My thanks to an old friend, Mr Marlow Gazzoli, for sharing these pictures which he took during a recent visit to a chapel dedicated to St Francis of Assisi in the city of Masvingo in central Zimbabwe. It was built by Italian P.O.W.s who had been captured by the British during fighting in Africa during World War II, and brought to an internment camp in what was then the British colony of Rhodesia. (Masvingo was then known as Fort Victoria. According to some sources on the internet, the camp also housed a number of German, Austrian and Italian civilians who had been interned by the British as citizens of hostile powers.) The chapel was constructed from 1942-46; afterwards, two wings were added to house the remains of 71 Italian soldiers who died during their imprisonment. It is still maintained, with Mass celebrated on a regular basis, including an annual Mass on November 4th, Italian Armed Forced Day, for the repose of the men whose are buried there.
“Italy to her sons.”
All of the work around the altar, in the apse, and on the ceiling that appears to be mosaic is actually painted. This is more obvious in some of the pictures below where one can see that parts of the paint have fallen of the wall.
One of the three columbaria for the soldiers.
In the center of the ceiling of the nave, St Francis of Assisi, to whom the chapel is dedicated, is shown receiving the Stigmata.
In the liturgical Calendar of the Byzantine Rite, and in the two Carmelite Orders, July 20th is the feast of the Prophet Elijah. The Eastern tradition keeps almost all of the Prophets as Saints, and honors them as such in the liturgy. Veneration of Saints of the Old Testament is hardly known to the West, however, and where it is observed in the Latin rites, it arose under Eastern influence. The Carmelites, who came into existence as an Order in the Holy Land, honor Elijah as their founder, and keep his day as one of their patronal feasts, along with that of his disciple Elisha, on June 14th.
Here is a very beautiful icon of Elijah in the desert, with six episodes of his life in the bands above and below the central panel. This was painted in Bulgaria in the first quarter of the 18th century by an unknown artist; the western influence on the style is quite obvious.
In the central band, Elijah looks toward the crow that brings him food after he, in obedience to the Lord, has gone out to live in the desert. (3 Kings 17, 6) On the banderole in his hand are written in Greek the words of 3 Kings 19, 10, “Great hath been my zeal for the Lord almighty; for the sons of Israel have abandoned Thy covenant, they have dug down Thy altars.” The first part of this is often used as a motto among the Carmelites.
In the upper band, Elijah speaks with the widow of Sarephta (3 Kings 17, 8-15), raises the son of another woman from the dead (17-24), and contends with the prophets of Baal. (18, 19-40)
In the lower band, he is comforted by the angel in the desert as he rests under the juniper tree (3 Kings 19, 1-8), parts the Jordan with his cloak, and is taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot. (4 Kings 2, 1-12) All of these episodes except the fourth one are read at Vespers of the prophet’s feast in the Byzantine Rite.
The Troparion of the Prophet Elijah The angel in the flesh, and foundation of the prophets, the second forerunner of
the coming of Christ, the glorious Elijah sent down from on high grace upon Elisha to dispel infirmities and to cleanse lepers; wherefore, he poureth forth healings upon those who honor him.
The Kontakion O prophet, foreseer of the mighty works of our God, Elijah of great renown, who by thy voice didst restrain the raining clouds, entreat for us Him who alone is the Lover of mankind.
This excerpt from William Durandus’ Rationale Divinorum Officium (V, 9) on the office of Vespers continues on from the section which I posted yesterday. As is his wont from time to time, our friend is more than a little prolix and obscure here, so this is to no small degree a paraphrase.
The Magnificat is said every day, so that the memory of the Lord’s incarnation may more frequently inspire the minds of the faithful in the work of God, in the teaching of those who lead them, and to the devout completion of our work. For the canticle itself are signifies thoughts, just as the psalms indicated works. Therefore, if we diligently and often recall the deeds and words of the blessed Mary, the observance of chastity and the virtue of our work will persevere in us, in imitation of her. …
One of my favorite settings of the Magnificat, in alternative chant and polyphony, by the Netherlandish composer Alexander Agricola (1446 ca. - 1506).
Bede says that the custom of the singing the canticle of the Virgin Mary at the evening office in particular, rather than at some other office, took hold for various reasons. First, because it was in the evening of the world that she, by her singular assent, came to help the world that was lost, and bore the Lord. Second, because through it, constant remembrance is made of the incarnation, which took place at the evening of the world. Third, because she herself is the star of the sea, which in the evening of this world received the light for our sake, just as the evening star from which the evening office takes its name starts to shine at the beginning of the night. Fourth, so that our mind, tired out during the day by various thoughts, may remember the words of the Mother of God as quiet comes upon us in the nighttime, and thus, whatever we have encountered that is useless or harmful over the course of the day may be completely cleansed away through her intersection by our prayers and tears.
