Pope Benedict and the Theology of Saints

Piero della Francesca (c. 1420–1490)

Saint Augustine c.1465

Tempera on oak panel

133 x 59,5 cm

Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon

One of Pope Benedict`s favourite saints is Saint Augustine, one of the great Doctors of the Church. He rarely fails to quote from his many works.

In his most recent catechesis winding up his two year cycle on the Lives of the Saints, he admitted that he admires many saints, canonised and non-canonised.

"In reality, I must say that also, according to my personal faith, many saints, not all, are true stars in the firmament of history. And I would like to add that for me not only the great saints that I love and know well are "road signs," but also the simple saints, that is, the good persons that I see in my life, who will never be canonized. They are ordinary people, to say it somehow, without a visible heroism, but in their everyday goodness I see the truth of the faith. This goodness, which they have matured in the faith of the Church, is for me a sure defense of Christianity and the sign of where the truth is.

In the communion with saints, canonized or not canonized, which the Church lives thanks to Christ in all her members, we enjoy their presence and company and cultivate the firm hope of being able to imitate their way and share one day the same blessed life, eternal life."

Hagiography, the study of the lives of saints, has a pejorative edge in the minds of many these days. In the immediate aftermath of Vatican II, saints were no longer regarded as subjects worthy of study. The study had the stench of "medievalism" and carried the taint of being uncritical, too reverential, associated with the medieval traffic in relics and corruption and probably as a distraction from a direct relationship with Christ.

One of the great criticisms of the pontificate of Blessed Pope John Paul II was his emphasis on the veneration of the saints, and his great promotion of the processes of beatification and canonisation.

He celebrated 147 beatification ceremonies during which he proclaimed 1,338 Blesseds; and 51 canonizations for a total of 482 saints. He made Thérèse of the Child Jesus a Doctor of the Church.

Pope Benedict talks of "saints" as being "beacons of many generations" worthy of study and veneration and means of intercession:

"We have gotten to know them up close and to understand that the whole history of the Church is marked by these men and women, who with their faith, their charity, and their lives were the beacons of many generations, as they are also for us.

The saints manifest in many ways the powerful and transforming presence of the Risen One; they let Christ possess their lives completely, being able to affirm as St. Paul, "yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). Following their example, taking recourse to their intercession, entering into communion with them, "joins us to Christ, from Whom as from its Fountain and Head issues every grace and the very life of the people of God" (Lumen Gentium 50)."

Pope Benedict`s great talent is to sum up or distill in a concise cogent form theological concepts, in this case, the theology of saints.

Sigismondo Caula (1637- 1724)

St Charles Borromeo giving communion to the plague victims in Milan in 1576 (1685)

Oil on canvas

Galleria Estense, Modena

Charles-Henri Hilaire Michel (1817-1905)

La Sainte Communion

1866

Oil on canvas

40 x 32.5cm

Musée Alfred Danicourt , Péronne

Doctor Thérèse of Lisieux

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux with her sisters and a cousin: November 1896

Last Wednesday Pope Benedict continued his catechesis on Doctors of the Church. This talk was on Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

A great saint and Doctor who appears on the face to be simple but whose writings are multi-faceted

Pope Benedict XVI described her as a " guide for all, above all for those who among the People of God carry out the ministry of theologian."

He continued:

"With humility and charity, faith and hope, Thérèse entered continually into the heart of sacred Scripture, which contains the Mystery of Christ.

And this reading of the Bible, nourished by the science of love, is not opposed to academic science. The science of the saints, in fact, of which she speaks in the last page of the "Story of a Soul," is the highest science:

"All the saints have understood it and in particular, perhaps, those who filled the universe with the radiation of the evangelical doctrine. Is it not, perhaps, through prayer that Sts. Paul, Augustine, John of the Cross, Thomas Aquinas, Francis, Dominic and so many other illustrious Friends of God obtained this divine science that fascinates the greatest geniuses" (Ms C, 36r).

The above photograph shows her dealing with the Eucharistic vessels. It is quite a famous photograph of the Carmelite saint.

Of the Saint`s devotion to the Eucharist, the Pope reminded us:

"Inseparable from the Gospel, the Eucharist was for Thérèse the sacrament of Divine Love that descends to the extreme to lift us to him. In her last Letter, the saint wrote these simple words on the image that the Child Jesus represents in the consecrated Host:

"I cannot fear a God who for me has made himself so small! (...) I love him! In fact, he is none other than Love and Mercy!" (LT 266).

One theme in her writings is the need for priests «who know how to love Jesus, who touch Him with the same delicacy with which Mary used to touch Him in the cot!» (LT 101).

On 17th July 1890 she received a very sad letter from her sister Celine:

«The other day we entered by chance a very poor small church (…). I could not hold back my tears. Can you imagine?: a Tabernacle without curtains, a real black hole, perhaps a place full of cobwebs, and a ciborium which was so poor that it looked like copper covered with a piece of dirty material which no longer had the shape of a veil for the Holy Eucharist. And there was only one host in the ciborium. Alas, they do not need any more things like those in that parish. There was not even one communion a year outside the time of Easter. In these parts of the countryside there are rough priests who keep the church closed all day. Besides they are old and have no resources…».

