THE BLOG RESTS

 

Father Bede Griffiths, Catholic priest

and

one of his Sannyasinis (Indian style renunciate nun)

    Over the last decade, I have just loved researching the saints, writing about them and about the hermit life, and I have always looked forward to writing each post, despite the many hours of real work that each one entails. It has been a labor of love.

    It was not my idea to start this blog, however. A friend of mine from my Vedanta days encouraged me to write it, but I think she probably envisaged something more contemporary and argumentative - and specifically something that would generate some type of income.

    I subsequently learned, however, that an automatic income would only come through "monetizing" my blog, which would allow advertisements chosen by this platform to be displayed over my blog, and I could not bear the idea.  First of all, advertisements are ugly. They do not match the aesthetics I have chosen for this publication. They offend my eyes and diminish whatever message I choose to offer in the midst of the verbiage.

    Instead, I chose to request donations, leaving it to the discretion of the reader as to what they could afford, but few of my many readers ever donated - except for one lovely woman who said she lived in Ireland, who donated, then became enraged when she understood that I do not support Donald Trump. Why someone in the U.K. would be so invested in an American political figure is beyond me, but she felt that my disapproval of him was a personal affront against her. She became highly offended, and told me off furiously. None of this made any logical sense to me, but this is the condition of our world at this moment.

    Readers should donate, in response to the incredible amount of work that goes into unique and well-researched posts, as well as for the sake of simple Christian charity. But  I imagine that people have grown accustomed to getting many things for free on the internet. 

    Although I am not focused on contemporary news and politics, if I have anything to say on those topic, I will say it on Facebook under the moniker of "The Occasional Hermit," since the newsy posts will, fittingly, disappear in time to make room for newer items in the feed. See my Facebook page for those kind of topics.

Blessed Virgin Mary

Our Lady of Ocotlan

    One thing I learned from my decades of meditation is that where you place your mind's eye is where you take yourself, and if you concentrate on God, you get God.  That's all there is to it. If you concentrate on the other guy, you're going to get him. It's like driving a car. You have to look out the windshield in front of you to get yourself where you are going, while only glancing through the other windows on occasion to ensure that no one is about to crash into you, or vice versa.

    I am not giving up the blog entirely. Sometimes it will be necessary to warn people off dangerous religious fads and to correct the record when a conspiracy theory is floated about, say, the Pope, for instance, at which time I may return here and put in my two cents worth. But it can't be a daily thing. I have other things to do.

Our Lady of Sorrows

    I have quit this blog a couple times in the past, and came back to it eventually because the work of getting to know the various saints I have researched has been interesting to me. I loved the whole process of becoming more familiar, and drawing closer to a life of holiness that I could use as an example for mine.

    The research and the writing of these blogs, combined with the complexity of keeping myself physically alive, have taken up so much of my  time that I have not been able to finish the books I have started, so I am going to focus on those books until I get at least ONE finished and edited. Occasionally, I will return to this blog.

    If this blog had helped me support the hermitage, that would have been a different matter and, to be fair, I had no way of knowing whether or not it would do that.  Now that I know that it will not, it is time to reassess.

Saint Kinga of Poland

Relative

    I am conducting a review of the blog entries I have posted over the last decade and removing many of them, especially those that relate to "current" events, and relegating them to the "unpublished" category. 

    I remind everyone that posts about the saints are my intellectual work product and belong to me. While you are welcome to make note of factual material, such as birth and death dates, you may not copy the blog post for any purpose. If you would like to quote from my work, you may contact me in the comment section of this blog and we can discuss.

    I will still be available to moderate the comments on the blog, though I don't expect there will be many. The donate button (below my photograph at the top of the right column) will remain in hopeful active status.

    Saint Adela of Normandy

Relative

    Obviously, my primary occupation is my contemplative life, but, other than the occasional article written for this venue, I will be continuing work on my books and my haiku poetry. In addition, I have resumed a painting career that I left behind when I began to go blind. I have managed to keep the vision in one eye (thanks be to God!) and I am slowly learning how to paint in mono-vision, with no depth perception! 

