The late 19th century French composer Camille Saint-Saens produced a marvelous piece for violin and orchestra titled “Danse Macabre.” It has ghostly sounds in it, as well as the imitation of skeletons dancing.
Later on, he would write an orchestral piece called “Carnival of the Animals.” In it he mimics the sounds of all kinds of characters found in nature: lions, donkeys, swans, tortoises, elephants… It is a delight. One ‘character,’ though is named “Old Fossils.” Here Saint-Saens has fun with himself. He takes a theme from his “Danse Macabre” (the one imitating a skeleton dancing) and plays it as if on a ‘xylophone’ made of the rib-cage of a dinosaur (an ‘old fossil’—get it?).
In a Halloween spirit, then, I offer a performance (slightly edited) of “Danse Macabre.” See if and where you discover the ghosts and skeletons.
And for good measure, here is the section "Fossils" from "Carnival of the Animals," with the additional Ogden Nash verses declaimed with remarkable aplomb by Sir Roger Moore.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
ALL SOULS’ DAY: DIA DE LOS MUERTOS…
Let’s try to ignore the nonsense that suggests Halloween is an invention of the Catholic Church to promote demon worship. Let’s consider instead respect for those “who have gone before us, marked with the sign of Faith…” (as Eucharistic Prayer #1 puts it).
An ancient custom of respect for the dead can be seen in the practice of the Roman refrigerium. It was a banquet held on the anniversary of the day of departure of the deceased, and it was one to which the deceased was invited and thought to participate. One way of their taking part was by means of a tube from ground-level to that of the coffin—in this pipe was poured a libation of wine. Prayers were then offered and a meal was enjoyed.
Can you see the small step from this custom to that of honoring the martyrs at their tombs on the anniversaries of their ‘birth into eternal life’? Can you see how the annual refrigerium could easily have led to a commemorative celebration of Eucharist for a martyr (and in times of persecution fortunately be mistaken for a refrigerium? Can you see how needing to celebrate at/on the tomb of the martyr would lead to the placing of a relic in all altars where the Eucharist would be celebrated?
A famous Latin epitaph declares: Quod fuimus, estis; quod sumus, vos eritis [“What we were, you now are; what we are, you will be.”] It’s a reminder of our own mortality. And insofar as we believe the passage from physical to eternal life parallels that from pre-natal existence to birth, then we can salute those who have gone before us and ask them, if possible, to ‘pave the way’ for us.
For myself, my family in Chicago never celebrated Nov. 2 in a special way: once my brother, only 6 months old, died, every Sunday after Mass we made a visit to the cemetery, to place flowers, to trim up a bit, and to offer prayers, always concluding (with our conviction that as an innocent he was in eternal bliss)—“Little Paulie, pray for us.” My own “Day of the Dead” takes place in the summer when I’m able to get back up to Chicago to perform the same rituals of love at the graves of my grandparents, my parents, and my baby brother.
They are gone on a journey, and we here know nothing (in the empirical sense) about it. Our Faith tells us what the destination is, but we still know nothing of the voyage. And so we remember. And we celebrate. And we pray, as we do again in Eucharistic Prayer #1, that they will be in locum refrigerii, lucis et pacis [in a place of refreshment/refrigerium, light and peace].
If some folks want to call this voodoo, pagan or demon-worship, so be it. But I don’t think it is. And I don’t think you, either…
Thursday, October 29, 2009
SAINTS AND SINNERS...
A man who arranged for Christians to be executed… --became a preacher
A man who fathered a child by a live-in companion… --became a bishop
A man who lusted for glory in battle and the conquests of women… --founded a religious order
A man whose military ego was so great he refused to surrender a castle when greatly outnumbered… --founded a religious order
A man whose goal as a priest was to be chaplain to the aristocracy and live in wealth & comfort…
--founded a religious order
A prostitute… --became a nun
These are some of the heroes we celebrate on the Solemnity of All Saints, this year occurring on “fall back” Sunday. You might have some fun guessing who these folk are—some are obvious, and others are less so.
