MYSTERY FLOWER

Spikenard

People are asking what is this flower on the Holy Father's Coat of Arms, called nardo?  There seems to even be confusion as to which plant it actually is. Perhaps as time goes by someone will get it sorted out for us!

Supposedly it is true spikenard and  the Italian name for spikenard (Nardostachys jatamansi) also called nard, is nardo. It is a flowering plant of the Valerian family that grows in the Himalayas of Nepal, China, and India. It is used in the manufacture of an intensely aromatic amber-colored essential oil. The oil has, since ancient times, been used as a perfume, as a medicine and in religious contexts, particularly in connection with historical Judaism.

The Scriptures contain several references to spikenard:
In the Old Testament we have in the Song of Songs:

While the king was at his table, my spikenard sent, its fragrance. (1:12)

Song of Songs- Marc Chagall

You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain. Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, with henna and nard...
Nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices. (4:12-14)

In the New Testament we have the story we had on the Monday in Holy Week where Mary, sister of Lazarus, uses a pound of pure nard to anoint Jesus's feet. Judas Iscariot, the keeper of the money-bag, asked why the ointment was not sold for three hundred denarii instead.

St. Joseph, patron of Families

In the Hispanic iconographic tradition of the Catholic Church, the spikenard is used to represent Saint Joseph, which is why Pope Francis includes the spikenard on his coat of arms.
.
St. Joseph always seems to be associated with lilies in a variety of different ways so what is it about spikenard?

It would really help to know a Spanish iconographer, but there is one solitary hint that there may actually be something to connecting St. Joseph to nard. In a book of Spanish poetry, A Woman in Her Garden: Selected Poems, by Cuban, Dulce Maria Loynaz, is found this verse:

"Planted in your spell-bound earth, dry twigs turn to spikenard, white flower of Saint Joseph, the wedding flower."

There actually is a flower called nardo (Polianthes tuberosa, our tuberose). Nardo or Vara de San Jose (Staff of St. Joseph) is its common name in Spanish. It is originally from Mexico. Some statues or pictures of St. Joseph depict him with a staff with a flower on top. Most of the time the ones toward the bottom are in bloom and those at the top are closed.

In my Consecration crown I had this flower and everything around me smelled heavenly throughout my ceremony. When I made perfumes at the Abbey, this scent was often used in my formulae.

Tuberose or nardo

Nardo is a night blooming plant and is fragrant. It is about 18 inches long that produce waxy white flowers that bloom from the bottom towards the top. What is interesting in the Pope's Coat of Arms is that the nardo is represented before the flower is in full bloom. So what we see are clusters of unopened flowers because that is how it looks during the day since it blooms at night.


We associate St. Joseph with a Lily because what we are familiar with is the flower in bloom and we call it a Lily. That's not necessarily wrong because nardo is from the Lily family.

Retable

Since the flower is white it is a symbol of purity. The Fathers of the Church use nardo as a symbol of humility. Purity and Humility are of course virtues that we find in St. Joseph. And the staff is a symbol of  his authority, since he was given authority as Foster father of Jesus.

POPE FRANCIS' COAT of ARMS

Episcopal and papal coats of arms have a long history in the Church, dating back to the Middle Ages. From the Vatican’s website:

        There is an at least 800-year-old tradition for Popes to have their own personal coat of arms, in addition to  the symbols proper to the Apostolic See. Particularly during the Renaissance and the centuries that followed, it was customary to mark with the arms of the reigning Supreme Pontiff all his principal works. Indeed, Papal coats of arms appear on buildings and in various publications, decrees and documents.

Popes often used their family shield or composed their own with symbols indicating their ideal of life or referring to past events or experiences, or even elements connected with specific Pontifical programs. At times, they even added a variant to a shield that they had adopted on becoming a Bishop.

In his spirit of poverty and humility, our Holy Father Pope Francis has chosen to use the coat of arms which he used as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, with the addition of the papal symbols of a bishops' miter and gold and silver-crossed keys.

