Domenico Fetti: Contemplating the Beauty of His Art

I love classic artworks, so different from the graphic art, almost cartoonish, so common today. When I came across this piece by Domenico Fetti (1589-1623), a 16th century baroque artist, it reminded me of the devotion to the face of Christ. How I would love to see this painting in a museum and stand studying the face of Jesus, reflecting on his divine love for all men. The sadness in His eyes reminds me of His sorrow when He wept over Jerusalem. He knew the beloved city would be destroyed after His death. 

Sunday Meditation: To be united to Christ means union with the Cross.

Mary Magdalene
embracing the cross.

Regular readers of the blog know how much I like the Benedictus prayer companion. I usually do the daily devotions including the meditation. Yesterday's entry was on the Mystery of Failure by Dom Benedict Baur from Light of the World. What a reminder that to be truly united to Christ means to be united to the cross. Suffering is not a curse, but a true sharing in the life of Christ. And, since suffering is unavoidable, why not make the best of it and allow the Lord to draw us close to Himself. This meditation truly called to me to change my attitude toward any suffering -- the big ones and the petty annoyances. Help me, Lord, to embrace all of them cheerfully! 

How great are the trials that beset the Christian, from the cradle to the gave! Sometimes those who are least deserving of pain suffer the most.  Te nearer they approach God, the more thoroughly they are purified by the fire of suffering. The more earnestly they strive to serve God, the more they are misunderstood, despised, repudiated, and persecuted by the world.  Sometimes they receive like treatment even from their friends."Because...I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you" (John 15:19). Even those who are nearest to us and whom we justly hold in high esteem desert us. Even those in whom we trusted consider themselves justified in deserting d rejecting us. These sufferings are certainly the deepest and most bitter.

Sometimes God Himself seems to have taken the side of our enemies.

Random Thoughts on the Feast of the Epiphany

• I'm laughing a little this morning over God sending us a white "little Christmas" on the Feast of the Epiphany. Camp Kreitzer is a winter wonderland. And the snow makes everything very quiet and still. It brings my thoughts back to the "blessed hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold." Even our chicken coop reminds me of the rough stable. I shoveled a path to make it easier to get out there. Did God clear a path for the three wise men as they traveled so many miles to visit the newborn king?

• One of my favorite paintings of the Epiphany shows an elderly king kneeling before the manger kissing the foot of Baby Jesus. But I recently saw a painting by Scottish painter William Brassey Hole who died in 1917, the year my dad was born. He did many industrial paintings, but as the century changed, he travelled to Palestine to gather background for biblical paintings. He later published the life of Jesus with 80 watercolors. 

Celebrate Life in the Work of Hungarian Painter, Mihaly Munkascy!

The other day I illustrated my post on "The Case Against Pope Francis" with a painting of Jesus before Pilate. One of my readers asked about the artist so I did a little research to identify him and look at his other work. I was unfamiliar with Mihaly Munkascy and am glad to remedy that deficiency. Judging from his body of work, he loved children.  They are prominently featured in many of his paintings.

Sunday Meditation: Mary is the Icon of Advent

Mary's womb: the first Tabernacle

Advent words: waiting, preparation, hope, expectation, longing, promises, light and dark, redemption...

But the one word that, for me, encompasses all the others and summarizes all that is Advent leading up to Christmas when Jesus Christ is born to us, that word is Mary.

Mary's lap: the first altar of worship

Mary is advent's icon.
She represents the hope, the expectation, the longing for a Messiah. It is Mary whose "yes" begins the fulfillment of God's promise to send a Redeemer. Mary waits while the Word Made Flesh dwells in the darkness of her womb. She prepares for his coming lovingly sewing His swaddling clothes. She longs for the day when the Son of God will be born like the sun rising in the East to bring light to the world. Mary, the Mother of God, is Advent's icon.

Sister Lucia of Fatima loved Our Lady profoundly and she presents her to us in Eucharistic language
fitting for Advent meditation:

A Good Friday Gift from Hilaire Belloc and Jacques Tissot

Death of Jesus by Jacques Tissot (1836-1902)

Our Lord and Our Lady
by Hilaire Belloc

They warned Our Lady for the Child
That was Our Blessed Lord,
And She took Him into the desert wild,
Over the camel’s ford.

Thank You, Mary, for Being Our Mother Too! Happy Mothers Day

"Come, Follow Me."

Call of St. Matthew by Caravaggio

Will you drop everything, leave whatever you're doing, and follow Him? Today is the feast of St. Matthew, the tax collector, despised by the religious leaders of his day. And yet, the Savior saw something the Pharisees and religious leaders did not. He called Matthew in the midst of his money counting. How many sinners are called in the midst of their sins? Will you be the hand of Jesus echoing His call to follow Him? Are you following Him yourself? How far behind are you? Run up closer so you can reach out and touch His cloak and be healed.

And pray for poor sinners. Have you ever considered going to an extra Mass on Sunday in atonement for those who stay home? Just think how the inestimable graces of one Mass can pour out on a parched heart. Imagine it swelling with love like a dry sponge swelling up with water. We can renew the face of the earth by our prayers and sacrifices. Let's do something today for all the Matthews in the world who are just waiting to be transformed by Christ. 

St. Matthew, pray for us!

"I Am the Light of the World."

I love to read quotes of the saints. They provide such fruit for meditation. Here is one from St. Catherine of Siena. It makes me think of something an artist might say. 

