Undusted Texts

This is a digitized VHS copy of a short 1992 educational video produced by the Eparchy of Parma's Office of Religious Education, with the help of Gemini Productions.      

In doing research on my parish's history, I have been looking through the archives of Horizons , the official newspaper/magazine of the Eparchy of Parma.  Alongside important documentation of history, there are many articles that serve as wonderful time capsules of culture.  One article reviewing the recent film The Lion King wondered if the movie was too authoritarian, too fascist, too royalist: after all, isn't the message of the film that a good, strong, rightful king can bring a decaying land back to life?   I have a mix of nostalgia and historical interest in earlier computing, from the days of mainframes like PLATO, through the early PCs like the Altair and through the BBS days, to the burgeoning Internet, and even to the days of Flash and demotivational posters.  Some of the Horizons articles play right in to that interest.  The following is an article by John Thavis from the February 11, 1996 issue of Horizons , discussing the opening of the Vatica...

It is a strange thing in the Byzantine Rite that our services for the holiest days of the year are often so liturgically ordinary .  In so many ways, they resemble the same service—Vespers, Matins, a Liturgy—that we might hold on any day of the year.  Holy Thursday has its propers and its long Gospel, but, otherwise, it is like a Vespers and Liturgy we might hold on any feast.  Holy Friday is, again, simply Vespers with an extra Gospel reading, until the unique and beautiful procession with the Shroud and the rite of entombment.  And the Paschal Liturgy is just a Liturgy, though with every possible hymn replaced with "Christ is risen!" This is not the case with every service: Holy Wednesday adds an anointing service in the middle of the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy.  The Matins services stretch their structure to the breaking point, with the Twelve Gospels of Holy Friday, the Lamentations of Holy Saturday, and the unique and glorious remix of Resurrection Matins. The ...

I've been digitizing some old Catholic (and other) VHS tapes, and I found this interesting little documentary about iconography in Macedonia: Icons: The Eyes of God (1988), produced by Sampaolo Films and published by St. Paul Video.  As it seems to be no longer available for sale, I have uploaded it to YouTube to make it available for others to view. Below is the description from the back of the case:   "Icons are among the most intricate and rich artworks in the Church. The beauty of these sacred images has awakened in people of both East and West a sense of faith and awe.  'Icons: The Eyes of God' brings you to Macedonia, the southernmost republic of Yugoslavia, a centuries-old cross-roads between East and West. From here come the Terracotta icons of first century Christianity; the resplendent colorful images of the Middle Ages—Byzantine in style; and frescoes of various churches—precursors to Giotto's style—which miraculously survived the period of Moslem dom...

 Introduction The Byzantine Rite's Vespers for Great and Holy Friday ends with a beautiful and solemn procession with the shroud, with has an image of the dead Jesus lying in the tomb; the procession ends by placing the shroud in a replica tomb.  The faithful then approach the tomb—traditionally, on their knees—to venerate the shroud.    Below is a description of this procession, which I wrote in 2015.  At the time, my parish was housed in the basement of a former convent; as we walked through the darkened halls with the shroud, we would pass an old mural of a deer in the forest ("As the hart panteth after the fountains of water, so my soul panteth after thee, O God" (Ps 42:1, Douay-Rheims)).  This is my literary recollection of this experience. Great and Holy Friday  For that night, we were outside the gates of Jerusalem, accompanying a bloodied corpse. That Missouri basement faded away as the penumbra enwrapped us and angels’ wings carried us to that...

  On the Passion of Christ Selected Texts and Excerpts from Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle Buy the Kindle Edition Here    Just in time for Holy Week, I have released a selection of writings from Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle (1575-1629) on the Passion of Christ.  This collection includes selections from his Works of Piety ( one of the included texts can be found here ), as well as two excepts from his Discourses on the State and on the Grandeurs of Jesus . To celebrate the release, I have also temporarily lowered the eBook price for my other translations from Bérulle: Life of Jesus and Elevation to Jesus Christ Regarding Saint Mary Magdalene .  Both these longer texts are currently only $1.99 for the Kindle version, instead of the usual $2.99 price; "On the Passion of Christ" is $0.99, just like my other short eBook-only releases.  As with my other eBooks, it can be read for free by subscribers to Kindle Unlimited.