    When I have a decent number of paintings available for sale, I anticipate creating another blog for those things and will also announce it here. The painting blog MAY be combined with the author blog for my novels, but I have not yet decided. 

    As always, you may contact me through my Facebook page. You can put a comment on any of my posts, but if you want to send me a private message, I will always take a look at my message requests, eventually.

    The donation button remains active, though a bit dusty and rusty.

    Thank you for reading. I wish you the very best, and God bless you all. You are in my prayers.

Silver Rose

SAINT PATERNUS (PADARN) OF WALES - APRIL 15

 

482 - 565

One of the saints whose feast day is April 15 is well known in Wales, from which half my family hails. Wales has an incredible collection of castles, old churches and monasteries.  In fact, it is famous for having the most castles of any country in the world. (I don't know if it is actually based on the total number of castles or the per capita percentage.) Wales, at one time, was a powerfully holy place, graced with both ancient remnants and living churches, monasteries and castles.

This country fascinates me, and I am typically drawn to learn as much as I can about the saints who peopled it, especially saints who lived in the areas where my ancestors lived. Paternus founded St. Padarn's Church in Ceredigion, for instance. The story of his life is one of a small handful of those that mention King Arthur (More about that later.)

Saint Padarn's Church 

Llanbadarn Fawr

Ceredigeon, Wales

~

Largest Medieval Church in Wales

It is entirely possible that Paternus, also called "Padarn" was mixed up, over the years, with another similarly named saint of Brittany. Scholars believe that Paternus was Welsh and not born in Brittany. Although the biographies of Paternus claim he was born in Brittany to particularly devout parents, Patran and Gwen, it would be well to keep in mind that there may be an admixture of bogus information, but it should be easy to see where the story line could be adulterated, and just keep that in mind while you read.

The father was especially religious, apparently, and took leave of the family to go to Ireland and live as a hermit. What I have read about him indicates that he obstained permission from his wife, Gwen, but I wonder what would make a woman agree to let her husband abandon the family in THOSE days. You would have to be of an extremely zealous temperament with perhaps a mystical bent and very trusting in order to live as a woman alone with a young son on that rough land.

Years later, Paternus decided to follow in his father's footsteps and himself become a hermit, but he was destined for other things. When it comes to religious vocation, The Lord has particular plans for us. Whether we live as a hermit in the wild, an anchoress attached to a church, an urban hermit as I do, or a prayerful member of the laity such as St. Rose of Lima, whose prayers and labors at home supported herself and her parents - our dear Lord knows what He wants from us and he gives us the temperament, leanings, limitations and circumstances to lead us to it. We could say "no," of course. God wants us to give our love freely.

Many decades ago, when I first began contemplating religious life, it never occurred to me that I would be a hermit.  In fact, when I left the Hindu convent (before getting baptized and becoming Catholic) the Swami expressed dismay at the news that I would be leaving.  He said to me, "but who will smile at the devotees?" Up to that point, I had been devoted to a life of service. But my love of the  contemplative life, combined with multiple debilitating physical conditions and a growing blindness have all conspired to bring me to the vocation of an urban hermit, which I have lived for 20 years now. 

Perusing those years in my mind, and comparing to my current lived experience, I can not imagine doing anything else, and whatever desires I have left are nothing more than to dive deeper into this experience, grow closer to God, and to "become perfect, as (my) Father in Heaven is perfect." Obviously, the purification of a soul can really only be accomplished by the Lord. We just have to acquiese to it and give up our self will so that the Lord's will can be wrought within us. 

The Prayer Shrine

in the main room of 

Silver Cottage Hermitage

God would not tell us to do something that is impossible, so it is implied in his words that He would be doing what is necessary on His part in order to purify the soul. We just have to say, "Yes!" What a gorgeous idea, isn't it? All we have to do is say "yes" to His will, surrender to it, and do everything we can in order to become as virtuous as we can be.  He will do the rest. I don't know how you feel about this, but the whole idea is an incredibly encouraging inspiration for me. For the longest time, I despaired of EVER experiencing that miraculous union. I knew it was impossible for me to do it, on my own. There are too many defects. But Christ will help us. He himself will purify our willing hearts.