The shield has a bright blue background, at the center top of which is a yellow radiant sun with the IHS Christogram on it representing Jesus (IHS are the first three letters in Greek for the name of Jesus and also the Jesuit logo).

The IHS monogram, as well as a cross that pierces the H, are in red with three black nails directly under them. Under that, to the left, is a gold star representing the Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ and the Church. To the right of the star is a nard flower ( following blog on this) representing St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church. With these symbols the Pope demonstrates his love for the Holy Family. 

Below the seal is Pope Francis’s motto, the same motto he chose as a bishop: “Miserando atque eligendo.” Meaning “lowly but chosen,” the motto is translated from Latin as “because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him” and references the story of Jesus choosing the tax collector, Matthew, as one of his apostles.

St. Bede the Venerable  first used this motto in his homily about the calling of St. Matthew by Jesus, focusing on divine mercy. Jesus saw the tax collector, Matthew, sitting at a customs post and said to him, “Follow me.” St. Bede explained, “Jesus saw Matthew, not merely in the usual sense, but more significantly with his merciful understanding of men.”

Jesus calls Matthew

This homily has taken on special significance in the Pope's life and spiritual journey. It was on the Feast of St. Matthew in 1953 that a young, seventeen-year-old Jorge Bergoglio was touched by the mercy of God and felt the call to religious life in the footsteps of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.

 He is now known as the humble pontiff with a practical approach to poverty. His coat of arms shows us this in its "reuse", simplicity and in his love for the Holy Family as well as dedication to all families!.

A CHURCH WATCHED

New Pope Francis

What is it about the election of a new Pope that has the world watching?  No other spiritual leader garners such attention. While Catholics seem to be reviled, criticized, and sometimes made fun of, the world, nevertheless, seems spellbound by the Church.

The smoke was white!  As we watched, waiting, for the announcement of our new Pope, I gazed in awe at the TV in front of us, wondering how many thousands had managed to crowd into the square at St. Peter's, and how many, like my Community, were glued to their TVs. Every major TV network around the world was plugged into this event and when the Pope was announced the commentator had information on the man and his background already at hand. 

When we later watched the Installation of the Holy Father and His first Mass, I was awe struck by how many different languages came into play.  Interest in the papal election extends beyond the confines of the Catholic Church in the weeks leading to the conclave. For many people of faith who are not Catholic, the transition from Pope Benedict to a new leader is worth watching because many times what the leader of the Catholic Church says affects all Christians.

The direction the new pope takes his flock is of great importance for committed Catholics, but the papacy is also closely watched by other faiths. The pope wields vast influence as the world's most powerful moral leader.  A few weeks after the installation of the Holy Father, "our" Mormons were here for their annual work on the land with us.  Their bishop commented on how we share so much in terms of morality and ideals.

The leadership and voice of the Catholic Church in the person of the pope on issues of peace and economic justice is very important. For the Christian church as a whole, Catholic social teaching is one of the most coherent bodies of  thought on the role of the church in the world," said Duane Shank, an Anabaptist who is senior policy adviser at Sojourners, a Washington-based Christian organization committed to faith in action for social justice.

The Catholic Church "is an unbroken link to the first-century Roman church for all Christians, no matter our denomination. ... No matter if we are Eastern or Western Christians, no matter how Protestant or Anabaptist some of us are, the church of Rome is still in some way our mother church...People are very hopeful about the future at these times of transitions", said Shank"

People are hopeful that Pope Francis will not only build on the legacy of Pope Benedict, of peace building around the world, but that certain divisions can be bridged between people of different races and religions, something certainly needed not only in other nations but especially our own. 






The Rev. Miguel De La Torre, a Southern Baptist minister and professor of social ethics at Iliff School of  Theology in Denver, watched events unfold after Pope Benedict's resignation from the perspective of a Cuban-American who was raised Catholic. He said the words of a pope are watched worldwide and influences the actions of bishops and priests as well.

