Friday, 29 August 2014

St John Co-Cathedral Valletta Malta

the-decapitation-of-saint-john-the-baptist-1607
Martyrdom of John the Baptist
Friday, August 29, 2014
| Feast Day: Friday, August 29, 2014
Salome with the Head of John the Baptist, Caravaggio (London)
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCMzfpLl_GE
Uploaded on 10 Mar 2009
St.John Co-Cathedral Valletta Malta



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The Pope and Caravaggio, 
Eddie Lalor. Africa  St Patrick's Missions,May 2014
http://americamagazine.org/pope-interview 

Who Is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?

I have the first question ready, but then I decide not to follow the script that I had prepared for myself, and I ask him point-blank: “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” The pope stares at me in silence. I ask him if this is a question that I am allowed to ask.... He nods that it is, and he tells me: “I do not know what might be the most fitting description.... I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.”
The pope continues to reflect and concentrate, as if he did not expect this question, as if he were forced to reflect further. “Yes, perhaps I can say that I am a bit astute, that I can adapt to circumstances, but it is also true that I am a bit naïve. Yes, but the best summary, the one that comes more from the inside and I feel most true is this: I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon.” And he repeats: “I ​​am one who is looked upon by the Lord. I always felt my motto,Miserando atque Eligendo [By Having Mercy and by Choosing Him], was very true for me.”
The motto is taken from the Homilies of Bede the Venerable,who writes in his comments on the Gospel story of the calling of Matthew: “Jesus saw a publican, and since he looked at him with feelings of love and chose him, he said to him, ‘Follow me.’” The pope adds: “I think the Latin gerund miserando is impossible to translate in both Italian and Spanish. I like to translate it with another gerund that does not exist: misericordiando [“mercy-ing”].
Pope Francis continues his reflection and tells me, in a change of topic that I do not immediately understand: “I do not know Rome well. I know a few things. These include the Basilica of St. Mary Major; I always used to go there.” I laugh and I tell him, “We all understood that very well, Holy Father!” “Right, yes”—the pope continues – “I know St. Mary Major, St. Peter’s...but when I had to come to Rome, I always stayed in [the neighborhood of] Via della Scrofa. From there I often visited the Church of St. Louis of France, and I went there to contemplate the painting of ‘The Calling of St. Matthew’ by Caravaggio.” I begin to intuit what the pope wants to tell me.
 “That finger of Jesus, pointing at Matthew. That’s me. I feel like him. Like Matthew.” Here the pope becomes determined, as if he had finally found the image he was looking for: “It is the gesture of Matthew that strikes me: he holds on to his money as if to say, ‘No, not me! No, this money is mine.’ Here, this is me, a sinner on whom the Lord has turned his gaze. And this is what I said when they asked me if I would accept my election as pontiff.” Then the pope whispers in Latin: “I am a sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I accept in a spirit of penance.”

... Why Live with art: The Calling of St Matthew, Caravaggiovivreaveclart.blogspot.com640 × 613Search by image... Matthew for the same church, The Martyrdom of St Matthew and The Inspiration of Saint Matthew. The scene is an episode of the New Testament: Matthew was ... 


The Calling of St Matthew, Caravaggio

There's a huge debate about Caravaggio going on these days.
I won't go into the details of this matter because I simply don't have the authority nor the competence to discuss about it, but I'm carefully following every step of this affair.
And since there's this interesting discussion going on, what a better time to do a closer examination on this artist?

The work I choose for today's post is The Calling of St Matthew, made by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio in 1600 for the Roman church of San Luigi dei Francesi. Caravaggio made two other paintings of Matthew for the same church, The Martyrdom of St Matthew and The Inspiration of Saint Matthew.


The scene is an episode of the New Testament: Matthew was a tax collector, and while he was sitting in the custom house Jesus told him "Follow me" and so he did. Matthew's job is suggested by the presence of some coins on the table.


The light enters from a point we can't see, on the right high angle, and it strikes Jesus' face, his hand and the men sitting at the table. In this way, it establish a direct bond between Jesus and Matthew.

 

Jesus is pointing right at Matthew with a gesture that has probably been inspired by the scene of the creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo.


The experts are still debating over Matthew's identity, as some believe that he's the bearded man, pointing at himself, while some others propose that he may be the younger man counting the coins (according to this interpretation, the bearded man would be pointing at him).


The painting is also useful to show how the artist worked. Every character has a particular, carefully prepared, almost theatrical pose: in fact, Caravaggio used to create some sets in which every model posed alone, and only in the end he had the complete composition depicted on his canvas.