This canticle is the exultation of those who labor, whose spirit exalts in the Lord, because He who is mighty has done great things for them and his mercy is forever. To represent this exultation, lamps are lit at Vespers, and especially for this canticle, because it is taken from the Gospel, and so that we, being the company of the five wise young women (Matt. 25, 1-13), may run with the lamps of good works after the odor of the ointments of the Blessed Virgin (Song 1, 3), entering with her into the joy of our Lord. And because our works do not shine forth in our lamps unless they are informed with charity, therefore the canticle is closed with an antiphon, by which is symbolized charity. …
The Wise and Foolish Virgins, ca. 1600-20, by the Flemish artist Pieter Lisaert (1574-1603)
The Office of the Dead begins with Vespers, but does not have second Vespers, to indicate that this office will have its end when the souls of the saved, delivered from every pain, shall enjoy eternal blessedness. But the Saints, of whose glorification in the soul the Church is already certain, have first and second vespers if nine readings are said on their feast (at Matins). The first Vespers represent the glorification of the soul which is already received, the second represent the glorification of the body which they will receive, and which will have no end.
In the Byzantine Rite, today is the feast of St Macrina (327 ca. – 379), the older sister of Ss Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa. She is traditionally given the epithet “the Younger” to distinguish her from their sainted paternal grandmother, who was a disciple of St Gregory the Wonderworker. Their parents, Basil the Elder and Emmelia, their brother Peter, bishop of Sebaste, and another brother named Naucratius are all also Saints, and all but the last of them are named in the Roman Martyrology. (right: an 11th-century fresco of St Macrina in the cathedral of Holy Wisdom in Kyiv, Ukraine; public domainimage from Wikimedia Commons.)
Her brother Gregory wrote two works about her, one, a general account of her life, and the other, a work titled “A Dialogue on the Soul and the Resurrection.” The latter is modeled on Plato’s Phaedo, the account of Socrates’ conversation on the nature of the soul with a student of that name, which takes place as he is in prison and awaiting execution. St Gregory’s work is cast as a conversation which he had with Macrina as she lay on her deathbed, and it says a great deal about what a change Christianity had brought to the world that the protagonist of a philosophical work of this kind could be a woman. (The same change is also evidenced by the participation of St Augustine’s mother St Monica, who was rather less educated than Macrina, in his Cassiciacum Dialogues.)
When she was young, her father had arranged a marriage for Macrina, but her fiancé died before the wedding could take place, and she decided that she preferred to not marry, and dedicate her life entirely to Christ. (That a woman could make such a choice at all is also a very significant change from the pagan world.) Not long after, the elder Basil died, and she devoted her life to caring for her mother, and assisting her in raising the younger children. Together with several other women, they withdrew to a country estate owned by their family, and lived as a religious community. Naucratius had renounced a promising career as a rhetorician in order to live nearby in solitude and poverty, and take care of the local poor, but in 357, he and a servant were both killed in a hunting accident. This profoundly upset their mother Emmelia, and St Gregory shows us Macrina as her mother’s chief support in her grief.
“…then above all, the sublime and exalted soul of the young girl made itself manifest, because her nature also experienced its own suffering; for it was… her most beloved brother, who had been snatched away by death … Nevertheless, she rose above nature, and by means of her own reasoned reflections she lifted her mother up together with her and placed her beyond suffering, guiding her to patience and courage by her own example.”
St Gregory’s description of Macrina’s death, six-and-a-half months after St Basil’s, is particularly beautiful, and contains a famous reference to the hymn Phos Hilaron. (Basil himself mentions the use of this hymn as already a long-standing custom in their time.)
“Most of the day had already passed and the sun was starting to set. … the more (Macrina) neared her departure, the more she contemplated the beauty of the bridegroom and longed to rush impulsively to her beloved. She no longer spoke to us who were present, but to that One alone upon whom she held her eyes intently. … Meanwhile, evening had come on and a light had been brought in. At once Macrina opened her eyes wide, directed their attention to the gleam of light, and made it clear that she also wished to say the evening prayer of thanksgiving; but as her voice failed her, she realized her desire in her heart… When she had completed the prayer of thanksgiving and, by bringing her hand to her face for the sign of the cross, had indicated that she had finished her prayer, she took a strong, deep breath, and with that she died.”
