Murillo and the Immaculate Conception

MURILLO, Bartolomé Esteban (b. 1617, Sevilla, d. 1682, Sevilla)
Immaculate Conception 1665-70
Oil on canvas, 206 x 144 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid

MURILLO, Bartolomé Esteban (b. 1617, Sevilla, d. 1682, Sevilla)
Immaculate Conception
Oil on canvas, 96 x 64 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid


MURILLO, Bartolomé Esteban (b. 1617, Sevilla, d. 1682, Sevilla)
The "Soult" Immaculate Conception c. 1678
Oil on canvas, 274 x 190 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid
His culminating version of the Virgin Immaculate, in which the last of the traditional attributes is eliminated except for the crescent moon, and the putti, some painted so thinly that they seem to dissolve into the fluffy clouds.
In 1813 in return for sparing the life of two monks condemned to death, the painting was taken to France by Marshal Soult. It was returned to the Prado in 1941.

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo was born in Seville, Spain in 1617, where he lived until his death. He was a pupil of Velasquez

Murillo founded a prestigious painting academy in 1660 which he presided over with great ability. His vast production of paintings, for the most part, are of a religious nature and theme.

Murillo's influence in Spanish painting, even more in Sevillian painting, was perpetuated until the 19th century.

Murillo is often accused of being too idealistic, too anodyne. His style, 'estilo vaporoso' (vaporous style) shows idealized figures, soft, melting forms, delicate colouring, and sweetness of expression and mood.

In religious painting, his favourite theme was the Immaculate Conception. Murillo's appealing vision of the Immaculate Conception became canonical.

Sacred: discover what we share

St John's Gospel, 'Codex Sinaiticus' c.AD 350
British Library Add. MS 43725, f.247

Gospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander: The Royal Family. Turnovo, 1355-56
British Library Add. MS 39627, f.3

Golden Haggadah: Biblical scenes based on Genesis, 19-37. Northern Spain, probably Barcelona, c.1320
British Library Add. MS 27210, ff.4v-5

From 27 April – 23 September 2007 The British Library in London is putting on an exhibition entitled Sacred: discover what we share.

It is an exhibition of the world's greatest collection of Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy books

For Christianity, there are the earliest known manuscript of the complete Greek New Testament (Codex Sinaiticus, fourth century), one of the three earliest manuscripts of the complete Greek Bible (Codex Alexandrinus, fifth century), and the seventh-century masterpiece of Anglo-Saxon art, the Lindisfarne Gospels. The printed books include the Gutenberg Bible (Mainz, 1454-55), one of only two copies of the earliest English translation of the Bible by William Tyndale (Worms, 1526) as well as the King James Bible of 1611, otherwise known as the Authorised Version.

The various national churches comprising Eastern Orthodox Christianity are also well covered, including Russian, Bulgarian (with the beautifully illustrated Gospels of Tsar Ivan Alexander from the 14th century), Armenian, Georgian, Coptic, Syrian, Nubian, and from the Ethiopian Church, beside Gospels and Psalm Books, favourite texts such as the Miracles of Mary. The Ethiopian scriptures also hold significance for the Rastafarian community.

For Judaism, one of the earliest surviving manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible from the 10th century, and some beautifully illustrated examples, especially from Spain and Portugal in the 14th and 15th centuries, scrolls of the Book of Esther read during the Jewish Spring Festival of Purim, Haggadot manuscripts, such as the sumptuously decorated Golden Haggadah and the Barcelona Haggadah, read in Jewish homes on Passover Eve, and many early printed editions such as the copy of the Babylonian Talmud printed at Venice 1520-23 that once belonged to King Henry VIII.

17th Century Spain and The Immaculate Conception

Spain always hotly adhered to the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. This heightened in the period of the Counter-Reformation.

Francisco Pacheco (1564-1654)
The Immaculate Conception of the poet Miguel Cid 1621

Francisco Pacheco (1564-1654) was a Spanish painter, active in Seville. He was familiar with the works of El Greco. Nowadays he is better known as a writer and the teacher of Diego Velázquez and Alonso Cano.

He was also the father-in-law of Diego Velázquez.

He was very influential in his sphere. He acted as an advisor on artistic matters to the Spanish Inquisition.

In 1649 his book Arte de la pintura (The Art of Painting) was posthumously published. The book is a major source of information for the period. The highly detailed iconographical prescriptions in his book were often strictly adhered to by contemporary artists.

Pacheco in his Art of Painting lays down in detail the rules for painting an Immaculate Conception. He wrote:

"The version that I follow is the one that is closest to the holy revelation of the Evangelist and approved by the Catholic Church on the authority of the sacred and holy interpreters...

In this loveliest of mysteries Our Lady should be painted as a beautiful young girl, 12 or 13 years old, in the flower of her youth...

And thus she is praised by the Husband: tota pulchra es amica mea, a text that is always written in this painting.

She should be painted wearing a white tunic and a blue mantle... She is surrounded by the sun, an oval sun of white and ochre, which sweetly blends into the sky.

Rays of light emanate from her head, around which is a ring of twelve stars.

An imperial crown adorns her head, without, however, hiding the stars.

Under her feet is the moon. Although it is a solid globe, I take the liberty of making it transparent so that the landscape shows through."
The title of the Tota Pulchra is drawn from chapter 4 verse 7 of the Song of Solomon: “Tota Pulchra es. Amica mea, et macula non est in te.” [“Thou art all fair, my love, there is no spot in thee.”] This verse had been associated with the Immaculate Conception since the twelfth century.

