Saint Catherine of Bologna

Master of the Baroncelli Portraits

1440 - 1520: Flemish: flourished 1480-1490

Saint Catherine of Bologna with three donors

Circa 1480

Oil on panel

94.9 cm x 67.9 cm

The Courtauld Gallery, London

The donor in Italian dress is kneeling with his first and second wives

It is the earliest known painting of St Catherine of Bologna. She died in 1463 and was venerated locally in Bologna. She was not formally canonised until 1712

To the right in the painting is what appears to be another painting. It is not. It is a dead body placed in a little window pierced in the dividing wall of a church

The representation is of the dead figure of the saint whose body was exhumed shortly after her death and put on display. It is still on display in the convent, her Sanctuary and Convent of the Corpus Domini in Bologna

See below. The representation shows how the body was displayed and is now displayed.

The preserved body of St Catherine of Bologna in her convent of Corpus Domini in Bologna

To allow the faithful to see the body which was in the enclosed convent the body was placed on a wooden chair in which the saint was placed as if sitting. At the appropriate times it was taken to the window to be exhibited to the faithful outside.

Amongst her artistic works is a book entitled "The Seven Spiritual Weapons". In it she listed these:

"Whoever wishes to carry the cross for his sake must take up the proper weapons for the contest, especially those mentioned here. First, diligence; second, distrust of self; third, confidence in God; fourth, remembrance of Passion; fifth, mindfulness of one’s own death; sixth, remembrance of God’s glory; seventh, the injunctions of Sacred Scripture following the example of Jesus Christ in the desert." - Saint Catherine, from On the Seven Spiritual Weapons

The painting illustrates the saint taking up her Cross. One cannot help but read into the painting St Catherine`s "seven weapons"

Saint Catherine of Bologna, (8 September 1413 – 9 March 1463) also called Santa Caterina de' Vigri, was an abbess of a convent of Poor Clares, and an artist of repute

She was also a gifted musician (her beloved violin hangs on the wall to the right of her body), and is the Patron Saint of Artists and temptation.

Her artistic compositions have not stood the test of time. However her written religious works are being re-discovered. These include Le sette armi spirituali and her Sermons

Cardinal Giacomo Biffi recently wrote of her and her works:

"The works of Catherine of Bologna, many of which have long remained unknown, are now revealed in their surprising beauty. We can ascertain that she was not undeserving of her renown as a highly cultivated person, nor was it due to a complicated series of historical circumstances. We are now in a position to meditate on a veritable monument of theology which, after the Treatise on the Seven Spiritual Weapons, is made up of distinct and autonomous parts: The Twelve Gardens, a mystical work of her youth, Rosarium, a Latin poem on the life of Jesus, and The Sermons, i.e. Catherine's words to her religious sisters."- (I Sermoni, Ed. Barghigiani, Bologna 1999)

For more about this remarkable saint see: "Other Women`s Voices": Catherine of Bologna /Caterina Vigri /Vegri (1413-1463)

Suor Plautilla Nelli

Italian School

Suor Plautilla Nelli c. 17th cent

Oil on panel, unframed

23 by 17.2 cm

Private collection

Suor Plautilla Nelli (Florence 1524-1588)

A kneeling saint in nun's robes

Signed in pen and brown ink 'Di Suor Plautilla allieva d[e]l Frate'

Black chalk

9 x 7¾ in. (22.8 x 19.7 cm.), unframed

Private collection

Suor Plautilla Nelli (Florence 1524-1588)

Madonna with child and four angels

Oil on Board

42.1 x 31.9 in. / 107 x 81 cm.

Private collection

Polissena Nelli known as Suor Plautilla Nelli (Florence 1524-1588) is the earliest known female Florentine artist.

At the age of fourteen she entered the convent of Saint Catherine of Siena in Florence, a Dominican community whose nuns were devout adherents of the principles preached by Girolamo Savonarola a generation earlier. Here Plautilla spent the rest of her life. She became its prioress in 1568.

She drew particular inspiration from the work of Fra Bartolommeo and his pupil Fra Paolino, both from the Dominican monastery of San Marco. After Fra Paolino's death she was given his collection of drawings by Fra Bartolommeo.

She was the daughter of an artist, Piero di Luca Nelli

Her sister, also a nun, Costanza, (Suor Petronilla) wrote a life of Savonrola

She is one of the two women painters mentioned by Vasari in his Lives

The convent (now destroyed), located in Piazza San Marco, was supposedly annexed into the Galleria dell’Accademia in 1853 and was briefly part of the Accademia delle Belle Arti.

She had a considerable output. Vasari identified various celebrated pieces by Plautilla: two panels in the Church of the Convent of Santa Caterina, particularly her Magi Adoring Jesus; choir panels in the Convent of S. Lucia in Pistoia; a Last Supper in the refectory of the Convent of Santa Caterina; pieces at San Giovannino and at Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence; and altar pieces and a large panel in the Hospital of Lelmo. He also noted her many pieces owned privately, which he felt too numerous to detail

Unfortunately her extant oeuvre comprises only three paintings — a Lamentation (Museo di San Marco, Florence), a Last Supper (Santa Maria Novella, Florence), and a Pentecost (San Domenico, Perugia) — along with handful of drawings

Her convent had a considerable artistic output and she was its overseer. The work produced at Santa Caterina was entirely religious in nature.