The next day whilst her sister was concerned about buying a new pyx and at the Carmelites they were preparing an embroidered veil, Theresa answered by quoting long passages taken from the Carmelites of the suffering Servant of Jahve, on the hidden beauty of the humiliated Face of Jesus who expects to be recognised and loved. She exhorted her sister by saying:

«Let’s have a small Tabernacle in our heart, where Jesus can take shelter. Then He will be consoled and will forget what we cannot forget: the ingratitude of the souls who abandon Him in a deserted tabernacle! (…). Celine, let’s pray for priests, ah, let’s pray for them! May our life be consecrated to them: every day Jesus makes me feel that He wishes this from us both» (LT 108).

Popes Benedict and (Blessed) John Paul II have and had a particular regard for Saint Thérèse

It is also worthwhile recalling that previous Popes have had a similar high regard. One of these was Pope Pius XI ("the Pope of the Mission"). He presided over her canonisation in 1925.  He proclaimed her the perpetual protectress of the Society of Saint Peter the Apostle on 23 July 1925.

Two years later he named her principal patroness of the missions in the whole world, on an equal footing with St. Francis Xavier. He attributed his recovery from ill health to the Saint ( Letter to Cardinal E. Pacelli, Osservatore Romano, September 5, 1937), and recorded this formally in his Encyclical Ingravescentibus Malis (26 September 1937)

El Greco and all that

BBC 4 is one of the better parts of the Corporation. It has produced many good programmes. One excellent programme was The Art of Spain: The Dark Heart (2007)

Andrew Graham-Dixon lets us see the country's scorched centre to explore Spanish art of the 16th and 17th centuries (" the Golden Age")

He covers El Greco through to Velasquez and travels from Toledo to Avila to Madrid.

This country in that period produced some of the most beautiful art ever seen.

The website CosmoLearning allows us to see the whole four programmes without interruption.

The end of Programme 1 and Programme 2 cover amongst other things El Greco in Toledo and St Teresa of Avila. in Avila.

Here are the first fifteen minutes of Programme 2 on YouTube. Clips of the other programmes are also on YouTube

The programme is extremely well filmed. Here are some of the more memorable images. Particularly moving is the section on the life of Saint Teresa of Ávila [Saint Teresa of Jesus] (March 28, 1515 – October 4, 1582). The explanation of the Transverberation of the Heart is particularly good and sensitively done. Having seen Bernini`s work The Ecstasy of St Teresa, that work is nothing in comparison to the relic of the Saint`s heart shown below.

The Disrobing of Christ (El Espolio) (1577–1579, oil on canvas, 285 × 173 cm, Sacristy of the Cathedral, Toledo) in situ

The Burial of the Count of Orgaz (1586–1588, oil on canvas, 480 × 360 cm, Santo Tomé, Toledo) in situ

The relic of the heart of Saint Teresa of Jesus in Avila

Stations of the Cross at Westminster

Westminster Cathedral in London has two famous sets of stations of the Cross: one very visible, the other not so

In the interior of the Cathedral proper are the celebrated Stations by the artist Eric Gill

The other set, in the Long Gallery are the Stations by the artist Roy de Maistre (1894 - 1968).

The two sets are quite different.

Eric Gill 1882 - 1940

Station of the Cross #2: Jesus receives his cross

November 1914

Derbyshire limestone

Westminster Cathedral, London

Eric Gill 1882 - 1940

Station of the Cross #13: The body of Jesus is taken from the cross

March 1915

Derbyshire limestone

Westminster Cathedral, London

Gill became a Catholic in 1913. At that time he promoted his faith through his work. They were not intended to be works of art. They were to be aids to meditation.

At the moment the British Museum has a small exhibition on the works of Eric Gill which finishes in August 2011. It is entitled Eric Gill: public and private art

The Museum says:

"The display concentrates attention on Gill’s art and ideas, rather than focusing on the sensational aspects of his private life which have become dominant in recent years."

Included are the drawings for the Stations of the Cross in Westminster Cathedral. Here is the design by Gill made in 1914 for the project. The original small scale drawing of the complete set of Stations, made for submission to the Cathedral Architect, was purchased by the British Museum from an exhibition at the Alpine Club in 1918.

Eric Gill 1882 - 1940

First design for the Stations of the Cross, in Westminster Cathedral; fourteen panels recording Christ's passion, each with caption, beginning with "I JESUS.IS.CONDEMNED.TO.DEATH.", and ending with "XIV JESUS.IS.LAID.IN.THE.TOMB". 1914

Pen and grey ink, touched with watercolour and gold, squared for transfer

275 millimetres x 241 millimetres

The British Museum, London

Here is a proof of an illustration for Station 1:

Eric Gill 1882 - 1940

Proof of illustration of Station I, after the artist's 'Stations of the Cross' in Westminster Cathedral. 1917

Wood-engraving, on tissue paper

57 millimetres x 58 millimetres

The British Museum, London

Here is the Sheet of fourteen images of Christ with titles and text below (woodcut) with designs for the Stations of the Cross in Westminster Cathedral. c.1910-20, again by Eric Gill and in The British Museum:

The Long Gallery connects the Clergy House with the Cathedral. Here are situated the less controversial stations by Roy de Maistre (27 March 1894 – 1 March 1968). De Maistre converted to the Catholic faith in 1951. It was after his conversion that his work included religious art.

Of the commission de Maistre wrote:

"I was left completely free to portray the Stations of the Cross and was certainly not advised on any iconography."

