Caryatids

Caryatids, Prague.

I'm painting a large icon.

Praying, fasting, praying, painting.  I'm not writing it.  I'm painting.  After an ancient prototype - which was also painted.  Classical Greek painting.  But I digress.

I just painted a couple of caryatids atop the columns of the aedicule framing Our Lady in the Annunciation icon I'm working on.  The architecture will require some ornament, so I've been looking at classical Greek designs to steep myself in the culture, as it were.  I then spent a lot of time looking at really cool profane designs from antiquity to our day.  An example of modern architecture from Prague shown atop.

Anyway.  Below are some ancient Greek designs decorating urns and plates.  Nothing to do with the icon I'm doing, but wonderful iconography nonetheless.

I love the nimbus.

Mary Tyler Moore

December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017

She made Minneapolis famous.

May she rest in peace.

This is nuts ... Paris Fashion

Pour homme.

-source-

Another thing I stopped following.

I saw it first on Drudge - Vetements 2017 Fall Collection.  It's insane.  And totally ugly.

What to wear for a gala ... pour femme ...

front

rear

Snow in Minneapolis ...

I may be losing interest in being online ... you know ... like blogging and reading stuff.

Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well,
When our deep plots do pall: and that should teach us
There's a divinity that shapes our ends ...

I'm available for speaking engagements.

I ran across that announcement on a blog post or Facebook post not too long ago.  I can't remember where, but if it was 'you' reading this, please don't be offended by this post.

I thought, "Really?"  Who are you?  Why would anyone be interested in what you have to say?  (That question can be put to any of us with a blog.)  Granted, some people are experts in their field and their advice columns are part of their job, so to speak, but that's not what I'm talking about here.  I'm talking about those 'other' people looking for success and stardom through self-promotion.

I think 'experts' online, gurus, advice columnists, apologists on the parish-speaker circuit,  may have a lot in common with locutionists and mystics.  I say this by way of introduction to an interesting article I happened upon today when I got online... 'confessions of a self help guru'.

Actually, the article is titled, I was a self help guru. Here's why you shouldn't listen to people like me.

 It's a good read and may be helpful for people online who depend upon strangers for advice and direction.  It may be even more helpful for those who think they can direct and guide people with their advice based upon some sort of conversion experience or mystical insight, even though they need just as much help and direction as those they wish to counsel.  Some people online even want to tell others how to think and what to think - and they want to get paid for doing so.

The self-help circuit is basically a business, as is the apologetics circuit.  It's a business.  Fundraising is a business.  There is training for people who want to do that.  There are professional spiritual directors who charge - just like a psychiatrist or a doctor.  They have a degree - so they need to make a living.  Nothing wrong with that ... I suppose.

I knew of a layman who was a professional spiritual director who wanted to help a woman under his direction in sexual matters.  It turns out he needed more help than she did - after the lawsuit.

Just thinking out loud here.

There's many a bestseller that could have been prevented by a good teacher. - Flannery O'Connor

This young apologist once had anger issues

and now does speaking engagements on 

the sanctifying effects of righteous anger.

It's going to be interesting ...

So ... One prophecy bites the dust - but the good news is there are 'alternative facts' from other locutores to follow - if you're interested.

"I don't know what it is."

Locutions abound.

I'm just being facetious, kinda-sorta, but yesterday I followed a couple of links on Facebook and found another set of locutions about this and that ... one even with ecclesial approval.

So anyway.  I'm played out on the subject, not to mention the election-inaugural-protests-fakenews stuff.

That said, I did want to do a follow up post on why we often get prophecy wrong ...

Redux.

Visions and locutions, even though from God, can mislead us.

St. John of the Cross in Chapter 19 of the Ascent lays out proof from Scripture on how this can be, for the sake of brevity, I will only high light a few passages to help explain the dangers and misunderstandings locutions can and do generate.

"We mentioned the two reason why, although God's visions and locutions are true and certain in themselves, they are not always so for us. The first reason is because of our defective manner of understanding them, and the second because their basic causes are sometimes variable.

Clearly in regard to the first, not all revelations turn out according to the literal meaning. The cause is that, since God is immense and profound, he usually embodies in his prophecies, locutions, and revelations other ways, concepts, and ideas remarkably different from the meaning we generally find in them. And the surer and more truthful they are, the less they seem so to us.

