This semester at Mount Angel Seminary, I am taking a Scripture course on the Prophets. In our introductory sessions, we discussed the similarities between theology and poetry. Both uses of language are stretching for an experience that is beyond all words and human expression. The same can be said about iconography, and this is well illustrated by this passage from The Meaning of Icons by Leonid Ouspensky and Vladimir Lossky that I read this weekend:
As we have said, Christianity is the revelation not only of the Word of God but also of the Image of God, in which His Likeness is revealed. This godlike image is the distinctive feature of the New Testament, being the visible witness of the deification of man. The ways of iconography, as means of expressing what regards the Deity, are here the same as the ways of theology. The task of both alike is to express that which cannot be expressed by human means, since such expression will always be imperfect and insufficient. There are no words, nor colours nor lines, which could represent the Kingdom of God as we represent and describe our world. Both theology and iconography are faced with a problem which is absolutely insoluble - to express by means belonging to the created world that which is infinitely above the creature. On this plane, there are no successes, for the subject itself is beyond comprehension and no matter how lofty in content and beautiful an icon may be it cannot be perfect, just as no word image can be perfect. In this sense both theology and iconography are always a failure. Precisely in this failure lies the value of both alike; for this value results from the fact that both theology and iconography reach the limit of human possibilities and prove insufficient (48-49).
Monday, February 6, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Holy Leisure
The following passage is from an article in the December 2011 issue of The American Benedictine Review. A previous essay written by Terrence Kardong was read by Michael Hochschild, a Paris sociologist. He was then interviewed about Kardong's essay for Erbe und Auftrag, a German monastic periodical. Toward the end of the interview Hochschild says:
Leisure is the guarantee for the dignity of a man who undertakes the monastic way. It is a costly pursuit, to discover oneself as a creative idea of God. It is a pledge of my religious disposition. This goes so far that if I maintain this life today, I would already be leading another life. I see clearly that my life amounts to more than my duties and plans, my life is more than the expectations of others and the promises of the world (453).
Leisure is the guarantee for the dignity of a man who undertakes the monastic way. It is a costly pursuit, to discover oneself as a creative idea of God. It is a pledge of my religious disposition. This goes so far that if I maintain this life today, I would already be leading another life. I see clearly that my life amounts to more than my duties and plans, my life is more than the expectations of others and the promises of the world (453).
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Praises of the Cross
Right now I am reading An Icon Painter's Notebook: The Bolshakoy Edition, which is translated and edited by Gregory Melnick. The original edition was published in Russia in 1903 and based on material from the seventeenth century. The first section of the notebook is an anthology of practical information for working iconographers, as well as devotional material. Much of the material in the anthology is anonymous.
The passages below are from a section of the anthology entitled "The Praises of the Cross." Below are a few of these praises:
The good wood annoys the devil.
The royal blossom blooms in the Church, the foundling found by God.
O most glorious Tree, the Cross of the Lord, you might appear small, but the expanse of the Cross and the expanse of the heavens are equal.
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| The crucifix behind the altar at Queen of Angels Monastery |
The good wood annoys the devil.
The royal blossom blooms in the Church, the foundling found by God.
O most glorious Tree, the Cross of the Lord, you might appear small, but the expanse of the Cross and the expanse of the heavens are equal.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Reading Servais Pinkaers
Last week I attended an M.A. thesis presentation by Federico Dundas at Mount Angel Seminary. His thesis is entitled "The New Law in Sevais Pinckaers' Theology." I was glad to see a seminary student focus his thesis on moral theology.
The new law is the gift of the Holy Spirit that enables us to live the teachings of Christ. Federico included this passage from Pinckaers on the handout that accompanied his presentation:
"Faith in Christ marks the starting point of the New Law within us. We have too frequently forgotten that faith in Christ is the mother of Christian morality; we have reduced faith to a few obligations concerning truths to be believed under the pain of sin, and have attenuated the lines that link faith to works."
For more about Federico's presenation, visit the seminary's journalism blog.
The new law is the gift of the Holy Spirit that enables us to live the teachings of Christ. Federico included this passage from Pinckaers on the handout that accompanied his presentation:
"Faith in Christ marks the starting point of the New Law within us. We have too frequently forgotten that faith in Christ is the mother of Christian morality; we have reduced faith to a few obligations concerning truths to be believed under the pain of sin, and have attenuated the lines that link faith to works."
For more about Federico's presenation, visit the seminary's journalism blog.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Wisdom of John XXIII
I have recently found or have been given several lists of maxims pertaining to Christian living. The first is from Pope John XXIII, a list of ten maxims that he wrote as a young man. The refrain "Only for today" reminds us that today is really all we have. Good Pope John:
1) Only for today, I will seek to live the lifelong day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.
2) Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance: I will dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous in my behavior; I will not criticize anyone: I will not claim to improve or discipline anyone except myself.
3) Only for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world but also in this one.
4) Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.
5) Only for today, I will devote 10 minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.
6) Only for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.
7) Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure no one notices.
8) Only for today, I will make a plan for myself: I may not follow it to the letter, but I will make it. And I will be on guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision.
9) Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in the world.
10) Only for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness. Indeed, for 12 hours I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.
To conclude: here is an all-embracing resolution: "I want to be kind today and always, to everyone."
