Les Fleurs de Marie-Jacqueline

Spiritual Counsel from a Strange Old Man

2012-01-30T14:20:00.000-08:00

In her marvelous novel The Scent of Water, Elizabeth Goudge describes an encounter between one of the book's main characters and a strange old man:

"He had a round clerical hat, dusty and green with age. He put it on, gripped his umbrella in his left hand and held out his right to me. I held it and it was dry and rough and hot. 'My dear,' he said, 'I will pray for you every day of my life until I die.'

"Then he abruptly let go of my hand, turned his back on me and stumbled down the steps that led from the front door to the drive. At the bottom he turned around again and looking into his face I noticed that when he was neither eager nor alarmed his eyes had the most extraordinary quietness in them. 'My dear,' he said, 'love, your God, is a trinity. There are three necessary prayers and they have three words each. They are these, 'Lord have mercy. Thee, I adore. Into Thy hands.' Not difficult to remember. If in times of distress you hold to these you will do well.' Then he lifted his hat and turned around again. I stood at the door and watched him go. He had a queer wavering sort of walk. He did not look back."

Traditional Latin Mass in San Francisco 2012

2012-01-15T12:41:00.000-08:00

As of January 8, 2012, there is now a Traditional Latin Mass in San Francisco every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation. Beginning next Sunday, January 22, 2012, the Mass will start at 5:00 p.m. instead of the previous starting time of 5:30 p.m. The chapel will open at 4:30 p.m.

The location is Immaculate Conception Chapel, 3255 Folsom Street in Bernal Heights, a couple of blocks up the hill from Cesar Chavez, just past Precita Park, on the left side of the street. The entrance to the parking lot is to the left of the chapel.

The Mass is offered by Fr. William Young, a retired priest of the Diocese of San Francisco. Fr. Young is one of the traditional priests whose story is told in the book "Priest, Where is Thy Mass?" Father also says Mass at 12:15 p.m. every Sunday in Marin County at Holy Rosary Chapel in San Rafael (St. Vincent's School).

Persons with questions are asked not to disturb the chapel staff but rather to telephone Fr. Young at the church where he resides, 415-863-6259.

Image: Zurbaran's Immaculate Conception from Wikimedia Commons

Come, Let Us Adore Him

2011-12-24T18:02:00.000-08:00

May you have a Blessed Christmas and New Year.

A Very Lovely Altar Flower Arrangement

2011-10-10T17:13:00.000-07:00

Isn't this beautiful? From SSPX German District via Rorate Caeli blogspot.

The Laziest Gal in Town (Stage Fright, 1950)

2011-09-21T23:15:00.000-07:00

I recently viewed Stage Fright, a 1950 motion picture directed by Alfred Hitchcock in which Marlene Dietrich has a major role. Much that happens in this movie is in keeping with one of Mr. Hitchcock's major themes: the complexity of the human soul.

In Hitchcock's pictures, seemingly "good" people often reveal themselves to be anything but, and seemingly "bad" people sometimes do good things. Occasionally, they even rise to the level of sacrificing themselves for the common good.

Hitchcock was Catholic and the view he presents of human beings wounded by original and personal sin but still bearing the image of God is of course thoroughly Catholic.

In Stage Fright, Marlene Dietrich is a very bad woman indeed. While she does nothing noble or self-sacrificing, the viewer comes to realize that she is somewhat less thoroughly evil than she seems.

During the film, Dietrich (an actress and singer in the movie) performs before a theatre audience a piece called "The Laziest Girl in Town". Cole Porter wrote the number specifically for this movie.

The idea of the song is that while Dietrich would like the reward of selling her sexual favors (like the "gals" who get "money to burn"), and while she is attractive ("it's not 'cause I couldn't"), and she is not morally opposed ("it's not 'cause I shouldn't") -- she doesn't sell herself because it's just too much trouble ("it's simply because I'm the laziest gal in town").

I couldn't help but think that this song provides a great negative example of purity of intention. That is, we Catholics strive not only to avoid evil and do good but to do these things solely for the love of God -- we strive to purify our intention. The Dietrich character, however, refrains from sin not out of love for God or even to avoid damnation, but simply because of sloth.

I don't know whether Cole Porter had any of this in mind when he wrote the song but I rather like to think that Mr. Hitchcock very skillfully slipped a sermon on spiritual theology into this film.

Postscript: Incidentally, the female lead in Stage Fright, Jane Wyman, converted to Catholicism in 1953 and became a Dominican tertiary. It is said she was buried in a Dominican habit.

St. Thomas More's Flowers

2011-08-30T18:58:00.000-07:00

Some readers might wonder whether the image of a flower arrangement I am currently using for my avatar is a photograph of an arrangement I did. The answer is "No". The flowers are from a famous painting of St. Thomas More -- lawyer, statesman, and martyr -- entitled "Thomas More and Family".

A drawing for the painting was done by the artist Hans Holbein the Younger. The actual painting was made from the drawing by Rowland Lockey and finished in 1592.

The Ten Most Elegant Motion Pictures

2011-08-12T17:13:00.000-07:00

Of all the movies I've seen, I consider those listed below the most elegant. Most are in black and white and most are from one or the other Catholic director. (Boleslawski, Bresson, Ford, Hitchcock, McCarey, and Scorsese were/are Catholic. Ophuls was not.)

For the time being at least, I have listed the films in alphabetical order rather than ranked them:

An Affair to Remember (1957, Leo McCarey)

I Confess (1953, Alfred Hitchcock)

Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945, Robert Bresson)

Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948, Max Ophuls)

Notorious (1946, Alfred Hitchcock)

The Age of Innocence (1993, Martin Scorsese)

The Earrings of Madame de (1953, Max Ophuls)

The Fugitive (1947, John Ford)

The Garden of Allah (1936, Ryszard Boleslawski)

The Painted Veil (1934, Ryszard Boleslawski)

Calling All Church Flower Volunteers

2011-07-10T16:58:00.000-07:00

Are you a volunteer church flower arranger in a Catholic church or chapel? Would you like to share a photograph of the altar or sanctuary flowers you arranged with the other readers of Les Fleurs de Marie-Jacqueline? If so, please e-mail me the photograph at the e-mail address listed in About Me. No professionals or others with commercial intentions please!

Postscript - 8-5-2011: I discovered today that the e-mail address somehow became missing from About Me. Hopefully, that is now fixed.

Who cares about obedience?

2011-06-25T10:05:00.000-07:00

Who cares about obedience? Find out in a vignette by Wallyflower entitled Cordelia's Shoes.

Green Dolphin Street on Old Time Radio

2011-05-12T09:31:00.000-07:00

For those of us who long ago rid ourselves of the scourge of television, there are difficult moments when an old movie is only available on VHS and not DVD. For quite some time, I have been wanting to watch Green Dolphin Street (1947), a drama with a godly resolution of several romantic conflicts. You can read a little about the movie in the Wikipedia article here and a Catholic review by Elena Maria Vidal here.

Much to my delight, I recently discovered that a 1949 radio adaptation of the story by Lux Radio Theater is available in mp3 format at the Internet Archive Old Time Radio site here. (Go to the link and then scroll down the page.) At the same site, one can find many radio adaptations of other classic movies. These include several romantic comedies by Catholic director Leo McCarey -- Love Affair, The Awful Truth, and My Favorite Wife. Enjoy!

Adieu until after Easter

2011-04-09T09:23:00.000-07:00

May you have a blessed Holy Week and a joyous Easter.

The Quiet American (1958)

2011-04-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

The Quiet American (1958) is a black and white film directed and produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who also wrote the screenplay. It is based on a novel of the same name by Graham Greene and was followed by a remake in 2002.

The motion picture stars Audie Murphy as the American, Michael Redgrave as Thomas Fowler, Giorgia Moll as Phuong, and Claude Dauphin as the French police inspector, Vigot.

A multi-layered story with political intrigue, a detective story, and a romantic triangle, the film opens with the death by drowning of the American, an event that occurs during the Chinese New Year's celebration in Saigon, Vietnam, in 1952. The story is then told for the most part in flashbacks related by Fowler as Inspector Vigot investigates and questions Fowler and probes into events leading up to the death.

Fowler is a cynical, aging British newspaper correspondent who is ostensibly covering the conflict between the French colonial and Vietnamese imperial forces on the one side, and the Communist rebels on the other. In fact, Fowler works very little and sends his assistant, Dominguez, to the battle zone in his stead. And, although Fowler has a wife back home in England, he lives with Phuong, a beautiful young Vietnamese woman who was formerly a paid "dining and dancing partner" at an establishment called the Rendezvous.

Fowler's assistant, Dominguez, is an enigmatic character whose nationality is not revealed in the film and who is an entirely different person in the book. Since it eventually comes to light that Dominguez is a Communist, the implication is perhaps that he is a Cuban.

The American (who is nameless in the film, but called Alden Pyle in the novel) is an idealistic young aid worker for a group called Friends for Free Asia. Influenced by the writings of a political scientist, York Harding, the American is convinced that the answer for Vietnam is the formation of a "Third Force", a democratic popular alternative to either the preservation of colonialism or the imposition of Communism.

The American, Fowler, and Phuong become acquainted one evening at the Hotel Continental (a well-known landmark in Saigon in real life), and dine together at the Rendezvous. While the American and Phuong dance, leaving Fowler to order dinner for the three of them, Phuong's sister, Miss Hei, seizes the opportunity to question Fowler about the American. Thus begins a campaign by Miss Hei to marry Phuong off to the American, who is more than willing since he has already fallen in love with Phuong.

At the behest of Dominguez, Fowler reluctantly travels north to the battle zone. To the amazement of the French military, the other correspondents, and Fowler, the American suddenly appears, having driven a Red Cross jeep there from Hanoi for the purpose of telling Fowler that he has fallen in love with Phuong, wants to court her, and wants to be straightforward with Fowler. The American also brings Fowler a cable forwarded by Dominguez saying that the newspaper has called Fowler home to England.

A couple of weeks later, Fowler returns to Saigon. Dominguez picks him up at the airport and begins planting suspicions that the American in involved in political machinations. Fowler, however, is more worried about whether the American is engaged in romantic intrigue with Phuong. When Fowler returns to his apartment, Phuong admits she has been seeing the American, but always in the company of Miss Hei.

The American and his dog, Duke, come to visit. The American proclaims his love for Phuong and his desire to court and marry her. The encounter upsets Phuong. She does not actually reject the American but assures Fowler she will remain with him even after Fowler tells her he must return to England. Then in an effort to compete with the American, Fowler writes to his wife asking for a divorce, knowing in advance that she will not agree because she is a devout believer. (In the novel, she is Catholic; in the film she is Anglican.)

Because of the political potentialities of the 25,000-member private Army of the Cao Dai syncretistic religious sect, Fowler and other journalists travel to the sect's "Holy See" at Tay Ninh for the annual Cao Dai festival. There, Fowler sees the American speaking with an associate of General Thé, the former Cao Dai chief of staff, now a renegade from the sect.

After the press conference, the men must return to Saigon before nightfall because of the danger of insurgent attacks at night. The American's automobile has been tampered with and will not start. Fowler offers the American a ride back to Saigon. Part way, Fowler's automobile, which has been drained of gasoline, runs out near a French watchtower. The men take refuge in the tower with two young Vietnamese soldiers. The Communists attack and Fowler is injured attempting to escape. The American saves Fowler's life by carrying him to safety, then locates a French patrol to take Fowler for medical care.

After a stay in the hospital, Fowler returns to Saigon and hears back from his wife. He lies to Phuong, telling her that the wife has agreed to a divorce. Phuong shows the letter to Miss Hei, who knows English. The truth is revealed and Phuong leaves Fowler for the American.

Meanwhile, Dominguez and a Chinese Communist assassin, Heng, convince Fowler that the American is providing explosives to General Thé as part of a scheme to build the Third Force. After a deadly bombing in the center of Saigon that is very likely perpetrated by the Communists but blamed on General Thé, Heng proposes that Fowler set up the American for assassination. Fowler is initially hesitant but after learning that Phuong will soon be leaving for America, he suddenly resolves to cooperate in the assassination plot.

The American is killed and Phuong returns to work at the Rendezvous. Vigot investigates, questions Fowler, and arrests Heng and Dominguez. Fowler's wife belatedly writes that she will agree to the divorce after all and Fowler's paper permits him to remain in Saigon for the time being. Nevertheless, Phuong refuses to reconcile with Fowler who, in the end, is left entirely alone and bereft of any dignity.

Michael Redgrave and Audie Murphy were well cast for their roles. Redgrave skillfully portrays the selfish sarcastic persona of Fowler while at the same time managing to invite a modicum of pity for his character because he reveals the character's underlying psychological fragility. As for Audie Murphy, he is quite believable as the American, a role for which his personal history fit him very well since he was the most-decorated veteran of World War II.

A lot has been said about the real historical persons and events alluded to in the film, about the war in Vietnam that occurred after the novel, and about the similarities and differences between Greene's novel, Mankiewicz's screenplay, and the 2002 remake. Overall, the 2002 version is not more faithful to the novel as its enthusiasts claim. In any event, I much prefer Mankiewicz's 1958 film to either the novel or the 2002 film.

What I find most interesting is the film's exploration of how a man's ability to reason and make moral judgments can be undermined by his passions. In the act of betraying the American, who has saved his life, Fowler reads aloud a passage from Shakespeare's Othello where Iago says, "Though I perchance am vicious in my guess (As, I confess, it is my nature's plague To spy into abuses, and oft my jealousy Shapes faults that are not)". (Act III, Scene 3.)

Nevertheless, Fowler fails to heed the caution suggested by the passage. He is so unsettled by the impending loss of Phuong that, despite his sophistication and journalistic training, Heng and Dominguez have easily manipulated him into believing that the American is providing General Thé with an explosive named "Diolacton" -- a substance that is fictional in the story as well as in real life -- and Fowler proceeds with the betrayal, then leaves it up to the God he does not believe in to intervene.

Moreover, Fowler's moral culpability is compounded by the fact that he does not truly love Phuong. After Fowler lies, telling Phuong that his wife is going to permit a divorce, he treats Phuong peremptorily, ordering her about. And, he tells the American that he does not care about Phuong's "interests". Rather he just wants her and wants her with him.

One of the many ironies of the story is that while Fowler is loathe to return to England with the monotonous predictability of "the Press Club and the number 78 bus", he has embedded himself into a safe little world with Phuong that is just as narrow, if a bit more exotic. And, the prospect of that world being torn apart is as shattering to Fowler as the prospect of losing predictable comforts would be to the most timid and banal of the Londoners Fowler disdains. It is Phuong who dreams of a wider world with her picture books of America and England.

Another irony is that while Fowler sees the American as dangerously naive and foolish, the American sees Fowler as the one who is "truly innocent" because of his lack of self-knowledge and the degree to which his emotions obscure his perceptions. Before his death, the American (an Episcopalian) encourages Fowler to examine his conscience and suggests religion as a remedy for his spiritual affliction. Inspector Vigot (a Roman Catholic) makes the same suggestions after the American's death. Even when Fowler realizes he has been duped and has pronounced a private death sentence based on insufficient evidence, however, he persists in his atheism. The end result is that he is left without absolution and without hope.

The film presents religion and morality in a positive light and adultery in a negative light. There is no nudity, profanity, or vulgarity, and there are no bedroom scenes. I give the 1958 version five roses.

Babettes Gæstebud (1987)

2011-03-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

Babettes Gæstebud (1987), better known by its English title, Babette's Feast, is a color film set in the late 1800s in village on the coast of Jutland in Denmark. The motion picture is based on a short story of the same name by Danish author Karen Blixen (also known as Isak Dinesen). Gabriel Axel, another Dane, directed the movie, which stars Stéphane Audran as Babette.

Martine (Birgitte Federspiel) and Philippa (Bodil Kier) are the only children of a widowed Danish minister who is the founder of an austere pietistic Lutheran sect. The daughters are named after Martin Luther and Luther's friend, Philipp Melanchthon.

A Swedish military officer, Lorens Löwenhielm (Jarl Kulle), and a French opera star, Achille Papin (Jean Philippe La Font), briefly court the sisters in their youth. Löwenhielm withdraws because he believes himself unworthy of Martine, and Philippa rejects Papin after he makes a pass while giving her voice lessons in the parlor of her father's home.

The father dies, and the sisters -- who never marry -- spend their adult lives doing good works and holding together the sect founded by their father. One stormy night, when the sisters are no longer young, a French widow, Babette, comes to their home with a letter of introduction from Papin, explaining that she had to flee France for political reasons.

After some initial hesitancy, the sisters take Babette into their home as their cook and housekeeper. Babette enlivens the home and the community, adding herbs and special dishes to their bland diet and a French playfulness to transactions with the grocer and fishermen.

After more than a decade, Babette's quiet life with the sisters changes when the French lottery ticket bought for her yearly wins 10,000 francs. The sisters assume Babette will return to France, and she considers it but decides to remain with them and spend her money providing a feast for the 100th anniversary of the birth of the women's deceased father.

Frightened by the arrival of the quail and a huge sea turtle that are to be made a part of this feast, the sisters and members of the sect are reticent about the meal. At the request of his aunt, who is a respected member of the sect, Löwenhielm joins the party. Married to a noblewoman and having won favor in the Swedish court by dropping pious sayings learned while courting Martine, Löwenhielm is now a General. His praise of the food and wine overcomes the timidity of the others, who partake of the glorious repast Babette provides.

Löwenhielm remembers the haute cuisine at the Cafe Anglais in Paris prepared by a woman chef. He makes a speech incorporating the Psalm he once heard in Babette's home when her father was alive. "Mercy and truth have met each other: justice and peace have kissed." (Ps. 84:11 in the Douay-Rheims Bible.) The Church understands this to be a reference to Christ's unity of person but it is not presented that way by Löwenhielm.

The strange and wonderful food and drink softens the psychological boundaries of the sect members. Old grudges seem to resolve and longstanding worries seem to dissolve. The sect members conclude the evening by dancing around a well the way Danes dance around the tree at Christmas.

Afterward, Babette admits she was the chef at the Cafe Anglais to whom Löwenhielm referred. She tells the sisters that she has spent all she had on the feast and will remain to work for them. No one in France who meant anything to her is still alive anyway, so there is no point in going back.

In reflecting on the film, one wonders how long in real life the bliss lasted for the sect members since it was produced by the rich meal and wine to which they were unaccustomed. It seems likely that the next morning they would have been more than a little embarrassed by their behavior and felt as if they had not quite been themselves.

As Christians, we know that good food and good wine do not have the power in themselves to bring lasting change in the human soul, which is comprised of the intellect and the will. Thus, either the supposed transformation of the sect members was only transitory, or something supernatural occurred.

Many Catholics and other Christians think the film has a profoundly Christian message. Catholics see it as affirming the goodness of creation against a heretical Manicheanism. Many see the meal as "eucharistic" and Babette as a Christ-figure, sacrificing herself for the good of others. One author sees the film as portraying Luther's theology of grace. Another sees it as epitomizing the theology of Kierkegaard.

While surely what the well intentioned but floundering sect members needed was the sacramental graces of the Church, one wonders if the Babette enthusiasts are not projecting their own views onto a film where the director, and the author of the short story on which the film was based, might have intended something entirely different.

Those who see the feast as Eucharistic make much of Babette's supposed sacrifice, but there was no sacrifice. Babette's art was cooking, and spending her money to create a memorable meal was an indulgence, not a sacrifice. Near the end of the film, Babette admits that the meal was done at least in part for her own gratification, saying, "It was not just for you", meaning it was for herself as well, and that an "artist is never poor". In the short story, this is even clearer: Babette says, "For your sake? . . . No, for my own."

Much is also made of the fact that there were twelve at the dinner table as if this makes the meal a Last Supper. Interestingly, there were only 11 until Löwenhielm was invited. Thus, the number symbolism -- if any was intended -- is a reversal of the Last Supper, where there were 12 until Judas's betrayal, then only 11. But, perhaps there is no symbolism at all. Many believe twelve is the perfect number for an elegant dinner party.

In the film, Papin talks about how some day Philippa will sing in heaven, and Philippa tells Babette that in heaven she will delight the angels with her cuisine. Aside from the fact that angels do not have bodies to delight with food, one might consider that if singers and chefs focus on their art in heaven, then heaven is merely a continuance of life on earth and might as well be achieved by science.

Remember that a metaphor is first and foremost a figure of speech, which implies that there is a speaker who is using the figure. The "speakers" in the film were Karen Blixen, the author of the short story, and Gabriel Axel, the director of the film.

According to a website devoted to Karen Blixen, she came from a Unitarian family and her religious views were consonant with those of the Danish existentialist Søren Kierkegaard, who did not believe in an ecclesial relationship to God. Also, ironically given the food theme, Blixen had stomach problems, was perhaps anorexic, and died of malnutrition or starvation.

The Blixen site says the Babette story is about "pietism and the sensuality of food". (Pietism is a religious current that emphasizes personal piety rather than church membership and participation in the sacraments.)

Here are two quotes from Blixen's short story on which the film was based:

"Of what happened later in the evening nothing definite can here be stated. None of the guests later on had any clear remembrance of it. They only knew that the rooms had been filled with a heavenly light, as if a number of small halos had blended into one glorious radiance. Taciturn old people received the gift of tongues; ears that for years had been almost deaf were opened to it. Time itself had merged into eternity. Long after midnight the windows of the house shone like gold, and golden song flowed out into the winter air."

"When later in life they thought of this evening it never occurred to any of them that they might have been exalted by their own merit. They realized that the infinite grace of which General Löwenhielm had spoken had been allotted to them, and they did not even wonder at the fact, for it had been but the fulfillment of an ever-present hope. The vain illusions of this earth had dissolved before their eyes like smoke, and they had seen the universe as it really is. They had been given one hour of the millennium."

Based on the above quotes from the short story, it seems that Blixen did see her characters as having received some kind of grace that night, although it is difficult to distinguish what she describes from the predictable effects of a good meal and an abundance of wine. Perhaps Blixen meant to describe the natural grace of which good food is a part, or perhaps she meant the diners received a transitory supernatural grace. There is nothing, however, to suggest that Blixen intended the dinner to be a metaphor for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, as the Catholic Babette enthusiasts maintain.

As for Gabriel Axel, he is a gourmand married to a French woman. Axel once told an interviewer that his wife could prepare all the dishes from Babette's Feast. In 1968, Axel made a feature length motion picture called Danish Blue. The title does not refer to blue cheese but to blue movies. It is a propaganda film advocating the legalization of pornography. According to the Wikipedia entry:

"The film mixes interviews, reconstructions and fiction in playful fashion, seeking to ridicule and undermine Denmark's censorship laws at the time. The film may be said to have been successful in its mission, since a year after its release Denmark completely legalized pornography.

"The film was banned in France but released in both England and the USA. It started a whole wave of documentary films about pornography in Denmark."

I am neither a theologian nor an expert in film or literature, but I believe that insofar as the story and film might be about more than art and food, Blixen and Axel's intended message was one of naturalism -- the idea that beatitude can be attained by natural means. That, of course, is a beatitude without the beatific vision. Such an interpretation fits with Blixen's statement that the sect members that night had "been given one hour of the millennium" (during which Christ rules on earth -- something that Catholics do not take literally), and with Axel's promotion of pornography, which I suppose he mistakenly believes makes for a psychologically healthier society.

In short, I do not believe that Babette's Feast has a Catholic or even a generic Christian message. It does, however, have lovely cinematography and an enjoyable glimpse of 19th century Swedish style in the interior of Löwenhielm 's father's home. For these, I give the film three roses.

The White Countess (2005)

2011-03-19T22:05:00.000-07:00

The White Countess (2005) stars the late Natasha Richardson as Sofia Belinskaya, a widowed Russian countess reduced to working as a taxi-dancer and occasional prostitute in a mean bar in Shanghai. Her costar is Ralph Fiennes as Todd Jackson, a former State Department employee and diplomat who lost his wife in one terrorist attack, and his daughter -- and his vision -- in another. The story is set in Shanghai in 1936 and 1937, concluding with the Japanese attack on that city in August, 1937, that marked the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Sofia lives in a cramped slum apartment with her ten-year-old daughter, Katya (Madeline Daly); her mother-in-law, Olga (Lynn Redgrave); her sister-in-law, Grushenka (Madeline Potter); and her husband's uncle and aunt, Prince Peter (John Wood), and Princess Vera (Richardson's real-life mother, Vanessa Redgrave). Their kindly neighbor, Samuel Feinstein, is played by Allan Corduner.

Sofia and her in-laws are "White Russians", émigrés who fled the communist takeover in Russia. We are not told when they left Russia, when or how Sofia's husband died, or how long they have been in Shanghai. We only know that Sofia has been doing this work for "too long". Surely, however, she has not been taxi-dancing for the nearly 20 years since the 1917 revolution so perhaps the family left Russia in the late 20s or early 30s or Sofia's husband provided for them all until he died.

The family is entirely dependent financially on Sofia and, with rare exception, they show little love for Sofia. Her sister-in-law and mother-in-law especially look down on her, even as they avail themselves of the money she faithfully brings home, and the sister-in-law labors to drive a wedge between Sofia and her daughter. There are not enough beds for everyone, but when Sofia comes home from work at dawn, the uncle feigns sleep rather than give her his bed. Although occasionally Sofia speaks her mind, for the most part she bears their maltreatment with a patient long-suffering that touches the heart.