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father who

is in heaven is perfect

Matthew 5:48

Paternus initially planned to meet up with his father, who had gone to Ireland to live out his hermit vocation. But first, his cousin St. Cadvan, conscripted him into a group of military monks to be a secondary commander.  Apparently, Paternus came from aristocratic stock, and you know what often happens with these folk. Leadership is assumed to be in their genes and they are often given the job to rule others, with little or no recommendation except perhaps temperament and the aforementioned genes. This is what appears to have happened to Paternus.

I am just stuck on the idea that there would be military monks.  I find that most odd, don't you?

Sometime after or concurrent with the stint with the military monks, he undertook to be a student under Illtud Farchog the Knight who had started a divinity school, Bangor Illtyd, at Llanilltud Fawr in Glamorgan, Wales. 

AFterward, Paternus founded a monastery at Llanbadarn Fawr near Aberystwyth, where some of my other ancestors lived.  This became the seat of a new diocese, and he was its first bishop, which was quite a bit different that becoming a hermit, as he had set out to do!

Leaving his monastery in the hands of a temporary in-charge, Paternus went to Ireland to calm a squabble between two warring tribal kings. He returned to find that Maelgwn Gwynedd was trying to cheat him out of property belonging to the monastery. There is a complicated story about what happened there, but it ends up with Maelgwn Gwynedd being cured of his sickness and blindness and then he goes on bended knee, asking forgiveness and vowing the gift of certain lands to the community.

For a man who had originally wanted to become a hermit, Paternus sure got around! After the conflict with Maelgwn Gwynedd, he went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem with Saint David (to whom I believe I am related) and Saint Teilo so that all three would be ordained bishops by the patriarch. I find that confusing because I thought he was already a bishop, but perhaps not. The three saints devided Britannia into three bishoprics between them. 

There is a mythical-sounding story about King Arthur trying to steal Paternus's tunic, of all things, and then subsequently becoming Christian, but I do not believe it in the slightest and won't get further into it. It just demonstrates the zeal that many had for this saint and his reputation and shows the great love they had for him.

FEAST DAY: Some sources say it is the 16th. Others say the 15th. It is probably one of those feast days that was changed at one point. At any rate, the day is either Saturday or Sunday of this weekend.

Original "Divine Mercy" painting

Sunday is also "Divine Mercy Sunday" which is one of my favorite holy days. For some reason, I find it particularly special, falling just one week after Easter. I read a news article today that showed how the FIRST depiction of Jesus in the "Divine Mercy" posture actually fits the imprint of the Shroud of Turin. I will be meditating on this as a subject one day soon.

Friday, April 14, a friend is taking me to one of my favorite local churches. They're having a special 3:00 p.m. prayer gathering, in order to pray the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy together. I happen to have a tiny little traveling Divine Mercy rosary box with an itty bitty enameled metal rosary that I will take with me.

I rarely leave the house for any gathering, especially while Covid is still killing the vulnerable seniors like me, and I have asthma, which is one of the medical conditions which require caution.  But the church is big, the gathering will be small, and I will sit far enough from the others so that I stay safe. Of course we will all be wearing masks.

I pray that you all have a wonderful weekend and that you also may find some way to observe the feast on Sunday in such a way as to give you much beauty of your interior landscape and some spiritual uplift.

God bless us all!

Silver Rose

P.S. My disabilities are multiplying and growing worse. Any donation is highly appreciated.  Click the 'DONATE' button underneath my photo in the right hand column at the top of the blog.

CATHOLICS SHOULD STOP CONFLATING RELIGION WITH POLITICS

Annanias struck dead by the Lord

I am currently taking a couple refresher courses from Father Mike Shmitz; one on the Bible In a Year and one on the Catechism In a Year, and enjoying both of them very much. I am approaching them like college classes and being rigorous in my note-taking and really trying to "up" my knowledge base. Sometimes he talks too fast for me, but in general I feel as if I am getting a lot out of them.

