Notre Dame de Rouen. The façade of the Gothic Church in France. Photographer: Hippo1947. Licence: SHUTTERSTOCK.

Monday 18 November 2013

The Dedication Of The Basilicas Of The Holy Apostles Peter And Paul. 18 November.


Text and Illustrations taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,

unless otherwise stated.

The Saint Andrew Daily Missal is obtainable from CARMEL BOOKS

The Traditional Catholic Book Store, Blackford House, Andover Road, Highclere, 
Newbury, Berkshire, England RG20 9PF. Tel: (01635 255340).
E-Mail: enquiries.carmelbooks@gmail.com


Illustrations and captions, within The Saint Andrew Daily Missal, 1952 Edition, 

are taken from UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY which reproduces them with the kind permission of ST. BONAVENTURE PRESS

Greater-Double.

White Vestments.






Interior of Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome,
Current location: Saint Louis Art Museum.
(Wikimedia Commons)



Italiano: Statua di San Paolo di fronte alla facciata della 
Basilica di San Paolo fuori le Mura a Roma.
English: Basilica of Saint Paul's-without-the-Walls, Rome.
Photo: May 2007.
Source: Own work.
Author: Berthold Werner.
 (Wikimedia Commons)


After having celebrated, on 5 August, the Dedication of Saint Mary of the Snow (better known under the name of Saint Mary Major) at Rome, and that of Saint Michael on 29 September, and that of Saint John Lateran on 9 November, and, in some Dioceses, a common Dedication Feast of all the consecrated Churches, the Church today celebrates that of the Basilicas of Saint Peter and Saint Paul at Rome.

Thus, are all these anniversaries solemnised in the season after Pentecost, a time when we give all our thoughts to the Church and to the Saints, of whom our Temples are the living image.

The Basilica of Saint Peter, on the Vatican, and that of Saint Paul-without-the-Walls, both erected by Emperor Constantine on the sites of their martyrdom, are hardly inferior, owing to their origin and importance, to the Basilica of Saint John Lateran. They were also consecrated by Saint Sylvester on 18 November.



English: Saint Peter's Basilica,
seen from the River Tiber. 
Magyar: Vatikánváros látképe.
Italiano: Veduta del Vaticano dal Tevere.
Photo: January 2005.
Source: Flickr
Reviewer: Andre Engels.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Church of Saint Peter is on the site of the Circus of Nero, and, under its High Altar, lie the sacred remains of the Head of the Apostles, making it, with Saint John Lateran, the centre of the whole Christian world.

Here is always held the Station of the Saturday in Ember Week, when Holy Orders are conferred; here, also, are held the Stations of the Third Sunday in Advent, and of The Epiphany, and of Passion Sunday, and of Easter Monday, and of Ascension Day, and of Pentecost, and of the Litanies of Saint Mark, and of Rogation Wednesday.

Lastly, it is here that Mass is solemnly sung on the Feast of The Holy Apostles, Peter and Paul, on 29 June, and on the Feasts of the Chair of Saint Peter at Rome, 18 January, and of the Chair of Saint Peter at Antioch, 22 February.



English: Basilica of Saint Paul-without-the-Walls, Vatican, Italy. 
With its length of 432 feet, this Basilica ranks 11th among the largest Churches in the world.
Français: Basilique Saint-Paul-hors-les-Murs, Vatican, située à Rome, Latium, Italie. 
Avec sa longueur de 131,66 mètres, cette Basilique se classe au 11è rang 
parmi les plus grandes églises au monde.
Photo: September 2010.
Source: Own work.
Author: Tango7174.
(Wikimedia Commons)


This Church, already remarkable in the 4th-Century, was enlarged at a later date and completely rebuilt in the 16th-Century, when it was falling into decay. Pope Julian II and Pope Leo X had recourse to the greatest artists of the age and the combined plans of Bramante and Michael Angelo (sic) raised over the tomb of Saint Peter the greatest and richest Church in the world, which Pope Urban VIII consecrated on 18 November 1626.

