The Second Apostle of Germany

There has been concern in many circles about what has been happening and what is being taught in some Faculties of Theology for some time. For various reasons.

On 14 October 2008 in a homily to the Synod of Bishops assembled in Rome to discuss Scripture, the Pope said this about the interpretation of Scripture and singled out "mainstream" German opinion:

"According to this hermeneutics, when there seems to be a divine element, the source of that impression must be explained, thus reducing everything to the human element. As a result, it is the grounds for interpretations that deny the historicity of divine elements.

Today the exegetical "mainstream" in Germany, for example, denies that the Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist and says that Jesus' corpse remained in the tomb. The Resurrection in this view would not have been a historical event but a theological view.

This happens because the hermeneutics of faith is missing: profane philosophical hermeneutics is affirmed instead, which deny the possibility of the entrance and presence of the Divine in history. The result of the absence of the second methodological level is what has created a profound fissure between scientific exegesis and Lectio divina.

From precisely this point there sometimes also arises a sort of perplexity in regard to the preparation of homilies. When exegesis is not theological, Scripture cannot be the soul of theology, and vice versa; when theology is not essentially Scriptural interpretation within the Church, then this theology no longer has a foundation."

At the same Synod, Cardinal Claudio Hummes illustrated the problem by an anecdote:

"Once, years ago, a colleague of mine, a doctor of theology and a professor, was shaken by what he had read about the Resurrection of Christ in some theological and exegetic books.

They questioned this fundamental dogma of our faith in many aspects and emptied it, for the most part, of its true content, in a worrying way. He told me about his loss. It was the day before Easter. He asked me: “Tomorrow is Easter. What will I say to the people about Resurrection?”

I immediately answered him: “You will have to proclaim that Jesus Christ is risen and lives! Period.” And his response: “This is true! That is it!” And he left, happy once again.

This episode makes one think about the urgent need to give our presbyters and deacons good theology and a true exegetical method. As to the exegetical method, Pope Benedict XVI indicates the direction to follow in the Preface of his book “Jesus of Nazareth""

The Archbishop of Ottawa, Terrence Thomas Prendergast SJ at the Synod said:

"The topic is Instrumentum Laboris #17 concerning the difficulty many Catholics have with the Old Testament.

I propose that the Synod explore the loss of confidence among Catholics that Scripture truly communicates God's revelation; reflect on how this may have been brought about by the influence of modern biblical scholarship on preaching; and renew the Church's understanding of the spiritual sense of Scripture as a remedy."

In Theologians and Saints, the Swiss theologian the late Hans Urs von Balthasar (who was close to the Holy Father and nominated to be a cardinal before his death by Blessed Pope John Paul II) wrote:

"In the whole history of Catholic theology there is hardly anything that is less noticed, yet more deserving of notice, than the fact that, since the great period of Scholasticism, there have been few theologians who were saints"

He went on to say:

"If we consider the history of theology up to the time of the great Scholastics, we are struck by the fact that the great saints, those who not only achieved an exemplary purity of life, but who also had received from God a definite mission in the Church, were, mostly, great theologians. They were "pillars of the Church", by vocation channels of her life: their own lives reproduced the fullness of the Church's teaching, and their teaching the fullness of the Church's life.

This is the reason for their enduring influence: the faithful saw in their lives an immediate expression of their teaching and a testimony to its value, and so were made fully confident in the rightness of teaching and acting.

It also gave the teachers themselves the full assurance that they were not deviating from the canon of revealed truth; for the complete concept of truth, which the gospel offers us, consists precisely in this living exposition of theory in practice and of knowledge carried into action"

This week saw the publication of a petition by German speaking professors from various Catholic Faculties of Theology. Perhaps it was just a coincidence that this week`s Wednesday catechesis by the Pope was on the life and works of the great German Jesuit saint, theologian and Doctor of the Church, Saint Petrus Canisius (8 May 1521 – 21 December 1597), the Second Apostle of Germany.

St Petrus Canisius has been the subject of a Papal works before: Leo XIII wrote Militantis Ecclesiae (1st August 1897) and on 19 September 1997, Blessed Pope John Paul II wrote to the German Bishops about the Saint

St Peter Canisus, founder of the Innsbruck Jesuit College as depicted in The Church of the Most Holy Trinity (University Church), Innsbruck

Source

Anonymous

Portrait of St Petrus Canisius

17th century

Miniature: Oil on copper

13.6 x 10.4cm

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The Pope said:

"He [St Petrus Canisius] is really the catechist of the centuries; he formed people's faith for centuries.

This is a characteristic of St. Peter Canisius: to be able to harmoniously combine fidelity to dogmatic principles with respect due to every person.

St. Canisius differentiated a knowing, culpable apostasy from a non-culpable loss of faith, in the circumstances. And he declared, before Rome, that the greater part of Germans who went over to Protestantism were without fault.

At a historical moment of strong confessional oppositions, he avoided -- this is something extraordinary -- the harshness and rhetoric of anger of the time in discussions among Christians, something rare as I said -- and he looked only to the presentation of the spiritual roots and to the revitalization of the faith in the Church.

His vast and penetrating knowledge of sacred Scripture and of the fathers of the Church served this cause: the same knowledge that supported his personal relationship with God and the austere spirituality that he derived from modern devotion and Rhenish mysticism.

Characteristic of St. Canisius' spirituality was a profound personal friendship with Jesus.

