App
Here’s a silly little app suggested by your friends at the Presbyterian Record. It’s called Ordain Thyself. Ever wonder what it would be like to be a Hasidic Jewish Rabbi or perhaps a Swami? Well, now you can! Just download that ability straight onto your iPhone… sort of. The application doesn’t actually “ordain” you—so what does it do? Well, it overlays priestly garb over a picture you upload. In short, it puts you in virtual clerical – garb. And man oh man, do I make an ugly nun.
Web App no longer available.
Music
ApologetiX has been around since the early 1990s. The band is self – described as a cross between “Weird Al” Yankovic and Billy Graham. They do Christian parody music, and a lot of it, with 20 CDs to their name. They spoof everyone from Elvis Presley to Eminem. It’s super – cornball stuff—and if I think something is cornball, you know it’s gotta be true. (I’ve got “Wash away your sins” soap in my office.) These guys actually found a way to make parody music even dorkier. But I have to say, as a quickly aging lover of all things grunge, I loved “Smells Like Thirtysomething Spirit.”
Find it @ apologetix.com
Saints and Sinners
She’s in the chapel at Westminster Abby. She has been venerated by millions of people for more than 600 years. Many Catholics see her as a saint to be prayed to by abused women and children. People have looked to her as a source of inspiration. She has several names and slightly different origin stories. Usually though, she is called Uncumber or Wilgefortis and is often said to be the daughter of a Portuguese King. So who is she, and why is she in this column? Well, she’s a bearded – lady. Wait. She’s a holy bearded – lady!
As the story goes, Wilgefortis was promised to be married by her father to a pagan prince. As a devout Christian, the young girl of 12 or so years old took a vow of celibacy to dissuade the prince’s interest in her. And when that didn’t work she prayed to God that she might become too unattractive for him, lest she end up raising pagan children. As a result, the Lord “blessed her” and she began to sprout a long beard. It worked, but as a consequence Wilgefortis was condemned and crucified by her own father. So the next time you find yourself in a Catholic church, take a closer look at the art on the walls and make sure to keep a look out for Wilgefortis, the bearded – lady saint.
Find it @ catholic.org.