Apart from The Westminster Cathedral website there would not appear to be any online images of this major work. However here is De Maistre`s treatment of The Deposition painted in 1949 and from The British Council collection

Roy De Maistre (1894 − 1968)

The Deposition 1949

Oil on canvas

142 X 112 cm

The British Council, London

A Spiritual Testament

DES HOMMES ET DES DIEUX : BANDE-ANNONCE HD by baryla

Dom Donald has posted on his blog a number of posts about the Martyrs of Tibhirine, the seven monks who were kidnapped in Algeria in March 1996 and whose severed heads were then discovered in May of that year.

The story was of course made into the film Of Gods and Men (clip above)

In his post, Dom Donald quotes in full the Spiritual Testament of Père Christian de Chergé (1937-1996) He was the Superior of the Monks who were killed and was one of those who was seized and murdered.

The Testament was written in two parts: one in December 1993 and the the other in January 1994. Père Christian gave instructions that the Testament was only to be opened and read if he died by violence.

The Testament was opened and read on Pentecost 26 May 1996.

The Testament can be read in French here and in English here

It is a remarkable document. Shocking. Sublime.

Of his death Father Christian wrote:

"j'aimerais que ma communauté, mon Église, ma famille,

se souviennent que ma vie était DONNÉE à Dieu et à ce pays"

"I would like my community, my Church, my family,

to remember that my life was given to God and to this country"

In a message to those involved in the Eucharistic celebration in memory of the seven Trappist monks killed and written from the Gemelli Clinic in Rome, Pope John Paul II referred to this Testament (unfortunately only available in Italian on the Vatican website):

"“Al termine del secondo millennio, la Chiesa è diventata nuovamente Chiesa di martiri” (Giovanni Paolo II, Tertio millennio adveniente, 37). La testimonianza dei Trappisti di Notre-Dame d’Atlas si associa a quella del Vescovo di Oran, Mons. Pierre Lucien Claverie, e di non pochi altri figli e figlie del continente africano che, in questo periodo, hanno dato la vita per il Signore e per i loro fratelli e sorelle, cominciando da quelli che li hanno perseguitati ed uccisi.

La loro testimonianza è la vittoria della Croce, la vittoria dell’amore misericordioso di Dio, che salva il mondo. Il testamento, lasciato da Fratel Christian de Chergé, ha offerto a tutti la chiave di lettura della tragica vicenda sua e dei Confratelli, di cui il senso ultimo è il dono della vita in Cristo: “La mia vita - ha scritto - era donata a Dio e a questo Paese”."

Pope John Paul II had a special interest in the seven Trappists. He had been made aware when they had been kidnapped. He publicly pleaded that their lives should be spared. On 14th April 1996 on an Apostolic Journey to Tunisia when he met all the Bishops of North Africa including Algeria in the Cathedral of Tunis he said (sadly, only available in Italian and in French on the Vatican website):

"Alors que je me trouve au Maghreb, ma pensée se tourne vers les sept Frères Trappistes du monastère de Notre-Dame de l'Atlas en Algérie, eux qui généreusement veulent être les témoins de l'Absolu de Dieu au milieu de leurs frères. Que par l'intercession de la Vierge Marie, le Christ ressuscité leur permette de voir enfin arriver le terme de leur épreuve par leur libération! Que Dieu soutienne l'espérance de l'Église dans ce pays et conduise le peuple algérien sur le chemin de la paix et de la réconciliation!"

In a later speech to the Bishops he reviewed the situation for Christians in North Africa and about the situation in Algeria he said:

"Ma pensée se tourne naturellement vers vous, chers Frères dans l'Épiscopat, Pasteurs de l'Église qui est en Algérie. Avec vous, permettez-moi aussi de mentionner le vénéré Cardinal Duval, une grande figure de l'Église et de votre pays.

À chacun de vous et à chacun des membres de vos communautés, je redis mon affectueuse proximité en ces moments si difficiles pour l'Église et pour le peuple algérien dont vous vous êtes faits proches, avec une grande générosité, parfois jusqu'au sacrifice de la vie. Je prie avec vous le Seigneur pour que, sur la terre d'Algérie, vienne rapidement le temps de la réconciliation et de la paix, dans le juste respect des différences. ...

Dans votre témoignage, la relation avec les croyants de l'Islam a une place particulière. Vous faites souvent l'expérience de la vulnérabilité du petit troupeau et vous endurez parfois des épreuves qui peuvent conduire jusqu'à l'héroïsme. Mais vous faites aussi l'expérience de la gratuité du don de Dieu, qu'à votre tour vous voulez vivre avec tous.

Ce dont vous témoignez ainsi dans la foi, vous fortifiera pour une relation fraternelle avec les Musulmans, toujours plus profonde, plus spirituelle, vous conduisant à découvrir avec eux les bienfaits de Dieu, à les accueillir et à les partager.

Là où sévit la violence et la discorde, soyez des messagers de la paix qui vient de Dieu et de la réconciliation, voie qui conduit vers Lui. Nul ne peut tuer au nom de Dieu, nul ne peut accepter de donner la mort à son frère. Avec les hommes et les femmes de bonne volonté, construisez les liens de la fraternité qui annoncent le Royaume de Dieu qui vient.