We behold this frequently in Scripture. With a number of the ancients, many of God's prophecies and locutions did not turn out as they had expected, because they interpreted them with their own different and extremely literal method."

The Letter kills, the spirit gives life.

John goes on to cite several passages from Scripture, explaining why and how the recipients got it wrong and events turned out not as human nature expected. John then explains:

"[...] Souls are misled by imparting to God's locutions and revelations a literal interpretation, and interpretation according to the outer rind. As has been explained, God's chief objective in conferring these revelations is to express and impart the elusive, spiritual meaning contained in the words. This spiritual meaning is richer and more plentiful than the literal meaning and transcends those limits."

[...] "Anyone bound to the letter, locution, form, or apprehensible figure cannot avoid serious error and will later become confused for having been led by the literal sense and not having allowed for the spiritual meaning which is divested of the literal sense. 'The letter kills, the spirit gives life'" - 2 Cor. 3:6)" - Read St. John of the Cross, The Ascent, Bk II, Chapter 18 and 19

"Quit calling here - next time

you hear voices, 

go to the emergency room."

Fr. Longenecker on the Women's March

10 Reasons why it will come to nothing.*

I was really impressed by the massive crowds gathered to protest in major cities in the United States and around the world.  When I read Fr. L's take on why it will come to nothing, I thought he was being naive and a bit reactionary.  I still think that.  (Fr. L's post here.)

The one point Fr. L makes which I agree on is that this protest is indeed about abortion - the 'sacrament' which is the source and summit of women's rights and equality.  No doubt about it.  Fr. Longenecker, in the eyes of the protesters, demonstrates how he is actually part of the problem (their POV) they are determine to end:  The end of structural patriarchy.

And that is exactly why it is naive to say the Women's March will come to nothing.

The Atlantic has an interesting article on the Women's March titled When Protest Fails, suggesting the Women's March will go the way of the Moscow demonstrations on December 10, 2011 when around 50,000 people came out to protest fraudulent parliamentary elections.  The author makes excellent points and very convincing arguments comparing the two events, but she seems to discount the global dimension of the protest and how sacred women's reproduction rights are to the Women's Equality Movement.  Likewise, on some level, the 2011 Moscow protest might have been a sort of precursor to what is happening now?  I don't know, of course.  I'm no expert, just an observer.

Major and relentless demonstrations can indeed topple governments.  I think it is important not to be so dismissive of what is happening.  I'm very much reminded of St. John Paul's precaution so many years ago:

"We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has ever experienced. I do not think that the wide circle of the American Society, or the whole wide circle of the Christian Community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-church, between the gospel and the anti-gospel, between Christ and the antichrist. The confrontation lies within the plans of Divine Providence. It is, therefore, in God's Plan, and it must be a trial which the Church must take up, and face courageously." - Cardinal Karol Wojtyla

Predictions and news reports and commentary which upset, which attempt to guess or predict the outcome of civil unrest, distract and worry us.  For me, the Women's March demonstrates the very deep division in society and culture, as well as the diabolic delusion which has pervaded popular culture, making idols of so-called pop stars and Hollywood celebrities - who have become spokeswomen for the Culture of Death.  The dividing line is becoming more distinct as we go forward.   Yet we need faith, we need to believe what St. John Paul said: "The confrontation lies within the plans of Divine Providence."  We need to trust that... therein lies our hope.

This is why I find Don Dolindo Ruotolo's prayer of surrender so helpful and so consoling ... it seems to me it is more than just a novena.

Day 2
Surrender to me does not mean to fret, to be upset, or to lose hope, nor does it mean offering to me a worried prayer asking me to follow you and change your worry into prayer. It is against this surrender, deeply against it, to worry, to be nervous and to desire to think about the consequences of anything. It is like the confusion that children feel when they ask their mother to see to their needs, and then try to take care of those needs for themselves so that their childlike efforts get in their mother’s way. 

Surrender means to placidly close the eyes of the soul, to turn away from thoughts of tribulation and to put yourself in my care, so that only I act. Saying “You take care of it.” 

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times) - source

I may be wrong of course.

*Ultimately we know the plans of men come to nothing.  It just seems to me this battle has entered into a new phase and cannot be so easily dismissed.  

His relatives said: "He is out of his mind."