Some studies proved that Jesus' figure is entirely painted even if we can see only his head and arm, so we can assume that Caravaggio started his painting portraying the figures on the background, then added those on the first ground over the ones he previously painted.  
The Ca  

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BBC - Caravaggio (The Power Of Art)



Youtube
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCMzfpLl_GE 
Uploaded on 10 Mar 2009
St.John Co-Cathedral Valletta Malta



St.Johns Co-Cathedral - Floor plan map

12 - The Lady of Philermos

Blessed Sacrament



The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, also known as Our Lady of Philermos, is a much venerated chapel. The most important remaining work is the Renaissance Cross, dating from 1532. Tradition says the silver gates, which were a gift in 1752 from two knights, were painted black to resemble course iron when Napoleon was looting St John's.

This chapel was one of the most important chapels for the Knights as this is where the icon of the Madonna of Philermos was kept. This icon drew great devotion as it was believed to be miraculous and had been in the possession of the Order since the Knights were in Jerusalem. Before battle this were the Knights prayed and when victorious the key of the fortresses captured would be presented to the Virgin where they still hang to this day. Amongst them are the keys of the castles of Lepanto and Patras.
·         Baptism of Christ, 1700-1703, Valletta, main altar of St. John's Co-Cathedral.
Sicilian bronzaro Giovanni Giardini was also cleaned and re-gilded
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St John's Co-Cathedral
November 27, 2013 · Edited 
 The large marble statue of the Baptism of Christ by Giuseppe Mazzuoli
The High Altar and the Gloria underwent restoration in 2000 with the collaboration of the Metropolitan Cathedral Chapter, the Ministry of Education, the Italian Embassy, the Istituto Italiano di Cultura and St John’s Museum, under the direction of the Museums Department and the National Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta. Restorations were entrusted to Sante Guido.
The High Altar restoration consisted... 
The High Altar restoration consisted of the cleaning of the miniature angels, gilt bronze statuettes of vine leaves and corn ears as well as an extensive clean-up of the altar’s precious marble. The altar was designed and made in Rome by Gio Battista Contini and assembled locally in 1686. It is considered to be one of the most impressive and opulent altars of the Baroque era. The large marble statue of the Baptism of Christ by Giuseppe Mazzuoli was also cleaned from the accumulation of several layers of candle soot. The gilt bronze Gloria made by the Sicilian bronzaro Giovanni Giardini was also cleaned and re-gilded.
·         Official website of St John's Co-Cathedral
   http://www.stjohnscocathedral.com/  

Chapels[edit]  


A Cathedral's chapel
The Cathedral contains seven rich chapels, each of which was dedicated to the patron saint of the 8 langues (or sections) of the Knights. On the left side of the church there are the following chapels;   
1.     The Chapel of the Anglo-Bavarian Langue was formerly known as the Chapel of the Relic where the Knights used to keep relics that they have acquired through the centuries.
2.     The Chapel of Provence is dedicated to Saint Michael.
3.     The Chapel of France is dedicated to the Conversion of Saint Paul. This chapel was modified in the 19th century. The monuments found in this chapel are those of grandmasters Fra Adrien de Wignacourt and Fra Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc.
4.     The Chapel of Italy, dedicated to St Catherine, the patron saint of the Italian section.
5.     The Chapel of Germany is dedicated to the Epiphany of Christ. The titular paint is by Stefano Erardi, a Maltese painter.
6.     On the right side of the church there are the following chapels;
7.     The Chapel of Blessed Sacrament was formerly known as the Chapel of Our Lady of Fileremos (Rhodes). The titular painting of this chapel is Our Lady of Carafa which is a copy of Our Lady of Lanciano. Among the knight buried in this chapel there is Fra Gian Francesco Abela and Fra Flaminio Balbiano.
8.     The Chapel of Auvergne is dedicated to Saint Sebastian. The only monument in this chapel is that of Fra Annet de Clermont.
9.     The Chapel of Aragon is dedicated to St. George. The titular painting was painted by Mattia Preti and it is considered as one of his masterpieces. In this chapel one can find the monuments of the following grandmasters, Fra Martin de Redin, Fra Raphael Cotoner, Fra Nicolas Cotoner, Fra Ramon Perellos.
10.                        The Chapel of Castile, Leon, and Portugal dedicated to James the Greater. The monuments in this chapel are those of grandmasters Fra Antonio Manoel de Vilhena and Fra Manuel Pinto da Fonseca.