Do we think we are fit more for the commemoration of all the dead (All Souls Day) on Monday? Perhaps we do. Perhaps others who actually belong in the ‘communion of saints’ are some we would have thought could not ‘pass muster.’ At the end of his most recent book, Have a Little Faith, Mitch Albom has a character make the following comment, in the course of a conversation about a reformed addict now an inner-city preacher:
“…maybe he ain’t the way you think a pastor should be.
…But it’s not me against the other guy. It’s God measuring you against you.
Maybe all you get are chances to do good, and what little bad you do ain’t much bad at all. But because God has put you in the position where you can always do good, when you do something bad—it’s like you let God down.
And maybe people who only get chances to do bad, always around bad things, like us, when they finally make something good of it, God’s happy.”
And what was preacher Henry saying that made such an impact?
“When [people from back when who knew me] hear I’m the pastor of a church, all of a sudden, it’s like ‘I know you gettin’ paid, boy…I know you.’ …’No,’ I say. ‘You knew me. …you don’t know the person that I’m trying to become. …’You are not your past!’”
If we can believe these excerpts, then we can become saints, too. What good do we have a chance to do? What past would we like to escape and grow from? The folks at the beginning of this post did this; why not us?
If we say YES to Jesus, we’ll not have it easy, but we’ll be on the right path. Like the sign in front of a church said: “When the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of your future.”
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
“BUT OF THAT DAY AND HOUR, NO ONE KNOWS…”
Everyone reading this particular verse from chapter 13 of St. Mark’s Gospel understands this to mean a reference to the End. Probably it is. But let me offer an alternative interpretation.
The depictions of the Crucifixion and Descent from the Cross in the early 14th century by artists like Giotto, the Lorenzetti brothers, and Cimabue (most of these highlighted in the “Lower Basilica” of San Francesco in Assisi, though more of Giotto’s are also in the “Arena Chapel” in Padua) show angels lamenting the sufferings and death of their Lord. Their sorrows are extraordinary, especially in the works by Cimabue and Pietro Lorenzetti. But why should they so lament, if the Lord was to rise again in three days? This is more than sorrow for the suffering; it is a hint that they did not know the future. [I owe this insight to Sr. Wendy Beckett.]
Where might these artists have come to such theological conclusions (if indeed they were their conclusions)? Perhaps it was from the sense shown us by some of the greatest theologians of the first centuries of the Church.
They suggested that the Incarnation and the Atonement were able to be “pulled off,” so to speak, because of the tremendous secret God kept hidden until the proper moment. From St. Ignatius of Antioch forward, this idea of the “hidden counsels of God” had great attraction. The notion was that if Satan had known what would happen to his realm after the Crucifixion, he would never have labored to see the Son of God slain. Melito of Sardis is especially attractive on this point in his celebrated “Homily on the Pasch.” In effect, Christ says to those ‘spirits and souls of the just’—“I made it; I’m here! Let’s go—the bars are smashed, the gates are open—we’re going home!” And if this is the case with the Atonement, then all the more would the devil have been dismayed by the fact of the Incarnation—another “well-kept secret,” according to St. Ignatius of Antioch. For after all, this was the beginning of the End, for him.
What an incredible thought—the ultimate “surprise re-birthday party” for us! And so, the words of Jesus quoted above refer to the end, after all: but a joyous beginning for us.
The depictions of the Crucifixion and Descent from the Cross in the early 14th century by artists like Giotto, the Lorenzetti brothers, and Cimabue (most of these highlighted in the “Lower Basilica” of San Francesco in Assisi, though more of Giotto’s are also in the “Arena Chapel” in Padua) show angels lamenting the sufferings and death of their Lord. Their sorrows are extraordinary, especially in the works by Cimabue and Pietro Lorenzetti. But why should they so lament, if the Lord was to rise again in three days? This is more than sorrow for the suffering; it is a hint that they did not know the future. [I owe this insight to Sr. Wendy Beckett.]
Where might these artists have come to such theological conclusions (if indeed they were their conclusions)? Perhaps it was from the sense shown us by some of the greatest theologians of the first centuries of the Church.
