Pascal on the Jesuits

April 8, 2016 in Jesuits No Comments Tags: casuistry, Jesuits, Pascal, provincial letters

Pascal in the Provincial Letters has a character explain the motivation for the Jesuit’s casuistry by which they could excuse almost anything:

Men have arrived at such a pitch of corruption now-a-days, that unable to make them come to us, we must e’en go to them, otherwise they would cast us off altogether; and what is worse, they would become perfect castaways. It is to retain such characters as these that our casuists have taken under consideration the vices to which people of various conditions are most addicted, with the view of laying down maxims which, while they cannot be said to violate the truth, are so gentle that he must be a very impracticable subject indeed who is not pleased with them. The grand project of our Society, for the good of religion, is never to repulse any one, let him be what he may, and so avoid driving people to despair.

Perhaps the cardinals should have read the Provincial Letters before the last election; or perhaps they did, and decided this was the policy they wanted.

It is a pity that John the Baptist did not follow this policy; he could have kept his head.

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Meeting the World Half-Way

April 8, 2016 in Nazis, Sexual Revolution No Comments Tags: compromise with world, Dietrich von Hildebrand, Georg Bichlmair

Georg Bichlmair, S. J.

Catholics of all ranks sometimes are tempted to allow a compromise with the world in hopes that people will not be totally alienated from the Church.

The Austrian Jesuit Georg Bichlmair was head of the Pauluswork, a missionary group for the conversion of Jews, in Vienna in the early 1930s, as Nazis grew stronger in German-speaking lands.

Dietrich von Hildebrand knew Bichlmair. He recounts

Fr. Bichlmair struck upon the unfortunate idea that one should tolerate a certain anti-Semitism in Catholics infected by Nazism to prevent them from falling away from the Church. This despite the fact that he himself was a great friend of the Jews and directed many Jewish converts. It was just another manifestation of the disastrous old idea that compromise can keep people from falling away. The same logic had led to compromises with nationalism at various points, just as it had with idolization of science or with the Zeitgeist.

Vin Hildebrand pleaded with Bichlmair not to publish his article justifying a certain degree of racial antisemitism. Even if it worked and kept Nazis in the Church what good what it do?

For what good is obtained when people who consider themselves Catholic and who still receive the sacraments adhere to ideas that are incompatible with Christ?

Bichlmair wrote and spoke in defense of a racial anti-Semitism, and he was noticed favorably by the Nazis. Bichlmair however was not a Nazi by any means. He was eventually arrested by the Gestapo, but he survived and became head of the Austrian Jesuit province after the war.

Of course the current temptation is to compromise with the Sexual Revolution, not the Nazi Revolution. And there is a difference between the two: the Nazis killed fewer people.

Dietrich von Hildebrand

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Advice from Vincent Ferrer

April 5, 2016 in saints No Comments Tags: Vincent Ferrer

Today is the feast of the great Dominican preacher Vincent Ferrer (1357-1419). He gave advice to preachers; the core of the advice, which all Christians should follow, is that all that we say, even rebukes to sin, must be motivated by love.

In sermons and talks, use simple language and a homely conversational style to explain each particular point. As far as you can, give plenty of examples; then, whoever has committed that particular sin will have his conscience pricked, as though you were preaching to him alone. But it must be done in such a way that your words do not appear to come from a soul full of pride or scorn. Speak rather out of the depths of love and fatherly care, like a father suffering for his sinful children, as if they were gravely ill, or trapped in a deep pit, whom he is trying to draw out and set free, and look after like a mother. You must be like one who delights in their progress, and in the glory in heaven that they are hoping for.

Such a style usually has a good effect on a congregation. For, to speak of virtues and vices in general terms evokes little response from listeners.

Similarly in confession, whether you are gently comforting the timid, or more sternly putting the fear of God into the hardened sinner, you must always show the deepest love, so that the sinner always feels that your words come out of pure love. In this way, your words of sweetness and love will have a more penetrating effect.

But in your desire to be of use to the souls of your neighbours, you must first of all have recourse to God with your whole heart, and simply make this request of him. Ask him in his goodness to pour into you that love in which is the sum of all virtues, through which you may be able to achieve what you desire.

