An Ancient Holy Saturday Homily

"The Lord descends into hell

"Something strange is happening — there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and Hell trembles with fear. He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, He who is both God and the Son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the Cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone, ‘My Lord be with you all.’ Christ answered him: ‘And with your spirit.’ He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.’

"I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in Hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I in you; together we form one person and cannot be separated.

"For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

"See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

"I slept on the Cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in Paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in Hell. The sword that pierced Me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

"Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly Paradise. I will not restore you to that Paradise, but will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The Bridal Chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The Kingdom of Heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity."

From The Liturgy of the Hours, II, Lenten and Easter Seasons (New York: Catholic Book Publishers Corp. 1976), 496-498.

Happy birthday, Arturo Toscanini

Acclaimed conductor Arturo Toscanini was born March 25, 1867! I read somewhere that his famous temper began early in his career, where he had to get mediocre orchestras in shape quickly. He premiered some well-known operas, like Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” and Puccini’s “La Bohème,” “La Fanciulla del West,” and “Turandot.” Earlier, he played cello at the premiere of Verdi's "Otello". He became additionally famous as the first music director of the NBC Symphony Orchestra (1937–1954). I have an old LP set of his "Falstaff," which I should listen to again soon! When I was first learning about classical music in the 1980s, it was interesting to read about the contrasts between Toscanini's style and that of Wilhelm Furtwängler. 

Happy birthday, Joseph Campbell

Born March 26, 1904, Joseph Campbell taught comparative mythology and comparative religion, and wrote notable works like "The Hero with a Thousand Faces." George Lucas acknowledged the book's influence. When Campbell died in 1987, he had recently completed a series of interviews with Bill Moyers, "The Power of Myth." That was the year when Beth and I moved to Flagstaff to teach at Northern Arizona University. I was an all-but-dissertation instructor, teaching world religions for the first time. The interviews were so helpful as I got my bearings in the subject, which happily turned into a specialty. It's heartwarming to remember those years and Campbell's words.  

Happy birthday, Pierre Boulez

One of the major figures of post-war classical music, composer and conductor Pierre Boulez was born March 26, 1925! He was known for his polemical ideas in music, for instance, "any musician who has not experienced‍—‌I do not say understood, but truly experienced‍—‌the necessity of dodecaphonic music is USELESS. For his whole work is irrelevant to the needs of his epoch." I always think of him because of his recording of Wagner's "Ring" cycle, which was broadcast on PBS in the 1980s--when Beth and I were dating!  

Copied under fair use principles. 

Anniversary of the Siege of Veracruz

I've been writing lately about the Siege of Veracruz, a significant battle in the Mexican-American War. As this says, the U.S. army made an amphibious landing from the Gulf, under the command of General Winfield Scott. The 12,000 American troops soon moved on the city of Veracruz, not only to secure a key port city but also to clear a way for an advance toward Mexico City. The siege was happening 177 years ago right now: March 9-29, 1847. The city surrendered on March 29, which happened to be Monday of Holy Week. So it was doubly sad when American troops discovered, in one church, that American artillery had blown the head off Jesus. My great-great-grandfather Josiah Williams (the father of Mom's paternal grandma) was one of the American troops. Back home in Fayette County, Illinois, his mother was dying and did die on Holy Tuesday, March 30th. They're buried at the Pilcher Cemetery near Brownstown. Josiah didn't know about his mother; telegraphy was still new, and the mails took weeks. It's a sad family story against the backdrop of American Manifest Destiny..... But it's also cool that Commodore Matthew Perry was present in the Gulf with one of his big ships, the USS Mississippi, which he later used when he "opened" Japan. 

https://www.historycentral.com/mexican/veracruz.html?fbclid=IwAR17XTfbNwI2unglTTyZQUaqg0ryPbanwAWr0VI7jqmFZP5BN0mvSKuVATo_aem_AVXKxKIA8HMEVWetnpLdRBsN34D0no8rZ8CmeH8WNLpWl-RtFQ90rrp1YRWvgvAXMVawDR9D5l98AYzeZPmeQ20v

Happy birthday, Vincent!

Vincent van Gogh was born 171 years ago today. This is his only photograph, taken when he was 19 in 1873. No other photos purported to be of him are authenticated. According to the Van Gogh Museum's website, the artist felt that photographs "lacked life," and so all the other pictures of him are his self-portraits.

The first painting is one of his earliest self-portraits (from the fall of 1886) and the first in which he depicts himself as an artist. Historians disagree which of the other two paintings was his last self-portrait. The first painting is in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. The second painting sold to a private collector for $71.5 million in 1998. The third painting is in the Musee d'Orsay. He painted nearly 900 oil paintings in his brief life, including 40 self-portraits..... Poor van Gogh, broke and suffering from mental illness, never knew the love and interest that his works would inspire. The way mental illness works, though, he may very well have disbelieved it.

(All four pictures are copied here under fair use principles.) 

Cuthbert of Lindisfarne

March 20 is the feast day of Cuthbert of Lindisfarne (c. 634 – 687). He was a monk, bishop, and (later in life) a hermit. His history is linked to the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of Northumbria. He was buried at Lindisfarne Priory, where his tomb became a popular place of pilgrimage, with miracles reported from visits to his grave. When his body was viewed in 1104, it was found to be perfectly preserved. Cuthbert is also associated with the Lindisfarne Gospels, an illuminated manuscript of Celtic illustration and calligraphy.