Rendez visible votre conviction que Dieu est le Dieu de la vie, qu'Il recherche la vie de l'homme et non sa mort. Malgré les difficultés et les incompréhensions, allez à la rencontre de vos frères et de vos sœurs, sans distinction d'origine ni de religion. C'est le Seigneur qui vous envoie vers eux.

«Sachant que pour beaucoup de missionnaires et de communautés chrétiennes la voie difficile et souvent incomprise du dialogue constitue l'unique manière de rendre un témoignage sincère au Christ et un service généreux à l'homme, je désire les encourager à persévérer avec foi et amour, là même où leurs efforts ne rencontrent ni attention ni réponse Le dialogue est un chemin vers le Royaume et il donnera sûrement ses fruits, même si les temps et les moments sont réservés au Père »"

The "petit troupeau" in Algeria was indeed then vulnerable and still is today. The lessons which Pope John Paul II tried to instill in his Apostolic Journey would seem on the face of it to have been defeated by the murders of the seven Trappist monks. However the Spiritual Testament of Father Christian de Chergé showed that far from a defeat, the fate of the seven was a victory of the Cross and Divine Love, a gift of Life in Christ.

It might be useful to remember that as the details of the latest atrocity from Afghanistan come in.

The grave of Père Christian de Chergé (1937-1996)

Source: Wikipedia

The Cemetery at Tibhirine, Algeria

Source: Wikipedia

Saint Alphonsus Maria de`Liguori

The author of the favourite traditional Italian Christmas Carol, Tu Scendi dalle Stelle ("You Come Down From The Stars") was the subject of the latest talk by Pope Benedict XVI on the Doctors of the Church

Here is the late Luciano Pavarotti (with choir) singing the carol in his inimitable way:

Saint Alphonsus Maria de`Liguori (1696 - 1787) was founder of a major religious order, the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, Bishop and great moral theologian.

As a moral theologian, his word was law in the Confessional for very many years. It was there that his effect on priests and the laity was at its greatest. His view was the antidote to Jansenism. Pope Benedict XVI said:

"[I]n his principal work, titled "Moral Theology," St. Alphonsus proposes a balanced and convincing synthesis between the demands of God's law, sculpted in our hearts, revealed fully by Christ and interpreted authoritatively by the Church, and the dynamics of man's conscience and his liberty, which precisely by adherence to truth and goodness allow for the maturation and fulfillment of the person.

To pastors of souls and to confessors, Alphonsus recommended faithfulness to Catholic moral doctrine, accompanied by a comprehensive and gentle attitude so that penitents could feel accompanied, supported and encouraged in their journey of faith and Christian life.

St. Alphonsus never tired of repeating that priests are a visible sign of the infinite mercy of God, who forgives and illumines the mind and heart of the sinner so that he will convert and change his life. In our time, in which there are clear signs of the loss of the moral conscience and -- it must be acknowledged -- of a certain lack of appreciation of the sacrament of confession, the teaching of St. Alphonsus is again of great timeliness."

He was canonised by Pope Gregory XVI and declared a Doctor of the Church by Blessed Pope Pius IX.

In April of the Holy Year of 1950, Pope PIus XII declared him to be the Patron of Confessors and Moralists

Like the other Doctors of the Church mentioned in the cycle of talks by Pope Benedict, the importance of prayer was at the centre of his teaching

Pope Benedict XVI said:

"He insisted a lot on the need for prayer, which enables one to open to Divine Grace to carry out daily the will of God and to obtain one's sanctification. In regard to prayer, he wrote:

"God does not deny to anyone the grace of prayer, with which one obtains the help to overcome every concupiscence and every temptation. And I say, and repeat and will always repeat, for my entire life, that the whole of our salvation rests on prayer."

From which stems his famous axiom:

"He who prays is saved" (From the great means of prayer and related booklets. Opere ascetiche II, Rome 1962, p. 171).

There comes to mind, in this connection, the exhortation of my predecessor, the Venerable Servant of God John Paul II: "Christian communities must become genuine 'schools' of prayer. Therefore, education in prayer should become in some way a key-point of all pastoral planning" (Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte, 33, 34).

Outstanding among the forms of prayer fervently recommended by St. Alphonsus is the visit to the Most Blessed Sacrament or, as we would say today, adoration -- brief or prolonged, personal or in community -- of the Eucharist.

"Certainly," wrote Alphonsus, "among all the devotions this one of adoration of the sacramental Jesus is the first after the sacraments, the dearest to God and the most useful to us. O, what a beautiful delight to be before an altar with faith and to present to him our needs, as a friend does to another friend with whom one has full confidence!" (Visits to the Most Blessed Sacrament and to Mary Most Holy for each day of the month. Introduction)."

Anonymous

Bust of St Alphonsus Liguori c.1816

102 x 70 x 44cm

Parish church of The Assumption of the Most Holy Virgin, La Souterraine

Blessed Pope John Paul II devoted a good deal of his teaching on the importance of Saint Alphonsus Maria de`Liguori and his works.

It is however unfortunate that the Vatican website does not translate these from Italian into English.

One of John Paul II`s major works on St Alphonsus LIguori is his Apostolic Letter "Spiritus Domini" (1st August 1987) issued to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the Death of the great Doctor. Unfortunately as mentioned it is only on the Vatican website in the Italian language notwithstanding that John Paul II mentioned the Apostolic Letter in a number of later works.