St. Vincent Ferrer Church, New York

The Dominicans were the Domini canes, the hounds of the Lord, protecting His flock from heretics.

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St. John Chrysostom’s Homily on Easter

March 27, 2016 in Uncategorized No Comments

If any man be devout and love God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. If any man be a wise servant, let him rejoicing enter into the joy of his Lord. If any have labored long in fasting, let him now receive his recompense. If any have wrought from the first hour, let him today receive his just reward. If any have come at the third hour, let him with thankfulness keep the feast. If any have arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings; because he shall in nowise be deprived thereof. If any have delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near, fearing nothing. If any have tarried even until the eleventh hour, let him, also, be not alarmed at his tardiness; for the Lord, who is jealous of his honor, will accept the last even as the first; he gives rest unto him who comes at the eleventh hour, even as unto him who has wrought from the first hour.

And he shows mercy upon the last, and cares for the first; and to the one he gives, and upon the other he bestows gifts. And he both accepts the deeds, and welcomes the intention, and honors the acts and praises the offering. Wherefore, enter you all into the joy of your Lord; and receive your reward, both the first, and likewise the second. You rich and poor together, hold high festival. You sober and you heedless, honor the day. Rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have disregarded the fast. The table is full-laden; feast ye all sumptuously. The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away.

Enjoy ye all the feast of faith: Receive ye all the riches of loving-kindness. Let no one bewail his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one weep for his iniquities, for pardon has shown forth from the grave. Let no one fear death, for the Savior’s death has set us free. He that was held prisoner of it has annihilated it. By descending into Hell, He made Hell captive. He embittered it when it tasted of His flesh. And Isaiah, foretelling this, did cry: Hell, said he, was embittered, when it encountered Thee in the lower regions. It was embittered, for it was abolished. It was embittered, for it was mocked. It was embittered, for it was slain. It was embittered, for it was overthrown. It was embittered, for it was fettered in chains. It took a body, and met God face to face. It took earth, and encountered Heaven. It took that which was seen, and fell upon the unseen.

O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory? Christ is risen, and you are overthrown. Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen. Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen, and life reigns. Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave. For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages. Amen.

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Anastasis

March 26, 2016 in Icons, Uncategorized No Comments Tags: Anastasis, Easter

The Orthodox have always emphasized that the purpose of the Incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection is theosis, the divinization of man, man’s entry into the processions of the Trinity.

From an Orthodox deacon:

we can see the Christ standing on the gates of hell in the shape of the cross. The cross is meant to show us how the chains and locks were destroyed and why the doors are now open.

Notice that the Savior in this icon does not bear the wounds of His passion. This seems to indicate that it is the second person of the Trinity in His divine nature liberating Adam and Eve in all His regal power and glory.

The two figures in the Anastasis that Jesus is pulling out of the sarcophagi are Adam and Eve. It is clear that His appearance is sudden and explosive, which is illustrated through the distorted look of their bodies and faces. Notice that His knees are bent and is pulling them upwards to Himself and his mandorla.

The three figures form a perfect equilateral triangle and are seen pulled into the space. In many other renditions of this icon, the Savior is seen freeing our first parents from enslavement to sin and thus death. Here He seems to be pulling humanity (represented in Adam and Eve) into the Most Holy Trinity. This is consistent with the Holy Writ that even in His liberation of Sheol He wants us to mysteriously participate in the eternal exchange of persons which is the Trinity.

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HE DESCENDED INTO HELL

March 26, 2016 in Uncategorized No Comments

What is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled.

Truly he goes to seek out our first parent like a lost sheep; he wishes to visit those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, he who is God, and Adam’s son.

The Lord goes in to them holding his victorious weapon, his cross. When Adam, the first created man, sees him, he strikes his breast in terror and calls out to all: ‘My Lord be with you all.’ And Christ in reply says to Adam: ‘And with your spirit.’ And grasping his hand he raises him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.

‘I am your God, who for your sake became your son, who for you and your descendants now speak and command with authority those in prison: Come forth, and those in darkness: Have light, and those who sleep: Rise.

‘I command you: Awake, sleeper, I have not made you to be held a prisoner in the underworld. Arise from the dead; I am the life of the dead. Arise, O man, work of my hands, arise, you who were fashioned in my image. Rise, let us go hence; for you in me and I in you, together we are one undivided person.