For example, on Sept. 4, 1549, he wrote in his diary, speaking with the Lord:

"In the end, as if you opened to me the heart of the Most Sacred Body, which it seemed to me I saw before me, you commanded me to drink from that source, inviting me, so to speak, to attain the waters of my salvation from your founts, O my Saviour."

And then he saw that the Saviour gave him a garment with three parts that were called peace, love and perseverance. And with this garment made up of peace, love and perseverance, Canisius carried out his work of renewal of Catholicism.

His friendship with Jesus -- which is the centre of his personality -- nourished by love of the Bible, by love of the Sacrament, by love of the Fathers, this friendship was clearly united to the awareness of being a continuer of the mission of the Apostles in the Church. And this reminds us that every genuine evangelizer is always a united instrument with Jesus and the Church and, because of this, fruitful.

St. Peter Canisius was formed in his friendship with Jesus in the spiritual environment of the Carthusian monastery of Cologne, in which he was in close contact with two Carthusian mystics: Johann Lansperger, latinised into Lanspergius, and Nicholas van Hesche, latinised into Eschius. Subsequently he deepened the experience of that friendship, familiaritas stupenda nimis, with the contemplation of the mysteries of Jesus' life, which form a large part of St. Ignatius' spiritual exercises. His intense devotion to the Lord's Heart, which culminated in consecration to the apostolic ministry in the Vatican Basilica, has its foundation here.

Rooted in the Christocentric spirituality of St. Peter Canisius is a profound conviction:

There is no soul solicitous of its own perfection that does not practice mental prayer every day, an ordinary means that permits the disciple of Jesus to live in intimacy with the divine Master.

Because of this, in the writings destined to the spiritual education of the people, our saint insists on the importance of the liturgy with his comments on the Gospels, on feasts, on the rite of the holy Mass and on the sacraments but, at the same time, he is careful to show to the faithful the need and the beauty of personal daily prayer, which should support and permeate participation in the public worship of the Church.

This is an exhortation and a method which preserves their value intact, especially after they were proposed again authoritatively by the Second Vatican Council in the Constitution "Sacrosanctum Concilium": Christian life does not grow if it is not nourished by participation in the liturgy, particularly in Sunday's holy Mass, and by personal daily prayer, by personal contact with God.

Amid the thousands of activities and the many distractions that surround us, it is necessary to find moments of recollection before the Lord every day to listen to him and to speak with him.

At the same time, the example that St. Peter Canisius has left us, not only in his works, but above all with his life is always timely and of permanent value.

He teaches clearly that the apostolic ministry is effective and produces fruits of salvation in hearts only if the preacher is a personal witness of Jesus and is able to be an instrument at his disposal, united closely to him by faith in his Gospel and in his Church, by a morally coherent life and incessant prayer as love.

And this is true for every Christian who wishes to live his adherence to Christ with commitment and fidelity. "

Father Abraham

Pietro Annigoni 1910 - 1988

Abramo / Abraham

c.1985

Mixed media on board

40 x 29 cm

Private collection

Annigoni based his style on Leonardo da Vinci and Titian, working in tempera and oil to simulate old-master oils, or pen-and-ink to imitate silverpoint.

Berenson once described Annigoni as the greatest painter of the 20th century and stood comparison with the great artists of old.

Especially in the latter years of his life, he painted many religious works. In this case the subject is the Patriarch Abraham

Abraham was once a common subject of religious painting. Now it does not seem as popular as it once was. Perhaps people`s knowledge of The Old Testament was greater than it is now. Here is an image from The National Gallery in London of Abraham leaving Ur. It was painted in the 16th Century

Workshop or imitator of Jacopo Bassano

The Departure of Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees to go to Canaan c.1579 -90

Oil on canvas

82.6 x 116.4 cm

The National Gallery, London

On 20 February 2000, Blessed Pope John Paul II delivered a lengthy homily commemorating Abraham. Here is a short passage from his homily:

"Before Moses heard Yahweh's well-known words on Mount Sinai: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Ex 20: 2), the Patriarch Abraham had already heard these other words: "I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans".

Therefore, our thoughts must turn to that important place in the history of God's People, to seek there the origins of God's covenant with man. This is why, during this year of the Great Jubilee, as our hearts return to the beginnings of God's covenant with humanity, we turn our gaze to Abraham, to the place where he heard God's call and responded to it with the obedience of faith.

Together with us, Jews and Muslims also look to the person of Abraham as a model of unconditional submission to the will of God (cf. Nostra aetate, n. 3).

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews writes:

"By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was to go" (Heb 11: 8).

Behold: Abraham, whom the Apostle calls "our father in faith" (cf. Rom 4: 11-16), believed in God, trusted in the One who called him. He believed in his promise. God said to Abraham:

"Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.... by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves" (Gn 12: 1-3).

Are we talking about the route taken by one of the many migrations typical of an era when sheep-rearing was a basic form of economic life? Probably.

Surely though, it was not only this. In Abraham's life, which marks the beginning of salvation history, we can already perceive another meaning of the call and the promise. The land to which human beings, guided by the voice of God, are moving, does not belong exclusively to the geography of this world. Abraham, the believer who accepts God's invitation, is someone heading towards a promised land that is not of this world"

Jean Jules Antoine Lecomte du Noüy (1842-1923)

Study for the Vision of Abraham

Pastel drawing

34 x 31 cm

The National Museum of Art, Bucharest, Romania

Talk with All, with Everyone

Brother Jean-Pierre

Brother Jean-Pierre is an 88 year old monk in a monastery in Morocco. He is the only survivor left from the Monastery of Tibihirine which is the subject of the film by Xavier Beauvois, Des hommes et des dieux

You will recall that the film relates the events surrounding the killing and beheading of seven monks there in 1996.

