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Post by Séamus on Oct 4, 2022 0:04:12 GMT
I recently finished both a book of Rembrandt plates (Susan Grange 2016) and Lady Gregory's Book of Saints and Wonders about early Christian Celtic lore. The latter is prefaced by Isabella Gregory's image painted by Jack Yeats. It's worth considering the difference between her set and Mr van Rijn of nearly three centuries before. While WBYeats and others were battling to restore Ireland and it's identity, Rembrandt lived in an era of Dutch power and influence and high culture where he could have lived a life of adulation, although like most artists it didn't quite work that way for him.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon's realism seems a world away from legends of monks who met fallen angels in the form of tropical birds- although I'd be cautious about dismissing all the tales as complete myth;the tree-dwelling monster Maeldune saw on his voyage, that lifted buffaloes into it's tree, sounds very much like a leopard dragging an antelope weighing more than itself into the branches. Which they do. The Island-where-everybody-sits-and-laughs-all-day seems to imply an hallucinogenic drug. That a monk got caught up shows that primitive folk culture has always seemed tempting to westerners. I think,though,that the realism that I appreciate most from the Dutch painter is in his many self-portraits. He may dress up in costume for these but he rarely smiles and doesn't attempt to show any extreme happiness,indeed any happiness at all. And yet he continued being creative until his death. Obviously the type of happiness that his work gave him was the right type. Maybe something modern psychology can take from.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Oct 4, 2022 8:06:58 GMT
I recently finished both a book of Rembrandt plates (Susan Grange 2016) and Lady Gregory's Book of Saints and Wonders about early Christian Celtic lore. The latter is prefaced by Isabella Gregory's image painted by Jack Yeats. It's worth considering the difference between her set and Mr van Rijn of nearly three centuries before. While WBYeats and others were battling to restore Ireland and it's identity, Rembrandt lived in an era of Dutch power and influence and high culture where he could have lived a life of adulation, although like most artists it didn't quite work that way for him. Rembrandt Harmenszoon's realism seems a world away from legends of monks who met fallen angels in the form of tropical birds- I'd be cautious about dismissing all the tales as complete myth;the tree-dwelling monster Maeldune saw on his voyage, that lifted buffaloes into it's tree, sounds very much like a leopard dragging an antelope weighing more than itself into the branches. Which they do. The Island-where-everybody-sits-and-laughs-all-day seems to imply an hallucinogenic drug. That a monk got caught up shows that primitive folk culture has always seemed tempting to westerners. I think,though,that the realism that I appreciate most from the Dutch painter is in his many self-portraits. He may dress up in costume for these but he rarely smiles and doesn't attempt to show any extreme happiness,indeed any happiness at all. And yet he continued being creative until his death. Obviously the type of happiness that his work gave him was the right type. Maybe something modern psychology can take from. Not to mention that many of the "legends" may have been accounts of bona fide supernatural occurrences! Which still happen today. I must admit I find it almost impossible to read early Irish saints' lives, though. They are so samey and encrusted with legends, I find them tedious. I shall work to overcome this. My interest in Irish Catholicism pretty much begins in the eighteenth century. I shall also work to overcome this. My wife was reading me the story of St. Dymphna last week and I'd never heard it before. I have been reading the life of Fr. Henry Young, a Dublin priest who died in 1869. He has been called the Irish Curé d'Ars. He was incredibly austere-- his only meal of the day a bowl of oatmeal made with water (how he didn't die of scurvy, I'm not sure). When his mother died and he reported her death to his sister in his convent, he wrote something like: "I imagine this will be my last letter as there's nothing else to say". The book also mentions that congregations expected a homily (always called a sermon in these old books) to last at least an hour on special occasions. How things have changed.
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Post by Séamus on Oct 28, 2022 9:33:53 GMT
When thinking about last Monday's feastday (St Raphael- extraordinary form) I couldn't help wondering whether protestant bible devotees find this Book of Tobit from the Catholic canon to be odd,even superstitious,when it came to parts like the Archangel's use of fish remedies, despite some precedent of extraordinary ritual in other Books.
