Ordo MMXV Now Available.

Illustration: THE SAINT LAWRENCE PRESS LTD

Zephyrinus is delighted to be able to strongly recommend, to all Readers, the availability, now, of the new Ordo MMXV, from THE SAINT LAWRENCE PRESS LTD ONLINE SHOP

An excellent Review of this Ordo can be read on the Blog of Fr John Hunwicke, which is available at FR HUNWICKE'S MUTUAL ENRICHMENT

Fr Hunwicke's Review includes the following Text:

"This little book will show you, day by day, a wonderland in which Festivals have:

Octaves and Vigils;

Humble Festivals have First Vespers, in accordance with a Tradition which goes back even behind the New Covenant to the Judaic system;

Commemorations enable you to remember Festivals which are partly obscured by other observances;

The Last Gospel is sometimes changed to enable a different Gospel to be read;

Newman's favourite Canticle "Quicumque vult" (the 'Athanasian Creed') is said; et cetera and kai ta loipa.

What you will get a glimpse of is The Roman Rite as it was in 1939, before the Pius XII changes got under way. Not many, of course, will feel able to observe this Calendar in their Mass and Office. But you will understand the 'reformed' rites of 1962 and 1970 so very much better by seeing what they replaced.

Rather like understanding a diverse landscape all the better, by having the geological knowledge of what's underground, so as to understand why the visible contours and strata are the way they are.

You will see, give or take some details, the skeleton and structure of The Daily Prayer of Blessed John Henry Newman, Bishop Challoner, The English Martyrs, all The Saints (and sinners and common ordinary Christians) of The Western Church in the 17th-Century, 18th-Century and 19th-Century.

You will get some surprises !

Go for it !!!"

Zephyrinus recommends this Ordo to all Readers. It contains so much information that is not mentioned, or available, to today's Catholics in their present-day "single sheet Newsletters".

Available (in U.K.) from

CENACLE CATHOLIC BOOKS

Available (in U.S.A.) from

ST. BONAVENTURE PUBLICATIONS

The Mystery Of Advent. Part Three.

Non-Italic Text is taken from The Liturgical Year by Abbot Gueranger, O.S.B.
(Translated from the French by Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B.)
Advent. Volume 1. St. Bonaventure Publications, www.libers.com
Originally published 1949.
Republished by St. Bonaventure Publications, July 2000.

Italic text is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

Illustrations are taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

The first three Great O Antiphons (which commence on 17 December) are shown on this Verso
 of folio 30 from The Poissy Antiphonal, a certified Dominican Antiphonal of 428 folios from Poissy, France, written 1335-1345, with a complete annual Cycle of Chants for The Divine Office 
(Temporal, Sanctoral and Commons) and a Hymnal. 
Date: 1335 - 1345.

Source: La Trobe University Library, Medieval Music Database, 

The Poissy Antiphonal, folio 30v.

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Church aspires also to The Second Coming, the consequence of The First, which consists, as we have just seen, in the visit of The Bridegroom to The Bride. This Coming takes place, each year, at The Feast of Christmas, when the new Birth of The Son of God delivers the Faithful from that yoke of bondage, under which the enemy would oppress them. [Collect for Christmas Day.]

The Church, therefore, during Advent, Prays that she may be visited by Him Who is her Head and her Spouse; visited in her hierarchy; visited in her Members, of whom some are living, and some are dead, but may come to life again; visited, lastly, in those who are not in communion with her, and even in the very infidels, that so they may be converted to The True Light, which shines even for them.

The expressions of The Liturgy, which The Church makes use of, to ask for this loving and invisible Coming, are those which she employs when begging for The Coming of Jesus in The Flesh; for the two visits are for the same object.

English: Church of Saint-Étienne in Beauvais, France. 

Jesse Tree Window by Engrand Le Prince, 1522-1524.

Français: Vitrail de l'église Saint-Étienne de Beauvais, France, 

représentant l'arbre de Jessé. Sa réalisation, par Engrand Le Prince, date de 1522-1524.

Source: Book "Stained Glass: An Illustrated History" by Sarah Brown.

Author: Engrand Leprince.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In vain would The Son of God have come, nineteen hundred years ago, to visit and save mankind, unless He came again for each one of us and at every moment of our lives, bringing to us and cherishing within us that Supernatural life, of which He and His Holy Spirit are the sole principle.


The following is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal.

SEASON OF ADVENT.
(From The First Sunday of Advent to 24 December).