As for Todd Jackson, he was at the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 between the Allies and Germany after World War I, and involved in the failed League of Nations that was established by that treaty. Now blind, disillusioned, repelled by international affairs, and a little unbalanced psychologically, he finds relief frequenting seedy bars. In his meanderings, he meets and befriends a Mr. Matsuda (Hiroyuki Sanada) who, unknown to Jackson, is an advance man for the Japanese attack that will occur in August, 1937.

Sofia and Jackson meet at her workplace when she intervenes to protect him from two Russian thugs about to mug him. Jackson fantasizes about having his own nightclub, where he can control the environment. After placing all he has on a racetrack bet, he wins enough to implement that plan, choosing Sofia as the "centerpiece" and assuring her that her income as his hostess will mean she will no longer need to prostitute herself.

Although Jackson makes no sexual demands on Sofia and they have a relatively formal relationship for the year leading up to the Japanese attack, the two gradually reach toward each other. By the dramatic conclusion of the film, their private worlds are torn apart and they have found refuge with each other.

Except for Sofia, each character fantasizes about an ideal future: the in-laws dream of a restored social life in Hong Kong with other aristocratic refugees, Katya dreams of a boat trip up the river to Soo Chow, Jackson dreams of the perfect bar, and Matsuda dreams of the glorious triumph of Japanese imperialism. To the extent that Sofia dreams, however, it is only of the beauty and purity of the past.

Natasha Richardson had reverence for the character she played, describing Sofia as a woman of dignity and inner grace. Richardson gives life to those qualities in her sensitive portrayal. Among the most memorable is a sequence early on when another émigré, a younger man who had played tennis with Sofia during their teen years in Russia, comes to work in the bar where Sofia dances. He approaches her with great respect, almost awe, and before being hustled back to work by the bar manager, kisses her hand tenderly. This brings back memories to Sofia, and one feels the bittersweet longing set in motion by his tribute when, back home after the night's work, she dreams of Russia while waiting for her bed to be free.

In my view, a serious flaw in the film is the complete absence of Sofia's deceased husband from the story. There are no photographs, no memories of him, only a comment from an in-law that Sofia is bringing shame to his memory. A positive aspect is that there are no bedroom scenes or nudity. There are some unsavory goings-on in the various bars. These events seem integral to the story, however, and not improper for viewing by adults. Obviously, the picture is not for children.

I do have to say that this is a peculiar picture, and not the type I would ordinarily review. Primarily because of the touching performance by Natasha Richardson, however, I give it four roses.

Satan Never Sleeps (1962)

2011-03-12T19:07:00.000-08:00

Satan Never Sleeps is a 1962 motion picture directed by Leo McCarey and based on a novel by Protestant China missionary daughter, Pearl S. Buck. It was not a commercial success and it is easy to understand why.

The script uses the same light humor and silly interaction between a grumpy older priest (Fr. Bovard played by Clifton Webb) and a bumbling younger cleric (Fr. O'Banion played by William Holden) that worked in McCarey's Going My Way. In this film, however, those antics fall flat because McCarey transposes them onto two incredibly serious and grim subjects -- the brutality with which the Chinese communists persecuted the Chinese Christians and Christian missionaries in the late 1940s, and the marriage of a woman to her rapist so that the child born of the rape will know his father.

A positive aspect of the film is that it accurately depicts such tragic events as the communists trashing the interior of the church, tearing down the crucifix, putting up Chairman Mao's picture where the crucifix used to be, and using the church for communist indoctrination sessions. That is just what the Reds did many places in real life.

Another positive thing is that for the most part both priests are courageous. And, Fr. O'Banion maintains his chastity despite being ardently pursued by a physically attractive and romantically aggressive young woman (Siu Lan played by France Nuyen).

Unfortunately, the film is riddled with such nonsense as a scene where Siu Lan smiles and waves flirtatiously at Fr. O'Banion while he is kneeling during a Mass offered by Fr. Bovard right after the priests discover that most of the Chinese Catholics have deserted the church in fear of the communists, who have just taken over the town.

Later, when a local ex-altar boy turned communist (Ho San played by Weaver Lee) rapes Siu Lan, it is such a jarring departure from all the silliness that it is as if one is watching a different movie. And, when Ho San converts back to Catholicism after losing status with the communists for being too individualistic, one questions the sincerity of his re-conversion.

As if that transition did not make impossible demands on the viewer, Ho San then marries Siu Lan and when their baby is baptized by Fr. O'Banion, the silliness is reintroduced. I found it offensive that this supposedly "happy ending" is treated with the same fluffiness as the conclusion of any television sit-com from the 1970s.

I would really like to see a new version of this film with the screenplay re-written as a drama that does justice to the very serious questions presented. It might be quite good. As it is, the only value the movie has is its accurate portrayal of Chinese communist atrocities and the heroic resistance of the Chinese Catholics, who tear down Mao's picture and try to raise the Cross again. For that I give the film three roses.

The Fugitive (1947)

2011-03-06T11:42:00.000-08:00

The Fugitive (1947) is a lovely, luminous film directed by John Ford. It is a must for traditional Catholics. I am surprised that it has not been given more recognition. Henry Fonda, playing the priest who is the main character, understood his role and never failed to maintain a priestly dignity even when exhausted, threatened, or subjected to humiliations.

The story is of the events in the last days of the life of a priest in a Central American country where religion has been outlawed and the clergy martyred. The unnamed priest played by Fonda is the one cleric who has not yet been captured and assassinated.

In the Graham Greene book on which the film is based (originally published in the United States as The Labyrinthine Ways), the country was Mexico and the priest was an alcoholic. Although in the film the priest is merely traumatized (as if "shell-shocked") -- and not an alcoholic -- that does not necessarily detract from the power of the story.

The important thing is that the priesthood is larger than the priest -- something he acknowledges toward the end of the film. And, while being pursued by the police, he faithfully fulfills his priestly duties by administering the sacraments when sought by believers, sometimes reluctantly and with conflict and always at the risk of his own personal safety.

The motion picture was made in Mexico and the cinematography by Mexican Gabriel Figueroa is unfailingly beautiful. Many of the actors are also Mexican. Dolores del Rio is exquisite as the Indian woman who protects the priest. A wonderful sequence takes place in the cantina where she works. At the beginning of that sequence, a man sings a mournful ballad that reaches deeply into the soul, and before the end of the sequence, when Dolores del Rio dances on the bar to distract the police who are looking for the priest, one feels keenly the sacrifice she is making despite her apparent gaiety.

Another wonderful part of the film is when the fleeing priest is called upon to administer the last rites to a woman from a middle class family. Afterward, the men of the family prevail on the priest to say Mass -- something he cannot do because there is no wine to consecrate: wine has been outlawed along with religion and apparently as part of the effort to suppress the sacraments.

Pedro Armendariz skillfully portrays the atheistic lieutenant who pursues the priest with determination but not without a level of inner conflict. An interesting supporting character is the "trickster" figure, an informant who sets up the priest for his ultimate capture. Another is The Gringo, an American gangster, who helps the priest but refuses the sacraments as he lays dying. These two roles are well developed and well played by J. Carrol Naish and Ward Bond respectively.

This is a film I will watch again and again. My only complaint is that The Criterion Collection has not offered it as a DVD, because the celluloid could use the technical improvements that Criterion accomplishes so marvelously. I purchased it second-hand in a Region 2 DVD from Spain in English with Spanish subtitles, changed the region code on my computer, and watched it that way. There is no language option for English without subtitles but I found the Spanish subtitles helpful because the audio is not as distinct as it might be.

Needless to say, I give the film five roses.

Adieu until 2011

2010-11-13T12:56:00.000-08:00

May you have a blessed Advent and a holy Christmas. God willing, posting will resume in 2011.

New Blog: Casilda and the Cross

2010-09-25T10:28:00.000-07:00

Because of my interest in the story of Casilda, an 11th century Saracen princess from Toledo who became a Catholic saint, I have started a new blog, Casilda and the Cross. There, I will continue to explore Casilda's story, as well as medieval Spain in general. I hope that at least some of the readers of this site will pay a visit from time to time.

Image:
One of Zurbaran's paintings of Casilda. In the public domain.

Casilda of the Rising Moon (Borton, 1967)

2010-09-19T12:01:00.000-07:00

This post has been edited and moved to a new blog, Casilda and the Cross. The post is entitled A Novel About Casilda.

The Five Elements of Floral Design

2010-09-11T09:57:00.000-07:00

In addition to Adelaide B. Wilson's discussion of the six principles of floral design, she lists five elements of floral design. The elements are: line, form, pattern, texture, and color. One might think of the six principles as the active components while the elements are the matter on which they act in making the arrangement.

What Wilson has to say about the five elements can be summarized as follows:

Line refers to the overall framework or skeleton of the flower arrangement. It can include many subsidiary lines that are curved or straight, long or short. Wilson recommends working with the natural shape of the stem in creating line, and choosing the natural shape carefully. She cautions against trying to force an unnatural line on a stem as it might not remain in place.

Form refers to the shape of the bloom. Some are elliptical, some trumpet-shaped, others are spiked and so on. Also, the same flower has different forms when it is in bud, in half-bloom, and in full bloom. By using these forms in different combinations, one creates contrast and rhythm as described in the discussion of the six principles.

Pattern is the combination of line and form. It includes how empty spaces interrelate with the stems and blooms. Wilson recommends being careful not to crowd the flowers too closely as this impedes the construction of a pleasing pattern.

Texture refers to the roughness or smoothness of the bloom or foliage. It can be used in addition to color to create contrast. It adds shadow and depth. Wilson recommends being sensitive to the texture of other items in the church and also to whether the plant is so coarse in texture that it is too casual for church flowers.

Color is especially important in relation to rhythm and balance. Wilson points out that the visual weight of a color is significant. Light or pale colors seem lighter in weight than darker ones. Generally, it is better to use light colors high in the arrangement and dark colors lower, so that the dark colors give stability by means of horizontal balance.

Wilson advises the arranger to be sensitive to the liturgical colors. She also cautions that "great masses of brilliant flowers" are improper in a church setting because they draw too much attention. She notes that small amounts of lighter values of warm hues (yellows and reds) are effective for large areas whereas dark values of all colors, and blues and violets in all values, have a receding quality so that they tend to become invisible in a large church or a dim one.

The floral still-life above by Jan Davidsz de Heem illustrates all five elements of floral design. It can be an interesting exercise to use the painting to identify them.

Source:
Based on Wilson, Adelaide B.; Flower Arrangement for Churches (M. Barrows & Co., Inc.; New York, 1952), pp. 62-73.

Image:
Heem, "Flowers in a glass vase" (17th century; oil on canvas), from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

Casilda of the Angels

2010-09-03T12:56:00.000-07:00

This post has been edited and moved to a new blog, Casilda and the Cross. The post is entitled A Visit to Casilda's Shrine .

The New Hunters and Gatherers

2010-08-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

I entirely unplugged from the internet -- and the computer altogether -- from mid-afternoon this past Saturday until mid-morning on Monday. The peace and connectedness with the real world that resulted from this "fast" was wonderful!

When I returned to e-land on Monday, I found in my inbox a newsletter from the Canadian Catholic artist and author Michael D. O'Brien that contained this very apt quote from Nicholas Carr's 2010 book, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains:

"There’s nothing wrong with absorbing information quickly and in bits and pieces. We’ve always skimmed newspapers more than we’ve read them, and we routinely run our eyes over books and magazines to get the gist of a piece of writing and decide whether it warrants more thorough reading. The ability to scan and browse is as important as the ability to read deeply and think attentively. The problem is that skimming is becoming our dominant mode of thought. Once a means to an end, a way to identify information for further study, it’s becoming an end in itself—our preferred method of both learning and analysis. Dazzled by the Net’s treasures, we are blind to the damage we may be doing to our intellectual lives and even our culture.

"What we’re experiencing is, in a metaphorical sense, a reversal of the early trajectory of civilization: We are evolving from cultivators of personal knowledge into hunters and gatherers in the electronic data forest. In the process, we seem fated to sacrifice much of what makes our minds so interesting."

I think Mr. Carr's point is well taken.

Image:
19th century tribal women harvesting wild rice in the traditional manner, from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

St. Bartholomew and His Star

2010-08-24T07:22:00.000-07:00

Today, August 24, is the feast day of St. Bartholomew, one of the twelve apostles and a martyr.

According to the flower calendar in the Collectanea of V.S. Lean, the sunflower becomes a star for the feast of St. Bartholomew:

"And yet anon the full Sun-flower blew,*
And became a star for Bartholomew"

It is not entirely clear whether this is a Roman Catholic or an Anglican legend. Some sources claim it was already an existing tradition in 15th or 16th century, which would likely place its origin at a time prior to Anglicanism.

On the other hand, many sources say the sunflower was not brought to Europe until the 16th century, after Pizarro discovered it in Peru, so there could hardly have been an existing tradition before that time.

In any event, Ward and Lovejoy relate:

"The Old English church recommended decorating with the sunflower on St. Bartholomew's day, 24 August, because it represented constancy and devotion [.]"

And Forster says:

"The sunflower is called in the Floral Directory, St. Bartholomew's Star".

Sources:
Forster, Circle of the Seasons (T. Hookham, London, 1828), p. 237.
Ward and Lovejoy, A Contemplation Upon Flowers (Timber Press, 1999), p. 347.

Image:
A sunflower in Germany, from Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved.
----------------------
*Some sources substitute "below" and others substitute "flew"

Pink Roses and the Virgin's Immaculate Heart

2010-08-21T18:04:00.000-07:00

Although the 13th Sunday after Pentecost takes priority, tomorrow August 22 is also the Commemoration of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Fish Eaters has an excellent page on the Immaculate Heart and also a page on the related Miraculous Medal devotion.

In keeping with the theme of this blog, this post is about why -- as I mentioned in an earlier post -- devotional pictures and statutes of the Immaculate Heart usually show the Blessed Mother's heart surrounded by a wreath of pink roses. Why pink?

I found the explanation in an article at EWTN on another topic. The answer is that pink is a mixture of red and white. In turn, red stands for love and sacrifice while white stands for purity. That is, Immaculate = white, Heart = red, Immaculate Heart = pink.

It's as simple as that -- and rather nice, I think.

Image:
19th century devotional picture of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

St. Casilda and Her Muslim Father

2010-08-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

This post has been edited and moved to a new blog, Casilda and the Cross. The post is entitled The Legend of St. Casilda.

Assumption Day and Our Lady's Bower

2010-08-14T10:17:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, August 15, is the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrating the day Our Lady was taken into heaven.

According to the flower calendar in the Collectanea of Vincent Stuckey Lean (1820-1899), the blossoms of a certain plant fall around Assumption Day:

"When Mary left us here below,
The Virgin's Bower begins to blow."

The plant V.S. Lean is referring to is Clematis vitalba, known in Catholic horticulture as "Virgin's Bower" or "Our Lady's Bower". The idea is that the plant makes a bedchamber for Our Blessed Mother.

Clematis vitalba is a member of the ranunculus family. It is a climbing vine with medium green leaves shaped like elongated hearts. The plant grows vigorously and forms a canopy or thicket. It blooms during the summer with starry white blossoms. When the blossoms fall, they leave greenish seed heads. As the seed heads ripen, tufts of wispy, silver fibers emerge. The seed heads and fibers are lovely in winter.

You can read more about the plant here.

Image:
Clematis vitalba, from Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved.

Traditional Liturgical Colors and Church Flowers

2010-08-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

This post is in answer to questions about whether at the traditional Latin Mass there are any liturgical norms regarding the color of church flowers in relation to feast days.

As far as I have been able to ascertain, there are no norms about the color of the flowers. There are, of course, norms specifying the color of the priest's vestment and the altar frontal for the various days of the liturgical year. (The "frontals" are not to be confused with the altar cloths, which rest on top of the altar and drape over the sides. They are always white.)

Therefore, when planning church flowers one needs to take into account how the color or colors of the flowers will look with the colors of the vestment and altar frontal.

There is a good article about liturgical colors for the Mass according to the 1962 Missal here.

The basics are these:

White is for the seasons of Christmas and Easter, the feasts of Our Lord and Our Lady, and the feasts of angels, All Saints, and saints who are not martyrs.

Red is for the feasts of the Precious Blood, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Cross, apostles and martyrs.

Green is for Sundays and Ferias after Epiphany and after Pentecost.

Violet is for Advent and Lent (when no flowers should be used at all), on Rogation and Ember Days (except those of Pentecost when red is used), and for the season of Septuagesima and Vigils (except those of the Ascension and Pentecost).

Rose instead of violet may be used on Gaudete Sunday (during Advent) and Laetare Sunday (during Lent), and gold or silver and white may be used instead of white when white is prescribed.

Since white is the liturgical color for the feasts of Our Lady, such as the upcoming Solemnity of the Assumption, and the norms permit white to be substituted with gold, or with a combination of silver and white, one needs to check with the sacristan to find out which of these is going to be used and plan accordingly.

Beyond that, the best rule to keep in mind is that of the Ceremonial of Bishops: "The adornment and decor of a church should be such as to make the church a visible sign of love and reverence toward God." (No. 38.)

Image:
Photograph of altar with frontal (probably on Easter), from Sancta Missa.

Poplin and the Avignon Papacy

2010-08-07T13:30:00.000-07:00

Since I wear skirts and dresses at home as well as in the world and at Mass, I recently purchased a couple of plain solid-colored cotton dresses to wear as "house dresses", in the 1950s sense of the word.

I read in the product description that the weave of these dresses is "poplin". The word was not at all new to me but for some reason this time it intrigued me. When I looked it up, I was pleasantly surprised to find in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (CD-ROM version) that the name was derived from "papal" and that it was "so called from being made at the papal city of Avignon".

This refers to the fact that during the 14th century from 1309 to 1378 the papacy was based at Avignon in the region of Provence. At that time, Avignon was one of the pontifical states. It remained so until the French Revolution, after which it was incorporated into France.

Seven legitimate popes and afterward two "anti-popes" were based at Avignon. The seven legitimate popes were: Pope Clement V (1305-1314), Pope John XXII (1316-1334), Pope Benedict XII (1334-1342) who is depicted above, Pope Clement VI (1342-1352), Pope Innocent VI (1352-1362), Pope Urban V (1362-1370), and Pope Gregory XI (1370-1378).

As for the fabric poplin, according to the online version of the Encyclopedia Britannica, it is a:

"strong fabric produced by the rib variation of the plain weave and characterized by fine, closely spaced, crosswise ribs. It is made with heavier filling yarns and a greater number of warp yarns and is similar to broadcloth, which has even finer, more closely spaced ribs.

"Though originally made with a silk warp and a heavier wool filling, poplin is now made of a variety of fibres, including silk, cotton, wool, and synthetic types, and with combinations of such fibres. It is used for shirts, pajamas, women’s wear, and sportswear and also as a decorative fabric."

Although the poplin weave can be made with various types of threads as explained above, one internet site says that poplin was originally made from silk for use in church vestments, which makes sense in view of its association with the Avignon papacy.

Whether the garments of Pope Benedict XII seen above are made of silk poplin I cannot say, but I think I will now be reminded of the Vicars of Christ when I put on one of my house dresses. Perhaps at least some of those times I will remember to say a short prayer to St. Joseph for the protection of the Church:

St. Joseph, patron of the universal Church,
watch over the Church as carefully as you
watched over Jesus,
help protect it and guide it as you did
with your adopted son.
Amen.

Image:
Pope Benedict XII, one of the Avignon popes. From Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

St. Dominic and His Vision

2010-08-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

In the traditional calendar, today August 4, is the feast of St. Dominic de Guzman (1170-1221), the founder of the great Order of Preachers. In honor of the day, this post supports the tradition that Our Lady gave the Rosary to St. Dominic to use in his fight against the Albigensian heresy of the Cathars.

In his book The Secret of the Rosary, St. Louis de Montfort (1673-1716) gives some background and then tells the story of St. Dominic's vision:

"Since the Rosary is composed, principally and in substance, of the prayer of Christ and the Angelic Salutation, that is, the Our Father and the Hail Mary, it was without doubt the first prayer and the principal devotion of the faithful and has been in use all through the centuries, from the time of the apostles and disciples down to the present.

"It was only in the year 1214, however, that the Church received the Rosary in its present form and according to the method we use today. It was given to the Church by St. Dominic, who had received it from the Blessed Virgin as a means of converting the Albigensians and other sinners.

"I will tell you the story of how he received it, which is found in the very well-known book De Dignitate Psalterii, by Blessed Alan de la Roche [1428-1475]. Saint Dominic, seeing that the gravity of people's sins was hindering the conversion of the Albigensians, withdrew into a forest near Toulouse, where he prayed continuously for three days and three nights. During this time he did nothing but weep and do harsh penances in order to appease the anger of God. He used his discipline so much that his body was lacerated, and finally he fell into a coma.

"At this point our Lady appeared to him, accompanied by three angels, and she said, 'Dear Dominic, do you know which weapon the Blessed Trinity wants to use to reform the world?'

"'Oh, my Lady,' answered Saint Dominic, 'you know far better than I do, because next to your Son Jesus Christ you have always been the chief instrument of our salvation.'

"Then Our Lady replied, 'I want you to know that, in this kind of warfare, the principal weapon has always been the Angelic Psalter, which is the foundation-stone of the New Testament. Therefore, if you want to reach these hardened souls and win them over to God, preach my Psalter."

This tradition is questioned, however, because the event is not mentioned in any of the writings of St. Dominic or his contemporaries.

It is well known that the Holy Rosary or Our Lady's Psalter grew out of the monastic practice of reciting the 150 Psalms. That is, the desert monks recited all 150 Psalms daily. In turn, St. Benedict had his monks recite the 150 Psalms over the course of a week.

In imitation of this practice, the laity developed a practice of reciting 150 Aves to equal the number of the Psalms. The devotion became known as "Our Lady's Psalter" and later as a "Rosarium" (rose garden or rose garland), a metaphor used to describe collections of various sorts -- not just of prayers.

Thus, Our Lady's Psalter, the Rosary, was already around in some form at the time of St. Dominic's vision. That does not, however, conflict with the belief that Our Lady instructed St. Dominic to preach her Psalter or with the belief that by giving the Psalter her blessing it took on a definition that it did not have previously. It also seems quite possible that if St. Dominic was busy preaching her Psalter he might not have taken the time to write about it.

The best defense of the belief that Our Lady did in fact instruct St. Dominic to use her Psalter as a weapon to fight heresy despite the absence of a contemporary written record is found in an article by Fr. Paul Duffner, "In Defense of a Tradition," from Light and Life, Vol. 49, No. 5, Sep. Oct 1996.

Here is part of what Fr. Duffner had to say:

"Pope Benedict XIV (1740-58) was a renowned scholar and a promoter of historical studies and research. When he was an official of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, he was asked about the tradition of St. Dominic and the Rosary. The following is his response . . . :

'You ask whether St. Dominic was the first institutor of the Rosary, and show that you yourselves are bewildered and entangled in doubts on the matter. Now, what value do you attach to the testimony of so many Popes, such as Leo X (1521), Pius V (1572), Gregory XIII (1585), Sixtus V (1590), Clement VIII (1605), Alexander VII (1667), Bl. Innocent XI (1689), Clement XI (1721), Innocent XIII (1724) and others who unanimously attribute the institution of the Rosary to St. Dominic, the founder of the Dominican Order, an apostolic man who might be compared to the apostles themselves and who, undoubtedly due to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, became the designer, the author, promoter, and most illustrious preacher of this admirable and truly heavenly instrument, the Rosary.'
. . .

"To the above list of Popes accepting the tradition of St. Dominic and the Rosary could be added many more coming after the time of Benedict XIV. But this is not the main argument supporting the tradition. It is the coming together of many pieces of a puzzle pertaining to the essentials of the tradition as handed down. For example:

"given the fact that the members of the Militia of Jesus Christ founded by St. Dominic, or by a Dominican of his day, prayed the 150 Hail Marys daily. . . .

"given the fact of St. Dominic’s devotion to Mary and his ardent prayer in combatting the great heresy of his day. . .along with the testimony of ALAN DE RUPE that St. Dominic did receive some communication from the Mother of God as to how to combat the errors of his time. . . . (If Our Lady at Fatima gave us a remedy in this century for overcoming Communism and attaining peace - which remedy included the Rosary - does it not seem probable that she would have intervened in the 13th century offering a means of combatting the devastating heresy of Albigensianism - as tradition assures us she did.)

"given the fact that, as some of his biographers explain, a common manner of preaching of Dominic was the frequent alternating of his instruction on the mysteries of our faith with prayer. . . .

"given the fact that the first beginning of this devotion in the time of Dominic was vastly different from its present structure, that then there was no set sequence of the mysteries, and that even the name (Rosary) had not yet been established. . . .

"given the fact that many convents with their libraries were destroyed in the religious persecutions that followed the 13th century. . . .

"In the light of the above, it seems to me that the negative argument (the absence of documents) is outweighed by the presence of the essential components that constitute the heart of what the Rosary is. It seems to me, not merely possible, but very probable, that the Mother of God (as Alan de Rupe testified) did use St. Dominic in some way to give this devotion to the Church."

Fr. Duffner's article in its entirety is available online. Anyone interested in the matter would be well advised to read it.