He was interviewed by Le Figaro and the interview was published on 6th February 2011

He had been at Tibihirine for 32 years from 1964.

Amongst other matters he discussed the situation that exists in the present:

"Comment interprétez-vous le durcissement actuel de certains musulmans contre les chrétiens, dont les attentats récents ont été un signe?

Cela vient des extrémistes. Les vrais musulmans disent, ce n'est pas nous cela. Ils ont honte de ce qui est arrivé aux frères. Cela n'est pas la « religion ». D'autre part, on ne se connaît pas assez. On se perçoit à travers les violents et cela crée une tendance à se regrouper entre soi et une peur des contacts. La solution, c'est de cultiver l'amitié, même si on peut se faire rouler.

Se faire rouler?

Oui, certains disent, la réciproque, on ne la voit pas ou peu: on permet aux musulmans de construire des mosquées chez nous, mais on peut toujours courir pour construire des églises chez eux!

Vous le pensez vraiment? Les chrétiens sont, de fait, souvent accusés de naïveté avec l'islam...

La question n'est pas là. Par la foi, nous risquons! C'est dans l'Évangile: «Aimez comme je vous ai aimés.» Alors, on est souvent perdant, il faut le savoir. Mais il arrive que cela réagisse. Alors, la réciprocité est là et une reconnaissance mutuelle peut aller très loin.

Quelle est votre espérance pour 2011?

Il faut espérer que l'amour soit toujours le plus fort. Que l'amour de Dieu aura le dernier mot. Fondée en Dieu, l'espérance doit demeurer. Et ce n'est pas nous qui pouvons résoudre cela. L'espérance invin cible, comme disait Christian de Chergé. Elle ne doit pas être vaincue, elle doit toujours rester ouverte, fondée sur Dieu, sur Sa grâce. Même quand on meurt sous les coups. Comme il disait, l'espérance doit rester ouverte..."

Here is another extract from the film:

Saint Scholastica

The Master of Liesborn

Saint Scholastica

From Saints John the Evangelist, Scholastica and Benedict

Part of The Liesborn Altarpiece

1470 - 1480

Oil on wood

The National Gallery, London

Saint Scholastica is depicted as an abbess. The crook of her crozier is ornamented with the Sacrifice of Isaac, a common parallel to the Crucifixion.

Lorenzo Monaco (active 1399; died 1423 or 1424)

St Benedict and St Scolastica (detail) from Incidents in the Life of Saint Benedict

Being A Panel in the San Benedetto Altarpiece

1407 - 09

Oil and mixed media on board

The National Gallery, London

Saint Benedict visits his sister, Saint Scholastica. She prays he will remain all night and a rainstorm begins and so he cannot depart.

After Raphael (Rafaello Sanzio) (1483 - 1520)

The Last Meal of St Benedict and Saint Scholastica

Ink on paper

24.4cm x 40cm

Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille

Andrea Mantegna (1431 – 1506)

San Luca Altarpiece with detail showing Portrait of Saint Scholastica

1453

Tempera on wood panel

177 x 230 cm.

Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan

St Benedict and his twin sister, St Scholastica, lived more than 1500 years ago

We do not know much of their lives especialy of Saint Scolastica.

But Pope St Gregory the Great in 593 wrote a biography of St Benedict. In Dialogues, Volume II chapters 33 and 34, we learn of Saint Scholastica, the twin sister of St Benedict:

"His sister Scholastica, who was consecrated to God from her very childhood, used to come once a year to see him; unto whom the man of God was wont to go to a house not far from the gate, within the possession of the Monastery. Thither she came one day according to her custom, and her venerable brother likewise with his disciples: where, after they had spent the whole day in the praise of God and pious discourses, the night drawing on, they took their refection together. As they were yet sitting at table, and protracting the time with holy conference, the religious woman, his sister, entreated him saying: “I beseech you, leave me not this night, that we may talk until morning of the joys of the heavenly life.” To whom he answered: “What is this you say, sister? By no means can I stay out of my Monastery.” At this time the sky was serene, and not a cloud was to be seen in the air.

The holy woman, therefore, hearing her brother’s refusal, clasped her hands together upon the table, and bowing her head upon them she prayed to Almighty God. As she raised up her head from the table, there began such vehement lightning and thunder, with such abundance of rain, that neither venerable Benedict nor his Brethren were able to put foot out of doors. For the holy woman when she leaned her head upon her hands, poured forth a flood of tears upon the table by which she changed the fair weather into foul and rainy. For, immediately after her prayers, followed the inundation, and the two did so concur that, as she lifted up her head, the crack of thunder was heard, so that in one and the same instant she lifted up her head and brought down the rain.

Then the man of God perceiving that, by reason of thunder and lightening with continual showers of rain, he could not possibly return to his monastery, was sad and began to complain, saying: “God Almighty forgive you, sister, what is this you have done?” To whom she made answer: “I prayed you to stay and you would not hear me; I prayed to Almighty God and He heard me! Now, therefore, if you can, go forth to the Monastery and leave me.” But he not able to go forth, was forced to stay against his will.

Thus it fell out that they spent the night in watching, and received full content in spiritual discourse of heavenly matters. By this it appears, as I said before, that he desired something which he could not obtain; for if we consider the mind of the venerable man, he would, without doubt, have had the fair weather to continue in which he set out. But, contrary to what he willed, he found a miracle worked by the courage of a woman in the strength of Almighty God. And no wonder if at that time a woman were more powerful than he, considering she had long desired to see her brother. For according to the saying of St. John: “God is charity,” and with good reason she was more powerful who loved more.

