THE MUSIC OF WORDS

 

Good Friday this year happens to also be  International Children's Book Day (ICBD), which is a yearly event sponsored by the International Board on Books for Young People. 

Founded in 1967, the day is observed on or around Hans Christian Andersen's birthday, April 2.  Activities include writing competitions, announcements of book awards and events with authors of children's literature.

Each year a different National Section of IBBY has the opportunity to be the international sponsor of ICBD. It decides upon a theme and invites a prominent author from the host country to write a message to the children of the world and a well-known illustrator to design a poster. These materials are used in different ways to promote books and reading.

Many IBBY Sections promote ICBD through the media and organize activities in schools and public libraries. Often ICBD is linked to celebrations around children's books and other special events that may include encounters with authors and illustrators, writing competitions or announcements of book awards.  As far as I am concerned, we can’t do enough in the age of technology, to promote reading among our young.

This year's theme is  THE MUSIC OF WORDS.  The illustrator of this year's poster is by Roger Mello, a Brazilian artist.  The author chosen is Cuban-American writer Margarita Engle.

Our small Shaw Island Library has the most fabulous children’s room, which most adults here can’t pass up as they head for the back room filled with non-fiction.  I envy children today the amount of incredible, amazing and fun-filled books available, especially those which are illustrated with wondrous colorful images.  And sometimes, more often than not, we too take books from the children!

MARY'S SWORD

 

Jesus, on the way to His crucifixion, and in the midst of great pain, encounters His Mother. Mary must have remembered the words spoken to her: "and you yourself a sword will pierce."  Jen Norton's powerful painting to the left says it all- with that sword piercing her heart.

Jesus is about to fulfill His earthly mission by sacrificing Himself for the all of humankind, and that pain reflects the greatest love and hope at the same time.  

What is Mary thinking?  Does she know she will soon see Him alive? Even if she has a clue, He is in agony and her pain must be terrible beyond belief. She knows she cannot stop this procession to the top of Calvary.

The disciples fled, she did not flee. She stayed there, with the courage of a mother, with the fidelity of a mother, with the goodness of a mother, and with her great faith.  Face to face, Jesus and His Mother meet. Jesus bent under the weight of the cross,  is covered in blood, sweat, and spit. The angry crowd is screaming insults.  Mary, experiencing every mother's worst nightmare feels the sword pierce her soul. Moving with fiercely protective love, she offers her Son what she can: the comfort of her presence. At this point it is all she has to give Him!

As through all of the Gospels, after His Mother opened for Him His public life, at the Wedding feast at Cana, the gospel here places no words in her mouth.  She is struck  dumb- numb.  But their eyes meet-  we all know from experience that this exchange can be stronger- more powerful- than words.

Which bring us to the origin of the Stations of the Cross. The devotional exercise of visiting and praying in front of each of the 14 stations and meditating on the Passion of Christ stems from the practice of early Christian pilgrims who visited the scenes of the events in Jerusalem and walked the traditional route from the supposed location of Pilate’s house to Calvary.

Tradition holds that the mother of Jesus, set up stone markers at her home outside Jerusalem to prayerfully retrace the steps of her son’s Passion, but the origin of the devotion in its present form is not clear.

The number of stations originally observed in Jerusalem was considerably smaller than 14. In the early 16th century, Ways of the Cross were established in Europe, and the tradition of 14 stations probably derived from the best known of them, that at Leuven in 1505.

The Franciscans long popularized the practice, and by the 18th century we find 14 stations in Jerusalem. 

For all of us, the meeting of Jesus and His mother on the way to Calvary is a powerful and ever timely event. Jesus gave up his mother so that each of us might have a mother who is always there for us- no matter the suffering.

