BLESSED SACRAMENT CHAPEL Liverpool

Among Postcards from a friend, there followed discussion on the illustration of the special Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in the Liverpool Cathedral.

The print of the Postcard obscured the painting or structure above the Tabernacle. The lower section is a mural painting, abstract colours. The upper section suggested line drawing of a canopy on the wall.

Closer examination of pictures from the Website makes it is perfectly clear..

The Visitors’ Tour gives better commentary.

See before.

On the main axis, the BLESSED SACRAMENT CHAPEL, the largest of the peripheral chapels, contains the tabernacle by Ceri Richards in which the Sacrament 

is reserved.   Richly ornamented in gilt metal, glass and enamels, the centre door symbolises the glory of God, depicted by the heavens and constellations, with the side doors showing the chalice and host.   The great triangular windows and the reredos, also by Richards, are together with the tabernacle part of a triptych of colours.   

The bronze figure of the Risen Christ is by Liverpool born Arthur Dooley

Blessed Sacrament Chapel at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool

         

One of Links
http://news.architecture.sk/2010/02/christ-the-king-ceri-richards.php 

From the Website

http://www.liverpoolmetrocathedral.org.uk/

On the main axis, the BLESSED SACRAMENT CHAPEL, the largest of the peripheral chapels, contains the tabernacle by Ceri Richards in which the Sacrament
is reserved.   Richly ornamented in gilt metal, glass and enamels, the centre door symbolises the glory of God, depicted by the heavens and constellations, with the side doors showing the chalice and host.   The great triangular windows and the reredos, also by Richards, are together with the tabernacle part of a triptych of colours.
The bronze figure of the Risen Christ is by Liverpool born Arthur Dooley. 

The Historic Churches Commission has refused to authorise the reordering of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool. The change would have involved siting a new, smaller altar at a lower level.It is difficult to say whether Frederick Gibberd had an underlying geometrical plan for the Blessed Sacrament Chapel that might explain the proportions and position of individual elements. Unity is provided by the combination of colour, line, light and relief in Ceri Richards’ great painted reredos, tabernacle doors and stained-glass windows. The original intention was that Richards would produce an altar frontal as part of the scheme. This was never executed.

Palm Sunday 'fountain of devotion' Catherine of Siena

SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

Graces of Palm Sunday

I Caterina, a useless servant, am in agony with desire as I search the depths of my soul; I grieve and weep when I see and really understand our foolish apathy, our failure to give our love to God after he has given us such great graces with so much love.

So, dearest brothers, don't be thankless and unappreciative, because this could easily dry up the fountain of piety within us.

Oh heedless indifferent people! Rouse yourselves from this evil sleep! Let's go out to receive our King, who comes to us humble and meek.

Oh let us who are proud behold the Master of humility coming to us seated on an ass! For our Saviour has told us that one of his reasons for com­ing on that beast was to show us what our humanity had become by sin, and to show us how we should treat this ass, our humanity.

Really, there is no difference between us and that good-far-nothing beast! Because of sin, our reason has become an animal! Oh ancient Truth, you have taught us how we should treat this beast! I want you …to get on top of this ass; master yourselves; be humble and meek.

And on what feet shall we get up there, sweetest love? On hatred of apathy and love of virtue.

But let's do this … the channel is open and flowing; so, since we need to provision the ship of our soul, let's proceed to provision it there, at that sweetest of channels, the heart and soul and body of Jesus Christ.

We will find that this channel flows with so great a love that we will easily be able to fill our souls

So I say to you: don't be slow to put your eye to this open window

For I assure you that supreme Goodness has prepared the times and the ways for us to do great deeds for him

This is why I told you to be eager to increase your holy desire, and not to be satisfied with little things, because he wants great things!

From The Letters of St

Catherine of Sienna
Holy Week 2011 

Palm Sunday Art

The Entry into Jerusalem

www.catholictradition.org/Passion/passion-gallery.htm 

Blessed Is the King Who Come

Attributed to the Master of Moulins, this painting is a veiled celebration of the annexation of Brittany to the kingdom of France. The death of King Louis XI was followed by a period of regency, for the heir Charles VIII was but a boy. Taking advantage of this interreg­num, a coalition of princes in alliance with the duke of Brittany rose in rebellion. The ensuing conflict, known as the "Mad War", came to an end with the defeat of the rebels in 1488 at the battle of Saint-Aubin-de­Cormier, the stronghold of the dukes of Brittany. Its fortress serves here to represent the city of jerusalem. In the foreground, King Charles VIII and his wife Anne of Brittany are portrayed as they were at the time of these events, aged thirteen and eleven.

Christ's triumphal entry into jerusalem is depicted at the centre, with the raising of Lazarus in the back­ground. Seated majestically upon a nobly drawn donkey, jesus is clothed in a long violet robe, symbol of the baptism he is about to undergo: his passion and death. Behind him, a cortege of disciples is led by Peter, followed by John and james, the only apostles present at the resurrection of Lazarus. The people wave olive branches in apparent jubilation. Upon closer scrutiny, however, one detects the latent violence that will break out the next day in cries of "Crucify him!" Focused on the royal person of jesus, Son of David, Prince of Peace, this painting reminds us that we have no other King and Lord but Christ. Beyond every legitimate national loyalty, all that will count in the end is our ultimate alle­giance to the heavenly kingdom .