The next day, the venerable woman returned to her Cloister and the man of God to his Monastery. When, behold, three days after, while standing in his cell, he saw the soul of his sister depart out of her body, and, in the form of a dove, ascend and enter into the celestial mansions. Who rejoicing much to see her great glory, gave thanks to God Almighty in hymns and praises, and announced her death to the Brethren. Whom he forthwith sent to bring her body to the Monastery, and caused it to be buried in the same tomb that he had prepared for himself.

By means of which it fell out, that as their minds were always one in God, so also their bodies were not separated in their burial."

One does wonder if there had not been a Scholastica, would there have been a Saint Benedict ?

Pope Pius XII speaks on ... St Columbanus

Anonymous

The Blessing of St Columbanus

Fresco

Concattedrale dei Santi Pietro, Lorenzo e Colombano, Brugnato, Nr La Spezia, Italy

We are quite used to hearing the voices of Popes Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. There are lots of recordings on the net.

But of Pius XII, there are lots of silent videos but very little if any speech

However recently Radio Vatican broadcast a speech in Irish and English given by Pope Pius XII to a group of Irish pilgrims in the Holy Year of 1950. His subject was St Columbanus

The extract was on a programme by Veronica Scarisbrick entitled Columbanus:when Popes from today and yesterday speak in English and Irish... and is available as an .mp3

Misericordias Domini in Aeternum Cantabo

Print made by Hieronymus Wierix 1553 - 1619

Of painting by Brother Juan de la Miseria (d. 1616)

St Teresa of Avila of Jesus

1582 - 1614

Engraving

12.6cm x 8cm

The British Museum, London

This Netherlandish print is based on the famous painting of St Teresa of Avila by Brother Juan de la Miseria who painted the only portrait of the Saint in 1576 while she was still alive and aged 61 years.

Her then Superior, Father Jerónimo Gracián caused the original to be made, as he says, 'to mortify her and because otherwise there would have been no portrait of her at all'

It was Father Gracián who commanded the saint to finish her account of the history of the Foundations of the Convents she had set up, the first version of which she finished on 14th November 1576

The Saint was not particularly happy with the finished portrait. She certainly seemed mortified by it.

It is said that when she saw it, she said laughingly to the artist, 'God forgive you, Brother John; after making me go through no one knows what, you have turned me out to be an ugly old hag'.

Brother Juan de la Miseria was an Italian who first came to Spain on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. He was probably trained in the workshop of Alonso Sanchez Coello. He remained at Santiago as a sculptor and afterwards became a hermit. Then the Council of Trent decreed that all hermits had to become members of religious orders. He did not know what to do. Many hermits took up the Rule of St Basil.

He was. on his way back to his hermitage when he met St. Teresa. She explained her Rule and became a lay brother of the Discalced Carmelite Convent at Ávila

In The Foundations Chapter 17 St Teresa described Brother Juan de la Miseria as "a great servant of God, but very simple in worldly matters".

The banner in the original painting and in the print carries the inscription: Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo (Ps 88 [89]: 2). [I will sing the mercies of the Lord forever].

It is a fitting banner for the great Doctor of Prayer.

It was she who coined the term "inner prayer" to describe the process whereby the person praying does not address God solely through the words of the text but also turns his whole inner being towards God.

And this week on Wednesday past Pope Benedict XVI began his new cycle of catecheses on the Doctors of the Church by beginning first with St. Teresa of Avila of Jesus, whom he described as "one of the highest examples of Christian spirituality of all time"

In an interview on a flight to Spain in Novemer 2010, the Pope said:

"Catholicism in the modern era was brought about above all thanks to Spain; figures such as St Ignatius of Loyola, St Teresa of Avila and St John of Avila are figures who really renewed Catholicism, who formed the features of modern Catholicism."

However at many times she did not have an easy time from the clerical authorities of her time. The Interior Castle was written during the time that she was confined by the Apostolic Delegate to remain in a single monastery, to make no new foundations and described her in his words as

“… a restless gadabout, a disobedient and contumacious woman who invented wicked doctrines and devotions, and … leaving her cloister against the mandate of the Council of Trent has gone about to teach others as though she were a ‘maestra’ in contradiction to the teaching of St. Paul who had forbidden women to teach.”

What then were the characteristics of Teresian spirituality ?

The Pope attempted a short summary:

"It is not easy to summarize in a few words the profound and complex Teresian spirituality. I would like to mention some essential points.

In the first place, St. Teresa proposes the evangelical virtues as the basis of all Christian and human life -- in particular, detachment from goods or evangelical poverty (and this concerns all of us); love for one another as the essential element of community and social life; humility as love of the truth; determination as fruit of Christian audacity; theological hope, which she describes as thirst for living water -- without forgetting the human virtues: affability, veracity, modesty, courtesy, joy, culture.

In the second place, St. Teresa proposes a profound harmony with the great biblical personalities and intense listening to the Word of God. She felt in consonance above all with the bride of the Canticle of Canticles and with the Apostle Paul, as well as with the Christ of the passion and with the Eucharistic Jesus.

The saint stressed how essential prayer is; to pray, she said, "means to frequent with friendship, because we frequent him whom we know loves us" ("Life," 8, 5). St. Teresa's idea coincides with the definition that St. Thomas Aquinas gives of theological charity, as "amicitia quaedam hominis ad Deum," a type of friendship of man with God, who first offered his friendship to man; the initiative comes from God (cf. Summa Theologiae II-II, 23, 1).