IMAGES:

           Rt. -   Ghislaine Howard - British 

                       (b. 1953)

           Left -  Lamidi Fakeye -  Nigerian  

                     ( d. 2009)

           Rt.  -   Virgil Cantini-  USA 

ENTRANCE INTO HOLY WEEK

 

                                                                Solomon Raj- India         

Jesus traveled to Jerusalem knowing that this journey would end in His sacrificial death on the cross. As He entered the city, He sent two disciples ahead to the village of Bethphage to look for an unbroken colt saying to them:

"Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' say, 'The Lord needs it.'" (Luke 19:29-31). The men then brought the colt to Jesus and placed their cloaks on its back. As Jesus sat on the young donkey, He slowly made His humble entrance into Jerusalem with  the  people greeting Him, waving palm branches and covering His path with them. Some  even threw down their cloaks on the path as an act of homage and submission. The crowds praised Jesus enthusiastically because they believed He was the Messiah who would overthrow Rome.

The crowds that went ahead of Him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" (Matthew 21:9)

The shouts of "Hosanna" meant "save now," and the palm branches symbolized goodness and victory.

Immediately following this acknowledgment of His Kingship, Jesus began His journey to the cross.

Since palms aren’t typical of every climate in the world, many believers around the world have replaced palms with other types of tree leaves.

Pussy willows are a lot easier to find in Latvia than palms, so the day is known as Pussy Willow Sunday. Willow branches are a big part of the celebration in Bulgaria along with flowers. Palm Sunday is more often called Flower Day because of all the springtime blooms.

Palm trees don’t grow in Poland so people make artificial palm leaves, decorating them with tissue paper flowers and ribbons. Some of these fake palms can be higher than 30 metres and need multiple people to carry them! There are competitions for the best ones.

In southern Wales and nearby towns  of England, 'Sul y Blodau' or 'Flowering Sunday' is a grave decoration tradition commonly observed on Palm Sunday, although historically Flowering Sunday grave decoration was also observed on other days as well. Today, the names Palm Sunday and Flowering Sunday are used interchangeably in those regions. 

In India, flowers are scattered around the sanctuary at Mass while churchgoers listen to the gospel. The priests bless the palms and later give them to the people. Indians trace this custom back to Hindu tradition in which flowers are utilized for festive occasions.

In the Philippines  worshipers on Palm Sunday still practice Spanish-influenced traditions and customs, one of which is to bring their woven palm leaves, which the priest blesses. Some also use statues or the priest to lead a procession into the church to reenact Jesus’ entrance, while children with angel costumes sing.

Celebrating Palm Sunday in Rome and around Italy consists of a long ceremony and a  huge crowd of people (outside of pandemics). In Rome, it starts at 9:30 am where the Pope goes to St. Peter’s Square to start Palm Sunday Mass. He also participates in the blessing and procession of palms. The entire ceremony usually last for around 3 hours.

On a national level, Italians either use palms or olive branches for their celebrations, since olive trees are much more common in their climate.

In many parts of the world special foods are prepared on this day.

In Greece, Lenten fast is broken with a fish dinner, featuring bakaliaros or salt cod. In some parts of Italy, homemade fettuccini pasta topped with tomato sauce, bread crumbs and chopped nuts is the customary Palm Sunday dish.

In Great Britain, traditional foods served on Palm Sunday include fig pudding because Jesus is said to have eaten figs on his entry into the city of Jerusalem. In other areas of the UK, pax cakes - along with best wishes for peace and brotherhood - are given out to congregations after Palm Sunday services in a custom said to date back to the 1500's.

In Wales, the day is known as Sul y Blodau or Flowering Sunday because of the association with the flowering of the fig tree. Making split pea soup is another tradition still observed in Northern England and Scotland, derived from the ancient practice of wearing a hard pea in the shoe as penance during Lent.

More modern interpretations of appropriate foods to be eaten on Palm Sunday include hearts of palm featured in salads and side dishes to observe the day. 

For us it has always been my Mother’s date bars- as to the rest, whatever we have at hand.

     Image:  Anthony Falbo- USA

THE VERONICA

The VEIL of VERONICA, or Sudarium  (Latin for sweat-cloth), also known as the Veronica, is a Christian  relic consisting of a piece of cloth said to bear an image of the Holy Face of Jesus produced by other than human means (an acheiropoieton, "made without hand"). 

The story of the image's origin is related to the Sixth Station of the Cross, wherein St Veronica, encountering Jesus along the Via Dolorosa to Calvary, wipes the blood and sweat from his face with her veil. According to some versions, St. Veronica later traveled to Rome to present the cloth to the Roman Emperor Tiberius. The veil, possessing the Grace of God, has been said to quench thirst, cure blindness, and even raise the dead.