The Phos Hilaron is still sung every day at Vespers in the Byzantine Rite. In this first video, it is sung in Greek at the Iveron Monastery on Mt Athos.
“Φῶς ἱλαρὸν ἁγίας δόξης ἀθανάτου Πατρός, οὐρανίου, ἁγίου, μάκαρος, Ἰησοῦ Χριστέ, ἐλθόντες ἐπὶ τὴν ἡλίου δύσιν, ἰδόντες φῶς ἑσπερινόν, ὑμνοῦμεν Πατέρα, Υἱόν, καὶ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, Θεόν. Ἄξιόν σε ἐν πᾶσι καιροῖς ὑμνεῖσθαι φωναῖς αἰσίαις, Υἱὲ Θεοῦ, ζωὴν ὁ διδούς· διὸ ὁ κόσμος σὲ δοξάζει. – O gladsome Light of the holy glory of the immortal Father, the Heavenly, the Holy, the Blessed, o Jesus Christ, having come to the setting of the sun, having seen the evening light, we praise the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, God. Worthy it is at all times to praise Thee with fitting voices, o Son of God, Giver of Life, for which the world glorifies Thee.”
A polyphonic setting in Church Slavonic by the composer Artemy Vedel (1767-1808).
Свѣте тихїй свѧтыѧ славы, безсмертнагω Отца небеснагω, свѧтагω блаженнагω, Іисусе христе: пришедше на западъ солнца, видѣвше свѣтъ вечернїй, поемъ Отца, Сына, и Свѧтагω Духа, Бога. достоинъ єси во всѧ времена пѣтъ бити гласы преподобными, Сыне Божїй, животъ даѧй: тѣмже міръ тѧ славитъ.
The following excerpts are taken from William Durandus’ great liturgical commentary, the Rationale Divinorum Officium, book V (which treats of the Divine Office), chapter 9, on Vespers. I have titled it “on Saturday Vespers” because the psalms of Saturday Vespers (143-147, in the traditional arrangement before St Pius X’s reform) are the only ones which he comments on specifically. The part noted * between two red stars * is from the prologue of this same book V, which Durandus himself cites in that place.
At the evening hour, the Church symbolizes the first coming of the Lord, which took place “as the world was coming to its evening” (a citation of the Vespers hymn of Advent, Conditor alme siderum), that is, in the last age. In this regard, it renders thanks to God by singing, according to what the Apostle says, “We are those upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (1 Cor. 10, 11) Furthermore, Christ was taken down from the cross in the evening, and in the same hour, at the Last Supper, He instituted the sacrament of His body and blood, and washed the feet of the disciples, and manifested himself to the disciples on the road to Emmaus in the likeness of a pilgrim at the breaking of the bread. Rightly therefore does the Catholic Church give thanks to Christ at this hour.
The Deposition of Christ from the Cross, 1634, by the workshop of Rembrandt van Rijn.
Of course, … the office of the following day begins at Vespers, because the evening service, that is the canonical hour, is the first office, according to the custom established by the prophet Ezra, * who taught the people of Israel, when they had return from the Babylonian captivity, to praise God four times in the night and four times in the day. Therefore the evening office belongs to the night, * and for this reason it is named after the evening star (Vesper), which rises at the beginning of the night. …
At this hour, the Church says five psalms, first of all because of the five wounds of Christ, who offered a sacrifice for us in the evening of the world; secondly, for correction, namely, so that we may weep over and ask for forgiveness of our sins, which are committed during the day through the five bodily sense, and come in unto according to what Jeremiah says (9, 21), “death has come in through our windows.” For who is there who does not fall and is not taken by the sense of sight? Thirdly, through the five psalms the Church strengthens itself against the tribulations of the night; for this hour indicates the weeping of them for whom the Sun of justice (Mal. 4, 2) set, and of this it is said (Ps. 29, 6), “In the evening shall weeping abide.” This weeping will last until the morning, that is until the sun which had fallen for sinners will rise upon the faithful, according to the same Psalm, “And in the morning (shall abide) rejoicing. For the same cause also do we strike the breasts with five fingers. …
The psalms are sung according to the meaning of the day; and behold, on the seventh day, that is on Saturday, because of the resurrection which follows, the Office treats of victory and the praise of God which follows victory. Therefore, the first Psalm “Blessed be God” (143) is literally about David’s victory over Goliath (according to its title in the Septuagint and Vulgate), but according to the spiritual sense, it treats of the victory by which we overcome the devil. And since after that victory, it remains only to praise the Lord through whom we have won it, there follow four psalms which are about praise. In the first, the Church sets forth praise: “I will exalt thee, o Lord”; in the second, she urges herself on, saying, “Praise the Lord, o my soul”; in the third, she invites others to join her, “Praise ye the Lord”; in the fourth, she congratulates the heavenly Jerusalem, saying, “Praise the Lord, o Jerusalem.”…
