce, but I am precious for I serve the needs of human life. I carry the most important vitamins. Think of carrots, pumpkins, oranges, mangoes, and papayas. I don't hang around all the time, but when I fill the sky at sunrise or sunset, my beauty is so striking that no one gives another thought to any of you."

Red could stand it no longer he shouted out:
"I am the ruler of all of you. I am blood - life's blood! I am the color of danger and of bravery. I am willing to fight for a cause. I bring fire into the blood. Without me, the earth would be as empty as the moon. I am the color of passion and of love, the red rose, the poinsettia and the poppy."

Purple rose up to his full height:
He was very tall and spoke with great pomp: "I am the color of royalty and power. Kings, chiefs, and bishops have always chosen me for I am the sign of authority and wisdom. People do not question me! They listen and obey."

Finally Indigo spoke, much more quietly than all the others, but with just as much determination: "Think of me. I am the color of silence. You hardly notice me, but without me you all become superficial. I represent thought and reflection, twilight and deep water. You need me for balance and contrast, for prayer and inner peace."

And so the colors went on boasting, each convinced of his or her own superiority. Their quarreling became louder and louder. Suddenly there was a startling flash of bright lightening, thunder rolled and boomed. Rain started to pour down relentlessly. The colors crouched down in fear, drawing close to one another for comfort.

In the midst of the clamor, rain began to speak:
"You foolish colors, fighting amongst yourselves, each trying to dominate the rest. Don't you know that you were each made for a special purpose, unique and different? Join hands with one another and come to me."

Doing as they were told, the colors united and joined
hands.

The rain continued:
"From now on, when it rains, each of you will stretch across the sky in a great bow of color as a reminder that you can all live in peace. The Rainbow is a sign of hope for tomorrow." And so, whenever a good rain washes the world, and a Rainbow appears in the sky, to let us remember to appreciate one another.

