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A Celebration of God's Grace
Good company and good discourse are the very sinews of virtue.
--Izaak Walton
The Compleat Angler
It is better to risk saving a guilty person than to condemn an innocent one.
--Voltaire
Zadig
Self is the only prison that can ever bind the soul.
--Henry van Dyke
The Prison and the Angel
The gentle minde by gentle deeds is knowne.
For a man (sic) by nothing is so well bewrayed,
As by his manners.
--Edmund Spenser
The Faerie Queene
Saints and Seasons A page for spiritual and liturgical meditation |
| Christmas and Christmastide (begins December 25, 2009)  Adoration of the Shepherds - Oil on canvas (1596-1600) by El GrecoAdoration of the Shepherds (detai) - Oil on canvas (1596-1600) by El Greco Adoration of the Shepherds - Oil on canvas (1570-1572) by El GrecoAdoration of the Shepherds - Oil on canvas (c. 1610) by El Greco Adoration of the Shepherds (detail) - Oil on canvas (c. 1614) by El Greco |
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Nativity – Wood (1452) by Petrus Christus  |
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| December 25 | Christmas DayJohn 1:1-14 - Incarnation essay  Greek Orthodox icon commemorating the Nativity of Our LordThis icon for the Sunday after Christmas portrays the holy family in a rural setting being visited by the Magi. Greek Orthodox icon commemorating the Nativity of Our LordThis icon for December 26 commemorates the Virgin and Child, St. Joseph, King David, and James the brother of Jesus in five commingled scenes. Greek Orthodox icon commemorating the Nativity of Our LordThis icon for the Nativity of Christ encompasses the prophets, angels, Magi and shepherds. All the characters of the story are gathered around the Holy Family. The Holy Family - Oil on canvas (c. 1585) by El GrecoThe Nativity - Oil on canvas (1603-1605) by El Greco |
| Madonna with Angels Playing Music – Panel (1390s) by Pere Serra |
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| December 26 | Feast of St. StephenLutheran and Episcopal essay; Greek Orthodox icon; Franciscan audio essay.The story of the first martyr of the church is told in Acts 6-7. He was a deacon, one elected to administer the community and care for the needy in the name of the community. He was an eloquent preacher and fiery in his condemnation of Temple sacrifice as the only means of being reconciled with God. He was stoned to death for his preaching. It was on December 26, the feast of Stephen when King Wenceslaus looked out, or so the song goes. The icon shows a young man in the golden robes of his heavenly reward for martyrdom holding the word of God in one hand and the incense censor of fragrant prayer in the other. St. Peter Consecrates Stephen as Deacon – Vatican Fresco (1447-1449) by Fra AngelicoDisputation of St. Stephen – Fresco (c. 1435) by Paolo Uccello Martyrdom of St. Stephen – Oil on canvas (17th c.) by Bernardo CavallinoGreek Orthodox icon Commemorating the Synaxis of the Holy Theotokos A synaxis is our coming together to glorify the subject of the commemoration, in this instance, the Mother of God. The icon portrays the Virgin Mary and her child, who has strangely adult features because it was his adult message, death and resurrection that transformed the world. |
| Birth of Jesus – Tempera on wood (1400-1450) by Ramon de Mur |
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| December 27 | ,h4 align="center">Feast of St. John the Apostle
Lutheran and Episcopal essay; Roman Catholic audio essay; Greek Orthodox icon. John, along with his brother James and Peter, formed an inner circle around Jesus among the Twelve. Their call to discipleship by Jesus illustrates an important Biblical principle, namely, that God calls and humans answer. The three were privileged to see several miracles, the Transfiguration and the agony in the garden. Most Western scholars do not believe he was the author of the Gospel or the Epistles. The symbol of John’s Gospel is the eagle, because of its soaring theology. St. John the Evangelist - Oil on canvas (1610-1614) by El GrecoSt. John Resting on Christ's Chest - Wood sculpture (c. 1320) by an Unknown German Master St. John the Evangelist – Stucco sculpture (1629) by Alessandro AlgardiSt. John the Evangelist – Tempera on wood (1320s) by Segna di Buonaventura |
| Nativity – Tempera on panel (c. 1325) by Taddeo Gaddi |
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| December 28 | Feast of the Holy InnocentsLutheran and Episcopal essay; Franciscan audio essay.This feast commemorates the dark side of the Christmas story. It is a story of Herod’s paranoia, of courageous flight by the Magi, of prophecy and fulfillment, and of the misuse of power against innocence. It is a story of the continued conflict between descendants of Esau and Jacob, and a reminder that for a second time God sent salvation for Israel from Egypt. Massacre of the Innocents – Marble sculpture (1301) by Giovanni PisanoMassacre of the Innocents– Panel (1565-1567) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder |
| The Holy Family with the Infant St. John the Baptist – Oil on canvas (c. 1610) by Caravaggio |