Image:
Anonymous painting of St. Dominic receiving the Rosary, from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

Pink Flowers for Church Decoration

2010-07-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

In their book Arranging Flowers for the Sanctuary, Patteson-Knight and St. Claire provide a list of pink and rose-colored flowers for church decoration.

The month of the Immaculate Heart (August) is coming soon. Since many depictions of the Immaculate Heart show the Blessed Mother's heart surrounded by a wreath of pink flowers (usually roses), August is an especially good time to decorate churches and sacred spaces in the home with pink flowers.

Here is the list of pink and rose flowers from Patteson-Knight and St. Claire:

Amaryllis, Anemone, Aster, Azalea
Calla lily, Camellia, Canna, Carnation, Chrysanthemum,
Clove Pink; Coxcomb; Cyclamen
Dahlia
Foxglove
Geranium, Gladiolus
Hyacinth, Hydrangea
Iris
Larkspur, Lilac, Lily
Magnolia
Peony, Petunia, Phlox, Poinsettia
Ranunculus, Rhododendron, Rose
Scabiosa, Snapdragon, Stock, Sweetpea, Sweet William
Tulip
Zinnia

By "amaryllis" the authors are referring to the flower commonly called "Pink Ladies" not hippeastrum, which is often marketed under the name amaryllis. Pink Ladies bloom in late summer.

I was astonished to see iris on the list since I had never heard of a pink iris before but I did find some images of pink irises online. They are very beautiful!

I also learned that Clove Pink (Dianthus caryophyllus) and Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) are both types of carnations and can be very similar in appearance.

Geranium, gladiolus, petunia, phlox, rose, snapdragon, stock, and zinnia all bloom during the summer, so any of them might be a good choice for church and home decoration during August.

For a formal arrangement, I might use pink roses or cut-down gladiolas for form and pink snapdragons for height. For home, potted pink geraniums or phlox or a simple vase of pink stocks might work well.

Source:
Patteson-Knight, Francis and St. Claire, Margaret McReynolds; Arranging Flowers for the Sanctuary (Harper & Bros., New York, 1961), p. 39.

Image:
Pink gladiolas from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

The Keys of the Kingdom (1944)

2010-07-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

The Keys of the Kingdom is a black-and-white motion picture based on a novel of the same name by A.J. Cronin. It is the story of Fr. Francis Chisholm (Gregory Peck), a Scot who becomes a missionary priest serving in China beginning in the late 1800s.

When Francis Chisholm is a young boy, his father is attacked by an anti-Catholic mob. His mother tries to bring her wounded husband home and they both drown while crossing a river in a rainstorm.

After his parents' death, Francis Chisholm lives with distant relatives. With no plans of entering a seminary, he attends a Catholic college, Holywell, where he must work harder than most to comprehend and absorb his studies. He annoys his professors by asking questions about the Faith that they perceive as evidence of doubt. The dean of the college, Fr. Hamish MacNabb (Edmund Gwenn), however, understands and supports him.

Francis Chisholm has a girlfriend back home who fears he will decide to pursue the priesthood. When he is unable to leave the college for an entire year, she becomes despondent, goes downhill, bears a child out of wedlock, and dies. At this point, encouraged by Fr. MacNabb, Francis Chisholm decides perhaps God is calling him to be a priest.

After ordination, Fr. Chisholm fails at his first assignments because of his simplicity, frankness and lack of social skills. Meanwhile, his former dean, Fr. MacNabb, has become his bishop. Bishop McNabb calls Fr. Chisholm in for what the latter expects to be a reprimand. Instead, Bishop MacNabb offers him the challenging assignment of taking over a mission in China.

When Fr. Chisholm reaches the Chinese mission, he discovers that the church building has been destroyed and that the Chinese Catholics have all migrated to a Christian village some distance away.

The Wangs, an insincere Chinese couple claiming to be Catholic, try to manipulate Fr. Chisholm for financial gain. When he sees through their schemes, they turn on him. He opens a street chapel but is rejected and harassed by the Wangs and other locals.

Help comes first through an eager and resourceful young Chinese Catholic, Joseph (Benson Fong), who hears of Fr. Chisholm's arrival, comes in from the Christian village to offer assistance, and becomes a loyal ally. An elderly Chinese woman who knows she will soon die gives Fr. Chisholm and Joseph her tiny granddaughter, Anna, to care for and the three become a community of sorts.

Dr. Willie Tulloch (Thomas Mitchell), a hometown friend, sends Fr. Chisholm a case of medical supplies and instructions. Fr. Chisholm then offers free medical care to the townspeople but again he is rejected. When the son of the mandarin, Mr. Chia, is dying of an infection, however, the mandarin calls in Fr. Chisholm as a last resort.

Fr. Chisholm successfully treats the infection and the son survives. In gratitude, Mr. Chia gives Fr. Chisholm a large parcel of land where he can construct a new church and school. As the Catholic community is rebuilt, Fr. Chisholm requests that teaching sisters be sent from Europe. When they arrive, the patrician Austrian superior, Mother Maria Veronica (beautifully played by the director's wife, Rose Stradner), is put off by Fr. Chisholm's ways and treats him coldly.

During an attack on the town by imperial troops, a heroic act by Fr. Chisholm saves the town but he is left crippled in one leg. Finally, as an elderly man, he is called home to Scotland and given parish assignments where he is again in trouble for his forthrightness. At the conclusion of the film, he is understood by the chancery officials and is a grandfather of sorts to the son of the illegitimate child of his former girlfriend.

There is a great deal of humor in the film, especially in the antics of Joseph. The pace moves along nicely. More importantly, the motion picture presents the Church and the priesthood in a favorable light. Fr. Chisholm is soft spoken, dignified, dedicated, chaste, and courageous.

There is a lovely sequence in Bishop MacNabb's office when Fr. Chisholm kneels to kiss Bishop MacNabb's ring, then the bishop gets out a bottle of Scotch and they have a heart-to-heart talk during which the bishop offers Fr. Chisholm the assignment in China. When Fr. Chisholm accepts, the bishop gives the young Fr. Chisholm a token that symbolizes the bishop's paternal care.

The primary theme of the film is the virtue of humility. One of the ways that theme is beautifully developed is in the relationship between Fr. Chisholm and the aristocratic Mother Maria Veronica. During the story, Mother moves away from the pride she recognizes is her fatal flaw.

The change in Mother begins when the Wangs steal from one of the sisters. Mother has hired the Wangs despite Fr. Chisholm's warning about them. In a sacrificial act accomplished with a grace worthy of her noble breeding, Mother gives the sister in replacement for what was stolen a valuable crucifix that has been in her family for generations. At the same time, Mother's view of Fr. Chisholm begins to change. By the end of the story, they have come to love and respect one another.

No such character development occurs with Fr. Chisholm's hometown friend, Dr. Willie Tulloch. He is the prototype of the "good atheist" who possesses much natural virtue but trusts only in science, not in God. He comes to China to visit Fr. Chisholm and is fatally injured during the attack by the imperialist forces. He persists in his atheism even as he lies dying. His unrepentant death illustrates the limits of the natural virtues, which do not include humility. Fr. Chisholm prays tenderly for Dr. Tulloch, commending him to God's mercy.

During the course of the story, Fr. Chisholm's character as such does not change a great deal either. Rather, by the grace of God, he is placed in a setting where his gifts can best be utilized, and the change that takes place is the development to the fullest of those gifts.

This film can be viewed and enjoyed by persons of all ages. There is no impurity, vulgarity, or excessive violence. On the other hand, the story is at times slightly Modernist in its outlook. The phrase "keys of the kingdom" seems to refer to the virtues of humility and charity rather than the keys of St. Peter. Also, Fr. Chisholm could be criticized for rewarding Joseph after Joseph exercises a little "vigilante justice" with the Wangs. I give it four and a half roses.

Image:
Keys of the Kingdom video cover, from Wikimedia Commons. Copyrighted material. Fair use claimed.

The Magdalene and Her Precious Ointment

2010-07-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

Today is the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, Penitent. It is a day to attend the Mass said in her honor, to pray St. Anselm's Prayer, and to bake Madeleines.

Fish Eaters has a beautiful web page on St. Mary Magdalene that includes the prayer of St. Anselm, a recipe for Madeleines, scripture references, and many apt thoughts and reflections on this beloved saint.

In keeping with the theme of this blog, today's post is about the plant involved in the Magdalene's anointing of Christ, which she does first in the house of Simon the Pharisee and later at her home in Bethany:

"And one of the Pharisees desired him to eat with him. And he went into the house of the Pharisee, and sat down to meat. And behold a woman that was in the city, a sinner, when she knew that he sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment; And standing behind at his feet, she began to wash his feet, with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment."

(Luke 7:36-38. Douay-Rheims.)

"Jesus therefore, six days before the pasch, came to Bethania, where Lazarus had been dead, whom Jesus raised to life. And they made him a supper there: and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that were at table with him. Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of right spikenard, of great price, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment."

(John 12:1-3. Douay-Rheims.)

The ointment "of great price" with which the Magdalene anointed Our Lord was made from the plant Nardostachys grandiflora (depicted above), commonly called spikenard or nard.

Spikenard has pink, bell-shaped flowers and rhizomes that are crushed to produce a thick aromatic oil that is used for incense or perfume.

Spikenard is also mentioned in the Canticle of Canticles:

"While the king was at his repose, my spikenard sent forth the odor thereof."

(Cant. 1:11.)

"Thy plants are a paradise of pomegranates with the fruits of the orchard. Cypress with spikenard. Spikenard and saffron, sweet cane and cinnamon, with all the trees of Libanus, myrrh and aloes with all the chief perfumes."

(Cant. 4:13-14.)

It is interesting to reflect that when St. Mary Magdalene anointed Christ at Bethany, her "king was at his repose" and her "spikenard sent forth the odor thereof", just as in Canticle of Canticles.

Image:
19th century botanical illustration of Nardostachys grandiflora, from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

The Crown of Thorns and the Euphorbia Plant

2010-07-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in an earlier post, the month of July is devoted to the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Litany of the Precious Blood includes the verse and response: "Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with Thorns. Save us." Thus, July is an appropriate time to consider the plant Euphorbia Milii (also known as Euphorbia Splendens).

In Catholic horticulture, the Euphorbia Milii is called the "Crown of Thorns", "Christ Plant", or "Christ Thorn":

"The common names allude to the legend that the crown of thorns worn by Christ at the time of his crucifixion was made from stems of this plant. Interestingly, the stems of this plant are pliable and can be intertwined into a circle. There exists substantial evidence that the species, native to Madagascar, had been brought to the Middle East before the time of Christ."

Dr. T. Ombrello, the source of the foregoing quotation, gives a great deal of additional information about the plant as well as warnings about its toxic and allergenic properties.

Source:
Dr. T. Ombrello, "Crown of Thorns", website of Union County College (New Jersey), Department of Biology.

Image:
Botanical illustration of euphorbia, from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945)

2010-07-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne (1945) is the second feature-length film by Catholic director Robert Bresson (1901-1999). It followed Les Anges du péché (1943), the screenplay for which was written with the help of a French Dominican priest, Fr. Raymond Leopold Bruckberger, and Jean Giraudoux.

Les Dames was filmed in France during the German occupation. It is based on a story-within-a-story in Denis Diderot's late 18th century novel Jacques le fataliste. Diderot, a writer of the so-called Enlightenment, was no friend of the Church. The story as adapted for Bresson's film by Jean Cocteau, however, is thematically Catholic.

Set in Paris around the time the film was made, the story line is simple: after a two-year relationship, Jean's ardor for his lover, Hélène, has cooled. Hélène pretends the same has happened to her. Jean is relieved and suggests they maintain a friendship. Hélène appears to do so while executing a vicious revenge.

Hélène's plan begins with locating a mother and daughter whom she had known when she previously lived in the country. Three years prior to the setting of the story, the widowed mother had moved in to Paris with her daughter Agnès (now 19 or 20 years of age). Once affluent, they had almost immediately become destitute after the move due to some financial reverses. Agnès, a talented dancer, had given up her hopes of a legitimate career and become a popular cabaret dancer in order to support her mother and herself. Although it is not entirely clear in Bresson's version, Agnès was perhaps a prostitute, as was the woman in Diderot's story. At least she is viewed as someone who is or might as well be, and at one point she calls herself a tramp.

Hélène pretends to rescue the mother and Agnès from their fallen life. She pays their debts and provides them with an apartment. Agnès stops dancing and the women rarely go out. Then Hélène carefully orchestrates a meeting between Jean and the two women at the Bois du Boulogne, a Parisian park, knowing that Jean will be attracted to Agnès. As a result, with Hélène carefully manipulating the situation, Jean not only falls in love with Agnès but becomes obsessed with her to the point of near insanity.

Unable to conduct a normal courtship because of Hélène's control and believing Agnès and her mother to be women of impeccable virtue, Jean marries Agnès. Hélène arranges the marriage and orchestrates the wedding, seeing to it that Agnès' former male admirers are all there. Then, just after the ceremony has ended, Hélène, with great delight, reveals Agnès' past to Jean. Hélène's plan of revenge fails, however, because Jean and Agnès have come to a true love for one another that triumphs over evil and death.

Some critics have incorrectly labeled the film a melodrama. They need to check their dictionaries because a melodrama is a drama that exaggerates emotion while lacking characterization. This film is full of characterization: the dark intelligence of Hélène; the obsessed Jean; the mother who subjectively loves Agnès but is so lacking in moral fiber that she would rather let her daughter sell herself than sell her own furniture; and Agnès, who has difficulty accepting the consequences of her own actions. While the ending of the film is quite emotional, the emotions displayed then and throughout are appropriate to the story.

Not only is there characterization but there is character development. Early in the tale, we Americans might describe Jean as a "poor little rich boy", petulant and wilful. We see that he loves beautiful objects, and Hélène has been an object to him. But he is drawn by Agnès' authenticity. He likes the way she looks at people -- direct and shy at the same time. She seems more like a country girl than a city sophisticate. He sees her as "childlike and noble". He tells Hélène, "Agnès' face is like a wound across my heart." Thus, grace enters his life. Suffering lies ahead, but by the end of the film, he has grown to authentic manhood.

In one truly charming scene, as the result of a hint carefully dropped by Hélène, Jean goes to the area where two women live and waits, hoping for a chance encounter with Agnès. By the time Agnès appears, it is raining. Agnès rebuffs Jean, but he is reluctant to leave. Finally, Agnès says, "Do you like rain that much?" Jean smiles, looks up, and asks, "Is it raining?"

This encounter is more than a charming scene, however, because Agnès then gives Jean her mother's umbrella, and that event begins a rite of passage during which Agnès leaves her mother's ambit and comes under Jean's protection.

Not only has Agnès wounded Jean's heart but he has pierced Agnès' heart as well. At the beginning of the film, Agnès is abrasive and rather tomboyish. When she first goes to the apartment Hélène has provided, she uses her suitcase to push the door open roughly, then strides inside. As the story goes on, however, she becomes more feminine and womanly in her movements and gestures. And, as a genuine love for Jean comes to bloom on the night of their marriage, Agnès comes to terms with her past. Not only has she led a fallen life but she has betrayed Jean by marrying him without disclosing her notoriety. Humbled by love and contrition, Agnès begs Jean, "Show me a corner of your house where I can live."

Like all of Bresson's films, this one is visually exquisite, and like all of his early films it is in black and white. Although not as stark as his later works, it nevertheless has many elements that are noticeably "Bressonian". Among them are: a rainfall (and in this story also a waterfall) symbolizing purification; a grotto which the principal characters enter and emerge from having received graces that will slowly manifest over time; a critical moment when a character's actions seem to have left him or her without a choice regarding the future; and, finally, the redemptive outcome that is found in most (although not all) of Bresson's films.

The film is available in a high quality DVD in French with optional English subtitles. Admirably, there are no bedroom scenes. Agnès' dress and behavior are immodest at the cabaret, however, and there is a sordid event at the mother's apartment while Agnès is dancing with one of her admirers. These scenes are all contained within about five minutes of the DVD and can easily be avoided by fast-forwarding from the point of 11:30 minutes to about 16:45 minutes. Before and after that segment there is nothing objectionable although, as must be clear from the foregoing, this is not a film for children or young teenagers.

Image:
Jean Baptiste Camille Corot's "In the Park" (1862). Oil on canvas. From the Web Gallery of Art.

The Rose and the Precious Blood of Christ

2010-07-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

In the traditional calendar, today, July 1, is the Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Many of us will pray the Litany of the Precious Blood daily throughout the month of July and will honor this aspect of Our Divine Savior in some special way in the sacred spaces in our homes.

While many Catholics are aware of the symbolism of the rose in relation to the Virgin Mary, fewer may be aware that Our Lord's Precious Blood is also symbolized by the rose:

"Albert Magnus . . wrote of 'the rose made red by the blood of Christ in his passion' and described Christ as the rose of Jericho blossoming in the resurrection,' A popular guide to rosary devotion similarly alluded to the rosary as crimson 'because the Precious Blood of Our Lord has fallen upon it.' In medieval texts, 'Christ is the rosebush,' 'each drop of his precious blood is like one of its blossoms,' his blood is 'rose colored,' and his wounds correspond to the rose's petals' . The rose represents Christ's wounded sacred heart, the cup that collects his spilled blood and the resurrection as a blood-red blossoming out of death."

A relationship between Christ's blood and the rose is also found in the title and first line of Joseph Mary Plunkett's poem, I See His Blood Upon the Rose.

The blog Holy Cards for Your Inspiration has a lovely Precious Blood holy card entitled Chalice of Love.

Source:
The quoted material is from Graziano, Frank; Wounds of Love (Oxford University Press U.S., New York, 2004); p. 72. (Please note that this book on the whole is NOT recommended as it presents a distorted view of St. Rose of Lima.)

Image:
Rose bush from Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved.

The Six Principles of Floral Design

2010-06-24T22:30:00.000-07:00

Adelaide B. Wilson has a way of making the art of flower arranging accessible to those of us who have not had the benefit of formal training. That information, in turn, helps in becoming more courageous about attempting a formal floral arrangement for the church or home rather than simply placing some nice flowers in a vase and letting it go at that.

According to Wilson, there are six principles underlying good floral design. They are: proportion, scale, balance, rhythm, contrast, and dominance. What follows is a summary of what I learned from reading Wilson's discussion:

Proportion is good when the arrangement is neither too large nor too small for the space in which it is placed.

Scale has to do with the relation of the size of various parts of the arrangement to the whole. Wilson uses the example of an oak tree, which has a strong trunk and large branches from which grow twigs and, in turn, from the twigs sprout leaves. This gradation is pleasing to the eye.

Balance is good when the arrangement appears stable and secure because it has a good base. Balance is particularly important with church flowers because if the arrangement appears unstable, it will be a distraction during the church service the same way, for instance, that a tilting candle is a distraction.

A stable arrangement can be accomplished by either symmetrical or asymmetrical balance. Formal symmetrical balance is where one side of the arrangement matches the other. That is, the same form and size is used on each side so that there is equal weight on each side. This type of balance is used when a pair of vases is employed.

Asymmetrical balance is achieved by using larger forms on one side and smaller ones on the other in such a way that they have the same visual weight.

Rhythm has to do with how the eye travels through the arrangement. It is achieved by repetition, by creating curving lines in the design, or through the use of color.

Dominance involves making a focal point by means of a bright dominant color, or a group of massed flowers, or a single large bloom.

Contrast relates to the use of foliage and buds or smaller flowers above or away from the dominant focal point such that the eye is drawn upward and outward from the focal point, then permitted to return to the point of importance. That point is usually (but does not have to be) at the rim of the vase -- or to some object to which the design has drawn the eye.

While Monet's "Still Life with Anenomes" (above) is not a flower arrangement as such, it shows very well how rhythm is created with repetition and the use of color. Notice how the green foliage between the blossoms gives rest to the eye as the eye moves from bloom to bloom.

Source:
Based on Wilson, Adelaide B.; Flower Arrangement for Churches (M. Barrows & Co., Inc.; New York, 1952), pp. 56-59.

Image:
Monet's "Still Life with Anemones" (1885), from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

Hydrangeas

2010-06-18T00:25:00.000-07:00

Hydrangeas are plentiful right now. While their full soft blooms may require an arrangement that is too large for altar flowers in a small traditional chapel, they are certainly suitable for adornment of a larger church. Moreover, in a small chapel, hydrangea arrangements can perhaps be used on pedestals in the sanctuary or elsewhere.

The composition above is by Adelaide B. Wilson. It combines hydrangeas with Hosta foliage -- a very interesting mix of textures.

Wilson discusses the arrangement in this lively commentary:

"I know of no more distinctive large bloom for the church. Coming at a season when there is little else of such important form, with variety of color from pale-green young blooms through a period of paper whiteness to final pink in many values, hydrangeas are indeed lovely. Even without the fine color and form, the texture of these flowers is suitable for any setting. . .

"Each bloom must be treated as a handsome individual. Bunched together in a mass, the heads lose their distinction. Foliage should be stripped off, the stalks put in deep water and, if the heads droop, a complete submersion given. However, the flowers should be fully dry before arranging or large puddles will collect. Strong foliage acts as a foil.

"Hosta with its glaucous sheen and strong veining here invokes a moving rhythm which travels from one mass to the next, giving each flower head a little alcove in which to sit in state. Exposed front and back of leaves add contrast.

"The copper urn is a substantial vase for large forms. It is simply made and came from the hands of a coppersmith of no special training but with an eye for proportion. Its unpolished red-brown is good with other metals and with wood and heavy fabrics. Such a vase is excellent for [a] sturdy pedestal or low table."

Source of text and image:
Wilson, Adelaide B.; Flower Arrangement for Churches (M. Barrows & Co., Inc.; New York, 1952), pp. 158-159.

Manners for Penitents

2010-06-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

As she did about manners at Mass, Fenner has some counsel about manners for penitents:

"A penitent should take time properly to examine his conscience and to determine what he has to say to his confessor before entering the confessional. This is for his own soul's good, as it enables him to make a worthy confession. It is also good manners, as it prevents him from staying too long in the confessional, taking up the priest's time and that of waiting penitents.

"A penitent should, while awaiting his turn to go to confession, stand far enough from the confessional so as to be unable to hear anything that may be said in it.

"A penitent should never push his way ahead of others waiting to be heard. This is not only inexcusably bad manners, it is also, considering the place and the purpose, uncharitable and unchristian. But if someone should push his way into the waiting line ahead of you, do not glare and show your displeasure. 'Offer up' this little trial to our Lord as a sacrifice, and be both a good Catholic and a gentleman.

"A penitent should always behave quietly and reverently, remembering Who is present on the altar. School-children going to confession sometimes forget this and giggle and whisper among themselves or tramp about noisily. Parents should caution their children about this.

"In the confessional, the penitent should speak in the lowest audible tone. Should one inadvertently overhear any part of what is said to or by another in Confession, one must never repeat it, and should endeavor to forget it immediately.

"Out of consideration for others, one should avoid choosing the time of one of the great feasts, such as Easter or Christmas, for making a general confession. Since a general confession takes so much longer than an ordinary confession, it imposes a hardship on the busy priest and the many other waiting penitents. This does not mean that a general confession is forbidden at this time, and one may certainly be made on such an occasion if one feels that one's spiritual health requires it. It merely means that it is a courteous act to defer it to a less crowded occasion if one may safely do so."

As for proper dress, Fenner adds, "The proper costume for going to confession is the same as on all other occasions when one is entering the church. When possible, one should be dressed both neatly and formally. . . . Women should buy and keep in their purse the small prayer veils now available, for unplanned visits to the church."

Source:
Fenner, Kay Toy; American Catholic Etiquette (Newman Press, Maryland, 1965), pp. 18-19.

Image:
Longhi's "The Confession" (ca. 1750). Oil on canvas. From Web Gallery of Art via Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

Manners at Mass

2010-06-06T00:01:00.000-07:00

In her 1965 book, American Catholic Etiquette, Kay Toy Fenner makes some very good points about manners at Mass, all of which relate to consideration for others:

"Proper behavior at Mass and other church services begins outside the church door. If the church has a parking lot, a driver should take care to park properly, to obey all church rules on the subject, and to strive not to inconvenience any other parkers or take up more than his due share of the space. If the church has no parking lot, one should not inconvenience the church's neighbors by parking in front of a driveway or a hydrant. One should never park double or disobey any of the laws of the road.

"Other rules to observe are:

"Come to Mass on time.. . . .

"Always be seated whenever there is space to permit it. Never stand in the back of the church unless you are sure that all seats are filled. . . .

"Move into the pew as far as space permits; leave the entrance to the pew vacant so that others seeking a seat may easily find one. (The exception to this rule is a wedding; those who have the foresight to come early may step into the aisle to let others enter the pew, thus retaining their seat on the aisle, where they can better observe the ceremonies.)

"Those intending to receive Holy Communion should remember to observe the ordinary social amenities as they do so; they should walk up the aisle at a pace that is fast enough to avoid holding others back and slow enough to keep from brushing past others. One should wait until one's turn arrives to approach the rail. If the church has adopted a special method of approaching the Communion rail -- up the main aisle, down the side, etc. all communicants should observe these rules exactly as requested.

