Stephen Morris's Blog, page 24

Circumcision of Christ (Holy Name)

The central panel depicts the circumcision of Christ. The two side panels depict the Gospel writers Luke and Matthew who relate how Jesus was circumcised or given his name on the 8th day after his birth.

The Feast of the Circumcision of Christ is a Christian celebration of the circumcision of Jesus in accordance with Jewish tradition, eight days after his birth, the occasion on which the child was formally given his name. Eight days after Christmas (December 25), Circumcision (nowadays the feast is often called “Holy Name”) is thus celebrated on January 1.

The circumcision of Jesus has traditionally been seen, as explained in the popular 14th-century work the Golden Legend, as the first time the blood of Christ was shed and thus the beginning of the process of the redemption of man, a demonstration that Christ was fully human and of his obedience to Biblical law.

Circumcision was first practiced by Ethiopians and Egyptians, according to Herodotus, and they practiced it mainly for reasons of health (Hist. 2:2, 104). In the Old Testament, God established circumcision as a sign of his covenant with Abraham that would mark his descendants as different from the other peoples of the world. “This covenant, which you shall keep, is between me and you and between your seed after you for their generations. Every male among you shall be circumcised. Circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and that shall be the mark of the covenant between you and me. And a child, when he is eight days old, shall be circumcised.” (Genesis 17:12)

The Greeks and Romans thought circumcision was a horrible disfigurement of the male body. Many Romans admired Jewish religious practice and thought but refused to actually convert because of the social stigma associated with circumcision. Several of these “God-fearers” appear in the New Testament.

Patristic literature associates the timing of the Circumcision on the eighth day with Resurrection. Seven is the number of completion and fullness as the world was created in seven days and is due to pass through seven ages. But if seven is perfect, then seven-plus-one is super-perfect. Eight, therefore, stands for renewal, regeneration — whence the architectural tradition of eight-sided baptistries. And Christ rose from the dead on the day superseding the Sabbath, on the Eighth Day just as the world’s seven ages will be followed in the eighth age by the General Resurrection. This imagery is attached almost from the beginning to all theological meditation on Christ’s Circumcision. It is the sense of the mystery that the Circumcision on the eighth day prefigures Christ’s Resurrection, and thereby, implicitly, the resurrection of all.

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The Manger in the Cave

Eastern Orthodox icon of the birth of Christ by St. Andrei Rublev, 15th century. Note that the shepherd speaking with St. Joseph in the lower left is shown in profile, a pose reserved only for this shepherd, the Devil, and for Judas Iscariot and which indicates their interior wickedness and efforts to hide themselves from God. Also, the cave in which Christ is born is painted with the same absolute black pigment — unmixed with any other dark colors, which is more usual — as is the tomb of Christ or the abyss of Hell, into which the Divine Presence has entered.

We talk about Christ being born in a manger, in a stable and most crèche scenes have the manger inside a straw-roofed hut. But traditional depictions based on ancient models, like the icon above, show the manger inside a cave instead of a straw-roofed hut. The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem also marks the traditional place of the manger inside a cave beneath the church. Why?

In the Middle East, animals were often stabled in the small caves that dotted the countryside. The inn at Bethlehem that offered a place to Joseph and Mary doubtless had a stable-cave attached. But in western Europe during the 1200s, when it began to be common to erect crèche scenes, the stables there that people were used to seeing were huts. Not caves. So Europeans and Americans expect to see a manger in a hut, not a cave. But the cave was the more likely, original, and actual location of the manger.

A lot of traditional poetry for both Christmas and Good Friday point out that Christ was born and buried in a cave that belonged to someone else, each time protected by a man named Joseph. His swaddling bands, the strips of cloth a baby was wrapped in to keep him/her warm and cozy, look like a the strips of cloth a corpse might be wrapped in. The manger itself looks like a coffin. The celebration of the incarnation and birth of Christ already points to the celebration of his death and resurrection.