Among the attributes, the most popular was the spotless mirror, the “speculum sine macula,” which came from the Book of Wisdom, chapter 7 verse 26, which reads: “For she is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God.”

St. Bernard was the first to apply Song of Solomon 4:7 to the Virgin. The Song of Solomon was first associated with the Immaculate Conception in the twelfth century by Abelard, in his treatise about the doctrine.

Scripture had decribed the Virgin`s robes as a pink robe and blue mantle.The change in colour of the Virgin’s robe occurred after the founder of the Conceptionist Order (1511), Beatriz de Silva, attested to seeing the Virgin dressed in white robe and blue mantle.

Murillo and Zurbarán followed these strictures of Pacheco in their paintings.

These mainland Spanish influences spread throughout the Spanish Empire including those possessions in Europe and in its lands in the Americas.

CANO, Alonso (1601, Granada, d. 1667, Granada)

Immaculate Conception 1648

Oil on canvas

Provincial Museum, Vitoria 

VELÁZQUEZ, Diego Rodriguez de Silva y (b. 1599, Sevilla, d. 1660, Madrid)
The Immaculate Conception c. 1618
Oil on canvas, 135 x 102 cm
National Gallery, London
Originally this painting was in the Carmelite Convent in Seville

El Greco and the Immaculate Conception (1585)

GRECO, El (b. 1541, Candia, d. 1614, Toledo)
The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception and St John c. 1585
Oil on canvas, 237 x 118 cm
Museo de Santa Cruz, Toledo

The Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was very highly venerated on the Spanish mainland. This was even more noticeable after the Council of Trent.

Up to the end of the seventeenth century, the Virgin was dressed in a pink robe and blue mantle, as the Virgin’s robes were described in the Scripture.

The painting`s theme is based on Saint John's Vision of the Apocalypse:

'And there appeared a great wonder in Heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: and she being with child cried, . . . And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne . . .' (Revelation, xii).

The twelve stars have been omitted in the painting.

Don`t Panic ! Don`t Panic !

Plans for New church in Belgium ?

Fr Joe posts a timely warning in Alien Invasion of the Church.

Star Trek is alive and well and being viewed in Belgium. Someone call The X-Files: we need to be saved.

Carlo Crivelli: The Immaculate Conception (1492)

CRIVELLI, Carlo (about 1430/5 - about 1494)
The Immaculate Conception 1492
Egg tempera on wood
194.3 x 93.3 cm.
The National Gallery, London

Before the Dogma of The Immaculate Conception was defined by Blessed Pope Pius IX in 1854, the Dogma had been held widely and extensively for many centuries before.

The Conception of Mary was celebrated in England from the ninth century. Other churches in the West celebrated the doctrine from this time too. It took a long time for this doctrine to develop. The Franciscan order was especially assiduous in the development and promulgation of the Doctrine.

Pope Sixtus IV gave his approval to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception in 1475.

For centuries, artists had already been successful in communicating the idea of the Immaculacy of the Virgin, regardless of the abstract qualities of the doctrine.

The earliest known dated altarpiece depiction of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception may be that of Carlo Crivelli in 1492. This is the claim of The National Gallery in London. Originally made for the Franciscan church of San Francesco, Pergola, central Italy, it is now in The National Gallery who acquired it in 1874.

The emphasis is on the words "known", "dated", "altarpiece" and "may".

At the top of the panel, two angels crown the Virgin at the command of God the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Inscribed on the scroll held by the two angels is:

"VT. INMENTE. DEI. ABINITIO. CONCEPTA. FVI. ITA. ET. FACTA. SVM."
(As from the beginning I was conceived in the mind of God, so have I in like manner been conceived in the flesh.)

The inscription recalls various Biblical sources including Proverbs 8:22-35:

There, Hochmah is a feminine figure at God's side, before God's eyes, in creating the universe. There she says of herself:

"The Lord made me his own in the beginning of his ways, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, before the earth existed. When he prepared the heavens, I was there... when he established the clouds above; when he appointed the foundations of the earth; I was by him, I was daily his delight, playing always before him."


A standard format and symbolism developed for such pictures. The symbols derive from the Bible, including the Book of Revelation and The Song of Songs.

Here, the Virgin's purity is symbolised by a lily in a pure crystal glass.
"As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters." (Song of Songs 2:2)

But the important quotation from Song of Songs was and is:
"Thou art all fair, my love; and there is no spot in thee." (Song of Songs 4:7) ("Tota pulchra es amica mea et macula non est in te" )

Other lines from the Song of Songs which give rise to imagery relating to the Immaculate Conception are:

"Thy neck is like the tower of David builded with turrets, whereon there hang a thousand shields, all the armour of the mighty men." (Song of Songs 4:4)

"A garden shut up is my sister, my bride; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed."
(Song of Songs 4:12)

"Thou art a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and flowing streams from Lebanon." (Song of Songs 4:15)


Other common contemporary symbols referring to The Immaculate Conception were:

The transparent glass as a symbol of Mary's virginity.

Fruit can be a sign of fertility. Christ is referred to as the fruit of Mary's womb.

The white lily is Mary's special flower, symbolising purity.

Snails were (erroneously) thought to reproduce asexually, referring to the Immaculate Conception.

The Image of Pity 2

Dear Readers, it would appear that I may have recently and inadvertentedly misled you. Apologies.

In The Image of Pity I wrote that The Image of Pity probably originated in the East, probably before the twelfth century and that the devotion was based on an icon (now lost) which was in Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome, one of the seven pilgrimage churches in Rome.