Fra Serafino Razzi, a sixteenth-century Dominican Friar and historian, named three nuns of Santa Caterina as disciples of Plautilla, Suor Prudenza Cambi, Suor Agata Trabalesi, Suor Maria Ruggieri, and three others as additional producers: Suor Veronica, Suor Dionisia Niccolini, and his sister Suor Maria Angelica Razzi

However it was the enforcement of the rule of clausura (enclosure) as required by the Council of Trent which neither Nelli nor the other nuns wished which drastically reduced the artistic output and income of the convent.

Saint Damasus I

St Jerome handing over his work to Pope Saint Damasus

In The Initial "H" of a Letter of Jerome to Damasus

From an Illuminated Bible

About 1109 - 1111

Dijon - BM - ms. 0015 f. 003v

From The Abbaye Notre-Dame, Cîteaux

St Jerome handing over his work to Pope Saint Damasus

Miniature at the beginning of the Gospels

From an Illuminated Bible

Valenciennes - BM - ms. 0007 f. 223

About the second quarter of the 16th century

Originally from Hainaut, Valenciennes

Attributed to Niccolo di Giacomo ca. (1325–1403),

Portrait of Saint Damasus

From an illuminated Roman Missal

About 1370

Avignon - BM - ms. 0136 f. 222

Originally made in Bologna, Italy and thence to the Convent of the Célestins, Avignon

Nowadays the saint Pope Damasus (b.305, Pope from 366 - 384) is primarily known for his commissioning of Saint Jerome as his personal secretary and encouraging his Vulgate translation of the Bible

But there was more.

He was a poet Pope and he had a great devotion to the Roman martyrs. He did much to retore and preserve the ancient catacombs as well as the Bsilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls and according to tradition the building of the Church of San Lorenzo in Damaso in his own house.

The Catacombs which benefitted most from his attentions were the Catacombs of St Callixtus and in particular the Crypt of the Popes where at least six of the earliest Popes were buried.

St. Jerome recounted how as a student he would go on Sundays to visit the tombs of the apostles and the martyrs together with his study companions:

“We would enter the galleries dug into the bowels of the earth…Rare lights coming from above land attenuated the darkness a little…We would proceed slowly, one step at a time, completely enveloped in darkness”.

At the tomb of Sixtus II, Damasus had inscribed a poem which he had composed himself:

"If you are looking for, know that here lies a host of the Blessed.

The venerable sepulchres enclose the bodies of the Saints,

but the royal palace of heaven carried off to itself their sublime souls.

Here lie the companions of Sixtus who bear the trophies won from the enemy.

Here the group of the elders who keep guard of the altars of Christ.

Here the bishop who lived through the long peace.

Here the holy Confessors sent to us from Greece.

Here the young men and children, the old men and their chaste nephews

who preferred to keep their virgineal purity.

Here too,I, Damasus, confess I would have liked to have been buried

were it not for fear of vexing the holy ashes of the Blessed".

His epigraph about St Saturninus the Martyr is applicable to many who have given their life for the faith even today:

"Citizen now of Christ, formerly of Carthage,

The moment the sword pierced the Mother's holy breast,

through her blood he changed country, name and lineage,

the birth to the life of the saints made him a Roman citizen.

His faith was wonderful: as his heroic death would later show.

His enemy Gratianus trembled while he tore his holy members;

but though all his venomous rage exploded,

he could not induce you, O Saint, to deny Christ;

indeed through your prayers he even deserved to die a Christian.

This is the will of the suppliant Damasus: venerate this tomb!

[Here it is given to fulfil vows and to pour out chaste prayers,

because it is the tomb of the martyr St Saturninus]

To you, O Martyr Saturninus, I pay my prayerful homage."

(Epigrammata Damasiana, edited by A. Ferrua, Rome 1942, p. 188-189).

The devotion to the Martyrs in the Roman Liturgy is discussed on the Vatican website in an article by Mario Lessi Ariosto

Finally it should also be noted that it was under Pope Damasus I that the change of the official language from Greek to Latin was completed. The primacy of the Latin language in the Roman liturgy has not been replaced since then even though the Church recognizes that the vernacular can also be used for the faithful.

Pietro di Francesco degli Orioli

Peter Orioli [Pietro di Francesco degli Orioli] 1458 - 1496

The Virgin and Child with Saints Jerome, Bernardino, Catherine of Alexandria and Francis About 1487-90

Tempera and gold on panel

74.6 cm x 52.7 cm

The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Peter Orioli [Pietro di Francesco degli Orioli]1458 - 1496

Nativity about 1494-1496

Tempera on panel,

66.5 x 49.5 cm

Private collection

Pietro Orioli was the pre-eminent painter of his generation in Siena at the end of the fifteenth century.