David and Goliath, ca. 1542-44, by Titian
The versicle on Saturday is “May our evening prayer (rise unto Thee, o Lord, and Thy mercy descend upon us)”, and on the other days, “Let my prayer be directed, (o Lord, like incense in Thy sight), both of which signify the evening on which they are sung, in keeping with the sense of the words that follow within the psalm (140) “The lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.” …
The incensation is done so that we may always be the good odor of God (2 Cor. 2, 15), by advancing in knowledge, in teaching, for such must we be because of the promises of God… And therefore at Vespers and at Lauds, after the psalms and the reading … the incense is offered to signify that no one can render a good odor unto God, or give a good example of working to others, which is signified by the incense, unless first he works in the service of God, because which he teaches others through the psalms…
The priest who is senior in the office of the Church, as the one who holds the place of Aaron, ought to offer the incense so that it be an eternal sweet offering before the Lord, and a sweet, fragrant odor, according to the words of the Psalms, “Let my prayer, o Lord, be directed like incense in thy sight.” (right: an 11th century Greek mosaic of Aaron the high priest.)
St Thomas Aquinas was canonized on this day in the year 1323. Although popular devotion to him began as soon as he died, the Dominicans did not begin officially collecting testimonies to his sanctity until 1317, over 40 years after his death. Representatives of the Order presented their evidence to Pope John XXII (1316-34, the second Avignon Pope) in an audience the following year, at which the process received formal approval to continue. One of the most famous stories about Thomas is that a cardinal objected to his cause because he had performed no miracles, to which the postulator answered, “Quot articuli, tot miracula - there are as many miracles as there are articles (in the Summa.)” The cause was concluded in five years, and the same Pope issued the bull of canonization on July 18, 1323; as was then the custom, it includes an appendix of some of the Saint’s more notable posthumous miracles. His feast day is traditionally kept on March 7th, the date of his death, but the Neo-Gallican uses of Paris and various other French sees moved it to this date to keep it out of Lent.
Above St Thomas, the Lord sits on a throne of angels, and around his head are Moses, St Paul and the Four Evangelists, figures representing his mastery of all the sources of Divine Revelation.
On the book in Thomas’ hands are written the words of Proverbs 8, 7, “Veritatem meditabitur guttur meum, et labia mea detestabuntur impium. – My mouth shall meditate truth, and my lips shall hate wickedness”, the first words of the Summa Contra Gentiles. Of the four books lying flat under it, the one on the left is the Bible, with the first words of Genesis 1, 1, while the other shows the beginning of Thomas’ commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard. (In medieval universities, the final step to obtain a doctorate in theology was the writing and defending of such a commentary; St Robert Bellarmine was the first person to be granted a doctorate in theology by writing one on Thomas’ Summa Theologica.) The two books under them are written with a purely ornamental form of letter called pseudo-kufic script, used by medieval artists to represent languages that they did not know such as Greek and Arabic; this would signify the superiority of Christian philosophy and theology over those of the pagans and Muslims.
Every second Sunday of July, the Santuario della Beata Vergine della Creta in the town of Castellazzo Bormida in northern Italy celebrates their titular feast. Formally called the feast of Our Lady of Castellazzo or the feast of Our Lady of Grace, it is more popularly known as the feast of Our Lady of the Centaurs – “centaurs” being an Italian nickname for motorcycle riders, both because they somewhat resemble a centaur as they sit astride their rides, and because of their somewhat uncouth reputation.
The feast attracts thousands of bikers every year from the foothill regions of Italy, France, and Switzerland, who caravan to the shrine, attend Mass, and receive a blessing for themselves and their machines. Here is one prayer for the occasion:
O Madonna of the Centaurs, you who from this shrine place upon us your benevolent mantle: save us from the dangers of the road at all times and in all places. O Blessed Virgin Mary, help us so that our behavior can be an example to everyone, an example of genuine sportsmanship on the road and an example of working for brotherhood and universal harmony in our lives. Support us in our weakness and let us live as strong witnesses to the Faith so that, reaching you in Paradise, we may enjoy, bless, and love your Son Jesus forever and ever. Amen.