‘For you, I your God became your son; for you, I the Master took on your form; that of slave; for you, I who am above the heavens came on earth and under the earth; for you, man, I became as a man without help, free among the dead; for you, who left a garden, I was handed over to Jews from a garden and crucified in a garden.

‘Look at the spittle on my face, which I received because of you, in order to restore you to that first divine inbreathing at creation. See the blows on my cheeks, which I accepted in order to refashion your distorted form to my own image.

‘See the scourging of my back, which I accepted in order to disperse the load of your sins which was laid upon your back. See my hands nailed to the tree for a good purpose, for you, who stretched out your hand to the tree for an evil one.

`I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side, for you, who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side healed the pain of your side; my sleep will release you from your sleep in Hades; my sword has checked the sword which was turned against you.

‘But arise, let us go hence. The enemy brought you out of the land of paradise; I will reinstate you, no longer in paradise, but on the throne of heaven. I denied you the tree of life, which was a figure, but now I myself am united to you, I who am life. I posted the cherubim to guard you as they would slaves; now I make the cherubim worship you as they would God.

“The cherubim throne has been prepared, the bearers are ready and waiting, the bridal chamber is in order, the food is provided, the everlasting houses and rooms are in readiness; the treasures of good things have been opened; the kingdom of heaven has been prepared before the ages.

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Brussels and the Bien-Pensants

March 22, 2016 in terrorism No Comments

Bien-pensant Europeans are already saying that Europe will just have to put up with attacks like the ones in Brussels. It is the price of an open society: that is, unlimited immigration, no borders, and ineffective security. After the Paris attack, the Belgian police knew where the mastermind was in Brussels, but they couldn’t do anything, because the law prohibits police raids between 9 PM and 5 AM.

On the evening of Sunday 15 November, two nights after the terror attacks, security services learned Mr. Abdeslam was hiding out at a an address in the notorious Molenbeek district of Brussels, reports Flanders News.

The problem they faced is that in Belgium no properties can be raided between the hours of 9pm and 5am, and by that time it was after 9pm. In fact the police did not raid the property until 10am on Monday 16 November, which newspapers have reported was because the street was busy.

Reports from reliable sources have told Belgian broadcasters that Mr. Abdeslam was able to escape that morning, either hidden in a car belonging to a person who was moving house on that street, or in a piece of furniture.

(see NYT also)

By 10 AM, when the police got around to doing something, the terrorist had moved. Presumably the law is meant to allow criminals and terrorists to get a good night’s sleep before being taken off for a hearing and then released to disappear in the Moslem neighborhoods that shelter them.

Is the patience of the European populace unlimited? Will they accept attack after attack and millions immigrants? Or will they turn to someone who promises security? I think the bien-pensants fear nationalist governments more than they do terrorism.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff Peter Altmeier posted on Twitter touting the strength of “European values” in the fight against terrorism alongside Belgium. Merkel has previously called for EU member states to welcome refugees and maintain the passport free travel of the international partnership.

Ukip has been criticised by David Cameron and others for claiming the Brussels terror attacks show the dangers of lax immigration controls and a need to leave the EU.

David Cameron was among those to criticise Ukip’s remarks. He said it was “not appropriate” to be drawing a link between the terror attacks and immigration on such a day.

“We are in a situation of structural vulnerability,” Hayez said. “That’s what democracy is. It’s an open society. There will always be risk.”

[Clinton] called the number of casualties — at least two dozen killed — “deeply distressing.” Clinton called for Washington to work with allies across Europe to track potential terrorists and said a “dream of a whole, free Europe (at peace) should not be walked away from.”

But the former secretary of state cautioned against blanket bans on immigrants based on the attacks.

“It’s unrealistic to say we’re going to completely shut down our borders to everyone,” she said. “I know that Americans have every reason to be frightened by what they see, (but) we’ve got to work this through, consistent with our values.”

Asked about calls to monitor mosques following the attacks, Sanders said, “It would be unconstitutional, it would be wrong. We are fighting a terrorist organization, a barbaric organization that is killing innocent people. We are not fighting a religion.”