The Basilica of Saint Paul, situated on the other side of Rome, was also built in the 4th-Century over the tomb of the Apostle of the Gentiles. On account of the distance, it was only used for the Station four times a year: On the Feast of Holy Innocents; on Sexagesima Sunday; on the Wednesday of the fourth week in Lent or day of the greatest scrutiny; and on Easter Tuesday. Mass is solemnly celebrated there on the day of the Commemoration of Saint Paul, 30 June, and on the day of his Conversion, 25 January.

Having been destroyed by fire in 1823, the Church was rebuilt by Pope Gregory XVI and Pope Pius IX, and consecrated by the latter on 10 December 1854. He maintained, however, today's Feast, joining the anniversary of the two Dedications under the original date of 18 November.


MassTerribilis. Page 1704. The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.


Sacred Baroque Music. Royal Chapel Of Spain. Baroque Churches in Austria, Germany, Poland, Spain.


Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.


File:Palacio Real de Madrid.jpg

The Royal Palace,
Madrid, Spain.
which contains
The Royal Chapel.
Photo: 24 April 2010.
Source: Palacio Real.
Author: bepo2.
(Wikimedia Commons)



Sacred Baroque Music from 
The Royal Chapel of Spain.
Available on YouTube at
http://youtu.be/CHki7gZhARM.


File:Ebenthal Gurnitz Pfarrkirche Innenraum 15052008 41.jpg

English: Baroque Interior of the 
Parish Church of Saint Martin, 
at Gurnitz, Klagenfurt, Austria.
Deutsch: Inneres der Pfarrkirche Sankt Martin in Gurnitz, 
Marktgemeinde Ebenthal in Kärnten, Bezirk 
Klagenfurt Land, Kärnten / Österreich.
Photo: 15 May 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Johann Jaritz.
(Wikimedia Commons)



English: Baroque Interior of the Basilica of Vierzehnheiligen, 
(Basilica of The Fourteen Auxiliary Saints), 
near Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany.
Deutsch: Innenansicht Basilika Vierzehnheiligen (Germany).
Source: Own work.
Date: 5 September 2005.
Author: Asio otus.
(Wikimedia Commons)



English: The Basilica of Vierzehnheiligen, 
Bamberg, Germany.
Español: Basílica de Vierzehnheiligen.
Photo: 4 September 2005.
Source: Own work.
Author: Schubbay.
(Wikimedia Commons)


File:St Anne Church Krakow 8.JPG

Church of Saint Anne,
Kraków, Poland.
Photo: 14 July 2010.
Source: Own work.
Author: Gryffindor.
(Wikimedia Commons)


File:Haigerloch St Anna3512.jpg

English: The Pilgrimage Church of Saint Anne, 
Haigerloch, Germany.
DeutschHaigerloch Wallfahrtskirche Sankt Anna.
Photo: 3 August 2009.
Source: Own work.
Author: Rainer Halama.
Permission: Own work, attribution required
(Multi-license with GFDL and Creative Commons CC-BY 2.5).
(Wikimedia Commons)


File:Steinhausen pilgrimage church of our lady 102.JPG

The High Altar at 
Wallfahrtskirche Steinhausen, 
in the village of Steinhausen,
near Bad Schussenried, Germany.
Photo: 22 October 2012.
Source: Own work (Selbst fotografiert).
Author: Mattana.
(Wikimedia Commons)


File:Toledo Cathedral, from Plaza del Ayuntamiento.jpg

Toledo Cathedral
Toledo, Spain.
Photo: 5 August 2012.
Source: Own work.
Author: Nikthestoned.
(Wikimedia Commons)


For The Anzacs And All The Fallen At Gallipoli.


WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.





The Band Played Waltzing Matilda.
Available on YouTube
at


WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.


No-Man's Land (Flowers Of The Forest).


WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.






No-Man's Land
(Flowers of the Forest)
Available on YouTube
at




WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.




Sunday 17 November 2013

William Durandus (1230 – 1296). Mediaeval French Canonist And Liturgical Writer.


Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.