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| December 29 | Feast of St. Thomas Becket, 1170Episcopal essay; Roman Catholic audio essay.This saint was murdered in his cathedral for his defiance of King Henry II over a matter of which court (royal or ecclesiastical) had jurisdiction over an accused cleric. He is best known in modern times because of T.S. Eliot’s play, Murder in the Cathedral. |
| The Virgin Mary - Oil on canvas (1594-1604) by El Greco |
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| December 30 | Episcopal commemoration of Frances Joseph-Gaudet, Educator and Prison Reformer, 1934 This saint of African-American and Native American descent is remembered for an effective ministry in prison reform. She was instrumental in establishing the juvenile court system. Franciscan audio essay commemorating St. Egwin, 717 Egwin was enthusiastically popular with royalty and people because of protection of orphans and the widowed, and his fair judgments. Clergy, however, under his rule thought he was too strict, a view not upheld by the Pope. This Benedictine bishop founded one of the great monasteries of medieval England, Evesham Abbey. Roman Catholic audio essay commemorating St. John Francis Regis, 1640 Regis was so impressed by his Jesuit teachers that he joined their order. He was a gifted preacher able to reach the common people. He spent hours visiting prisons and hospitals. Though he longed to work as a missionary among Native Americans in Canada, he spent his entire ministry traveling throughout France converting many, reenergizing others, and organizing social services. |
| Adoration of the Shepherds – Tempera and gold on wood (c. 1383) by Bartolo di Fredi |
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| December 31 | Franciscan audio essay commemorating St. Sylvester I, 335 Little is known of this pope that is historical. Many of the things to his credit, such as the emergence of the Church from the catacombs and the building of great basilicas in Rome, were actually done by Emperor Constantine. We can guess that he was a strong and wise man; it would have taken that to maintain the Church’s independence under that particular Emperor. |
| The Shepherds Find Christ – Oil on canvas (1912) by Tibor Boromisza |
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| January 1 | Feast of the Holy Name of JesusLutheran and Episcopal essay; Greek Orthodox icon.Every Jewish boy was circumcised (and formally named) on the eighth day of his life. Part of the doctrine of the full humanity and full divinity of Christ is his acceptance of the normal traditions of the time and place in which he lived. By becoming incarnate, God thereby blessed the ordinary circumstances of human life. The story of the presentation in the Temple is told in the Gospels and the concept of the incarnation is elucidated in the Letter to the Hebrews. The icon portrays and adult Jesus holding a Bible in one hand and showing two fingers of the other signifying his dual nature. The naming of Jesus in the circumcision story is emphasized by Paul in Philippians 2:9 when he wrote that Christ Jesus was “the name that is above every name.” Adoration of the Name of Jesus - Oil on canvas (1578-1579) by El GrecoAdoration of the Name of Jesus - Oil on canvas (1601-1605) by Juan de las Roelas Greek Orthodox icon commemorating Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, 379 See January 2 for comments. Franciscan audio essay commemorating Mary, Mother of God The Roman Catholic commemoration of Mary during the Christmas season is an appropriate gesture because of Mary’s important role in the incarnation of God in Jesus. Theotokos, or Mother of God, is a term used at least by the 3rd or 4th centuries; to this day, they are used frequently in Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox liturgy and piety. This commemoration on the octave of Christmas, the arrival of the Prince of Peace, makes this a day of prayer for peace. MUSICAL ANNIVERSARIES TODAY: First performance of Bach’s Cantata No. 190 ”Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied”, 1724; First performance of Bach’s Cantata No. 41 ”Jesu, nun sei grepreiset”, 1725; First performance of Bach’s Cantata No. 16 ”Herr Gott, dich loben wir”, 1726; First performance of Bach’s Cantata No. 171 ”Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm”, 1729; First performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Part IV “Fallt mit Danken, fallt mit Loben”, 1735; Johann Christian Bach (German-English composer), d. 1782; Vassili Sergeievitch Kalinnikov (Russian composer), b. 1866; Hugo Leichtentritt (German musicologist & composer), b. 1874; Milt Jackson (American jazz vibraphone), 1923 |
| The Adoration of the Shepherds – Wood relief (1609-1613) by Juan Martinez Montañéz |