Today I was offered a short video of him "responding" to one of our Representatives in the U.S. government. The headline says, "Father Mike Shmitz Responds to Alexander Asco Cortez on Socialism and Christianity."

I was immediately alarmed, as I always am when I see a Catholic personality allying himself with a political party and taking a stand against a different party.

HERE IS A LINK TO THE SHORT VIDEO

First thing, out of the gate, whoever organized this clip could not be bothered to even spell the name right.  Her name is Alexandria, not "Alexander" and her last name is Ocasio-Cortez - NOT "Asco Cortez." Sloppy and disrespectful.  How would it be if I called Father Shmitz, "that religious guy Mikey?"

After listening to the very short video, I was dismayed to find that, although the Representative for New York's 14th Congressional District had specifically made the point that she was not talking about socialism, but about taxes, and she never brought up Christianity at all, supposedly Fr. Shmitz is "responding" to her on those issues.

Children, this is called a "straw man fallacy" in classical logic, something I learned in my High School writing class, and here is the definition:

"A straw man fallacy occurs when someone takes another 
person's argument or point, distorts it or exaggerates it in 
some kind of extreme way, and then attacks the extreme 
distortion, as if that is really the claim the first person is 
making."

According to Fr. Shmitz, in the video, the U.S. Representative is talking about redistribution of wealth. She does not mention "redistribution of wealth." That is his term. She is not even discussing that topic, actually, unless you understand that the redistribution has already occurred through corporate welfare, unjust taxes systems, and artificial suppression of wages.

Here is a chart of the suppression of wages during the years I worked, plus a couple (1970 through 2005):

As is obvious in this chart, during that 35 year time period, CEO salaries increased by 430% while the average wage earner's income barely went up 26%. I well remember how hard it was to survive on my salary during those years and how IMPOSSIBLE it was to get a raise, even when our bosses announced that we would be working an extra 5 hours a week but we would not be PAID for those hours. (Figures from the Department of Labor.)

THIS is how the wealth of America has ALREADY been "redistributed." It has been and continues to be shuttled from the workers who created it to the handful of CEOs at the top of the scale and to the corporations, the profits for which went up 250% during that period. 

In addition, Fr. Shmitz, like many others, does not know what "Socialism" is. Apparently, he thinks because the word has "Social" in it, that the presence of social programs in a government system equates to "Socialism."  That is not the definition of "socialism." The use of taxes to pay for programs is not "Socialism" either.

The primary defining feature of socialism is when the government owns all means of production. No mention is made of social programs as a defining feature of socialism and many different types of government systems employ social programs.

Here is a typical dictionary definition of SOCIALISM:

"A theory or system of social organization that advocates 
the ownership and control of the means of production and 
distribution, capital, land, etc. , by the community as a 
whole, usually through a centralized government."

To my recollection, only one person in U.S. government is regularly and widely advocating for "socialism." But even Bernie Sanders, is MISusing the term "socialism" to conform to what other people THINK it is, I would guess.  He is in favor of a robust set of social programs so that the poor will not be eaten alive by the rich, as is what happens today.

Fr. Mike Shmitz says:

"There's a huge difference between Christianity and Socialism. 

Both Christians and socialists would see the plight of the world 

and be moved to compassion. Something needs to be done but 

the Christian says this, "where can I give my stuff to help the 

people in need" and the socialist says, "where can I take someone 

else's stuff and help the people in need," because one is charity, 

one is love, the other is theft. One is good and the other is actually, 

genuinely, evil."

To be clear, in this video clip, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez is arguing against unjust, abusive tax structures in which the rich pay little (if any) taxes, while the middle class and some of the poor pay the majority of taxes that keep the country afloat. Obviously, taxes pay for the military; the police; infrastructure such as roads, signs, lights, bridges, tunnels, etc.; and yes, some social programs, as well as other things.