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St. Joseph

March 19, 2016 in Men in church No Comments Tags: Calvin, Murillo, Penitentes, Saints, St. Joseph

Murillo

Today is the feast of St. Joseph. In the Middle Ages he was depicted only in the Nativity scene, and shown as an old man in the corner, puzzled and shut out from the goings-on.

St. Maria in Trastevere

Because marriage and family life was a mess in the Middle Ages, first the Reformers and then the Catholics of the Counter-Reformation began stressing the importance of the family and the role of the father in the family. In the Middle Ages children were often baptized by the midwife. Calvin forbade this. In the Middle Ages, If a child was baptized in the church, the mother would bring him and the father would stay at home preparing the festivities. Calvin also forbade this, and ordered that the father bring the child to church and present him for baptism.

In Catholic countries, especially in Spain, Joseph began his ascendancy. He was no longer shown as a decrepit old man but as a young vigorous man, a protector of Mary and Joseph. He, not Mary, was shown holding the infant Jesus.

The Penitentes preserved the faith among men in the Southwest. When a prospective member sought entry, he knocked at the door of the morada, asked a question and received the reply from the members within.

Quién en esta casa da la luz? Jesús

Quién la llena alegría? María

Quién la conserva en la fé? José

(Who gives light in this house? Jesus. Who fills it with joy? Mary. Who preserves it in the faith? Joseph.)

And indeed, the father, not the mother, is the key person in passing the Faith on to the children. As recent studies in the United States and Switzerland showed, the believing father is a necessary, although not sufficient, condition for passing the Faith on to the children

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Socialism and Foreigners

March 16, 2016 in Politics No Comments Tags: Bernie Sanders, Denmark, immigration, Socialism

A cartoon published by the Danish newspaper Politiken showing Inger Støjberg, the country’s integration minister, lighting candles on a Christmas tree that has a dead asylum-seeker as an ornament, December 2015

Socialism, in its Scandinavian form, is not friendly to foreigners. Hugh Eakin discovered this and writes about it in “Liberal, Harsh Denmark” (New York Review of Books, March 10, 2016).

Denmark is the very model of the modern Social Democratic state:

known for its nearly carbon-neutral cities, its free health care and university education for all, its bus drivers who are paid like accountants, its robust defense of gay rights and social freedoms, and its vigorous culture of social and political debate, the country has long been envied as a social-democratic success.

But the Danes do not like immigrants:

Denmark has long led the continent in its shift to the right—and in its growing domestic consensus that large-scale Muslim immigration is incompatible with European social democracy.

The attitude against immigrants has grown harsher by the month:

In early September, Denmark began taking out newspaper ads in Lebanon and Jordan warning would-be asylum-seekers not to come. And by November, the Danish government announced that it could no longer accept the modest share of one thousand refugees assigned to Denmark under an EU redistribution agreement, because Italy and Greece had lost control of their borders.

The new law, which passed with support from the Social Democrats as well as the Danish People’s Party, permits police to strip-search asylum-seekers and confiscate their cash and most valuables above 10,000 Danish kroner ($1,460) to pay for their accommodation; delays the opportunity to apply for family reunification by up to three years; forbids asylum-seekers from residing outside refugee centers, some of which are tent encampments; reduces the cash benefits they can receive; and makes it significantly harder to qualify for permanent residence. One aim, a Liberal MP explained to me, is simply to “make Denmark less attractive to foreigners.

Why is enlightened, socialist Denmark so hostile to foreigners?

the Danish welfare system [has] an unusually important part in shaping national identity. Visitors to Denmark will find the Danish flag on everything from public buses to butter wrappers; many of the country’s defining institutions, from its universal secondary education (Folkehøjskoler—the People’s High Schools) to the parliament (Folketinget—the People’s House) to the Danish national church (Folkekirken—the People’s Church) to the concept of democracy itself (Folkestyret—the Rule of the People) have been built to reinforce a strong sense of folke, the Danish people.

Ethnically and religiously homogenous Scandinavia has been able to construct a welfare state because everyone looks like and largely acts like everyone else. The countries feel like a big family, and as in families, people are willing to support, however grudgingly, the ne-er-do-well brother-in-law.