"When you speak in the name of an entire people, the universal church, what you say has deep political ramifications that could either help people of all faiths or become a burden to people of all faiths," said Rev. De La Torre.

The first days of Pope Francis have given us tantalizing tidbits of anecdotes that whet our appetite for more. He took the bus back to the hotel with his fellow cardinals rather than going in an available limousine. He packed his own bags and paid his own hotel bill. We know of the stories of his refusal to live in the bishops' residence in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as cardinal, and how he cooked his own meals and used public transportation. For the present he has chosen to live in simplicity rather than in the papal apartments. The very choice of Francis for the papal name illustrates a devotion to the poor and social justice. These are actions the world finds appealing. He is also a man of deep prayer, which we contemplatives find even more appealing.

FAITH AND MERCY

S. Watanabe

S. Watanabe

This Sunday's Gospel gives us the wonderful story of  our doubting Thomas. St. Thomas is best known for his role in verifying the Resurrection of his Master. But before this we have other encounters with him. St. Thomas was a dedicated but impetuous follower of Christ. Thomas speaks in the Gospel of  John (11:16) when Lazarus has just died. The apostles do not want to go back to Judea, where the Pharisees had attempted to stone him to death. Thomas says: "Let us also go, that we may die with him."

 At the Last Supper, when Christ told His Apostles that He was going to prepare a place for them to which they also might come because they knew both the place and the way, Thomas pleaded that they did not understand and received the beautiful assurance that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

His unwillingness to believe that the other Apostles had seen their risen Lord on the first Easter Sunday merited for him the title of "doubting Thomas." Eight days later, on Christ's second apparition, St. Thomas was gently rebuked for his scepticism and furnished with the evidence he had demanded - putting his fingers in the place of the nails and his hand into His side. At this, St. Thomas became convinced of the truth of the Resurrection and exclaimed: "My Lord and My God," thus making a public Profession of Faith in the Divinity of Jesus. He utters the greatest confession of faith recorded anywhere in the New Testament.

Hanna Varghese- Malaysia

In the end his doubt, his desire to know Jesus for himself, was what brought him faith. And that faith gave him the strength to bring that message to so many others. Tradition says that after Pentecost  St. Thomas was sent to evangelize the Parthians, Medes, and Persians, ultimately reaching India.








                                       ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

On this day we also celebrate DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY, one of the Church's newest feasts instituted by St. Pope John Paul in 2000. The Octave Day of Easter is truly meant to be, as Pope John Paul II once said, a day of “thanksgiving for the goodness God has shown to man in the whole Easter mystery” .

It recovers an ancient liturgical tradition, reflected in a teaching attributed to St. Augustine about the Easter Octave, which he called “the days of mercy and pardon,” and the Octave Day itself  “the compendium of the days of mercy.”

(Jesus I trust in You)

As Jesus said to St. Faustina, on this special day of the Church’s liturgical year, “the very depths of my tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon these souls who approach the fount of My Mercy”. 

APPEARANCES

Maurice Denis- Holy Women at the Tomb

In today's gospel, Jesus meets Mary Magdalen and "the other Mary" and tells them not to be afraid.


Tomorrow we have that poignant (and one of our favorites) Gospel of  Jesus meeting Mary Magdalen in the garden- always so mind boggling that she did not recognize Him!
Was it because of her tears?

MM with Jesus- S. Watanabe

Rabbouni- Silvia Dimitrova

Road to Emmaus- Dr. He Qi

Wednesday is the story of the two travelers on the road to Emmaus.
"We are never told who the travelers to Emmaus were, but it is worth looking to their example and asking for a heart ready to respond to the Lord, in whatever form He chooses to come. We pray to see Him, not to pass Him by." Sister Wendy Beckett

Road to Emmaus- S. Watanabe

Road to Emmaus-Watanabe

Woodcut- Road to Emmaus

Thursday Jesus appears to the disciples, telling them again not to be afraid, then eats with them- He who no longer needed nourishment for His body.