Prayer is life and it develops gradually at the same pace with the growth of the Christian life: It begins with vocal prayer, passes to interiorisation through meditation and recollection, until it attains union of love with Christ and with the Most Holy Trinity.

Obviously, it is not a development in which going up to the higher steps means leaving behind the preceding type of prayer, but is rather a gradual deepening of the relationship with God, which envelops our whole life. More than a pedagogy of prayer, St. Teresa's is a true "mystagogy": She teaches the reader of her works to pray while praying herself with him; frequently, in fact, she interrupts the account or exposition to burst out in a prayer.

Another topic dear to the saint is the centrality of the humanity of Christ.

In fact, for Teresa, the Christian life is a personal relationship with Jesus, which culminates in union with him through grace, love and imitation.

Hence the importance that she attributes to meditation on the passion and the Eucharist, as presence of Christ, in the Church, for the life of every believer and as heart of the liturgy. St. Teresa lived an unconditional love for the Church: She manifested an intense "sensus Ecclesiae" in face of incidents of division and conflict in the Church of her time. She reformed the Carmelite Order with the intention of serving and defending better the "Holy Roman Catholic Church," and she was prepared to give her life for it (cf. "Life," 33, 5).

A final essential aspect of Teresian doctrine that I would like to underscore is perfection, as the aspiration of the whole Christian life and the final end of it. The saint had a very clear idea of "fullness" in Christ, relived by the Christian. At the end of the course of "The Interior Castle," in the last "stanza" Teresa describes this fullness, realized in the indwelling of the Trinity, in union with Christ through the mystery of his humanity."

For more on Teresian spirituality see Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J who once gave a Conference talk on St. Teresa of Avila and the Carmelite Reform and can be accessed by following the link

The Google Art Project

Aleksander Ivanov, 1806-1858

The Apparition of Christ to the People (The Apparition of the Messiah)
Явление Христа народу (Явление Мессии)

1837 - 1857

Oil on canvas

5.4m x 7.5m

State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

A fascinating new "Art Project" from Google  has taken off this week

One can explore museums from around the world, discover and view hundreds of artworks at incredible zoom levels

Amongst the museums taking part are:

•Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin - Germany

•Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian, Washington DC - USA

•The Frick Collection, NYC - USA

•Gemäldegalerie, Berlin - Germany

•The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC - USA

•MoMA, The Museum of Modern Art, NYC - USA

•Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid - Spain

•Museo Thyssen - Bornemisza, Madrid - Spain

•Museum Kampa, Prague - Czech Republic

•National Gallery, London - UK

•Palace of Versailles - France

•Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam - The Netherlands

•The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg - Russia

•State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow - Russia

•Tate Britain, London - UK

•Uffizi Gallery, Florence - Italy

•Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam - The Netherlands

JHS: The Most Holy Name of Jesus

Giovanni Battista Gaulli called il Baciccia 1639 - 1709

First sketch for the Fresco The Triumph of the Name of Jesus at the Gesù in Rome

c.1677

Brown ink, brown wash and ink with white highlights on brown paper

42.8cm x 30.5cm

Musée du Louvre département des Arts graphiques, Paris

Giovanni Battista Gaulli called il Baciccia 1639 - 1709

Il Trionfo del nome di Gesù/ The Triumph of the Name of Jesus(1679)

Bozzetto

Galleria Spada, Rome

Giovanni Battista Gaulli called il Baciccia 1639 - 1709

Il Trionfo del nome di Gesù/ The Triumph of the Name of Jesus(1679)

Fresco

The Nave

The Gesù, Rome

The Gesù in Rome is the mother Church of the Society of Jesus in Rome. Its official name is the Chiesa del Santissimo Nome di Gesù all'Argentina (the Church of the Most Holy Name of Jesus)

The greatest part of the artwork in the Church is Gaulli`s masterpiece fresco, the "Triumph of the Sacred Name of Jesus" (also known as the Worship, Adoration, or Triumph of the Holy Name of Jesus)

The fresco was unveiled on Christmas Eve, 1679

The official website of the Gesù has in a .pdf file a detailed explanation of the fresco

The monogram of Christ (IHS) is the centre of the work. It is the emblem of the Jesuit order. It was given to the order by its founder, St Ignatius of Loyola. In the fresco it illumines the figures of the saints and blesseds around it. At the outer edges in the darkness are the damned and the Vices of Vanity and Heresy

The emblem is in most images of St Ignatius. The emblem is outside and inside the church. It is in all Jesuit churches. After the Counter-Reformation the Jesuit order spread the christogram throughout Europe and the rest of the world.

Names of course are important.

In St Matthew`s Gospel, St Matthew is concerned with the name of Jesus. For Matthew the name and its significance is important. In Matthew 1 20- 25 we learn:

"[A]n angel of the Lord appeared to [Joseph] in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus" (emphasis added)

The name of Jesus is given by Joseph. Joseph gave Jesus his name and brought him into his family. In this way the genealogy of Matthew is completed and makes sense. Through the action of Joseph in giving Jesus his name, Jesus is a member of the House of David and so the prophecies of the Messiah are fulfilled

Matthew is at pains to tell us what the name of Jesus means: he will save people from their sins

Joseph had the choice to obey the angel or not: to take Mary and the child or not; to name the child or not

Blessed Pope John XXIII had a number of particular devotions: one to St Joseph and the other to the Hoiy Name of Jesus

Of the Holy Name he wrote before the Second Vatican Council to Women Religious (2nd July 1962);

"It would be fitting at this point to recall to you that practice, repeated on many occasions, of the three devotions which We consider fundamental also for the simple faithful of the laity: "Nothing is better for enlightening and encouraging the adoration of Jesus than to meditate upon Him and invoke Him in the threefold light of the Name, the Heart and the Blood"

The Name, the Heart and the Blood of Jesus: this is the substantial nourishment for a sound life of piety.