In his Apostolic Letter, John Paul II recorded his debt to the Doctor and said that it had influenced a number of his Encyclicals such as Dives in Misericordia, Redemptor Hominis and Redemptoris Mariae.

In November 1990, John Paul II made a Pastoral Visit to Salerno in Campania. A number of sites he visited had a connexion to St. Alphonsus including the Basilica of Sant`Alfonso at Pagani (Salerno) where he venerated the relics of the Saint. Unfortunately once again his lengthy homily is only in Italian.

The late Pope reflected on the title of Saint Alphonsus as Patron of Confessors. The good Confessor is like a father, a doctor, a healer, a theologian, and a judge.

He also wrote a letter on the 300th Anniversary of the Saint`s birth- again only in Italian and talked of the Saint having created "a new style of evangelisation", a point also brought out in the most recent talk by Pope Benedict XVI

"These religious, guided by Alphonsus, were genuine itinerant missionaries who reached the most remote villages, exhorting to conversion and to perseverance in the Christian life, above all through prayer. Still today, the Redemptorists spread over so many countries of the world with new forms of apostolate, continue this mission of evangelization. ...

Alphonsus' spirituality is in fact eminently Christological, centered on Christ and his Gospel. Meditation on the mystery of the Incarnation and the passion of the Lord were often the object of his preaching: In these events, in fact, redemption is offered "copiously" to all men.

And precisely because it is Christological, Alphonsus' piety is also exquisitely Marian. Most devoted to Mary, he illustrated her role in the history of salvation: partner of the Redemption and Mediatrix of grace, Mother, Advocate and Queen.

Moreover, St. Alphonsus affirmed that devotion to Mary will be of great comfort at the moment of our death. He was convinced that meditation on our eternal destiny, on our call to participate for ever in God's blessedness, as well as on the tragic possibility of damnation, contributes to live with serenity and commitment, and to face the reality of death always preserving full trust in God's goodness.

St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori is an example of a zealous pastor who won souls preaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments, combined with a way of acting marked by gentle and meek goodness, which was born from his intense relationship with God, who is infinite Goodness. He had a realistically optimistic vision of the resources of goods that the Lord gives to every man and gave importance to the affections and sentiments of the heart, in addition to the mind, to be able to love God and one's neighbour."

Another important talk by Pope John Paul II on Saint Alphonsus was on 3rd October 2003 when addressing the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer

He said:

"At the school of your Founder, be teachers of evangelical life, remind all the baptized of their call to holiness, the ""high standard' of ordinary Christian living" (Novo Millennio Ineunte, n. 31), adopting the popular style which distinguishes your pastoral methodologies.

St Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori devoted his energies to educating Christian men and women in this awareness. "It is a great error", he wrote, "when some say that God does not want everyone to be saints. Rather, St Paul says: "This is the will of God, your sanctification' (I Thes 4: 3).

God wants everyone to be holy, each one according to his state of life" (cf. Pratica di Amar Gesù Cristo in Opere Ascetiche [The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ, in Ascetic Works], vol. 1, Rome, 1933, 79).

The search for holiness should be the foundation of every pastoral programme and your communities seen as an "oasis" of mercy and of welcome, schools of intense prayer that do not, however, distract us from our commitment to history (cf. Novo Millennio Ineunte, n. 33).

The paths to holiness are personal and require a true and proper training in holiness, easily adaptable to each person's needs (cf. ibid., n. 31). In today's complex society, the importance of such apostolic service becomes all the more urgent, beginning with the young people who are often faced with conflicting choices in life.

Share your charism with the laity, so that they too are able to "give their life for abundant redemption". In this way, your missionary service becomes a "service to culture, politics, the economy and the family" (ibid., n. 51)."

Sant`Alfonso Maria de`Liguori at aged 90 years

For more about the great Doctor:

The Paradise of God in the Heart of Love

The Museum of Sant`Alfonso Maria de`Liguori. (Pagani) It is attached to the Basilica in Pagani near Salerno. It has reconstructed its website and is worth spending at least 30 minutes. It is quite fascinatiing

The Via Crucis

Lucio Fontana 1899 - 1968

Two of fourteen ceramic tiles in the series of Via Crucis, 1953/1954,

41,5 cm x 21 cm circa

Private collection

The Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy (December 2001) Chapter 4, paragraphs 131 - 135 explains the devotion of the Via Crucis (or Stations of the Cross)

As regards the history of the devotion the Directory states:

"132. In its present form the Via Crucis, widely promoted by Saint Leonardo da Porto Maurizio (+ 1751)was approved by the Apostolic See and indulgenced, consists of fourteen stations since the middle of the seventeenth century."

St Leonardo da Porto Maurizio (1676-1751) was a formidable Franciscan saint from Liguria in Italy. A reformer, a great preacher, an ascetic, a great writer.

In 1750, under the auspices of Pope Benedict XIV he initiated the rite of the Via Crucis at the Colosseum in Rome. It was this same rite which was revived in 1964 by Pope Paul VI and which continues to the present day.

Saint Leonardo instituted 571 such rites the length and breadth of Italy and also in Corsica.

One of his monasteries was situated beside the Church of Saint Bonaventura on the Palatine in Rome. He died in the Convent and is buried inside the Church.. Outside the Church and Convent is a beautiful set of 14 Stations of the Cross.