Guillaume Durand (1230 – 1296),
also known as Durandus, Duranti or Durantis,
was a French Canonist and Liturgical Writer,
and Bishop of Mende, France.
Date: 17th-Century.
Source: Originally published in Boissard, Jean-Jacques: Bibliotheca chalcographica, 1652-1669.
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Guillaume Durand, or William Durand (1230 – 1296), also known as Durandus, Duranti or Durantis, from the Italian form of Durandi filius, as he sometimes signed himself, was a French Canonist and Liturgical Writer, and Bishop of Mende, France.

He was born at Puimisson, near Béziers, France, of a noble family of Languedoc. He studied Law at Bologna, with Bernardus of Parma, and by about 1264 was teaching Canon Law, with success, at Modena, Italy.

Pope Clement IV, another Frenchman, called him to the Pontifical Court as a Chaplain and Auditor of the Palace, and in 1274 he accompanied Clement's successor, Pope Gregory X, to the Second Council of Lyons, the Constitutions of which he helped draw up. As spiritual and temporal Legate of the patrimony of Saint Peter, he received in 1278, in the name of the Pope, the homage of Bologna and of the other cities of Romagna.


File:Roma-Santa Maria sopra Minerva.jpg

Italiano: Basilica di Santa Maria sopra Minerva.
English: Basilica of Saint Mary above Minerva, Rome, Italy.
William Durandus's tomb is within this Basilica.
Façade by Carlo Maderno.
Latin: Basilica Sanctae Mariae supra Minervam.
Photo: 10 April 2005.
Source: Flickr.com: [1].
Author: sonofgroucho.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Pope Martin IV made him Vicar Spiritual in 1281, then Governor of Romagna and of the March of Ancona (1283). In the midst of the struggles between Guelfs and Ghibellines, Durandus successfully defended the Papal Territories, both by diplomacy and by arms. Pope Honorius IV retained him in his Offices and, although elected Bishop of Mende in 1286, he remained in Italy until 1291. In 1295, he refused the Archbishopric of Ravenna, which was offered him by Pope Boniface VIII, but accepted the task of pacifying his former Provinces of Romagna and the March of Ancona. In 1296 he withdrew to Rome, where he died. His tomb is in the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.


File:Blason évêque fr Guillaume Durand.svg

English: Coat-of-Arms of unspecified.
Drawn by Sanguinez, 17 October 2009, 
for Blazon Project of French-speaking Wikipedia, with Inkscape.
Source: unspecified.
Blazon: unspecified.
Français: Blason de les 2 évêques Guillaume Durand (oncle et neveu) dessiné par Sanguinez (talk) 12:15, 17 October 2009 (UTC) pour le Projet Blasons du Wikipédia francophone, avec Inkscape.
Source : œuvre personnelle d'après blasonnement - Blasonnement : De gueules à trois bandes d’argent, et un chef d’argent chargé d’un lion naissant d’azur, soutenu d’une devise cousue d’azur chargée de trois fleurs de lys d’or.
Date: 17 October 2009.
Source: œuvre personnelle d'après blasonnement, using Inkscape.
Author: Sanguinez (talk) 14:41, 17 October 2009 (UTC).
(Wikimedia Commons)


Durandus' principal work is the Speculum iudiciale, which was compiled in 1271, and revised in 1286 and 1291. It is a general explanation of civil, criminal and canonical procedure, and also includes a survey of the subject of contracts. It is a remarkable encyclopedical synthesis of Roman and Ecclesiastical Law, distinguished by its clarity, its method, and especially its practical sense, and its repute was as great and lasting in the courts as in the schools.

It won Durandus the nickname of Doctor Speculator. It was commented upon by Giovanni Andrea (in 1346), and by Baldus. In 1306, Cardinal Béranger drew up an alphabetical table of its contents (Inventorium). There are many manuscripts of the Speculum, and several editions, of which the most usual is that of Turin, in 1578, in 2 volumes, containing all additions - among them those by Giovanni d'Andrea, and tables. This edition was reproduced at Frankfurt in 1612 and 1668.

Another important work by Durandus was the Rationale divinorum officiorum, a Liturgical treatise written in Italy before 1286, on the origin and symbolic sense of the Christian Ritual. It presents a picture of the Liturgy of the 13th-Century in the West, studied in its various forms, its Traditional sources, and its relation to the Church buildings and furniture. With Martène's De antiquis Ecclesiae ritibus, it is the main authority on the Mediaeval Western Liturgies. It has run through various editions since its first publication in 1459.