But Moslems are foreigners, and their customs and actions make it impossible for the Danes to regard them as fellow-Danes. Nor do the Moslems seem to want to assimilate; they want welfare, but they don’t want to become Danes, whose culture they dislike, despise, sometimes murderously hate.

Socialism has never caught on in the United States because of the ethnic and religious heterogeneity of the country. Bernie Sander’s was elected in 96% white Vermont, and has done well in states with mostly white voters and poorly in states with large minority populations. Not even African-Americans like Socialism; they want programs targeted at them not at everyone in general.

The liberal academic Robert Putnam investigated the effects of diversity at the neighborhood level and as not happy with what he found:

It HAS BECOME increasingly popular to speak of racial and ethnic diversity as a civic strength. From multicultural festivals to pronouncements from political leaders, the message is the same: our differences make us stronger.

But a massive new study, based on detailed interviews of nearly 30,000 people across America, has concluded just the opposite. Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam — famous for “Bowling Alone,” his 2000 book on declining civic engagement — has found that the greater the diversity in a community, the fewer people vote and the less they volunteer, the less they give to charity and work on community projects. In the most diverse communities, neighbors trust one another about half as much as they do in the most homogenous settings. The study, the largest ever on civic engagement in America, found that virtually all measures of civic health are lower in more diverse settings.

The more similar people are, the more they trust one another. This is true at both the neighborhood and national level. At the national level, such trust enables a society to develop a strong social democracy. People know how other people think and act, and trust the government to spend a huge share of national income effectively. But diverse societies have less trust; in some societies trust does not extend beyond the family or tribe, and the state is too weak to function at all (e.g. Iraq).

So the best foundation for a social democratic state is homogeneity. The more diverse the society, the harder it is to implement social democratic programs, because each group suspects that the other group is benefiting more.

Denmark is still the happiest country in the world, along with the other Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, all “fairly homogeneous nations with strong social safety nets.” The homogeneity, social democracy, and happiness are all closely connected.

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Podles’s new book: Meek or Macho? Why Men Are Alienated from Christianity

March 14, 2016 in Meek or Macho No Comments

The manuscript was sent off and will appear in St Augustine’s Press Fall book list (if all goes well).

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Fiery Serpents

March 12, 2016 in Liturgy 1 Comment Tags: Brazen Serpent, John Keble, Moses, Nehushtan

Fiery Serpents are the subject of the reading from today’s Morning Prayer:

From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.And the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

But in the Gospel of John we are told what this means:

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Cologne Cathedral

John Keble applies this to our condition:

The Israelites were batten by fiery serpents. Do you not see, and alas, do you not feel, that this is but a shadow of our natural condition? For what is all sin, but a serpent, a fiery serpent; a child and messenger of that Old Serpent, who tempted out forefathers, and would fain destroy us all? And sin is a fiery serpent, because of the fire of lust, which it causes to rage in us; and because of Hell-fire, by which it is already scorched, and which if not checked it will surely kindle upon us.

The Son of God, when He came to save sinners, was to be made in the likeness of sinful flesh. He was to go about in His lifetime. A man among other men; and in His death…he was to be numbered with the worst transgressors, bound and dragged along with the malefactors, and crucified between two thieves, as if He were the worst of the three. Thus, sinful flesh being the serpent that bites us, our Lord being made in the likeness of sinful flesh, was truly made in the lines of that serpent: in the likeness, I say, of sinful flesh ; not that he was Himself sinful flesh, God forbid ; but there was no touch of sin in His Human Nature, as there was no touch of poison in the serpent of brass ; but, an all beside sin, He was one of us : and being so, He vouchsafed to be lifted up, as was the serpent of brass, for our healing.

So it is with penitents, as concerning our Lord lifted up, as on this day, among us. However deep and grievous a person’s old sins may have been, however sad and fearful his relapses, there is virtue in Jesus Christ crucified to heal him entirely, if he look up with all his heart.

Manuscript Liège

Medieval Plaque

From the Sistine Ceiling

Bronzino

Van Dyke

Van Dyke on a Pillow

Tintoretto

Augustus John

William Dyce (note flying serpents)

Mormon Nehushtan by Alma Brockerman Wright

___________________________________________________________

Nehushtan

But the brazen serpent became a trap for the Israelites.