"Prepare your contribution before you come to Mass. If your church, like so many others, uses the envelope system for collecting, use the envelope proper to the day; mark on the face of it such information as your church has requested. If you have pledged yourself to contribute a set amount each week, keep your word unless some extraordinary change in your financial situation makes it impossible. . . .

"Mass is not over until the priest has left the altar; the congregation remains until he has done so. When there is an invalid or a baby at home, a man and wife may attend separate Masses. In such a case, one of them may need to leave the church a minute or so before services are ended so that the one waiting at home may be in time for the next Mass. When one has this excuse or some similar valid reason, it is allowable to leave the church before the final prayers have been said. But it is not allowable to leave merely because it is a warm day or in order to escape the crowd."

I would add the following:

Practice custody of the tongue: Do not talk before, during, or after Mass except in the vestibule or outside the church.

Do not use gestures or facial expressions to communicate with your family members or friends. Keep your focus on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Practice custody of the eyes: Do not look around at others.

Do not take off your shoes or put your feet on the kneeler.

Do not permit your children to lie down on the pew or wiggle and writhe around, much less run about the church or play with toys.

Absent an emergency, once you are seated, do not leave the pew except to go to Communion.

Go to and return from Communion at the same time as others in your pew. For example, do not come back late by making an excursion to the statute of your favorite saint and then climb over others to return to your seat. Similarly, do not leave the pew late because you feel you must read a large number of prayers before Communion or that you must practice humility by being the last to receive Holy Communion.

If you have an emergency that requires leaving your pew during Mass, quietly let the person next to you know that you need to leave. Give those between you and the exit of the pew a chance to stand or step outside the pew.

When putting down a kneeler, make sure you do not drop it down on someone's foot. Use your hand, not your foot, to bring the kneeler down.

Source:
Fenner, Kay Toy; American Catholic Etiquette (Newman Press; Westminster, Maryland; 1965), pp. 230-232.

Image:
Catedral Nuestra Senora de la Almudena; Madrid, Spain. From Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved.

Orange Flowers for Church Decoration

2010-05-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

The smallest category in Patteson-Knight and St. Claire's list of "Flowers Suitable for Church Decoration by Color" is that for orange flowers. The list has some surprises like the one for white flowers did. Among them are Butterfly Weed, Tithonia, and Tritoma.

Butterfly weed, whose official name is asclepias tuberosa, gets its nickname from the fact that butterflies are especially drawn to its color and nectar. Tithonia (bottom picture above) grows best in Mexico while Tritoma, whose true name is Kniphofia, is native to Africa. It is also called "torch lily" because it looks like a torch.

Aside from the three surprises, the orange flowers on the list are: calendula, chrysanthemum, coxcomb, dahlia, gladiolus, lily, ranunculus, rose, tulip, and zinnia.

Though perhaps fewer in type, orange flowers can work very well for decoration of the sanctuary. In fact, the best church flower arrangements I have seen in the past year were comprised of orange and golden flowers.

One display that I really loved featured orange alstromeria (top picture above). Somehow the orange and golden color really brought alive the gold of the candlesticks and other golden items on the altar and contrasted pleasantly with the white of the traditional linen altar cloth.

Orange or gold flowers seem particularly suitable for Corpus Christi. Another church flower book (by McClinton, an Anglican/ Episcopalian) says that "yellow and white or white and gold are the appropriate flowers" for Corpus Christi. She suggests using Shasta daisies, calla lilies, or white and yellow roses.

Source:
McClinton, Katherine Morrison, Flower Arrangement in the Church (Morehouse-Gorham Co., New York, 1958), p. 97.
Patteson-Knight, Francis and St. Claire, Margaret McReynolds; Arranging Flowers for the Sanctuary (Harper & Bros., New York, 1961), p. 40.

Images:
Top - Alstromeria, from Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved.
Bottom - Tithonia, from Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved.

White Flowers for Church Decoration

2010-05-28T13:40:00.000-07:00

In Arranging Flowers for the Sanctuary, Patteson-Knight and St. Claire provide a list entitled, "Flowers Suitable for Church Decoration According to Color".

The first category on the list is white flowers. They are wonderful for church decoration because of the way they catch the light and because of their connotation of purity and innocence. I was surprised, however, to see some of the plants on the white flower list. One was geraniums, which I have never seen used in church. Moreover, I have some white geraniums in my garden and have found they do not last very long as cut flowers.

On the other hand, I was happy to see several flowers listed I'd never heard of. One of them was Ismene, which gets its name from Greek mythology. It is also called Peruvian Daffodil and is from the amaryllis family. Pictured above, Ismene is certainly a lovely bloom.

Here is Patteson-Knight and St. Claire's list of white flowers:

Amaryllis
Anemone
Aster
Azalea
Calla lily
Camellia
Carnation
Phlox
Poinsettia
Ranunculus
Rhododendron
Chrysanthemum
Clove pinks (grouped)
Cyclamen
Daffodil
Dahlia
Daisy (Boston or Shasta)
Delphinium
Rose
Scabiosa
Snapdragon
Stock
Foxglove
Gardenia
Geranium
Gladiolus
Hyacinth
Hydrangea
Iris
Sweetpea
Sweet William
Tulip
Viburnum
Ismene
Larkspur
Lilac
Lily (Madonna and Auratum)
Magnolia
Peony
Petunia
Yucca
Zinnia

I will be posting more categories from their color list and more information about the various flowers in the near future.

Source:
Patteson-Knight, Francis, and St. Claire, Margaret McReynolds; Arranging Flowers for the Sanctuary (Harper & Bros., New York, 1961); p. 39.

Image:
Ismene, from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

Color in Church Flower Arrangements

2010-05-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

As a follow-up to the discussion of color in church flower arrangements in the post Altar Flowers, here is some advice from Patteson-Knight and St. Claire on the same topic:

"[T]he cool or receding tones are the least satisfactory, especially in larger sanctuaries. Cool colors lose a substantial amount of their eye appeal under artificial light. The unit of any arrangement, in fact, will change its tones when it is assembled under one lighting condition but is exhibited under another. No color is constant to itself, but is always subject to variation in different degrees of natural or artificial light.

"A good analogous arrangement, therefore, will contain one of the more steady, more intense colors of the warm range. If composed solely of the receding tints, it will tend to wash out and become nondescript. A monochromatic arrangement of reds, yellows, or orange shades has the best chance of success, particularly in the subdued illumination of many churches. The best monochromatic design will use gradations of color, with more or less of the darker or lighter values as the arranger wishes, but never in the same amount.

"The carrying power of color is no more important in any flower arrangement than when in a church. It must first overcome the demands of distance, then lighting and background. Pastel shades will thin out and merge unless they are backed with greens. Blue and violet fade in the distance or become muddy under poor illumination. Almost nothing stands out against ornate or lavish decoration inside a church. This is why the altar, with its simplicity, is the best area for placing flowers and why, also, color in flowers is often needed to accent the plaint cloths and simple fittings.

"Sometimes light colors will succeed against a dark [background]. They may also give a happy result if the [sanctuary] or the altar is a rigid white. Light flowers against a light background will show to advantage in a darkened church when they are framed in green. This will give them a dimension they would not have alone. Green, however, does not show up well in front of [a dark background]. Against its own shades or against purple or maroon, green loses visibility.

"One color must always predominate; more than three used together require artful assembly. Too many colors establish a feeling of discord. This means that the flowers will not succeed in creating a logical and simple arrangement.

"The exclusive use of green to decorate a church makes an effective display, but it has its limitations. Planters look well, and, of course, so do palms and palm fronds. Palm Sunday, in fact, is one [day] for which a green motif might be planned. The altar can be backed with green foliage . . . Green foliage lends itself well to vertical arrangements. Therefore, a little of it may be made to serve much, but this is often only possible in smaller sanctuaries.

"The wise arranger, seeking harmony of colors in her decorations, will look about first at the altar frontal, the . . . reredos, the color of the walls, and the carpet. She consults the church's interior architecture before creating her own accent in the place. If the arrangements are for a feast or for a saint's day, thought must be given to the liturgical color. Also the availability of flowers at any time will determine the colors. The seasons put their penalties on the arranger as much as do the obstinate skills of her craft."

Source:
Patteson-Knight, Francis, and St. Claire, Margaret McReynolds; Arranging Flowers for the Sanctuary (Harper and Bros., New York, 1961), pp. 82-84.

Image:
Photograph of red anthurium, from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain. It was this blogger's experience that red anthurium worked very well as a church flower in a large Gothic style church.

The Care of Church Marble, Alabaster, Stone, and Brick

2010-04-30T17:35:00.000-07:00

This is another post in the series labeled "The Diligent Sacristan".

In their 1951 book, Good Housekeeping in Church, McClinton and Squier give this advice on the cleaning of church marble, alabaster, stone, and brick:

"Marble steps, plaques, statues, or crosses may be cleaned by washing with hot water and a cleaning powder. A brush may be used on carved marble. Marble that has become stained may be clean with powdered pumice and water or a paste of whiting and turpentine or carbon tetrachloride. This will also take off soot and smoke stains. The surface of the marble can then be polished with water and putty powder which is easily obtained from a monument dealer.

"Alabaster statues, plaques, or crosses may be cleaned with borax and warm, soapy water. Stains may be removed by a solution of weak oxalic acid or turpentine and pumice. Allow either mixture to stay on a few minutes then wash with clear water and soap[,] and polish with a coat of beeswax and turpentine.

"Stonework such as floors or steps, or a stone cross or baptismal font, or even the reredos of stone, is best cleaned with high pressure steam every few years but may be kept clean by scrubbing with hot water, a mild soap, and a scrubbing brush. If there are stains, use a bleach, but never so strong as to leave an odor. If the stonework becomes very dark, it may be rubbed with a brick and water.

"Brickwork such as floors or walls may be cleaned with water, scrubbing powder, and a stiff brush or steel wool. This will also remove soot and smoke discoloration."

Source:
McClinton, Katherine Morrison, and Squire, Isabel Wright; Good Housekeeping in Church (Morehouse-Gorham Co., New York, 1951), pp. 49-50.

Image:
Marble baptismal font with figures of alabaster at the Church of St. Cosmae, from Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved.

A Necessary Separation (Individual Friendships in the World)

2010-04-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

Some writers on spirituality caution against individual friendships. For instance, in Chapter Four of The Way of Perfection, St. Teresa of Avila states, "For the love of the Lord, refrain from making individual friendships, however holy, for even among brothers and sisters such things are apt to be poisonous and I can see no advantage in them . . . " She elaborates on why this is so.

St. Francis de Sales in Introduction to the Devout Life, however, explains that this admonition is meant to apply to religious and not to persons living in the world:

"Do you, my child, love every one with the pure love of charity, but have no friendship save with those whose intercourse is good and true, and the purer the bond which unites you so much higher will your friendship be. If your intercourse is based on science it is praiseworthy, still more if it arises from a participation in goodness, prudence, justice and the like; but if the bond of your mutual liking be charity, devotion and Christian perfection, God knows how very precious a friendship it is! Precious because it comes from God, because it tends to God, because God is the link that binds you, because it will last for ever in Him. Truly it is a blessed thing to love on earth as we hope to love in Heaven, and to begin that friendship here which is to endure for ever there. I am not now speaking of simple charity, a love due to all mankind, but of that spiritual friendship which binds souls together, leading them to share devotions and spiritual interests, so as to have but one mind between them. Such as these may well cry out, 'Behold, how good and joyful a thing it is, brethren, to dwell together in unity!' Even so, for the 'precious ointment' of devotion trickles continually from one heart to the other, so that truly we may say that to such friendship the Lord promises His Blessing and life for evermore. To my mind all other friendship is but as a shadow with respect to this, its links mere fragile glass compared to the golden bond of true devotion. Do you form no other friendships. I say 'form,' because you have no right to cast aside or neglect the natural bonds which draw you to relations, connections, benefactors or neighbors. My rules apply to those you deliberately choose to make. There are some who will tell you that you should avoid all special affection or friendship, as likely to engross the heart, distract the mind, excite jealousy, and what not. But they are confusing things. They have read in the works of saintly and devout writers that individual friendships and special intimacies are a great hindrance in the religious life, and therefore they suppose it to be the same with all the world, which is not at all the case. Whereas in a well-regulated community every one’s aim is true devotion, there is no need for individual intercourse, which might exceed due limits;—in the world those who aim at a devout life require to be united one with another by a holy friendship, which excites, stimulates and encourages them in well-doing. Just as men traversing a plain have no need to hold one another up, as they have who are amid slippery mountain paths, so religious do not need the stay of individual friendships; but those who are living in the world require such for strength and comfort amid the difficulties which beset them. In the world all have not one aim, one mind, and therefore we must take to us congenial friends, nor is there any undue partiality in such attachments, which are but as the separation of good from evil, the sheep from the goats, the bee from the drone—a necessary separation.

"No one can deny that our Dear Lord loved S. John, Lazarus, Martha, Magdalene, with a specially tender friendship, since we are told so in Holy Scripture; and we know that S. Paul dearly loved S. Mark, S. Petronilla, as S. Paul Timothy and Thecla. S. Gregory Nazianzen boasts continually of his friendship with the great S. Basil, of which he says: 'It seemed as though with two bodies we had but one soul, and if we may not believe those who say that all things are in all else, at least one must affirm that we were two in one, and one in two —the only object that both had being to grow in holiness, and to mold our present life to our future hopes, thereby forsaking this mortal world before our death.' And S. Augustine says that S. Ambrose loved S. Monica by reason of her many virtues, and that she in return loved him as an Angel of God.

"What need to affirm so unquestionable a fact! S. Jerome, S. Augustine, S. Gregory, S. Bernard, and all the most notable servants of God, have had special friendships, which in nowise hindered their perfection. S. Paul, in describing evil men, says that they were 'without natural affection,' i.e. without friendship. And S. Thomas, in common with other philosophers, acknowledges that friendship is a virtue, and he certainly means individual friendships, because he says that we cannot bestow perfect friendship on many persons. So we see that the highest grace does not lie in being without friendships, but in having none which are not good, holy and true."

As should be obvious from the foregoing, St. Francis de Sales is not advocating the formation or preservation of friendships with romantic or sexual overtones (sometimes euphemistically referred to as "special friendships"). And, St. Teresa condemns such friendships even more vigorously than individual friendships in general.

Source:
St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Part III, Chapter XIX.

Image:
Vermeer's "Christ in the House of Martha and Mary", from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

Capturing the Divine King

2010-04-08T20:36:00.000-07:00

One finds in the writings of the saints, and in art, powerful figures of speech depicting God as a lover in ardent pursuit of the human soul. An example is Francis Thompson's poem, The Hound of Heaven.

St. Teresa of Avila, however, in writing about contemplative prayer, reverses the chase. She uses a breath-taking metaphor where the human soul is a chess player seeking to capture Christ the King:

"I hope you do not think I have written too much about this already; for I have only been placing the board, as they say. You have asked me to tell you about the first steps in prayer; although God did not lead me by them, my daughters I know no others, and even now I can hardly have acquired these elementary virtues. But you may be sure that anyone who cannot set out the pieces in a game of chess will never be able to play well, and, if he does not know how to give check, he will not be able to bring about a checkmate. Now you will reprove me for talking about games, as we do not play them in this house and are forbidden to do so. That will show you what kind of a mother God has given you -- she even knows about vanities like this! However, they say that the game is sometimes legitimate. How legitimate it will be for us to play it in this way, and, if we play it frequently, how quickly we shall give checkmate to this Divine King! He will not be able to move out of our check nor will He desire to do so.

"It is the queen which gives the king most trouble in this game and all the other pieces support her. There is no queen who can beat this King as well as humility can; for humility brought Him down from Heaven into the Virgin's womb and with humility we can draw Him into our souls by a single hair. Be sure that He will give most humility to him who has most already and least to him who has least. I cannot understand how humility exists, or can exist, without love, or love without humility, and it is impossible for these two virtues to exist save where there is great detachment from all created things.

"You will ask, my daughters, why I am talking to you about virtues when you have more than enough books to teach you about them and when you want me to tell you only about contemplation. My reply is that, if you had asked me about meditation, I could have talked to you about it, and advised you all to practice it, even if you do not possess the virtues. For this is the first step to be taken towards the acquisition of the virtues and the very life of all Christians depends upon their beginning it. No one, however lost a soul he may be, should neglect so great a blessing if God inspires him to make use of it. All this I have already written elsewhere, and so have many others who know what they are writing about, which I certainly do not: God knows that.

"But contemplation, daughters, is another matter. This is an error which we all make: if a person gets so far as to spend a short time each day in thinking about his sins, as he is bound to do if he is a Christian in anything more than name, people at once call him a great contemplative; and then they expect him to have the rare virtues which a great contemplative is bound to possess; he may even think he has them himself, but he will be quite wrong. In his early stages he did not even know how to set out the chessboard, and thought that, in order to give checkmate, it would be enough to be able to recognize the pieces. But that is impossible, for this King does not allow Himself to be taken except by one who surrenders wholly to Him."

Source:
St. Teresa of Jesus, The Way of Perfection.

Image:
Giovanni di Paolo's, "Madonna of Humility", from the Web Gallery of Art. In the public domain.

Journal d'un curé de campagne (1951)

2010-03-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

This is the second part of a two-part review of the novel and film Journal d'un curé de campagne (Diary of a Country Priest) by Georges Bernanos and Robert Bresson respectively. An earlier post focused on the 1936 book by Bernanos. Today's is about the 1951 film, written and directed by Robert Bresson.

Bresson was born on September 25, 1901, at Bromont-Lamothe, Puy-de-Dôme, and educated at Lycée Lakanal à Sceaux, Paris. Before becoming a film director he was a painter and a photographer. During World War II, he spent over a year in a prisoner-of-war camp. He made thirteen feature-length films, often using non-professional or little known actors. In 1967, he made a film based on another Bernanos book, Mouchette. Bresson died in Paris on December 18, 1999.

Bresson's script for the film is for the most part quite faithful to the book. We see the Curé's diary and hear its contents in the voice of the Curé. Dialogue is used so sparingly that the viewer finds himself in a unique psychological and aesthetic space between a silent film and a talking picture. Music is used rarely but to good effect.

Bresson's fidelity to the novel makes visually and audibly present the various events in the Curé's Way of the Cross that were described in the review of Bernanos' book. As in the book, however, the allusions are subtle and one's recognition of them is belated. Critic André Bazin was aware of this aspect of the work and described it as liturgical.

The visuals are without exception exquisitely beautiful, in black and white. Much attention is given to the facial expressions, body language, and movements of Claude Laydu, who plays the Curé.

The casting and performances of the Count, the Countess, Louise, Chantal, Seraphita, and even the very minor characters are without exception flawless, as are the settings and camera work. A psychiatrist in real life plays the priest of Torcy and he is entirely believable. Marie-Monique Arkell is perfect as the Countess. The encounter between the Curé and the Countess where he fights for her soul could not be better.

It is said that Bresson would only cast a faithful Catholic for the role of the Curé and that Laydu lived with a group of young priests prior to the filming so he could acquire their gestures and movements. It is also said that Laydu fasted during the filming in order to lend credibility to the role. One wonders whether he also fasted for spiritual reasons. Toward the end of the film Laydu merges so completely with the character that one beholds a man who is as entirely spiritualized as one can be in this life. And, one feels a deep gratitude to Laydu for the sacrifices he made for the sake of the film.

In various reviews and the commentary, much nonsense is said about Bernanos, Bresson, and the film. Particularly annoying are those claiming that Bresson was a Jansenist heretic or an agnostic. Significantly, none of these claims include a direct statement by Bresson that he was either. A single viewing of the film is enough to conclude that no agnostic would -- or could -- have made it. Moreover, Bresson closes the film with the actual words used by Bernanos, "Tout est grâce". ("All is grace"). No Jansenist would make such a statement.

The Jansenist view of grace is a withholding one, where God metes out grace to a chosen few, overwhelming their free will , while leaving the vast majority of humanity unredeemed. The phrase "all is grace" was taken by Bernanos from the lips of the Little Flower, Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897). One of the major reasons the Little Flower was so beloved during the first half of the twentieth century was that her view of grace was such an effective antidote for the residual poison of Jansenism. By adopting her language, Bernanos and Bresson clearly rejected the heresy of Jansenism. Those who claim otherwise should be ignored.

In her 1937 translation of Bernanos' book into English, Pamela Morris exchanged "Grace is everywhere" for "Tout est grâce". To say "grace is everywhere" is in keeping with scripture. "And where sin abounded, grace did more abound." (Romans 5:20.) Thus, Morris' statement is theologically correct. It is not, however, a direct translation of what Bernanos, Bresson, or the Little Flower actually said.

What did Bernanos, Bresson, and Little Flower mean by "all is grace"? Speaking concretely, all is definitely not grace. To make this statement with the intention that it be taken literally would be to promote the heresy of pantheism, i.e. "everything is God", but surely this was not the intention.

The key to Bernanos' and Bresson's use of the phrase is found in a striking moment in the film. The Curé is struggling for the Countess' soul. She refers to her husband's infidelities and then says, "There's nothing in my past to blush about." To this, the Curé replies, "Blessed is sin if it teaches us shame." (This is very similar to the portrayal of the event in the novel.) The Curé does not mean that the sin itself is a blessing but rather that it is a blessing if the sin brings about humility and repentance in the individual. This too is consistent with scripture, "And we know that to them that love God, all things work together unto good, to such as, according to his purpose, are called to be saints." (Romans 8:28.)

Thus, Bernanos' and Bresson's use of "tout est grâce" should be understood to mean that grace is always and everywhere present -- along with what is not grace -- even though one might not be able to perceive it. With spiritual maturation, one's vision is enlarged to see the presence of grace in past and current circumstances -- a vision that becomes complete for the Curé as he lies dying.

With each repeated viewing of Bresson's exquisite film, one's experience of it deepens; its meaning -- and Bernanos' -- penetrates farther into one's interiority. The riches of this beautiful story and film are seemingly inexhaustible.

The film is available in DVD format from the Criterion Collection and can be purchased from the usual outlets.

Image:
Ruysdael's "After the Rain", from the Web Gallery of Art. In the public domain.

The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin

2010-03-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

In the traditional calendar, today is Friday of Passion Week. It is one of the two days of the year on which the Church commemorates the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The other day is September 15.

During Passion Week, the focus is on Mary's compassion for her Divine Son, while the September commemoration focuses on our compassion for Mary's suffering as exemplified in the Devotion of the Seven Sorrows.

The Seven Sorrows

St. Simeon's prophecy that a sword would pierce Mary's soul (Lk. 2:34)

The flight from Herod into Egypt (Matt.2:13)

The loss of Jesus in the temple (Lk. 2:43)

The meeting of Mary with Jesus on the way to Calvary (Lk. 23:26)

The Crucifixion (Jn. 19:25)

Jesus' descent from the Cross (Matt. 27:57)

The burial of Jesus (Jn. 19:40)

Image:
Durer's, "The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin" (oil on panel), from the Web Gallery of Art. In the public domain. (Note that Durer portrays the last three sorrows somewhat differently. The last three appear to be: Jesus is nailed to the Cross; Jesus' Crucifixion; Jesus' descent and burial.)

This Glorious Saint

2010-03-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

Today, March 19, is the feast of St. Joseph, to whom St. Teresa of Avila had a great devotion. Here is what she had to say about him in Chapter Six of her Autobiography:

"I took for my advocate and lord the glorious Saint Joseph and commended myself earnestly to him; and I found that this my father and lord delivered me both from this trouble and also from other and greater troubles concerning my honor and the loss of my soul, and that he gave me greater blessings than I could ask of him. I do not remember even now that I have ever asked anything of him which he has failed to grant. I am astonished at the great favors which God has bestowed on me through this blessed saint, and at the perils from which He has freed me, both in body and in soul. To other saints the Lord seems to have given grace to succor us in some of our necessities but of this glorious saint my experience is that he succors us in them all and that the Lord wishes to teach us that as He was Himself subject to him on earth (for, being His guardian and being called His father, he could command Him) just so in Heaven He still does all that he asks. This has also been the experience of other persons whom I have advised to commend themselves to him; and even to-day there are many who have great devotion to him through having newly experienced this truth.

"I wish I could persuade everyone to be devoted to this glorious saint, for I have great experience of the blessings which he can obtain from God. I have never known anyone to be truly devoted to him and render him particular services who did not notably advance in virtue, for he gives very real help to souls who commend themselves to him. For some years now, I think, I have made some request of him every year on his festival and I have always had it granted. If my petition is in any way ill directed, he directs it aright for my greater good.

"I only beg, for the love of God, that anyone who does not believe me will put what I say to the test, and he will see by experience what great advantages come from his commending himself to this glorious patriarch and having devotion to him. Those who practice prayer should have a special affection for him always. I do not know how anyone can think of the Queen of the Angels, during the time that she suffered so much with the Child Jesus, without giving thanks to Saint Joseph for the way he helped them. If anyone cannot find a master to teach him how to pray, let him take this glorious saint as his master and he will not go astray."

Image:
Escalante's, "St. Joseph and the Infant Christ." Oil on canvas (1660-1665). From the Web Gallery of Art.

A Prayer for Priests

2010-03-11T16:32:00.000-08:00

Part II of the review of the book by Georges Bernanos and the film by Robert Bresson, Diary of a Country Priest, will not be posted this week as promised because another week or two will be required to complete it.