1) Only for today, I will seek to live the lifelong day positively without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.
2) Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance: I will dress modestly; I will not raise my voice; I will be courteous in my behavior; I will not criticize anyone: I will not claim to improve or discipline anyone except myself.
3) Only for today, I will be happy in the certainty that I was created to be happy, not only in the other world but also in this one.
4) Only for today, I will adapt to circumstances, without requiring all circumstances to be adapted to my own wishes.
5) Only for today, I will devote 10 minutes of my time to some good reading, remembering that just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.
6) Only for today, I will do one good deed and not tell anyone about it.
7) Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing; and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure no one notices.
8) Only for today, I will make a plan for myself: I may not follow it to the letter, but I will make it. And I will be on guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision.
9) Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good providence of God cares for me as no one else who exists in the world.
10) Only for today, I will have no fears. In particular, I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe in goodness. Indeed, for 12 hours I can certainly do what might cause me consternation were I to believe I had to do it all my life.
To conclude: here is an all-embracing resolution: "I want to be kind today and always, to everyone."
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The Silence of Saint Serafim of Sarov
Through the grace of God, Saint Serafim was able to see the truth of the lives of the people around him. His lack of words in solitude led him to greater understanding. This part of the Flame in the Snow is also quoted in the introduction by Donald Nicholl:
In communicating through speech, words are our instrument: an instrument, potentially, of great precision. Entering deeper into the realm of silence, Serafim completely stemmed the flow of words within him. Not only the flow of spoken words; even the flow of words that well up in the mind. He joined the host which supplicates, lauds, and blesses without words.
His mute exchange of friendliness with the beasts raised their mutual understanding to a new rung of perfection. His prayer ceased to be a logical sequence of words. The name of Jesus, the essence of constant prayer, ceased to be a word; it became the direction of his soul in its flight Godward; the tone of his soaring soul.
The tone was Jesus. And the direction was Jesus. Tone and direction blended. The velocity, received from the initial impetus, heightened. When it reached the limits of the notion of speech, he entered a realm more perfectly still than any other. In this realm, his mind was trained to hear the primordial word.
When the ebb set in, and human life was once more spread out before his mind's eye as a concrete network of ordinary facts, the fabric of particular human lives appeared before him with its particular design; the pattern that every one of these lives should follow was obvious to him. Men's mistakes - intentional and unintentional, in the present, past, and future - stood out as clearly discernible blotches and tangles. They disfigured the particular pattern of divine purpose (xii).
In communicating through speech, words are our instrument: an instrument, potentially, of great precision. Entering deeper into the realm of silence, Serafim completely stemmed the flow of words within him. Not only the flow of spoken words; even the flow of words that well up in the mind. He joined the host which supplicates, lauds, and blesses without words.
His mute exchange of friendliness with the beasts raised their mutual understanding to a new rung of perfection. His prayer ceased to be a logical sequence of words. The name of Jesus, the essence of constant prayer, ceased to be a word; it became the direction of his soul in its flight Godward; the tone of his soaring soul.
The tone was Jesus. And the direction was Jesus. Tone and direction blended. The velocity, received from the initial impetus, heightened. When it reached the limits of the notion of speech, he entered a realm more perfectly still than any other. In this realm, his mind was trained to hear the primordial word.
When the ebb set in, and human life was once more spread out before his mind's eye as a concrete network of ordinary facts, the fabric of particular human lives appeared before him with its particular design; the pattern that every one of these lives should follow was obvious to him. Men's mistakes - intentional and unintentional, in the present, past, and future - stood out as clearly discernible blotches and tangles. They disfigured the particular pattern of divine purpose (xii).
Monday, January 16, 2012
Saint Serafim of Sarov - East and West
St. Serafim of Sarov is a great Russian saint known for his healing and peace. While he is invoked for many kinds of individual healing, we can also pray to him for healing of the larger divisions and strife in the world and within Christianity.
In his introduction to Flame in the Snow: A Life of St. Serafim of Sarov by Julia de Beausobre, Donald Nicholl uses some of the thoughts of Thomas Merton. Thomas Merton also loved St. Serafim, and Nicholl's uses the following words that Merton wrote in Confessions of a Guilty Bystander:
The sphere in which the need for such healing is most obvious, and where the touch of Serafim can be vital, was highlighted by Thomas Merton, who was deeply devoted to Serafim, when he wrote, "If I can unite in myself the thought and devotion of Eastern and Western Christendom, the Greek and Latin Fathers, the Russians with the Spanish mystics, I can prepare in myself the reunion of divided Christians (xiii).
In his introduction to Flame in the Snow: A Life of St. Serafim of Sarov by Julia de Beausobre, Donald Nicholl uses some of the thoughts of Thomas Merton. Thomas Merton also loved St. Serafim, and Nicholl's uses the following words that Merton wrote in Confessions of a Guilty Bystander:
The sphere in which the need for such healing is most obvious, and where the touch of Serafim can be vital, was highlighted by Thomas Merton, who was deeply devoted to Serafim, when he wrote, "If I can unite in myself the thought and devotion of Eastern and Western Christendom, the Greek and Latin Fathers, the Russians with the Spanish mystics, I can prepare in myself the reunion of divided Christians (xiii).
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