There are parallels between Orioli's work and the non-realist style of the Florentine Sandro Botticelli

He died young, and was lamented for his artistic talent and for his exemplary piety. He is known from documents to have been a particularly devout individual.

His family owned rural property near Capriola, at least two of which properties were left to the Monastery dell`Osservanza in Siena. This was the Convent of St Bernardino of Siena

He himself is buried in the Basilica dell`Osservanza in Siena

The Image of S. Bernardino (above) corresponds to the image of S Bernardino in the Osservanza in Siena.

Madonna of the Immaculate Conception

Carlo Maratta or Maratti (13 May 1625 – 15 December 1713)

Madonna of the Immaculate Conception

1663

Oil on canvas

227 x 197 cm

Cappella De Sylva, Chiesa di Sant' Isidoro a Capo le Case, Rome

The painting is one of the glories of the Irish national church in Rome.

It was commissioned for the Chapel and is still in situ

The website of the College of St Isodore (for the Irish franciscans) and the Church is here

Maratti was the leading painter in Rome in the latter part of the 17th century

He had an international reputation particularly for his paintings of the Madonna and Child and his many of Mary.

Ambrosian Hymns

The Consecration of St Ambrose in an Initial "T"

From Illuminated Manuscript Choirbook

Italian 13th Century

Pigment and gold on vellum

233 x 140mm (initial overall)

Private collection

The initial opens the Te Deum from the Office of the Virgin in Eastertide from an Antiphonal.

St Ambrose (c. between 337 and 340 – 4 April 397) was the reputed composer of the hymn. It is said that he composed the hymn when he baptised St. Augustine of Hippo, his celebrated convert.

The depiction of St Ambrose in a choir book is appropriate as he did found a new school of hymnody: the Ambrosian chant

In his Confessions, IX, vii, 15, St Augustine speaks of St Ambrose introducing hymns to be sung "according to the fashion of the East".

Those interested in Ambrosian Chant and Hymns may find an Italian website of interest: Canto Ambrosiano

The Nativity with St George and St Vincent Ferrer

Filippo Lippi (1406 – 8 October 1469),

The Nativity with St George and St Vincent Ferrer 1455

Oil on canvas

146 x 157 cm

Museo Civico, Prato

The iconography follows the traditional iconography inspired by St Bridget of Sweden one of the co-Patronesses of Europe

While on a pilgrimage to Bethlehem in 1371–72, Saint Bridget had a vision of the Nativity of Christ. Her description of this vision became a popular subject in Italian painting.

The scene, including shepherds and bagpipers, as well as a splash of red and golden angels in the mountains beyond the rustic hut that serves as a stable, now seems to us to be so conventional, we may miss the striking novelty that it brought into a world so recently dominated with the very different style of High Gothic.

The vision occurred on a visit to Bethlehem on March 13, 1372. She described it thus:

"When I was present by the manger of the Lord in Bethlehem . . . I beheld a virgin of extreme beauty. . . . well wrapped in a white mantle and a delicate tunic, through which I clearly perceived her virgin body. . . .

With her was an old man of great honesty, and they brought with them an ox and an ass. These entered the cave, and the man, after having tied them to the manger, went outside and brought to the virgin a burning candle; having attached this to the wall he went outside, so that he might not be present at the birth. Then the virgin pulled off the shoes from her feet, drew off the white mantle, that enveloped her, removed the veil from her head, laying it by her side, thus remaining in her tunic alone with her beautiful golden hair falling loosely down her shoulders.

Then she produced two small linen cloths and two woollen ones, of exquisite purity and fineness, that she had brought, in which to wrap up the child who was to be born; and two other small articles with which to cover and bind his head, and these she put down beside her in order to use them in due time. .

. . And when all was thus prepared, the virgin knelt down with great veneration in an attitude of prayer, and her back was turned to the manger, but her face was lifted to heaven, towards the east. Thus with her hands extended and her eyes fixed on the sky she was standing as in ecstasy, lost in contemplation, in a rapture of divine sweetness.

And while she was standing thus in prayer, I saw the child in her womb move and suddenly in a moment she gave birth to her son, from whom radiated such an ineffable light and splendour, that the sun was not comparable to it, nor did the candle, that St Joseph had put there, give any light at all, the divine light totally annihilating the material light of the candle, and so sudden and instantaneous was this way of bringing forth, that I could neither discover nor discern how, or by means of which member, she gave birth.

Verily though, all of a sudden, I saw the glorious infant lying on the ground naked and shining. His body was pure from any kind of soil and impurity. Then I heard also the singing of the angels, which was of miraculous sweetness and great beauty. . . .

When therefore the virgin felt, that she had already borne her child, she immediately worshipped him, her head bent down and her hands clasped, with great honour and reverence and said unto him, Be welcome my God, my Lord and my Son. . . . When this was done, the old man entered and prostrating himself to the floor, he wept for joy." (Hendrik Cornell. The Iconography of the Nativity of Christ. Uppsala Universitets Årsskrift. Uppsala, Sweden, 1924, pp. 11-13)

Immediately after her vision, Bridget dictated it to secretaries, who translated her account from Swedish to Latin.