Mende Cathedral, France.
William Durandus was Bishop of Mende.
Photo: 26 July 2007.
Source: Own work.
Author: Szeder László.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The other important works of Durandus comprise:

Repertorium iuris canonici (Breviarium aureum), a collection of citations from Canonists on questions of controversy, often published along with the Speculum;

Commentarius in sacrosanctum Lugdunense concilium (ed. Fano, 1569), of especial value owing to the share of Durandus in the elaboration of the Constitutions of this Council (1274), and inserted by Pope Boniface VIII in the Sextus.

His nephew, also called Guillaume Durand, was also a Canonist. Guillaume Durand the Younger, a later Bishop of Mende, was an advocate of ecclesiastical reform at the Council of Vienne, France.


For The Anzacs And All The Fallen At Gallipoli.


WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.





The Band Played Waltzing Matilda.
Available on YouTube
at


WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.


No-Man's Land (Flowers Of The Forest).


WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.






No-Man's Land
(Flowers of the Forest)
Available on YouTube
at




WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.


Saturday 16 November 2013

For The Anzacs And All The Fallen At Gallipoli.


WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.





The Band Played Waltzing Matilda.
Available on YouTube
at


WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.


No-Man's Land (Flowers Of The Forest).


WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.






No-Man's Land
(Flowers of the Forest)
Available on YouTube
at




WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.


Stabat Mater. By Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710 - 1736) & Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741).


Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.


File:Pergolesi.jpg

Purported portrait of Pergolesi.
Presented by his biographer, Florimo,
to the Naples Conservatory.
(Wikimedia Commons)



Stabat Mater.
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710 - 1736).
Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741).
Available on YouTube at


Besides secular music, Pergolesi also wrote sacred music, including a Mass in F and his Magnificat in C Major. It is his Stabat Mater (1736), however, for soprano, alto, string orchestra and basso continuo, which is his best known sacred work.

It was commissioned by the Confraternità dei Cavalieri di San Luigi di Palazzo, who presented an annual Good Friday Meditation in honour of The Virgin Mary. Pergolesi's work replaced one composed by Alessandro Scarlatti, only nine years before, but which was already perceived as "old-fashioned," so rapidly had public tastes changed.


File:Antonio Vivaldi.jpg

Artist: François Morellon la Cave.
Engraved portrait of Antonio Vivaldi.
Italiano: François Morellon la Cave: Antonio Vivaldi – 
Effigies Antonii Vivaldi per l’edizione Le Cène dell’op. 8 del 1725.
Deutsch: Antonio Vivaldi (Kupferstich von François Morellon la Cave; 1725).
English: Antonio Vivaldi by François Morellon la Cave; 1725.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741), nicknamed il Prete Rosso ("The Red Priest") because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, Catholic Priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice.

Recognised as one of the greatest Baroque composers, his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe. Vivaldi is known mainly for composing instrumental concertos, especially for the violin, as well as sacred choral works and over forty operas. His best known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons.

Many of his compositions were written for the female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for abandoned children, where Vivaldi had been employed from 1703 to 1715 and from 1723 to 1740. Vivaldi also had some success with stagings of his operas in VeniceMantua and Vienna. After meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi moved to Vienna, hoping for preferment. However, the Emperor died soon after Vivaldi's arrival and Vivaldi died less than a year later.

Though Vivaldi's music was well received during his lifetime, it later declined in popularity until its vigorous revival in the first half of the 20th-Century. Today, Vivaldi ranks among the most popular and widely recorded of Baroque composers.


Friday 15 November 2013

The Ghent Altarpiece. Saint Bavo Cathedral. Jan Van Eyck.


Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.