"It is only through shadows that one comes to know the light." Prayer 24

Goodness shines brightly against evil. Consider the heroism of Irene Sendler and other courageous men and women who fought the Nazis.

Think of the early Roman martyrs who faced the savage beasts and the even more savage crowds in the Roman Coliseum.

It only takes one candle to push back the darkest night.

Good Friday Silence: The Crucifixion Says it All

Matthias Grunewald 1508

Happy Feast Day, Blessed Mother!

Annunciation by Simone Martini and Lippo Menni, 1333

The Christmas Season Comes to an End

Tomorrow is the last day of the Christmas season, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. It's a transition feast that sees the close of Christ's hidden life and the beginning of His public ministry. From this point, John, the herald of the Messiah, will decrease and Jesus will increase.

I offer in anticipation of the feast Raphael's rendition of the Baptism of Christ. I love it because Jesus is not some wimpy-looking, glassy-eyed holy card picture, but a strong man with muscles well-developed from hard manual labor. I can see this Jesus in my imagination building houses in Nazareth, carrying support beams for walls and roofs, turning over the tables of the money-changers with ease, and standing in the boat strong arms upraised demanding the wind and waves to be quiet. I can see him in the garden saying "It is I," and His persecutors collapsing to the ground before Him. He hides His divinity, but it is there in His humanity and in Raphael's great picture I can see it even as the angels bow before Him. Praised be to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

Imitate Mary: Say, "Yes!" to God's Will in Your Life.

As we prepare for Christmas and the coming of the Christ child born of Mary, it's good to remember how it all began -- with the visit of an angel like a pillar of light bringing good news to the world through a young virgin, almost a child herself. Will you say "Yes!" to the will of God this Christmas? (Hat tip to The Wanderer and writer John Young for his article, Mary: Pondering the Prophecies.)

Magnificat Covers: Beautiful Art for Meditation

One of my favorite things about the Magnificat prayer book is the lovely religious art both on the cover and the art article in the back. This month the cover is particularly lovely; Can't We Dream by Pierre-Marie Dumont. Art provides such fruit for meditation. And this painting is truly an invitation to dream and meditate on the Holy Family in Nazareth and on motherhood which seems especially appropriate as we approach Mothers Day.

Consider how moms create memories for their children and share their dreams for the future. Mary stands on the bottom step looking back which I think of as remembering the past, the strong heritage of family. "Remember, Jesus, that you are descended from kings and warriors. You are a king and will fight the enemy like David to save your people."

Behind her the steps climb up. Is that the temple of Jerusalem in the background? Do the steps climb up to Jesus' ministry climaxing in Jerusalem? Do they prefigure the climb up Calvary Hill? Perhaps, but at this moment captured by the artist, they are shrouded in a misty light clouding the future. Each step will have its own challenges; they will not be climbed all at once.  And Mother Mary will be there at each stage of the journey with her Son, the model for all moms who never stop accompanying their children and grandchildren on the adventure of life.

If you are fortunate enough to have your mom still with you, why don't you call her today and tell her you love her! Why wait until Sunday? She may die from the shock, but she'll appreciate it for sure! And to all you mothers out there, Happy Mothers' Day a few days early.

The Great Archangels: Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel

Today is the feast of the three archangels, the leaders of heaven's warriors. I was recently in an antique shop in Hot Springs, Arkansas and found two of these great angels in a display of religious statues. I couldn't bring them home, but I could bring home their pictures. Note the fish on the end of Raphael's chain.

Feast of the Annuciation

My mom and dad named me Mary because I was born the day after the Feast of the Annunciation. So, every time the feast lands on a Sunday I have the particular blessing of sharing the day with my patron saint, Our Lady. That always gives me a special joy because ever since I was in the Sodality in high school I've been devoted to Mary and I love to imagine myself wrapped in the folds of her mantle, the image she presented to St. Juan Diego.

Today I'm reciting the Litany of the Blessed Mother as a thank you for her motherly protection of a spiritual daughter who desires to be always faithful to her Son. I hope you'll join me in saying it today in honor of our spiritual mother. And here's one of my favorite depictions of the Annunciation from Murillo. Our Lady, Mother of the Savior, pray for us.

I Love My Magnificat

The world is going to hell in a handcart...or maybe, in today's technological age when things are bigger and faster, a jumbo jet. It's more and more evident that the "primrose path of dalliance" (aka, the road to perdition) is wide and "many there are who find it." The narrow path, on the other hand, is less well travelled like the way of the Cross. It's rocky and not very welcoming for those looking for an easy road. Well, what else is new? Such has been the story since the fall of Adam and Eve, the murder of Abel, the depravity of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all the sad tales of sin and horror since then that find men seeking forbidden pleasures and spurning sacrifice.

But it's imporant to remember that the bad news is only part of the story. Despite all the evil in the world there is goodness...and truth and beauty. And often that reminder comes to me from the daily reading in my Magnificat. On Monday when I read the Meditation for the Day I knew I had to share its inspiring and hopeful message written by Dom Anscar Vonier, O.S.B. (+ 1906) who was abbot of Buckfast Abbey in Devon England. Here's what the Abbot wrote that gives me such hope and such joy at being a Catholic:

Sunday Meditation in Paintings

ALL SAINTS: The Church Triumphant

ALL SOULS: The Church Suffering

FAITHFUL ON EARTH: The Church Militant