PATRON OF ADDICTIONS

 

It seems there is a saint for every ill in our society and one who is called the patron of alcoholics will next year in Ireland celebrate the 100 anniversary of his death.

VENERABLE MATT TALBOT was born in 1856 in Dublin, Ireland into a poor working-class family. He was the second of 12 children, nine of whom survived beyond infancy.  He grew up surrounded by poverty and alcohol abuse during Ireland’s Great Famine.

He left school when still a  child and began working for a wine seller. It was there that he began drinking excessively, becoming an alcoholic at the age of about 13.

 His life spiraled and revolved around his next drink. He was often found in the bar, fighting, cursing, swearing, stealing, anything for a drink.

One incident that caused him shame for the rest of his life, was during his days on the drink he stole the fiddle of a street musician. He sold the instrument and used the money to buy the drink. After achieving sobriety, Matt tried to find the man from whom he stole the fiddle to pay him for the instrument. Unsuccessful in locating the victim of this theft, Matt donated the money to have a Mass said for the fiddler.

 After hitting rock bottom, Matt went to his mother, who had prayed unceasingly for her son’s conversion. He told his mother that he was going to take a pledge to stop drinking. She told him not to take it if he was not going to keep it.  He responded. "I will keep it by the grace of God”. He then went to Confession, making the pledge, and the next day received the Eucharist. He never drank again for the rest of his life. 

He was guided for most of his life by Michael Hickey, Professor of Philosophy in Clonliffe College. Under the professor's guidance, Mattt's reading became wider, studing Scripture and the lives of the saints. 

 After his conversion, Matt tried his best to make amends to the people he had hurt during his fifteen years as an active alcoholic. He paid back money to those he had borrowed or stolen from.

Matt never married but cared for his widowed mother until her death. He became a secular Franciscan, frequented the sacraments, and prayed the Rosary and the Stations of the Cross. He worked hard at his jobs to earn money to give to needy friends and neighbors and to charitable institutions and the missions. He lived simply, patterning himself on early Irish monks. He even became a mystic and practiced harsh penances.

 After 1923, Matt’s health began to fail and on Trinity Sunday, 1925, in the midst of a heat wave, he collapsed on his way to the 10:30 am Mass at the Dominican church in Dublin. It was only after his death, when penitential chains were discovered on his body, that attention was drawn to his life journey. The archdiocese opened an inquiry into Matt's holiness in 1931, and he was declared Venerable in 1975 by Pope (St.) Paul VI.

He never forgot his struggle though. He once said to his sister, “Never think harshly of a person because of the drink. It is easier to get out of hell then it is to give up the drink.” He then continued, “For me, it was only possible with the help of God and our Blessed Mother”.

Even after 100 years, Venerable Matt Talbot’s life continues to inspire those who battle addictions, showing the possibility of recovery, redemption, and the capacity to change, regardless of past mistakes.

 

Art:

Top: Terry Nelson

Middle: Noreen Flynn. Cathedral of SS Peter & Paul, Ennis, Ireland

Bottom: Terry Nelson- 2019

THE LIGHT IS EVERYTHING

 

 

Every year
the lilies
are so perfect
I can hardly believe

their lapped light crowding
the black,
mid-summer ponds.
Nobody could count all of them—

the muskrats swimming
among the pads and the grasses
can reach out
their muscular arms and touch

only so many, they are that
rife and wild.
But what in this world
is perfect?

I bend closer and see
how this one is clearly lopsided—
and that one wears an orange blight—
and this one is a glossy cheek

half nibbled away—
and that one is a slumped purse
full of its own
unstoppable decay.

Still, what I want in my life
is to be willing
to be dazzled—
to cast aside the weight of facts

and maybe even
to float a little
above this difficult world.
I want to believe I am looking

into the white fire of a great mystery.
I want to believe that the imperfections are nothing—
that the light is everything—that it is more than the sum
of each flawed blossom rising and fading. And I do.

