Category Archives: art

To make broken things beautiful.

art, beauty, love, quotes, , , , , , , , , ,

From Mother Melania:

Japanese kintsugi mending tools“Have you ever heard of kintsugi? Literally ‘golden joinery,’ kintsugi is ‘the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with urushi lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum … As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise’ (Thanks, Wikipedia!). I won’t presume to discuss the Japanese philosophies related to this art. But there are certainly deeply Christian parallels to be drawn. Three come immediately to mind.

“First are those who valiantly and humbly endure life’s inequities or unjust persecution, such as Job, Patriarch Joseph, Jeremiah, and the beggar Lazarus. Crushed in various ways through no fault of their own, these saints became beautiful not despite the cracks, but because of how they dealt with them. Without such trials, these saints would never have become as great as they are.

“Second are those who sinned greatly but repented deeply, such as King David, Peter, and Paul. Their great sins are there for all to see and the sins remain sinful. Yet, Christ healed their fractured souls with the gold of their repentance and faithfulness.

“Then there is Christ Himself. He didn’t just valiantly and humbly endure unjust persecution: He came to earth for that very purpose – for OUR sake. So, His wounded side and hands remain in eternity as visible signs of the beauty of His victorious self-sacrificial love.

“So, let’s take heart. Are we innocently enduring persecution? Christ can make us beautiful through our trials. Have we fallen into serious sin? We can repent and still become great saints. We can even go past these things to suffer freely for love of Christ and His people. Thus, we shall most deeply resemble Him Whose greatest glory is that He was freely broken for our sake.”

—Abbess Melania, Holy Assumption Monastery

The little old lady laughs.

art, poetry, women, , , ,
Portrait of an Old Woman, Nadezda Petrovic, 1909

TABLE TALK

The little old lady laughs like a little girl, going
On with the tale of this and that happy day.
Says the little old lady, “Oh, what times were they
When I fell in love without Grandmother’s knowing!”
The little old lady is a little rogue, showing
A malicious twinkle in the depths of her eyes.
How distinct the silver of her hair one descries
Against the caramel-tinted skin glowing.

The little old lady forgets how dull or shady
Life may be; and the wrinkles laugh over her face.
Sweet tremors through her blessed old body race:
And my dear looks at me and I look at my dear,
And we laugh, and we laugh . . . all the while we hear
The white history of the loves of the little old lady.

-Manuel Magallanes Moure (1878-1924) Chile
Translated by Muna Lee

Royal Hours of Theophany

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Ravenna, 6th Century

 

The service of Royal Hours of Theophany, which we prayed this evening as part of the forefeast of baptism of Christ, is so rich; it “brings the mind into the heart,” as we say. We read and sang several Old Testament readings, as many Epistle and Gospel Readings, and many Psalms chosen for the feast. When I came home afterward I found the liturgical texts online, hoping to hold on to the “afterglow” a little longer. Tomorrow we will continue our celebration of this major feast, on through the 7th.

 

Here are a very few portions of the service:

To the voice of one crying in the wilderness,
“Prepare the way of the Lord,”
Thou didst come, O Lord, taking the form of servant.
Thou didst ask to be baptized
though Thou hast no knowledge of sin.
The waters saw Thee and were afraid.
The Forerunner trembled and cried aloud:
“How will the Lamp illumine the Light?
How will a servant lay his hand on the Master?
Thou takest away the sin of the world, O Savior.
Sanctify both me and the waters!”

From the Psalter of Eleanor of Aquitaine, c. 1185

The Father bore witness to Thee,
and the Divine Spirit in the form of a dove
descended to Thee,
as Thou camest in flesh to the Jordan, O Lord.
Thou didst desire to be baptized in human form,
that in Thy compassion
Thou mightest enlighten us who have gone astray,
and deliver us from all the snares and wiles of the Dragon.
Make Thy home in our souls, O Thou Who lovest mankind.


Therefore with joy shall ye draw water
out of the wells of salvation.

And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord,
call upon his name, declare his doings among the people,
make mention that his name is exalted.

Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things:
this is known in all the earth.

Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion:
for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

Isaiah 12:3-6

Ethiopia

Titus 3

4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.