+JMJ
Praised be Jesus Christ! Greetings to you and your holy angels! Happy Easter to all!
Today I think I will rant. A rant about a need for sacred artists. No, I'm not talking about the ones that 'wreckovate' Churches or make God-awful sculptures and 'interpretive' images. I'm talking about making churches look like churches. Including sacred art and architecture that really leads one into a prayerful spirit. Brickwalls unadorned and huge aren't exactly prayer evoking. Neither are warehouses and buildings meant for other purposes. What happened in the world of sacred art? Seriously. I know that once we hit the 20th century we had Dada and surrealism, cubism and the whole lot. Even before that we had van Gogh and Cezanne shocking people with their 'scandalous' methods. Today we look at them and see no shock. We are used to it. I am not saying that modern art is bad or terrible. I am just saying that it really doesn't have a home in the church (and that is church with a little c, mind you). Sacred art should become sacred. I'd like to use the Eastern Church and their icons as an example. People are still writing these icons the same way they were back in the times of Byzantium. Very little has changed about it. These icons continue to adorn the Eastern churches, even in some very modern looking ones. These holy images are 'windows to heaven.' Sometimes, looking back, I find myself as more of a Poussinist. I believe that art should have a honorable and noteworthy subject. That is just me. I enjoy abstract art, I even do a little 'modern' art myself, but I do find that sacred art is a genre/style set apart from all these styles of our modern age. Images of the Baroque evoke some of the same emotions and passions, and I would say far more than some images done in an abstracted or stylized manner. Why? It could be because they are spelled out before us dramatically. It is life-like, something we can see actually happening. The images become real. These are no longer just events in 'some ancient book'. No. They are real things that happened to real people. Put Jesus in all time. Not just this time, but eternally. And, no, I don't mean futuristic or aliens by this. You can show Jesus with people of our time, ordinary people. I find the lack of real sacred art and sacred architecture a real travesty in today's churches, but it is also a relief that it is returning in some newly built churches. So long styles of the 60s! See-ya 70's! Adios 80's! Welcome Jesus Christ! May You be praised everywhere always! Eternal Lord, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God Forever and Ever.
The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.
-Michelangelo
Where the spirit does not work with the hand there is no art.
-Leonardo DaVinci
4.21.2006
4.10.2006
..::Blessed Be God::..
+JMJ
Praised be Jesus Christ! Greetings to you and your holy angels! Holy Week is upon us again, but not as a thick, suffocating depression, but as hope, because we know that after Good Friday comes the Glorious Resurrection on Easter Sunday! It is also the last ditch effort with our Lenten promises, seeing as Lent ends officially Holy Thursday. It is also a time not to let our guard down either. The Evil One knows what kinds of graces and blessings are waiting for us this Holy Week. He does not want us to grow closer, but widen the gap and increase our inner turmoil. Listen not to the voice of the evil one or the flesh, nor the world. Listen only to the voice of Christ speaking in your heart! Pray that you may hear His voice. Pray to the Blessed Mother! Pray to the Angels! Pray to the Saints! All of them more than happy to assist you! Be in constant prayerful vigil these days, even more than you should be on all other days.
Pray also that you might learn to love God more and more these days. Love the Lord with everything you are and with everything you do! Let not a moment be wasted on idle earthly things with the treasures and graces are always there to meditate on! This week, meditate most passionately on the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is in Him where all our love, all our wants, and all our treasures are.
Remember also, as you gather in graces and blessings to remember the Church Suffering. Pray that they may speedily be purged and able to enter the glory of heaven and the ranks of the Church Triumphant, where they will always be willing to pray for you and intercede for you in return for your help to them.
I know that there are many that are so glad that Easter is so close, and rightfully glad! But I know also that there are many still in pain, and not of their own accord. Remember them also. Offer up your happiness for those who have nothing to be happy about. Offer up your joys to those with only sorrow. When you are in sorrow and pain, remember how courageously and most beautifully Our Lord endured the sufferings of His death, and not because He rightly deserved that punishment. No. We are the sinners. We are the ones who should have been suffering with such terrible agony. But our God is a most merciful God and has such a great and immense love for us, that He would rather sacrifice Himself that we would be saved. He took on the curse that the Israelites had took upon themselves when the covenant was broken. He did not want His people to be a cursed people. No, His people where to be blessed and free. In this, He died, redeeming not only the Israelites, His chosen people, but redeeming the world, including all the children of the world, all made in His image.
The Son of Man crucified is our hope, joy, and consolation. He is our everything. He gives so much to us. He has given us everything! Even unto giving Himself to us everyday in Holy Communion. How much more can we do to repay Him, but it will never be enough. It seems all we can do is but a little speck in the universe. But He will love us always, and is greatly pleased when we do His Will, and do our best to please Him and to love Him. On this note, I wish to share a prayer for after receiving Holy Communion:
What Shall I Give Thee?
I have received into my heart, Jesus Christ, His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity! I begin this day as a day in Heaven. He is in my soul: The Divine Infant in the crib, the growing Boy at Nazareth, the Apostle acclaimed by crowds on the roads of Galilee, the Miracle Worker Who performed such prodigies, the Martyr Who completed His Sacrifice on Calvary.
He is in me. What more can I desire when I possess Jesus?
And now, O Good Master, what shall I give to Thee in exchange for Thy visit? I would like to give Thee a soul all sparkling with purity and sincerity, but mine is afflicted with so many miseries!
I would like to pray to Thee with the burning words of Thy Mother and her court in Heaven, but I feel riveted to earthly things.
I would like to offer Thee courageous loyalty to my Baptismal Vows and Confirmation Graces, but, alas, I have so often been disloyal.