The canvas was originally held in the refectory of the Convento di San Domenico in Prato.

The presence of Saint Vincent Ferrer (23 January 1350 – 5 April 1419), the Valencian Dominican missionary and logician is due to the commission by the Dominicans. It does appear out of place- almost an after thought. It is thought that Lippi did not execute this figure but rather his assistant, Fra Diamante (and perhaps afetr Lippi`s death)

St Vincent was canonised by Pope Calixtus III at the Dominican Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Rome, on 3 June 1455, around the time when the work was painted. No doubt the painting and the canonisation are not coincidental. It is one of the first iconographies of the newly canonised saint

The great penitential Preacher whose father was from Scotland carries a Book with the words: Timete Deum quia venit hora iudicii eius. - Fear God, because the hour of his judgement is coming.

The Modern Anchorite or Hermit

Ignacio Zuloaga y Zabaleta 1870 - 1945

L'anachorète ou Un ascète / The Anchorite or The Hermit 1907

Oil on canvas

188 x 115 cm

Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Further to the post below about Mother Julian of Norwich, some might think that hermits and anchorites were peculiarities of Medieval times

When Pope John Paul revised The Code of Canon Law in 1983 there was provision for hermits and anchorites:

"Can. 603 §1. In addition to institutes of consecrated life, the Church recognizes the eremitic or anchoritic life by which the Christian faithful devote their life to the praise of God and the salvation of the world through a stricter withdrawal from the world, the silence of solitude, and assiduous prayer and penance.

§2. A hermit is recognized by law as one dedicated to God in consecrated life if he or she publicly professes in the hands of the diocesan bishop the three evangelical counsels, confirmed by vow or other sacred bond, and observes a proper program of living under his direction."

On 6th August 2010 the Italian Catholic Bishops` newpaper L`Avvenire  reported that there were about 200 hermits ("solitari della fede" or "pellegrini d`assoluto") in Italy

The article in L`Avvenire tells the story of a Frenchman called Frédéric who lives a hermetic life in Calabria in Southern Italy. He describes the way of life as not being the result of choice but a task which has to be done.

Famiglia Cristiana in 2006 had an article describing the life of Tadeusz from Poland who is a hermit in Umbria. He describes his calling as "following a voice" In 1990 he spent eight months with the Camaldolese monks in Rome but it was not what he was searching for. He stressed the difference between the life of a hermit in a community of hermits and that of the solitary hermit.

But even Tadeusz does see people. Each day he walks 5 kilometres to help the parish priest during Mass, some families invite him for lunch, and some seek out his help

On its website the ancient Archdiocese of Spoleto-Norcia has a special section on its Hermits who are listed along with the Clerics, Monasteries, Institutes of Consecrated LIfe and so on.

Here is a photograph of the Archbishop and some of the diocesan hermits in 2009:

The Archbishop describes the presence of the hermetic tradition as being very strong in his Archdiocese. It has been that way in his Archdiocese from the very early days of Christianity: the monk Spes and his two disciples Eutizio and Fiorenzo from AD 517, as well as including the birthplace of St Benedict of Norcia. The archdiocese has seven hermits: five women and two men.

The Archbishop describes their presence as not only as a benefit for the Archdiocese but also the whole of the Church.

The life of one of them, Cristina Emanuela Zecca is described in more detail here

As Pope Benedict XVI said in his address on Mother Julian of Norwich:

"We might be surprised and even perplexed by this decision to live as a "recluse," as this was called in her time. However, she was not alone in making this choice: During those centuries a considerable number of women opted for this kind of life, adopting rules elaborated purposefully for them, such as that composed by St. Aelred of Rievaulx.

The anchorites or "recluses" dedicated themselves within their cells to prayer, meditation and study. In this way, they developed a very fine human and religious sensitivity, which made them venerated by the people. Men and women of every age and condition, in need of advice and comfort, sought them devotedly.

Hence, it was not an individualistic choice; precisely with this closeness to the Lord, what matured in her also was the capacity to be a counselor to many, to help those who lived in difficulty in this life. ...

The women and men who withdraw to live in the company of God, precisely because of this decision, acquire a great sense of compassion for the sorrows and weaknesses of others. As friends of God, they have a wisdom that the world, from which they distance themselves, does not have. And with kindness, they share it with those who knock on their door"

"All will be well, and every kind of thing will be well."

The Beginning of Julian's Spiritual Vision, in a Collection of Theological Works, including Julian of Norwich

1450

Illuminated manuscript: Ink and pigments on vellum

Additional MS 37790; Item number: f.97v

26.5 x 16.5 cm

The British Library, London

Julian of Norwich, (c. November 8, 1342 – c. 1416) the anchorite at St Julian in Norwich (which belonged to Carrow Priory), wrote her account in 1413 of her mystical visions and spiritual experiences. The account in the above manuscript is a shortened version.