The Via Crucis outside the Church of San Bonaventura al Palatino, Rome

Source: Wikipedia

Nowadays because of its location and views and its sumptuous interior, the Church is very popular for Roman weddings. There is some irony that before and after the wedding, both the groom and the bride have to walk the Via Crucis.

Frederick William Faber in the Nineteenth century wrote a small biography of the Saint. It ccan be consulted and downloaded on Google Books. The biography is in his book entitles Saints and Sinners of God (Volume 4)and was written before the saint`s canonisation by Blessed Pope Pius IX.

Below is a print from 1863 of the chapel made from the cell of the Saint in the Convent in Rome

Théodore Müller

The Cells of St Leonardo of Porto Maurizio, The Convent of San Bonaventura, Rome

From Les sanctuaires de Rome, Paris 1863

Catholics in Orkney

The Orkney Islands lie off the north coast of Scotland. They are to say the least rather remote. Because they are remote, there are many well preserved historic sites, some of the best in Western Europe.

In the Second World War the Isalnds were used as a place of confinement for Italian prisoners of war.

On the bare desolate rainy island, the prisoners built a chapel of great beauty - now simply known as The Italian Chapel.

The chaplain was Father Giacombazzi and one of the main artists was Domenico Chiocchetti (who died in May 1999)

The chapel has been preserved and is one of the main tourist attractions

The Italian Chapel, Exterior

The Italian Chapel, Interior

It has become an icon

Before the chapel was built the prisoners were extremely depressed because of their situation and morale was extremely low. The construction of the chapel raised morale considerably.

The chapel also had other effects.

One of the residents in Orkney at the time was the poet and novelist George Mackay Brown (1921-1996).

He wrote in 1945:

"'Where the English captive would build a theatre or a canteen to remind him of home, the Italian, without embarrassment, with careful devout hands, erects a chapel... The Italians, who fought weakly and without hope on the battlefield, because they lacked faith in the ridiculous strutting little Duce, have wrought strongly here.' (Maggie Fergusson, George Mackay Brown: The Life, John Murray, 2006, p. 84)

That chapel and reading Newman's Apologia shifted him decisively towards Catholicism. He converted to Catholicism in 1961 He practised his faith quietly.

Some have seen him as Britain`s greatest modern poet.

Some of his works and readings can be accessed at The Poetry Archive

You may also wish to see the excellent website on George Mackay Brown which contains many extracts from his works and essays about him and his work

The poet Seamus Heaney once described Brown`s poetic vision thus:

"What George Mackay Brown saw was a drinking deer

That glittered by the water. The human soul

In mosaic. Wet celandine and ivy.

Allegory hard as a figured shield

Smithied in Orkney for Christ's sake and Crusades,

Polished until its undersurface surfaced

Like peat smoke mulling through Byzantium"

(Seamus Heaney: Electric Light, March 2001)

Here is a short extract from Brown`s "An Orkney Tapestry: Martyr" (1969):

"Into the hands of every unborn soul is put a lump of the original clay, for him to mould vessels – a bowl and a lamp – the one to sustain him, the other to lighten him through the twilight between two darknesses, birth and death. He refreshes himself, this Everyman, with mortal bread; he holds his lamp over rut and furrow and snow and stone, an uncertain flame. Now and then the honey of a hidden significance is infused into his being. By the vessels that he has moulded to his wants he calls this mystery of longing The–Immortal–Bread, The–Unquenchable–Light . . . At death he leaves behind the worn lamp and bowl, and (a peregrine spirit) seeks the table of the great Harvester, where all is radiance and laughter and feasting.

And some there are – God take pity on every soul born – that love their lamps and their bowls more than the source from which clay, corn and oil issue for ever; and, their vessels failing at last by reason of age or chance, they set out dark into the last Darkness, a drift of deathless waiting hungers . . ."

Saint Laurence of Brindisi, Doctor Apostolicus (1559 - 1638)

Peter Reinicke (1715-1768)

Bust of Saint Laurence of Brindisi

White Meissen Porcelain

Museo Francescano dei Frati Minori Cappuccini, Rome

Saint Laurence of Brindisi with book

Oil on canvas

Museo Francescano dei Frati Minori Cappuccini, Rome

Saint Laurence of Brindisi in meditation

Oil on canvas

Museo Francescano dei Frati Minori Cappuccini, Rome

On 19 March 1959 Blessed Pope John XXIII declared St Laurence of Brindisi (Doctor Apostolicus)(1559 - 1638) a Doctor of the Universal Church (Apostolic Letter Celsitudo ex humiltate)

It was a cause of great celebration naturally in Brindisi, the city port in the south of Italy. See below.

Santa Maria degli Angeli, Brindisi 1959

Celebration of the Proclamation of St Laurence of Briindisi as a Doctor of the Universal Church

He was one of the great saints of the Counter-Reformation. He had quite an exciting life being involved in diplomacy and war. There is an excellent biography of his life by Brian Kelly in Catholicism.org

Brian Kelly wrote that "He is perhaps the least known of the thirty-three doctors of the Church. That should not be so."

To help spread the word about Saint Laurence the Pope in his last Wednesday audience dedicated his catechesis to the life and works of St Laurence

The Pope emphasised a number of points about Saint Laurence.