I was delighted therefore to receive a comment from Don Marco, O.Cist. that "The icon at Santa Croce in Rome was not lost. I live at Santa Croce and just today showed the icon to a visitor."

I hope Don Marco does an article to publicise this. Most of the textbooks declare that the original icon was lost. If it is not lost and is in Santa Croce, this fact deserves wider circulation.

You may also be interested to read Don Marco`s other posts on the relics at Santa Croce including one of St Thomas under Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intueor

"The Bones of Augustine "

Fr. John Zuhlsdorf of What Does The Prayer Really Say? has a "must-read" post entitled "The Bones of Augustine ".

Especially relevant since the Pope`s recent visit to Pavia, where the saint`s bones are kept and as St Augustine seems to be the Pope`s favourite saint and theologian.

Pope Benedict XVI on St Augustine: Conversion is a lifelong journey

Following on the post here on St Augustine, Argent by the Tiber provides a report on the pastoral visit by the Pope to Pavia and lengthy extracts of his homilies there.

At the place where the relics of St Augustine are kept, Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the saint’s life journey as the ideal itinerary for every Christian.

“It can be seen quite clearly that his conversion was not an event of one moment in time, but a journey”.

“What was the most essential aspect of this journey? Augustine on one hand was a product of his times, profoundly conditioned by the dominant habits and passions of his era, as well as all of the questions and problems pertaining to his young age. He lived exactly like the rest of the men of his time, and yet there was something special in him: he remained a person in continual search. He never contented himself with life as it was presented to him and as other lived it. He was forever tormented by the question of the truth”.

“He wanted to find the truth. He wanted to succeed in finding out what man is; where the world comes from; where we come from, where we are going to and how we can find out the truth. He wanted to find the road to truth and not just live blindly, without aim or objective. His passion for the truth is the key to reading his life. And there is yet another peculiarity regarding the saint. All that did not bear the name of Christ was of no use to him”.

“He tells us that, through Platonic Philosophy, he had learned that ‘in the beginning there was the Word’ - Logos, creative reason. But philosophy did not show him how to reach it; this Logos was intangible and distant. Only in the faith of the Church did he find the second essential truth: the Word became flesh. And thus it touches us and we touch it. "

"The humility of God’s incarnation must correspond to the humility of our faith, which does away with high-toned superbia and bows low as it enters to become part of the community of Christ’s body; which lives with the Church. Only in this way, can the faithful enter into concrete communion, bodily communion with the living God. It is unnecessary to point out how much all of this regards us today: be eternal searchers for the truth, do not content yourself with what others do or say. Do not be distracted from the eternal God and Jesus Christ. Renew the humility of your faith in the bodily Church of Jesus Christ”.

“Augustine reached yet another level of humility not only the humility of entrusting his great thought to the faith of the Church, not only the humility of translating his great knowledge into the simplicity of the Good News, but also the humility to recognise that the merciful goodness of God who forgives was continually necessary for him and for the entire pilgrim Church; and we become similar to Christ, the Perfect one, in the greatest possible way when we become merciful people like Him."

"I now give God thanks for the great light that irradiates from the knowledge and humility of Saint Augustine, let us pray that He gifts us all, each day the necessary conversion that leads us towards the one true life”.


See also Augnet.

St Jerome by Bicci di Lorenzo

Bicci di Lorenzo 1373-1452
1433
Saint Jerome
Museo Amedeo Lia, La Spezia

Bicci di Lorenzo was the son of the painter Lorenzo di Bicci, a traditional late follower of the artistic line of Orcagna.

Bicci was similarly educated in art in his father's workshop in Florence, in which he began to share in the production of artistic products between the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century

The artist was in fact the head of a company of painters, with the less well known Stefano d'Antonio and Buonaiuto di Giovanni.

His workshop, situated in Camaldoli (now the area of Piazza Tasso), made the area take off in terms of artistic activity.

Many later generations of artists were trained there including Andrea di Giusto, Giovanni di ser Giovanni known as Lo Scheggia (brother of Masaccio) and Antonio di Maso (previously known by the false name "Maestro di Signa"). This latter went on to be one of the greatest exponents of the Bicci method in the second half of the Fifteenth century.

The above painting was originally part of a polyptych executed for the church of San Niccolo in Cafaggio, Florence.

Other pieces exist around the world, including St Augustine in Rome.

Episcopal Palace, Astorga

Antonio Gaudí (1852 — 1926)
Episcopal Palace (1889-1913)
Astorga
Spain

The Syon Cope

Cope (known as the Syon Cope)
England
About 1300-1320
Linen, embroidered with silk, silver-gilt and silver thread.
Length 295 cm (along top), Depth 147.5 cm (at middle)
The Victoria and Albert Museum, London

English embroidery called Opus Anglicanum was one art form for which the English became particularly famous.

The Syon cope, named after Syon Abbey in Middlesex where it was kept by nuns in the sixteenth century was made for a priest of high rank, possibly a bishop, between about 1300 and 1320.

The Syon Cope has scenes from the Life of Christ and the Virgin Mary, with figures of the apostles embroidered in costly silk, silver-gilt and silver thread that entirely covers the linen background material.

The angels on wheels on the Syon Cope are six-winged seraphs.

Parts of the scenes at the top and bottom of the Syon Cope are missing because it was originally a chasuble.

It was later cut up to make a cope and the strips with heraldic shields added.

Princes and potentates of church and state all over Europe wanted English embroidery. We can get some idea of how highly prized it was by the fact that the Vatican Inventory of 1295 lists no less than 113 examples.

The Bologna Cope (c.1313-1315) and the Ascoli Piceno Cope (c. 1275-1280) are particularly beautiful examples of vestments decorated with Opus Anglicanum.