I'm not sure whether my further reflection on the subject has ever been considered by iconographers or sacred artists- that the scene of young Tobias pulling a huge fish out of the water (as large catfish are known to eat dogs it would suffice as an image) under the watch of a pure spirit in human form somehow embodies a Judeo-Christian frieze of creation- from the highest of blessed spirits to the cold-blooded animal without reason or free will, in the middle (besides the dog),man- both flesh and spirit- even more appropriately a seemingly innocent young man, shadowing even Adam himself and having a relationship and a responsibility with both the highest and lowest poles of existence.
I'd been finishing Rewilding Africa (Grant Fowlds and Graham Spence 2022) which is mostly about the former's experience of the conservation of big animals during the covid period. While it became necessary for conservation groups to work in food relief during this period to save African fauna from ending up in stews,the main obstacle to the beasts' future is and has always been illegal poaching. But other factors many of us would not consider have far-reaching implications- war,a Cuban-backed communistic militia in Namibia in the early'90s and Isis-affiliated jihadists in Mozambique have indirectly had devastating impact; only in one district of South Africa is a population explosion cited and, even then, the adjacent eco-tourist reserve could still have worked had poachers not torn down fences,looted the accommodation and touched the buildings while local police stood at their 'blockade' watching on.
Human blood is often shed- poachers attacking designated property can and do kill and get killed;despite relating this with little emotion Mr Fowlds and his co-workers, whether Zulu, Xhosa or Afrikaner,do have a deep sympathy for all,apart from the smuggler bigwigs maybe,involved and is well aware of the locals' needs. Social conservatives who might dismiss subjects like this as leftwing or as green-ideology could do well to examine whether it needs to be 'one or the other' when reading accounts like this. One thing I was always personally dismissive of was the idea of eco-tourism;I assumed that all tourism,taking aside the window dressings, was somehow damaging- As landowners and as people close to the community and the areas, the people in the book who spearhead these (particularly elephant and rhinoceros) charities actually find a controlled tourism industry essential for the locals and,in turn, the animals.
Not that I can see myself facing the wildebeest any time in the foreseeable future.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Oct 28, 2022 10:42:23 GMT
I remember, years ago, when a colleague told me that parts of France were experiencing a return to wolves and jackals (or something) as a result of deforestation, I thought, "Great!"
Not that I'm an antenatalist, obviously, but I still found it a pleasing thought.
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Post by cato on Nov 30, 2022 15:37:02 GMT
I haven't managed to control my vice of having several books on the go at the moment but there are three that I am enjoying at present which readers may find interesting.
Reaganland ; Americas Right Turn 1976-1980 by Rick Perlstein is a 918 page monster on the Carter presidency and the rise of Ronald Reagan. Carter is arguably the most explicitly Christian inspired US president and is a fascinating character who highlighted issues like energy security and the environment back in the 1970s. You get a great sense of deja vous reading this account. Perlstein is a liberal but has so far produced four magnificent volumes on the phenomena of US political and cultural Conservative revival. This is an enjoyable informative read.
I have been dipping into Edward Gibbon's classic Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire which is incredibly well researched and written. There are obvious similarities with our current age of uncertainty and turmoil. I am currently up to his infamous anti Christian chapter. The Penguin three volume set has excellent notes.
