Wheat & Weeds: January 2022

Happy Epiphany, 2022!

Posted by RC2 at 7:30 AM | Labels: 12 Days, Popery, The Arts

Adoration of the Magi, Gaetano Previati, shamelessly pinched from Wikicommons.

You should click to enlarge and see the sweep of the painting.

There are old, but still cool, photos of Epiphany celebrations around the world.

Probably the absolute opposite of Epiphany: Denzel Washington in Macbeth. Mentioning it here because it's only in theaters until Jan 12. After that you have to stream it on Apple+, and nobody wants to do that.
I haven't seen it, but a friend whose judgment about such things tends to coincide with mine has and he gave it a very good review.

Have a wonderful year, Everyone. Thanks for stopping by for these "12 Days." Same time, next year, and at random times when the bug bites me.

Merry Christmas, Day 12

Posted by RC2 at 7:36 AM | Labels: 12 Days, Popery, The Arts

Fr. Sieger Koder, St. Francis Celebrates Nativity in Greccio, fresco in Chapel of St. Francis in Ellwangen, Germany, shamelessly pinched from here

Leaving this image a little too large for the frame so you can notice the hidden eucharist in this depiction of St. Francis creating the first nativity scene. Here's a bit more about that. This seemed like a fitting note on which to end the 12 Days -- with the reminder that the mysteries of these days are made present to us in the Eucharist.

Also: this is several days late for the feast of the Holy Innocents, but I found it achingly beautiful.

And: January is the month of the Holy Name of Jesus.

Christmas, Day 11, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Posted by RC2 at 7:30 AM | Labels: 12 Days, Popery, The Arts

Nativity, Lu Hongnian, shamelessly pinched from J.R.'s Art Place

If I were following my meditation theme for this Christmas season, I'd have posted the annunciation to shepherds scene below instead (same artist, shamelessly pinched from here). Indeed, that was what was planned until I saw the nativity scene above yesterday and was completely charmed by it --especially the shepherds.

So today you get a two-fer.

Today is also the 200th anniversary of the passing of the first American-Born Saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton. The Seton Shrine is doing virtual tours today and tomorrow. Elizabeth Scalia suggests you let St. Elizabeth Ann Seton be your friend this year. And Pope Paul VI said at her canonization:

Elizabeth Ann Seton is a saint. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is an American. All of us say this with special joy, and with the intention of honoring the land and the nation from which she sprang forth as the first flower in the calendar of the saints. Elizabeth Ann Seton was wholly American! Rejoice for your glorious daughter. Be proud of her. And know how to preserve her fruitful heritage!

Christmas, Day 10

Posted by RC2 at 7:30 AM | Labels: 12 Days, Popery, The Arts

The Annunciation to the Shepherds, Abraham Hondius,

(see also his companion painting, The Adoration of the Shepherds)

It's snowing! Hurrah!

Who Will Stand Against the Culture of Panic? The interesting thing about this piece is that it was written 13 years ago.

Christmas, Day 9, Epiphany (US)

Posted by RC2 at 7:30 AM | Labels: 12 Days, Popery, The Arts

The Worship of the Kings, Károly Ferenczy, shamelessly pinched from J.R.'s Art Place

Click the first link to enlarge -- I love the King's expression.

Reprising BXVI's homily from Epiphany 2006 (same readings as today):

The Magi worshipped a simple Child in the arms of his Mother Mary, because in him they recognized the source of the twofold light that had guided them: the light of the star and the light of the Scriptures. In him they recognized the King of the Jews, the glory of Israel, but also the King of all the peoples.
The mystery of the Church and her missionary dimension are also revealed in the liturgical context of the Epiphany. She is called to make Christ's light shine in the world, reflecting it in herself as the moon reflects the light of the sun.
The ancient prophecies concerning the holy city of Jerusalem, such as the marvellous one in Isaiah that we have just heard: "Rise up in splendour! Your light has come.... Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance" (Is 60: 1-3), have found fulfilment in the Church.
This is what disciples of Christ must do: trained by him to live in the way of the Beatitudes, they must attract all people to God through a witness of love: "In the same way, your light must shine before men so that they may see goodness in your deeds and give praise to your heavenly Father" (Mt 5: 16). By listening to Jesus' words, we members of the Church cannot but become aware of the total inadequacy of our human condition, marked by sin.
The Church is holy, but made up of men and women with their limitations and errors. It is Christ, Christ alone, who in giving us the Holy Spirit is able to transform our misery and constantly renew us. He is the light of the peoples, the lumen gentium, who has chosen to illumine the world through his Church (cf. Lumen Gentium, n. 1).
"How can this come about?", we also ask ourselves with the words that the Virgin addresses to the Archangel Gabriel. And she herself, the Mother of Christ and of the Church, gives us the answer: with her example of total availability to God's will - "fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum" (Lk 1: 38) - she teaches us to be a "manifestation" of the Lord, opening our hearts to the power of grace and faithfully abiding by the words of her Son, light of the world and the ultimate end of history.
So be it!