He may not realize it, or perhaps he DOES, I am not sure, but this video, presented this way, has the priest basically saying that repairing these unjust tax structures is evil. He is trying to justify an unjust system and is gaslighting those of us who have struggled to survive during this very difficult period in our history when our just wages have been stolen from us.

He is also calling it "socialism," which it is not, as mentioned, above. I really can't believe he means to do this, and I would rather believe that he lacks the necessary education in this area or he is simply brainwashed by the Republican religion he has absorbed.  I don't know what the problem is. All I know for sure is that he is wrong and is using the same misleading talking points that the GOP talking heads are using all the time.

All he would have to do is look up the definition of "Socialism" in order for him to realize that he can not continue to spread this pernicious lie.

Why am I talking about this political stuff on a blog that is, primarily, spiritual? Because I get sick of seeing examples of how much the Catholic world has sold its soul to one particular political party. Catholics have conflated their religion with politics, and to me, that is the work of the Devil.

I have heard Catholics justify ripping children away from their parents at the border and putting them in cages erected on cement slabs, with no one to care for the screaming babies and medical care almost entirely absent, allowing flu and other diseases to run rampant. Some of those children, to this day, are not reunited with their families because they cannot be found, due to the reprehensibly chaotic and disorganized methods instituted by the Trump administration.

When non-Catholics see priests and other religious defending these horrors, defending the perpetrators, and defending the corporate welfare with which the GOP has robbed wage earners of their share of the wealth they created, it infuriates them - especially on the heels of the many horrific years of priestly sexual abuse and the coverups of those crimes.

As long as we are talking politics, let me say a couple things.

In my mind, it is not the issues on which we differ, it is the manner in which we accomplish our aims. I am QUITE sure, for instance, that there are ways to fix the immigration situation that do not involve jailing babies in cages.

If you doubt that the Trump Administration put babies and kids in cages, read this article from the atlantic:

ATLANTIC MAGAZINE - ARE CHILDREN BEING KEPT IN CAGES AT THE BORDER?

Children and families were also denied medical care and refused vaccinations. 

SEE THIS ARTICLE FROM CNBC ABOUT OUR GOVERNMENT REFUSING FLU VACCINES TO THE MIGRANTS

Also, I am opposed to abortion, but when it is illegal, it just pushes people to get "back alley abortions" and risk losing their own lives, as well as that of the child. That is not a "pro life" result. When I was a young woman, abortions were very easy to be had. They were illegal, but that did not stop anyone determined to have one.

Most women who give a reason for having an abortion cite financial inability. If we would wise up and have the same kind of pro-family social programs that they do in most of the other developed nations, such as child care, generous maternity and paternity leave, and a true living wage, women would not feel so squeezed. The way things are now, many women are forced into abortions they may not ordinarily have, simply because they lack the funds to support the pregnancy and the cost of child rearing.

Also, if our evangelization of the culture was (much) better than it is now, we could have an abortuary on every corner with rarely anyone taking advantage of their services because they believe, as we do, that every human is made in the likeness and image of God and that bringing life into the world is a blessing, not a curse.

So, you see, the difference between right and left really IS is one of METHOD. Most of us agree on the various issues, outside of how, exactly, we advocate that they be "fixed."

And, while we are talking about social programs:

According to Mike Shmitz, social programs organized by the government are "evil." So what would happen if we did not have social programs? I invite you to go to the Social Security Administration's website to read some of the heart-rending letters sent to FDR about the disabled and elderly dying of hunger and cold because there was simply no money to care for them.  Where were the good loving Christians as that time?  They were not willing to support all the old ladies, shivering in their sickbeds with empty bellies.

By what miracle can we expect the good Christians to do something different than what they did during THAT era, when there were a LOT more Christians than there are now? Those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it.

Take a look at a typical letter that was received by President Franklin Roosevelt that details the plight of one such lady at THIS LINK and you will understand what we would return to if social programs were eliminated.

