Here a fest, there a fest, everywhere a fest fest…
May 6th, 2006 by B.
I’m really beginning to dig this weekly fest thing. Which is good because I hear there’s something going on pretty much every weekend now that the weather’s nice. Even better, each fest seems to contain two of my favorite things… fresh pretzels & live bands!
Today’s band did mostly barenaked ladies covers… pretty entertaining too because they seemed to randomly switch between german & english. And the best part of living downtown is that we can open our windows and hear the music if we don’t feel like leaving the flat.
Oh, one question for any barenaked ladies fans who happen to read this blog… what the hell is a ‘hairshirt’??
The summer fest season is good. There is always something going on….and always lots of bratwurst and beer
Too bad the beer is lost on B. I’m happy that I live a bit further away from the city centre here in Weimar–only one festival a year bothers to clog up the street in my neighbhorhood with parked cars… and that’s the Onion Market Festival.
More then you ever wanted to know about Hairshirt.
From Dictionary.com
hair-shirt adj : self-sacrificing or austere
From Wikipedia.com
A hairshirt (see also Cilice) is an uncomfortable shirt worn by some Catholics and, earlier, by Jews, as a sign of penance.
Hairshirts are made of rough cloth, generally woven from goats’ hair, and are worn close to the skin to practice mortification and penance or to show contrition for sins. (The cloth’s coarse texture directly on the skin is extremely itchy, and it can also be a breeding ground for lice, furthering the discomfort.) They have also been worn to show distance from temptations of the flesh and ostentatious luxury. It is known that they have been worn by ascetics, monks, and lay persons.
The word sackcloth is often employed as well.
History
The Latin word for hairshirt is cilicium, and the reputed first Scriptural use of the term in the Latin scriptures is in the Vulgate of Psalm 35:13, “Ego autem, cum mihi molesti essent, induebar cilicio.” ( “But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth.” in the King James Bible — this is from The Catholic Encyclopedia referenced below). This is translated as hair-cloth in the Douay Bible, and as sackcloth in the Anglican Authorized Version and the Book of Common Prayer.
St. John the Baptist wore a garment of camels’ hair that was likely a hairshirt, Thomas Becket was wearing one when he was murdered, St. Patrick reputedly wore one, Charlemagne was buried in a hairshirt, and Henry IV famously wore one in the Walk to Canossa during the Investiture Controversy. Prince Henry the Navigator was found to be wearing a hairshirt at the time of his death in 1460.
Sackcloth is often mentioned in the Bible as a symbol of mourning and penance, and probably was a form of hairshirt. Sackcloth may also mean burlap.
Ah yes, that’s what I thought a hairshirt was!