  I have written much about and translated much from Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle (1575-1629).  The text below is one of his Works of Piety ; it is fitting for Lazarus Saturday and the preamble to Holy Week.  It is part of a series of texts by Bérulle on the Passion, which I hope to publish as an ebook in the next few days. EDIT: This ebook, "On the Passion of Christ," has been released , and is available here . OP LXII The Death and Resurrection of Lazarus Are the Occasion of the Death of Jesus Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle If life must die, it ought to be as an effect of life.  Jesus, then, leaves the desert of Ephraim, comes to Judea, seeks out the dead Lazarus, in order that life might battle death on a closed field, as it were, and wages, in Bethany and at the gates of Jerusalem, a particular combat, which vividly represents that grand combat that would took place a few days later, on the mount of Calvary, between life and universal death; in which the death, not of...

  A few years ago, I wrote an article about how the text of Scripture itself, though rich, is usually lacking in sufficient detail and action to provide for a typical literary narrative.  Because of that, writers have had to invent new elements when making narratives out of Scriptural topics.  (Another aspect is the simple desire to know more about what and who we read about in Scripture, without any literary aspirations: it is such a desire that, I think, was often a drive behind the oldest legends and traditions.)   The story of the Passion is a prime example of this.  Marco Girolamo Vida's The Christiad adds so many new elements, such as a depiction of the Harrowing of Hell (which influenced Milton's depictions of Hell in Paradise Lost ), or making Joseph survive until the Passion in order to plead on Jesus' behalf.  (In this case, it was a bit of a literary necessity: in accord with epic tradition, the story had to start in media res , but it had...

Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle (1575-1629) wrote many little passages for various occasions: sermons, retreats, reflections, circular letters, etc.  After his death, these varied works were collated into a collection known as the Diverse Little Works of Piety , or Works of Piety for short (in French, Œuvres de pieté , hence the abbreviation OP).  One of my long-term goals is a publication of all of these; for now, I am translating them piecemeal as the need or inspiration arises. Below is an index of all of my OP translations and where to find them; I will add to them as more are translated, and I may also fill in all the titles in the future.    The Works of Piety of Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle  OP I: God is the Principle and the End of the Creature OP II: Eternal Life Is to Know God and Jesus Christ, His Son Whom He Has Sent OP III: God and Jesus Christ Are Distinct Objects of the Devotion of Christians OP IV: United to God and to Jesus Christ  OP V: Our Dut...

One of the greatest mystical poems of the Spanish Golden Age is the anonymous "Sonnet to Christ Crucified."  At one time or another, it has been attributed to practically every important spiritual writer of the time; one of the strongest cases is for St. John of Ávila (1500-1569), as some lines in his authentic works come very close to the themes and language of the poem. Over a decade ago , I posted the Spanish text and an English translation: the translation was off in a few spots, and it certainly did not flow as a poem.   The translation below certainly wouldn't pass scansion as a traditional English poem, and i have forgone attempts to match the Spanish rhyme scheme, but I think it has a rhythm of its own, and it gives a much better sense of the original poem than my translation a decade ago.  The odd syntax (where the verb "move" comes before its varied subjects) reflects the syntax of the Spanish original. Moves me not, my Lord, to love You the Heaven Yo...

 Introduction St. Simón de Rojas (1552-1624) was a Spanish Trinitarian priest.  After studying in Valladolid and Salamanca, he taught theology in Toledo before becoming a superior to various Trinitarian monasteries.  He also served at the Spanish court, as confessor to Queen Margaret and Queen Isabel, as well as preceptor to the Spanish princes.  He is known for his fervent devotion to Mary, being dubbed "Apostle of the Ave Maria ."  He was canonized in 1988, just before the close of the Marian Year. His life was mostly taken up with apostolic work; he left a handful of shorter writings, as well as one major work, the Treatise on Prayer and Its Grandeurs , left in manuscript upon his death and not published until 1939.  The below work is a collection of sayings he wrote to aid his students.   Sayings of Virtue for Gaining Perpetual Wisdom St. Simón de Rojas (1552-1624) He who knows much and speaks little, knows much; he who knows little a...

 Introduction In keeping with today's Roman Catholic reading regarding the various gifts given by the Spirit for varied tasks (1 Cor 12), I decided to post this little essay I wrote back in 2015, about the variety of vocations.  I may have gone a bit overboard in my quotations, and perhaps the style and precise formulations are not how I would word them now, but, overall, I think it's still a decent piece of writing. The Many-Lighted Stars of Vocation “One [is the] glory of [the] sun, and another [the] glory of [the] moon, and another [the] glory of [the] stars: therefore star differs from star in glory” (1 Cor 15:41).  Each of these has its own role, and usurping another’s role leads to chaos.  So if the sun were the moon, the earth would be consumed like a dry leaf in a bonfire; if the moon were the sun, the earth would be frozen.  Even having any other star replace the sun could have disastrous results: the star could be too large and engulf the solar system,...