The entire reason we started the Social Security Insurance system was to keep that from happening again, but then BOTH parties "borrowed" from the funds (when they were originally not supposed to be able to do that) and we have the situation in which we find ourselves now, without enough funds to keep the Social Security system afloat in another 30 years.

Greed and selfishness are far more common than Christian love, it seems to me, and it is far more logical to regulate taxes to help the needy than it is to legislate demonstrations of Christian love.

 Don't get me wrong. I get help regularly from one beautiful Catholic family, and occasional surprise packages from a couple others, but if I did not have the Social Security into which I had paid for 30 years and some help with medical care from Medicaid, I would be sleeping outside with millions of other old ladies, or actually I would probably be dead because I am old and disabled, barely able to walk, lost the vision in one eye and losing the vision in the other, and have a host of other illnesses to contend with, some of which are so painful they require morphine.

History has proven that we cannot depend upon the generosity of the Christian folks to support people in their disability and old age. Take a look at the history books to get a picture of life pre-1930's. Don't just listen to the platitudes and buzz-words from either party. Those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it.

Before Social Security, it was a nightmare, and there are now even fewer Christians, percentagewise, than there were before Social Security and other social programs were implemented.

I also seem to remember that in the early days of Christianity, the Christians "held all things in common."

"All the believers were together and had

everything in common. They sold property

and possessions to give to anyone who had

need."

 (Acts 2:44-45)

They were supposed to sell their property and hand over all the money that they received for it, but there was one couple, Ananias and Sapphira, who tried to hide some of the money, and when they were asked if they had given all the money, each in their turn lied and said "yes" and God struck them dead on the spot, which seems just a tad more severe than a simple tax audit, doesn't it?  (See Acts 5:1-11)

Sapphira is struck dead by the Lord

Further, in Acts 2 and elsewhere, we get a picture of how the Christians lived with one another:

"Every day they continued to meet together in

the temple courts. They broke bread in their

homes and ate together with glad and sincere

hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of

all the people. And the Lord added to their 

number daily those who were being saved."

Acts 2:46-47

It doesn't sound much like the Catholic community of today, does it? The fact is that Christians could choose to construct lives that look like early Biblical times, but they have not done so.  I continually hear my brothers and sisters angrily complaining about having to help people through taxes, but they certainly haven't gone so far as to sell everything they owned for the express purpose of helping those in need. Indeed, those social programs they complain about do not address all the needs of the poor. There is still PLENTY to do. For proof, all you have to do is take a drive through certain parts of town to see hundreds of people struggling to survive on the streets.

Homeless Camp in Echo Park

Picture from L.A. Times

I know exactly ONE person who, in addition to her taxes, makes a continuous and substantial effort to relieve the suffering of the poor and disabled. This is in addition to contributing her time and treasure elsewhere in the church. There may be more folks like her, but I've just never seen anyone, other than this friend, who does this in an intentional substantial, continuous manner.  But I DO see a lot of Christians and Catholics bellowing in public about how they should not be made to pay for anyone else's disrress. Most of those people live very comfortable lives.

And what about all those Old Testament commandments that Moses handed over from God that pertained to how they were to organize their lives and their wealth? There was ALWAYS a host of things designed for the care of the people that were in need. It ALWAYS involved the mandatory giving of other people's stuff, right? Why was that right, but social programs today are "evil?" Is it because it was GOD who ordered it and not the electorate? Because, if we have to wait for God to speak up and decree who will get help when they are hungry, a lot of people will probably starve to death while waiting to hear from Him.

I would like to see everyone do a bit more research and study about his or her political opinions and ensure the continuity of thought, with historical reality, as well as verify the underlying facts, such as the definition of "socialism." Father Shmitz could also do some thinking about what exactly is the nature of evil in regard to social programs, as long as he is going to go throwing that "evil" word around.  I mean, is it evil to HAVE social programs if not having them means more people starve to death? It's a fair question.

In my world view, going backwards, eliminating social programs, and allowing a lot more people to die unnecessarily would be the real evil.

God save us all.

