Our Lady of Walsingham

Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham (also, the Feast of Our Lady of Ransom). Here’s a link to a scanned copy of the rather wonderful original Walsingham Pilgrim’s Manual from 1928. I always think that Catholic prayers (in this instance compiled by an Anglican), sound so much better in hieratic English (i.e. “thees” and “thous”) than they do in ICEL English.

Sin

More Athonite wisdom from the Orthodox blogosphere… After Elder Joseph on joy, here’s Elder Sophrony on sin…

Elder Sophrony (Sakharov) was an Orthodox monk from Mount Athos who founded a monastery in Essex (in England), and who was a disciple and biographer of St Silouan the Athonite (a twentieth century Orthodox saint).

The excellent Milk & Honey blog quotes a wonderful reflection by Elder Sophrony on the subject of sin, which is so good that I have taken the liberty of reproducing the whole (shortish) piece.

Sin is primarily a metaphysical phenomenon whose roots lie in the mystic depths of man’s spiritual nature. The essence of sin consists not in the infringement of ethical standards but in a falling away from the eternal Divine life for which man was created and to which, by his nature, he is called.

Sin is committed first of all in the secret depths of the human spirit but its consequences involve the individual as a whole. A sin will reflect on a man’s psychological and physical condition, on his outward appearance, on his personal destiny.

Sin will, inevitably, pass beyond the boundaries of the sinner’s individual life, to burden all humanity and thus affect the fate of the whole world. The sin of our forefather Adam was not the only sin of cosmic significance. Every sin, manifest or secret, committed by each one of us affects the rest of the universe.

The earthly-minded man when he commits a sin is not conscious of its effect on himself as is the spiritual man. The carnal man does not remark any change in himself after committing a sin because he is always in a state of spiritual death and has never known the eternal life of the spirit.

The spiritual man, on the contrary, does see a change in himself every time his will inclines to sin - he senses a lessening of grace.

Joy

The Handmaid quotes Elder Joseph the Hesychast (1898-1959, an Orthodox monk who played a major part in the revitalization of Athonite monasticism in the last century) on the subject of joy:

Don’t expect to find joy and rest in anything that grieves your soul and upsets divine grace. Joy is a gift of God to our soul… And if you dishonor it, it will not come back, unless you feel sorry and repent with much pain for every sin you committed. But what is the point of thoughtlessly chasing away the dove of grace, and then with regret and many sighs seeking it back again? Many people have chased joy away by foolishly dishonoring it, and then it never came back.

St Pio of Pietrelcina Celebrating Mass

This is astonishing - actual video footage of a canonised saint (St Pio of Pietrelcina, aka Padre Pio, f.d. September 23rd) celebrating Mass. Powerful and moving.

Colour in Iconography

More fascinating stuff on the meaning of icons from Nazareth Studio:

~ COLOR IN ICONOGRAPHY ~

Colors in iconography play a very important role to depict the subject. It is a symbolic language, which manifests the light, that is inside objects and human faces rather than their coloring. The choice of color, even though it originates from iconographic rules, has a certain symbolism, but is not always consistent. For example, in Eastern iconography, Our Lady is almost always in red or brown, however the earliest icons (from the sixth century, preserved on Mount Sinai) show her in blue… Read complete essay

Symbolism in Iconography

I hadn’t come across Nazareth Studio until Jane Teresa drew attention to it on My Heart Was Restless. Their website features a wonderful mini-essay on the symbolism of icons.

~ SYMBOLISM IN ICONOGRAPHY ~

In creating an icon, nothing is done at random or by guesswork; all the elements of the process are linked together and form a complete unity. The surfaces of the icon are carefully, even subtly, proportioned for drawing; in fact, geometric lines discovered during restorations of iconographic frescoes leave no doubt as to the minute preliminary elaborations and studies involved… Read complete essay

Symeon the New Theologian

Some extracts from Pope Benedict XVI’s address on September 16^th 2009 on Symeon the New Theologian. Read more on the Saints and Blesseds Page.

Thanks to Well-Wishers

I’m feeling a little better than before, so am returning to some light blogging. Many thanks to all of you who wished me a speedy recovery.

September 8th

Owing to persistent health problems I've decided to take an extended break from blogging. Many thanks to all who, over the past year or so, have signed up as followers, left comments in the combox, or just read the odd post from time to time - you're all very much appreciated.

St Leo the Great: The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth

Part of today’s second reading from Vigils (which sounds so much better than Office of Readings!), is taken from a sermon on the beatitudes by Pope St Leo the Great (5^th century), and addresses the question I raised here and here about the resurrection of the body.

In explanation of “blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5), Leo argues that “earth” denotes not the present world but the world of the new creation – i.e. the transformed and glorious resurrection-body which we shall receive in heaven

The earth, then, which is promised to the meek, and is to be given to the gentle in possession, is the flesh of the saints, which in reward for their humility will be changed in a happy resurrection, and clothed with the glory of immortality, in nothing now to act contrary to the spirit, and to be in complete unity and agreement with the will of the soul.

The key point about the resurrection body in this passage is that, unlike our present earthly body, it acts in complete conformity with the soul instead of fighting against it. Salvation for Leo isn’t about deliverance from the body. On the contrary, in the present life it is in and through the body that the soul knows and loves God and serves God and neighbour in a “threefold round” of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. However, when we attain the vision of God in the next life, the kind of body in which we work out our salvation in the present life is no longer of any use, and, indeed, would be an obstacle to perfect happiness, so it is changed into a glorified, immortal and incorruptible body which can act in perfect harmony with the soul and share fully in its reward.

For then the outer man will be the peaceful and unblemished possession of the inner man: then the mind, engrossed in beholding God, will be hampered by no obstacles of human weakness nor will it any more have to be said “The body which is corrupted, weighs upon the soul, and its earthly house presses down the sense which thinks many things” (Wisdom 9:15), for the earth will not struggle against its tenant, and will not venture on any insubordination against the rule of its governor.

For the meek shall possess it in perpetual peace, and nothing shall be taken from their rights, “when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:53), that what was a danger to them may turn into their reward, and what was a burden become an honour.

Feast of the Translation of St Cuthbert

Today (September 4^th) is the feast of the Translation of St Cuthbert, one of the patrons of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle whose principal feast falls on March 20th. There's a very interesting post on the Haliwerfolc blog, where attention is drawn to a short video on the BBC website about the Fenwick Lawson sculpture which has recently been made to celebrate St Cuthbert's Translation. I've posted up a short piece on St Cuthbert on my Saints and Blesseds blog.

Johnny Cash - Redemption

St Aidan of Lindisfarne

Yesterday (August 31st) was the memoria of St Aidan and the Saints of Lindisfarne, who have a special significance for the Church here in the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle. Read more on the Saints and Blesseds Page...