Finally I have broken into Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. My copy has remained unread for a decade on my book shelves. It's a perfect comfort read for this troubled dark year. I have attempted it twice but this time I have gotten into it aided by the wonderful Jackson movie trilogy. Its a wonderful beacon of light and hope. If you haven't read it seek it out. Cometh the crisis cometh the book.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Nov 30, 2022 16:07:18 GMT
I haven't managed to control my vice of having several books on the go at the moment but there are three that I am enjoying at present which readers may find interesting. Reaganland ; Americas Right Turn 1976-1980 by Rick Perlstein is a 918 page monster on the Carter presidency and the rise of Ronald Reagan. Carter is arguably the most explicitly Christian inspired US president and is a fascinating character who highlighted issues like energy security and the environment back in the 1970s. You get a great sense of deja vous reading this account. Perlstein is a liberal but has so far produced four magnificent volumes on the phenomena of US political and cultural Conservative revival. This is an enjoyable informative read. I have been dipping into Edward Gibbon's classic Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire which is incredibly well researched and written. There are obvious similarities with our current age of uncertainty and turmoil. I am currently up to his infamous anti Christian chapter. The Penguin three volume set has excellent notes. Finally I have broken into Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. My copy has remained unread for a decade on my book shelves. It's a perfect comfort read for this troubled dark year. I have attempted it twice but this time I have gotten into it aided by the wonderful Jackson movie trilogy. Its a wonderful beacon of light and hope. If you haven't read it seek it out. Cometh the crisis cometh the book. I read it again recently. It's a rare book that not only creates a whole new world, but a whole new galaxy-- in the sense that it inspired a whole genre.
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Post by Séamus on Dec 5, 2022 1:35:54 GMT
I finished The History Of The Church by Eusebius of Cesaria yesterday, just as a reading from him appears in the Advent Liturgy of Hours, despite his being more of an Eastern Church figure. We often hear him referred to, but it's only by reading the book that we realise how many traditions spring from this account, whether the well-known legends of Sts Jude and the two Phillips or accounts of arena animals refusing to touch Christian martyrs, which the writer says he witnessed. He may have had a small influence on the Crusades centuries later, as the western armies first took Edessa, according to Eusebius the only territory to receive an actual letter from Christ.
The post-Constantinian consecration of a cathedral in Tyre gets large attention, the building more-or-less described during the dedication sermon. Although different to traditional western buildings, everything definately had dignity and meaning, the sanctuary being covered with some form of rood-screen. Supermarket-style churches that claim to be of one mind with the early church are apparently not.
The existence of many places of worship, alternately destroyed and rebuilt, before Constantine might seem surprising to many who think of the whole three centuries as being entirely in the catacombs. I came across an old (American) Miraculous Medal booklet recently. This devotion often seems to represent a zenith-Catholicism in some ways- I can remember St Peter's Phisborough still being completely full for this devotion (and the Capuchins in Church Street having more subdued prayers for this also). Many people in Western Australia recall the Perth cathedral having to close down streets for some days of the Medal novena.
The association in the booklet had funded a marble shrine in Philadelphia, a preparatory Vincentian seminary,a major seminary (which looks as big as a university),shortly after the Council a study residence near the Niagara University....I don't know what is or isn't still there now but it obviously contrasts with our current church of demolition and it seems that we aren't just looking at a downfall in priests or religious orders- could a particular association of laity fund these endeavours in our day? But Eusebius' account of demolition and rebuilding, doctrinal wars and government-sponsored closures gives some hope for us also.
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Post by Séamus on Dec 10, 2022 9:41:08 GMT
I haven't managed to control my vice of having several books on the go at the moment but there are three that I am enjoying at present which readers may find interesting. Reaganland ; Americas Right Turn 1976-1980 by Rick Perlstein is a 918 page monster on the Carter presidency and the rise of Ronald Reagan. Carter is arguably the most explicitly Christian inspired US president and is a fascinating character who highlighted issues like energy security and the environment back in the 1970s. You get a great sense of deja vous reading this account. Perlstein is a liberal but has so far produced four magnificent volumes on the phenomena of US political and cultural Conservative revival. This is an enjoyable informative read. I have been dipping into Edward Gibbon's classic Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire which is incredibly well researched and written. There are obvious similarities with our current age of uncertainty and turmoil. I am currently up to his infamous anti Christian chapter. The Penguin three volume set has excellent notes. Finally I have broken into Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. My copy has remained unread for a decade on my book shelves. It's a perfect comfort read for this troubled dark year. I have attempted it twice but this time I have gotten into it aided by the wonderful Jackson movie trilogy. Its a wonderful beacon of light and hope. If you haven't read it seek it out. Cometh the crisis cometh the book. I just started the recently released The Fall of Númenor, stitched together by two editors, Christopher Tolkien died before it's completion. The first chapters deal with the imaginary customs,typography and fauna of the island. One of the few mentions of public worship in MiddleEarth makes an appearance- a simple Jewish-HighPriest-like entrance to a holy space by the island's king to say a simple prayer. Lately an American paper posted a book review about a work eulogizing Prince and Charles Dickens, somehow finding literary comparisons, the great output of both the maverick singer and the Victorian novelist bring undeniable. A comparison between Dickens, even Shakespeare, and Tolkien might be less of a stretch- it's worth noting that, while JRR's had less completed publications of note, he was, unlike the others, brilliantly creating worlds, cultures and languages almost flawlessly. (with some imagination Jackson's filmography might be called a link to the above rockstar- there would have been some producing during 1999)
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Dec 10, 2022 14:41:26 GMT
Comparing Prince to Dickens is wacky. I must admit I find these sort of comparisons wearisome.