The Name of Jesus! In reality "nothing is sung more sweetly, nothing heard more joyfully, nothing more gently contemplated than Jesus the Son of God""

And of course we remember that Blessed Pope John XXIII directed that Joseph's name be inserted in the Roman Canon of the Mass after the name of Mary and before the apostles, popes and martyrs

He also made St Joseph a protector of the Second Vatican Council

IHS: The Holy Name of Jesus: St Bernardino of Siena

El Greco 1541 -1614

Saint Bernardino of Siena

1603

Oil on canvas

269 cm x 144 cm

Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

Ansono di Pietro di Mencio known as Pietro di Sano 1406 - 1481

St Bernardino Preaching in the Campo in Siena

1445

Tempera on panel, 162 x 102 cm

Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena

Bernardino di Betto (Benedetto), called II Pinturicchio (ca. 1454 - 1513)

Death of St Bernardino of Siena in L`Aquila

1487-89

Fresco

Cappella Bufalini

Santa Maria in Aracoeli, Rome

The School of Luca Signorelli

St Bernardino of Siena

1515 - 1520

Oil on canvas

Lindenau-Museum, Altenburg (Thüringen)

St Bernardino of Siena

From A Book Of Hours made and used in Paris

About 1470

Miniature from illuminated manuscript

Folio 190, Chambéry - BM - ms. 0001

In his day Saint Bernardino of Siena (8 September 1380 – 20 May 1444) was a controversial figure. His enemies even got him put on trial for heresy

For some reason or other his "star" declined sharply after the Second Vatican Council

But in his day he was probably the greatest preacher of the fifteenth century even receiving the title of "the Apostle of Italy". No mean orator himself, Pope Pius II had listened to Saint Bernardino and said that the saint was listened to as another Paul

He literally travelled the length and breadth of Italy preaching

He was venerated especially in Tuscany. St. Antoninus, Antoninus Pierozzi (1389—1459; Archbishop of Florence from 1446—59), paid him the highest tributes.

After his death Siena where he had often preached and held in the highest veneration sought to recover his body for its city. It had to do with other things such as erecting a beautiful Oratory in his name (still there) and commissioning Pietro di Sano`s paintings of the Life of the Saint of which the above is only one panel.

During the latter half of the 1440s and particularly around 1450, the year in which Saint Bernardino was canonised, Sano di Pietro was commissioned to paint numerous images of the patron saint of Siena

The sunken cheeks of Saint Bernardino and the physiognomic resemblance among the various representations of the saint, are explained by the fact that Sano di Pietro apparently used a wax mask, taken of the saint's head at the moment of his death, to ensure an accurate likeness

Saint Bernardino was canonised in 1450, only six years after his death, by Pope Nicholas V.

As a child he had been taught to venerate The Holy Name of Jesus in a special manner. On reading the epistles of Saint Paul, he had found the Divine Name on almost every line. The Name of Jesus was the usual theme of his addresses.

He used to hold a board in front of him while preaching, with the sacred monogram painted on it in the midst of rays and afterwards expose it for veneration. The monogram was JHS ("Jesus Hominum Salvator" "Jesus Saviour of Men")

The emblem or monogram of The Holy Name is usually in most portraits of him. As are the three bishops` mitres in recognition of the fact that he turned down three offers from various Popes of various powerful bishoprics in Italy

His teaching was vindicated by the feast of the Triumph of the Holy Name, conceded to the Friars Minor in 1530 and extended to the Universal Church in 1722.

Another great theme of his preaching and work was the preaching of peace and the establishment of peace at a time and in areas where there was constant warfare and feuding.

The Vatican website carries an extract of one of his sermons on the Holy Name of Jesus. Here it is.

"The name of Jesus is the glory of preachers

"The name of Jesus is the glory of preachers, because the shining splendour of that name causes his word to be proclaimed and heard. And how do you think such an immense, sudden and dazzling light of faith came into the world, if not because Jesus was preached?

Was it not through the brilliance and sweet savour of this name that God called us into his marvellous light?

When we have been enlightened, and in that same light behold the light of heaven, rightly may the apostle Paul say to us: Once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light.

So this name must be proclaimed, that it may shine out and never be suppressed. But it must not be preached by someone with sullied mind or unclean lips, but stored up and poured out from a chosen vessel. That is why our Lord said of Saint Paul: He is a chosen instrument of mine, the vessel of my choice, to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel.

In this chosen vessel there was to be a drink more pleasing than earth ever knew, offered to all mankind for a price they could pay, so that they would be drawn to taste of it. Poured into other chosen vessels, it would grow and radiate splendour. For our Lord said: He is to Carry my name.

When a fire is lit to clear a field, it burns off all the dry and useless weeds and thorns. When the sun rises and darkness is dispelled, robbers, night-prowlers and burglars hide away.

So when Paul's voice was raised to preach the Gospel to the nations, like a great clap of thunder in the sky, his preaching was a blazing fire carrying all before it. It was the sun rising in full glory. Infidelity was consumed by it, false beliefs fled away, and the truth appeared like a great candle lighting the whole world with its brilliant flame.