First, his great knowledge of Scripture and howit was fundmental in his theological works:

"A theologian versed in sacred Scripture and the fathers of the Church, he was also able to illustrate in an exemplary way the Catholic doctrine to Christians who, above all in Germany, had followed the Reformation.

With his clear and quiet exposition he showed the biblical and patristic foundation of all the articles of the faith called into question by Martin Luther. Among these, the primacy of St. Peter and his Successors, the divine origin of the episcopate, justification as man's interior transformation, the need of good works for salvation.

The success that Lawrence enjoyed helps us to understand that also today, in carrying forward ecumenical dialogue with so much hope, the confrontation with sacred Scripture, read in the Tradition of the Church, is an irreplaceable element of fundamental importance, as I wished to recall in the apostolic exhortation "Verbum Domini" (No. 46)...

I would like to complete this brief presentation of the life and doctrine of St. Lawrence of Brindisi underscoring that all his activity was inspired in his great love for sacred Scripture, which he knew in great part by heart, and by the conviction that the listening and acceptance of the Word of God produces an interior transformation that leads us to holiness.

"The Word of the Lord," he affirmed, "is light for the intellect and fire for the will, so that man can know and love God. For the interior man, who through grace lives from the Spirit of God, it is bread and water, but bread that is sweeter than honey and water that is better than wine and milk. ... It is a hammer against a hard heart obstinate in vices. It is a sword against the flesh, the world and the devil, to destroy every sin." "

Second, his great preaching ability and his ability to evangelise peoples of all backgrounds and abilities:

"Even the simplest among the faithful, those not gifted with great culture, were benefited by the convincing word of Lawrence, who addressed humble people to call them all back to a coherence of their lives with the faith they professed.

This was a great merit of the Capuchins and of other religious orders that in the 16th and 17th centuries contributed to the renewal of Christian life, penetrating society profoundly with their testimony of life and their teaching.

Also today the new evangelization needs well-prepared, zealous and courageous apostles, so that the light and beauty of the Gospel will prevail over the cultural orientations of ethical relativism and religious indifference, and transform various ways of thinking and of acting into a genuine Christian humanism.

It is amazing that St. Lawrence of Brindisi was able to carry out uninterruptedly his activity as an esteemed and tireless preacher in many cities of Italy and in several countries, despite carrying out other onerous tasks of great responsibility."

Third, at the foundation of his life, his works and preaching was his cultivation of his spiritual life through prayer, the Mass and his meditation on the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ:

"In the school of the saints, every presbyter -- as was often stressed during the recent Year for Priests -- can avoid the danger of activism, that is, of acting while forgetting the profound motivations of the ministry, only if he takes care of his interior life.

Speaking to priests and seminarians in the cathedral of Brindisi, the city of St. Lawrence's birth, I recalled that "the time he spends in prayer is the most important time in a priest's life, in which divine grace acts with greater effectiveness, making his ministry fruitful.

The first service to render to the community is prayer. And therefore, time for prayer must be given a true priority in our life. If we are not interiorly in communion with God we cannot even give anything to others. Therefore, God is the first priority. We must always reserve the time necessary to be in communion of prayer with our Lord."

With the unmistakable ardour of his style, Lawrence moreover exhorted everyone, not just priests, to cultivate the life of prayer because through it we speak to God and God speaks to us. "O, if we only considered this reality!" he exclaimed.

"Namely that God is really present to us when we speak to him by praying; that he really listens to our prayer, even if we only pray with the heart and mind. And that not only is he present and listens to us, but that he can and desires to willingly comply, and with the greatest pleasure, to our requests." "

Fourth was his great commitment to peace found on his faith:

"Another trait that characterizes the work of this son of St. Francis was his work for peace. Both Supreme Pontiffs and Catholic princes repeatedly entrusted to him important diplomatic missions to settle controversies and foster concord between the European states, threatened at the time by the Ottoman Empire.

The moral authority that he enjoyed made him a sought after and listened to counselor. Today, as in the times of St. Lawrence, the world is in such great need of peace, in need of peaceful and pacifying men and women.

All those who believe in God must always be sources and agents of peace. It was precisely during one of these diplomatic missions that Lawrence concluded his earthly life in 1619 in Lisbon, where he had gone to the king of Spain, Philip II, to plead the cause of the Neapolitan subjects oppressed by the local authorities."

Fifth, he had a great devotion to the Virgin Mary:

"Moreover, being a Mariologist of great value, and author of a collection of sermons on Our Lady entitled "Mariale," he made evident the unique role of the Virgin Mary. He affirmed with clarity the Immaculate Conception and her cooperation in the work of redemption carried out by Christ."

Sixth, his theology and preaching was centred on the Mystery of the Incarnation:

"[H]e was the author of numerous works of biblical exegesis, theology and writings designed for preaching. In these he gives an organic presentation of the history of salvation, centered on the mystery of the Incarnation, the greatest manifestation of divine love for men."

Seventh, Saint Laurence emphasised the importance of the Holy Spirit on religious life:

"With fine theological sensitivity, Lawrence of Brindisi also highlighted the Holy Spirit's action in the life of the believer. He reminds us that with His gifts the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity illumines and aids our commitment to joyfully live the message of the Gospel. "The Holy Spirit," wrote St. Lawrence, "makes gentle the yoke of the divine law and its weight light, so that we observe the Commandments of God with great facility, even with pleasure."