They suggested that the Incarnation and the Atonement were able to be “pulled off,” so to speak, because of the tremendous secret God kept hidden until the proper moment. From St. Ignatius of Antioch forward, this idea of the “hidden counsels of God” had great attraction. The notion was that if Satan had known what would happen to his realm after the Crucifixion, he would never have labored to see the Son of God slain. Melito of Sardis is especially attractive on this point in his celebrated “Homily on the Pasch.” In effect, Christ says to those ‘spirits and souls of the just’—“I made it; I’m here! Let’s go—the bars are smashed, the gates are open—we’re going home!” And if this is the case with the Atonement, then all the more would the devil have been dismayed by the fact of the Incarnation—another “well-kept secret,” according to St. Ignatius of Antioch. For after all, this was the beginning of the End, for him.
What an incredible thought—the ultimate “surprise re-birthday party” for us! And so, the words of Jesus quoted above refer to the end, after all: but a joyous beginning for us.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
SPEAKING OF HOPELESS CASES…
St. Jude as we all know is the patron of “hopeless cases.” It’s interesting that the eve of his feast, and the feast itself, contained an historical “hopeless case” that worked out.
In the year 312, outnumbered 4 to 1, the army of Constantine camped some miles north of Rome. Wondering what to do and how things would turn out, he had a vision on the 27th of October, repeated that night in a dream: the appearance of a Chi-Rho emblem in the sun, with the words (in Greek) en tautô nika (we are perhaps more familiar with it in its Latin form, In hoc signo vinces).
The next day, the 28th, even though out-numbered, Constantine’s army won a victory over his rival, Maxentius; the battle of Saxa Ruba is better known to us today as the battle of the Milvian Bridge.
Needless to say, it was a turning point in western history. It led to the legalization of Christianity (and all other cults), granting freedom of worship. It led to the Council of Nicaea, summoned by Constantine and presided by him (even though he was not yet baptized!) to resolve the theological issue of the nature of the person of Christ. It led to the building of the new capital of the Eastern Empire, Constantinople (leaving the Bishop of Rome de facto in charge of the Western Empire). It led to the building of the great basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Paul’s, St. Peter’s, and San Lorenzo in Rome, as well as the basilica of the Incarnation in Bethlehem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
All this, because a man chose to believe a vision.
In the year 312, outnumbered 4 to 1, the army of Constantine camped some miles north of Rome. Wondering what to do and how things would turn out, he had a vision on the 27th of October, repeated that night in a dream: the appearance of a Chi-Rho emblem in the sun, with the words (in Greek) en tautô nika (we are perhaps more familiar with it in its Latin form, In hoc signo vinces).
The next day, the 28th, even though out-numbered, Constantine’s army won a victory over his rival, Maxentius; the battle of Saxa Ruba is better known to us today as the battle of the Milvian Bridge.
Needless to say, it was a turning point in western history. It led to the legalization of Christianity (and all other cults), granting freedom of worship. It led to the Council of Nicaea, summoned by Constantine and presided by him (even though he was not yet baptized!) to resolve the theological issue of the nature of the person of Christ. It led to the building of the new capital of the Eastern Empire, Constantinople (leaving the Bishop of Rome de facto in charge of the Western Empire). It led to the building of the great basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Paul’s, St. Peter’s, and San Lorenzo in Rome, as well as the basilica of the Incarnation in Bethlehem and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
All this, because a man chose to believe a vision.
SAINTS SIMON AND JUDE
Of all the Twelve Apostles, of which ones do we know anything about their post-Resurrection careers as preachers? This means basically the New Testament excluding the Gospels. The answer: Peter, James and John. Of Apostles like Thomas or Philip or Andrew or Matthew, we have stories in the Gospels in which they are ‘featured,’ but beyond that we have nothing.
Think, too, of those of the Twelve of whom we know nothing beyond their names even taking the Gospels into account—of these, surely Simon and Jude must be included. Jude asks a question in the ‘Farewell Discourse’ of the Fourth Gospel; Simon is said to have been “a Zealot.” That’s it.