English: Ghent Altarpiece.
Français: Retable de L'Agneau mystique.
日本語: ヘントの祭壇画
Source: en.wikipedia.
Author: Copyright Pol Mayer / 
Paul M.R. Maeyaert (en.wikipedia).
(Wikimedia Commons)


File:Kooromgang gent.JPG

Saint Bavo Cathedral,
Ghent, Belgium.
Photo: 9 November 2006.
Source: Own work.
Author: Carolus.
(Wikimedia Commons)



Jan and Hubert van Eyck: 
The Ghent Altarpiece.
Cathedral of Saint Bavo.
Music by Pergolesi.
Available on YouTube at


The Ghent Altarpiece (also called the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb or The Lamb of God (Dutch: Het Lam Gods) is a very large and complex Early-15th-Century Early Flemish polyptych panel painting. It comprises an Altarpiece of 12 panels, eight of which are hinged shutters. These wings are painted on both sides, giving two very distinct views depending on whether they are open or closed.

Outside of Sundays and festive holidays, the work was displayed with the outer wings closed, and was often covered with a cloth. The work was commissioned from Hubert van Eyck, about whom little is known. Hubert was most likely responsible for the overall design, but died in 1426. It seems to have been principally executed and completed by his younger and better known brother, Jan van Eyck, between 1430 – 1432.

Although there have been extensive attempts over the centuries to isolate the passages attributable to either brother, no separation has been convincingly established. Today, most accept that the work was probably designed and constructed by Hubert, and that the individual panels were painted by Jan, after his return from diplomatic duties in Spain.



The closed view. Back Panels.
English: Ghent Altarpiece.
日本語: ヘントの祭壇画.
Source: en.wikipedia.
Author: User:Copyright Pol Mayer / 
Paul M.R. Maeyaert (en.wikipedia).
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Altarpiece was commissioned by the merchant, financier and politician, Joost Vijdt, then holding a position in Ghent similar to City Mayor. It was designed for the Chapel for whom he and his wife acted as benefactors, today's Saint Bavo Cathedral, at the time the Parochial Church of John the Baptist, Patron Saint of the city.

It was officially installed on 6 May 1432 to coincide with an official ceremony for Philip the Good. It was later moved for security reasons to the principal Cathedral Chapel, where it remains. While indebted to the International Gothic as well as both Byzantine and Romanic traditions, the Altarpiece represented a "new conception of art", in which the idealisation of the Mediaeval tradition gave way to an exacting observation of nature and un-idealised human representation.


File:Retable de l'Agneau mystique (3).jpg

The Virgin Mary.
Jan van Eyck (1390 -1441.
Retable de l'Agneau mystique.
Gand.
This File: 14 April 2005.
User: Petrusbarbygere.
(Wikimedia Commons)


A now lost inscription on the frame stated that Hubert van Eyck, maior quo nemo repertus (greater than anyone), started the Altarpiece, but that Jan van Eyck – calling himself arte secundus (second best in the art) – completed it in 1432.

The original, very ornate, carved outer frame and surround, presumably harmonising with the painted tracery, was destroyed during the Reformation; there has been speculation that it may have included clockwork mechanisms for moving the shutters and even playing music.


File:Retable de l'Agneau mystique (2).jpg

The central figure, 
usually referred to as
"The Almighty".
Jan van Eyck (1390 -1441.
Retable de l'Agneau mystique.
Gand.
This File: 14 April 2005.
User: Petrusbarbygere.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The outer panels contain two vertically-stacked registers (rows). The upper rows show scenes from the Annunciation of Mary. The four lower-register panels are divided into two pairs; sculptural grisaille paintings of John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, and on the two outer panels, donor portraits of Joost Vijdt and his wife, Lysbette Borluut.

The upper register of the opened view shows a Deësis of Christ the King, Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. They are flanked by images of Angels singing and playing music, and, on the outermost panels, Adam and Eve. The lower register of the central panel shows the adoration of the Lamb of God, with several groups in attendance or streaming in to worship, overseen by the dove of the Holy Spirit.


File:Retable de l'Agneau mystique (4).jpg

Saint John The Baptist.
Jan van Eyck (1390 -1441.
Retable de l'Agneau mystique.
Gand.
This File: 14 April 2005.
User: Petrusbarbygere.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Since its creation, the Altarpiece has been considered one of Northern European art's masterpieces and one of the world's treasures. Over the centuries, the panels have come close to being destroyed during outbreaks of iconoclasm, been moved and damaged by fire, while some have been sold, and others taken during wars.

