Undusted Texts

  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...

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...

  My first traditionally-published book is now available for pre-order.  My Burden Is Light contains selected sermons of St. John of Ávila (1499-1569), Doctor of the church.  See the publisher's blurb below: " 'Come to me, all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls. For my yoke is sweet and my burden light.' Matthew 11:28–30   Christ’s words ring true for this earthly life that we must endure in order to, hopefully, attain eternal rest with Him in heaven. Our fallen world is full of sufferings and struggles; from the everyday aggravations to the life-altering sorrows that we sometimes face. Yet, Christ assures us that His 'yoke is sweet and [His] burden light.' This is so because He always helps us carry our crosses throughout this life and because the ultimate battle is already won, thanks to Christ’s love ...

  For an introduction to St. John and this text, as well as Part I of the text, see my previous post here:  https://undustedtexts.blogspot.com/2024/01/st-john-of-avila-sermon-651-on.html What Bush Is This, Which Burns and Is Not Consumed? Who will speak? 1 Who will speak the powerful deeds of the Lord (Ps 106:2) ? Who will understand His mercies? Have you encountered any book in which you have read the mercies of God? Have you see n a book which tells them? Moses wandered, pasturing his herd, and set it there in the deepest part of the desert, and, wandering, he, very careless, saw a bramble which burned and was not consumed; he was frightened at how it burned and was not consumed. “Certainly, I have to go there and see this great marvel.” Is there not more, Moses? Is there not more? He goes there, and, as soon as he draws near, he finds that God was in the bramble. See, through your life, he who saw God in the bramble, and [God] spoke to him fr...

  Introduction St. Juan de Ávila (1499-1569) was an Andalusian priest and preacher, brought to new prominence upon being named a Doctor of the Church by the late Pope Benedict XVI on October 7, 2012.  Though he tried to arrange a fraternal community of priests, little came of it outside his immediate circle, and, towards the end of his life, he started sending his interested disciples to the Jesuits.  The majority of his work was focused on being a preacher, for which he was nicknamed the "Apostle of Andalusia."  He was also the first rector of the University of Baeza, which became a model for Jesuit seminaries.  His process of veneration was slow: declared Venerable in 1759 (during the investigation for which the Vatican misplaced manuscripts for dozens of his works), he was not beatified until 1894 and not canonized until 1970. Being primarily a preacher, it is fitting that a large portion of his writings consists of sermons.  Oddly, when many of these we...

Introduction:  Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (1562-1635) was one of literature's most prolific writers, a monument of the Spanish Golden Age; among his many works are hundreds of plays and poems, including multiple epics, as well as some novels.  Though he had a variety of lovers and mistresses, he was ordained a priest in 1614, and many of his poems are religious.  Among them is the collection Romancero Espiritual ( Spiritual Romance-Book , a romance  being a type of Spanish folk ballad).  Below are the opening lines of one of these romances , "On the Solitude of Our Lady."  I find the sharp contrasts of these opening lines quite effective as their own poem, separated from the full romance .  They are also fitting lines for Great and Holy Friday.  The source is Lope  Félix  de Vega Carpio, Obras Escogidas , ed. Federico Carlos Sainz de Robles (Madrid: Aguilar, 1953) , II:124. From Romancero Espiritual XVIII "On the Solitude of Our Lady" L...