In Orthodox icons (such as the one above), the Star of Bethlehem is often depicted not as a bright light but as a dark aureola, a semicircle at the top of the icon, indicating the “divine darkness” or Uncreated Light of Divine grace, with a ray pointing to “the place where the young child lay” (Matt 2:9). Sometimes the faint image of an angel is drawn inside the dark semi-circle, pointing the way for the Magi.

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Prophet Daniel and Christmas

Prophet Daniel in Lion’s Den (10th century mosaic) shows the lions tame at Daniel’s feet, as sheep devoted to their shepherd.

The Prophet Daniel is best known for his imprisonment in the lions’ den. A young Jewish man living in exile, he is raised to high office by his royal master Darius the Mede. Daniel’s jealous rivals trick Darius into issuing a decree that for thirty days no prayers should be addressed to any god or man but Darius himself; any who break this are to be thrown to the lions. Daniel continues to pray to the God of Israel, and the king, although deeply distressed, must condemn Daniel to death, for the edicts of the Medes and Persians cannot be altered. Hoping for Daniel’s deliverance but unable to disobey his own law, Darius has Daniel cast into the pit. At daybreak the king hurries to the place and cries out anxiously, asking if God had saved his friend. Daniel replies that his God had sent an angel to close the jaws of the lions; Christian liturgical hymnography describes the prophet as having become a shepherd to the lions who behaved like sheep. The king commands that those who had conspired against Daniel should be thrown to the lions in his place, along with their wives and children, and writes to all the people of the whole world commanding that all should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.

In the book of the prophet Habbakuk, there is the additional detail that Habbakuk–many miles away, carrying food in a basket–was picked up by his hair by an angel and brought to the lions’ den to share his food with Daniel. (Habbakuk is often identified as having bright orange or red hair.)

Daniel is also associated with Christmas because of his prophecy regarding the stone which smashed the idol (Daniel 2:34–35) which is taken as a metaphor for the Incarnation: the “stone cut out” being symbolic of the Logos (Christ), and the fact that it was cut “without hands” being symbolic of the virgin birth. Byzantine Christian hymns and poetry refer to the Mother of God (the Virgin Mary) as the “uncut mountain.”

A contemporary icon showing the prophet Daniel in the lions’ den; Habbakuk is shown above, bringing a meal to share with Daniel.

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St. Barbara & Lightning Bolts

A Rood Screen painting (in Eye, Suffolk) 1480 depicts St. Barbara with her tower and palm branch.

If you die suddenly, without the time to receive Last Rites, then St. Barbara can give you everything you need. This is because Barbara herself was killed suddenly, with no warning, on December 4, AD 306. (Did you see last week’s post about St. Barbara and her branches? Look below.)

Barbara’s father was a rich merchant who built a tower with two windows for her to live in while he was away on business trips. While he was away on one trip, she became a Christian and had a third window installed in the tower as a way to honor the Holy Trinity. When her father came home and discovered that she had converted, he was so angry he drew his sword to kill her, but her prayers created an opening in the tower wall and she was miraculously transported to a mountain gorge, where two shepherds watched their flocks. Her father discovered where she was but was rebuffed by the first shepherd. However, the second shepherd betrayed her. For doing this, he was turned to stone and his flock was changed to locusts.

Dragged before the prefect of the province, who had her cruelly tortured, Barbara held true to her Christian faith. During the night, the dark prison was bathed in light and new miracles occurred. Every morning, her wounds were healed. When the jailors attempted t burn her, the torches would go out. Finally, she was condemned to death by beheading. Her father himself carried out the death-sentence. However, as punishment for this, he was struck by lightning on the way home and his body was consumed by flame.