The first written evidence of the story is from the Middle Ages and during the fourteenth century the veil became a central icon in the Western Church. In the words of art historian Neil Macgregor, "From [the 14th Century] on, wherever the Roman Church went, the Veronica would go with it”.

The name "Veronica" is a blend of the Latin word vera, meaning “truth”, and Greek icon (eikon), meaning "image".  The Veil of Veronica was therefore largely regarded in medieval times as "the true image", and the truthful representation of Jesus, preceding the Shroud of Turin.

Even though the event is commemorated by one of the Stations of the Cross, it is not found in the Bible and does not appear in its present form until the Middle Ages. For this reason, it is unlikely to be historical. Rather, its origins are more likely to be found in image of Jesus associated with the Eastern Church known as the Mandylion, coupled with the desire of the faithful be able to see the face of their Redeemer. Nevertheless, during the fourteenth century, the Veil of Veronica became a central icon in the Roman Catholic Church which attracted thousands of pilgrims.  

 While it has over the centuries been assumed that the Veil resided in The Vatican, the story has had many layers.

There is an image kept in St. Peter's Basilica which purports be the same veil as was revered in the Middle Ages. This image is stored in the chapel that lies behind the balcony in the southwest pier supporting the dome.Very few inspections are recorded in modern times and there are no detailed photographs. The most detailed recorded inspection of the 20th century occurred in 1907 when Jesuit art historian Joseph Wilpert was allowed to remove two plates of glass to inspect the image.  According to author Ian Wilson, he commented that he saw only "a square piece of light colored material, somewhat faded through age, which bear two faint rust-brown stains, connected one to the other".

Nevertheless, the face is still displayed each year on the occasion of the 5th Sunday of Lent, Passion Sunday. The blessing takes place after the traditional Vespers at 5.00 pm.[ There is a short procession within the basilica, accompanied by the Roman litany. A bell rings and three canons carry the heavy frame out on the balcony above the statue of St. Veronica holding the veil. From this limited view no image is discernible and it is only possible to see the shape of the inner frame.

Various existing images have been claimed to be the original relic, as well as early copies of it, but in 1999, German Jesuit Father Heinnrich Pfeiffer, Professor of Art History at the Pontifical Gregorian University, announced at a press conference in Rome that he had found the Veil in a church of the Capuchin monastery, in the small village of Manoppello, Italy, where it had been since 1660. It is known as the Manoppello Image.

According to local tradition, an anonymous pilgrim arrived in 1508 with the cloth inside a wrapped package. The pilgrim gave it to Dr. Giacomo Antonio Leonelli, who was sitting on a bench in front of the church. The doctor went into the church and opened the parcel containing the Veil. At once, he went out of the church but did not find the bearer of the packet. The Veil was owned by the Leonelli family until 1608.

Pancrazio Petrucci, a soldier married to Marzia Leonelli, stole the Veil from his father-in-law's house. A few years later, Marzia sold it for 400 scudi to Doctor Donato Antonio De Fabritiis to pay a ransom demand for her husband who was then a prisoner in Chieti. The Veil was given by De Fabritiis to the Capuchins, who still hold it today. This history was documented by Father Donato da Bomba in his Relatione historica following researches started in 1640.  

Whatever the truth may be, it is not hard to believe that at least one brave woman stepped forth on the Via Dolorosa and wiped the bloody brow of the Lord. 

IMAGES:

Top left:  James Tissot - Brooklyn Museum

Right:  Gina  Bold - London

Left  Virgil Cantini- John Paul II Cult. Center, WA, DC

Right:  Mexican retable  19th C.

Bottom right:  Br. Martin Erspamer, OSB- St Meinrad Archabbey, Indiana

 

HONORING POETS

 

Today is WORLD POETRY DAY declared by  in 1999, "with the aim of supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression and increasing the opportunity for endangered languages to be heard".

 Its purpose is to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world and, as the original UNESCO declaration says, to "give fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional and international poetry movements".