This prayer for priests, however, is very much in keeping with the theme of the book and film and therefore is offered here for both prayer and reflection:

A Prayer for Priests

"IN THE NAME OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, we beseech Thee, O Christ, Eternal High Priest, that Thou keep hidden within the Wound in Thy Heart Thy priests whom Thou hast ordained to Thy Eternal Priesthood.

"Preserve them, protect them as the dispenser of the mysteries of God and keep them faithful in their mission as Thy expiatory victims for the sins of men. Together with Thee, O Christ, are they continually offered on Thy Altar on High in the sight of the Father, a propitiation of love rising as incense from men to God. Ever increase in Thy faithful priest-victims Thy power to draw all hearts into Thy Own that Thou mayest perfect Thy work of grace among the sons of God, whose inheritance is the Kingdom of Heaven.

"Have pity, O Christ, on those of Thy priviliged ones who have strayed from Thy Heart and torn open the Wound in Thy Side by their infidelity to Thee. Release upon them the torrents of Thy love and compassion, drowning their souls in Thy ocean of mercy that they may not escape. Draw them back into the fullness of the Life and the Light that is of God. Amen."

"IMPRIMATUR
+Henry J. O'Brien, D.D., Archbishop of Hartford, April 1, 1959".

Source:
Prayers for Priests, compiled by John Bosco Books, 1994. All rights reserved.

Image:
El Greco's "Agony in the Garden". From Web Gallery of Art. In the public domain.

Diary of a Country Priest (Bernanos, 1936)

2010-03-05T08:16:00.000-08:00

This is the first part of a two-part review of the 1936 novel by Georges Bernanos, Journal d'un curé de campagne (Diary of a Country Priest), and the 1951 film by director Robert Bresson based on the novel.

Bernanos was awarded the Grand Prix du Roman de L'Académie française for the novel, while Bresson's film won eight international awards, including the Grand Prize at the Venice International Film Festival.

Bernanos and Bresson were both French Catholics. Bresson also made a film based on another book by Bernanos, Mouchette. This post will focus on the book Diary of a Country Priest. Part II will focus on Bresson's film of the same name. Perhaps sometime in the future there will also be a post on Mouchette.

Bernanos was born on February 20, 1888, in Paris, and spent most of his childhood and youth in Fressin, a small village in the Pas de Calais region. He was educated by Jesuits at Vaugirard College, where one of his classmates was the future General, Charles de Gaulle. Bernanos attended the Institut Catholique and the University of Paris, where he received licentiates in law and letters. One source says that he attended two minor seminaries before going on to the Sorbonne and that he had at one time thought to become a priest.

Bernanos was a cavalryman in World War I, was wounded and received the Croix de Guerre. He married in 1917. His wife, of the family Du Lys D'Arc, was a direct descendant of the brother of St. Joan of Arc. The couple had three boys and three girls. The family lived in various places, including South America from 1938 to 1945, much of that time on a remote farm in Brazil. Between 1926 and 1945, sixteen of his books were published. Bernanos died at Neuilly sur-Seine on July 5, 1948.

The reader is not told the year in which the events of the novel Diary of a Country Priest take place. There is a reference to a motorbike, however, and other commentary that seems to set the novel at about the same time it was written. The main character and narrator is a nameless Catholic priest, about 30 years of age, who keeps a journal as a way of gathering his thoughts.

The young Curé comes from a poor background but entered the seminary at the age of 12 and was a gifted student. Now he has been assigned to the village of Ambricourt as the parish priest. According to his Dean, Ambricourt is a "double parish". It includes many smaller villages and he has many homes to visit. Although he goes about his work with dedication and sincerity, the villagers reject him. The only person who attends weekday Mass is Louise, the governess in the home of a Count who lives in a nearby château.

The Curé is sickly and becomes increasingly so as time goes on. He finds his stomach can only tolerate sugared wine, dry bread, and sometimes baked apples or potatoes. For this and other minor things, he is suspected, ridiculed and condemned. He thinks he might have tuberculosis but puts off going to Lille to see a specialist for diagnosis.

Occasionally, the Curé visits an older priest in the nearby village of Torcy who apparently was one of his teachers in the seminary. The older priest has a bleak view of the degree to which humans have been wounded by Adam's sin. His worldview is perhaps more Lutheran than Catholic. In fact his first name is Martin and he prays regularly for Martin Luther. One should not confuse the voice of the priest of Torcy with the voice of Bernanos or the voice of the Church. Still, there is sometimes humor in the ramblings of this older priest that is enjoyable to read.

The priest of Torcy seems to have a genuine affection for the Curé but calls him a "ragamuffin" and berates him about his demeanor and his diet. He even complains about the cloak the Curé wears, which was given to him by an aunt, because he thinks it makes the Curé look like "a romantic German poet." Their conversations are mostly one-sided harangues by the priest of Torcy. Early on, the priest advises the Curé, "A true priest is never loved, get that into your head. . . . Try first to be respected and obeyed. What the Church needs is discipline."

Lacking social skills, the Curé often alienates one or the other villager while always intending to do good. At the same time, on occasion he has an uncanny ability to read souls and exercise his priestly authority in a manner that can only be explained by God acting through him.

A sexually precocious village girl name Seraphita torments the Curé. She is the star pupil in his catechism class. He believes she is longing for her First Holy Communion. When he asks her about it, however, she says, "It'll come soon enough." He replies, "But you understand me though, you listen so well." To this, she responds, "It's 'cause you've got such lovely eyes."

In his sickness and isolation the Curé longs for, and finds himself incapable of, deep prayer. "I know, of course, that the wish to pray is a prayer in itself, that God can ask no more than that of us. But this was no duty which I discharged. At that moment I needed prayer as much as I needed air to draw my breath or oxygen to fill my blood. . . . A void was behind me. And in front a wall, a wall of darkness."

The Count's daughter, Chantal, believes that the governess, Louise, is the Count's mistress, which may be true. She hates Louise, hates the Countess for tolerating Louise's presence, and is angry with her father. Both Louise and Chantal seek the Curé's help and he is thus drawn in to the struggles at the château. The Curé receives an ominous note warning him to leave the village that he later discovers was likely written by the governess, Louise.

One of the most dramatic parts of the book begins when the Curé approaches the Countess about Chantal, who he fears is suicidal. It emerges that the Countess has been alienated from God for years because her only son died when he was just eighteen months old. What ensues is an encounter where the Curé fights for the Countess's soul in a struggle so fierce it almost resembles an exorcism. The result is that the Countess is reconciled to God. The next day she writes to the Curé telling him of the peace she has found. That night she has an angina attack and dies. Chantal then lies about what occurred between her mother and the Curé, and he is blamed for the Countess' death.

Toward the end of the novel, the Curé sometimes feels healthier while in fact his condition is rapidly worsening. On his way back from a round of home visits, he hemorrhages and collapses, vomiting blood. Seraphita discovers and helps him. She thinks perhaps someone at one of the homes he has visited poisoned him. "Someone's been poppin' ash in your glass -- they think it's funny, a kind o' joke." Later, however, Seraphita describes the incident to Chantal who uses the information to further discredit the Curé.

Among the minor characters is a general practitioner, Dr. Delbende, who lost his faith in medical school, spends his life in doing works of mercy, but in the end commits suicide because of financial problems. Another is Louis Dufréty, a priest who took a leave for health reasons and ended up cohabitating with a former charwoman from the sanatorium where he had been treated. He was the Curé's best friend in the seminary. Now he is trying to make a living as a drug salesman.

A third minor character is Olivier, a nephew of the Countess, a soldier on leave who gives the Curé a ride on his motorbike. Another is Madame Dupluoy, a pub-keeper who treats the Curé with kindness while he is waiting for the train to Lille when he finally leaves to see the specialist there. "Mme Duplouy made me share her lunch . . . . I had some soup and vegetables. While I was out she had lit the stove, and she left me alone after lunch, very cosy, with a cup of black coffee. I felt warm and comfortable."

Finally the Curé arrives in Lille to see the specialist Dr. Delbende referred him to before Delbende's death. As it turns out, the physician he actually sees is not the same doctor to whom he was sent (Lavigne) but one with a similar name (Laville). The doctor prescribes a medicine but forgets to give the prescription to the Curé. When the latter goes back for it, he finds Dr. Laville shooting opium into his leg. At that point, Laville finally tells the Curé that he has stomach cancer.

After hearing the diagnosis, the Curé goes to visit Louis Dufréty who lives in Lille. Dufréty inhabits a dream-world of lies in which he imagines himself an intellectual and claims the woman with whom he lives was the "chief sister" at the sanatorium who had "made a thorough study of medicine" and a "refined, cultured girl". In fact she is a pitiful, uneducated woman who chars at several locations in a single day in order to support the couple.

Dufréty and his mistress make up a camp bed for the Curé in the room where Dufréty keeps his supplies. The Curé is repelled by the situation and does not want to die there. At 4:00 in the morning, however, Dufréty and his mistress (whose name we never learn) discover him rapidly approaching death. He has hemorrhaged again and fainted. When he regains consciousness, he motions for his Rosary, then asks Dufréty for sacramental absolution. As Dufréty later writes to the priest of Torcy, "Although I realized I had no right to accede over hastily to this request, it was quite impossible in the name of humanity and friendship, to refuse him. May I add that I was able to discharge this duty in a spirit which need leave you with no possible misgivings."

Although Dufréty has sent for the parish priest so that the Curé could receive "the final consolations of Our Church", the Curé dies before the priest arrives. His last words are borrowed from Thérèse of Lisieux, "Tout est grâce". ("All is grace", mistranslated in the English version as "Grace is everywhere .")

Bernanos was intensely critical of the state of the Church and society and there is much material for reflection on these subjects in the book if one has a solid understanding of Catholic doctrine and the background to put the commentary in context. If one does not, it is better to focus one's attention on the story itself.

The key to this novel seems to be found in a realization the Curé had during one of the diatribes of the priest of Torcy. The older priest talks about how God's calling of each priest comes in a different way, "So to get things straight I start off by taking each one of us back where he belongs in Holy Writ." This triggers a realization by the Curé, "The truth is that my place for all time has been Mount Olivet . . . in that instant -- strangely in that very instant, when He set His hand on Peter's shoulder asking him the useless question, almost naïve yet so tender, so deeply courteous: Why sleep ye? . . Our Lord this day [has] granted me, through the lips of my old teacher, the revelation that I am never to be torn from the eternal place chosen for me -- that I remain the prisoner of His Agony in the Garden. Who would dare take such an honour upon himself?"

Reviewers of the book often declare that the Curé is a Christ figure and then go on to speak of other things. It is true that he is a Christ figure, but Bernanos' manner of portraying this is unique. In a manner so hidden that one can only fully perceive it in retrospect, the events of the final months of the Curé's life allude to the final events of Christ's earthly life -- those incorporated in the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary and the Stations of the Cross.

Over the course of time, the Curé seems to take the sins of the villagers upon himself. When he is ridiculed and lied about, one thinks of the Scourging at the Pillar. In his weakness, he falls several times. When Seraphita finds him fallen on a path and cleans his face with a rag, one thinks of Veronica wiping the face of Jesus. When Olivier, the soldier, gives the Curé a lift on his motorbike, it reminds one of Simon of Cyrene helping Jesus carry the Cross. When Madame Duplouy comforts the Curé with food and warmth, in a sense Jesus meets his mother. In Lille, especially at Dr. Laville's, evil is so palpable that one has a hint of its concreteness on that long-ago Friday. Since Dufrety and his mistress both also have terminal illnesses, even the Curé's death at Dufréty's could be seen as an allusion to Christ's crucifixion between the two thieves.

Thus, the novel can draw the reader into a deep experience of, and identification with, Christ's Passion in an unanticipated manner that is quite effective. Needless to say, the book is good Lenten reading and reading it is an experience not easily forgotten.

Source:
Quotations are from the 1937 translation into English by Pamela Morris entitled Diary of a Country Priest using the 2nd Carroll & Graf Edition (New York, 2002).

Image:
Ruysdael's, "After the Rain," from Web Gallery of Art. In the public domain.

Fillet of Sole Véronique

2010-02-26T07:35:00.000-08:00

Along with buttered baby potatoes, this French fish dish makes an elegant and tasty meal.

"Veronique" refers to any dish garnished with seedless "white" (green) grapes. The name probably derives from Verona, Italy because the Garganega grape for dry white wine is grown in that area.

When fresh seedless white grapes are not available, canned ones can sometimes be found.

Ingredients:
Season 6 fillet of sole with salt and pepper to taste and lay them in a large, generously buttered earthenware or glass baking dish. Sprinkle them with 1 generous teaspoon lemon juice and pour in 1/2 cup dry white wine.

Directions:
Cover the dish with a buttered paper and bake the fillets in a moderate preheated 350 degree F. oven for 12 to 15 minutes.

Pour 1 cup cream sauce* over the fillets. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup seedless white grapes. Place the dish under the broiler until the sauce browns and bubbles.

* Cream sauce
Melt 2 tablespoons butter and add gradually 2 tablespoons flour, stirring constantly over a low flame for 3 to 5 minutes. Add gradually 1 cup scalded milk or cream, stirring constantly to blend well. Season to taste and complete the cooking over hot but not boiling water.

Image:
Brekelenkam's "A Woman Scaling Fish" (1666) from the Web Gallery of Art. In the public domain.

Innocence and Penitence

2010-02-18T15:10:00.000-08:00

These early days of Lent invite reflection on the theme of innocence and penitence. Last year, there was a good sermon available online that spoke to subject. Unfortunately, the sermon is no longer accessible. There, Father affirmed that innocence is, of course, best. He described penitence as next best, however, and said it is very pleasing to God.

Father went on to talk about how the Blessed Mother is the model of innocence and the Magdalene is the model of penitence. He pointed out that in Mel Gibson's film, The Passion of the Christ, the Blessed Mother and St. Mary Magdalene are shown staying together in Jerusalem during Christ's Passion and that this could be a metaphor for the closeness of true penitence to innocence. He said that St. Mary Magdalene was the only saint in the entire canon given the title of "Penitent", which suggests her perfection as a model for all penitents.

In his Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J., defines the two concepts as follows:

"INNOCENCE. Freedom from sin or moral guilt. Applied to Adam and Eve before the Fall, to those who have just been baptized, and to persons who never lost the state of grace because they never committed a grave sin. (Etym. Latin innocens: in-, not + nocere, to harm, hurt.)

"PENITENCE. The state of being repentant for having sinned. It is therefore a disposition of soul, arising from a realization of one's sinfulness and includes the willingness to expiate the wrongdoing."

Of course, no one can approach the innocence of the Blessed Mother who was born without the stain of original sin (the Immaculate Conception). Several saints, however, are believed to have preserved their baptismal innocence. These include: St. Dominic de Savio, St. John of the Cross, St. Bernadette of Lourdes, St. Pio, and St. Gemma Galgani.

Most of us, unfortunately, lose our baptismal innocence then regain it for a time through the sacrament of confession, as we struggle to become more like St. Mary Magdalene in penitence. There is a good post at Vultus Christi that speaks of "Innocence Restored".

The image above of St. Mary Magdalene (left) and the Blessed Mother gazing at the Crucified Christ after he was taken down from the Cross and prior to his burial might be useful for meditating on the closeness of true Penitence to Innocence.

May all the readers of this blog make a good Lent!

Image:
Detail from Perugino's "Companto sul Cristo Morto", from Wikimedia Commons. The painting is in the public domain. For compilation copyright free licensing information click on this link.

The Initiative of Greeting

2010-02-11T18:10:00.000-08:00

Those making the transition to Traditional Catholicism soon perceive its richness and learn that nothing is meaningless or escapes integration into the Catholic worldview. Every gesture and movement of the traditional Latin Mass is so replete with symbolism that its study must be inexhaustible, and the same applies to the liturgical year. Awareness of the constant presence of Heaven and the Communion of Saints challenges and enlarges one's perspective. Even the petty annoyances of daily existence are given meaning as opportunities to unite oneself to the sufferings of Christ and to grow in virtue. A blessed child it is who is reared with the fullness of the true Faith.

One small facet of the wealth of Catholicism can be found in a section on greeting in Dr. Marian Horvat's book, The Catholic Manual of Civility.

First, Dr. Horvat explains:

"Crossing the path of a person of authority or higher dignity, it is the younger or less important person who should offer the first greeting."

Then she goes on to say:

"When Our Lady learned that Elizabeth was with child, she did not delay to make plans to travel from Nazareth to Hebron to congratulate her cousin for this high favor from God. At the meeting, the one who initiated the greeting was the Blessed Virgin, who was younger in age even though she was superior to Elizabeth in dignity: And Mary entered into the house of Zachary and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. (Lk 1:40-41)

"Her words were accompanied by a prodigy of grace: the sanctification of John the Baptist, who leaped with joy in his mother's womb. It is to commemorate and imitate the humility of Mary in this greeting that the laws of certain religious congregations impose on the superiors the initiative of greeting."

That is, because of her Immaculate Conception and Divine Maternity, the Blessed Virgin was superior in dignity to St. Elizabeth. Nevertheless, virtuous woman that she was, she humbly initiated the greeting of her older relative, Elizabeth.

The practice of superiors initiating the greeting as described by Dr. Horvat is depicted in the film The Nun's Story. More than once in the film, the mother superior greets Sr. Luke with "Benedicite", to which Sr. Luke responds, "Dominus".

With this traditional practice in mind, every "Good morning" or "Good evening" can become a reminder to reflect in passing on the virtue of humility.

Source:
Horvat, Marian Therese, Catholic Manual of Civility (Tradition in Action, Los Angeles, 2008), p. 100.

Image:
Rembrant's "Visitation", from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

St. John Bosco and His Gray Dog

2010-02-05T00:01:00.000-08:00

St. John Bosco (1815-1888) was a priest born near Castelnuovo in the archdiocese of Turin, Italy. He was ordained a priest in 1846, beatified in 1929, and canonized in 1934. His feast day is January 31.

The saint founded an oratory named after St. Francis de Sales, and eventually a men's order called The Society of St. Francis de Sales (Salesians). With the help of Sr. Mary Dominic Mazzarello, he also founded a women's order called the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Auxiliatrix (Mary, Help of Christians).

His principal work was the development of an educational system based on "reason, religion, and kindness". He conducted workshops for tradesmen and manual laborers, schools for young workers, and for men preparing for the priesthood. He was opposed by anti-clerical forces and subjected to violent attacks by them.

A remarkable aspect of St. John Bosco's life is the protection he received from a mysterious dog. Here is an account from the Fish Eaters website:

"When returning home one night through a bad and dangerous part of the town, he saw a magnificent dog of huge size following him. At first he was frightened but quickly came to see that the dog was friendly. The animal walked by his side and accompanied him to the door of his house and then went away. This happened five, six or eight times. He called the dog Grigio [Gray]
. . . .

"Hastening home by himself, some time after the first appearance of the dog, two shots were fired at him by an assassin from behind a tree. Both shots missed their mark, but his assailant then rushed at and grappled with him. At that moment, Grigio appeared and sank his teeth into the flesh of the would-be murderer, who fled away shrieking with pain.

"On a second occasion, two men lay in wait for him and threw a sack over his head. This time it seemed all was over with him, but Grigio unexpectedly came to his rescue and jumped at one of the ruffians, seizing him by the throat. The other fled in terror. Don Bosco had then to liberate the first from the fangs of Grigio, who still held him by the throat.

"A third time, no less than twelve hired assassins, armed with clubs, lay in ambush, into which Don Bosco walked unawares. Again, escape seemed impossible, but once more Grigio bounded into the midst of the group, and his fierce look and savage growl proved enough. The men made off as quickly as they could."

You can read the rest of the story at Fish Eaters

Source for biographical material:
Aumann, Jordan, O.P. and Lodi, Enzo; Saints of the Roman Calendar (Alba House, New York, 1992); pp. 35-36.

Image:
St. John Bosco from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

Near the Crib of Christ

2010-01-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

In the traditional calendar, today January 29, is the feast day of St. Francis de Sales (1567- 1622), Bishop of Geneva and the author of Introduction to the Devout Life, Treatise on the Love of God, and other works.*

This wonderful saint was born to aristocratic parents at Thorens, in the Duchy of Savoy (France). He was consecrated the Bishop of Geneva in 1602. At that time, the seat of the Bishop of Geneva was in Annecy in Savoy as the Calvinists controlled Geneva.

St. Francis de Sales fought the heresy of Calvinism and is said to have brought 72,000 heretics to the true Faith. Under his spiritual guidance, St. Jane Frances de Chantal founded the Order of the Visitation. He was beatified in 1661, canonized in 1665, and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1877.

In The Liturgical Year, Dom Gueranger said, "The angelic bishop Francis of Sales has a right to a distinguished position near the Crib of Jesus, on account of the sweetness of his virtues, the childlike simplicity of his heart, and the humility and tenderness of his love."

An touching example of St. Francis de Sales' "simplicity of heart" is found in his statement about St. Mary Magdalene in Introduction to the Devout Life (Part III, Chapter XXIX): "Simon the leper called Magdalene a sinner, because she had once lived a life of sin; but he lied, for she was a sinner no longer, but rather a very saintly penitent, and so our Lord Himself undertook her defense."

The saint died in Lyons. His body was brought to Annecy while his heart was kept at Lyons. He is buried at the Visitation Convent of Annecy. At the time of the French Revolution, the Visitation nuns took his heart from Lyons to Venice. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "A great number of wonderful favors have been obtained at his tomb in the Visitation Convent of Annecy."

Image:
St. Francis de Sales from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.
-----
*In the Novus Ordo calendar, his feast day was celebrated January 24.

The Lioness and Her Lord

2010-01-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

In Introduction to the Devout Life, St. Francis de Sales uses a compelling metaphor about a lioness to describe the soul's need for the sacrament of Confession:

"Our Savior has bequeathed the Sacrament of Penitence and Confession to His Church, in order that therein we may be cleansed from all our sins, however and whenever we may have been soiled thereby. Therefore, my child, never allow your heart to abide heavy with sin, seeing that there is so sure and safe a remedy at hand. If the lioness has been in the neighborhood of other beasts she hastens to wash away their scent, lest it should be displeasing to her lord; and so the soul which has ever so little consented to sin, ought to abhor itself and make haste to seek purification, out of respect to His Divine Gaze Who beholds it always. Why should we die a spiritual death when there is a sovereign remedy available?

"Make your confession humbly and devoutly every week, and always, if you can, before communicating, even although your conscience is not burdened with mortal sin; for in confession you do not only receive absolution for your venial sins, but you also receive great strength to help you in avoiding them henceforth, clearer light to discover your failings, and abundant grace to make up whatever loss you have incurred through those faults. You exercise the graces of humility, obedience, simplicity and love, and by this one act of confession you practice more virtue than in any other.

"Be sure always to entertain a hearty sorrow for the sins you confess, however small they are; and also a steadfast resolution to correct them in the future. Some people go on confessing venial sins out of mere habit, and conventionally, without making any effort to correct them, thereby losing a great deal of spiritual good. Supposing that you confess having said something untrue, although without evil consequences, or some careless words, or excessive amusement;—repent, and make a firm resolution of amendment: it is a mere abuse to confess any sin whatever, be it mortal or venial, without intending to put it altogether away, that being the express object of confession.

"Beware of unmeaning self-accusations, made out of a mere routine, such as, 'I have not loved God as much as I ought; I have not prayed with as much devotion as I ought; I have not loved my neighbor as I ought; I have not received the Sacraments with sufficient reverence;' and the like. Such things as these are altogether useless in setting the state of your conscience before your Confessor, inasmuch as all the Saints in Paradise and all men living would say the same. But examine closely what special reason you have for accusing yourself thus, and when you have discovered it, accuse yourself simply and plainly of your fault. For instance, when confessing that you have not loved your neighbor as you ought, it may be that what you mean is that having seen some one in great want whom you could have succored, you have failed to do so. Well then, accuse yourself of that special omission: say, “Having come across a person in need, I did not help him as I might have done,” either through negligence, or hardness, or indifference, according as the case may be. So again, do not accuse yourself of not having prayed to God with sufficient devotion; but if you have given way to voluntary distractions, or if you have neglected the proper circumstances of devout prayer whether place, time, or attitude—say so plainly, just as it is, and do not deal in generalities, which, so to say, blow neither hot nor cold.

"Again, do not be satisfied with mentioning the bare fact of your venial sins, but accuse yourself of the motive cause which led to them. For instance, do not be content with saying that you told an untruth which injured no one; but say whether it was out of vanity, in order to win praise or avoid blame, out of heedlessness, or from obstinacy. If you have exceeded in society, say whether it was from the love of talking, or gambling for the sake of money, and so on. Say whether you continued long to commit the fault in question, as the importance of a fault depends greatly upon its continuance: e.g., there is a wide difference between a passing act of vanity which is over in a quarter of an hour, and one which fills the heart for one or more days. So you must mention the fact, the motive and the duration of your faults. It is true that we are not bound to be so precise in confessing venial sins, or even, technically speaking, to confess them at all; but all who aim at purifying their souls in order to attain a really devout life, will be careful to show all their spiritual maladies, however slight, to their spiritual physician, in order to be healed.