Because of all these parts of her story, she is often depicted with a palm leaf (the symbol of victory, of martyrdom), with her tower, a lightning bolt, or a chalice (because she can give a dying person everything that a priest could in the Last Rites). She is said to especially watch over firemen, people struck by lightning, or miners and anyone who works with explosives. Within the mining and tunneling industry, as a long-standing tradition, one of the first tasks for each new mine or tunnel project is to make a small shrine to Santa Barbara at the entry to the mine or tunnel. This is often followed with a dedication and a request to Santa Barbara for protection of all who work on the project during the construction period.

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St. Barbara’s Branches

St. Barbara with her tower and palm branch–indicating that she was a martyr–on a 15th century rood screen.

Barbara, the daughter of a rich pagan named Dioscorus, was carefully guarded by her father who kept her locked up in a tower in order to preserve her from the outside world. Before going on a journey, her father commanded that a private bath-house be erected for her use near her dwelling, and during his absence, Barbara had three windows put in it, as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, instead of the two originally intended. When her father returned, she acknowledged herself to be a Christian; upon this he drew his sword to kill her, but her prayers created an opening in the tower wall and she was miraculously transported to a mountain gorge, where two shepherds watched their flocks. Dioscorus, in pursuit of his daughter, was rebuffed by the first shepherd, but the second betrayed her. For doing this, he was turned to stone and his flock was changed to locusts.

Dragged before the prefect of the province, Martinianus, who had her cruelly tortured, Barbara held true to her Christian faith. During the night, the dark prison was bathed in light and new miracles occurred. Every morning, her wounds were healed. Torches that were to be used to burn her went out as soon as they came near her. Finally, she was condemned to death by beheading. Her father himself carried out the death-sentence. However, as punishment for this, he was struck by lightning on the way home and his body was consumed by flame. Barbara was buried by the Christians and her tomb became the site of miracles.

German-speaking countries celebrate the tradition of Barbarazweig, or the “St. Barbara’s branch.” The original folklore was that unmarried girls cut twigs from cherry trees on December 4–the anniversary of St. Barbara’s martyrdom–and forced them into bloom. There is an old belief that if the twig blossoms on Christmas Eve, the girl will be married the following year.

The practice of forcing the blooms on the cherry tree twigs comes from a legend that while St. Barbara was locked in her tower, she felt lonely. She found a dried up cherry tree branch which she watered daily with a few drops from her drinking water. She was greatly consoled by the beautiful cherry blossoms that appeared just days before her impending execution.

St. Barbara’s feast day also has traditional breads and other wheat foods symbolizing the harvest, with overtones of death and rebirth, tying her feast day to Christmas. In France and the Ukraine, two or more grains of wheat are planted and forced to grow. Folklore states that if they flourish by Christmas Eve, the wheat crop will prosper that year.

According to the Golden Legend, her martyrdom took place on December 4.

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St. Andrew in Scotland & Romania

Woodcut of the martyrdom of St Andrew from a Sarum Missal printed in Paris in 1534.

Every year on November 30, Scotland celebrates the feast day of its patron saint, St. Andrew. The day is celebrated and commemorated with festivities, parades, traditional Scottish music and dancing. By law, all buildings in Scotland are required to display the Scottish National Flag that bears the image of the Saltire, or St Andrew’s Cross.

But… St. Andrew was not Scottish. In fact, the saint was born in Bethsaida, Israel. Moreover, St. Andrew never stepped foot in Scotland. Although St. Andrew was strongly associated with Scotland from around AD 1000, he only became the official patron saint of Scotland in AD 1320. (St. Andrew is also the patron saint of Greece, Russia, the Amalfi region of Italy, and Barbados.)

According to folklore, St. Andrew requested to be tied to an X-shaped cross, as he believed he was ”not worthy of dying in the same shape of a cross as Jesus”. Since the year 1385, this X-shape represents the white cross displayed on the Scottish flag. A notable feature of the small town in Scotland named for St. Andrew is the University of St Andrew. Founded in 1413, this is the oldest university in Scotland, as well as being the third oldest university in the English-speaking world. The university is known worldwide for teaching and research. The University was the first Scottish university to allow women to enroll as undergraduates (1892).

