I am pleased to post here an essay of one of our friars, Fra José Maria Barbin on the subject of the imagination and Marian Chivalry. I am thoroughly in accord with his insights and am grateful for his contribution.
In conjunction with I can heartily recommend also the teaser videos of Kevin O’Brien and Joseph Pearce on Tolkien. The ETWN production, and the talents of Kevin and Mr. Pearce, make looks the $10 that they are asking look like robbery.
And now. . .
The Beautiful Struggle: “Sanctifying the Imagination”
All things come from God; and above all, reason and imagination and the great gifts of the mind. They are good in themselves; and we must not altogether forget their origin even in their perversion.
This is just to let those who might be interested that I am still here. I am studying for my licentiate in theology at the Angelicum and have taken a pretty heavy load. I just don’t have time or mental energy to blog right now.
Please keep me in your prayers and I will pray for all of you.
On the Solemnity of St. Francis the seminarians and I went to the prayer vigil of the Holy Father in preparation for the synod, which has now begun. Afterward, we moved into the new building that the Holy Father has provided us. I can walk to the Angelicum in a half hour.
Here are a couple of photos of our new surroundings. More to come. Click on photos for larger view. There is a bit of distortion due to my use of the pan setting.
The view of the street from our front door.
This is the view out of my fourth floor window: part of the ancient wall of Rome.
The gate you are looking at is Porta Tiburtina, after which our street is named, otherwise know as Porta San Lorenzo. The gate was constructed to commemorate a Roman victory. But our victory is found in the Gate of Heaven.
I post my yearly tribute to Mary Victrix:
I cast myself before Thee, Thy bondsman and fool;
Thy patronage is freedom, Thy slavery my school.
I offer Thee my sword hilt and wait for Thy command
To serve among Thy servants who pledge to take a stand.
That I might die in battle, a victim of Thy love:
My wish, my prayer, my promise, thus written in my blood.
I saw the bark of Peter ride dark into the sun,
But darker still the marking of crescent, hoard and gun.
Her sails lay flat and mellow, Her men had pledged their troth,
Left hand on beaded psalter, the right to keep their oath.
The haughty fiend had counted on fear to win the day,
But Thine own breath has countered to turn the wind their way.
My Queen, to Thee be honor and praise through all Thy knights
Who toiled and bled and parted Thy martyrs robed in white.
All courtesy and prowess, all strength and gentleness,
Thy heart a pyx of virtue, Thy face all loveliness.
Then at the hour of judgment my colors Thou may see,
Thy Son upon His white steed, Thou pray to come for me.
O Mary! we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May,
O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May.
“Bring Flowers of the Rarest” is an extra-liturgical May crowning hymn that seems to be a rather sentimental nod to the ambiguity of modern May “devotion,” and perhaps (or perhaps not) an assault upon it. It is a preconciliar hymn that I have often heard characterized as “schmaltzy” and inappropriate for the liturgy, though I have heard it many times used in traditional circles for Holy Mass.
What interests me here is its relation to the pagan or neopagan celebrations associated with May Day, the spring festival. The “Queen of the May” or “May Queen” is a personification of Spring which is ritualized in May Day celebrations by the selection of a young girl dressed in white and crowned with flowers who leads the May Day parade. British folklore has it that of old the ritual ended with the blood sacrifice of the May Queen. Continue reading →
As you can see MaryVictrix has been modified. It may change a bit more over the next week, but nothing drastic.
You can always get back to the stream of blog posts by clicking “blog” in the man menu. The recent comments widget can be found in the blog stream for your convenience. Clicking on the header image or on the site title will take you back to the “showcase” page that has the featured article header, recent post links, et al.
Check out the new pages under the main menu Marian Chivalry, The Spirit of Lepanto and the Inversion of Chivalry. They are relatively short (for my writing), and give a good summary of what Mary Victrix is about.
I thought I would mark the end of the world as we know it with a reboot of Mary Victrix.
I will be changing the WordPress theme and modifying the site over the next few days. It might look clunky and change back and forth a bit, but that should be over soon.
Check out the new pages under the main menu when they become available shortly: Marian Chivalry, The Spirit of Lepanto and the Inversion of Chivalry.
Let me take this opportunity to rebuke the spirit of paranoia and reaffirm hope in Our Lady.
My introductory video is up on AirMaria as promised. It also appears here on MaryVictrix in the side bar. Look for the next episodes over the next few weeks.
The Feast of the Holy Rosary is a feast of prayer and recourse to the Blessed Mother. It is also a feast of the action of brave men who were men of prayer. That is why it is also the Feast of Our Lady of Victory. On this day we pray for the Spirit of Lepanto.
In the current postcommunion oration for the Mass we find the closest thing in the current formulary to reference to Our Lady of Victory:
May we be helped we beseech Thee, O Lord, by the prayers of Thy most holy Mother, whose Rosary we celebrate; that we may draw strength from the Mysteries which we commemorate, and likewise obtain the fruit of the Sacraments which we have received: Who livest and reignest with the God Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.
We are to draw strength from the paschal mystery, the mystery of the sacrificial love of Christ for all men. The mysteries of which the oration speaks are the death and resurrection of the Lord. But the feast integrates into these mysteries the mystery of Our Lady’s victorious mediation, and the “strength” which we draw from our participation in the Mysteries of Christ through Her mediation.
On this occasion I have returned to vlogging my series Standing Fast which you will be able find each week in the side bar on the right. (It should be up momentarily.)Well I guess the widget won’t fly yet, so here is the video:
Here is the link to The Soul of the Apostolate that I mention in the video. And a Google Books version here.
You will also be able to find it on AirMaria as a regular post in a larger format. I have delayed my post today due to the learning curve with some new video software. My apologies for not posting sooner on Our Lady’s feast day.
The above painting was created by Tony Stafki and is available in various kinds of prints. Tony sent my some information about the painting:
The battle formation of the ships just before the main clash.
The Catholic ships form a cross and the Muslim ships form a cresent.
The standard of the Holy Cross which was blessed by Pope Pius V can be seen on Don Juan of Austria’s ship which is leading the charge
Papal ships (St. Peter’s keys)
The miracle of the wind: just before the armies met the wind completely switched in favor of the Catholic ships.
Devils can be seen amongst the Muslim ships (they were summoned from hell by the Muslim leader). The devils have peacock feathers as swords, a manifestation of their pride.
Our Lady of Victory with a sword in one hand ready to crush the devils and the other hand outstretched to the Muslim souls.
St. Michael leading the Angels
There are small white lights by the oars on the Muslim ships representing the souls of the Catholic prisoners.
The image of Our Lady with the sword reminds me of this:
The King looked up, and what he saw
Was a great light like death,
For Our Lady stood on the standards rent,
As lonely and as innocent
As when between white walls she went
And the lilies of Nazareth.
One instant in a still light
He saw Our Lady then,
Her dress was soft as western sky,
And she was a queen most womanly—
But she was a queen of men.
Over the iron forest
He saw Our Lady stand,
Her eyes were sad withouten art,
And seven swords were in her heart—
But one was in her hand.
I have always been a little put off that the image of Our Lady of Victory does not have a sword:
Mary Victrix 