In the third year of King Hoshea son of Elah of Israel, Hezekiah son of King Ahaz of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Abi daughter of Zechariah. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord just as his ancestor David had done. He removed the high places, broke down the pillars, and cut down the sacred pole. He broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it; it was called Nehushtan.

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The Scapegoat

March 7, 2016 in Uncategorized No Comments Tags: biblical literacy, The Scapegoat, Wlliam Holman Hunt

The reading at Morning Prayer today is from Leviticus 16, and includes the story of the scapegoat:

Then he [Aaron] shall take the two goats, and set them before the LORD at the door of the tent of meeting;
[8] and Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel.
[9] And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the LORD, and offer it as a sin offering;
[10] but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.

and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.
[22] The goat shall bear all their iniquities upon him to a solitary land; and he shall let the goat go in the wilderness.

William Holman Hunt (1827-1910) painted “The Scapegoat” when he visited the Holy Land in 1854. Wikipedia tells us

Hunt intended to experience the actual locations of the Biblical narratives as a means to confront the relationship between faith and truth. While in Jerusalem, Hunt had met Henry Wentworth Monk, a millenarian prophet who had distinctive theories about the meaning of the scapegoat and the proximity of the Last Judgement. Monk was particularly preoccupied with Christian Zionism.

Hunt chose a subject derived from the Torah as part of a project to convert Jews to Christianity. He believed that Judaic views of the scapegoat were consistent with the Christian conception of the Messiah as a suffering figure. He wrote to his friend Millais, “I am sanguine that that [the Scapegoat] may be a means of leading any reflecting Jew to see a reference to the Messiah as he was, and not as they understand, a temporal King.”^[3]

The Book of Leviticus describes a “scapegoat” which must be ritually expelled from the flocks of the Israelite tribes as part of a sacrificial ritual of cleansing. In line with traditional Christian theology, Hunt believed that the scapegoat was a prototype for the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus, and that the goat represented that aspect of the Messiah described in Isaiah as a “suffering servant” of God. Hunt had the picture framed with the quotations “Surely he hath borne our Griefs and carried our Sorrows; Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of GOD and afflicted.” (Isaiah 53:4) and “And the Goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a Land not inhabited.” (Leviticus 16:22)

However, Biblical literacy was never what it should be. Holman Hunt tried to sell the painting to Ernest Gambert, a French dealer. Holman Hunt recounts

Gambart, the picture-dealer, was ever shrewd and entertaining. He came in his turn to my studio, and I led him to The Scapegoat. “What do you call that?”
“The Scapegoat.”
“Yes; but what is it doing?”
“You will understand by the title, Le bouc expiatoire.”
“But why expiatoire?” he asked.
“Well, there is a book called the Bible, which gives an account of the animal. You will remember.”
“No,” he replied, “I never heard of it.”
“Ah, I forgot, the book is not known in France, but English people read it more or less,” I said, “and they would all understand the story of the beast being driven into the wilderness.”
“You are mistaken. No one would know anything about it, and if I bought the picture it would be left on my hands. Now, we will see,” replied the dealer. “My wife is an English lady, there is a friend of hers, an English girl, in the carriage with her, we will ask them up, you shall tell them the title; we will see. Do not say more.”
The ladies were conducted into the room. “Oh how pretty! what is it?” they asked.
“It is The Scapegoat.” I said.
There was a pause. “Oh yes,” they commented to one another, “it is a peculiar goat, you can see by the ears, they droop so.”
The dealer then, nodding with a smile towards me, said to them, “It is in the wilderness.”
The ladies: “Is that the wilderness now? Are you intending to introduce any others of the flock?” And so the dealer was proved to be right, and I had over-counted on the picture’s intelligibility.

(My art historian wife informs me that the last name of the artist is a double name “Holman Hunt” [despite Wikipedia] and it is without a hyphen, which would be jarring to the sensitive ear.)

