[Magdalen] Latin Altar Inscription.

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

It's a quote. That's the way it reads.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Fri, May 27, 2016 at 3:38 AM, Joseph Cirou <romanos at mindspring.com>
wrote:

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> -----Original Message-----
> >From: Cantor03--- via Magdalen <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
> >Sent: May 26, 2016 5:22 PM
> >To: magdalen at herberthouse.org
> >Cc: Cantor03 at aol.com
> >Subject: [Magdalen] Latin Altar Inscription.
> >
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> >
> >I just saw a picture of an RC parish church in Saint Paul, MN USA built
> in
> >my neighborhood in that city while I lived there in the early 1960's.
> >
> >I was reminded of the interesting high altar inscription that  impressed
> >me then as now.  It is from John 8.58:
> >
> >ANTEQUAM ABRAHAM FIERET EGO SUM
> >
> >Before Abraham was (made), I am.
> >
> >The altar is a dark green polished stone, and the inscription is  carved
> >across the table and highlighted in gold.
> >
> >I've never seen this anywhere else.
> >
> >It is definitely not a frequently used quotation, especially in Latin,
> with I think the pluperfect of the verb to be unless it is the future
> perfect It's got to be a perfect form of the verb. The perfect forms of the
> verb are formed from fui. I used to know this, but I've forgotten my
> grammar since 1961. I think I sold my Bennett
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> Kpe
> >
> >David Strang.
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