"Do not spare yourself in telling whatever is necessary to explain the nature of your fault, as, for instance, the reason why you lost your temper, or why you encouraged another in wrong-doing. Thus, some one whom I dislike says a chance word in joke, I take it ill, and put myself in a passion. If one I like had said a stronger thing I should not have taken it amiss; so in confession, I ought to say that I lost my temper with a person, not because of the words spoken so much as because I disliked the speaker; and if in order to explain yourself clearly it is necessary to particularize the words, it is well to do so; because accusing one’s self thus simply one discovers not merely one’s actual sins, but one’s bad habits, inclinations and ways, and the other roots of sin, by which means one’s spiritual Father acquires a fuller knowledge of the heart he is dealing with, and knows better what remedies to apply. But you must always avoid exposing any one who has borne any part in your sin as far as possible. Keep watch over a variety of sins, which are apt to spring up and flourish, often insensibly, in the conscience, so that you may confess them and put them away . . .

"Do not lightly change your Confessor, but having chosen him, be regular in giving account of your conscience to him at the appointed seasons, telling him your faults simply and frankly, and from time to time—say every month or every two months, show him the general state of your inclinations, although there be nothing wrong in them; as, for instance, whether you are depressed and anxious, or cheerful, desirous of advancement, or money, and the like."

Source:
St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Part II, Chapter XIX, "On Confession".

Image:
Antoine-Louis Barye's, "Lions near their Den" from Web Gallery of Art. In the public domain.

The Virtue of Fortitude

2010-01-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

In his Modern Catholic Dictionary, Fr.John Hardon defines fortitude as follows:

"FORTITUDE. Firmness of spirit. As a virtue, it is a steadiness of will in doing good in spite of difficulties faced in the performance of one’s duty.

"There are two levels to the practice of fortitude: one is the suppression of inordinate fear and the other is the curbing of recklessness. The control of fear is the main role of fortitude. Hence the primary effect of fortitude is to keep unreasonable fears under control and not allow them to prevent one from doing what one’s mind says should be done. But fortitude or courage also moderates rashness, which tends to lead the headstrong to excess in the face of difficulties and dangers. It is the special virtue of pioneers in any endeavor.

"As a human virtue, fortitude is essentially different from what has come to be called animal courage. Animals attack either from pain, as when they are wounded, or from fear of pain, as when they go after humans because they are angered, whom they would leave alone if they were unmolested. They are not virtuously brave, for they face danger from pain or rage or some other sense instinct, not from choice, as do those who act with foresight. True courage is from deliberate choice, not mere emotion. (Etym. Latin fortitudo, strength; firmness of soul; courage of soul.)"

An impressive example of fortitude in recent times is found in the story of Rose Hu.

As a young Chinese woman in Shanghai, Rose Hu had been formed by the Legion of Mary. Before long, she found herself being persecuted by the Communists for her Catholicism. She was incarcerated for the faith in prison and labor camps from 1955 to 1981.

Early during this ordeal, she spent several months in solitary confinement. While there, she kept the faith with a daily routine that included "hearing Mass" from memory, making a spiritual Communion, praying the Rosary, and other spiritual practices.

Her inspiring story can be found in two forms:

An audio file where she tells her story
(Click on the third link from the top of the page for a free download)

Several book chapters where she gives more details
(Click on the individual link for each section)

Source:
Hardon, Fr. John A.; Modern Catholic Dictionary (1999); online version.

Image:
Botticelli's "Fortitude", from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

The Honey of Heraclea

2010-01-08T10:10:00.000-08:00

In Introduction to the Devout Life, St. Francis de Sales uses a metaphor about honey to speak of good and evil friendships. In Part III, Chapter XVII, he explains that the nectar for the honey of Heraclea of Pontus is gathered by bees from poisonous aconite, which is plentiful in Heraclea. Then in Part III, Chapter XX ("Of the difference between True and Vain Friendships") he says :

"Observe, Philothea, this important admonition. The honey of Heraclea, which is so poisonous, altogether resembles that which is wholesome, and there is great danger of mistaking one for the other, or of mixing them, for the virtue of one would not counteract the harmfulness of the other. So we must be on our guard not to be deceived in making friendships, especially between persons of the opposite sexes, for not infrequently Satan deludes those who love one another. They may begin with a virtuous affection, but if discretion be lacking, frivolity will creep in, and then sensuality, till their love becomes carnal: even in spiritual love there is a danger if people are not watchful, although it is not so easy to be deluded therein, inasmuch as the very purity and transparency of spiritual affection show Satan’s stains more promptly. Consequently, when he seeks to interpose, he does it stealthily, and strives to insinuate impurity almost imperceptibly. You may distinguish between worldly friendship and that which is good and holy, just as one distinguishes that poisonous honey from what is good—it is sweeter to the taste than ordinary honey, owing to the aconite infused;—and so worldly friendship is profuse in honeyed words, passionate endearments, commendations of beauty and sensual charms, while true friendship speaks a simple honest language, lauding naught save the Grace of God, its one only foundation. That strange honey causes giddiness; and so false friendship upsets the mind, makes its victim to totter in the ways of purity and devotion, inducing affected, mincing looks, sensual caresses, inordinate sighings, petty complaints of not being loved, slight but questionable familiarities, gallantries, embraces, and the like, which are sure precursors of evil; whereas true friendship is modest and straightforward in every glance, loving and pure in caresses, has no sighs save for Heaven, no complaints save that God is not loved sufficiently. That honey confuses the sight, and worldly friendship confuses the judgment, so that men think themselves right while doing evil, and assume their excuses and pretexts to be valid reasoning. They fear the light and love darkness; but true friendship is clear-sighted, and hides nothing—rather seeks to be seen of good men. Lastly, this poisonous honey leaves an exceeding bitter taste behind; and so false friendship turns to evil desires, upbraidings, slander, deceit, sorrow, confusion and jealousies, too often ending in downright sin; but pure friendship is always the same—modest, courteous and loving—knowing no change save an increasingly pure and perfect union, a type of the blessed friendships of Heaven.

"When young people indulge in looks, words or actions which they would not like to be seen by their parents, husbands or confessors, it is a sure sign that they are damaging their conscience and their honor. Our Lady was troubled when the Angel appeared to her in human form, because she was alone, and he spoke to her with flattering although heavenly words. O Savior of the world, if purity itself fears an Angel in human shape, how much more need that our impurity should fear men, although they take the likeness of an Angel, if they speak words of earthliness and sensuality[.]"

Image:
Illustration from Tacuina Sanitatis (14th century), from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

Scale, Proportion, and Balance in Church Flower Arrangements

2010-01-02T09:33:00.000-08:00

In their book, Arranging Flowers for the Sanctuary (1961), Knight and St. Claire had this to say on the topic of scale, proportion, and balance in church flower arrangements:

"Selecting and arranging plant material has two aims: order and beauty. The arranger must keep these two goals uppermost and observe known principles for their attainment.

"The most often confused of such principles are scale and proportion. Both are important in successful flower arranging.

"Scale is the relationship between the sizes of the component parts of an arrangement. The relative sizes of the flowers as well as the relationship between the arrangement and the size of the area it decorates are both involved. A well-scaled arrangement for a smaller chapel would be based on Fashion roses rather than an amaryllis. Also, an amaryllis is much too large for a vertical container six inches in height.

"Proportion is the size relationship of one portion of the arrangement to another. Remember that the visual weight of plant material has much to do with the height of an arrangement. Heavy material used in a ratio of one and a half to twice the height of the container is the general rule. Light, airy material may be from two and a half to three time the height of the container and still be in proper proportion. However, if the church is large, distance tends to make arrangements diminish in height. A better appearance is attained if the plant material is at least three times the height of the container.

"Balance is another important principle, especially in church flower arranging, since the finished design must be firmly fixed. There are two types of balance. Symmetrical balance is the most common in churches. It is always quiet, dignified, and impressive, if sometimes static. This type of balance is achieved by placing an equal amount of plant material on both sides of an imaginary center line drawn through the middle of the plant material and container. Both sides are practically the same.

"The second type of balance, and one more difficult to complete, is asymmetrical. This type relies on purely visual effects for its success. The two sides here may differ in form and color but have equal weight. At all times the whole arrangement depends on the eye's measurement and evaluation.

"The three types of symmetrically balanced arrangements most often seen in church are (1) massed oval, (2) massed triangle, and (3) massed vertical. The type of arrangement to be used must depend on the architecture of the church and the kind of reredos. With Gothic architecture, a vertical arrangement looks well. Baroque or Byzantine, on the other hand, calls for an oval or a triangle. In contemporary settings, a bold triangle or vertical arrangement looks best.

"In a small church or a simple chapel a rather loose informal type of arrangement is suitable. A formal chapel demands a more tightly massed arrangement, yet one that should be kept dignified and simple."

Source:
Patteson-Knight, Francis and St. Claire, Margaret McReynolds; Arranging Flowers for the Sanctuary (Harper & Bros., New York, 1961), pp. 76-79. (Emphasis added.)

Image:
Patteson-Knight, Francis; line drawing of the three types of massed arrangements, at p. 78 of the above-cited book.

And the Angel Said Unto Them

2009-12-25T00:01:00.000-08:00

"Et dixit illis Angelus . . . Et hoc vobis signum: Invenietis infantem pannis involutum, et positum in praesepio."

"And the Angel said unto them . . . And this shall be a sign unto you: you shall find the Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger."

(Lk. 2:10, 12.)

May you have a Blessed Christmas and New Year!

Image:
Giotto's Nativity, from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

Duties of State of Life

2009-11-10T00:05:00.000-08:00

Although it has been changed since then, when I was in the Girl Scouts, the pledge we recited solemnly was, "On my honor, I will try, to do my duty to God and my country, to help other people at all times, and to obey the Girl Scout law."

When one of my parents wanted me to do some particularly unpleasant chore, the directive would sometimes be prefaced with, "How would you like to do something for your country?" I was not convinced that weeding the garden was a patriotic act, but the phrase did seem to invest the chore with a level of importance.

I saw my beloved maternal grandmother do her housewifely chores with a degree of dignity and discipline that is rarely seen these days and perhaps was uncommon even then. She was a Lutheran, not a Catholic, but she understood well the teaching that God's will for us is to give first priority to the duties of our state of life. How I wish I could perform my duties as well as she performed hers.

Although I have never been able to locate a source that relates when and where he said it, I have heard many times that one of St. Pio's maxims was that one's duty of state must come before all, even holy things. I think I understand what he meant by that.

For a married woman her duties are clear: husband, home, and family come first. Blogging must be somewhere way down the list. Recently, a young mother put up a good post about this principle.

The single state has duties too. Their specifics are something that has to be sorted out with the help of a good spiritual director. Generally speaking, however, the single life is supposed to be a life of service. And, some of us have been blessed with a profession that allows us to be compensated monetarily for serving others. For us too, these duties and others must necessarily come before blogging.

While I have not exactly neglected my professional duties since I started blogging early this year, I regret that I have not given them and certain other responsibilities the wholeheartedness I should have. For that reason, for the foreseeable future, I will be visiting sites on the internet much less and posting with much less frequency at this site. I do have many, many ideas for posts, however, and so I will continue to post occasionally as it seems proper.

For those who have found this site enjoyable, interesting, or helpful, I refer you with gratitude to the sites of the woman from whose example I've learned the most about what makes a good blog, Elena María Vidal (Fountain of Elias and Tea at Trianon), as well as those of the woman who has given me the most help, Matterhorn (The Sword & the Sea and The Cross of Laeken). And, while acknowledging debts of gratitude, I should also thank those who have placed this site on their blogroll, including Bryn at Celestial Offerings and Jackie Parkes at Catholic Mom of 10.

Image:
Old-fashioned housewife from an antique Danish greeting card.

St. Anselm's Prayer to St. Mary Magdalene

2009-11-07T00:05:00.000-08:00

St. Anselm's Prayer to St. Mary Magdalene

St. Mary Magdalene, thou didst come with springing tears to the spring of mercy, Christ; from Him thy burning thirst was abundantly refreshed, through Him thy sins were forgiven; by Him thy bitter sorrow was consoled.

My dearest lady, well thou knowest by thine own life how a sinful soul can be reconciled with its creator, what counsel a soul in misery needs, what medicine will restore the sick to health.

It is enough for us to understand, dear friend of God, to whom were many sins forgiven, because she loved much.

Most blessed lady, I who am the most evil and sinful of men do not recall thy sins as a reproach, but call upon the boundless mercy by which they were blotted out.

This is my reassurance, so that I do not despair; this is my longing, so that I shall not perish.

I say this of myself, miserably cast down into the depths of vice, bowed down with the weight of crimes, thrust down by my own hand into a dark prison of sins, wrapped round with the shadows of darkness.

Therefore, since thou art now with the chosen because thou art beloved and are beloved because thou art chosen of God, I, in my misery, pray to thee in bliss; in my darkness, I ask for light; in my sins, redemption; impure, I ask for purity.

Recall in loving kindness what thou used to be, how much thou didst need mercy, and seek for me that same forgiving love that thou didst receive when thou wert wanting it. Ask urgently that I may have the love that pierces the heart; tears that are humble; desire for the homeland of Heaven; impatience with this earthly exile; searing repentance; and a dread of torments in eternity.

Turn to my good that ready access that thou once didst have and still doth have to the spring of mercy.

Draw me to Him where I may wash away my sins; bring me to Him Who can slake my thirst; pour over me those waters that will make my dry places fresh. Thou wilt not find it hard to gain all thou doth desire from so loving and so kind a Lord, Who is alive and reigns and is thy friend.

For who can tell, beloved and blest of God, with what kind familiarity and familiar kindness He Himself didst reply on thy behalf to the calumnies of those who were against thee? How He didst defend thee, when the proud Pharisee was indignant, how He didst excuse thee, when thy sister didst complain, how highly He didst praise thy deed, when Judas didst begrudge it.

And, more than all this, what can I say, how can I find words to tell, about the burning love with which thou didst seek Him, weeping at the sepulchre, and wept for Him in thy seeking?

How He cameth, who can say how or with what kindness, to comfort thee, and madest thee burn with love still more; how He didst hide from thee when thou didst want to see Him, and showed Himself when thou didst not think to see Him; how He was there all the time thou didst seek Him, and how He didst seek thee when, seeking Him, thou didst weep.

But Thou, most holy Lord, why didst Thou ask her why she weeps? Surely Thou canst see her heart, the dear life of her soul, is cruelly slain.

O love to be wondered at;

O evil to be shuddered at;

Thou didst hang on the wood, pierced by iron nails, stretched out like a thief for the mockery of wicked men; and yet, 'Woman,' Thou didst say, 'why art thou weeping?' She had not been able to prevent them from killing Thee, but at least she longed to keep Thy Body for a while with ointments lest it decay.

No longer able to speak with Thee living, at least she could mourn for Thee dead. So, near to death and hating her own life, she repeats in broken tones the words of life which she had heard from the living.

And now, besides all this, even the Body which she was glad, in a way, to have kept, she believes to have gone.

And can Thou asketh her, 'Woman, why art thou weeping?' Had she not reason to weep? For she had seen with her own eyes---if she could bear to look---what cruel men cruelly did to Thee; and now all that was left of Thee from their hands she thinks she has lost. All hope of Thee has fled, for now she has not even Thy lifeless Body to remind her of Thee.

And someone asks, 'Whom art thou looking for? Why art thou weeping?'

Thou, her sole joy, should be the last thus to increase her sorrow. But Thou knowest it all well, and thus Thou didst wish it to be, for only in such broken words and sighs can she convey a cause of grief as great as hers. The love Thou hast inspired Thou didst not ignore.

And indeed Thou knowest her well, the gardener, Who planted her soul in His garden. What Thou plantest, I think Thou doth also water.

Does Thou water, I wonder, or does Thou test her? In fact, Thou art both watering and putting to the test.

But now, good Lord, gentle Master, look upon Thy faithful servant and disciple, so lately redeemed by Thy Blood, and see how she burneth with anxiety, desiring Thee, searching all round, questioning, and what she longest for is nowhere found.

Nothing she seest canst satisfy her, since Thou Whom alone she wouldst behold, she seest not. What then?

How long will my Lord leave His beloved to suffer thus? Have Thou put off compassion now Thou hast put on incorruption? Did Thou let go of goodness when Thou didst lay hold of immortality? Let it not be so, Lord.

Thou will not despise us mortals now Thou hast made Thyself immortal, for Thou didst make Thyself a mortal in order to give us immortality. And so it is; for love's sake He canst not bear her grief for long or go on hiding Himself. For the sweetness of love He showeth Himself Who would not for the bitterness of tears.

The Lord calls His servant by the name she hast often heard and the servant doth know the voice of her own Lord.

I think, or rather I am sure, that she responded to the gentle tone with which He was accustomed to call, 'Mary'. What joy filled that voice, so gentle and full of love.

He could not have put it more simply and clearly: 'I know who thou art and what thou wanteth; behold Me; do not weep, behold Me; I am He Whom Thou seekest.'

At once the tears are changed; I do not believe that they stopped at once, but where once they were wrung from a heart broken and self-tormenting they flow now from a heart exulting. How different is, 'Master!' from 'If thou hast taken Him away, tell me'; and, 'They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him,' has a very different sound from, 'I have seen the Lord, and He hast spoken to me.'

But how should I, in misery and without love, dare to describe the love of God and the blessed friend of God? Such a flavour of goodness will make my heart sick if it has in itself nothing of that same virtue.

But in truth, Thou Who art very truth, Thou knowest me well and canst testify that I write this for the love of Thy love, my Lord, my most dear Jesus.

I want Thy love to burn in me as Thou commandest so that I may desire to love Thee alone and sacrifice to Thee a troubled spirit, 'a broken and a contrite heart'.

Give me, O Lord, in this exile, the bread of tears and sorrow for which I hunger more than for any choice delights.

Hear me, for Thy love, and for the dear merits of Thy beloved Mary, and Thy blessed Mother, the greater Mary.

Redeemer, my good Jesus, do not despise the prayers of one who hast sinned against Thee but strengthen the efforts of a weakling that loves Thee.

Shakest my heart out of its indolence, Lord, and in the ardour of Thy love bringest me to the everlasting sight of Thy glory where with the Father and the Holy Spirit Thou livest and reignest, God, for ever. Amen.

Image:
Ugalino de Nerio's Mary Magdalene from the Web Gallery of Art

St. Salaun and His Lily

2009-11-05T00:05:00.000-08:00

Here, a few days late, is the story of Salaun, a canonized saint whose feast day is November 1. The setting is 14th century Brittany (a region in northwestern France, on a peninsula between the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay).

According to Baring-Gold, St. Salaun's life was originally recorded by Jean de Langouezenou, a Benedictine monk who was the abbot of Landevenec and a contemporary of Salaun. The original account was lost and so it cannot be determined how much the more recent versions vary from the original. In summary, this is the story:

Salaun (also referred to as Yann Salacin, Solomon, or Salomon) was a poor child from the area of Lesneven. At school, he learned to revere the Blessed Virgin Mary. He learned nothing else.

He would gather flowers in the fields and bring them to the Virgin's altar where he spent hours every day.

He begged his food by the roadside and by knocking at doors. He would plead, "O Lady Virgin Mary! Salaun would like some bread!" He often wandered in a certain wooded area and slept in the trees or in the barns of peasants. He would swing in the branches of the trees singing "Ave Maria".

Once during the disputes between Charles of Blois and the Count of Montfort, some soldiers asked him to which side he belonged and he replied, "Neither to Blois nor to Montfort, but to Mary".

Because he was regarded as a simpleton, he came to be called "The Fool" and the woods he inhabited "Fool's Wood" (Folgoat or Follcoat).

Salaun died on All Saints' Day around 1358 and was buried in a churchyard. From his grave, a tall, pure white lily grew. The grave was opened and it was discovered that the lily sprang from Salaun's mouth. Some accounts say the petals of the lily were inscribed with the phrase he used to cry -- "O Lady Virgin Mary!" Others say they were inscribed with "Ave Maria", written in gold.

A church was erected in the Fool's Wood called "Notre Dame de Folgoat", which portrays the story in a stained glass window. The church became the most popular pilgrimage destination in lower Brittany.

Sources:
Baring-Gold, Sabine; The Lives of the Saints, Vol. 13 (1898), pp. 40-41.
Sedgwick, Anne Douglas; A Childhood in Brittany Eighty Years Ago (1919), pp. 196-197.

Image:
"Lilium Neilgherense", an illustration by Walter Hood Fitch (1817-1892), from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

Foliage and Form in Church Flower Arrangements - Part 2

2009-11-03T09:20:00.000-08:00

This is the second part of a two-part post on foliage and form in church flower arrangements relying on Katherine Morrison McClinton's 1944 book, Flower Arrangement in the Church. Here McClinton describes the three types of massed arrangements she views as especially suitable for church decoration: the massed triangle, the massed oval, and the massed vertical:

"HOW TO MAKE A MASSED TRIANGLE

"In making a massed triangle arrangement, always start with a tall center stalk as your primary line. Then measure two stalks of identical length and place them horizontally to each side of the vase. Continue filling in the triangle with flowers. Place the heavy or dark colored flowers for emphasis in the massed triangle low in the vase and radiate the second triangle with stalks of lighter toned flowers back of the small triangle. Combinations of flowers which are excellent for this arrangement are amaryllis with a delphinium fan; roses with delphinium; roses with stock and anemones; tulips with dogwood; Madonna lilies or peonies with double syringa. It is not necessary always to have a contrast in hue as two or more different varieties of flowers give a contrast in texture which is interesting. The same floral design may be made with one variety of flower backed with a fan of leaves. . . .

"The shape and proportion of the triangle arrangement may vary with the size of the arrangement desired, as this arrangement can be made in a small altar vase or a large urn vase to be set [elsewhere in the sanctuary] . . .

"MAKING A MASSED OVAL ARRANGEMENT

"In making an oval arrangement, first place the center or core flowers low and firm near the base and the other flowers can be made to radiate about this center. An oval arrangement should have depth, as well as height and breadth, and this can be accomplished by turning some flowers to the side and others to the front. An oval arrangement is especially suited to vases with bulges or full-curved contours and to churches with oval archways.

"MAKING A MASSED VERTICAL ARRANGEMENT

"A massed vertical arrangement is particularly suitable for a simple, tall vase, although a tall urn may be used. First of all, place the vertical stalks, then place the secondary stalks which may be down near the vase or may ascend rhythmically alongside the vertical so that they too form a vertical line. Contrast in flower form is necessary to make this type of arrangement successful. For the tall vertical stock, delphinium or lilac may be used, while the secondary line may be built up with roses, asters, or daffodils of various length stems."

Unfortunately, McClinton does not provide diagrams, but it is fairly easy to visualize what she describes, and a little trial and error ought to yield a good result.

Note that in part 1, posted previously, McClinton said that the massed vertical arrangement is especially suited to narrow spaces, narrow vases, and Gothic architecture. In small traditional chapels, one must usually work with narrow spaces (the altar shelf), so vertical arrangements in narrow vases might be best. On the other hand, if the sanctuary is large enough, with the priest's permission larger arrangements could be placed on pedestals elsewhere within the sanctuary, such as on either side of the altar.

Source:
McClinton, Katherine Morrison; Flower Arrangement in the Church (Morehouse-Gorham Co., New York, 1944, 1958 edition); pp. 49-52.

Image:
"Hippeastrum Pardinum", from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

Vatican Pressures Underground Chinese Bishop to Join Patriotic Association

2009-10-30T00:05:00.000-07:00

As reported on October 29, 2009, "Sources told AsiaNews that after years in police custody Mgr An Shuxin [an underground bishop who was imprisoned for ten years] was torn about joining the CPCA [Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association]. Vatican and local sources confirm that the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples (Propaganda Fide) put pressure on him . . . in the end, he obeyed the Vatican. Still, he was against joining the CPCA, an organisation that has arrested bishops and priests and shut down religious shrines, underground seminaries and communities for many years."

And despite the fact that he joined, the Patriotic Association "continues to monitor his movements, preventing him from taking part in conferences and meetings". . .

Meanwhile, three underground Chinese bishops, including Bishop Jia Zhiguo, remain "disappeared".

Read the rest of the story at Asia News.

Image:
Artistic depiction of the Chinese Martyrs (martyred 1648-1930)

Foliage and Form in Church Flower Arrangements - Part 1

2009-10-29T00:05:00.000-07:00

This is the first part of a two-part post on foliage and form in church flower arrangements relying on Katherine Morrison McClinton's 1944 book, Flower Arrangement in the Church.

McClinton recognizes that since flowers in the sanctuary are first and foremost an offering to God, their arrangement must be worthy of that offering. She is also alert to the secondary purpose of church flowers, which is to ennoble the viewer and lift his or her heart and mind to God. A proper presentation is integral to that purpose as well:

"[F]lowers for church must be seen at a distance. Therefore, the effect should be bold and clear cut." . . .

"To be sure that flowers are effective at a distance you must not only give the flowers form but also the bouquet itself must have shape and mass. A massed arrangement of many flowers is the best type of arrangement. Also, because you want a certain dignity and formality in the church, the mass arrangement which has a formal balance is the best. Mass arrangements based on the triangle or oval are more traditional; however, you can arrange a massing of flowers with a structure line that leads [the eye to] the center [of the altar]. A certain severity of line is necessary if your design is to carry at the back of the church. Also, the color must be well defined.