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A Modest Proposal: Marriage Problems and the Liturgy of the Hours

March 4, 2016 in Anglicans, Liturgy, Marriage 1 Comment Tags: communion, divorce, Evening Prayer, Liturgy of the Hours, marriage

Evensong, Chapel Royal, Hampton Court Palace

The Synod on the Family raised the vexed issue of the reception of communion by those Catholics who have civilly divorced and civilly remarried. Some cardinals propose allowing such people to receive communion. I (and apparently most theologians) think this is impossible, given the Catholic understanding of the indissolubility of a sacramental marriage. The Orthodox and conservative Protestants believe that divorce is wrong, but that a sacramental marriage can be dissolved. I am not sure if the indissolubility of a sacramental marriage has ever been solemnly defined, but it is certainly part of the ordinary teaching of the Church, and any reconsideration should be done by an ecumenical council, not be a cabal of manipulative German cardinals.

Given that, everyone knows about matrimonial disasters among friends and family. I think a neglected question is whether people really intended to enter into an indissoluble marriage. They may say so, but their actions later may indicate they did not. I believe until the 1917 Code of Canon Law, people with marital problems consulted their parish priest about whether their marriage was indeed valid. Now it is a matter for complicated canonical procedures. I am not sure that that is an improvement. I think one must ordinarily presume the good faith of a Catholic who believes, after consultation, that his or her first marriage was not valid and that he or she is free to enter into a sacramental marriage. I know canonists would disagree, but canon law should serve the salvation of souls, not be a self-contained legal system which strives for coherence and consistency above all.

Nonetheless, there would be many cases of people whose first marriages were valid and who have entered into another union from which they cannot extricate themselves without doing grave harm to others, especially children. They cannot receive communion, because they are objectively in an irregular and sinful state. However, they may want to maintain a connection with the Church, especially for their children’s sake.

The growing problem of irregular marriages has combined with the increased emphasis since the time of Pius X on frequent reception of communion. The Eucharist is seen as the summit of Catholic life and worship; with the general abandonment of popular devotions, it is usually the only communal gathering of Catholics. The mitigation and indeed practical abandonment of fasting and the almost complete neglect of the sacrament of Penance means that almost everyone goes to communion, except for those in civil marriages, who feel acutely left out. Tightening up the requirements for the reception of communion by re-imposing a more serious fast and stressing the need for confession would help; but it is always harder to tighten than to loosen discipline.

In addition to those in irregular marriages there are many people who want to have a connection with the Church but aren’t ready to take on the full discipline necessary for a worthy communion.

Catholics have forgotten that the Liturgy of the Hours is also part of the public worship of the Church. If Catholic churches would imitate the Anglican custom of sung Morning or Evening Prayer (and Vespers used to be common in parishes), and if the Church would allow attendance at such services to fulfill the Sunday obligation, a lot of problems could be avoided. In England church attendance is plummeting; but attendance at choral Morning and Evening Prayer in cathedrals in increasing. Here is Pope Benedict at Westminster Abbey Anglican Evening Prayer.

Anyway, just a suggestion.

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Mothering Sunday

March 4, 2016 in Liturgy, Uncategorized No Comments Tags: Motehring Sunday. Laetare Sunday, simnel cake

The Fourth Sunday of Lent, Mid-Lent Sunday, Laetare Sunday, in the Anglican tradition is also called Mothering Sunday. The Introit for the day, from Isaiah, is “”REJOICE [Laetare] ye with Jerusalem: and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: that ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breast of her consolations. I was glad when the said unto me: We will go into the house of the Lord.” The traditional Epistle from Galatians incudes the passage “But Jerusalem which is above is free; which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.” The traditional Gospel tells of Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand.

From these passages of Scripture arose the custom of visiting the mother church, that is, the church in which one was baptized. Young people who had left their home village to work as domestic servants were given the day off to see their mothers and to bring a gift of food.

Henry Bourne, Curate of All-Hallows, in Newcastle upon Tyne, in 1727 explained

On this, “The fourth SUNDAY in Lent… having now brought us to the Middle of the thorny Way of Mortification, [the Church] cheers and comforts us with the End of our Journey and the Promise of Refreshment, lest we faint upon the Road…
The GOSPEL tells of Christ’s Relieving the five Thousand miraculously; intimating to us, that after the Hunger we suffer here, we shall be refreshed by our Lord…
THIS Sunday is also called Dominica de Panibus, the Sunday of the Loaves; or Dominica Refectionis, the Sunday of Refreshment: Because it does not treat of Mortification, but tells of the heavenly Jerusalem, and that Refreshment our Saviour will there give us.