This page, near the beginning of the writing, has her account of her vision in May 1373 during an illness when she was thirty and one-half years old.

With his recent trip to the United Kingdom in mind, Julian of Norwich was the subject of the Pope`s latest Wednesday catechesis on significant women in the medieval Church

Her book, "The Revelations of Divine Love." is a classic written in Middle English.

The Catholic Encyclopedia summarises the Book thus:

"When seemingly at the point of death, in the bodily sickness for which she had prayed in order to renew her spiritual life, she passes into a trance while contemplating the crucifix, and has the vision of Christ's suffering "in which all the shewings that follow be grounded and joined".

The book is the record of twenty years' meditation upon that one experience; for, "when the shewing, which is given for a time, is passed and hid, then faith keepeth it by grace of the Holy Ghost unto our lives end".

More than fifteen years later, she received "in ghostly understanding" the explanation, the key to all religious experience:

"What? wouldest thou wit thy Lord's meaning in this thing? Wit it well: Love was His meaning. Who sheweth it thee? Love. Wherefore sheweth He it thee? For love. Hold thee therein, thou shalt wit more in the same. But thou shalt never wit therein other without end."

With this illumination, the whole mystery of Redemption and the purpose of human life became clear to her, and even the possibility of sin and the existence of evil does not trouble her, but is made "a bliss by love".

This is the great deed, transcending our reason, that the Blessed Trinity shall do at the last day:

"Thou shalt see thyself that all manner of thing shall be well."

"

The Pope concentrates on seeing The Revelations as being centred on "Divine Love", the subject matter of his First Encyclical. He discusses how Julian tries to deal with the question of how an all-powerful God can allow evil and the sufferiing of the innocent. In Benedict`s view, successfully.

He also tackles a rather controversial aspect of Julian`s teaching: "God as Mother". This was taken up by Pope John Paul I. It has been taken up by certain feminist theologians who like to put a spin on this. Benedict sees this part of Julian`s writings as simply a metaphor based on the teaching of Isaiah.

He also discusses how valuable the vocations of the enclosed orders are in the Church`s life and works, which to many outside (and some inside) the Church appear to be of no use whatsoever.

The Pope said:

"Dear brothers and sisters,

I am still remembering with great joy the journey I made to the United Kingdom last September. England is a land that has given birth to so many illustrious figures who with their testimony and their teaching have embellished the history of the Church.

One of these, venerated both by the Catholic Church as well as the Anglican Communion, is the mystic Julian of Norwich, of whom I would like to speak this morning.

The information we have on her life -- not much -- is taken primarily from the book in which this kind and pious woman gathered the content of her visions, titled "Revelations of Divine Love." It is known that she lived from 1342 to about 1430, years of torment both for the Church, lacerated by the schism following the Pope's return from Avignon to Rome, as well as for the people suffering the consequences of a long war between the kingdom of England and that of France. God, however, even in times of tribulation, does not cease to raise figures such as Julian of Norwich, to call men back to peace, love and joy.

As she herself recounts, in May of 1373, probably on the 13th of that month, she was suddenly stricken by a very serious illness that in three days seemed to bring her to the point of death. When the priest who came to her bedside showed her the crucifix, Julian not only quickly recovered her health, but received 16 revelations that subsequently she reported in writing and commented in her book, "Revelations of Divine Love."

And it was in fact the Lord who, 15 years after these extraordinary events, revealed to her the meaning of those visions.

"Do you wish to know what your Lord intended and to know the meaning of this revelation? Know well: Love is what he intended. Who reveals this to you? Love. Why does he reveal it to you? Out of love ... So learn that love is our Lord's meaning" (Julian of Norwich, "Il Libro delle Rivelazioni," Chapter 86, Milan, 1997, p. 320).

Inspired by divine love, Julian made a radical choice. Like one of the ancient hermits, she chose to live in a cell, which was near a church dedicated to St. Julian, in the city of Norwich, at the time a very important urban centre, near London. Perhaps she took the name Julian precisely from that saint to whom the church was dedicated and next to which she lived for so many years, until her death.

We might be surprised and even perplexed by this decision to live as a "recluse," as this was called in her time. However, she was not alone in making this choice: During those centuries a considerable number of women opted for this kind of life, adopting rules elaborated purposefully for them, such as that composed by St. Aelred of Rievaulx.

The anchorites or "recluses" dedicated themselves within their cells to prayer, meditation and study. In this way, they developed a very fine human and religious sensitivity, which made them venerated by the people. Men and women of every age and condition, in need of advice and comfort, sought them devotedly.

Hence, it was not an individualistic choice; precisely with this closeness to the Lord, what matured in her also was the capacity to be a counselor to many, to help those who lived in difficulty in this life.

We know that Julian also received frequent visitors, as attested in the autobiography of another fervent Christian woman of her time, Margery Kempe, who went to Norwich in 1413 to receive suggestions on her spiritual life. This is why when Julian was alive she was called, as is written on the funeral monument that houses her remains, "Mother Julian." She became a mother for many.