"There are three types of mass arrangements especially suitable to church decoration: the massed triangle, the massed oval, and the massed vertical. Which type you choose will depend upon the vases obtainable, upon the space to be occupied by the flower arrangement, and to a certain extent upon the architectural lines of the church itself. For narrow spaces and all narrow vases and Gothic architecture, the massed vertical or triangle may seem more suitable. . . .

"If the flowers which you are using do not have interesting leaves, or if the leaves wilt easily, you can improve the arrangement by picking off the leaves and substituting more distinctive foliage. There are many leaves from both garden and house plants that can be used. Among the foliage that is particularly decorative are the leaves of the iris, gladiolus, and yucca, all of a tall, pointed contour; funkia [also known as hosta], canna, rubber plant, and magnolia leaves, which are large and heavy in effect; and pandanus, coleus, croton, caladium, and begonia leaves, which are especially colorful, as well as shapely. Of course, certain greenery, such as huckleberry, eucalyptus, magnolia, and ivy is most useful, and even cypress, and sword ferns can often be used as background material to set off a few blossoms. . . .

"It is well to remember that a mass arrangement does not mean a thick tight mass of flowers stuffed into a vase. A mass arrangement should have definite lines and should not be flat or even on the top or at the sides. Avoid this by using flowers with stems of various lengths grouped around the center primal stalk. The middle center mass should be strong and full, and tied close to the vase. These factors are applicable to massed oval as well as to the massed triangle arrangement."

To be continued . . .

Source:
McClinton, Katherine Morrison; Flower Arrangement in the Church (Morehouse-Gorham Co., New York, 1944, 1958 edition); pp. 48-51.

Image:
Canna "Auguste Ferrier", from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.
(Canna's decorative foliage is one of those recommended by McClinton for use in church flower arrangements.)

Queen Dagmar and the Bishop

2009-10-27T00:05:00.000-07:00

Readers might remember the earlier post on Dagmar (ca. 1189-1212/ 1213), Denmark's beloved medieval Catholic Queen. A charming ballad tells that through Dagmar's effort Bishop Valdemar of Schleswig was freed. He had been imprisoned for more than a decade in order to thwart his efforts to become the ruler of Denmark.

Image:
Herman Wilhelm Bissen's sculpture of Queen Dagmar, from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

Gabriel García Moreno and His King

2009-10-25T00:05:00.000-07:00

Today, the last Sunday in October, is the Feast of Christ the King in the traditional calendar. It is a good time to remember Gabriel García Moreno (1821-1875), the President of Ecuador. He was born on Christmas Eve, and died on the Feast of the Transfiguration, martyred because of his zeal for Christ the King.

García Moreno was a descendant of Spanish nobility. Prior to serving as President, he was a journalist and a lawyer. As President, he was responsible for a large number of reforms throughout Ecuadorian society. He promoted universal literacy and, under his leadership, Ecuador excelled in science and education.

An ardent Catholic, García Moreno was instrumental in the consecration of Ecuador to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 1873. For the consecration, he commissioned a painting depicting Christ with his Sacred Heart, holding a globe and scepter -- symbols of Christ's Kingship.

García Moreno's Catholicism so enraged the Masonic secret societies that after he was re-elected for a third term they marked him for death. There had already been a failed attempt to assassinate him and during the time leading up to his death he received many warnings. He wrote to Pope Pius IX, "What happiness if your benediction should obtain for me from Heaven the grace of shedding my blood for Him, who being God was willing to shed His blood for us upon the Cross!" To others, he said, "The enemies of God and the Church can kill me, but God does not die."

On August 6, 1875, García Moreno left the Cathedral of Quito where he had been praying before the Blessed Sacrament and was shot and attacked with machetes on the steps outside. His last words were "Dios no Muere!" (God does not die), which echoed his earlier statement that the evildoers could kill him but not his God. His left arm was severed and his right hand cut off. On his person were found a relic of the True Cross, scapulars of the Passion and the Sacred Heart, his Rosary, and a copy of The Imitation of Christ. Written on the last page of the book was the private rule of life that he adhered to.

An academic-type lecture by Msgr. Ignacio Barreiro detailing the life of Gabriel García Moreno and his many reforms can be purchased online for $1.50 as an mp3 download from Keep the Faith.

Image:
Gabriel García Moreno, from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

Fr. De Smet and the Flathead Indians

2009-10-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

It is well known that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church" (Tertullian). One way in which the seed of the martyrdom of St. Isaac Jogues and the other North American Martyrs bore fruit was in the form of a band of Catholic Iroquois who many decades later encountered and evangelized the Flathead Indians of the Rocky Mountain area of North America.

The Flatheads had an oral tradition prophesying the arrival of black-robed, pale-faced men. Once the Iroquois clarified this oral tradition for the Flatheads, their desire for the Faith was so great that they made several long and arduous expeditions to St. Louis, Missouri, pleading with the bishop to send them a priest. Finally, the bishop sent them Fr. Pierre-Jean De Smet, a Belgian Jesuit. What ensued is a most remarkable story, told in two beautiful audio sermons, available for free mp3 download via these links:

The Flathead Indians and the Black Robes - Part I

The Flathead Indians and the Black Robes - Part II

Image:
Photograph of Fr. De Smet from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

The Lake of the Blessed Sacrament

2009-10-18T00:05:00.000-07:00

In 1646, Fr. Isaac Jogues, S.J. (1607-1646) named the body of water depicted in this lovely painting the "Lac du Saint Sacrement" (Lake of the Blessed Sacrament).* In the same year, Fr. Jogues and his companion Jean de Lalande, a lay missionary, were martyred by the Mohawk Indians near what is now Auriesville, New York, about 65 miles from the lake. Today is the anniversary of that event, which occurred on October 18, 1646.

In 1930, Pope Pius XI canonized Isaac Jogues, along with Jean de Lalande and six other martyred missionaries, now known as the "North American Martyrs". Their feast is celebrated on September 26 in Canada and in the traditional calendar. In the novus ordo calendar, it is celebrated tomorrow, October 19.

Fr. Jogues was born in Orléans, France on January 10, 1607. He entered the Jesuit novitiate school at Rouen at age 17, and went on to study at the royal college at La Fleche, and then at the College of Clermont at the University of Paris. He celebrated his first Mass on February 10, 1636, and a few months later was on his way to the Jesuit mission in New France on the north American continent:

"In the summer of 1636, at the age of twenty-nine, he embarked for Canada with several of his fellows . . . Drawings of Jogues made at about this time reveal features of unusual refinement; this air of delicacy was, however, deceptive, for beneath it lay heroic powers of physical endurance."

In 1642, some Huron Indian converts, along with missionaries William Couture, Rene Goupil, and Fr. Jogues were attacked by Mohawk warriors. Some of the Hurons escaped. Fr. Jogues could have gotten away too but when he saw that Goupil, a physician, had been captured, he gave himself up. They were taken to the fortress of the Mohawks in what is now east central New York State:

"Fr. Jogues wrote: 'We were made to go up from the shore between two lines of Indians who were armed with clubs, sticks, and knives. I was the last and blows were showered on me. I fell on the ground and thought my end had come, but they lifted me up all streaming with blood and carried me more dead than alive to the platform.' Worse tortures followed. The Iroquois were especially cruel to the Huron converts. At this time and during subsequent torturings Father Jogues suffered the loss of two fingers."

To be more specific, according to Fr. Jogues own description, the Mohawks used their teeth to tear out nearly all of his fingernails and bit off two of his fingers. Goupil was killed, and Fr. Jogues was held as a slave for more than a year:

"'He would sometimes escape. . . and wander in the forest, telling his beads and repeating passages of Scripture. In a remote and lonely spot he cut the bark in the form of a cross from the trunk of a great tree; and here he made his prayers. [He was a] living martyr, half clad in shaggy furs, kneeling in the snow among the icicled rocks and beneath the gloomy pines, bowing in adoration before the emblem of his faith in which was his only consolation and his only hope' . . . The Indians were not without respect for their strange captive, naming him 'the indomitable one.' . . . As opportunity offered, he baptized children he found dying. During the year he baptized some seventy persons . . ."

In Fr. Jogues letters, he wrote that once he baptized two Indians by using for baptismal water the raindrops that had gathered on some corn stalks given them to chew. He baptized others using water from a stream.

Some Protestant Dutchmen helped Fr. Jogues escape his Mohawk captors and paid a sum to the Indians not to pursue him. On November 5, 1643, Fr. Jogues left by ship from what is now New York City, and towards the end of December reached the coast of Cornwall. From there, he took a coal ship to Brittany, arriving on Christmas Day. Then he traveled on to Rennes where he went to the rector's house. There he astonished the rector since it was commonly believed he had likely been killed.

During an encounter with Fr. Jogues, Anne of Austria (1601-1666) was moved to tears when she saw his wounded hands, which had barely healed from the cruelty of the Indians. The Queen then paid him homage:

"Jogues was received by Anne of Austria, and told his story. At its conclusion, the Queen arose and stooped to kiss the mutilated hands . . ."

Fr. Joques was concerned that the injuries to his hands would make it illicit for him to say Mass. Pope Urban VIII, however, abrogated for him the rule that the Eucharist could only be touched with the thumb and forefinger. In doing this, the Pope used words to the effect that it would not be just to prevent a martyr for Christ from drinking the Blood of Christ.

Fr. Jogues desired to return to North America and was permitted to do so. By June, 1644, he was back in Quebec, and worked successfully for some time, even traveling back and forth to the place where he had formerly been held hostage. In 1646, however, he was again taken captive by the Mohawks, along with the lay missionary Jean de Lalande:

"In the [Mohawk] councils the majority were ready to give the brave Ondessonk [Fr. Jogues] his freedom, but the minority faction, members of the Bear clan, took matters into their own hands. They invited Jogues to pay them a visit, and as he unsuspectingly entered the cabin of the Bear chief, he was brutally tomahawked. The next day Lalande met the same fate, and both bodies were thrown into a nearby ravine. Their heads were cut off and placed on poles facing the trail by which they had come, as if in warning to other Black Robes."

On the site of the martyrdom of Fr. Jogues and Lalande, there is now a shrine:

"Today, near the town of Auriesville, New York, which on the best archeological authority is accepted as the site of Ossernenon, there is a famous Catholic shrine and pilgrimage place. It was dedicated in 1885 to the Martyrs of North America and to their Indian converts. Here pilgrims come to honor the memory of the Jesuits of the seventeenth century who faced death in the wilderness. The eight martyrs—Jogues, Lalande, Brebeuf, Lalemant, Garnier, Daniel, Goupil, and Chabanel . . .".

May they never be forgotten.

Source:
The quoted material is from "Saint Isaac Jogues, Martyr - 1646", an article in the online library of the Eternal Word Television Network that relies on a Lives of the Saints published by John J. Crawley & Co., Inc., author and year unknown.

Image:
Painting by John F. Kensett, from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

------------------------------------------------------------
*Now more commonly known by its secular name, Lake George, this lake in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State will always be the Lake of the Blessed Sacrament to traditional Catholics.

A Rosary Confraternity Treasure at Brandeis Special Collections

2009-10-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

In March of this year (2009), the Special Collections Department of the Brandeis University Libraries posted on its "Spotlight" a beautiful early 18th century illuminated Rosary Confraternity document:

"The most significant artistic aspect of the manuscript is the presence of a fine illuminated miniature in the upper margin. There, the floral border includes an elaborate central medallion (6 x 8 cm.) surrounded by additional floral patterns, which contain an image of Mary holding the infant Christ, flanked by St. Dominic and an unidentified female Dominican saint. Mary is depicted hooded and crowned, robed in blue and pink, holding a rosary in her right hand while in her left she holds the infant Christ. Christ, with a celestial halo, is clothed in red and also holds, in his left hand, a rosary. The pair is shown elevated within a third large rosary, of which each bead is represented as a pink rose . . . . St. Dominic . . . is represented kneeling below and to the left of Mary and Jesus, tonsured and in the black and white Dominican habit, left hand lifted to the Virgin and Child and right hand clasped to his chest, with the traditional iconography of a dog carrying a torch visible at his feet, looking out from behind his robes."

At the linked page, one can read the entire explanatory text and view the document, including close-ups of its various details. (Click the photographs to enlarge them.)

Source:
Rutledge, Adam; "Charter of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary," Brandeis Special Collections Spotlight, March 29, 2009.

Image:
Rose Duchesse de Brabant, from Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved.

The Ninth Rose

2009-10-10T16:46:00.000-07:00

Here is a chapter entitled "The Ninth Rose" from The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis de Montfort (1673 -1716). St. Louis is chilling in his condemnation of anyone who diminishes devotion to the Holy Rosary. He says that a person who discourages others from joining the Rosary Confraternity is an "enemy of souls":

"It is very wicked indeed and unjust to hinder the progress of the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary. God has severely punished many of those who have been so benighted as to scorn the Confraternity and have sought to destroy it.

"Even though God has set his seal of approval on the Rosary by many miracles, and though it has been approved by the Church in many papal bulls, there are only too many people who are against the holy Rosary today. Such are free-thinkers and those who scorn religion, who either condemn the Rosary or try to turn others away from it.

"It is easy to see that they have absorbed the poison of hell and that they are inspired by the devil; for no one can condemn devotion to the holy Rosary without condemning all that is most holy in the Catholic faith, such as the Lord's prayer, the Hail Mary and the mysteries of the life, death and glory of Jesus Christ and his holy Mother.

"These freethinkers, who cannot bear to have people saying the Rosary, often fall into an heretical state of mind without realizing it and come to hate the Rosary and its mysteries.

"To have a loathing for confraternities is to fall away from God and true piety, for our Lord himself has told us that he is always in the midst of those who are gathered together in his name. No good Catholic would neglect the many great indulgences which the Church has granted to confraternities. Finally, to dissuade others from joining the Rosary Confraternity is to be an enemy of souls, because the Rosary is a means of avoiding sin and leading a good life.

"St. Bonaventure says in his 'Psalter' that whoever neglects our Lady will die in his sins. What, then, must be the punishment in store for those who turn people away from devotion to her?"

Source:
de Montfort, St. Louis-Marie Grignion, The Secret of the Rosary. (The entire book is available for download as a zip file. Scroll to the bottom of the linked page.)

Image:
Rose from the rose garden in Mainz, Germany, from Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved.

We Offer Thee Our Roses

2009-10-07T00:05:00.000-07:00

Today, October 7, is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Here is a beautiful Marian anthem for the occasion:

Hymn to Our Lady of the Rosary

"Queen of the Holy Rosary! Oh, bless us as we pray
And offer thee our roses, in garlands day by day;
While from our Father's garden, with loving hearts and bold,
We gather to thine honor buds white, and red, and gold.

"Queen of the Holy Rosary! Each mystery blends with thine
The sacred life of Jesus in every step divine.
Thy soul was His fair garden, thy virgin breast his throne,
Thy thoughts His faithful mirror, reflecting Him alone.

"Sweet Lady of the Rosary! White roses let us bring,
And lay them round thy footstool before our Infant King.
For nestling in thy bosom God's Son was fain to be,
The child of thy obedience, and spotless purity."

Here is a short history of the celebration by Jordan Aumann, O.P.:

"This feast derives from the feast of St. Mary of Victory, instituted by the Dominican Pope Pius V after the defeat of the Turkish fleet at Lepanto on October 7, 1571 [the first Sunday of October in 1571]. Pope Gregory XIII made it obligatory for Rome and for the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary in 1573. In 1716 Pope Clement XI inscribed the feast in the Roman Calendar for the first Sunday in October. The Dominicans also celebrated this feast on the first Sunday of October.

". . . . The title of this feast was changed from Holy Rosary to Our Lady of the Rosary in 1960."

And, here is a more detailed early history from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia:

"Apart from the single defeat of the Albigensian heretics at the battle of Muret in 1213 which legend has attributed to the recitation of the Rosary by St. Dominic, it is believed that Heaven has on many occasions rewarded the faith of those who had recourse to this devotion in times of special danger. More particularly, the naval victory of Lepanto gained by Don John of Austria over the Turkish fleet on the first Sunday of October in 1571 responded wonderfully to the processions made at Rome on that same day by the members of the Rosary confraternity. St. Pius V thereupon ordered that a commemoration of the Rosary should be made upon that day, and at the request of the Dominican Order Gregory XIII in 1573 allowed this feast to be kept in all churches which possessed an altar dedicated to the Holy Rosary. In 1671 the observance of this festival was extended by Clement X to the whole of Spain, and somewhat later Clement XI after the important victory over the Turks gained by Prince Eugene on 6 August, 1716 (the feast of Our Lady of the Snows) at Peterwardein in Hungary, commanded the feast of the Rosary to be celebrated by the universal Church. . . . Leo XIII has since raised the feast to the rank of a double of the second class and has added to the Litany of Loreto the invocation 'Queen of the Most Holy Rosary'. On this feast, in every church in which the Rosary confraternity has been duly erected, a plenary indulgence toties quoties is granted upon certain conditions to all who visit therein the Rosary chapel or statute of Our Lady. This has been called the 'Portiuncula' of the Rosary."

Sources:
Aumann, Jordan, O.P.; and Lodi, Enzo; Saints of the Roman Calendar (Alba House, New York, 1992), p. 302.

Dolan, Dominic, O.P. (Ed.); The Rosarian’s Handbook of the Society of the Rosary Altar (Marchbanks Press, New York, 1942), p. 94 (source for the hymn).

The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.

All material from The Rosarian's Handbook used with the kind permission of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph.

Image:
Jacopo de mino Montepulciano's, "The Coronation of the Virgin", from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

A Procession for Rosary Sunday

2009-10-04T00:05:00.000-07:00

The Rosarian's Handbook (1942) describes a procession for Rosary Sunday to be sponsored by the Rosary Altar Society.

Before the procession, the priest blesses the roses with a special blessing. According to the handbook, the blessing, reserved to the Dominican Order, was granted to the Rectors of the Rosary Confraternity. After the blessing, the priest distributes the blessed roses at the communion rail to the members of the Rosary Altar Society and to all the faithful who then venerate the roses. (Or, the Rosary roses are blessed in advance and distributed as dried petals wrapped in special envelopes.)

After the distribution of the roses, the procession begins:

"The cross-bearer and two acolytes head the procession, starting at the main sanctuary gates. They are followed by the choir boys.

"The large banner of the Rosary Altar Society -- carried by an altar boy -- follows the choir.

"Then the children symbolizing living Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glory Be to the Fathers fall in line after the bearer of the Society banner.

"The Our Father is symbolized by a young man wearing dark clothes with a white shoulder sash imprinted with black lettering 'Our Father'.

"The Hail Mary is symbolized by girls wearing shoulder sashes, imprinted with silver block lettering 'Hail Mary'.

"The 'Glory be to the Father' is symbolized by three baby boys (suggesting Our Lord's words 'whose angels are ever before the face of the Father in heaven'). All three of the children carry on the right shoulder one long white cloth band or ribbon printed in gold lettering 'Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.' Since the Trinity is symbolized by the triangle -- a three-cornered or triangular head crown of gilded material may be worn by each of the boys.

"Either the five mysteries or the entire fifteen mysteries according to local resources are interpreted by small banners ornamented with the particular mystery or gospel scene depicted on a print and surrounded by floral designs. The bottom of each banner should be fringed.

"The Joyful Mysteries carry the white color motif, the Sorrowful Mysteries violet, and the Glorious Mysteries gold.

"Thus the first decade of the Holy Rosary -- the Annunciation of the Archangel Gabriel to the ever Blessed Virgin Mary -- would be portrayed in a living way by a child in white dress carrying the processional banner depicting Mary being addressed by the Archangel Gabriel. The banner carrier is followed by one young man with the Our Father imprinted on his white sash.

"Ten girls in white dresses and with white shoulder sashes lettered in silver, 'Hail Mary' typify the decades of ten Hail Marys.

"Following these girls and walking in single file, three baby boys in white suits, holding the white cloth, lettered with the 'Glory be to the Father,' etc., as stated before.

"Each decade follows the same routine. If instead of the children, circumstances favor the use of Rosarian members as symbols of prayer in the living procession of the Most Holy Rosary, this usage will be according to approved tradition.

"The route of the procession is usually around the aisles of the church, although when permitted by public goodwill it may be around the streets of the square on which the church building is located. This matter is left entirely to the discretion of the Rector of the Rosary Confraternity.

"In the last position of the Rosary Procession walks the celebrant wearing surplice, white stole and white cope.

"When the procession is finished the celebrant stands before the step of the Rosary Altar Shrine, and sings:

"V. Dignare me laudare te, Virgo Sacrata.
R. Da mihi virtutem contra hostes tuos.
V. Regina Sacratissimi Rosarii, ora pro nobis.
R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.
V. Dominus vobiscum.
R. Et cum spiritu tuo.

"OREMUS: Deus, cuius Unigenitus per vitam, mortem et resurrectionem suam nobis salutis aeternae praemia comparavit, concede, quaesumus, ut haec Mysteria Sanctissimo Rosario Beatae Mariae Virginis recolentes: et imitemur quod continent, et quod promittunt assequamur. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

"The function will then be closed with Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament, and the singing of the Te Deum, or Holy God, We Praise Thy Name."

Source:
Dolan, Dominic, O.P. (Ed.); The Rosarian’s Handbook of the Society of the Rosary Altar (Marchbanks Press, New York, 1942), pp. 90-93.

All material from The Rosarian's Handbook used with the kind permission of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph.

Image:
Caravaggio's, "Madonna of the Rosary" (St. Dominic receiving the Rosary from the Virgin), from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

To Light and Guard, to Rule and Guide

2009-10-02T00:05:00.000-07:00

Here is the favorite old picture of a guardian angel and the favorite old prayer to one's guardian angel, whose feast is today, October 2:

The Guardian Angel Prayer
(in Latin and English)

"Angele Dei,
qui custos es mei,
me tibi commíssum pietáte supérna,
illúmina, custódi, rege et gubérna.
Amen."

"Angel of God, my guardian dear
to whom God's love commits me here.
Ever this day (or night) be at my side
to light and guard, to rule and guide.
Amen."

The feast dates from 1411, when in Valencia, Spain, it was introduced in honor of the guardian angel of that city. It was added to the Roman Calendar in 1608. Devotion to the guardian angels, however, dates back much further.

Image:
Leiber's "Guardian Angel", from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

The Path of the Yellow Roses

2009-09-26T00:05:00.000-07:00

Here is the conclusion to the Rosary Novena according to the Rose Paths as set forth in The Rosarian Handbook:

“PART THREE: LAST THREE DAYS

“[1] Opening Prayer [Same as the first three days]

“[2] On the Last three days of the Novena the Glorious Mysteries are recited. The Glorious Mysteries follow the PATHS OF YELLOW ROSES in Mary’s Rose Garden.

“FIRST MYSTERY: Christ arises on the third day. Ask for Mary’s lively faith.

“SECOND MYSTERY: Christ ascends into Heaven. Ask for Mary’s firm hope.

“THIRD MYSTERY: The Holy Ghost descends upon the Apostles. Ask for Mary’s zeal for the glory of God.

“FOURTH MYSTERY: Mary’s Body is taken to Heaven. Ask for Mary’s union with the Heart of Jesus.

“FIFTH MYSTERY: Mary is crowned Queen of the Angels and of Saints. Ask for final perseverance.

“PRAYER AFTER THE BEADS:

“Give me, O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, the courage and confidence that comes through THE RESURRECTION. Help me always to look forward to the great hope of our Holy Religion, given in THE ASCENSION. Teach me to live in the Spirit of the first Novena which thou and the Apostles made in preparation for the COMING OF THE HOLY GHOST. Inspire me with the GLORY OF THINE ASSUMPTION and the joy that was thine when at THE CORONATION thou wert made QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

“O Blessed Mother, with thy Rosary in my hand, I PLACE MY PETITIONS in thy care.

"[Here pause and mention your intentions.]

“O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, I am mindful of thy great goodness to ST. DOMINIC, THE FIRST PREACHER OF THE ROSARY, I HONOR THEE for the aid given to ST. PIUS when the Cross triumphed over the Turkish Crescent. LOVINGLY DO I RECALL the eighteen Rosary apparitions to ST. BERNADETTE AT LOURDES, where thou wert pleased to instruct this poor peasant girl in the power of thine own devotion. I ACKNOWLEDGE THEE, O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, as the Mother of my Lord and my God. Thy Son is my First Beginning and Last End. I RENDER UNTO HIM the homage of my being, and I SUBMIT MYSELF to His divine service, now and for the remaining days of my life. Amen.

“[3] Invocations [Same as the first three days]

“[4] Prayer for the Apostolate of the Rosary [Same as the first three days]

“[5] The Litany of Loreto

"[6] Prayer to St. Joseph”

Source:
Dolan, Dominic, O.P. (Ed.); The Rosarian’s Handbook of the Society of the Rosary Altar (Marchbanks Press, New York, 1942), pp. 69-71.

All material from The Rosarian's Handbook used with the kind permission of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph.

Image:
A yellow rose, from Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved.

The Path of the Red Roses

2009-09-24T00:20:00.000-07:00

Here is how The Rosarian Handbook explains the second set of three days of the Rosary Novena according to the Rose Paths:

“PART TWO: SECOND THREE DAYS

“[1] Opening Prayer [Same as the first three days]

“[2] On the Second three days of the Novena the Sorrowful Mysteries are recited. The Sorrowful Mysteries follow the PATHS OF RED ROSES in Mary’s Rose Garden.