But the best writing on the subject is probably by Pope Pius XII. In the Apostolic Letter proclaiming the Madonna of Castellazzo the patroness of motorcyclists (February 11, 1947), the Pontiff eloquently describes how bikers visit her shrine on her feast day, how they affix her image to their bikes after Mass and the blessing, and how they tear off with a great racket down ancient Roman roads. We suspect that Pius XII (or someone) was having a little fun with the Latin, for instead of using the neo-Latin word for a motorcycle (autobirota), he declares Mary of Castellazzo the “Heavenly Patron, especially for Italy, of coachmen driving two-wheelers powered by fire-inducing liquid” (Patrona Caelestis praecipua pro Italia raedariorum birotas ignifero latice incitas moderantium). That’s “bikers” to you and me. Appended is the complete text in the original Latin.
This year’s feast, the 81st of its kind, took place last Sunday on July 12. Here is a reel of the so-called procession:
And another from the newspaper La Stampa (not embeddable)
BEATISSIMA VIRGO MARIA, GRATIARUM MATER, VULGO «MADONNINA DI CASTELLAZZO», IN ALEXANDRINA STATIELLORUM DIOECESI VENERATA, RAEDÀRIORUM BIROTAS IGNIFERO LATICE INCITAS MODERANTIUM PATRONA CAELESTIS PRAECIPUA PRO ITALIA DECLARATUR.
PIUS PP. XII
Ad perpetuam rei memoriam. — Flagrans erga Beatissimam Virginem Mariam, Dei hominumque Matrem, pietas, omnibus christifidelibus constanter impenseque colenda, digna sane est quae, ex ipso Apostolico Nostro munere, in fidelium animis a Nobis excitetur. Quod autem per Venerabilem Fratrem Petrum Iosephum Gagnor, ex Ordine Praedicatorum, Alexandrinum Statiellorum Episcopum, accepimus haud exiguam paterno animo Nostro laetitiam attulit. In oppido enim « Gasmonio », quod nunc « Castellazzo Bormida » vulgo appellatur, ubi natus est Gregorius Grassi, ex Ordine Fratrum Minorum, Orthosiensis in Phoenicia titularis Episcopus, atque in Sinensi dicione pro Christi Fide Martyrii palma decoratus, quem Nosmet ipsi inter Beatos Caelites nuperrime adnumeravimus, celebre exstat Templum, Deo in honorem Beatae Mariae Virginis dicatum. Innumerabiles eo conveniunt devotae plebes, quae Mariam Virginem « a Gratia et a Creta » familiariter prope atque amice raedarii, patrocinium ipsius Virginis Mariae enixe imploraturi. Nec ipsorum pietas decursu temporis imminui videtur, quin etiam, infensissimo bello nuper composito, magis magisque ostenditur. Solent ipsi, die praesertim Gratiarum Matris festo, cum suis autobirotis ante sacram Imaginem sistere, ac dein transgredí, dum Sacerdos aliquis, vel etiam Episcopus, sollemniter benedictionem impertitur ; qua laeto hilarique animo recepta, festinanter abscedunt atque, magno strepitu ac fragore antiquissimis Romanorum vias percurrentes, celerrimi praeterlabuntur. Iterum ac saepius praedicti raedarii, Fidem in Deo ardentem fervidamque pietatem in Mariam Virginem ostendentes, Cuius quoque Effigiem super suis birotis ad faustum omen palam deferunt, a Rectore-Parocho eiusdem Sanctuarii, immo ab Episcopo ipso, petierunt ut Deipara a «Castellazzo Bormida», in Pedemontana regione, praecipua ac primaria raedariorum autobirotas moderantium Patrona Caelestis, pro tota Italia, a Nobis renuntiaretur. Cum autem supra memoratus Alexandrinus Statiellorum Episcopus huiusmodi vota ac preces enixe Nobis rettulerit atque commendaverit, tantam Fidem tantamque pietatem peculiari rependendam praemio censuimus. Propterea, Antistiti eidem perlibenter gratificantes, auditoque Venerabili Fratre Nostro Carolo Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinali Salotti, Praenestino Episcopo atque Sacrae Rituum Congregationis Praefecto, certa scientia ac matura deliberatione Nostris deque Apostolicae Nostrae potestatis plenitudine, praesentium Litterarum tenore, perpetuumque in modum, Beatissimam Virginem Mariam Gratiarum Matrem, vulgo «Madonnina di Castellazzo», in Alexandrina Statiellorum dioecesi, Patronam Caelestem praecipuam pro Italia, raedariorum birotas ignifero latice incitas moderantium, declaramus atque constituimus, cum omnibus et singulis privilegiis liturgicis patronis praecipuis competentibus. Haec edicimus ac statuimus, decernentes has Litteras firmas, validas atque efficaces iugiter exstare ac permanere ; suosque plenos atque integros effectus sortiri et obtinere, illisque ad quos pertinent, seu pertinere poterunt, plenissime suffragari ; sicque rite iudicandum esse ac definiendum ; irritumque ex nunc et inane fieri, si quidquam secus super his, a quovis, auctoritate qualibet, scienter sive ignoranter contigerit attentari. Contrariis non obstantibus quibuslibet.