                            Mary Oliver (d.  2019)

Illustration from 1868 edition of Canadian Wild Flowers by Catharine Parr Traill:

CATHOLICS AND THE EUCHARIST

 

As the Catholic Church in the U.S. is embarking on a National Eucharistic Revival in an effort to foster a greater understanding and appreciation that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist Congress (the first in 83 years) in Indianapolis from July 17–21, there is good news. Perhaps the Holy Spirit at work?

A new study has found that 69% of Mass-going Catholics believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.  In 2019 Pew Research Center  did a survey which found that only a third of Catholics believe in the true Presence. A most shocking result but the Catholic firm, Vinea Research, conducted a new survey in late 2022, using language different from Pew’s, produced a figure that more accurately represents how Catholics understand the Eucharist.

Of Catholics who “seldom” attend Mass, only 51% expressed belief in the Real Presence. 81% of Catholics who attend weekly and 92% who attend more than weekly said they believe. Even among Catholics who only attend a few times a year, nearly two-thirds said they believe in the Real Presence.(If they truly believe why do they not receive more often? I ued to tell  the teens, if someone offered you $1,000 every Sunday, you would be there is a flash.  So why not your God?)

Universal prayer for the Eucharistic Revival:

Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Thank You for Your great love for us. Help us to know, love and serve You above all other things. Fill our hearts and minds with a deep knowledge and love of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

Art: Kallan Stout St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church, Lake Charles, Louisianna

Acknowledging how so many people doubt or fail to recognize the True Presence in the Eucharist, Kallan said she wanted this piece of art to illustrate the work of His Presence beyond the bread. 

“Endless graces are waiting for us in each Mass and each visit to Adoration. What a gift we have in the Eucharist!” 

A CONDUCTOR'S FIGHT FOR HER COUNTRY

A Ukrainian female conductor that I discovered when doing the previous Blog on Illia Ovcharenko  (Photo to left) is OKSANA YAROSLAVIVNA LYNIV. Known for her exceptional combination of precision and artistic temperament in conducting, Oksana is a prominent figure on the international stage and ranks among the leading conductors of this generation.

Even a few years ago, female conductors were rare, but recently, more and more successful female conductors are emerging in the international stage and Oksana is nurturing female assistant conductors to support female conductors.

 The first Ukrainian conductor to step onto the Metropolitan Opera stage in 141 years, Oksana is working hard to make the plight of her country kown to the world, especially the importance of US aid to her homeland.

She was born in 1978 in Brody. She is the daughter of two musicians and the granddaughter of a choral conductor. Her father is also a choral conductor.

In her youth, she studied piano, flute, violin and singing. From 1992 to 1996, she studied flute and conducting at the Stanislav Liudkevych Music School in Lviv. She first conducted an orchestra at age 16, which aroused her interest in conducting.

 From 1996 to 2003, she was a conducting student at the Lysenko music academy in Lviv, and during her studies, Oksana became an assistant conductor at Lviv Opera to Myron Yusypovych. She founded the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine in 2016. She became principal guest conductor of the Leopolis Chamber Symphony Orchestra in 2003.

She conducted the 2021  opening of the Bayreuth Festival, a new production of Der fliegende Holländer, as the first female conductor at the festival.  Oksana has been the Music Director of Teatro Comunale di Bologna since 2022, making her the first female chief conductor of an Italian opera house.

She has been very vocal on the effects of the crises in her country. “War injures everyone and every day a state of moral and physical exhaustion also breeds a feeling of powerlessness, aggression and anger. It is very important for all of us, in Ukraine and abroad, to be able to gather, consolidate all efforts to fight the enemy and communicate with the world about Ukraine as a state.” 

She has shared the horrifying situation which members of the Ukraine Youth Orchestra she founded face. Some of their family members have died and some face daily danger from the war. Under these circumstances, she couldn’t help but alter her perspective on music.

“Friends died, buildings crumbled, and, experiencing death every day, I wanted to stop it. I couldn't understand how people could try to eliminate each other, how one country could bomb another. It became a personal issue for me. Now, music is no longer abstract. It has become directly relevant to me," she said, adding that when she performs Verdi's "Requiem" now, it's not just because it's a famous masterpiece. "It makes me naturally think of the victims.”