Dr. He Qi

On Friday He appears to them as they are fishing and tells them where to throw their nets and after a great catch, again eats with them.

Early Christian Eucharistic practice often included the eating of fish (symbol of Christ himself -IXTHYS). The Resurrection has imploded into the busy world of the disciples (the contrast of the chaotic world on the sea and the calmness of the Christ figure) as the  restorative symbol of eating with the Risen master.

(love the birds in this painting!)

One of our favorite authors when we were in Novitiate was Caryll Houselander (wonderful British mystic, author and artist -d.1954). She sums up for us this week in words more profound than anything I can write:

"Without being under any necessity to do so in His glorified body, Christ did ordinary things.  He walked and talked and ate with men, built a little fire, and cooked for them, comforted them, and renewed their faith, but not by compelling them to be shocked into faith - even by the shock of joy - but by approaching each one individually through the individual's own mentality and temperament.

He used the same means as before - words, kindness, going on a journey, setting His pace to the pace of the others, accepting their invitations, preparing food for them with His own hands, and that most wonderful and simplest way of all, the breaking of bread, the giving of Himself sacramentally.

He was showing men how they were to go on living His Risen Life all through time. They were to give Him to one another, and as simply as He gave Himself, through words and kindness, through their work and friendship, through learning one another's mind and heart and approaching each one separately, through accepting and leavening the sorrow of the world by the interchange of their Christ-love.  Above all, by sacramental Communion with Him, in which they are made one."

MIRACLES (HE IS RISEN, ALLELUIA)

Women at the Tomb

He is Risen

It amazes me that many of the images for this wondrous mystery of our Faith, show the women at the tomb. It is almost always the women who get the Gospel straight away in the Scriptures - the men are so much slower.

 We know that Mary Magdalene was the first Jesus appeared to after His Resurrection. We know that while the men, dumbfounded and probably shaking in their sandals were somewhere hidden, the women were out and heading to the tomb with spices. It was to them that the miraculous news was given. These women were intrusted with the most important message of all time, yet taking it back to the men, they were met with unbelief.

Women arriving at the Tomb

The Empty Tomb

St. Augustine believed that it was appropriate that, considering the story of Eve in Eden, the first report of the empty tomb and later Mary's report of actually "seeing" the risen Lord should be done by women. He saw a paradox in the two events. In Eden, Eve repeating the lies of the devil that the "apple" would not be harmful was believed while the holy women who were telling the truth about the empty grave were not believed.

He wrote:  A lying woman was believed, and so we all died; the disciples did not believe women telling the truth so that we might live. It was the doing of the Lord Jesus Christ, that it should be the female sex which would be the first to report that he had risen again. Because mankind fell through the female sex, mankind was restored through the female sex. A virgin gave birth to Christ, a woman (Mary Magdalene) proclaimed that he had risen again. Through a woman death, through a woman life. Mary Magdalene is the only woman disciple, for whom we have a complete story.   Her story is a story of courage and change, redemption and witness.

The Risen Lord 

After the Resurrection

All images by Dr. He Qi.   He was among the many people sent to the countryside during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. As a young man, he escaped hard labor by painting pictures of chairman Mao Zedong. During those years, he once found a copy of Renaissance artist Raphael's Madonna and Child in a magazine, and was so moved by it, that he began to paint copies of it at night.

He Qi earned a doctorate in religious art from Nanjing Art Institute, having studied medieval art in Hamburg, Germany. He was a professor of Christian Art at Nanjing Theological Seminary before moving to St. Paul, Minnesota in 2004.

NIGHT

Michael O Brien

It is the tomb.
It is the day of grieving and being still, quiet for it...or mindful of it and trying to find that still silent spot inside; This is the day when the tabernacles, across the world, are barren.
And the emptiness is visceral....

    "There is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The earth trembles and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and He has come to raise all who have slept ever since the world began. He has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, He who is both God and the son of Eve. He cries out to them: `Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise'".         (Office of Readings for Holy Saturday)
            

Eric Gill - England