Other works of art[edit]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John%27s_Co-Cathedral
The Beheading of St John the Baptist by Caravaggio.
St John the Baptist’s Passion is celebrated on August 29.
http://theaxattheroot.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/the-passion-of-saint-john-baptist.html
he Ax: The Passion of Saint John the Baptist
theaxattheroot.blogspot.com800 × 448Search by image
File:Michelangelo-Caravaggio 021 Beheading-of-St-John-the-. Back in June we celebrated the nativity of St. John the Baptist, the only birth we observe on ...
Detail of the Beheading of John the Baptist painted by Caravaggio in 1608 
(Valletta, St. John's Cathedral).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beheading_of_Saint_John_the_Baptist_(Caravaggio)#mediaviewer/File:CaravaggioSalomeLondon.jpg    

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 FACEBOOK: Pictures and collage.
November 26, 1999 · Edited · 
https://www.facebook.com/stjohnscocathedral/photos/pb.319550871520402.-2207520000.1409302324./324698621005627/?type=3&theater
The painting of The Beheading of St John the Baptist - before and after restoration 
   
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Thursday, 28 August 2014

Community members Wednesday Chapter Talks 27/08/2014

Wednesday Chapter Talks
 27 Aug 2014 Fr. Raymond
          


Fr. Raymond - Nunraw Cloister 
VISION OF THE ORDER
The Phenomenon and significance of
PRECARIOUSNESS
I would like to attempt to look at the simple reality of the precariouness of the monastic life today in the light of the mystery of the Church as a whole. After all the Monastic Community is, as St Paul describes it, the Church at Nunraw, the Church at Roscrea, and the Church at Tautra or wherever.
We might start by recalling how the monastic community is said to be a powerhouse of prayer in the life of the Church. A beautiful and very meaningful metaphor that wasn't available to the Doctors and the Fathers of old. Again the monastic community has been compared to a Lighthouse, a beacon for the faithful, lighting up the true and safe harbour of life's voyage for each of them. No doubt you could all bring to mind many other beautiful images of the place of the monastic life in the life of the Church.
These images put us at the heart of the Church's life in way that sets us above the common faithful, if we dare use such an expression. They put us an a pedestal, they put us in the front line of the Christian warfare. They set us on the battlements of the Church's defences, and so on. But there is another side to our relationship with the Church at large. And this only becomes evident in the light of our precariousness.
I mean the fact of our being born of the local Church. The foundation of the vocation of most of us was established by the life and vigour of the local Church from which we came. On the whole no Monastery is stronger than the living faith of its local Church. We may be Powerhouses of prayer, we may be Lighthouses of Faith, but on the whole, the foundations of those Powerhouses, the foundations of these Lighthouses are the strength of the Local Church out of which we are born. When that strength wanes, and history proves that wane it must, sooner or later, then the foundations of the monastic life are weakened.
If Church History proves anything it proves that the history of the Church, including the Monastic Church, is the history of Israel all over again.
Every Church goes through its great cycles of growth and decay, rising and falling. Where is the Church of the great St Augustine in North Africa today? Where is the Christian heritage of Egypt or Asia Minor today?
And this brings us to the final assessment of our precariousness, an assessment that measures it against the final destiny of the Church as a whole. The New Catechism of the Church tells us :
"Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers .
"The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and resurrection. The Kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil.. ..... "
The most significant phrases here for our spiritual understanding of our precariousness are that the Church will "follow the Lord in his death" as well as his "his Resurrection", and that the Kingdom will be fulfilled, not by the historic triumph of a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil., ..... "
Now we are the Church, the Church at Citeaux, and we are caught up in that great mystery, that Divine foolishness, of victory through being vanquished.
The good of the Order no more consists in the historic triumph of a progressive ascendancy than does the good of the Church. The success of the mission of the Order is as much tied to following the Lord in his failure and death as does the mission of the Church.
The measurement of Life is not a mathematical thing. When the Order was at its strongest there is every reason to believe it was also at its weakest. And likewise we may dare to think that when it is at its weakest it may be at its purest and strongest.

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Wednesday, 27 August 2014

Saint Monica, Confession of Augustine, free-audio-book-saint-augustine-hippo-




http://www.truefreethinker.com/articles/free-audio-book-saint-augustine-hippo-%E2%80%9Cconfessions%E2%80%9D

Free audio book: Saint Augustine of Hippo, “Confessions”

Via this link you can download the audio book "Confessions" by Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) from LibriVox.