The Survival of Babies after Abortion

Leonardo da Vinci, Studies of Foetus in a Womb

Saint Mary Magdalen, Brighton, UK has a post on the phenomenon of what happens to babies who survive the abortion process.

The issue came to prominence in the United Kingdom about November 2005. At the time there was promised various studies by professional organisations into the little known fact that One in 30 babies aborted for medical reasons is born alive.They lived for an average of 80 minutes - although in some cases babies survived for over six hours.

Nothing happened until now.

The Evening Standard: This is London has now reported on what the studies have shown.

Extract:

"Researchers looked at the outcome of 3,189 abortions performed on seriously handicapped foetuses at 20 hospitals between 1995 and 2004.

It showed that 102 - or around one in 30 - aborted for reasons such as Down's Syndrome and heart defects, were born alive.

Abortions are allowed to be carried out if the pregnancy is shown to have an adverse effect on the mental health and wellbeing of the mother up until the 24th week of pregnancy.

Beyond this point, the procedure is only sanctioned if the baby has a severe disability or if the mother's life is at risk.

The latest study, carried out by experts from the West Midlands Perinatal Institute and published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, showed that three per cent of aborted disabled babies were born alive.

...

While there is no suggestion that any of the babies documented in the West Midlands study lived for more than a few hours, doctors in Norwich are currently treating a toddler born at 24 weeks after three botched terminations.

He was born three years ago and is still alive.

Campaigners said it was likely the Midlands figures were just the tip of the iceberg as the region only accounts for around a tenth of the babies born in the country each year.

In addition, the study only looked at babies whose lives were ended because of disability.

However, most abortions are carried out on 'healthy' babies for social reasons. Julia Millington of the pro-life group Alive and Kicking said: "This can't just be happening in the West Midlands. ...

Thirty years ago, Gianna Jessen's mother had an abortion when seven-and-a-half months pregnant.

The abortion failed and, 18 hours later, Gianna was born alive.

She suffered cerebral palsy as a result of the botched abortion, yet has defied doctors' predictions that she would never walk.

In fact she has run a marathon, is an accomplished singer and writer and travels the world to campaign against abortion."

Real Alternatives

In 1995, Pennsylvania started a bold, state-funded initiative to reduce the number of abortions by providing pregnant women the necessary resources to keep their children.

An organisation called Real Alternatives was set up. It has helped abortion rates in the state to fall steadily.

Real Alternatives was established to be the statewide administrator of the Pennsylvania Alternative to Abortions Services Program [PAASP].

With a dedicated staff of 12 and nine board members, they contract with 120 service providers made up of pregnancy support centers, social service agencies like Catholic Charities, adoption agencies and maternity homes throughout the state to reach out to women in unplanned or crisis pregnancies.

In fiscal year 1996, they served 6,715 women statewide with 72 centers. In fiscal year 2005, they served 16,600 women with 120 centers. With the necessary financial resources, centers opened more sites and hired more counselors and continue to serve more women in need.

To date, over 123,000 women have been served under the program.

As a result, state governors and legislatures in Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Florida and Texas placed funding of Alternative to Abortion Services programs in their budgets.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission signed a $2.5 million a year agreement with Texas Pregnancy Care Network, a nonprofit, to provide statewide government-funded alternatives to abortion using Real Alternatives to replicate the highly recommended Pennsylvania Alternative to Abortion Services in Texas.

The primary purpose of the Alternative to Abortion Services Program is to provide core services consisting of information, education and counseling that promotes childbirth instead of abortion and assists pregnant women in their decision regarding adoption or parenting.

The Program also provides support services including self-administered pregnancy kits, baby food, maternity and baby clothing and baby furniture, information and education, and referrals for other services for the needs of the women and newborn. The information and education provided under support services includes topics regarding infant care, adoption, parenting, or the use of abstinence to avoid unplanned and out-of-wedlock pregnancies.

The enabling legislation for the Alternative to Abortion Services Program authorises the Service Providers to be reimbursed for the free alternative to abortion services they provide to women until childbirth and for up to 12 months post-partum. Services include, but are not strictly limited to:

-counseling
-pregnancy, childbirth, parenting, and abstinence classes
-adoption information; assistance for post delivery stress
-assistance with food; shelter; clothing; health care
-other supportive programs and services for related outreach programs.

As we in Britain approach the 40th Anniversary (in October) of the passing of the Abortion Act 1967, it would be opportune if the Government introduced similar state funding for such programs here. However, unfortunately, in the present climate, it might be best not to hold your breath !

Abortion rates in the UK continue to rise steadily and show no sign of falling.

Chapelle Notre-Dame du Haut at Ronchamp

Exterior:

Le Corbusier (1887-1965) was one of the 20th century's most important architects. He designed only three religious structures, all in France. One of them was the pilgrimage chapel at Ronchamp.

He was born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret in Switzerland. In Paris he adopted his maternal grandfather's name, Le Corbusier, as his pseudonym.

Of the exponents of the International Style, none is better known than Le Corbusier. But some authorities call the chapel "Post-Modern".

Concrete allowed Le Corbusier to explore unusual shapes. The Chapelle Notre-Dame du Haut (1955) at Ronchamp resembles a boat, an ark. Some have seen a nun`s wimple in the billowing roof.

The chapel sits on the summit of a hill, Bourlémont, overlooking the town of Ronchamp, half way bewteen Dijon and Strasbourg.

The site of the Marian shrine has been a place of pilgrimage since 1271.

