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| Monster Icicle under Abbot's window. Word icicle not in the Bible |
Christmas POST-IT
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September
Papal Visit was the ‘Benedict Bounce’ (Cardinal), an uplift for all of us.
·
Fr. Luke (89)
ocso b.1921, d.8 Nov 2010, 56th year of monastic profession
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Snowed Under
November into December and Christmas. Nunraw deepest snow in the Lammermuirs
(Met Office), and gave us the Scottish TV exposure as well.
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3rd
December showing Film “Of Gods and Men – Des Hommes Et Des Dieux”. It is the
story of our Brothers, the Seven Monks of Atlas, Algeria
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The message is
monastic, Ecumenical, Inter-Faith, to inspire love and peace.
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We share the
joy and prayer of Christmas and New Year.
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| Courtesy of MAGNIFICAT Missalette |
The Light Shines in the Darkness
Artwork of the front cover, The Birth of Christ (c. 1520), Giovanni Calcar (c. 1499-c. 1546) [circle ofl, 85 x 57.5 cm, Pushkin Museum, Moscow, Russia, © Artothek.
The Flemish-born painter known as Giovanni Calcar settled in Italy where he studied with Titian and Raphael. It is said that he became so adept at imitating these two masters that even they could not tell the difference between his copies and their originals!
Calcar's fondness for the shimmering caress of fine costly fabrics is on full display here: the gown of the angel in the foreground, in a sumptuous yet restrained hue, is a masterpiece of refinement. The painter's predilection for handsome architectural features is also evident in the background, beyond the manger, in the ruins of the Jerusalem temple. Finally, careful observation of each element of this work reveals his mastery of the art of subtly-honed detail.
Such an accomplished depiction of persons, patterns, and precise details might have distracted attention from the main subject had Calcar not been inspired to make of the newborn Child the source of light which illumines and gives life to his entire composition. Georges de La Tour would later develop the study of light, using the artifice of a candle to express its full beauty. Calcar, for his part, has no need of any such prop to render visible, quite literally, that the Word, "the true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world" (ln 1: 9).
• Pierre-Marie Dumont
Artwork of the front cover, The Birth of Christ (c. 1520), Giovanni Calcar (c. 1499-c. 1546) [circle ofl, 85 x 57.5 cm, Pushkin Museum, Moscow, Russia, © Artothek.
The Flemish-born painter known as Giovanni Calcar settled in Italy where he studied with Titian and Raphael. It is said that he became so adept at imitating these two masters that even they could not tell the difference between his copies and their originals!
Calcar's fondness for the shimmering caress of fine costly fabrics is on full display here: the gown of the angel in the foreground, in a sumptuous yet restrained hue, is a masterpiece of refinement. The painter's predilection for handsome architectural features is also evident in the background, beyond the manger, in the ruins of the Jerusalem temple. Finally, careful observation of each element of this work reveals his mastery of the art of subtly-honed detail.
Such an accomplished depiction of persons, patterns, and precise details might have distracted attention from the main subject had Calcar not been inspired to make of the newborn Child the source of light which illumines and gives life to his entire composition. Georges de La Tour would later develop the study of light, using the artifice of a candle to express its full beauty. Calcar, for his part, has no need of any such prop to render visible, quite literally, that the Word, "the true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world" (ln 1: 9).
• Pierre-Marie Dumont
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