Silver Rose

P.S. I am disabled and going blind and, in three months, I will be 69 years old.  As should be clear by now, Social Security is not enough to cover all my expenses, I am unable to work (though I have tried various things) and I am still in need of some help. Please consider donating to my paypal, above-right, or sending something from my Amazon wish list for food.  They have my address and can mail to me directly.

Just click HERE FOR FOOD DONATION

FRA ANGELICO AND THE SPIRITUALITY OF ART - FEBRUARY 18

 

The Dormition of the Virgin

by

Fra Angelico

(born Guido di Pietro, aka Giovanni da Fiesole)

Painter and Dominican Friar

Fra Angelico, one of my favorite painters, was declared the patron saint of Catholic painters in 1984 by Pope John Paul II. He had a lifestyle that may be the envy of most religious painters, as his was a blessed balance between traditional conventual religious life and the spirituality of fine art!

He was called the "Angelic Friar" (which, in Italian, is "Fra Angelico") and of the several names by which he was known, this is the one that "stuck."  He was given this name because his paintings were angelic and depicted calm, illuminated religious subjects, while he himself was exceedingly pious.

The History of Saint Nicholas

by 

Fra Angelico

I have met and read about a number of spiritual personalities who were also deeply spiritual and talented artists. There is something about the enclosed life of contemplation that attracts the heart of the artist with a mystical bent. I was also attracted to it, but came too late to the Catholic faith to be of any use to a convent. Instead, this is exactly the lifestyle I have adopted at home, as a disabled lady, though I can't pretend to come anywhere close to this artist's talent!  Obviously, I am not dead yet, so we will see how I proceed with my novels and my paintings.                                                                              

The Deposition of Christ

by

Fra Angelico

Fra Angelico is obviously very famous and there is quite a lot written about him. His frescoes still contribute to the holy atmosphere of the monastery, and many paintings can be viewed in museums. The largest collection is at the San Marco Museum in Florence, Italy.

Fra Angelico began as an illustrator of missals and religious books sometime around 1418 when he entered a Dominican convent in Fiesole, Italy. After some time, Pope Eugenius IV summoned him to paint some frescoes for the Chapel of the Sacrament at the Vatican that is now, unfortunately, destroyed. Other frescoes were painted at the behest of one Pope or another, usually by his assistants, copying or filling-in his original designs.  

For about three years, he served as the administrative head ("Prior") of the Convent in Fiesole - a job I imagine he would not have enjoyed. Artists are typically uninterested in business and the organization of life. Their souls are usually occupied with The Divine. I don't know why it was such a short time, but perhaps that was the practice at that convent - to keep the duration of office short for the sake of the soul and to keep the person humble. If I can find the time, I will dig into it and learn more about that time period (1449-1452.) (By the way, "convents" are usually insitutions peopled by women in the modern West, and Monasteires are usually for men. Different times and countries used those terms in different fashion.)

Much is written about Fra Agenlico on the internet and elsewhere.  I am willing to bet there are some stunning "coffee table books" of his work, so I won't reinvent the wheel and go into too much more of his life.  I would just like to say a little about the place of the artist and art, in general, with respect to religious life.

In 2012, the DIAKONIA OF BEAUTY was founded to encourage an "exchange between artists and the Church."  It offers education,  prayer, and spiritual and economic support to members. Membership consists of musicians, poets, singers, painters, architects, sculptors, actors and dancers."

"Artistic creation completes, in a certain sense,

the beauty of creation..."

Pope Francis

Divine love is the origin of the artistic gift - that impulse to bring into the world a thing of beauty, in imitation of and perhaps in concert with The Divine, and "authentic art" can "speak eloquently of the beauty and goodness of God." (Pope Francis.)

With Pople John Paul II, Pope Francis said that art must "make perceptible, and as far as possible attractive, the world of the spirit, of the invisible, of God."