Regarded as ”one of the world’s greatest small universities”, the university is heavily interlinked with the town as students of the university making up roughly 1/3 of the population (under 20,000).

In Romania, where St. Andrew is also the patron saint, a number of traditions and rituals surround the apostle. On the morning of St Andrew’s day, mothers gather up tree branches and make a bunch for each family member; the person whose bunch blooms by New Year’s Day will have good luck and health that year. It is also said girls should put a branch of sweet basil – or 41 grains of wheat – under their pillow on the night of St Andrew’s Day. If they dream someone takes them, it means they will marry soon.

St Andrew is also linked to superstition and custom surrounding matrimony in several other countries. Reports suggest that in parts of Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, names of potential husbands are written on pieces of paper and stuffed in pieces of dough. After baking, the first one to rise to the top when put in a bowl of water would reveal the name of their future husband.

You can find more legends of St. Andrew here.

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Musicians and St. Cecilia

the sculptor Carlo Maderno attended the opening of St. Cecilia’s tomb in 1599 and then based his sculpture of the body on what he saw: the saint lying on her side with her arms extended and her throat cut, as if she had been dropped to the ground. The statue is now displayed beneath the high altar of the church in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome.

Saint Cecilia is the patroness of musicians. Her feast day is celebrated on November 22. She is said to have been beheaded with a sword. An early Roman Christian church, Santa Cecilia, was founded in the 4th-century AD in the Trastevere section of Rome, reputedly on the site of the house in which she lived. The legend about Cecilia’s death says that after being struck three times on the neck with a sword, she lived for three days, and asked the pope to convert her home into a church. Cecilia was buried in the Catacomb of Callixtus, and later transferred to the Church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. In 1599, her body was found still incorrupt, seeming to be asleep.

She is associated with music and musicians because she “sang in her heart” during the wedding that her parents forced her to make with a pagan man whom she was able to convert on their wedding night or shortly thereafter. She and her husband were both quickly martyred.

Her feast day became an occasion for musical concerts and festivals that occasioned well-known poems by John Dryden and Alexander Pope and music by Henry Purcell (Ode to St. Cecilia); several oratorios by Marc-Antoine Charpentier (In honorem Caeciliae, Valeriani et Tiburtij canticum; and several versions of Caecilia virgo et martyr to libretti probably written by Philippe Goibaut); George Frideric Handel (Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day); Charles Gounod (St. Cecilia Mass); as well as Benjamin Britten, who was born on her feast day (Hymn to St Cecilia, based on a poem by W. H. Auden). Herbert Howells’ A Hymn to Saint Cecilia has words by Ursula Vaughan Williams; as well as many, many others.

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St. Martin’s Day and the Christmas Season

A cookie for St. Martin’s Day on display in a bakery window in Venice, Italy shows St. Martin on his horse ready to cut his cloak in half.

St. Martin of Tours was a Roman soldier in 4th century Gaul. He met a beggar one cold, snowy day who begged him for a rag or two to keep himself warm. St. Martin toook his sword and cut his cloak in half, giving a portion to the beggar. That night, he had a dream in which he saw Christ enthroned in glory, wearing the half of the cloak Martin had given to the beggar. “Where did you get such a cloak?” he heard the angels ask Christ. “My friend Martin gave it to me,” Christ replied.

When he awoke, Martin abondoned his duties as a soldier and became a monk. He attracted many disciples and became a famous monk. He insisted that his disciples always care for any poor person who came to the monastery gate because the monks would be serving Christ when they served the poor. He was made the bishop of Tours. Many hospices and hostels for the poor were dedicated in his honor. The ruins of one such hospice in Oxford–at the bottom of Carfax Tower–still has his image above what’s left of the front gate.

