Father, your deep dive into the poetic/artistic light of the mantilla is so important. As one chamber of the four parts of the True Catholic 'heart' we need to dwell there for a time and then move as guided by the Spirit to consider the other three in God's time. The four chambers are the Mystic (M), the Artistic (A), the Scientific (S) and the Theologic (T).
MAST, a pole raised up is a potent image for a ship (Barque?). It is essential for movement (Sails), identification (Banners) and communication (Antenna).
Jesus speaks to the source, center and summit of this Truth when he says "when I am lifted up I draw all men to myself."
As a noetic for our Christian journey of faith MAST keeps us focused on why secular and specialized worldviews are incapable of transmitting this Fullness of Truth.
ANNUNCIATION
(John Donne)
Salvation to all that will is nigh;
That All, which always is all everywhere,
Which cannot sin, and yet all sins must bear,
Which cannot die, yet cannot choose but die,
Lo! faithful Virgin, yields Himself to lie
In prison, in thy womb; and though He there
Can take no sin, nor thou give, yet He’ll wear,
Taken from thence, flesh, which death’s force may try.
Ere by the spheres time was created thou
Wast in His mind, who is thy Son, and Brother;
Whom thou conceivest, conceived; yea, thou art now
Thy Maker's maker, and thy Father's mother,
Thou hast light in dark, and shutt’st in little room
Immensity, cloister’d in thy dear womb.
______________________________
The ARTISTIC LIGHT of Ste. Jeanne d'Arc, her testimony:
I wrote this poem maybe 15 years ago to describe what I believe is at stake if we do not champion this fully integrated approach. With AI's ascendency, we are fast running out of time.
This is a whole bunch of words to say ‘women wear veils because the Catholic church teaches that women are in every single aspect and character inferior to men and they need to be constantly reminded that they are inferior to men and exist for ONLY the purpose of catering to every male’s idiot whims.”
Just say “Women Stink” and stop there. That’s what you really mean and what you should honestly say.
You can make up anything you like and call it holy religion. But you ignore the fact that none of the above has anything to do with early Christianity. There was no Pope, no priests (celibate or otherwise), and women had prominent places as missionaries and early community leaders. There was no hidden or veiled Mass spoken in a foreign language, and so on.
In other words, all that you write is Catholic invention.
I am going to admit that I completely missed the poetry of veiling growing up. To us, the social custom was that women and older girls covered their heads in church, so a hat or mantilla was acceptable. Either I have forgotten any talk about modesty or it just wasn't paramount. After all, it was the top of our heads, not our legs or arms. Again, social custom. And I can no longer remember where we even bought our mantillas, but it wasn't anyplace fancy. Mantillas are triangles, you know, and you can fold the triangle so it gets smaller and smaller -- just right for securing with a bobby pin and placing in a purse or bookbag. We *did* need to watch that they didn't get shopworn. As we entered the church we removed the bobby pin, unfolded the mantilla, secured with same bobby pin, and reversed the process as we left church. I'm sorry we missed all the poetry part, but I can see where people would invest veils with much more meaning if they didn't grow up with them. Perhaps the church forgot to remind us that we were special in wearing them, but that's another topic.
Symbolic of how our Imaginal Mind's Veil Reality with a Matrix-of-Allusion? And how experiencing Kenosis, an Apocalypse of Words? Reveals the World as the Kingdom of Heaven at Hand?
Here's hoping the long-awaited new translation of the office adapts the more accurate wording. The "lowly" translation doesn't bother me too much but you're absolutely correct that humility is superior. I've been writing quite a bit about Our Lady's "earthiness" for a book due to publish with Angelico in the Spring.
I suppose the biggest difference for me and the biggest problem is that lowliness is a state and humility is ultimately a choice. God does not exalt someone for being born into a lowly state, an event which they had no control over, but rather for choosing to be humble. For choosing to to follow Him, his Law, and his commandments.
Father, your deep dive into the poetic/artistic light of the mantilla is so important. As one chamber of the four parts of the True Catholic 'heart' we need to dwell there for a time and then move as guided by the Spirit to consider the other three in God's time. The four chambers are the Mystic (M), the Artistic (A), the Scientific (S) and the Theologic (T).
MAST, a pole raised up is a potent image for a ship (Barque?). It is essential for movement (Sails), identification (Banners) and communication (Antenna).
Jesus speaks to the source, center and summit of this Truth when he says "when I am lifted up I draw all men to myself."