During the Lent fast, people did not eat from sweet, rich foods or meat. However, the fast was lifted slightly on Mothering Sunday and many people prepared a Simnel cake to eat with their family on this day. A Simnel cake is covered with marzipan and twelve balls of marzipan to represent Jesus and the eleven faithful apostles.

Robert Herrick (1591-1674) refers to this custom in this poem:

I’ll to thee a Simnell bring
‘Gainst thou go’st a-mothering,
So that when she blesses thee
Half that blessing thou’lt give me.

A modern carol by George Hare Leonard refers to these customs:

So I’ll put on my Sunday coat,
And in my hat a feather,
And get the lines I writ by rote,
With many a note,
That I’ve a-strung together.

And now to fetch my wheaten cake
To fetch it from the baker,
He promised me, for mother’s sake,
The best he’d bake
For me to fetch and take her.

Well have I known, as I went by
One hollow lane, that none day
I’d fail to find – for all they’re shy –
Where violets lie,
As I went home on Sunday.

My sister Jane is waiting-maid
Along with Squire’s lady;
And year by year her part she’s played
And home she stayed
To get the dinner ready.

For mother’ll come to Church you’ll see-
Of all the year it’s the day-
‘The one,’ she’ll say, ‘that’s made for me’
And so it be:
It’s every Mother’s free day.

The boys will all come home from town
Not one will miss that one day;
And every maid will bustle down
To show her gown,
A-mothering on Sunday.

It is the day of all the year,
Of all the year the one day;
And here come I, my mother dear,
And bring you cheer,
A-mothering on Sunday.

Here is the music:

and here it is sung by Jane Peppler of Pratie Heads.

The music is from a medieval German carol “Ich weiβ ein lieblich Engelspiel,” here performed by Clara Obscura and here with medieval instruments. It is also appropriate for Lent, the lengthening of days in spring:

Der Winter kalt, der Sünden Zeit
die haben bald ein Ende;
kehr dich zu Gott, der dir verzeiht;
darum ihn bitt mit Herzen und mit Händen!

The winter’s cold, the time of sin, will soon have an end; turn to God, who forgives you, pray to him with hearts and hands!

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The Veil on the Face of Moses and Cardinal Newman

March 2, 2016 in Oxford Movement No Comments Tags: John Henry Newman, Moses, veil

Today’s reading from Morning Prayer tells how Moses went up to the holy mountain and there saw God.

²⁹When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tables of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. ³⁰And when Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. ³²And afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai.³³And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; ³⁴but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he took the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, ³⁵the people of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone; and Moses would put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Newman refers to this passage in a curious poem which he wrote on January 9, 1833 while at sea.

BANISH’D the House of sacred rest,
Amid a thoughtless throng,
At length I heard its creed confess’d,
And knelt the saints among.

Artless his strain and unadorn’d,
Who spoke Christ’s message there;
But what at home I might have scorn’d,
Now charm’d my famish’d ear.

Lord, grant me this abiding grace,
Thy Word and sons to know;
To pierce the veil on Moses’ face,
Although his speech be slow.

The grammar of the poem and its allusions are not easy. What does the word “banished” modify? Or is it an imitation of the Latin ablative absolute? What is “the House of sacred rest”?

Newman entered the Roman Catholic Church in 1845, but he was already feeling the pull in 1833. My stab at an interpretation is that “the House of sacred rest” is the Roman Catholic Church; it has been “banished” from England. Somewhere in the Mediterranean Newman, the “I” of the poem, amid a thoughtless throng heard its (the Roman Catholic Church’s) creed confessed and knelt among its saints.

The Catholic preacher was not very good (nothing new there) and, unlike the learned Anglican divines, was artless and unadorned. But Newman, who would have looked down on such preaching at home (in the Anglican Church? In Oxford?) had not heard the word of God preached in while and was famished for it.

Newman prays for the grace to recognize God’s Word and children in all circumstances. He asks to see the glory hidden behind an unprepossessing human façade, as Moses’ face was hidden behind the veil. The preacher that Newman heard was not a good speaker – but then neither was Moses, who told God that he couldn’t speak to Pharaoh, so God appointed Aaron as his spokesman.

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