It was generally celebrated in October, but in the latter part of the 20th century the world community celebrated it on the 15th, the birthday of Virgil, the Roman epic poet and poet laureate under Augustus.

The observance of World Poetry Day is also meant to encourage a return to the oral tradition of poetry recitals, to promote the teaching of poetry, to restore a dialogue between poetry and the other arts such as theater, dance, music and painting, and to support small publishers and create an attractive image of poetry in the media, so that the art of poetry will no longer be considered an outdated form of art, but one which enables society as a whole to regain and assert its identity.

As former Director-General of UNESCO Irina Bokova has said, “Poetry is one of the purest expressions of linguistic freedom. It is a component of the identity of peoples and it embodies the creative energy of culture, for it can be continuously renewed.”

Here are two poems by one of our interns,  Emily Libecki, who works with our resident poet, Mother Dilecta.

(And kodos  to my cousin, John Dofflemeyer-  AKA Cowboy poet-  of Drycrikjournal- check out his poignant verse as he struggles to raise cattle in Central California high country in spite of drought).

i am alive

when the wind rushes

across my skin

like wildfire in a forest

it lacerates leaving

burning traces

and i smile

because the pain

is lightening in my soul

igniting darkness

from ashen embers

who hold their breathe in anticipation.

 

 

 

i smell the smoke of candlelight

 

i smell the smoke of candlelight

and the shadows of the day

they taste like spindled embers

and withered wax astray.

even in the dark i sense

the place where light display

its echoes and its imprints

always falling far away

though i walk in whispered black

and the silver of the grey

i find myself pulled to the wick

and Eternal Summer's Way.

 

 

TRIBUTE TO NUNS IN A CLOISTER

                      

                      Monastery Farm Triptych

 

                                                          Chicken feet stamp snow:

                                                          Trinitarian credo

                                                          Said world without end.

 

                                                          Cream throated purple iris

                                                          Like the host on the tongues

                                                          Of the mothers at the grille.

 

                                                          He extends to me

                                                          The universe now distilled

                                                          Into one bright point.

                                                                        Oblate  Rob Wilson  2021

                        HAPPY  SPRING  EVERYONE !

WOMEN HEROINES

 

This is Women’s History Month, and while it is great to note women of the past who have influenced who we are today, it is also imperative that we note women who are today making a difference in the lives of many, less fortunate than ourselves.

SISTER ALICIA VACAS MORO, a Spanish missionary sister and registered nurse, was one of 14 women to receive this year’s International Women of Courage Award, an annual honor from the U.S. Department of State for women who have demonstrated leadership in their human rights work.

The State Department’s annual award for women around the world began in 2007 by U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and to date it has recognized more than 155 women from more than 75 countries. 

The award goes to women around the world who have shown leadership, courage, resourcefulness, and willingness to sacrifice for others, especially in promoting women's rights.  

The 49-year-old woman religious, who is the Jerusalem-based Middle East provincial superior of the Comboni Sisters, has provided medical care to the poor in Egypt and training to women and children in the West Bank.

Last March, she volunteered to go to Italy to care for elderly sisters from her order where 45 of the convent’s 60 residents tested positive for the coronavirus and 10 of the sisters later died.

Sister Vacas ran a medical clinic in Egypt for eight years, helping low-income patients before she worked with the Bedouin community in the West Bank, where she set up training programs for women to help them earn money and started a kindergarten program in Bedouin camps. She also assists refugees and asylum-seekers in her role with the Comboni Sisters in the Middle East.

In an online symposium last June called, “Women Religious on the Frontlines,” Sister Vacas said the women religious caring for people during the coronavirus pandemic are not superwomen but women with great faith, compassion, generosity and determination.

They are “very vulnerable women, sometimes exhausted, most of the time powerless because they are burdened with the brokenness of their people.” 

.The women’s awards were presented during a virtual ceremony at the State Department March 8, International Women’s Day. Seven women from Afghanistan, who were assassinated in 2020 while serving their communities, were awarded posthumously.

The women’s awards were presented during a virtual ceremony at the State Department March 8, International Women’s Day. Seven women from Afghanistan, who were assassinated in 2020 while serving their communities, were awarded posthumously.