As a noetic for our Christian journey of faith MAST keeps us focused on why secular and specialized worldviews are incapable of transmitting this Fullness of Truth.
ANNUNCIATION
(John Donne)
Salvation to all that will is nigh;
That All, which always is all everywhere,
Which cannot sin, and yet all sins must bear,
Which cannot die, yet cannot choose but die,
Lo! faithful Virgin, yields Himself to lie
In prison, in thy womb; and though He there
Can take no sin, nor thou give, yet He’ll wear,
Taken from thence, flesh, which death’s force may try.
Ere by the spheres time was created thou
Wast in His mind, who is thy Son, and Brother;
Whom thou conceivest, conceived; yea, thou art now
Thy Maker's maker, and thy Father's mother,
Thou hast light in dark, and shutt’st in little room
Immensity, cloister’d in thy dear womb.
______________________________
The ARTISTIC LIGHT of Ste. Jeanne d'Arc, her testimony:
https://www.jeanne-darc.info/biography/banner
______________________________
I wrote this poem maybe 15 years ago to describe what I believe is at stake if we do not champion this fully integrated approach. With AI's ascendency, we are fast running out of time.
DRAWN AND QUARTERED
by Mike Rizzio
Four chambers, but one purpose,
Four Gospels live to tell,
A Sacred Heart, so wounded,
A lance launched straight from hell.
Our brokenness, bloodletting,
True Mystics judged insane,
King Science, throne ascending,
To deaden all our pain.
Four riders, on four horses,
Steeds rearing for a treat,
Our corpse, nears rigor mortis,
For Art not Science meet.
But wait...a ray of His Glorious Sonshine...
One part—sacred theology,
One part—mystic sight,
One part—true science,
One part—creative light.
...and if ever two lungs breathed forth,
East-West, air that is sweet,
Aloft they'll send His Body,
Heartbeat, Heartbeat, Heartbeat.
"wandering exploration instead of a tightly knit essay". Can you just write a syllogism and save us all some time?
A syllogism doesn't sound like the sort of thing I'd ever write...
Minor: women as particular expression of universal Church
Major: veil over Church, therefore veil over women
I don't agree with the above, but this comes close to the heart of the thesis
This is a whole bunch of words to say ‘women wear veils because the Catholic church teaches that women are in every single aspect and character inferior to men and they need to be constantly reminded that they are inferior to men and exist for ONLY the purpose of catering to every male’s idiot whims.”
Just say “Women Stink” and stop there. That’s what you really mean and what you should honestly say.
You can make up anything you like and call it holy religion. But you ignore the fact that none of the above has anything to do with early Christianity. There was no Pope, no priests (celibate or otherwise), and women had prominent places as missionaries and early community leaders. There was no hidden or veiled Mass spoken in a foreign language, and so on.
In other words, all that you write is Catholic invention.
I am going to admit that I completely missed the poetry of veiling growing up. To us, the social custom was that women and older girls covered their heads in church, so a hat or mantilla was acceptable. Either I have forgotten any talk about modesty or it just wasn't paramount. After all, it was the top of our heads, not our legs or arms. Again, social custom. And I can no longer remember where we even bought our mantillas, but it wasn't anyplace fancy. Mantillas are triangles, you know, and you can fold the triangle so it gets smaller and smaller -- just right for securing with a bobby pin and placing in a purse or bookbag. We *did* need to watch that they didn't get shopworn. As we entered the church we removed the bobby pin, unfolded the mantilla, secured with same bobby pin, and reversed the process as we left church. I'm sorry we missed all the poetry part, but I can see where people would invest veils with much more meaning if they didn't grow up with them. Perhaps the church forgot to remind us that we were special in wearing them, but that's another topic.
Symbolic of how our Imaginal Mind's Veil Reality with a Matrix-of-Allusion? And how experiencing Kenosis, an Apocalypse of Words? Reveals the World as the Kingdom of Heaven at Hand?
What a magnificent meditation, Father! I loved every sentence of it.
Thank you. Much appreciated
Here's hoping the long-awaited new translation of the office adapts the more accurate wording. The "lowly" translation doesn't bother me too much but you're absolutely correct that humility is superior. I've been writing quite a bit about Our Lady's "earthiness" for a book due to publish with Angelico in the Spring.
I suppose the biggest difference for me and the biggest problem is that lowliness is a state and humility is ultimately a choice. God does not exalt someone for being born into a lowly state, an event which they had no control over, but rather for choosing to be humble. For choosing to to follow Him, his Law, and his commandments.