Even worse are when people stage a supposed "debate" between two writers or thinkers who never actually debated each other, with titles like "Chesterton versus Grayling", or something like that. Well, they weren't contemporaries, but I'm sometimes excited to find apparent evidence of a debate between two thinkers which turns out to be just the juxtaposition of excerpts by some blogger or YouTuber.
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Post by Séamus on Dec 11, 2022 1:23:30 GMT
Comparing Prince to Dickens is wacky. I must admit I find these sort of comparisons wearisome. Even worse are when people stage a supposed "debate" between two writers or thinkers who never actually debated each other, with titles like "Chesterton versus Grayling", or something like that. Well, they weren't contemporaries, but I'm sometimes excited to find apparent evidence of a debate between two thinkers which turns out to be just the juxtaposition of excerpts by some blogger or YouTuber. He is both a novelist and music critic (Nick Hornby, Britain) but I can't say I'm familiar with anything he's written, even the movies that he's screenplayed.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Dec 12, 2022 9:35:38 GMT
I read Fever Pitch back in the day. A few times, actually, it was pretty good.
He was terminally woke even before the term was coined, but he's a good writer. I've never seen any of the films made from his books.
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Post by kj on Dec 22, 2022 12:27:51 GMT
As ever at Christmas, I have grandiose reading plans that are already falling apart.
I have started and am enjoying Gregory of Tours' History of the Franks. It is a glorious insight into early Christian France, filled with violence, dynastic in-fighting and the usual mayhem, written in a direct and refreshingly straightforward style. Also a good antidote against over-romanticising the dim and distant past.
I am also enjoying volume 1 of Chateaubriand's Memoirs from Beyond the Grave in the new NYRB translation of the full work. He was a beautiful writer, a shameless but endearing narcissist, and a man who lived in a kind of inner dream world, forever conscious of the passing of time. I would recommend him for anyone who considers themselves 'conservative' in any way whatsoever.
I am also hoping to dip once more into Daibhi O Croinin's excellent Early Medieval Ireland 400-1200, a brilliantly written and engaging history. A book I can't recommend enough for getting to grips with that period.
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Post by cato on Dec 22, 2022 14:13:46 GMT
As ever at Christmas, I have grandiose reading plans that are already falling apart. I have started and am enjoying Gregory of Tours' History of the Franks. It is a glorious insight into early Christian France, filled with violence, dynastic in-fighting and the usual mayhem, written in a direct and refreshingly straightforward style. Also a good antidote against over-romanticising the dim and distant past. I am also enjoying volume 1 of Chateaubriand's Memoirs from Beyond the Grave in the new NYRB translation of the full work. He was a beautiful writer, a shameless but endearing narcissist, and a man who lived in a kind of inner dream world, forever conscious of the passing of time. I would recommend him for anyone who considers themselves 'conservative' in any way whatsoever. I am also hoping to dip once more into Daibhi O Croinin's excellent Early Medieval Ireland 400-1200, a brilliantly written and engaging history. A book I can't recommend enough for getting to grips with that period. 3 great books. I have all of them! I have never started Gregory to my shame and wandered away from Chateaubriand during the summer but I'll return shortly. O Croinin is an excellent overview of early Irish history . He published a second edition in the last few years which updates the original and incorporates other scholars work. It's a fascinating period of our national Civilisation and one that deserves to be better known.