 

It’s easy to think of these women as “mythical heroes or angels among us,” said first lady Jill Biden, speaking of all the honorees at the ceremony. “What else could explain such herculean acts of fortitude and fearlessness?”

“Your fight is our fight, and your courage calls us to come together again and again and again,” she said.

Among the other honorees were: Maria Kalesnikava, imprisoned in Belarus for fighting for the democratic movement after the country’s disputed election; Wang Yu, a Chinese human rights lawyer; Shohreh Bayat and Iranian woman who championed for women’s rights after being accused of violating her country’s strict Islamic dress code; Ana Rosario Contreras, a Venezuelan labor rights advocate; and Julienne Lusenge, a Congolese human rights activist.

 

 

 

MOTHERING SUNDAY- LET US REJOICE

 

Tomorrow is LAETARE SUNDAY, which is a day of celebration, within the austere period of Lent. This Sunday gets its name from the first few words of the traditional Latin entrance (Introit) for the Mass of the day. "Laetare Jerusalem" ("Rejoice, O Jerusalem")  from Isaiah 66:10.

Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her,
    all you who love her;
rejoice greatly with her,
    all you who mourn over her.
For you will nurse and be satisfied
    at her comforting breasts;
you will drink deeply
    and delight in her overflowing abundance.”

It is also known as Refreshment Sunday (because the fast is relaxed) , mid-Lent Sunday and Rose Sunday, either because the golden roses sent by Popes to Catholic sovereigns used to be blessed at this time, or because the use of rose-colored, rather than violet vestments, is permitted on this day. 

This Sunday is also known as Mothering Sunday, and the peoples of the British Isles celebrate it as Mother’s Day.

It was also traditionally, a day when children, mainly daughters, who had gone to work as domestic servants were given a day off to visit their mother and family.

On Mothering Sunday, Christians have historically visited their mother church—the church in which they received the sacrament of baptism.  Constance Adelaide Smith (d. 1938) revived its modern observance beginning in 1913 to honor Mother Church, mothers of earthly homes, and Mary, Mother of Jesus.

Constance was inspired by a newspaper article in 1913, on the plans of Anna Jarvis, an American woman from Philadelphia, who hoped to introduce Mother's Day in the USA.  In 1914, US President Woodrow Wilson made a proclamation establishing the second Sunday of May as the official date for the observance of a national day to celebrate mothers.

Charles W Bartlett (1920)

Constance instead linked this concept to the Mothering Sunday, traditionally observed in the Anglican liturgical calendar on the fourth Sunday of Lent according to her study of on medieval traditions  (the Mass in the Middle Ages, appearing in the lectionary in sources as old as the Murback Lectionary  from the 8th century.  These include several references to mothers and metaphors for mothers.

Whatever we call this day- it is indeed a day to rejoice, not only to "relax", but to be grateful for our mothers, most especially the Mother of our Church.

SCRUPLES

 

               Scruples

                                                          I heard that they are small stones

                                                          That irritate, get under your skin,

                                                          Rub between your foot’s nerves

                                                          And your shoe’s progress

                                                          Until inflammation throbs

                                                          And poisons the whole of you.

                                                          Worse yet, a callus could build,

                                                          Training you to keep walking halt,

                                                          While thinking it’s those who stride upright

                                                          Who walk strangely.

 

                                                          The crafty train themselves to speak

                                                          Right through a mouthful of scruples,

                                                          Demosthenes hiding the stones

                                                          While selecting words around them,

                                                          In spite

                                                          Of them.

 

                                                          All of us gather them,

                                                          Finger and worry them,

                                                          Barter them with one another.

                                                          (So precious they become!)

                                                          The currency of justification:

                                                           Curated pebbles called scruples.

 

                                                          One day

                                                          In a free order

                                                          Where records are not kept,

                                                          I will have just one stone:

                                                          Blank white,

                                                          Bearing no mark

                                                          Of any obligation:

                                                          Only my new name,

                                                          Not to be taken by another,

                                                          Given by the Nameless,

                                                          Who alone knows me.

                                                                                Rob Wilson, Oblate