St. Stanislaus Kostka

Stanislaus Kostka

Jesuit Novice Born October 28, 1550, Rostkowo

Died August 15, 1568, Rome Major shrine Rome

Feast August 15, November 13

Attributes lily, Jesuit habit, Jesus, Most Blessed Sacrament

Patronage Jesuit novices, students, Poland Saints

Portal Stanislaw Kostka, S.J. (28 October 1550 – 15 August 1568), was a Polish novice of the Society of Jesus. In the Catholic Church, he is venerated as Saint Stanislaus Kostka.
Born at Rostkowo, near Przasnysz, Poland, on 28 October 1550; died at Rome during the night of 14-15 August, 1568. He entered the Society of Jesus in Rome on his 17th birthday (28 October 1567), and is said to have foretold his death a few days before it occurred.
His father, Jan Kostka (John Kostka), was a senator of the Kingdom of Poland and Lord of Zakroczym; his mother was Malgorzata Kryska from Drobni (Margaret de Drobniy Kryska), the sister and niece of the Dukes Palatine of Masovia and the aunt of the celebrated Chancellor of Poland, Feliks Kryski (Felix Kryski). He was the second of seven children. His older brother Pawel Kostka (Paul Kostka) survived to be present at beatification ceremony of Stanislaus in 1605. At home, the two brothers were taught at firmness, even severity; its results were their piety, modesty, temperance, and submission. In 25 July of 1564, they arrived at Vienna with their tutor to attend the Jesuit college that had been opened four years before. Stanislaus was soon conspicuous, among his classmates during his 3 years of schooling, not only for his amiability and cheerfulness of expression, but also for his growing religious fervour and piety. His brother Paul said during the process of beatification: "He devoted himself so completely to spiritual things that he frequently became unconscious, especially in the church of the Jesuit Fathers at Vienna. It is true," added the witness, "that this had happened at home to my brother at Easter when he was seated at table with our parents and other persons." Among other practices of devotion he joined while at Vienna the Congregation of St. Barbara, to which many students of the Jesuit college belonged. If the confidences he then made to his tutor and later to a fellow-member of the Society at Rome are to be believed, it was Saint Barbara who brought two angels to him during the course of a serious illness, in order to give him the Eucharist. So much piety, however, did not please the older brother Paul; his exasperation led him to treat with violence the innocent Stanislaus. The latter finally lost patience, and one night after Stanislaus had again suffered the harsh comments and blows of his brother he turned on Paul with the words: "Your rough treatment will end in my going away never to return, and you will have to explain my leaving to our father and mother." Paul's sole reply was to swear violently at him.
Meantime the thought of joining the Society of Jesus had already entered his mind. It was six months, however, before he ventured to speak of this to the superiors of the Society. At Vienna they hesitated to receive him, fearing the tempest that would probably be raised by his father against the Society, which had just quieted a storm that had broken out on account of other admissions to the Company. Stanislaus quickly grasped the situation and formed the plan of applying to the general of the Society at Rome. The distance was five hundred leagues, which had to be made on foot, without equipment, or guide, or any other resources but the precarious charity that might be received on the road. The prospective dangers and humiliations of such a journey, however, did not alarm his courage. On the morning of the day on which he was to carry out his project he called his servant to him early and told him to notify his brother Paul and his tutor in the course of the morning that he would not be back that day to dinner. Then he started, exchanging the dress of gentleman for that of a mendicant, which was the only way to escape the curiosity of those he met. By nightfall Paul and the tutor comprehended that Stanislaus had fled as he had threatened. They were seized with a fierce anger, and as the day was ended the fugitive had gained a day over them. They started to follow him, but were not able to overtake him; either their exhausted horses refused to go further, or a wheel of their carriage would break, or, as the tutor frankly declared, they had mistaken the route, having left the city by a different road from the one which Stanislaus had taken. It is noticeable that in his testimony Paul gives no explanation of his ill-luck.
Stanislaus stayed for a month at Dillingen, where the provincial of that time, the Blessed Peter Canisius, put the young aspirant's vocation to the test by employing him in the boarding-school. He arrived 25 October, 1567 in Rome. As he was greatly exhausted by the journey, the general of the order, St. Francis Borgia, would not permit him to enter the novitiate of Saint Andrew until several days later. During the ten remaining months of his life, according the testimony of the master of novices, Father Giulio Fazio, 'he was a model and mirror of religious perfection. Notwithstanding his very delicate constitution he did not spare himself the slightest penance' ("Monument hist. Societatis Jesu, Sanctus Franciscus Borgia", IV, 635). 'He had such a burning fever his chest that he was often obliged to apply cold compresses. On the eve of the feast of St. Lawrence, Stanislaus felt a mortal weakness made worse by a high fever, and clearly saw that his last hour had come. He wrote a letter to the Blessed Virgin begging her to call him to the skies there to celebrate with her the glorious anniversary of her Assumption (ibid., 636). His confidence in the Blessed Virgin, which had already brought him many signal favours, was this time again rewarded; on 15 August, towards four in the morning, while he was rapt in pious utterances to God, to the saints, and to the Virgin Mary, his beautiful soul passed to its Creator. His face shone with the most serene light. The entire city proclaimed him a saint and people hastened from all parts to venerate his remains and to obtain, if possible, some relics' (ibid., 637).
The Holy See ratified his beatification in 1605; he was canonized on 31 December 1726. St. Stanislaus is a popular saint of Poland and many religious institutions have chosen him as the protector of their novitiates. The representations of him in art are very varied; he is sometimes depicted receiving Holy Communion from the hands of angels; sometimes receiving the Infant Jesus from the hands of the Virgin; or he is shown in the midst of a battle putting to flight the enemies of his country. At times he is depicted near a fountain putting a wet linen cloth on his breast. He is invoked for palpitations of the heart and for dangerous cases of illness (Cahier, "Caractéristiques des Saints").
This account has been drawn almost exclusively from the depositions of witnesses cited for the process of canonization of Stanislaus (cf. Archivio della Postulazione generale d. C. d. G., Roma). There is a portrait by Scipione Delfine and the oldest of St. Stanislaus in existence. Having probably been painted at Rome the year of his death, perhaps after death, it may be regarded as the best likeness. The face is strikingly Slavic, a fact that is not noticeable in his other portraits. He is also depicted by Pierre Le Gros the Younger is a polychromatic statue.
Pierre Legros, Statua di San Stanislao Kostka (1705), Sant'Andrea al Quirinale, RomaThere is a current High School in the Philippines in honor of St. Stanislaus Kostka. Noted Celebrities in the Philippines having attended the high school are; JB Magsaysay of Pinoy Big Brother, and the late Miko Sotto. The school is located on Katipunan Avenue in Loyola Heights, Queszon City, across from the campus of the Ateneo de Manila University, another Jesuit-run institution.
The high school campus of the Ateneo de Manila University around the Stanilaus Kostka chapel, noticeably at the center of the compound.
One of the junior campuses of the Jesuit school Xavier College in Melbourne, Australia, is named Kostka Hall

How Many Times

How Many Times?
by: Jessica Johnson, , Source Unknown

This poem is for my parents, who have done everything possible to encourage and support me in everything I do. This is my thank you.

How many times did you kiss me goodnight?
How many times did you tuck me in tight?
How many times did you carry me to bed?
How many bedtime stories have you read?
How many times did I wake you in fright?
How many times did I keep you up all night?
How many times did you watch me sleep?
How many times did you lie awake and weep?
How many times did you teach me to fly a kite?
How many times did I learn to ride a bike?
How many times did I beg for a pet?
How many times did you say, 'Not yet'?
How many times did we get in a fight?
How many times were you right?
How many times did I ask you why?
How many times did I make you cry?
How many times did you see a twinkle in my eye?
How many times did you lie?
How many times have you been proud?
How many times did I make you scream aloud?
How much money did I ask you for?
How many times did I ask for more?
How many times did you fix my hair?
How many times did you show you care?
How many times did you teach me to fish?
How many times did we make a wish?
How many times did we sing "Twinkle-twinkle-little-star"?
How many times did I learn to drive a car?
How many times does your little girl grow up?