There have only been three chapels on this site, the first one being built in 1857. But the two previous churches were destroyed: the first one by fire; the second by bombing in the Second World War.

Again, one of the prime movers for the commission and execution of the project was the Dominican priest, Father Marie-Alain Couturier.

When handing over the keys to the Archbishop of Besançon, Le Corbusier said:

"I wanted to create a place of silence, peace and of interior joy. The feeling for the sacred, the holy suffused our work. Certain things are holy, others are not, whether they be religious or not...

Some signs and some words speak their hymn of praise to the Virgin.

The Cross - the true Cross of Torment, torture - has its place in this arch; from now on the Christian passion has taken possession of this place."

Plans began for Le Corbusier`s work in 1950. It was completed in 1955. However following on a petition, Rome forbade its consecration. It was not consecrated until 2005 by Archbishop André Lacrampe.

The nature of the site itself as a place of worship is integral to the project: starting from the ascent at the bottom of the hill to architectural and landscape events along the way, before finally terminating at the chapel. You cannot see the building until you reach nearly the crest of the hill. From the top, magnificent vistas spread out in all directions.

As well as the interior being a place of worship, there is also an outside altar and pulpit, so the large crowds can sit or stand on a vast field on the top of the hill.

A famous statue of the Virgin, rescued from the ruins of the chapel destroyed during the Second World War is encased in a special glass case in the wall, and it can be turned to face inward when the congregation is inside, or to face outward toward the huge crowds.


References:

Chapel of Nôtre Dame du Haut
http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/ronchamp/

La Chapelle Notre-Dame du Haut (1955) - Le Corbusier
http://figure-ground.com/travel/image.php?ronchamp

NOTRE DAME DU HAUT: a walk-through tour
http://www.demel.net/fs-ronchamp.html

FONDATION LE CORBUSIER
http://www.fondationlecorbusier.asso.fr/

Interior Stained Glass Window- Star of the Morning

Jesus of Nazareth 2

For those who cannot wait for the English translation coming out in May, Zadok the Roman in The Commonplace Book of Zadok the Roman is publishing selected extracts of Pope Benedict XVI`s new book Jesus of Nazareth. Futher, he is providing a detailed, informative and concise commentary on the various passages selected.

The links are below:

Jesus of Nazareth - Initial Thoughts

Jesus at Prayer: A brief extract from the 'Introduction' of Jesus of Nazareth

Jesus of Nazareth - The Baptism in the Jordan

Jesus of Nazareth - The Temptations of Christ and St Augustine

Jesus of Nazareth - Africa and the Good Samaritan

For myself, I look forward to reading more and hope he carries on the series.

The Lamb and The Tyger

William Blake (November 28, 1757 – August 12, 1827) was an English poet, visionary, painter, and printmaker

Once considered mad for his idiosyncratic views, Blake is highly regarded today for his expressiveness and creativity, and the philosophical vision that underlies his work.

While his visual art and written poetry are usually considered separately, Blake often employed them in concert to create a product that at once defied and superseded convention

William Blake is the only artist of his rank who is even better known as a poet, and some of his most pleasing works are those he called "illuminated printing," which fuse picture and word to form a completely integrated and completely personal result.

Songs of Innocence and of Experience: Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul are two books of poetry by him. Songs of Innocence, published in 1789, comprises 31 illuminated poems; the book was republished in 1794 with Songs of Experience, with 54 plates in all.

Blake's books are similar to 15th-century blockbooks, so called because for each page the letters were, like the images, carved from the block rather than printed from movable type. Blake printed his plates in one colour only

Like most of the other poems in Songs of Innocence, the famous poem "The Lamb" has its parallel in Songs of Experience in "The Tyger."

References:

The Tyger-- An Annotated Bibliography
http://virtual.park.uga.edu/~wblake/SIE/42/42bib.html

The Lamb and The Tyger
http://www.e-scoala.ro/engleza/blake_songs.html

William Blake’s Songs of Innocence
http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/blake/songs~in.pdf.

Blake`s Poetry
http://www.newi.ac.uk/RDOVER/blake/blakes_p.htm

"The Lamb"
http://www.english.uga.edu/wblake/SONGS/8/8whitt.bib.html

Two Songs from "Songs Of Innocence & Experience: Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul"
http://glenavalon.com/innocence_experience.html

Brief Encounters

The Telegraph has a very interesting article on Internet dating sites and their dangers. Such sites are booming in the UK and worldwide.

The advice given by the article is "Don`t begin. Don`t try. You`ll end up with much more than having your fingers burnt." The sites promote a fantasy of an exciting life which might be tempting to someone who is tired of the ennui of "ordinary life". The promoters of the sites just watch the money flowing in.

An extract from the article:

"Thanks to the internet, committing adultery has become so simple that thousands are trying it. Tara Winter Wilson went online to get to the heart of the affair. ...

Adultery is easier than ever, it seems, and an estimated 80 per cent of marriages will have at least one spouse involved in marital infidelity. Much of it is due to the internet. Type in the words "adultery websites" on Google and several spring up - meet-to-cheat.com, illicitencounters.com, lovinglinks.co.uk and ashleymadison.com, to name a few...

In the end, what all these adultery websites have in common is that they are used by men solely in search of sex with as many different partners as possible. Because of the fragile male ego, they don't want to pay for it, they want to be genuinely desired. Once they've satiated their appetite, however, they run off without a backward glance to the bosom of their family, guilt fanning their love for their wives even more....

For married females tempted to join an adultery website, heed the example of "Sugarplum", aged 52 and married for 22 years, who thought she had found what she'd been seeking for years.