By word of mouth, by letters, by miracles and by the example of his own life, Saint Paul bore the name of Jesus wherever he went. He praised the name of Jesus at all times, but never more than when bearing witness to his faith.

Moreover, the Apostle did indeed carry this name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel as a light to enlighten all nations. And this was his cry wherever he journeyed: The night is passing away, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; let us conduct ourselves honourably as in the day. Paul himself showed forth the burning and shining light set upon a candlestick, everywhere proclaiming Jesus, and him crucified.

And so the Church, the bride of Christ strengthened by his testimony, rejoices with the psalmist, singing: 0 God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. The psalmist exhorts her to do this, as he says: Sing to the Lord, and bless his name, proclaim his salvation day after day. And this salvation is Jesus, her saviour."

From a sermon by Saint Bernardine of Siena, priest (Sermo 49, De glorioso Nomine Iesu Christi, cap 2: Opera omnia, 4. 505-506)

It was the Observant Franciscans like St. Bernardine of Siena, St. John of Capestrano, Saint Simon of Lipnica(1435/1440 c. - 1482) who recommenced this devotion to the Holy Name and spread the devotion not ony in Italy but to Poland and far and wide.

Pope John Paul II had a particuar devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus

In the liturgical revisions of Vatican II, the Feast of the Holy Name was removed, though a votive Mass to the Holy Name of Jesus had been retained for devotional use. With the release of the revised Roman Missal in March 2002, he restored the Feast of the Holy Name as an optional memorial in the Ordinary Form on January 3.

St. John of Capestrano founded the first convent of the Observance in Krakow on 8th September 1453. The Friars Minor of the convent were called the “Berdardini” by the people. The Franciscans have had a continued presence in Krakow and surrounding areas since then. As a young man Pope John Paul II often prayed at the Franciscan churches there.

Such devotion is also seen in the Catechism issued during his pontificate as well as the many occasions he invoked the Holy Name in his addresses and homilies

The Catechism provides:

"Prayer to Jesus

2665 The prayer of the Church, nourished by the Word of God and the celebration of the liturgy, teaches us to pray to the Lord Jesus. Even though her prayer is addressed above all to the Father, it includes in all the liturgical traditions forms of prayer addressed to Christ. Certain psalms, given their use in the Prayer of the Church, and the New Testament place on our lips and engrave in our hearts prayer to Christ in the form of invocations: Son of God, Word of God, Lord, Saviour, Lamb of God, King, Beloved Son, Son of the Virgin, Good Shepherd, our Life, our Light, our Hope, our Resurrection, Friend of mankind. . . .

2666 But the one name that contains everything is the one that the Son of God received in his incarnation: JESUS. The divine name may not be spoken by human lips, but by assuming our humanity The Word of God hands it over to us and we can invoke it: "Jesus," "YHWH saves." The name "Jesus" contains all: God and man and the whole economy of creation and salvation. To pray "Jesus" is to invoke him and to call him within us. His name is the only one that contains the presence it signifies. Jesus is the Risen One, and whoever invokes the name of Jesus is welcoming the Son of God who loved him and who gave himself up for him.

2667 This simple invocation of faith developed in the tradition of prayer under many forms in East and West. The most usual formulation, transmitted by the spiritual writers of the Sinai, Syria, and Mt. Athos, is the invocation, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners." It combines the Christological hymn of Philippians 2:6-11 with the cry of the publican and the blind men begging for light. By it the heart is opened to human wretchedness and the Saviour's mercy.

2668 The invocation of the holy name of Jesus is the simplest way of praying always. When the holy name is repeated often by a humbly attentive heart, the prayer is not lost by heaping up empty phrases, but holds fast to the word and "brings forth fruit with patience." This prayer is possible "at all times" because it is not one occupation among others but the only occupation: that of loving God, which animates and transfigures every action in Christ Jesus.

2669 The prayer of the Church venerates and honours the Heart of Jesus just as it invokes his most holy name. It adores the incarnate Word and his Heart which, out of love for men, he allowed to be pierced by our sins. Christian prayer loves to follow the way of the cross in the Savior's steps. The stations from the Praetorium to Golgotha and the tomb trace the way of Jesus, who by his holy Cross has redeemed the world."

The saint`s memory is still celebrated in many parts of Italy. Indeed last year, the Saint went on his travels again. He is patron of the town of Filettino in Lazio, and his body was brought to the town on 25th July, As can be seen from the video below he can still bring out the crowds

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux: The Holy Name of Jesus

Philippe Quantin (d. 1636)

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux writing

Oil on canvas

181,1 cm x 120.4cm

Musée des beaux-arts, Dijon

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist (1090 – August 20, 1153) had a particular devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus.

In one of his Sermons he said:

"What can so enrich the soul that reflects upon it (the holy name of Jesus)? What can . . . strengthen the virtues, beget good and honorable dispositions, foster holy affections? Dry is every kind of spiritual food which this oil does not moisten.

Tasteless, whatever this salt does not season.

If thou writest, thy composition has no charms for me, unless I read there the name of Jesus. If thou dost debate or converse, I find no pleasure in thy words, unless I hear there the name of Jesus.

Jesus is honey on the lips, melody in the ear, joy in the heart.

Yet not alone is that name light and food. It is also a remedy. Is any one amongst you sad? Let the name of Jesus enter his heart; let it leap thence to his mouth; and lo! the light shining from that name shall scatter every cloud and restore peace.