Datum Romae, apud Sanctum Petrum, sub anulo Piscatoris, die xi mensis Februarii, anno MCMXXXXYII, Pontificatus Nostri octavo.
De speciali Sanctissimi mandato
In the Breviary of the Carmelite Order, which keeps its patronal feast today, the following antiphon is appointed to be said every day after Vespers or Compline.
Ave, Stella matutina,
Peccatorum medicina,
Mundi princeps et Regina.
Virgo sola digna dici,
Contra tela inimici
Clypeum pone salutis
Tuae titulum virtutis.
Tu es enim virga Jesse,
In qua Deus fecit esse
Aaron amygdalum,
Mundi tollens scandalum.
Tu es area compluta,
Caelesti rore imbuta,
Sicco tamen vellere.
Tu nos in hoc carcere
Solare propitia,
Dei plena gratia.
O Sponsa Dei electa,
Esto nobis via recta
Ad aeterna gaudia,
Ubi pax est et gloria.
Tu nos semper aure pia,
Dulcis, exaudi, Maria
Hail, morning star,
Medicine of sinners,
Ruler and Queen of the world,
Alone worthy to be called a virgin,
Against the spears of the enemy
Set the shield of salvation,
The sign of Thy virtue.
For you are the rod of Jesse,
In whom God made to be
Aaron’s almond, taking away
the scandal of the world.
Thou are the ground rained upon,
Imbued by heaven’s dew,
Though the fleece stayed dry.
In this prison do thou console us ,
Mercifully console us,
Who art full of God’s grace
O chosen spouse of God
Be for us the straight road
To eternal joys
Where peace and glory are.
Do Thou ever hear us
With devoted ear, sweet Mary.
In the following recording of it, note that the cantor has taken the common medieval habit of pronouncing Latin more or less like the vernacular to extremes, exaggerating the U of modern French. (The ensemble who recorded this, Diabolus in Musica, takes its name from a common term for the tritone, a dissonance which, according to a very modern popular legend, was generally disliked and avoided in medieval music theory, hence the name “the devil in the music.”)
According to Archdale King in his book The Liturgies of the Religious Orders, Fr Benedict Zimmerman O.Carm., a great scholar of his order’s liturgy, claimed that this antiphon was “without any doubt” composed by St Simon Stock himself, the English Carmelite and general of the Order to whom the Virgin revealed the brown scapular. However, Guido Dreves, in the 48th volume of the Analecta hymnica, attributed it to Peter the Venerable, an abbot of Cluny who died a century before St Simon’s time. The words “Aaron’s almond” refer to the episode of the flourishing of Aaron’s staff in Numbers 17, generally understood in the Middle Ages as a prophetic symbol of the Mother of God’s virginity, as was the episode of Gideon’s fleece in Judges 6, 36-40.
The antiphon is then followed by a versicle and prayer. V. Pray for us, Holy Mother of God. R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray. Defend, we ask, o Lord, by the intercession of the Blessed Mary ever-Virgin, this Thy family, from every adversity, and in Thy great mercy protect it, that boweth before Thee with all its heart, from the snares of all enemies. Through Christ, our Lord. R. Amen. (Defende, quaesumus, Domine, beata Maria semper Virgine intercedente, istam ab omni adversitate familiam tuam, et toto corde tibi prostratam, ab hostium proitius tuere clementer insidiis. Per Christum...)
Then the following invocation is said. V. In omni tribulatione et angustia, sucurrat nobis pia Virgo Maria. R. Amen.
(In every tribulation and anguish, may the Holy Virgin Mary come to our aid.)
And a final prayer, which mentioned several of the more important Carmelite Saints.