“Art is not just mere entertainment. It is a process of asking questions and seeking answers to understand what is happening in the world, and it is an act of healing the soul,” she emphasized.

 In 2022, after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Oksana became a co-initiator of the cooperation project "Music for the Future," an evacuation music camp for young Ukrainian musicians in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Oksana Lyniv emerged as a dedicated cultural ambassador of her country. She passionately advocates for the performance of Ukrainian composers on international stages.

"One of the God's greatest gifts to people is the gift of choice. And it is this question of choice that is relevant to me every day. Every evening I ask myself what I lived today for? The most important thing for me is to be a co-creator of my life, the life of our (and my) country and so that of our entire civilization."

PAINTING FLOWERS - FOR THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER

 

“I know I can’t paint a flower.
I cannot paint the sun on a bright summer morning,
but maybe in terms of paint color
I can convey to you my experience of the flower
or the experience that makes the flower significant to me.”

Georgia O'Keeffe, 1930

A HEART OF GOLD

We are already looking forward to our annual Orcas Chamber music Festival.  The new program is filled with new musicians- for us anyway.  One of interest for this Blogger, as I have been of late focusing on Ukrainian artists, is the young pianist ILLIA OVCHARENKO.

“I used to always be nervous right before I stepped on stage. Now I think of my family and friends who remained in Ukraine. Having to live with the knowledge that a bomb could drop at any moment puts the term ‘stress’ into perspective…”

He, like other Ukrainian musicians living and working outside the homeland, try to showcase the music of their country, which is not well known in the Western world.

The year his country was attacked by Russia, was also the year of his musical break- thru. At the age of 21, he had already won numerous piano competitions, but then won the prestigious Honens International Competition  in Calgary, Canada, whicht seeks to identify the “Complete Artist” ie. someone who demonstrates technical mastery, perseverance against adversity, and an understanding of musical text that is both intellectual and emotional. Soon after he made his debut at Carnegie Hall.

“Of course, all of it has been life-changing, and I truly believe the tragedy and the successes are inextricably linked”, he has said.

In an interview in Brussels (La Monnaie Symphony) he said: Everything I have achieved in the past few months, I dedicate to my friends and my family members who are still in Ukraine. In the beginning, right after the war broke out, it was just too difficult getting back out on stage again. But when you feel how your family back home supports you – even in this situation – and how proud they are of what you’re doing, then you can't help but draw strength and inspiration from that….  concert and interview requests are hard to keep up with, but they allow me to tell my story and talk about my culture."  He mentions Valentyn Silvestrov (see Blog June 8). 

"Without these tragic events, these artists might never get the attention they absolutely deserve. By playing them, I want to promote the Ukrainian repertoire."

lIlia Ovcharenko was born in 2001 in Chernihiv, a historic city in northern Ukraine that was under siege by the Russian army from 24 February to 4 April 2022. Neither of his parents are musical, both being teachers.  

Illia started playing piano at the age of 8 and by the time he was 12 he had been invited to study at the most famous music school in Ukraine – Kiev Special Music Secondary school.

.At the age of 9, he won his first competition and at 10 he gave a solo recital in the Philharmonic center of Ukraine, performing Mozart piano concerto No.23.

 Illia graduated from Mykola Lysenko Secondary Special Music school in 2018. He is now studying for his master's degree at the Hanover  (Germany) University of Music, Drama and Media after completing his bachelor's degree at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv under the direction of Arie Vardi.

“…technically flawless and impeccably musical…” — International Piano

Photo: Illia and Jackie Kimora Parker (Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival Artistic Adviser) last summer at Toronto Summer Music Festival

SUMMER

 

                                        In  Praise  of  Summer   

God speaks:

“I am the breeze that nurtures all things green

I am the rain coming from the dew

that causes the grasses to laugh with joy of life.

I am the yearning for good.”  

                                                St. Hildegard