The Ascension

I have found a couple articles about the Diakonia, and I offer them, below, for anyone who has interest:

VATICAN NEWS - FEBRUARY 2022

NATIONAL CATHOLIC REGISTER - FEB 2022

ALETEIA ARTICLE - MARCH, 2018

My personal theory is that when a person is born with a natural creative talent, this is not only a gift from God, but a message to the person. That gift is meant to be used for the Glory of God and His people. For me, art is a type of bridge of communication between the soul and the Divine that can be witnessed, appreciated and admired by onlookers.  It is communication in solid form.

As a creative person, I have seen what happens when I try to take as vocation a different path than ART. It does not work very well, Certainly, I was able to take various office jobs to support myself, but I would not say that I was terribly successful in it. It was what I needed to do to support myself, i.e., put a roof over my head and food on the table.  But it did nothing for my soul or anyone else's!

However, it occurs to me now as I write this that God's timing is perfect because, when I was younger, I doubt I had much of anything inspiring to contribute to the world, with either my paintings or my writing. 

The Annunciation

I was born into an anti-religious family of poor moral character, except for my beloved Grandmother who wasn't a saint, but was a very good woman, as far as I was concerned. She was opposed to organized religion, however, and she always used to say that "all you need is the golden rule."  The golden rule is fine, for as much as it speaks about our treatment of others, but it is missing a great deal as the sum total of one's personal philosophy of life. My mother, with whom I lived, absolutely hated Catholics. She eventually became a Jehovah's Witness.

My parents were hostile to religion and I was prohibited from continuing my communication with some Carmelite nuns I had discovered in the town where we were living for a while.  After leaving home during the "hippie era," it took me a long time to "catch up" with the cradle Catholics, having cycled through other religions before taking it up again.  

I have long ago forgiven my parents for the awful childhood they gave me, so there are no worries on that score, but, coming from this family, it was natural that, upon leaving home at age 17, I would start making a lot of mistakes, wandering here and there. I did not know how to "do" life. I did not have a clear picture of what I wanted because, rather than running toward something, I was running away from those people.

Christ Glorified in the Court of Heaven

by

Fra Angelico

My journey to Catholicism took a circuitous route, the details of which are not terribly interesting, except that it is important to note that, by the time I became disabled and had to retire on my small Social Security pension, I had seen a lot of the world, had many experiences, spent a lot of time in prayer and reflection, and was finally prepared to contribute art worthy of its Divine purpose, inspired by and infused with The Holy Spirit. Perfect timing.

There is no guarantee that the result will be a masterpiece. I can only pray for The Lord's assistance and apply myself the best I can.

Art is more than something pretty to look at. In 2018, Pope Francis met with a group of two dozen or so artists from around the world, leaders from the Diakonia of Beauty, and he told them, "the gifts that you have received are, for each of you, a responsibility and a mission." In this meeting, his aim was to ask them to help communicate the beauty of transcendence through their artistic language.

Everyone has a vocation, and those of us who are artists have a role as mediators between heaven and earth. Instead of searching for "vainglory or easy popularity, or the "petty calculus of personal profit," we must be dominated by the Divine consciousness.

Coronation of the Virgin

by

Fra Angelico

I hope that this post inspires you to remain true to your Divine Mission and vocation, whatever that is, in artistic or other realms, because it is through this world that we express our gifts and return them as tribute to our Maker.

God bless us all!

Silver Rose

P.S. I have gone mostly blind in the left eye, with unreliable vision in the right, so if you happen to see a typo here and there, please do not hold it against me, but I WILL appreciate it if you would shoot me a message when you find a typo and tell me about it so I can go in and change it.  I will be SO grateful if you would!  Thanks so much.

Also, please do not forget that I am working very hard to finish my novel, and I need some research materials, mostly consisting of prize-winning books published last year that give me a picture of what is happening with modern literature at the moment. In addition, inflation has hit me hard when it comes to putting groceries in the cupboards, so if you could donate to my Paypal link, above right, I would be most grateful.

Anyway, Amazon has my address and can mail the items direct to me from my wish list. Help me to help myself, won't you, even if it is just a book or two from the list?  Here is the link:

AMAZON WISH LIST - HELP ME TO HELP MYSELF