"I had this ordinary mundane life and then I had this other part of my life which was secret, exciting and fulfilling," she wrote. "The mistake I made, however, was falling in love and leaving my husband. When the divorce came through, I never heard from my lover again."

Sugarplum's story is common. According to recent statistics in the American Journal of Sociology, 90 per cent of adulterous liaisons will end in regret. Women are wired differently to men: most find it virtually impossible to emotionally detach from an intimate encounter. The men, on the other hand, are natural predators....

The sanest advice to anyone contemplating adultery, particularly through a website, is: don't. If you're a man and your wife finds out, it takes on average between two to four years to be forgiven, and the bond of trust is broken for ever. And if you're a woman convinced you are only interested in sex, just like the men, chances are that you'll end up heartbroken and kicking yourself for being so weak.

So if an ennui has crept into your marriage, talk it over, visit a marriage guidance counsellor together, go on a holiday, change the routine, inject some romance - anything. Work to save your marriage. Looking in cyberspace is not the answer."

Two for the price of One

Giuseppe Arcimboldo (c. 1527-1593)
Portrait with Vegetables (The Greengrocer),
A visual pun which can be turned upside down. c.1590.
Oil on wood.
Museo Civico Ala Ponzone, Cremona, Italy.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo (c. 1527-1593)
Portrait with Vegetables (The Greengrocer), rotated 180 degrees
A visual pun which can be turned upside down. c.1590.
Oil on wood.
Museo Civico Ala Ponzone, Cremona, Italy.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo was born into the family of a painter for Milan Cathedral in 1527. Together with his father, he was paid for designing several stained glass windows in the Cathedral. He carried on working for Milan Cathedral after his father’s death, until 1558. The only works in the Cathedral still extant are the windows of St Catherine of Alexandria.

In 1562, Giuseppe Arcimboldo became a court painter of Emperor Ferdinand I (Habsburg) and left for Vienna, then moved to Prague.

When Ferdinand I died, in 1564, and was succeeded by Emperor Maximilian II (1527-1576), Arcimboldo continued as his court artist. He also continued as Court painter under Emperor Rudolph II (1552-1612)

Although Giuseppe Arcimboldo was extremely famous during his lifetime, he was soon forgotten after his death.

The interest in his abstruse and fantastic pictures, of which we only have a very few originals, nowadays, revived only at the end of the 19th century.

He is now perhaps best and only known for his fantastic pictures.

The Bones of St Augustine

Following on my recent post, I see that What Does The Prayer Really Say? has more information about how the relics of St Augustine were translated from Africa to Pavia. See also here.

The Image of Pity

Hieronymus Bosch (c.1450-1516)
Mass of St. Gregory C. 1510
Oil on wood
Museo del Prado, Madrid

Giovanni Bellini (1426-1516)
Dead Christ in the sepulchre c. 1460
Tempera on panel
Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan

According to Emile Male, in the late Middle Ages, "the Passion became the chief concern of the Christian soul". (Religious Art in France: the late Middle Ages (1986), at page 83).

The theme of the Passion as a theme for meditation and prayer increased in the course of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

One of the most popular devotional images was the Mass of Saint Pope Gregory the Great, the Man of Sorrows or the Image of Pity (imago pietatis).

The devotion is associated with Devotion to the Wounds of Christ.

The usual form is a half-length figure, upright in the tomb, with eyes open or closed, and arms folded to show the wounds.

The image probably originated in the East, probably before the twelfth century.

The devotion was based on an icon (now lost) which was in Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome, one of the seven pilgrimage churches in Rome.

The legend which attached to the icon in Santa Croce was that while Pope Gregory the Great was celebrating Mass in the Church of Santa Croce, and was dismayed to find an unbeliever among his flock. He prayed for a sign to confirm the reality of the Atonement and its re-enactment in the Mass. In response, an image of Christ with the Instruments of the Passion appeared above the altar.The image was that of Christ in his tomb, displaying his Wounds and surrounded by implements of the Passion. St Gregory had an icon made which illustrated the vision.

Although the icon in Santa Croce was lost, it was widely copied and mass reproduced.

The devotion was fostered by many but especially by the Franciscan Order.

De Profundis

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord;
Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to my voice in supplication:

If you, O Lord, mark iniquities,
Lord, who can stand?
But with you is forgiveness,
that you may be revered.

I trust in the Lord;
my soul trusts in his word.
My soul waits for the Lord,
more than sentinels wait for the dawn.
More than sentinels wait for the dawn,
let Israel wait for the Lord;

For with the Lord is kindness
and with him is plenteous redemption;
And he will redeem Israel from all their iniquities

Synopsis of Pope's Book: "Jesus of Nazareth"

Zenit at Code: ZE07041510 Date: 2007-04-15 has published a synopsis in English of Benedict XVI's book "Jesus of Nazareth" .

The English-language edition will be made available May 15 by Doubleday in North America, and by Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom.

"The Pope's Path to Jesus
A personal meditation, not an exercise of the magisterium

This book is the first part of a work, the writing of which, as its author states, was preceded by a "long gestation" (Page xi). It reflects Joseph Ratzinger's personal search for the "face of the Lord" and is not intended to be a document forming part of the magisterium (Page xxiii).

"Everyone is free, then, to contradict me," the Pontiff stresses in the foreword (Page xxiv). The main purpose of the work is "to help foster [in the reader] the growth of a living re¬lationship" with Jesus Christ (Page xxiv). In an expected second volume the Pope hopes "also to be able to include the chapter on the [infancy] narratives" con¬cerning the birth of Jesus and to consider the mystery of his passion, death and resurrection.