Oremus. Omnipotens, et clementissime Deus, qui Montis Carmeli Ordinem gloriosissimae Virginis Mariae Genitricis Filii tui Domini nostri Jesu Christi, sacrato titulo insignitum, Sanctorum tuorum Patris nostri Eliae, et Elisaei Prophetarum, Angeli et Anastasii Martyrum, Cyrilli et Alberti Confessorum, Euphrasiae, Teresiae et Mariae Magdalenae Virginum, et aliorum plurimorum meritis decorasti: tribue nobis quaesumus, ut per eorum suffragia ab instantibus malis animae et corporis liberati, ad te verum Carmeli verticem gaudentes pervenire valeamus. Per eundem... (Almighty and most merciful God, who hast adorned the order of Mount Carmel, that is distinguished by the sacred title of the most glorious Virgin Mary, the Mother of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, with the merits of Thy Saints, the prophets Elijah, our father, and Elisha, the martyrs Angelus and Anastasius, the confessors Cyril and Albert, the virgins Euphrasia, Theresa and Mary Magdalene, and very many others; grant us, we ask, that, being delivered by their prayers from present evils of soul and body, we may be able to come rejoicing to Thee, the true height of Carmel. Through the same...)
The Virgin Mary and Carmelite Saints, by Pietro Novelli, 1641; from the Carmelite church of Palermo, Siciliy.
I have written previously about the Carmelite tradition by which the order regards the Prophets Elijah and Elisha as its founders. The martyr Angelus named here was a converted Jew from Sicily, who was murdered by a man of notoriously evil life whom he had publicly rebuked, ca. 1220; his feast is kept on May 5th. The martyr Anastasius is the same traditionally celebrated on January 22nd together with St Vincent of Saragossa; he was a Persian who died in the 7th century, and whom the Carmelites claim as one of their own. This is part of a rather dubious hagiographical tradition by which the Order expropriated a number of Saints of the distant past (among them the 8th pope, St Telesphorus, who reigned ca. 125-136) to establish its antiquity among the mendicant orders that emerged in the early 13th century. Of the two Confessors named here, St Albert was the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem (1205-14) who gave them the earliest written form of their rule; St Cyril was an early prior general of the Order in the Holy Land, to whom an extravagant hagiographical legend was later attached. St Euphrasia, a kinswoman of the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, was one of the most famous of the ascetic Saints of the Egyptian desert, and died in 420 AD; her life is well and reliably attested, and was also later expropriated by the Carmelites. The Theresa named here is she of Avila, who died before the formal separation of the Order into two branches; the Mary Magdelene is a Florentine nun surnamed de’ Pazzi, who died in 1607.
Featuring Catholic artists, Dony McManus, Henry Wingate, and David Clayton
I am delighted to be speaking in Portland, Maine, this coming fall with my friends and Catholic artists, Henry and Dony, at a conference organized by the Diocese of Portland.
This is the second set of images from a Gospel book commissioned by the Holy Roman Emperor St Henry II and his wife St Cunegond at the beginning of the 11th century. (today is his EF feast day.) It was made at the abbey of Reichenau for the cathedral of Ss Peter and Paul in Bamberg, Germany, a see which they founded. See the first part (which was published on Monday, his OF feast day) for some explanation of the artistic style.
By the time this was made, the common portrayal of Christ which we use today, with long hair, a full beard, and high cheek bones, was already standard, although not the universal standard. Here, He is shown throughout as beardless and younger, which suggests that the artists at Reichenau may have deliberately copied these images from an older prototype, possibly much older, possibly Byzantine. Also note the lack of depth and naturalism so typical of Ottonian art in the figure of Christ sitting at the table of the Last Supper, with legs that have no anatomical relationship whatsoever to His torso. The lower part shows the washing of the disciples’ feet, the Gospel of Holy Thursday in the Roman Rite (John 13, 1-15.) In the corner, one of the Apostles is shown putting his shoes back on, a gesture of realism which also suggests that the artist, who does very little of this kind of thing elsewhere, also worked from a prototype of an older artistic school closer to the naturalism of the ancient Roman tradition.
The first image accompanying the Passion of St John on Good Friday (chapters 18 and 19). In the lower part, Christ is brought before the high priest Caiaphas. Having no notion of what a Jewish priest might look like, the artist has shown him more or less as any magistrate sitting on a throne; were it not for the rending of his garments, (which is recounted in the passions of Matthew and Mark, but not in John’s), we might well think he was Pilate. In the upper part, the Crucifixion: as was commonly done in the early Middle Ages, Christ the King is seen on the Cross fully awake and in triumph, rather than suffering. Note that neither His head nor arms nor torso slumps down, to indicate that even in the midst of His Passion, He is still the creator and sustainer of the universe.
On the second page, the deposition from the Cross and the burial, with the sun and the moon shown covering their mouths and looking away, to convey their astonishment and horror.
The Gospel of Easter, with the myrrh-bearing woman...