"God does not answer man's expectation, the expectation of pride, of flesh and blood, not of the Spirit of God who wills all that is best for man.  God does not do what man expects him to do, does not approach him in the form he wants, which at the deepest level means that God, far from boosting man and making him feel grand, does exactly the opposite." - Sr. Ruth Burrows, O.C.D.

Jeremiah 7:1-11: Put not your trust in deceitful words.

Put not your trust in princes,

in mortal man, 

in whom there is no salvation. - Ps. 146

NB: That goes for prophets and presidents as well.

The problem with prophecies ...

A novena ...

“I as totally poor, a poor nothing. 

My strength is my prayer, 

my leader is the will of God 

which I let Him take me by the hand. 

My security over the uneven path

 is the heavenly mother Mary.”

- Don Dolindo Ruotolo

Day 1

Why do you confuse yourselves by worrying? Leave the care of your affairs to me and everything will be peaceful. I say to you in truth that every act of true, blind, complete surrender to me produces the effect that you desire and resolves all difficult situations.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

I'm happy for the peaceful transition of power ...

Looking good!

Thanks be to God!

If you hate Trump, or you hate Obama ...

I have friends who hate hate Trump and spend their time searching for hateful gifs to post about him.

I have friends who hate Obama and spend their time searching for hateful gifs to post about him.

If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. - 1 John 4:20

I may be a jerk and I may have said, and may have done some pretty awful stuff - but hatred is soul destroying.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!

When you see things become more complicated ...

Don Dolindo Ruotolo

pray for us.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!

"How many things I do when the soul, in so much spiritual and material need, turns to me, looks at me and says to me: ‘You take care of it,’ then closes its eyes and rests."

“When you see things become more complicated, say then with the eyes of the soul closed: ‘Jesus, take care of it’. And don’t think about it anymore, because your mind is acute, and for you it is very hard to see evil and to trust in me and to not think of yourself. Do this for all your needs; do this all of you and you will see great, continual, silent miracles. By my love, I promise this to you. And I will take care of things. I promise this to you. Pray always in readiness to surrender, and you will receive from it great peace and great rewards, even when I confer on you the grace of immolation of repentance and of love. Then, what does suffering matter? It seems impossible to you? Close your eyes and say with all of your soul: ‘Jesus, you take care of it’. Do not be afraid, I will take care of things and you will bless my name by humbling yourself. A thousand prayers cannot equal one single act of surrender: remember this well. There is no novena more effective than this:

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!

- Jesus to Don Dolindo Ruotolo a Neapolitan priest (1882-1970).  More here.

A friend sent me a novena prayer from Don Ruotolo - I prayed the prayer, "Oh Jesus, I surrender to you, you take care of it” - repeating it 10 times and peace returned immediately.  The novena may be found here.

And when I must lead you on a path different from the one you see, I will prepare you; I will carry you in my arms; I will let you find yourself, like children who have fallen asleep in their mother’s arms, on the other bank of the river. What troubles you and hurts you immensely are your reason, your thoughts and worry, and your desire at all costs to deal with what afflicts you.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (10 times)

If I could turn back time ...

-source-

Cardinals showing homage to newly elected John XXIII.

I remember that of course.  Because I'm old.  I wrote to John XXIII when I was little.  He was the first Pope I ever wrote to.

Today I'm wishing I could have run away and gone to Rome to be an orphan and never grew up to what we have today.

I appreciated the cappas back then.  I love the worn fresco - it seems now the frescoes are the only thing restored in the Church.  It's ironic, isn't it.  Not a question.

"They" say Cardinal Spellman didn't like Pope John and disparaged him.  Nasty American.  He should be around today.

Earthquakes and impending doom: Though the mountains leave their place, and the hills be shaken ...

I was meditating that passage from Isaiah this morning.

I came across it in my prayers.  I was reminded of a time long ago when I was in the friars chapel at Carmel in Arkansas, we just began to pray Psalm 46, when a small earthquake rumbled the building:

God is for us a refuge and strength,
a helper close at hand, in time of distress,
so we shall not fear though the earth should rock,
though the mountains fall into the depths of the sea;
even though its waters rage and foam,
even though the mountains be shaken by its waves.