The women and men who withdraw to live in the company of God, precisely because of this decision, acquire a great sense of compassion for the sorrows and weaknesses of others. As friends of God, they have a wisdom that the world, from which they distance themselves, does not have. And with kindness, they share it with those who knock on their door.

I am thinking, hence, with admiration and gratitude, of women's and men's cloistered monasteries that, today more than ever, are oases of peace and hope, precious treasures for the whole Church, especially in recalling the primacy of God and the importance of constant and intense prayer for the journey of faith.

It was precisely in the solitude inhabited by God that Julian of Norwich composed the "Revelations of Divine Love," of which we have two editions, a shorter one this is probably older, and a longer one. This book contains a message of optimism based on the certainty of being loved by God and of being protected by his Providence.

In this book we read the following wonderful words:

"I saw with absolute certainty ... that God, even before creating us loved us, with a love that has never failed, and will never vanish. And in this love he did all his works, and in this love he disposed that all things should be useful for us, and in this love our life lasts for ever ... In this love we have our beginning, and we see all this in God without end" (Il libro delle rivelazioni, chapter 86, p. 320).

The subject of divine love returns often in the visions of Julian of Norwich who, with a certain audacity, does not hesitate to compare it also to maternal love. This is one of the most characteristic messages of her mystical theology. Tenderness, solicitude and the gentleness of God's goodness to us are so great that, to us pilgrims on earth, they evoke the love of a mother for her children. Indeed, at times the biblical prophets also used this language that recalls the tenderness, intensity and totality of the love of God, which manifests itself in creation and in the whole history of salvation and has its culmination in the incarnation of the Son. God, however, always surpasses every human love, as the prophet Isaiah says:

"Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even if these may forget, yet I will not forget you" (Isaiah 49:15).

Julian of Norwich understood the central message for the spiritual life: God is love and only when we open ourselves totally and with total trust to this love and allow it to become the sole guide of existence, is everything transfigured, true peace and true joy are found and one is able to spread this around.

I would like to stress another point.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church takes up the words of Julian of Norwich when it gives the point of view of the Catholic faith on an issue that does not cease to constitute a provocation for all believers (cf. Nos. 304-314). If God is supremely good and wise, why does evil and the suffering of the innocent exist? Saints as well, precisely the saints, ask themselves this question.

Enlightened by faith, they give us an answer that opens our heart to trust and hope: In the mysterious designs of Providence, even from evil, God draws a greater good, as Julian of Norwich writes:

"I learned by the grace of God that I must remain firmly in the faith, and hence I must firmly and perfectly believe that all will end well" (Il libro delle rivelazioni, chapter 32, p. 173).

Yes, dear brothers and sisters, God's promises are always greater than our hopes. If we entrust to God, to his immense love, the most pure and most profound desires of our heart, we will never be disappointed.

"And all will be well," "everything will be for the good": This is the final message that Julian of Norwich transmits to us and that I also propose to you today."

Mother Julian has influenced many not only in the Catholic Church but also in the Anglican Churc. One who read Mother Julian was the late Cardinal Hume, the late Archbishop of Westminister. While still Abbot of Ampleforth, Cardinal Basil Hume delivered a series of talks to the monks at Ampleforth. They were collected and published as a book called Searching for God. One talk in July 1974 was a Meditation on Mother Julian of Norwich and her desire to receive "three wounds": true contrition; genuine compassion; the sincere longing for God. Here is the meditation he delivered.

For websites with her biography and online texts of her Revelations with links to essays and articles, as well as links to study resources and a list of books helpful for further study see the Luminarium Julian of Norwich page

Saint Andrew`s Day

Juan de las Roelas

1560 - 1625

The Martyrdom of St Andrew c. 1612

Oil on canvas

Museo de Bellas Artes, Seville

In Patras in Greece, Andrew converted Maximilla, the wife of Aegeus the Roman Governor of Patras in the Peloponnesos, with whom he had a number of profound discussions.

Upon refusing to obey the proconsul's order to make a sacrifice to the pagan gods, Andrew was imprisoned and then bound to an X-shaped cross

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo ca.1617-1682

El martirio de San Andrés / The Martyrdom of St Andrew1675 - 1682

Oil on canvas

123 cm x 162 cm

Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

On St Andrew`s Day 2006, Pope Benedict XVI said:

"This Divine Liturgy celebrated on the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, Patron Saint of the Church of Constantinople, brings us back to the early Church, to the age of the Apostles.

The Gospels of Mark and Matthew relate how Jesus called the two brothers, Simon, whom Jesus calls Cephas or Peter, and Andrew: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Mt 4:19, Mk 1:17). The Fourth Gospel also presents Andrew as the first to be called, “ho protoklitos”, as he is known in the Byzantine tradition. It is Andrew who then brings his brother Simon to Jesus (cf. Jn 1:40f.). ...

The two brothers, Simon, called Peter, and Andrew, were fishermen whom Jesus called to become fishers of men. The Risen Lord, before his Ascension, sent them out together with the other Apostles with the mission of making all nations his disciples, baptizing them and proclaiming his teachings (cf. Mt 28:19ff.; Lk 24:47; Acts 1:8). ...