Has some one perpetrated a crime, and then misled, moved despairingly towards the snare of death? Let him but invoke this life-giving name, and straightway he shall find courage once more. . .

Whoever, all a-tremble in the presence of danger, has not immediately felt his spirits revive and his fears depart as soon as he called upon this name of power? There is nothing so powerful as the name of Jesus to check anger, reduce the swelling of pride, heal the smarting wound of envy. . ."

In Cantica, Serm. XV, 6; Migne, P. L., CLXXXIII, 846-d, 847-a, b

Jesu Dulcis Memoria ( Jesus, Sweet Memory) is a hymn attributed to the authorship of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. The name can refer either to the entire poem, which, depending on the manuscript, ranges from forty-two to fifty-three stanzas, or only the first part.

Three sections of it are used as hymns in the Liturgy of the Hours of the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus: "Iesu dulcis memoria" (Vespers), "Iesu rex admirabilis" (Office of Readings), "Iesu decus angelicum" (Lauds).

The first few verses are as follows (translation by Fr. Edward Caswall (1814-1878))

IESU, dulcis memoria,

dans vera cordis gaudia,

sed super mel et omnia,

eius dulcis praesentia.

JESU, the very thought of Thee,

with sweetness fills my breast,

but sweeter far Thy face to see,

and in Thy presence rest.

Nil canitur suavius,

nil auditur iucundius,

nil cogitatur dulcius,

quam Iesus Dei Filius.

Nor voice can sing, nor heart can frame,

nor can the memory find

a sweeter sound than Thy blest Name,

o Savior of mankind!.

Iesu, spes paenitentibus,

quam pius es petentibus!

quam bonus te quaerentibus!

sed quid invenientibus?

O hope of every contrite heart

o joy of all the meek,

to those who fall, how kind Thou art!

how good to those who seek!

Nec lingua valet dicere,

nec littera exprimere:

expertus potest credere,

quid sit Iesum diligere.

But what to those who find? Ah this

nor tongue nor pen can show:

the love of Jesus, what it is

none but His loved ones know.

Sis, Iesu, nostrum gaudium,
qui es futurus praemium:
sit nostra in te gloria,
per cuncta semper saecula.
Amen.

Jesu, our only joy be Thou,
As Thou our prize wilt be:
Jesu, be Thou our glory now,
And through eternity.
Amen.

Chi-Rho: THe Holy Name of Jesus

The city of Albenga is on the Italian Ligurian coast near Savona.

It is an ancient city dating back to Roman times.

Within its walls still stands an ancient Baptistry dating back to the 5th century. It is the oldest paleo-Christian Baptistry still standing in the province of Liguria and one of the oldest in Italy.

Along with Ravenna it is one of the few in Byzantine style still standing in Northern Italy Its state of preservation is remarkable

See the photos below

One of the most significant features is a 6th century mosaic within one of the niches of the Baptistry. See below

It represents Christ and the Trinity with the Twelve Apostles. Christ is the "Christogram" (Chi Rho) representing the name of Christ. There is also a small red cross or crucifix. The Cross is circled by three concentric circles representing the Trinity. The Trinity and Christ are circled by the 12 doves or Apostles which recalls the invitation by Christ to the Apostles to go forth and baptise in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit

The use of a wreath around the Chi Rho symbolises the victory of the Resurrection over death. It is an early visual representations of the connection between the Crucifixion of Jesus and his triumphal resurrection

Often the Chi Rho symbol would be flanked by the Greek letters "Alpha" and "Omega". The term Alpha and Omega comes from the phrase "I am the alpha and the omega [,the first and the last] " an appellation of Jesus in the Book of Revelation (verses 1:8, 21:6, and 22:13).

In this gravestone from the 5th Century discovered in a sandpit in France, one can see the full "Chi Rho" insignia:

Grave slab: rectangular, re-used brick-tile architectural fragment; inscribed with chi-rho and alpha and omega in wreath with dove left, and VRSICINVS IACET CVM PACE (Urscinus Rests in Peace)

Excavated St Acheul (sandpit)

5th century (Meroviginian)

Height: 25.4 centimetres

The British Museum, London

A monogram of the name of Jesus Christ was not only an abbreviation but also a symbol. It was also a reminder of important truths. The name of Jesus had to be revered. For Christians it was a confession of faith

But after 313 its meaning changed. It also became an Imperial symbol. It was the symbol adopted by the Roman emperor Constantine, after his conversion to Christianity in the year 313

The location of the symbol was important. In Albenga it was placed on the ceiling of the niche. One had to look up to see it then after one saw it, one naturally bowed one`s head.

On a gravestone the symbol was more than apposite: the Church is of the living and the dead. A viewer might have had to incline one`s head to view it.

The sign and depiction of Christ was after the adoption of Christianity by Constantine also seen on mosaic floors. Perhaps there was an idea that to look at it one had to incline one`s head. However it may also be a sign that the increase in such depictions led to a devaluation in the original message of the depiction and the lack of veneration towards the Holy Name. It simply became another house decoration and a symbol of Imperial loyalty

Apart from the depiction of Christ with the Chi-Rho in The Hinton St Mary Mosaic examples of such floor mosaics are almost non-existent.

In 427 the emperor specifically banned the making of images of Christ on mosaic floors, and he ordered all existing ones to be removed.

The symbol CHI RHO with The Holy Name of Jesus echoed the words of St Paul to the Philippians:

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God

as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to the point of death—

even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue should confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2.5-11 (emphasis added)