Therefore whenever I randomly come across these prayers of confidence in liturgical prayer, I'm always reminded of that experience so many years ago, and I wonder if an earthquake maybe just ccurred someplace in the world.  A childish thought, no doubt.

Although, when I came onloine I noted a report that Umbria and Rome were shaken by multiple earthquakes today - 3 consecutive quakes measuring magnitude 5+.  The area has already suffered much, one resident stated: "This is totally unnerving. It's never ending. We are all shaking."  Story here.

Only a blind man can deny there is great confusion ...

So.  Even the stones cry out.

I came across Monsignor Pope's essay on St. Michael and Our Lady and why 2017 is so critical.  He's a good priest, a good pastor, he is observing the Fatima Jubilee encouraging prayer and penance - just as Our Lady requested.

Will you join me in praying with special fervency this year? In my own parish, we will be observing the First Saturday devotions that were requested by Mary at Fatima. This will be a communal way to engage the call to prayer. It involves attending Holy Mass, praying the Rosary, and going to confession (that day or within one week) on the first Saturday of five consecutive months. Others also add the wearing of the scapular and/or making a consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. - Monsignor Pope

I'll leave it at that.  It's the best advice I've come across online.

I'm tired of the negative discussions and essays on how bad everything is.   Only a blind man can deny there is great confusion ...

Bad Habits: New design for the Dominicans

Dominican habit?

I don't mind habits for enclosed religious or as choir dress ... but ...

I could never be a religious or priest because I don't like the clothes - I've always said that.  I used to ask my friend in the novitiate if the habit made me look fat - and I was anorexic.  (No one knew that at the time.)  I'm so vain.  So I'm not one to critique habits.  My problem with white tunics is that you can kind of sort of see through them - so a scapular helps - and for that reason I can say, 'looks good!'

All kidding aside - it's none of my business what religious wear - except some 'habits' really were dumb - precisely because, in the cases of women religious, they wore the current fashion for widow's weeds, their coifs were starched according to local custom, and so on.  Traditional men's habits were monastic or clerical - although fashionable updates were made and as fashion changed - they looked dated and ridiculous.  So much could be said ... but I digress.

Confrater Claes go to choir now.

source

It now looks as if one design firm hopes to revive the tradition of the dumb-fashion-victim habit for the 21st century.

Dutch clothing brand Byborre has collaborated with the Dominican Order of Preachers to create an updated unisex version of the friar's habit. The New Habit capsule collection consists of several unisex garments, including tops, track trousers, tunics, hooded gilets and coats. - Read more here.

I like my designs better...

source

"Got a match?"

I remember when I was fooling around with these ideas, and a friend asked me if I was nuts.  LOL!  Maybe a little bit.

All I have to say is this, just wear men's clothes brothers - black and white around the collar - and women should always have a little (or plus size) black dress.  Stick with the classics.

Like I said - it's none of my business.  But it seems to me the problem isn't so much the habit, but the fact 'they' just don't want to be obligated to wear one - so no matter how you redesign it, it's never going to work for those who 'don't like the clothes'.  Of course, then you have the problem of those who like them a little too much ...

What?

I obviously enjoy posting about this subject - more here.

I suppose this could work too.

"Hold onto the rope, and endure." - P. Francis

James Ensor: Temptation of St. Anthony - Detail.

St. Anthony of Egypt.

Narrative here.

Anthony is often depicted in his temptations - especially by more or less secular artists.  I often think of what Christ said, 'what did you go out to the desert to see?'.  Anthony went out to the desert and their confronted demons, and himself ... that is, fallen human nature.  Fallen human nature, perhaps scarier than demons.

Lourdes

You tell me there's an angel in your tree
Did he say he'd come to call on me
For things are getting desperate in our home...

I wish I could be back in Lourdes.  Maybe I could be transported by my angel ...  

Just when I thought it couldn't get worse ...

I found something encouraging ...

If - Rudyard Kipling

 If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, 

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, 

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, 

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, 

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise: 

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster 

    And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken 

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, 

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, 

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools: 

If you can make one heap of all your winnings 

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, 

And lose, and start again at your beginnings 

    And never breathe a word about your loss; 

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew 

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you 

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’ 

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch, 

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, 

    If all men count with you, but none too much; 

If you can fill the unforgiving minute 

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

. . .

When I grow up - I want to be such a man.