Doctrinal Note.

If we read The Liturgical Texts, which The Church uses in the course of the four weeks of Advent, we see clearly that it is her intention to make us share the attitude of mind of the Patriarchs and Seers of Israel, who looked forward to the Advent of the Messias in His Twofold Coming of Grace and Glory.

During this Season, the Greek Church commemorates Our Lord's ancestors, especially Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. On The Fourth Sunday, she honours all the Patriarchs of The Old Testament; from Adam to Saint Joseph, and the Prophets, of whom Saint Matthew speaks in his genealogy of Our Lord.

The Latin Church, without honouring them in any special form of Devotion, nevertheless speaks to us of them in The Office, when quoting the promises made to them concerning The Messias.

PART FOUR FOLLOWS

Available (in U.K.) from

CENACLE CATHOLIC BOOKS

Available (in U.S.A.) from

ST. BONAVENTURE PUBLICATIONS

Thank God.

Illustration: CATHOLICVOTE.ORG

The Sistine Chapel Ceiling. An Artistic Vision Without Precedent. (Part Three).

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

Sistine Chapel fresco, by Michelangelo.

The Downfall of Adam and Eve, and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

Date: 1509.

Source: Web Gallery of Art[1]

Author: Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564).

(Wikimedia Commons)

While much of the symbolism of The Ceiling dates from The Early Church, The Ceiling also has elements that express the specifically Renaissance thinking that sought to reconcile Christian Theology with the Philosophy of Renaissance Humanism.

During the 15th-Century in Italy, and in Florence, in particular, there was a strong interest in Classical Literature and the Philosophies of Plato, Socrates and other Classical writers. Michelangelo, as a young man, had spent time at the Humanist academy established by the Medici family in Florence. He was familiar with early Humanist-inspired sculptural works, such as Donatello's Bronze David, and had himself responded by carving the enormous nude Marble David, which was placed in the Piazza near the Palazzo Vecchio, the home of Florence's Council.

The Humanist vision of Humanity was one in which people responded to other people, to social responsibility, and to God, in a direct way, not through intermediaries, such as The Church. This conflicted with The Church's emphasis. While The Church emphasised Humanity as essentially sinful and flawed, Humanism emphasised Humanity as potentially noble and beautiful.

These two views were not necessarily irreconcilable to The Church, but only through a recognition that the unique way to achieve this "elevation of spirit, mind and body" was through The Church as the agent of God. To be outside The Church was to be beyond Salvation. In The Ceiling of The Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo presented both Catholic and Humanist elements in a way that does not appear visually conflicting. The inclusion of "non-Biblical" figures, such as the Sibyls or Ignudi, is consistent with the rationalising of Humanist and Christian thought of The Renaissance. This rationalisation was to become a target of The Counter Reformation.

Sistine Chapel fresco by Michelangelo,

God dividing the waters, showing the illusionary architecture,

and the positions of the Ignudi and Shields.

Date: 1509.

Source: Web Gallery of Art[1].

Author: Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564).

(Wikimedia Commons)

The iconography of The Ceiling has had various interpretations in the past, some elements of which have been contradicted by modern scholarship and others, such as the identity of the figures in the Lunettes and Spandrels, continue to defy interpretation.

Modern scholars have sought, as yet unsuccessfully, to determine a written source of the Theological programme of The Ceiling, and have questioned whether or not it was entirely devised by the artist, himself, who was both an avid reader of the Bible and a genius.

Also of interest, to some modern scholars, is the question of how Michelangelo's own spiritual and psychological state is reflected in the iconography and the artistic expression of The Ceiling. One such speculation is that Michelangelo was tormented by conflict between homosexual desires and passionate Christian beliefs.

English: The Prophet, Joel. Fresco, painted by Michelangelo and his assistants,

for the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, between 1508 and 1512.

Polski: Fresk w Kaplicy Syksyńskiej przedstawiający

Sąd Ostateczny Michała Anioła.

Source: Scanned from book.

Author: Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564).

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Sistine Chapel is 40.5 metres long and 14 metres wide. The Ceiling rises to 20 metres above the main floor of The Chapel. The Vault is of quite a complex design and it is unlikely that it was originally intended to have such elaborate decoration. Pier Matteo d'Amelia provided a Plan for its decoration, with the architectural elements picked out, and The Ceiling painted Blue and dotted with Gold Stars, similar to that of the Arena Chapel, decorated by Giotto, at Padua.