• Pierre-Marie Dumont
MAGNIFICAT Missalette
Holy Week 2011

Palm Sunday in Jerusalem

Palm Sunday - Jerusalem April 17, 2011

Members of the Catholic clergy take part in a Palm Sunday procession on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem April 17, 2011. The Dome of the Rock, on the compound known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City is seen in the background.

Catholic nuns hold palm fronds during a Palm Sunday procession on the Mount of Olives

Pope Benedict XVI is framed through incense smoke as he leads the Palm Sunday mass at the Vatican April 17, 2011.

COMMENT

---- Forwarded Message ----
From: Anne Marie ...
To: Fr Donald ...
Sent: Sat, 16 April, 2011 22:50:38
Subject: Re: [Dom Donald's Blog] Ephraim TAYBEH Jn11:54 Jesus' Last Retreat

Thanks for this,  as we walk into the last days of  Lent it seems right to be looking at images from the holy land.
I was listening to music called the seven lasts words yesterday and I thought it would be lovely accompanied by images from the holy land.  I might do that as my offering for holy week.

Sent from my iPad
Anne Marie

Ephraim TAYBEH Jn11:54 Jesus' Last Retreat

Sat 16th April 20011
At Mass, as the Intercessions followed the Gospel, mention was made of the verse of John 11:54,  "So Jesus no longer went about openly among the Jews, but left the district for a town called Ephraim, in the country bordering on the desert, and stayed there with his disciples." 
My two visits made at Taybeh-Ephraim (2004) come alive with vivid memories, and prepare the mind and heart on Jesus Last Rest and heading towards Palm Sunday in our Liturgy tomorrow.

Taybeh

West Bank

This Taybeh Website http://www.seetheholyland.net/taybeh/  provides precious information on this amazing place.

Christian village of Taybeh (© Custodia Terrae Sanctae)

The Palestinian village of Taybeh, the onlyChristian town left in Israel or the Palestinian Territories, holds fast to its memory of Jesus seeking refuge there shortly before his crucifixion.

The Gospel of John says Jesus went to Taybeh — then called Ephraim — after he raised Lazarus to life and the Jewish authorities planned to put Jesus to death.

“Jesus therefore no longer walked about openly among the Jews, but went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness; and he remained there with the disciples.” (John 11:54)

                     Taybeh  (pronounced Tie-bay) is 30 kilometres northeast of Jerusalem and 12 kilometres northeast of Ramallah. From its elevated site between biblical Samaria and Judea, it overlooks the desert wilderness, the Jordan Valley, Jerichoand the Dead Sea.

Living amidst Muslim villages, Israeli settlements and military roadblocks, Taybeh’s inhabitants (numbering 1300 in 2010) are intensely proud of their Christian heritage.

The village’s Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic(Latin) and Greek Catholic (Melkite) communities maintain an ecumenical spirit — even celebrating Christmas together on December 25 according to the Western calendar and Easter according to the Eastern calendar.

Patron is St George

The village was first settled by Canaanites about 2500 years before Jesus came to visit. It is mentioned as Ophrah (or Ofrah), a town of the tribe of Benjamin, in Joshua 18:23, and shown on the 6th-century Madaba mosaic map as “Ephron also Ephraia where went the Lord”.

The Muslim sultan Saladin changed the biblical name to Taybeh (meaning “good and kind” in Arabic) around 1187 after he found the inhabitants hospitable and generous.

Pomegranates complementing icon in Catholic church, Taybeh (Seetheholyland.net)

The villagers regard St George — whose traditional birthplace is Lod, near Tel Aviv airport — as their patron. The Greek Orthodox and Melkite churches are both named in his honour.

They also see the pomegranate as a symbol of the fullness of Jesus’ suffering and Resurrection. This fruit appears as a motif in religious art in Taybeh.

A tradition says Jesus told the villagers aparable relating to this fruit, whose sweet seeds are protected by a bitter membrane. Using this image, Jesus explained that to reach the sweetness of his Resurrection he had to go through the bitterness of death.

Old house illustrates parables

Entrance to ruins of St George's Church, Taybeh (© vizAviz)

The original Church of St George, built by theByzantines in the 4th century and rebuilt by theCrusaders in the 12th century, lie in ruins on the eastern outskirts of Taybeh, behind the Melkite church. It is called “El Khader” (Arabic for “the Green One”), a name customarily given to St George.

A wide flight of steps leads up to an entrance portico, nave, two side chapels and a cruciformbaptistery with a well-preserved font.

Next to the Greek Orthodox church a 4th-century mosaic depicting birds and flowers has been found. A chapel has been built over the site to protect the mosaic.

Door of Parable House, Taybeh, with hole for small animals underneath (Seetheholyland.net)

In the courtyard of the Roman Catholic church stands a 250-year-old Palestinian house, occupied by a local Christian family until 1974. The entrance is claimed to be 2000 years old, with five religious symbols of that time engraved in the stone façade above the door.