After all the panels were again returned to Saint Bavo Cathedral, following World War I, in 1934, the lower left panel, The Just Judges, was stolen. The panel has not been recovered. In 1945, after the Altarpiece was returned from Germany, having spent much of World War II hidden in a salt mine, which greatly damaged the paint and varnishes, Jef Van der Veken produced a copy of the stolen panel, as part of an overall restoration effort.


For The Anzacs And All The Fallen At Gallipoli.


WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.





The Band Played Waltzing Matilda.
Available on YouTube
at


WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.


Remembrance Day. At The Eleventh Hour. Of The Eleventh Day. Of The Eleventh Month. The Guns Fell Silent. Lest We Forget.


Because the subject matter of this Post is of such importance, Zephyrinus will be Posting it 
every day this week.

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.



LEST WE FORGET.



HYMN TO THE FALLEN.
Available on YouTube at



VISIT TO THE SOMME BATTLEFIELDS.
Available on YouTube at


File:Inflandersfieldslestweforget01.JPG

IN FLANDERS FIELDS.

LEST WE FORGET.

Remembrance Day at the John McCrae House (birthplace, museum, and Memorial) 
in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. A detail shot of the "Altar" of the Memorial, 
with the complete poem "In Flanders Fields"
and the line "LEST WE FORGET" inscribed on it.
Photo: 11 November 2009.
Source: Own work.
Author: Lx 121.
Note: Part of a series of photographs taken at the John McCrae site 
in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, on 11 November 2009 (Remembrance Day).
(Wikimedia Commons)



Illustration: LANDSCAPES


File:Lieut.-Col. John McCrae, M.D..jpg

Portrait photo of John Alexander McCrae (1872–1918).
Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae was a soldier, physician and poet.
Date: 1918 or earlier.
Image from In Flanders Fields and other poems, 
by Lieut.-Col. John McCrae, M.D., 
with an essay in character, by Sir Andrew Macphail 
(New York, London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1919): http://www.archive.org/details/inflandersfields00mccr.
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)


File:In Flanders fields and other poems, handwritten.png


An autographed copy of the poem "In Flanders Fields". Unlike the printed copy in the same book, McCrae's handwritten version ends the first line with "grow".
Facsimile of handwritten version of McCrae's "In Flanders Fields", in a volume of his poetry where an acknowledgement is given "The reproduction of the autograph poem is from a copy belonging to Carleton Noyes, Esq., of Cambridge, Mass., who kindly permitted its use."
Date: 1919.
Source: Scan of McCrae's "In Flanders Fields And Other Poems", 
obtained from archive.org, converted to PNG and Black and White, slight rotation.
Author: John McCrae.
(Wikimedia Commons)


File:In Flanders Fields (1921) page 1.png

Illustrated page by Ernest Clegg.
Note that the first line ends with "grow".
Page 1 of the main content from a limited edition book
containing an illustrated poem, "In Flanders Fields".
Date: 1921.
Source: JP2 zip data at fieldsinflanders00mccrrich archive.org.
Author: John McCrae and Ernest Clegg.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The first chapter of "In Flanders Fields and Other Poems", a 1919 collection of McCrae's works, gives the text of the poem as follows:


IN FLANDERS FIELDS

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.


File:Bleuet de France circa 1950.jpg

Bleuet de France.
Circa 1950.
Source: Own work.
Author: Unknown.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Remembrance Day (11 November) is a national holiday in France and Belgium. It commemorates the Armistice, signed between the Allies and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front, which took effect at 11:00 a.m. in the morning — the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month."



Illustration: LABOUR UNCUT


Armistice Day is one the most important military celebrations in France, since it was a major French victory and the French paid a heavy price in blood to achieve it. The First World War was considered in France as the "Great Patriotic War". Almost all French villages feature Memorials dedicated to the Fallen. In France, the blue Cornflower (Bleuet de France) is used symbolically, rather than the Poppy.


