Friday, August 15, 2008

The King's Dormition

It might be Assumption Night the world over... but for the global gathering of the faithful at the Memphis parish nearest to the nation's most-visited house of worship -- Graceland -- today's 3pm liturgy was, yet again, the "Elvis Mass."

Of course, tomorrow marks the 31st anniversary of the King's death -- a holy day of obligation in pop culture, to be sure, and one observed by not a few among this readership (...let alone your narrator's Dad, who keeps a gyrating Presley phone (that sings "Hound Dog") by His Chair).

According to legend, Elvis -- a Southern Baptist who long maintained a keen interest in religion -- was reading a book about the Shroud of Turin at the time of his passing... so in that vein, without any further ado, one of the standards from today's Memphis Mass: the King's "Miracle of the Rosary":



...and, of course, John Krol's modern favorite:



PHOTO:
Mike Brown/Getty

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