This same task, however, took on a different form for each of the brothers ...

Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, received another task from the Lord, one which his very name suggests.

As one who spoke the Greek language, he became – together with Philip – the Apostle of the encounter with the Greeks who came to Jesus (cf. Jn 12:20ff.). Tradition tells us that he was a missionary not only in Asia Minor and the territories south of the Black Sea, that is, in this very region, but also in Greece, where he suffered martyrdom.

The Apostle Andrew, therefore, represents the meeting between early Christianity and Greek culture.

This encounter, particularly in Asia Minor, became possible thanks especially to the great Cappadocian Fathers, who enriched the liturgy, theology and spirituality of both the Eastern and the Western Churches. The Christian message, like the grain of wheat (cf. Jn 12:24), fell on this land and bore much fruit.

We must be profoundly grateful for the heritage that emerged from the fruitful encounter between the Christian message and Hellenic culture. It has had an enduring impact on the Churches of East and West. The Greek Fathers have left us a store of treasure from which the Church continues to draw riches old and new (cf. Mt 13:52)."

(Address of Pope Benedict XVI at the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom on the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle 30 November 2006 at the Patriarchal Church of Saint George in the Phanar, Istanbul)

The Centurion's Servant

Paolo Caliari (Il Veronese) (1528-1588)

Der Hauptmann von Capernaum vor Christus
The Centurion of Capharnaum before Christ 1581-2

Oil on canvas

1.78m x 2.75m

Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, Germany

This is a later version of Veronese's celebrated representation of Christ and the Centurion of Capernaum which is in the Prado. It is a difficult subject. There is no action: only conversation. The action (the cure of the slave) happens miles away "offstage"

This copy in Dresden was acquired in 1747 by Augustus III

The first recognised paintings in sixteenth-century Venice that dealt with the subject matter of the Centurion were those executed by Veronese and his workshop

The painting depicts the events described in Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10 Veronese`s version is more Matthew than Luke.

In Matthew, a centurion comes to Christ upon the letter's entry into Capernaum end begs him to heal his paralysed servant; the act of healing takes place during this encounter.

"5 And when he had entered into Capernaum, a centurion approached, petitioning him,

6 and saying, “Lord, my servant lies at home paralyzed and badly tormented.”

7 And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

8 And responding, the centurion said: “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed.

9 For I, too, am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10 And, hearing this, Jesus wondered. And he said to those following him: “Amen I say to you, I have not found so great a faith in Israel.

11 For I say to you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and they shall sit at table with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

12 But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13 And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go, and just as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And the servant was healed at that very hour.

In Luke, the centurion sends Jewish elders to ask Christ to save the life of his slave who is at the point of death, and when Christ is nearing the house, he sends his friends; again because of the centurion's great faith, his request is granted.

"1 When he had finished all his words to the people, he entered Capernaum.

2 A centurion there had a slave who was ill and about to die, and he was valuable to him.

3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and save the life of his slave.

4 They approached Jesus and strongly urged him to come, saying, "He deserves to have you do this for him,

5 for he loves our nation and he built the synagogue for us."

6 And Jesus went with them, but when he was only a short distance from the house, the centurion sent friends to tell him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof.

7 Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the word and let my servant be healed.

8 For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."

9 When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him and, turning, said to the crowd following him, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith."

10 When the messengers returned to the house, they found the slave in good health."

There are differences in the two versions.

Today`s Gospel at the beginning of Advent is the account in Matthew.

Abbot Cuthbert Johnston gives an interesting meditation on today`s Gospel and in particular on the words of the Centurion:

"The gospel of today to calls us to reflect upon that personal encounter with Christ who comes to us and manifests himself to us in the breaking of the bread. From the lips of the centurion in today’s gospel we have the words which have been used by countless generations of believers as the immediate preparation for the coming of the Lord in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood:

"Lord, I am not worthy to receive you but only say the word, and I shall be healed”.

We read in the gospel of Saint Matthew that upon hearing the centurion’s words the Lord marvelled, and said that not even in Israel had he found such faith. We too should marvel when we consider how many millions of times, in every part of the world and in so many languages these words have been repeated.

The centurion, the unknown soldier of the gospel, was able with his word of faith, make the Word of God marvel, has found an exalted place in the Liturgy. His words which are placed on our lips are linked to the great mystery of faith and the most sacred moment of communion with the Body and Blood of the Lord.

The anonymous centurion’s words have been on the lips of countless Saints, on the lips of repentant sinners, they have been repeated with devotion and fervour by all who love the Lord and approach his holy table to receive the bread of life.

When these words are on our lips, let them also be in our heart, for we are called to be among those whom the Lord declared would come “from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven”. "

This event at Capharnaum is only one of the two recorded events at which Jesus was said to be astonished or amazed. The other is in Mark 6:6 when Jesus is said to be amazed at the lack of faith of the people of Nazareth and when he did not perform miracles.