I would like, at least, to have a desire for the Christian life, but I allow myself to be discouraged by my failures.
O good Jesus! I have nothing to give Thee and Thou hast given Everything: Thou hast given Thyself to me. I can only join my poor voice in the chorus of praise to Thee, rising out of all the works of Thy creation here on earth:
With the majesty of the mountains, the immensity of the desert, the roar of the ocean, the fury of the storm, I shall praise Thy Power!
With the flowers of the field, the colors of the rainbow, the whiteness of the snow, the blue of the skies, I shall praise Thy Beauty!
With the fruits of the earth, the air I breathe, the light I see, the life I enjoy, I shall praise Thy Goodness!
With the splendor of the stars, the rays of the sun, the moon's pale light, the depths of space, I shall praise Thy Immensity!
With six billion people now living on earth, I shall praise Thy Mercy!
May our voices unite with the billions of those who inhabited the earth before us, and out of whose dust the beauty of nature perpetually rises to praise Thy Glory!
May an infinite concert of voices from cottages and palaces, from fields and forests, from towns and deserts, from workshops and cathedrals, from earth and from heaven, from time and from eternity, arise to give my thanks unto Thee!
Amen.
Praise God Always and Be Holy.
Praised be Jesus Christ! Greetings to you and your holy angels! Holy Week is upon us again, but not as a thick, suffocating depression, but as hope, because we know that after Good Friday comes the Glorious Resurrection on Easter Sunday! It is also the last ditch effort with our Lenten promises, seeing as Lent ends officially Holy Thursday. It is also a time not to let our guard down either. The Evil One knows what kinds of graces and blessings are waiting for us this Holy Week. He does not want us to grow closer, but widen the gap and increase our inner turmoil. Listen not to the voice of the evil one or the flesh, nor the world. Listen only to the voice of Christ speaking in your heart! Pray that you may hear His voice. Pray to the Blessed Mother! Pray to the Angels! Pray to the Saints! All of them more than happy to assist you! Be in constant prayerful vigil these days, even more than you should be on all other days.
Pray also that you might learn to love God more and more these days. Love the Lord with everything you are and with everything you do! Let not a moment be wasted on idle earthly things with the treasures and graces are always there to meditate on! This week, meditate most passionately on the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is in Him where all our love, all our wants, and all our treasures are.
Remember also, as you gather in graces and blessings to remember the Church Suffering. Pray that they may speedily be purged and able to enter the glory of heaven and the ranks of the Church Triumphant, where they will always be willing to pray for you and intercede for you in return for your help to them.
I know that there are many that are so glad that Easter is so close, and rightfully glad! But I know also that there are many still in pain, and not of their own accord. Remember them also. Offer up your happiness for those who have nothing to be happy about. Offer up your joys to those with only sorrow. When you are in sorrow and pain, remember how courageously and most beautifully Our Lord endured the sufferings of His death, and not because He rightly deserved that punishment. No. We are the sinners. We are the ones who should have been suffering with such terrible agony. But our God is a most merciful God and has such a great and immense love for us, that He would rather sacrifice Himself that we would be saved. He took on the curse that the Israelites had took upon themselves when the covenant was broken. He did not want His people to be a cursed people. No, His people where to be blessed and free. In this, He died, redeeming not only the Israelites, His chosen people, but redeeming the world, including all the children of the world, all made in His image.
The Son of Man crucified is our hope, joy, and consolation. He is our everything. He gives so much to us. He has given us everything! Even unto giving Himself to us everyday in Holy Communion. How much more can we do to repay Him, but it will never be enough. It seems all we can do is but a little speck in the universe. But He will love us always, and is greatly pleased when we do His Will, and do our best to please Him and to love Him. On this note, I wish to share a prayer for after receiving Holy Communion:
What Shall I Give Thee?
I have received into my heart, Jesus Christ, His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity! I begin this day as a day in Heaven. He is in my soul: The Divine Infant in the crib, the growing Boy at Nazareth, the Apostle acclaimed by crowds on the roads of Galilee, the Miracle Worker Who performed such prodigies, the Martyr Who completed His Sacrifice on Calvary.
He is in me. What more can I desire when I possess Jesus?
And now, O Good Master, what shall I give to Thee in exchange for Thy visit? I would like to give Thee a soul all sparkling with purity and sincerity, but mine is afflicted with so many miseries!
I would like to pray to Thee with the burning words of Thy Mother and her court in Heaven, but I feel riveted to earthly things.
I would like to offer Thee courageous loyalty to my Baptismal Vows and Confirmation Graces, but, alas, I have so often been disloyal.
I would like, at least, to have a desire for the Christian life, but I allow myself to be discouraged by my failures.
O good Jesus! I have nothing to give Thee and Thou hast given Everything: Thou hast given Thyself to me. I can only join my poor voice in the chorus of praise to Thee, rising out of all the works of Thy creation here on earth:
With the majesty of the mountains, the immensity of the desert, the roar of the ocean, the fury of the storm, I shall praise Thy Power!
With the flowers of the field, the colors of the rainbow, the whiteness of the snow, the blue of the skies, I shall praise Thy Beauty!
With the fruits of the earth, the air I breathe, the light I see, the life I enjoy, I shall praise Thy Goodness!
With the splendor of the stars, the rays of the sun, the moon's pale light, the depths of space, I shall praise Thy Immensity!
With six billion people now living on earth, I shall praise Thy Mercy!
May our voices unite with the billions of those who inhabited the earth before us, and out of whose dust the beauty of nature perpetually rises to praise Thy Glory!
May an infinite concert of voices from cottages and palaces, from fields and forests, from towns and deserts, from workshops and cathedrals, from earth and from heaven, from time and from eternity, arise to give my thanks unto Thee!
Amen.
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