File:Ghosts of Vimy Ridge.jpeg

"Ghosts of Vimy Ridge" 
depicts ghosts of the Canadian Corps on Vimy Ridge,
 surrounding the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.
Date: 1931.
Source: Canadian House of Commons Collection, (AN: O-4714) [1].
(Wikimedia Commons)


File:Villers-Bretonneux mémorial australien (tour et croix) 1.jpg

English: The Australian Memorial 
at Villers-Bretonneux, Somme, France.
Français: Villers-Bretonneux (Somme, France).
La croix du cimetière militaire 
et la tour du Mémorial National Australien.
Photo: April 2008.
Source: Own work.
Author: Markus3 (Marc ROUSSEL).
(Wikimedia Commons)



Australian Remembrance Day.
Image: J2M CLASS BLOG




Australian Remembrance Day.
Image: STITCHERS CORNER



The De Profundis.
Psalm 129 
(Douay–Rheims Bible)
By Orlando de Lassus.
Taken from the
Prayers for the Dead.
Available on YouTube at


Psalm CXXIX

De Profundis

Out of the depths I have cried unto Thee, O Lord !
Lord, hear my voice.
Let Thine ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplication.
If Thou, O Lord, shalt mark iniquities,
Lord, who shall endureth ?
For with the Lord there is merciful forgiveness,
And by reason of Thy law I have waited upon Thee, O Lord.
My Soul doth rely on His word:
My Soul doth hope in the Lord.
From the Morning Watch, even unto night,
Let Israel hope in the Lord.
For with the Lord there is mercy,
And with Him plentiful redemption.
And He shall redeem Israel,
From all his iniquities.

V. Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.
R. And let perpetual light shine upon them.


De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine:
Domine, exaudi vocem meam.
Fiant aures tuae intendentes:
In vocem deprecationis meae.
Si iniquitates observaveris, Domine:
Domine, quis sustinebit ?
Quia apud te propitiatio est:
Et propter legem tuam sustinui te, Domine.
Sustinuit anima mea in verbo ejus:
Speravit anima mea in Domino.
A custodia matutina usque ad noctem:
Speret Israel in Domino.
Quia apud Dominum misericordia:
Et copiosa apud eum redemptio.
Et ipse redimet Israel,
Ex omnibus iniquitatibus ejus.

V. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine.
R. Et lux perpetua luceat eis.



. . . "If ye break faith,
With us who die,
We shall not sleep,
Though Poppies grow,
In Flanders fields."
Photo: 2006.
Source: Own work.
Author: Zephyrinus.



A South African Infantry Soldier 
stands guard at the Johannesburg Memorial
on the 90th Remembrance Day Ceremony.



Delville Wood,
near Longueval,
The Somme,
France.


Delville Wood was sometimes known as Devil's Wood, and the fighting there during the Battle of the Somme was particularly ferocious. The majority of the wood was eventually taken by South African soldiers on 15 July 1916, and they held on grimly during numerous German counter-attacks for six days, until they were relieved.

After the War, South Africa purchased the site in 1920, and it serves as a Memorial to those of that nation who fell, not just there, but elsewhere.


File:Canadian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with poppies.jpg

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Confederation Square in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 
immediately following the Remembrance Day ceremonies on 11 November, 2006. 
Since its installation, it has become traditional to place Poppies 
on the Tomb, after the formal ceremony has concluded.
Photo: 11 November 2006.
Source: Own work.
Author: Mikkel Paulson.
(Wikimedia Commons)


Detail: CDF LT GEN Jerry Mateparae and Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, British Chief of Defence Staff [AK06048122].

New Zealand 
Remembrance Day Ceremony.


Armistice Day (also referred to as Remembrance Day) marks the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War One and commemorates the sacrifice of those who died serving New Zealand in this War, and all Wars and armed conflict.

The Great War of 1914 to 1918 was one of the most devastating events in human history. New Zealand, with a population of 1.1 million in 1914, sent 100,000 men and women abroad. 16,700 died and over 40,000 were wounded – a higher per capita casualty rate than any other country involved.

The coming of Peace, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, brought Blessed relief for all involved.


They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning.
We will remember them.

We will remember them.

(Fourth stanza of Laurence Binyon's 'For the Fallen')



Illustration from


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