One of the most striking depictions of this scene is by the British artist, Sir Stanley Spencer 1891-1959 at the Tate Gallery, London. It depicts the servant.

Sir Stanley Spencer 1891-1959

The Centurion's Servant 1914

Oil on canvas

1143 x 1143 mm

Tate Gallery, London

In Issue 18 / Spring 2010 of Tate Etc, Shirin Spencer (the daughter of Sir Stanley Spencer) provides an insight into the background of the painting and a letter her father sent to Henry Lamb regarding The Centurion’s Servant

She said:

"The picture is and isn’t about war – it’s about healing and redemption; but without the war, would it have been painted?

Three of Stanley’s older brothers had joined up at or near the beginning of the war, but Stanley and his younger brother Gil (Gilbert) did not enlist until 1915. In the meantime, they tried to concentrate on their painting and did first aid and drilling in Maidenhead. They were not dare-devils, but they were as ready to go as most of the young men in that village or elsewhere ...

The months between the outset of war and July 1915 were probably the most frustrating and distressing of his young life.

“The more beastly the stories become, the more I feel I ought to go and do something… Gil walks around like a lump of lead.”

His brother Will played Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata.

“The slow movement makes me think the world’s nearly coming to an end.”

For me, the most poignant of the statements is:

“When I feel the horror of war most is when I go to bed.”

When brother Sydney was on leave they would share a bed. He wrote in his diary how Stanley tossed and turned, and it was during those months that Stanley painted The Centurion’s Servant. ...

I think that this is a picture of hope. The servant will rise and greet his friends, and Stanley has found an oasis of peace and joy – and the strength to paint a miracle."

In 1915, the Royal Army Medical Corps took Spencer away from Cookham for the first time in his life after he volunteered to join up. His war service lasted till 1919. The effect was indelible.

Spencer had planned to make the painting one part of a diptych. Christ and the Centurion was to be the theme of the other companion painting.

In The Centurion`s Servant, the male figure on the bed has the visage of a young Spencer. Note also that each of the figures has their own individual "praying positions", as Spencer called them. The scene is set in 1914. Christ's miracle of healing at a distance is located in the maid's bedroom of the Spencer family's home, with his own siblings serving as the actors. The Spencer family was very religious. The vision is that of Luke rather than Matthew.

The Coming of Advent

Michelangelo Merisi (Caravaggio) (1571 - 1610)

Madonna di Loreto (Madonna dei Pellegrini)

1604-06

Oil on canvas

260 x 150 cm

Capella Cavalletti, Chiesa di Sant`Agostino, Rome

Michelangelo Merisi (Caravaggio) (1571 - 1610)

Madonna dei Palafrenieri (Madonna and Child with St. Anne)

1605

Oil on canvas

292 x 211 cm

Galleria Borghese, Rome

The woman modelling Mary appears to be the same in both paintings. It appears to be Una or Lena - short for Maddalena - who was, according to a criminal complaint, 'to be found standing in Piazza Navona', three minutes walk from S. Agostino, and 'who is Caravaggio's woman'.

Apparently she came from a poor but honourable family and demanded a substantial fee for posing for the pictures.

The Madonna dei Palafrenieri was commissioned for the altar of Archconfraternity of the Papal Grooms (Arciconfraternita di Sant'Anna de Parafrenieri) in the Basilica of Saint Peter but then sold to Cardinal Scipione Borghese.

For contemporaries of Caravaggio it would have been at first an astonishing and shocking depiction: the old and shrivelled St Anne, both Madonna and Child are barefoot; the Madonna showing her cleavage; the naked Christ; the sheer ordinariness of Mary; the poverty of the Holy Family in what appears to be an ordinary Rome tenement

The Madonna di Loreto would have only been slightly less of a shock but is still in the place for which it was commissioned.

The setting for the The Madonna di Loreto is in fact just round the corner from where the Chiesa di Sant`Agostino is situated. Indeed Caravaggio lived in the neighbourhood at the time.

Previous images of the Madonna of Loreto showed the house at Loreto itself or showed the cult statue of the Madonna and Child. Caravaggio shows Mary’s house and image first appearing to humble woodcutters or pilgrims but they are situated in the neighbourhood of the Church in Rome contemporaneous to the painting of the work.

“Simple” affective piety and miracle worship of the illiterate is combined with living, breathing, emotionally dramatic, naturalistic human beings and scenes to produce a work of great depth operating on many levels which was attractive and compelling for the widest possible audience

As Pope Benedict XVI said of today, so also of the Counter-Reformation Pentecost in post-Tridentine Rome in the 17th century:

“[I]n the Church there is also a Pentecost today – in other words, the Church speaks in many tongues, and not only outwardly, in the sense that all the great languages of the world are represented in her, but, more profoundly, inasmuch as present within her are various ways of experiencing God and the world, a wealth of cultures, and only in this way do we come to see the vastness of the human experience and, as a result, the vastness of the word of God”. [Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Curia (22 December 2008): AAS 101 (2009), 50]