St. Martin’s feast day is November 11 and in many European countries that is the beginning of the “holiday season.” There was a 40-day fast before Christmas and St. Martin;s Day was the last important feast day before Christmas; families would often have a fancy goose dinner on St. Martin’s Day to mark the last occasion to have a big meat dinner before Christmas. (According to legend, Martin was reluctant to become bishop, which is why he hid in a stable filled with geese. The noise made by the geese betrayed his location to the people who were looking for him.) The goose dinner on St. Martin’s Day was a “rehearsal” for the goose dinner on Christmas Day, much as the turkey dinner on Thanksgiving in the United States is now often a “rehearsal” for the family dinner on Christmas Day.

In many European towns or villages a man dressed as St. Martin rides on a horse in front of a procession to celebrate St. Martin’s Day. The children sing songs about St. Martin and greet him as Americans greet Santa Claus at the end of the Thanksgiving Day parade in New York.

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Guy Fawkes Day: “Remember, remember the 5th of November!”

In the 2005 film “V for Vendetta,” Hugo Weaving’s character wears a Guy Fawkes mask.

November 5 is celebrated as Guy Fawkes’ Day in Britain. It is the anniversary of the failed “Gunpowder Plot” to blow up the Houses of Parliament and King James I in 1605.

Guy Fawkes was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics. He travelled to Spain to seek support for a Catholic rebellion in England without success. He later met Thomas Wintour, with whom he returned to England. Wintour introduced Fawkes to Robert Catesby, who planned to assassinate King James I and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne. The plotters leased an undercroft beneath the House of Lords and Fawkes was placed in charge of the gunpowder they stockpiled there. Prompted by the receipt of an anonymous letter, the authorities searched Westminster Palace during the early hours of 5 November and found Fawkes guarding the explosives. Over the next few days, he was questioned and tortured and eventually confessed. Immediately before his execution on 31 January, Fawkes jumped from the scaffold where he was to be hanged and broke his neck, thus avoiding the agony of the mutilation that would have followed.

The night of November 5 is celebrated with bonfires and fireworks. Every year people throw scarecrow-like effigies of Guy Fawkes onto bonfires, and each year new effigies reappear only to be consumed by fire as well. Is it possible that the witty author of the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling, named Professor Dumbledore’s pet phoenix Fawkes after Guy Fawkes? For legend has it that each year the phoenix bird bursts into flames only to be reborn out of the ashes.

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Czechoslovakia is born!

Altarpiece from Hyrov, after 1430; National Gallery of Medieval Art, St Agnes Convent, (Prague, Czech Republic)

October 28, 1918 — The Republic of Czechoslovakia was founded, assembled from three provinces (Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia) which had been part of the former Austro-Hungarian empire.

Bohemia had been a duchy in the Middle Ages and then a kingdom in the eleventh century. “Good King Wenceslaus” of the popular Christmas carol was actually the Duke of Bohemia in the tenth century. Most people no longer remember that Prague–the capital of Bohemia–was the cultural and political capital of Europe for several hundred years, beginning in the 1340s. Art was so important to Czech culture that painters were exempt from military duty!

Bohemian culture always valued individualism and following one’s particular calling or conscience; hence, the association of “Bohemian” with the counter-culture of the mid-20th century in New York City and the United States.

The prophetess Libuse selected the site of the city in the AD 700s and married a local farmer to begin the Czech royal family.

Walpurgis Night is still one of the most popular of Czech holidays. According to the traditional Czech stories, the night of April 30-May 1 was magical. Not only was evil believed to be more powerful at this time, but also those who felt brave enough to go outside could find treasures if they carried with them items such as wood fern flower, wafer or sanctified chalk. It was also believed that during the night witches were flying and gathering for the Sabbath. To protect themselves, villagers burnt bonfires on hills and set fire to brooms, which were then thrown into the air to reveal any flying witch. These celebrations are nowadays accompanied with music and traditional food and mark the opening of the tourist season.

Click here to discover more about mysterious, beautiful, magical Prague!

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