Known as the Parable House, it has rooms on three levels — for the family, for large animals and for smaller animals (who also have an access hole under the old wooden door).

The house and its domestic and agricultural furnishings illustrate the context of many of theparables of Jesus and also offer an insight into how the Nativity cave at Bethlehem may have been configured.

Priest’s retreat is remembered

Another celebrated visitor to Taybeh was Charles de Foucauld, a French-born priest, explorer, linguist and hermit who was beatified by the Catholic Church in 2005.

Charles de Foucauld shrine at Taybeh (© Custodia Terrae Sanctae)

De Foucauld passed through Taybeh as apilgrim in 1889 and returned in 1898 for an eight-day retreat that is recorded in 45 pages of his spiritual writings.

After his death (he was shot dead by raiding tribesmen in Algeria in 1916, aged 58), his example inspired the founding of several religious congregations.

In 1986 a pilgrims’ hostel called the Charles de Foucauld Pilgrim Centre was opened in Taybeh.

Brother Aidan RIP Homily

Abbot Mark officiating at the ceremonies
of the obsequies of Brother Aidan Hunt at Nunraw.

Abbot Mark - Homily on the life of Br. Aidan. Con-celebrating priests, and family.

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Mark Caira
Sent: Fri, 15 April, 2011 21:06:51
Subject: Re: Funeral Thursday 14th. 1.00 P.M.  

Homily at Br Aidan’s Funeral                          Thursday 14 April, 2011 Br Aidan and I entered the Abbey here at Nunraw in what doesn’t now seem all that many years ago.  I was senior to him by date of entry but junior to him in almost everything else.  He would have told you that himself, so it must be true.  He was in fact older in years and experience of work and I suppose it remained that way as we rubbed shoulders and clashed heads together over the years.  That’s the way we sometimes get to know others and appreciate what they are made of. When I began working in the woods as a very young monk, it was Aidan who had the work experience and could tell us what and how to do it.  He had been with the Forestry Commission for a number of years.  But when I began helping on the farm, I was the one who became the ‘old hand’ and he ‘the chicken’.  For his first main job at Nunraw Br Aidan was put to work as part of the building squad at the new Abbey.  During that time he made many friends among the camp workers who came over the years to help put up this solid building that is now our home. After a good number of years on the building site, Aidan was sent to the farm to help Br Carthage, the farm manager.  (There is a saying in monastic circles, that it is not good to help someone for too long or you will end up with the job yourself).  He learned quickly a lot of the skills involved in caring for the cattle, and experienced the unsociable hours involved in looking after sick animals and helping cows when they were having a difficult calving.  (They call this a bachelor’s life!)  Eventually he did become farm manager in his own right.  With the advice of people like Michael Sheridan, a well-known and shrewd cattle dealer, and long time friend of the community, Aidan learned how to produce a fine herd of beef cattle.  There are others who could be named who were also good friends and advisors.  They know who they are. I don’t want to mention a long list of names as it would be embarrassing in the extreme to leave someone out. But Br Aidan didn’t come into the abbey just to work, though that played a large part of his monastic life.  The basic call of the monk, as St Benedict tells us, is to seek God simply and truly.  That was what Aidan came to do.  His long working day allowed the choir monks to pray the Divine Office at the set times, unhindered as far as possible from pressures of work.  But he had his own times of prayer, before and after his work periods, which he kept to faithfully.  He was always up at the early community Mass.  If he wasn’t there, it meant he was either called out to some emergency on the farm or that he wasn’t well..  It is so easy for us to make excuses to stay in bed or opt out of what is going on.  If he had been ill, he would be up and about his business as soon as he was fit enough. Besides his work on the farm, Aidan had many other little useful jobs within the monastery itself.  For years he performed miracles repairing our broken-down or damaged shoes and sandals.  Someone said that he should get some else to do that work as he had enough to do, but Aidan said that it was good to have a hobby, something different from his normal work to keep him relaxed.  He was always ready to help out in other little chores that needed doing and that kept community life running smoothly. The hot cup of tea, for example, we enjoyed after the Christmas and Easter Vigil celebrations before going out into the cold on the way home, had been prepared by Aidan while the Mass was in progress in the Church Only a few days before he died, Br Aidan went with a few of the community to see the film “Of Gods and Men”.  The film was about seven of our fellow Cistercian monks living in Algeria who were unwittingly caught up in the political unrest, which still continues in that country.  They lost their lives in a way that is still not clear.  He was hesitant about going to see it.  He had said these kind of films don’t always live up to expectation.  In fact he went and did enjoy it.  The film showed how the monks and their mainly Muslim neighbours related to each other.  When the individual monks were pondering about what they should do, to leave because of the danger to their lives or to stay, one of their Muslim neighbours told them ,’We are here because you are here’.  Br Aidan was asked by a friend at the film if he thought they were right to stay.  His reply was, ‘Probably yes, because our lives are for others.’ Aidan had made many friends over the years among those who came to help build the Abbey and also from within the numerous farming contacts he had made as farm manager and he was good at remembering them For his friendship and the good he has done in his life we thank God and we pray for his eternal happiness with God.