It is clear that Pope Benedict thinks that Saint Laurence is a figure of great relevance and importance in today`s world and we have much to learn in re-discovering him and his works.

The Faithful Art of Sir Stanley Spencer

The Rt Revd Lord Harries was the Anglican Bishop of Oxford from 1987 to 2006. He was previously the Dean of King's College London

Amongst his other posts he is Gresham Professor of Divinity at Gresham College, London

He recently delivered a lecture on the art of Sir Stanley Spencer: "Christian Themes in Art: Understanding faith through the eyes of Stanley Spencer"

Here are some of the many paintings of Spencer which he discusses.

Sir Stanley Spencer 1891-1959

Christ Carrying the Cross 1920

Oil on canvas

support: 1530 x 1429 mm frame: 1777 x 1670 x 68 mm

The Tate, London

Sir Stanley Spencer (1891 − 1959)

Port Glasgow Cemetery 1947

Oil on canvas

50.8 x 76.2 cm

The British Council

The lecture is available as a video, podcast and written transcript. There is also a powerpoint presentation with all the paintings discussed.

Here is an extract from the lecture by Lord Herries:

"For Stanley Spencer this feeling was above all that of love about which he once said

Love is the essential power in the creation of art and love is not a talent. Love reveals and more accurately describes the nature and meaning of things than any mere lecture on technique can do. And it establishes once and for all time the final and perfect identity of every created thing.

This love not only establishes the identity of every created thing but raises that thing into a harmonious relationship with all other things and people.

If we believe with Thomas Aquinas that grace does not destroy but fulfil nature then in Stanley Spencer’s paintings we see grace at work on our disfigured world, transforming human relationships into a holy communion of the divine and the human, the divine expressed in and through the human, the spiritual in and through the physical, the holy in and through the mundane, the beautiful in and through what sometimes strikes us in his pictures as the ungainly or ugly.

For all was embraced in his vision and raised into a heaven of here and now."

See also:

Resurrection

Christ in Cookham

Resurrection and Reunion

Sandham Memorial Chapel

Belief

Elizabeth and Zacharias

Arriving in Heaven

A Vision of Heaven

The Centurion`s Servant

The Blessed Virgin Mary: A Meditation on The Visitation

Master of the Spes Nostra (Active in Delft 1490 - 1510)

Four Augustinian Canon Regulars Meditating Beside an Open Grave c. 1495 - 1510

Oil on panel

88 x 104.5 cm

The Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Immediately after the Annunciation, St Luke narrates that Mary went to see her cousin Elizabeth ("The Visitation") who was soon to be the mother of St John the Baptist

This picture is, it has to be said, a rather strange depiction of The Visitation

In the foreground, four Canon Regulars are kneeling beside an open grave in which lies a rotting corpse. On the left stands St Jerome. On the right, St Augustine.

The inscriptions in the foreground are blunt and to the point.

On the lid of the tomb are the words: "Requiescant in pace" ("May they rest in peace")

Beside the grave in gilded Gothic lettering are the words:

"Si quis eris qui transieris hoc repice plora

Sum quod eris es ipse fui pro me precor ora"

"Whomsoever passes by here, let him gaze and mourn

I am what you will be, what you are I once was, I beg you to pray for me."

The painting was a Memorial for four Rectors at the Monastery at Marienpoel, near Leiden. It hung over their graves in the chapel. The monastery was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, St Jerome and St Augustine.

Their names were possibly Johannes Crispiani (+1496), Gijsbert N. (+1496), Sebastiaan Fransz (+1507) and Gerard Dirlesz (+1504)

Pray for them.

Behind the horrific and very disturbing image in the foreground, in the centre of the painting are images of Consolation and Hope. They centre on the Virgin Mary and the Incarnation.

The central image is of the Visitation. Mary is sitting beside the grave in a walled garden ("hortus conclusus"). A pregnant St Elizabeth places her hand on Mary`s belly indicating that she is pregnant.

On the arrival of Mary to the house of St Elizabeth it will be recalled that John the Baptist whilst still in his mother`s womb leapt for joy. He is thus cleansed from Original Sin and is filled with Grace.

The Visitation is the first occasion that Mary exercises her role as Mediatrix between God and May. We also remember the great prayer of Mary uttered at this time: the Magnificat.

Luke 1: 34 - 57 describes the scene and what happens:

"34 But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?"

35 And the angel said to her in reply, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

36 And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;

37 for nothing will be impossible for God."

38 Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

39 During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah,

40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

41 When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit,

42 cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

43 And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

44 For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.

45 Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."

46 And Mary said: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;

47 my spirit rejoices in God my savior.

48 For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.

49 The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

50 His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him.

51 He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.

52 He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly.

53 The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty.

54 He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy,

55 according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

56 Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

57 When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son."

Behind the central image of The Visitation are images of the early life of Mary and of Christ: the Annunciation; Mary playing with Jesus in the garden; and even Jesus riding a hobbyhorse (a common image in medieval art)

In the Hortus conclusus are Angels and birds. Note the peacocks. Peacocks are the ancient Christian symbol of Eternal Life. Further, the multitude of eyes on the peacock`s tail symbolise the all seeing eyes of God.

A Utrecht University website (Memorietafels) has much valuable information about the Monastery of Marienpoel and this picture in particular. Well worth visiting.