In May, my daughter and I visited a few places in Austria and Italy, and while I wasn’t much of a shutterbug (I’m trying these days to leave my camera mostly unused), I’ll admit that I pulled it out whenever I saw something that I thought NLM readers might enjoy seeing. As usual, click on the images to enlarge.
The ceiling of the sacristy at Heiligenkreuz Abbey. Note how the tormentors of the three children in the fiery furnace are sporting turbans, a reminder that the Turks once ransacked this abbey.
For a place that’s supposed to help priests become recollected for Mass, the interplay between this priest and his server is rather funny!
The Pummerin of Stephansdom in Vienna, the third largest bell in Europe at 44,380 lbs or the weight of 15-20 cars; its metal is from 208 Turkish cannons melted down after the Siege of Vienna.
Our guide took us up to the perimeter of the Stephansdom roof to give us a close look at the tiles.
Here’s the huge room under the Stephansdom roof, above the vaulted nave of the church - it's almost the size of a church in itself.
I was recently made aware of this remarkable collection of English medieval illuminations through Hilary White’s Sacred Images Project Substack, and I was immediately struck by the quality of the draftsmanship. Looking at these images, it became clear to me that these are among the finest models I have encountered for artists who wish to learn to draw and paint in a style appropriate for the renewal of sacred art in our own time.
The Annunciation
The Sarum Use and Its Living Descendants
Before turning to the images themselves, it is worth pausing to consider what this Psalter actually is - it is significant in a way that resonates today.
The Sarum Use was a distinctly English form of the Roman Rite, developed at Salisbury and prevalent across much of England throughout the medieval period, right up to the Reformation. This particular Psalter belongs to that tradition.
This gives these illuminations a particular resonance with Christians in the Anglo-American world. The Psalter from the Book of Common Prayer, called the Coverdale Psalter - after Miles Coverdale, who translated the text into English in the 16th century - is a liturgical descendant of the Sarum Use of the Roman Rite. It is the Psalter that generations of Anglicans have prayed, and which continues to be prayed today. It is approved for use by Catholics (in the 1928 revision used by the Anglican Ordinariates), Orthodox, and many Protestant denominations. All share a living connection to the liturgical world that produced the images shown here. To look at this Psalter is, for many of these Christians, to encounter a visual companion of their contemporary daily worship.
Woman and Bishop (identities unkown)
The School of St Albans — Broadly Understood
I have referred in the past to the tradition these images represent as the School of St Albans, though I use that phrase in a more generic sense than art historians might. Strictly speaking, the School of St Albans refers to the English illumination of the early Gothic and late Romanesque period, particularly the work of the 13th-century monk Matthew Paris, who worked at St Albans Abbey. His style can be seen in manuscripts such as the Westminster Psalter and in the wall paintings that still survive in English churches.
This Psalter was likely not produced at St Albans; it comes from elsewhere in England. The Cambridge Digital Library, which provided the images, suggests that it is likely somewhere in southeast England, either Lincoln or East Anglia. But it still contains the essential elements of the style as I have described it: the primacy of line in describing form, a limited palette, and an emphasis on flat coloration rather than blended tonal modeling. Whether we call it the School of St Albans or simply the English medieval tradition, this manuscript is a full expression of it!
These limitations in stylistic features, which distinguish it from naturalistic forms of art, are its strength. As a result, the style sidesteps what I consider the blight of so much modern sacred art: sentimentality. When you cannot render every gradation of light and shadow, you are forced to think clearly about form, about meaning, and about what is essential. Line demands clarity, while tonal naturalism invites sentiment. The School of St Albans offers artists today a discipline that might hold sentimentality at bay!
St Catherine and St Margaret
What to Notice in These Images
As you look at these beautiful reproductions from the Psalter, there a couple of points I would make:.
Consistent with the broader Western tradition of sacred art, there is a heavy emphasis on beautiful, ornate patterns in the borders, backgrounds, and across the surface of the image. This richly ornamented flatness is distinct from what we encounter in much contemporary Byzantine iconography, for example, which tends toward greater austerity in those areas that could be decorated.
St George
At the same time - and here is an example of how the English tradition converges with the Byzantine - the content follows traditional customs. Notice, for example, how the Nativity is depicted. St Joseph is portrayed as significantly older than Our Lady: by tradition, he was a widower, and is depicted in imagery as set apart from the Virgin and Child in the Nativity. This deliberate distancing signals his temporary doubt about the Virgin Birth. Contemporary depictions of St Joseph in the Roman church, on the other hand, tend to portray him as a young and vigorous man.
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