“FIRST MYSTERY: Jesus suffers an agony in Gethsemane. Ask for Mary’s resignation.

“SECOND MYSTERY: Jesus is scourged at the pillar. Ask for the spirit of mortification.

“THIRD MYSTERY: Jesus is crowned with cruel thorns. Ask for Mary’s meekness.

“FOURTH MYSTERY: Jesus bears His cross to Calvary. Ask for Mary’s patience in trials and sufferings.

“FIFTH MYSTERY: Jesus dies upon the cross. Ask for Mary’s love of God.

“PRAYER AFTER THE BEADS:

“Keep me, O Ever-blessed Mother, in conformity with the Divine Will, as was thy Son, during the AGONY IN THE GARDEN, when He said, ‘Not My Will but Thine be Done!’ When sin calls me away from God, may I be mindful of THE SCOURGING. Against the spirit of pride impress deeply upon me the memory of my Saviour and His THORN-CROWNED HEAD. When my feet are about to stray from the ways of wisdom, remind me of the CARRYING OF THE CROSS. Let me never forget THE CRUCIFIXION, when the dying Christ forgave His enemies, promised Paradise to a thief, and gave thee to me as my Mother.

“O Blessed Mother, with thy Rosary in my hand, I PLACE MY PETITION in thy care.

“[Here pause and mention your intentions.]

“O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, I am mindful of thy great goodness to ST. DOMINIC, THE FIRST PREACHER OF THE ROSARY, I HONOR THEE for the aid given to ST. PIUS when the Cross triumphed over the Turkish Crescent. LOVINGLY DO I RECALL the eighteen Rosary apparitions to ST. BERNADETTE AT LOURDES, where you were pleased to instruct this poor peasant girl in the power of thine own devotion. I ACKNOWLEDGE THEE, O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, as the Mother of my Lord and my God. Thy Son is my First Beginning and Last End. I RENDER UNTO HIM the homage of my being, and I SUBMIT MYSELF to His divine service, now and for the remaining days of my life. Amen.

“[3] Invocations [Same as the first three days]

“[4] Prayer for the Apostolate of the Rosary [Same as the first three days]

“[5] The Litany of Loreto

"[6] Prayer to St. Joseph”

Source:
Dolan, Dominic, O.P. (Ed.); The Rosarian’s Handbook of the Society of the Rosary Altar (Marchbanks Press, New York, 1942), pp. 67-69.

All material from The Rosarian's Handbook used with the kind permission of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph.

Image:
Red rose, from Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved.

The Path of the White Roses

2009-09-22T00:05:00.000-07:00

Here are the instructions from The Rosarian’s Handbook for first three days of the Rosary Novena according to the Rose Paths:

“PART ONE: FIRST THREE DAYS

“[1] Opening Prayer [The same opening prayer is used for all nine days]

“Open my mouth, O Lord, to bless Thy Holy Name; cleanse my heart from all vain and unholy thoughts; inspire my mind and inflame my will; that I may worthily, attentively, and devoutly recite Mary’s Beads, as a Psalter of homage to Thee; and in my Rosary prayer, may I merit to be heard in the presence of Thy Majesty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

“O Lord, in union with that divine intention, with which Thou didst praise and do the Will of God on earth, I offer this recitation of the Most Holy Rosary, for the wants of Our Holy Mother the Church, for all heretics, all sinners, all those severely tempted, for all the sick and all the dying, also for the wounded and dying of the war, and for the suffering souls in Purgatory.

“O Lord, grant me the grace of a good confession, which I shall make as soon as possible, to insure my union with Thee, and my Immaculate Mother Mary during this Rosary Novena.

“[2] On the first three days of the Novena the Joyful Mysteries are recited. The Joyful Mysteries follow the PATHS OF WHITE ROSES in Mary’s Rose Garden.

“FIRST MYSTERY: The Angel Gabriel appears to Mary. Ask for Mary’s humility

“SECOND MYSTERY: Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth. Ask for Mary’s charity.

“THIRD MYSTERY: Christ is born in Bethlehem’s stable. Ask to become poor in spirit.

“FOURTH MYSTERY: Christ is presented in the Temple. Ask for Mary’s purity.

“FIFTH MYSTERY: Christ is found in the Temple after three days. Ask for Mary’s love of Jesus.

“PRAYER AFTER THE BEADS:

“O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, help me to translate into my life the virtues so beautifully exemplified by thee in the Joyful Mysteries. By the love of Purity, AT THE ANNUNCIATION whereby thou didst accept the divine maternity whilst preserving thy vow of virginity, preserve me from the contagion of sin. By thy charity AT THE VISITATION when John the Baptist was sanctified and joy was brought to the household of thy cousin, Elizabeth, help me to show charity to my neighbor. By the virtue of poverty that prevailed AT THE NATIVITY teach me to have a tender love for God’s poor. By the spirit of obedience to the law of God, AT THE PRESENTATION IN THE TEMPLE, assist me always to be a faithful child of our Holy Mother the Church. By thy joy IN FINDING THY DIVINE SON AMIDST THE DOCTORS IN THE TEMPLE, help me to ever seek true happiness in the Blessed Sacrament where Christ dwells amongst us.

“O Blessed Mother, with thy Rosary in my hand, I PLACE MY PETITION in thy care.

“[Here pause and mention your particular intention.]

“O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, I am mindful of thy great goodness to ST. DOMINIC, THE FIRST PREACHER OF THE ROSARY, I HONOR THEE for the aid given to ST. PIUS when the Cross triumphed over the Turkish Crescent. LOVINGLY DO I RECALL the eighteen Rosary apparitions to ST. BERNADETTE AT LOURDES, where thou wert pleased to instruct this poor peasant girl in the power of thine own devotion. I ACKNOWLEDGE THEE, O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, as the Mother of my Lord and my God. Thy Son is my First Beginning and Last End. I RENDER TO HIM the homage of my being and I SUBMIT MYSELF to His divine service, now and for the remaining days of my life. Amen.

“[3] Invocations [This is the same for all nine days]

“O Lord, we believe in Thee,
O Lord, we adore Thee,
O Lord, we hope in Thee,
O Lord, we love Thee,
Mother of Our Saviour, pray for us.
Mother most pure, pray for us.

“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
Thou art my Lord and my God.
Hosanna, Hosanna to the Son of David.
Mother of Jesus, pray for us.
Refuge of sinners, pray for us.

“O Lord, we believe, but do Thou help our unbelief.
Thou art the Resurrection and the life.
Lord, save us, we perish.
Jesus, Son of Mary, have mercy on us.
Virgin, most powerful, pray for us.
Virgin, most merciful, pray for us.

“Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me whole.
Lord, say only the word and I shall be healed.
Jesus, who hast loved us so much, have mercy on us.
Jesus, meek and humble of heart, have mercy on us.
Help of Christians, pray for us.
Health of the sick, pray for us.

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Father of the poor, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Comforter of the afflicted, have mercy on us.
Jesus, Our Refuge, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.
Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us.
Blessed be thy Holy and Immaculate Conception.

“[4] The Prayer for the Apostolate of the Rosary [This is the same for all nine days]

“O Good Jesus, if sinners only knew Thee, they would never offend Thee! Then hearken to the prayer of my heart and soul, that I may become a generous and loving apostle of the Most Holy Rosary. Let my every breath pour forth the eloquence of the five Joyful Mysteries; and with a love far exceeding the tenderness of a mother’s love, let me through the five Sorrowful Mysteries assist and console the most abject of sinners, and with the help of Thy grace and the protection of Mary, the Mother of God, and my own Mother, let me merit the reward of sorrow turned into joy and eternally contemplate the five Glorious Mysteries. Amen.”

"[5] The Litany of Loreto

"[6] Prayer to St. Joseph"

Source:
Dolan, Dominic, O.P. (Ed.); The Rosarian’s Handbook of the Society of the Rosary Altar (Marchbanks Press, New York, 1942), pp. 58-67.

All material from The Rosarian's Handbook used with the kind permission of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph.

Image:
“Rosa alba”, from Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved.

The Attire of Men at the Traditional Latin Mass

2009-09-21T00:05:00.000-07:00

Here is what Kay Toy Fenner had to say in 1961 about the proper attire for men in attendance at Mass, novenas, and other church devotions:

“Laymen never cover their heads in a Catholic church.

“The ideal attire is a dark suit, white shirt, and sober tie. Slacks and a sports jacket are allowable. Some sort of suit coat or jacket is always worn. It is poor taste to come to Mass in a sports shirt or jersey without a coat, regardless of how warm the weather may be.

“Men do not wear shorts to mass.

“Exceptions for men: A man who goes to church while en route to work or school [she is apparently speaking of a weekday Mass here] may wear school or work clothes. A laborer returning from work in soiled clothing who wishes to attend an evening Mass may do so, even though he would otherwise wish to appear neat and clean.

“For boy children: Boys of any age uncover their heads in church. Boys over the age of twelve should not wear shorts to church.”

What is important for men (and women) to keep in mind is that one’s external appearance should reflect reverence toward God, modesty, and respect for the clergy as well as respect for the other faithful present at the Mass.

There is very little on the internet about proper attire for Catholic men at Mass. One secular site that encourages men to dress well in general makes the point that men’s suits derive from military clothing and are a sign of authority. While it is easy to think that the tendency of men today to dress in very casual clothing -- even in many cases at a traditional Latin Mass -- is simply a capitulation to the obsession with comfort and egalitarianism in the predominant culture, one cannot help but wonder if at least some men are reluctant to attire themselves in clothing symbolic of male authority because they fear exercising that authority . . . and especially the level of responsibility that goes with that authority.

In any event, it is interesting to consider that dressing in one’s “Sunday best” is egalitarian in the best sense. That is, in former times a manual laborer in his Sunday suit was dressed essentially the same for Mass as a corporate head or public official, even a President. That was in keeping with the workman's equality of dignity with these men as a recipient of sanctifying grace. And he looked very handsome too. . .

Source:
Fenner, Kay Toy; American Catholic Etiquette (Newman Press, Maryland, 1961), pp. 229-230.

Image:
Official portrait of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

The Three Paths of Our Lady’s Rose Garden - An Introduction

2009-09-19T00:05:00.000-07:00

The 1942 Rosarian’s Handbook describes a beautiful way to pray a Rosary novena that is very much in keeping with the word “Rosary”, which derives from the Latin name for a rose garden or a garland of roses.

The handbook divides the nine days of the Rosary novena into three groups of three days. The first three days are called “The Path of the White Roses”; the second, “The Path of the Red Roses”; and the last, “The Path of the Yellow Roses”.

Today’s post is just a beginning. In future posts, you will find how to pray each of the three paths in sequence.

Here is the introduction from the handbook. Its title is “The Significance of the Rosary”:

“Since Our Lord chose the Garden of Olives as a place for prayer, Christians have associated prayer with the reflective quiet of a garden. Thus we see monasteries designed with a cloister garth or garden. The faithful have long associated the telling of Our Lady’s beads with the weaving of wreaths of roses from Mary’s garden. Hence the Latin word for rose-garland, rosarium, has long been accepted as the most descriptive term for saying of the definitive series of prayer decades (one Pater and ten Aves) accompanied by reflections on the five joyful, the five sorrowful and the five glorious mysteries of the lives of Jesus and Mary -- which prayer we call the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“. . . In telling his beads the rosarian may be likened to the rose grower who walks observantly along his garden paths and admires in turn each beautiful bloom. He thoughtfully picks and then carefully arranges each choice blossom, twining the thorny stems into a wreath which he places on the head of the Queen who is indeed the Help of Christians, Our Lady of the Rosary. Although the complete Rosary consists of fifteen decades and mysteries, each five decades is called a chaplet or wreath. It is interesting to note that in the Rosary apparitions both in Lourdes, Frances, in 1858, and at Fatima, Portugal, in 1917, Our Lady recited the usual five decades with the favored children of the Holy Spirit to whom she chose to appear.

“Rosarians, as children of their Mother, Mary, like to walk and speak with Christ in the beautiful pathways of Our Lady’s rose garden. In meditating on the mysteries of the holy Rosary, our souls are kindled by the spiritual beauty which they reveal. Roses, pure white as springtime blossoms, remind us of the Child Christ and of His Mother, the most favored of all mothers. Here, too, in Mary’s lovely garden bloom red roses like the Redeemer’s Blood. Then again, the golden glow of yellow roses tells us of the Resurrection of Christ and of the glories of our Heavenly Queen. The effect of fresh roses lies in the power of their simple beauty to arouse us to have true and real loveliness. Thus meditation on the mysteries of the holy Rosary inflames our soul to draw near to the personalities of Jesus and of Mary: holy comfort and thoughts of eternity will accompany us on life’s weary way if we thus use our spiritual rosary to keep us near to Jesus through Mary.

“ ‘The Rosary,’ then, is a form of prayer wherein we say fifteen decades of ten Hail Mary’s each preceded by an Our Father, and during each of these fifteen decades we piously meditate in a mood of loving yearning upon one of the mysteries of our Redemption.”

Source:
Dolan, Dominic, O.P. (Ed.); The Rosarian’s Handbook of the Society of the Rosary Altar (Marchbanks Press, New York, 1942), pp. 55-57.

All material from The Rosarian's Handbook used with the kind permission of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph.

Image:
The Rose Garden at Konz, Germany, from Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved.

The Attire of Women at the Traditional Latin Mass

2009-09-17T00:05:00.000-07:00

In her pre-Vatican II book on Catholic etiquette, Kay Toy Fenner had this to say about the appropriate attire for women at Mass:

“Women must always dress modestly for any church service. There is no permissible exception to this rule. The preferred costume is a suit, coat, or dress with long sleeves and a modest neckline, hat, gloves, stockings, and street shoes. Regardless of how warm the weather may be, a low-cut dress or one without sleeves should not be worn. Any dress must have, at the very least, a cap sleeve or a collar that covers the shoulders.

“Shorts may never be worn; neither should slacks, except under the exception noted below.

“A head covering, preferably a hat, is obligatory, but a scarf or veil is permissible.

“Exceptions for women: a woman planning to attend services while on the way to or from work or school may wear the costume proper for the activity in which she is about to engage. This means that a woman whose work requires her to wear slacks may wear them to Mass; a nurse may wear her uniform; a schoolgirl may wear headscarf, socks, and school uniform. But this permission does not extend to sports clothes such as a gymnasium suit, tennis dress, bathing suit; and it is allowable only when the choice is between attending services in working clothes or failing to attend.”

Today, women who go to the traditional Latin Mass are reclaiming long skirts, long sleeves, modest necklines, and hats. Since such attire is difficult to purchase ready-made, they are also reclaiming their sewing needles. Read one woman’s view of this phenomenon here.

Source:
Fenner, Kay Toy; American Catholic Etiquette (Newman Press, Maryland, 1961), p. 229. Italicized emphasis in the original.

Image:
Fantin-Latour’s “Charlotte Dubourg”, from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

Queen Anna of Sweden and Poland

2009-09-16T00:05:00.000-07:00

Anna of Austria (1573-1598) was the first wife of King Sigismund III Vasa of Poland and Sweden. Both Anna and her husband were devout Catholics.

Image:
Anna of Austria, from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

Our Lady's Sorrows and the Iris

2009-09-15T00:05:00.000-07:00

“And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.” (Luke 2:34-35. Douay-Rheims Bible.)

Today, September 15, the Church honors the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary: hearing the prophecy of Simeon; fleeing into Egypt; losing the Holy Child at Jerusalem; meeting Jesus on his way to Calvary; standing at the foot of the Cross; seeing Jesus taken down from the Cross; and witnessing the burial of Christ.

According to Mary Gardener John S. Stokes, the Blue Flag iris or iris versicolor symbolizes Our Lady’s Sorrows because of Simeon’s prophecy that a sword would pierce her soul. The iris has sword-like foliage and is also known as the Sword Lily.

Image:
Photograph of iris versicolor, from Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved.

The Holy Cross and the Basil Plant

2009-09-14T00:05:00.000-07:00

Today, September 14, the Church celebrates the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The herb basil, which should be in every sacristan’s garden, is associated with the Cross. It is said that a sprig of the fragrant plant was found growing from the sacred Wood.

Image:
Ocymum basilicum, from Wikimedia Commons. Pursuant to Free License.

The Family Rosary in the 1940s

2009-09-12T08:44:00.000-07:00

A book published in 1942 for members of the Rosary Altar Society had this to say about the importance of the family Rosary and the methods for praying it in the home:

"His Holiness, Pope Pius XI, of happy memory, in his Rosary Encyclical Letter ‘Amid Ever-Worsening Evils,’ dated September 1937, wrote an emphatic message on the Family Rosary.

"Only through Catholic piety and faith exercised by the king and queen of each home, can the civilization which is our Christian heritage be strengthened, and to this end the family recitation of the Rosary is a powerful means of thwarting the cunning intrusions and blatant insolences of modern pagan heresies.

"No Catholic custom is better suited to heal family troubles, to unite quarreling partners, to instill love and obedience in the souls of children, to invoke health for the sick, to obtain rest for the souls in purgatory than the recitation of five decades of Our Lady’s Rosary -- especially in the intimacy of the family circle.

"This custom is associated with the family meal in the evening, which is usually the most convenient time to assemble the greatest number of members.

"Shortly after the evening table is left, the father or mother simply says: Let us say the rosary. The family members then kneel at the chairs on which each has been seated, and answer the introductory prayers of the Rosary.

"There are three methods of family Rosary recitation:

"The first method is after the manner of church recital. The leader, father, mother or eldest of the group recites the first part of the Creed, the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory be to the Father, the Hail Holy Queen, and the final prayer throughout the five decades of the Holy Rosary.

"In the alternate method, the introductory prayers and the first decade are taken in the leading part by the head of the house, the second decade by the next in authority or age, the third by the next member, and so on. All others in the group answer with the latter part of the prayers of the decades. Then the leader recites the Hail, Holy Queen, etc.

"The third method is similar to the first in this, that the leader of the group alternates with the others in the group the recitation of the first part and the second part of the prayers through the several decades, but announces all the mysteries and does not transfer the lead to other single members of the group. This method is used by Dominican missionaries, and in Dominican communities.

"The second method is the more popular family procedure because it gives every member, from the oldest to the fifth in order, the interest of leading the first part of the decade prayers.

"However, methods are of second moment; so long as two or three are united in the name of God, there is Christ in the midst of them, and the family circle becomes like a domestic church for the Rosary devotion. The time involved is not great -- so the saying of the beads is no endurance test on any count. It is better to say it quickly than to omit it entirely."

The author then goes on to say that the custom of the family Rosary beads is "a custom to which many a soul later harkens back as the sweetest of memories of home."

Source:
Dolan, Dominic, O.P. (Ed); The Rosarian’s Handbook of the Society of the Rosary Altar (Marchbanks Press, New York, 1942), pp. 101-103.

All material from The Rosarian's Handbook used with the kind permission of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph.

Image:
Murillo’s “Madonna with the Rosary”, from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

Dalum: A Danish Cloister Comes Full Circle

2009-09-10T00:05:00.000-07:00

A Benedictine cloister becomes the Danish King's retreat after the Reformation, then a manor house, and finally a convent once again:

Fruens Bøge is a grove of beech trees bordering the Odense River in Dalum Parish in greater Odense, Denmark. "Fruens Bøge" is best translated as “Our Lady’s Beech Grove”. From 1536 to 1877, Fruens Bøge belonged to an estate called Christiansdal. The estate property, however, once belonged to a Roman Catholic Benedictine religious order of nuns.

Formerly located at Nonnebakken (“Nuns Hill”) in central Odense, the Benedictine nuns established a cloister at Dalum in 1197. The church now referred to as Dalum Church was part of the cloister holdings and comprised the north wing of the cloister’s four-sided courtyard. The church was constructed in such a manner that the cloistered nuns could sit in a loft and look down into the sanctuary during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass without being seen by those in the nave.

The property remained in the possession of the Benedictines until 1536 when, as a result of the Reformation, the land was “assigned to” (i.e. taken over by) the Danish crown, which held it from 1536 to 1662. During that time, the property became a fief called Christiansdal. King Christian IV went there often. In 1620, the King’s mother-in-law became the holder of the fief. King Christian’s second wife Kirsten Munk, who bore him 12 children, raised her daughter Leonore Christine on the estate.

In 1627, during the Thirty Years War, the King established his headquarters at Christiansdal. It was while living at Christiansdal that King Christian IV and Kirsten Munk’s marriage failed. In 1646, King Christian described the property as highly dilapidated. He ordered the buildings restored at the cost of the parish churches. In 1647, however, he had the south transept of Dalum Church torn down.

In either 1659 or 1662 (depending on the source), King Christian IV’s son, Frederick III, transferred Christiansdal to Jens Lassen, a judge, who held the estate until 1682. Jens Lassen’s daughter, Margrethe, the first Danish novelist, grew up at Christiansdal. After 1682, the estate passed through various hands and at times reverted to the crown.

In 1764, Lt. Col. Christian Benzon purchased Christiansdal at an auction and it remained a private estate in the hands of the Benzon family until 1882, except that in 1877 the municipality of Odense purchased Fruens Bøge, the beech grove portion of the estate. (It is now a city park.)

From 1882 the remaining land was purchased by a baron who sold it to a widow named Christine Lange in 1891. Lange died in 1902. In 1906, her heirs sold the estate to the Roman Catholic religious order of St. Hedvig, which has held it ever since. The St. Hedvig sisters returned the structure it its original use as a convent. (The convent buildings are now referred to as Dalum Cloister. The Sisters of St. Hedvig operated a sanatorium there for some time. Now, they serve the housing needs of the elderly at the same location.)

During the years 1926 to 1927 the church was restored and the south transept rebuilt. The church, however, is not part of the current Catholic holdings at Dalum but rather is Lutheran.

Sources in addition to those linked above:
Catholic Encyclopedia article, "Ancient See of Odense in Denmark".
Trap Denmark (a Danish atlas), pp. 206-207.

Image:
1867 book illustration of Christiansdal, from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

The Birth of the Virgin

2009-09-08T00:05:00.000-07:00

Today, September 8 -- nine months after the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 -- the Church celebrates the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In a reflection on the birth of Mary at Tradition in Action, Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira notes:

“Scripture tells us that the tunic that Our Lord wore was a source of grace that cured those who touched it; this being the case, you can imagine how Our Lady, the Mother of the Savior, was a source of graces for whosoever would approach her . . . For this reason we can say that at her nativity, immense graces began to shine for mankind and the Devil started to be smashed. He perceived that his scepter had been cracked and would never be the same again."

Image:
Zurbarán’s, “Birth of the Virgin”, from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.

Children at Mass: A Shining Example

2009-09-05T00:05:00.000-07:00

What you are about to read is not a dream or a product of the imagination. It actually occurred on a recent Sunday at a small chapel where the traditional Latin Mass is offered:

A family of five children with their mother and father filled a pew towards the back of the church. The oldest child was a girl of eight or nine years. The other four were boys, ranging in age from perhaps seven to four years. The girl was veiled and nicely attired in a dress. The four boys all wore dark suits and pressed white shirts. Their faces were radiant and their hair was sparkling clean. They seemed eager for what they were about to witness and one of the boys sought and received permission from his mother to hold the family’s missal, which he did with dignity.

Before and after the service there was only a minimal amount of communication and movement as the children settled in, and later as they prepared to leave. During the Mass itself, and especially during the Consecration, the children were attentive and completely silent. They did not talk or even whisper and they did not fidget. The girl, who might have been the only child who had made First Communion, was reverent when she proceeded to the altar rail with the palms of her hands pressed together in prayer.

How is it that these children behaved so well? It’s hard to say. God may have granted the family special graces because of the parents’ obedience to the Church’s teaching on contraception. Perhaps all the family members are naturally endowed with tranquil temperaments.

In any case, the parents very likely took the time to carefully instruct the children. Moreover, the parents set a good example as they too were nicely dressed and groomed, sat quietly, and attended to the Mass.

Given the number of small children, one could surmise the family might also include a toddler and infant who had been left home with a grandmother or aunt who would attend another Mass. If so, whether they were aware of it or not, the parents followed the advice offered by Kay Toy Fenner in her 1961 book American Catholic Etiquette:

“Children should not come to church dressed sloppily in denims, jerseys, etc., unless they own no other clothing. Children should learn young to bathe and dress carefully for church and to present as neat and attractive an appearance as possible; this training will then carry over into adult life. . . .

"Children under four years of age are apt to become restless at Mass. It is not reasonable to expect such young children to behave properly throughout the service, therefore it is best, whenever possible, not to bring them. But of course they may be brought if there is no one to care for them at home. Every effort should be made to keep them from disturbing others. If they become irritable and noisy, they should be taken out.

"Children over four years can be taught to behave properly.”

Although Fenner does not mention it, if four is the age when the child is to begin accompanying the family to Mass, this makes the fourth birthday a rite of passage the child can look forward to and be prepared for -- the day when he is grown up enough take his place in the family pew. And, he will want to live up to that privilege once he gets there . . . as these five children did.

Source:
Fenner, Kay Toy; American Catholic Etiquette (Newman Press, Maryland, 1961), pp. 230-231.

Image:
Mary Cassatt's "Young Girl Seated in Yellow Armchair", from Wikimedia Commons. In the public domain.