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| January 2 | Feast of Sts. Basil the Great & Gregory NazianzusRoman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Feast; Roman Catholic audio essay.Basil and Gregory were friends who defended the full divinity of Christ as it was stated in the Nicene Creed which they were instrumental in establishing. This was in opposition to great pressure to establish the denial of his divinity, and, thereby, of the doctrine of the Trinity by Arius. Their wording of the Creed is still in use by the Eastern Church today; the change made by the West in the 10th century was part of the division of the Church at that time. The icon on January 1st portrays Basil holding a Bible in one hand and making the sign of a Trinitarian blessing with the other. Lutheran commemoration of Johann Konrad Wilhelm Loehe, pastor, 1872 Loehe was considered theologically too conservative and politically too liberal for the Bavarian Lutheran hierarchy, so he was “banished” to a small parish out of the ecclesiastical mainstream. He is remembered for his sponsorship of German Lutheran emigrants to the American mid-west, and of Pastor Friedrich Wyneken who served the immigrants and helped form the Missouri Synod. Greek Orthodox icon commemorating the Forefeast of the Theophany of Our Lord This Greek forefeast looks forward to the baptism of Christ. The icon shows John baptizing him in the river while others look on. The dove is above Jesus’ head. MUSICAL ANNIVERSARIES TODAY: First performance of Bach’s Cantata No. 153 ”Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind”, 1724; First performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Part V ”Ehre sei dir, Gott, gesungen”, 1735; Johann Ludwig Krebs (German composer), d. 1780; Mily Alexeyevitch Balakerev (Russian composer), b. 1837; First performance of Wagner’s opera Der fliegende Holländer, 1843; Tito Schipa (Italian tenor), b. 1889; Sir Michael Tippett (British composer), b. 1905; Robert Elmore (American organist), b. 1913; Gardner Read (American composer), b. 1913; Karl Goldmark (Austro-Hungarian composer), d. 1915 |
| Adoration of the Shepherds – Panel (1482-85) by Domenico Ghirlandaio |
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| January 3 | Greek Orthodox commemoration of Malachi the Prophet. Click for a Roman Catholic perspective. Malachi is likely a pseudonym created because of the ringing indictment leveled against the priests and rulers in this period between the return from exile and the reforms instituted by Ezra and Nehemiah. The prophet railed against the abuses as illustrated by blemished sacrifices and indifference on the part of the people as illustrated by marriages with pagans. Roman Catholic audio commemoration of The Most Holy Name of Jesus See January 1 for comments. MUSICAL ANNIVERSARIES TODAY: First performance of Handel’s opera Faramondo, 1738; Baldassare Galuppi (Italian composer), d. 1785; First performance of Donizetti’s opera Don Pasquale, 1843; First performance of Tchaikovsky’s ballet Sleeping Beauty, 1890; Victor Borge (Danish pianist & humorist), b. 1909 |
| Holy Family – Terra cotta sculpture (1939) by Jenö Keréni |
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| January 4 | Franciscan audio essay commemorating St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1821 American-born Episcopalian Seton converted to Catholicism while caring for her dying husband in Italy. Back in the new nation, she founded the first American religious community for women and established orphanages and schools while raising her five children. MUSICAL ANNIVERSARIES TODAY: Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (Italian composer), b. 1710; Johann Friedrich Agricola (German composer), b. 1720; Grace Bumbry (American soprano), b. 1937 |
| The Holy Family – Oil on wood (c. 1512-1513) by Joos van Cleve |
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| January 5 | Lutheran commemoration of Kaj Munk, martyr, 1944 Kaj Munk was a playwright and parish priest in Denmark, who was murdered by the occupying Nazis. As a sign of defiance inspired by his courageous preaching, 4000 persons attended his funeral. The focus of his ministry was his faithfulness to the Christian faith and to his ordination vows. With regard to the former, he believed that every Christian is both the one the Good Samaritan aids and the Good Samaritan responding to human need, some of which was caused by the political tyranny of his day. His ordination vows required that he name the evil that oppressed God’s people. Roman Catholic audio essay commemorating St. John Neumann, 1860 Czech-born Neumann is the first American bishop to be canonized. His missionary work was in New York, Maryland, Virginia and Ohio. As bishop of Philadelphia, he made the parochial school system into a diocesan one. In addition to his preaching, spiritual writing and holiness, he is remembered for his extraordinary gift of organization. MUSICAL ANNIVERSARIES TODAY: First performance of Lully’s Isis, 1677; First performance of Bach’s Cantata No. 58 ”Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid” II, 1727; First performance of Handel’s opera Hercules, 1745; Peter Wolle (American composer), b. 1792; Frederick Converse (American composer), b. 1871; First performance of Gilbert & Sullivan’s operetta Princess Ida, 1884; Charles Mingus (American jazz composer & bassist), d. 1979 |