It is primarily, therefore, a pastoral book. But it is also the work of a rigorous theologian, who justifies his assertions based on exhaustive knowledge of sacred texts and critical literature. He underlines the indispen¬sability of a historical-critical method for serious exegesis, but also highlights its limits: "Admittedly, to believe that, as man, he [Jesus] truly was God exceeds the scope of the historical method" (Page xxiii).

And yet, "Without an¬choring in God, the person of Jesus remains shadowy, unreal, and unexplainable" (Schnackenburg, "Freundschaft mit Jesus," Page 322). In confirming this conclu¬sion of a notable Roman Catholic representative of historical-critical exegesis, the Pope states that his book "sees Jesus in light of his communion with the Father" (Page xiv).

In addition, based on "reading the individual texts of the Bible in the context of the whole" -- a reading that "does not contradict historical-critical interpretation, but carries it forward in an organic way toward becoming theology in the proper sense" (Page xix) -- the author presents "the Jesus of the Gospels as the real, 'historical' Jesus," underlining "that this figure is much more logical and, historically speaking, much more intelligible than the reconstructions we have been presented with in the last decades" (Page xxii).

For Benedict XVI, one finds in the Scriptures the compelling elements to be able to assert that the historical personage, Jesus Christ, is also the Son of God who came to Earth to save humanity. In page after page, he exam¬ines these one by one, guiding and challenging the reader -- the believer but also the nonbeliever -- by way of an enthralling intellectual adventure.

Grounding his core premise on the fact of the intimate unity between the Old and the New Testament, and drawing on the Christological herme¬neutics that see in Jesus Christ the key to the entire Bible, Benedict XVI presents the Jesus of the Gospels as the "new Moses" who fulfills Israel's an¬cient expectations (Page 1). This new Moses must lead the people of God to true and definitive freedom. He does so in a sequence of actions that, how¬ever, always allow God's plan to be anticipated in its entirety.

The Baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan is "an acceptance of death for the sins of humanity, and the voice that calls out, 'This is my beloved Son,' over the baptismal waters is an antici¬patory reference to the Resurrection" (Page 18). Jesus' immersion in the waters of the River Jordan is a symbol of his death and of his descent into hell -- a reality present, however, throughout his life.

To save humanity "He must recapitulate the whole of history from its beginnings" (Page 26), he must conquer the principal temptations that, in various forms, threaten men in all ages and, transforming them into obedience, reopen the road toward God (Chapter 2), toward the true Promised Land, which is the "Kingdom of God" (Page 44). This term, which can be interpreted in its Christological, mystical or even ecclesiastical dimension, ultimately means "the divine lordship, God's do¬minion over the world and over history, [which] transcends the moment, indeed transcends and reaches beyond the whole of history. And yet it is at the same time something belonging absolutely to the present" (Page 57). Indeed, through Jesus' presence and activity "God has here and now entered actively into history in a wholly new way." In Jesus "God ... draws near to us ... rules in a divine way, without worldly power, rules through the love that reaches 'to the end'" (Pages 60-61; John 13:1).

The theme of the "Kingdom of God" (Chapter 3), which pervades the whole of Jesus' preaching, is developed in further depth in the reflection on the "Sermon on the Mount" (Chapter 4). In the Sermon Jesus clearly appears as the "new Moses" who brings the new Torah or, rather, returns to Moses' Torah and, activating the intrinsic rhythms of its structure, fulfills it (Page 65).

The Sermon on the Mount, in which the beatitudes are the cardi¬nal points of the law and, at one and the same time, a self-portrait of Jesus, demonstrates that this law is not just the result of a "face-to-face" talk with God but embodies the plenitude that comes from the intimate union of Jesus with the Father (Page 66). Jesus is the Son of God, the Word of God in person. "Jesus understands himself as the Torah" (Page 110). "This is the point that demands a decision [...] and consequently this is the point that leads to the Cross and the Resurrection" (Page 63).

The exodus toward the true "Promised Land," toward true freedom, requires the sequel of Christ. The believer has to enter the same communion of the Son with the Father. Only in this way can Man "fulfill" himself, because his innermost nature is oriented toward the relationship with God. This means that a fundamental element of his life is talking to God and listening to God. Because of this, Benedict XVI dedicates an entire chapter to prayer, explaining the Lord's Prayer, which Jesus himself taught us (Chapter 5).

Man's profound contact with God the Father through Jesus in the Holy Spirit gathers them together in the "we and us" of a new family that, via the choice of the Twelve Disciples, recalls the origins of Israel (the twelve Patri¬archs) and, at the same time, opens the vision toward the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:9-14) -- the ultimate destination of the whole story -- of the new Exodus under the guidance of the "new Moses."

With Jesus, the Twelve Disciples "have to pass from outward to inward communion with Jesus," so as then to be able to testify to his oneness with the Father and "become Jesus' envoys ¬-- 'apostles,' no less -- who bring his message to the world" (Page 172). Albeit in its extremely variegated composition, the new family of Jesus, the Church of all ages, finds in him its unifying core and the will to live the universal character of his teaching (Chapter 6).

To make his message easier to understand and indeed to incorporate that message into daily living, Jesus uses the form of the parable. He comports the substance of what he intends to communicate -- ultimately he is always talking about his mystery -- attuned to the listener's comprehension using the bridge of imagery grounded in realities very familiar and accessible to that listener. Alongside this human aspect, however, there is an exquisitely theological explanation of the parables' sense, which Joseph Ratzinger high¬lights in an analysis of rare depth. He then comments more specifically on three parables, via which he illustrates the endless resources of Jesus' message and its perennial actuality (Chapter 7).