SECOND READING

From the Confessions of Saint Augustine, bishop
(Lib. 9, 10-11: CSEL 33, 215-219)

Let us gain eternal wisdom

The day was now approaching when my mother Monica would depart from this life; you know that day, Lord, though we did not. She and I happened to be standing by ourselves at a window that overlooked the garden in the courtyard of the house. At the time we were in Ostia on the Tiber. And so the two of us, all alone, were enjoying a very pleasant conversation, forgetting the past and pushing on to what is ahead. We were asking one another in the presence of the Truth—for you are the Truth—what it would be like to share the eternal life enjoyed by the saints, which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, which has not even entered into the heart of man. We desired with all our hearts to drink from the streams of your heavenly fountain, the fountain of life.

That was the substance of our talk, though not the exact words. But you know, O Lord, that in the course of our conversation that day, the world and its pleasures lost all their attraction for us. My mother said, “Son, as far as I am concerned, nothing in this life now gives me any pleasure. I do not know why I am still here, since I have no further hopes in this world. I did have one reason for wanting to live a little longer: to see you become a Catholic Christian before I died. God has lavished his gifts on me in that respect, for I know that you have even renounced earthly happiness to be his servant. So what am I doing here?”

I do not really remember how I answered her. Shortly, within five days or thereabouts, she fell sick with a fever. Then one day during the course of her illness she became unconscious and for a while she was unaware of her surroundings. My brother and I rushed to her side, but she regained consciousness quickly. She looked at us as we stood there and asked in a puzzled voice: “Where was I?”

We were overwhelmed with grief, but she held her gaze steadily upon us, and spoke further: “Here you shall bury your mother.” I remained silent as I held back my tears. However, my brother haltingly expressed his hope that she might not die in a strange country but in her own land, since her end would be happier there. When she heard this, her face was filled with anxiety, and she reproached him with a glance because he had entertained such earthly thoughts. Then she looked at me and spoke: “Look what he is saying.” Thereupon she said to both of us, “Bury my body wherever you will; let not care of it cause you any concern. One thing only I ask you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be.” Once our mother had expressed this desire as best she could, she fell silent as the pain of her illness increased.

RESPONSORY
1 Corinthians 7:29, 30, 31; 2:12

The time is growing short,
so we must rejoice as though we were not rejoicing;
we must work in the world yet without becoming immersed in it,
– for the world as we know it is passing away.

We have not adopted the spirit of the world. 
– For the world as we know it is passing away.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Let us pray.

God of mercy,
comfort of those in sorrow,
the tears of Saint Monica moved you
to convert her son Saint Augustine to the faith of Christ.
By her prayers, help us to turn from our sins
and to find your loving forgiveness.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with your and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
– Amen.
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COMMENT:

 Fw: Monica several uTubes
Sancta Maria Abbey: http://www.nunraw.com.uk (Website)    
Blogspot :http://www.nunraw.blogspot.co.uk |
domdonald.org.uk 
On Wednesday, 27 August 2014, 9:49, 
Donald wrote:
Dear Anne Marie,
Thank you. Good to explore your additional possibilities.
 At the moment, I am looking the lazy easy YOUTUBE.
Already I learned to insert on the Blogspot, brilliantly easy.
Saint Monica Youtube online not quite for I want. The iBreviary Reading is beautiful.
I ought to get Fr. Hugh to record his voice.

 Even more interesting is to discover about Saint Ninian Pilgrim Sunday 31 Aug 2014. 

Are you going????
See:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4Aj71vqYEk  
Attached  
I'd love to stay in Ninian's Cave for the weekend.
fr. Donald



  COMMENT: Multiple-story
I can hardly travel thoughts and prayer are accompanied with these days of the St. Ninian Pilgrimage.
In fact, the whole scene of St. Ninian's Cave lying above the pebble beach, the sounds of the waves, the horizon of never  changing the skies, already is my place of feelings, sentiments, and uplifts in hermit's solitary (Ninian) cave.
 Roman Catholic Church Whithorn
  1997
The National Pilgrimage for us was a multiple-story.
1.      It was the 16th Centenary of St. Ninian, 1997.
2.      7 or 8 of Nunraw travelled to the celebration..
3.      The Presbytery of the Wigton Church welcomed to hospitality overnight.
4.      Early morning, on the drive, BBC Radio had the NEWS, “Diana, Princess of Wales, is killed after her car crashes in a Paris underpass - the driver and her friend Dodi Fayed are also dead”, Spoken by Cardinal Winning.
5.     That ‘story’ remains with us and the memory of Princess Diana. 

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