Well, I’m a Catholic, but it seems to me that anything in the same house as cats is going to end up being a cat toy, regardless of what the humans involved think about it. Heck, if you get down to it, the people themselves are probably cat toys (at least, from the cat’s point of view).
That’s certainly true in our home.
And our feline overlords have made it quite clear that it is not possible for a cat to have too many, or even enough, toys.
Except the Ottomans wanted to hang portraits of the Prophet on the wall, so they used a religiously acceptable substitute: calligraphy of a verbal description of the Prophet called hilye-i nebevî. Visually, it was just lines of pretty written text.
The word is tasbih, from the verb sabbaha ‘to recite the phrase subhan Allah (glory be to God)’. In all these words, the triliteral root is s-b-h, which originally meant ‘to swim’, a verb also used for the motion of celestial bodies.
Well, goddamn. That’s what you get for believing the Catholics! I swear, that was what they called them at the C.E. I only vaguely remembered the name, so I believed them. Oh, well. Thanks for the info, Johanna!
(Was that the most hell-bound post of tonght, or what? I think I got both heresy and taking the Lord’s name in vain in there. Not to mention cussin’.)
If you are going to beat the devil out of someone, what better than a holy item?
Does anyone seriously believe that God or Christ or Whomever is going to be pissed because a kitty played with some beads on a string?
Yes, but part of the reason they’re viewed by many as offensive is that they’re pretty sure she intended to offend. Intent is 110% of sinning (no, that’s not a typo).
I wouldn’t view a rosary used as decoration as offensive, nor be offended if you toyed with it - my eyes might roll out of my head of their own volition if you used it during sex, though.
Grandma was Daily Mass. Sometimes, when she was bored, several-daily-mass. She’s been known to meet some friends for Mass at St Michael at 8am and go for coffee after Mass; then meet her sister in law for Mass at the Jesuits at noon and have lunch together afterward; later meet some other friends for Mass at the Sacred Heart at 5pm and have tea and cookies with them. She could say a Rosary in about 5 minutes, letanies (sp?) and all, actually pronouncing every word. And she’s been known to dangle her Rosary in front of a puppy to keep the puppy entertained (just let it dangle over her knee and allowed the puppy to study it while she kept on talking). The puppy just pawed at it; she’d pull it back if he tried to bite it.
I’m sure many people would find her behaviour inappropiate, but grandma wasn’t someone you could get into an argument with - not if you expected to win, that is.
Rosaries are usually sold with a booklet on how to pray them. I’ve known only two people who knew the litanies by heart, they’re real long.