The next chapter also centers round the images used by Jesus to explain his mystery: They are the great images of John's Gospel. Before analyzing them, the Pope presents a very interesting summary of the various results of scientific research into who the apostle John was. With this, as also in his explanation of the images, he opens up new horizons for the reader that re¬veal Jesus with ever-increasing clarity as the "Word of God" (Page 317), who became man for our salvation as the "Son of God" (Page 304), coming to redirect humanity toward unity with the Father -- the reality personified by Moses (Chapter 8).

This vision is further expanded in the last two chapters. "The account of the Transfiguration of Jesus [...] interprets Peter's confession and takes it deeper, while at the same time connecting it with the mystery of Jesus' death and resurrection" (Pages 287-¬288). Both events -- the transfiguration and the confession -- are decisive moments for the earthly Jesus as they are for his disciples.

The true mission of the Messiah of God and the destiny of those who want to follow him are now definitively established. Both events become comprehensible to their full extent only if based on an organic view of the Old and New Testament. Jesus, the living Son of God, is the Messiah awaited by Israel who, through the scandal of the Cross, leads humanity into the "Kingdom of God" (Page 317) and to ultimate freedom (Chapter 9).

The Pope's book ends with an in-depth analysis of the titles that, according to the Gospels, Jesus used for himself (Chapter 10). Once again it becomes evident that only through reading the Scriptures as a united whole is one able to reveal the meaning of the three terms "Son of Man," "Son," and "I Am." This latter term is the mysterious name with which God re¬vealed himself to Moses in the burning bush. This name now allows it to be seen that Jesus is that same God. In all three titles "Jesus at once conceals and reveals the mystery of his person. [...] All three of these terms demonstrate how deeply rooted he is in the Word of God, Israel's Bible, the Old Testament. And yet all these terms receive their full meaning only in him -- it is as if they had been waiting for him" (Page 354).

Together with the man of faith, who seeks to explain the divine mystery above all to himself; together with the extremely refined theologian, who ranges effortlessly from the results of modern doctrinal analyses to those of their ancient precursors, the book also reveals the pastor, who truly succeeds in his attempt "to help foster [in the reader] the growth of a living relationship" with Jesus Christ (Page xxiv), almost irresistibly drawing him into his own personal friendship with the Lord.

In this perspective the Pontiff is not afraid to denounce a world that, by excluding God and clinging only to visible and tangible realities, risks destroying itself in a self-centered quest for purely material well-being -- becoming deaf to the real call to the human being to become, through the Son, a son of God, and thereby to reach true freedom in the "Promised Land" of the "Kingdom of God."

* * *

The page numbers refer to the U.S. edition of the book, which will be published by Doubleday. "

Seven Sacrament Fonts

The representation of all seven sacraments first appeared in Europe as an occasional subject in the 14th century, but by the middle of the 15th century, it had become widely popular.

In Seeable Signs: The Iconography of the Seven Sacraments, 1350-1544 by Ann Eljenholm Nichols, Nichols argues that before 1450 there existed an international iconography of the sacraments.

She further argues that after 1450, English work diverged radically from what pertained on the rest of the Continent of Europe. England developed a distinctive insular iconography. The explanation for that difference, she believes, is to be found in the peculiar religious climate created by the Lollard rejection of the sacramental system.

She also argues that the seven sacrament fonts and other seven sacrament furniture were erected to combat what was seen as the dangerous heresy of Lollardism and were specially placed in areas where Lollardism had been or was strong.

A number of seven sacrament fonts survived the iconoclasts of the Reformation in the 1540s and 1550s and thereafter.

Suffolk has thirteen of such fonts still in existence dating from the fifteenth century.

The fonts were octagonal. Seven of the faces depicted each of the sacraments. The eighth generally depicted the Mass, the Crucifixion or one other important scene.

Some of the fonts still retain swathes of colour. Again when looking at medieval objects, one often has to remind oneself that often they were brightly coloured rather than the pale white we often see today.

The following images are from St John the Baptist, Badingham, Suffolk. The font dates fom the 1480s.

Baptism

Extreme Unction

Penance

Easter Wings

George Herbert (1593-1633) in “Easter Wings” celebrates Christ’s resurrection, which is presented as the means by which humankind overcomes sin and attains freedom. The poem consists of two ten-line stanzas of varying line lengths.

It is a Pattern or concrete poem. It physically resembles its subject matter. Early editions printed the poem vertically so that the shape of the wings was more pronounced. [see below]

The length of the lines decreases to reflect their content, diminished man.

Herbert alludes to the paradox of the "fortunate fall" or felix culpa. Only by sinning with Eve, and being cast out of the Garden of Eden into a world of labour, pain, and death, did Adam enable the second Adam, Christ, to redeem man and show a love and forgiveness that otherwise could never have been.

Herbert suggests that if he adds his feathers to God's wings, he will fly the higher because of God's might. Sometimes feathers were grafted or imped into a falcon's wing to increase the power of its flight.

Does the wing-like stanza on one page represents Herbert's wings, and the wing-stanza on the facing page represents God's ?

Divine Mercy Sunday

Image of Divine Mercy
By Eugeniusz Kazimirowski, 1934 under the guidance of Maria Faustyna Kawalska

Saint Sister Faustyna Kowalska (Faustina), known as the "Apostle of Mercy", 1905-1938.

References:

MARY FAUSTINA KOWALSKA
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20000430_faustina_en.html

Background of the Divine Mercy Devotion
http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/backgr.htm

The National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Mass.
http://www.thedivinemercy.org/