Mary's breast milk and captured clouds

My mum returned home from Wittenberg this evening. She had been tracking Martin Luther and having a laugh with her Hiberno- German friends.
It turns out that he did more than than nail the ninety- five theses to the castle door. He also, throughout his lifetime, preached over 2000 sermons in the same Church. It makes Peter Stringfellow's claim to have slept with 3000 different women seem a little indulgent in comparison.
My mum got a guided tour by a lovely woman - mid -twenties, history gradutate, by whom they were 'all very taken'. She was inelligent, and charming, but not, my mum stressed, in a silly way. From her they learnt what indulgences Wittenberg Castle Church had to offer to the life-skilled simpletons who never had the luxury to labour in their mind. Two stand out for me. First was a container of whitish liquid, guaranteed to reduce penalty in limbo, constituted as it was of the breast milk of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus. A second sure reduction of time spent in purgatory was in the acquisition of a piece of jarred cloud, said to come from the very vapour into which Jesus ascended. It sounds like the shopping channel from Hell.

Staying on the subject, today I too indulged. I have ordered myself a spanking brand new camera which I am very excited to collect tomorrow. I also allowed myself to be convinced by Andrew (more of him in future posts, I am sure of it) to buy lots of cheap items of clothes that I do not need. To top it off, a luxury baileys vanilla milkshake and a good natter with Amanda (more of her in future posts, I am sure of it) I will atone in the three-week fulltime employment that I begin on Monday week.