Think, too, of those of the Twelve of whom we know nothing beyond their names even taking the Gospels into account—of these, surely Simon and Jude must be included. Jude asks a question in the ‘Farewell Discourse’ of the Fourth Gospel; Simon is said to have been “a Zealot.” That’s it.
Yet the remembrance of “The Twelve” was so important and so powerful in the early Christian mind that we cannot do without them. Paul refers to them collectively (I Corinthians 15:5) as having seen the risen Lord; and the numerological symbolism of the “twelve” in the Book of Revelation clearly refers to the Apostles as a kind of fulfillment of the Twelve Tribes of Israel (even as Jesus is described as thinking—Matthew 19:28).
So a person can be critically important and at the same time unremembered in any specific way. Does this disappoint us, or does it offer us a consolation in our own faith-walk?
We don’t have to be celebrated or famous in order to be important as active members of the Body of Christ. We have to ‘bloom where we are planted,’ and bloom with whatever blossoms (or seeds, or fruits, or grains) are our nature. What matters simply is our fidelity
In our Journeysongs we have the hymn “God, We Praise You” (sung to the wonderful melody called Nettleton). Its second verse contains the lines True apostles, faithful prophets/ Saints who set their world ablaze/ Martyrs, once unknown, unheeded/ Join one growing song of praise. How sad to think of anyone offering his or her life for our Lord, then being “unknown, unheeded”! Yet if that martyr is in fact taking part in the “one growing song of praise” around the heavenly throne, who cares?
In the long run, we all have one destiny—to be remembered by the One who can never forget. Everything else is small potatoes. Thank you, Ss. Simon and Jude, for being patrons of the “unknown, unheeded” yet important ones who follow the Lord in life and death: quietly, anonymously, humbly, truly.
So a person can be critically important and at the same time unremembered in any specific way. Does this disappoint us, or does it offer us a consolation in our own faith-walk?
We don’t have to be celebrated or famous in order to be important as active members of the Body of Christ. We have to ‘bloom where we are planted,’ and bloom with whatever blossoms (or seeds, or fruits, or grains) are our nature. What matters simply is our fidelity
In our Journeysongs we have the hymn “God, We Praise You” (sung to the wonderful melody called Nettleton). Its second verse contains the lines True apostles, faithful prophets/ Saints who set their world ablaze/ Martyrs, once unknown, unheeded/ Join one growing song of praise. How sad to think of anyone offering his or her life for our Lord, then being “unknown, unheeded”! Yet if that martyr is in fact taking part in the “one growing song of praise” around the heavenly throne, who cares?
In the long run, we all have one destiny—to be remembered by the One who can never forget. Everything else is small potatoes. Thank you, Ss. Simon and Jude, for being patrons of the “unknown, unheeded” yet important ones who follow the Lord in life and death: quietly, anonymously, humbly, truly.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
TRUTH IN REPORTING
I have just examined perhaps 8 on-line reports on Scott Lee Zulfer, who has pleaded guilty to 69 counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and 11 additional charges of ongoing sexual abuse over a 3 year period. He has been sentenced to 80 life sentences. The man is from Texas.
I have recounted virtually all I can learn about this case from reading the on-line reports.
Now, should I conclude that Mr. Zulfer, as a Texan, has exhibited behavior "typical of Texans"? If I could learn his trade or place of employment (no article I read mentioned this), would I be justified in thinking that all such employees are likely also child abusers?
Is there a reason why this is not on front pages of news services across the country?
If the perpetrator were a Catholic priest, where and how would this reporting have been done?
I have recounted virtually all I can learn about this case from reading the on-line reports.
Now, should I conclude that Mr. Zulfer, as a Texan, has exhibited behavior "typical of Texans"? If I could learn his trade or place of employment (no article I read mentioned this), would I be justified in thinking that all such employees are likely also child abusers?
Is there a reason why this is not on front pages of news services across the country?
If the perpetrator were a Catholic priest, where and how would this reporting have been done?
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