"Can I be your friend?" video



This is quite funny, though creepy at times (eg the "following" bit.) It is an advert for a Two Boys, a new opera at the ENO about the dangers of living our lives online, "a cautionary tale of the dark side of the internet."

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The blessing of a chariot

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Saint Agatha - a saint for today

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St Agatha, from Catania in Sicily, was martyred in 251 during the brief but ferocious persecution of Decius. At that time, everyone was ordered to sacrifice to the Roman gods by a certain day determined by the local authorities. When you had done so, you got a certificate (a libellus ). Some Christians were able to bribe an official or knew someone who could get a libellus – they were referred to as libellatici and were considered as having betrayed the faith; though not as seriously as those who had offered sacrifice to the Roman gods. St Agatha’s martyrdom is a classic example of the combination of two virtues, chastity and fortitude even in the face of torture and death. The Virgin Martyrs are sometimes despised in the world today by those who are particularly outraged by chastity and the readiness to quit this earthly life for heaven. St Agatha’s passion began when she rejected the amorous advances of a prefect Quintianus. He gave her to Aphrodisia, the keeper of a brothel wh...
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St Irenaeus: not a psychobabble practitioner

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