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Post by Séamus on Dec 30, 2022 8:56:17 GMT
"for long it seemed to the Númenorians that they prospered and if they were not increased in happiness yet they grew more strong and their rich men even richer"
Sometimes it reads like kintsugi,the Japanese art of repairing broken ceramic with gold so that it looks neither broken nor fixed,but I'm grateful that the estate and editors of Tolkien decided to piece together The Fall of Númenor,a fable with perennial lessons for nations and societies. Like Dubliners (some Hugo experts would say his Notre Dame novel also) it's a book about a place or a people rather than a character or group of characters. From primeval happiness,the first cracks in the island's bliss may have occurred before Sauron arrived through the unhappy marriage and travel syndrome of, ironically,the particular heir to the Númenorian throne who was trying to combat the the same villain on a global scale.
Some sections were possibly inserted for the sake of shedding light on unanswered questions- the origin of the Palantir, the particular significance of two towers, why the elven rings were seemingly unharmful, possibly even an explanation to one of The Hobbit's more naive and undeveloped features- a talking bird being co-hero with the Bowman....two chapters of a more personal story are added as an appendix (not sure why they couldn't have been inserted into the rest of the story) a father strong and active in resistance to Sauron's influence over the last king of Númenor speaks to his more philosophical son. A pity that the author never finished that tale.
Yesterday's feast of Thomas Becket is a reminder of a lost period when there was a more United Christendom. A piece from a 13th century illumination that I saw reproduced in a book yesterday shows the bishop and King Henry gesticulating to each other,the king seemingly doing the talking;the fact that both primitively-drawn faces were identical is a reflection in itself- almost as if both men had equal resources to decide their destinies.
After Númenor is destroyed the resistance leaders escape to build civilization in Middle Earth,while Sauron leaves his beautiful form to become a dark shadow of existence. A lot of us today will witness the disappearance of structures that seemed timeless and necessary,the message of Becket survived a united Catholic Europe; JRR Tolkien's tale can also speak of a survival of what one stands for, after the destroying waves inevitably pass.
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Post by Séamus on Jan 19, 2023 3:37:40 GMT
"The Novus Ordo Missæ weakens the essential, sacrificial aspect of the Mass. This is most easily seen in the new Offertory Prayers,which are essentially prayers for the blessing of a meal , emptied of their proper sacrificial meaning" Bishop Athanasius Schneider
I've been reading Bishop Schneider's The Catholic Mass (2021) which,while it mostly reaffirms a lot of the critique we've often heard through the years,is still groundbreaking in a sense,coming as it does from a bishop in full union with Rome and having frontispiece endorsement from Cardinals Zen and Sarah. Being of German heritage,he makes more comparisons with Luther's writings,liturgy and general mentality than we may have seen before also.
I've only gone through a third so far,but the paragraph that contains the above quote hit me in particular because of the recent death of Cardinal Pell. He's perhaps not noted as a patron of art so much,but a well known reform of his for Sydney's Good Shepherd Seminary was the commissioning of a large bronze crucifix for the seminary chapel by a Victorian artist (Louis Lauman, who later made a Mary MacKillop for Sydney cathedral), specifically made to show a suffering Christ- the unusually placed feet are either the result of historical research or possibly based on the Shroud.
The irony is that as a cardinal-priest of Rome,His Eminence was given a millennial building as his patronal church- dedicated to St Mary Mazzarello (always good news that new churches are required in Rome as anywhere else of course)- which has instead of any crucifixion,or resurrection even, a Last Supper over the altar area, interesting in itself (the distressed-looking apostles seem to be dressed in 20th century suits,perhaps embodying the spirit of the moment in some way). I'm not aware of when,if ever, a cardinal of Rome visits his alloted patronage- in this case we see a prelate from a city stereotyped by its modern opera house moving from Sydney's St Mary's,one of the world's great gothic revival cathedrals (which among other things sports an amazing window dedicated to Irish saints) to one of ancient Rome's modern creations....and an obvious difference in mentality also.
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