The Chapel walls have three horizontal tiers, with six windows in the upper tier down each side. There were also two windows at each end, but these have been closed up above the Altar, when Michelangelo's Last Judgement was painted, obliterating two Lunettes. Between the windows are large Pendentives, which support the Vault. Between the Pendentives are triangularly-shaped Arches, or Spandrels, cut into the Vault above each window. Above the height of the Pendentives, the Ceiling slopes gently without much deviation from the horizontal. This is the real architecture. Michelangelo has elaborated it with illusionary, or fictive, architecture.

The first element, in the scheme of painted architecture, is a definition of the real architectural elements by accentuating the lines where Spandrels and Pendentives intersect with the curving Vault. Michelangelo painted these as decorative Courses, that look like sculpted Stone Mouldings. These have two repeating motifs, a formula common in Classical architecture. Here, one motif is the Acorn, the symbol of the family of both Pope Sixtus IV, who built The Chapel, and Pope Julius II, who commissioned Michelangelo's work.

The Persian Sibyl,

by Michelangelo.

Sistine Chapel Ceiling Fresco.

This File: 20 March 2005.

User: Ccson.

(Wikipedia)

The other motif is the Scallop Shell, one of the symbols of The Madonna, to whose Assumption The Chapel was Dedicated in 1483. The Crown of the wall then rises, above the Spandrels, to a strongly projecting painted Cornice, that runs right around The Ceiling, separating the pictorial areas of the Biblical scenes from the figures of Prophets, Sibyls and Ancestors, who, literally and figuratively, support the narratives. Ten broad painted Cross-Ribs, of Travertine, cross The Ceiling and divide it into, alternately, wide and narrow pictorial spaces, a grid that gives all the figures their defined place.

A great number of small figures are integrated with the painted architecture, their purpose apparently purely decorative. These include two faux marble Putti, below the Cornice on each Rib, each one a male and female pair; stone ram's-heads are placed at the apex of each Spandrel; Copper-Skinned nude figures in varying poses, hiding in the shadows, propped between the Spandrels and the Ribs, like animated book-ends; and more Putti, both clothed and unclothed, strike a variety of poses as they support the name-plates of the Prophets and Sibyls.

Above the Cornice, and to either side of the smaller scenes, are an array of Round Shields, or Medallions. They are framed by a total of twenty figures, the so-called Ignudi, which are not part of the architecture but sit on inlaid Plinths, their feet planted convincingly on the fictive Cornice. Pictorially, the Ignudi appear to occupy a space between the narrative spaces and the space of the Chapel, itself.

Sistine Chapel painting in the triangular Spandrel,

in the fourth Bay over the Ezekiel (Hezekiah)-Manasseh-Amon Lunette,

and between the Cumaean Sibyl and Isaiah. Part of the Ancestors of Christ series.

Artist: Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564).

Date: 1509.

Source/Photographer: Web Gallery of Art, URL:http://www.wga.hu/html/m/michelan/3sistina/7triangl/04_5sp4.html

(Wikimedia Commons)

Along the Central Section of the Ceiling, Michelangelo depicted nine scenes from the Book of Genesis, the first Book of the Bible. The pictures fall into three groups of three, alternating, large and small Panels.

The first group shows God creating the Heavens and the Earth. The second group shows God creating the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, and their disobedience of God and consequent expulsion from the Garden of Eden, where they had lived and walked with God. The third group, of three pictures, shows the plight of Humanity, and, in particular, the family of Noah.

The pictures are not in strictly chronological order. If they are perceived as three groups, then the pictures in each of the three units inform upon each other, in the same way as was usual in Mediaeval Paintings and Stained-Glass. The three Sections, of Creation, Downfall and Fate of Humanity, appear in reverse order, when read from the entrance of the Chapel. However, each individual scene is painted to be viewed when looking towards the Altar. This is not easily apparent when viewing a reproduced image of the Ceiling, but becomes clear when the viewer looks upward at the Vault. Paoletti and Radke suggest that this reversed progression symbolises a return to a state of Grace. However, the three Sections are generally described in the order of Biblical chronology.

The Lunette of Jacob and Joseph, the Earthly father of Jesus.

The suspicious old man may represent Joseph.

Sistine Chapel fresco, by Michelangelo. One of the Ancestors of Christ series. Note: This is not Joseph, who ruled Egypt, or Jacob, son of Isaac. This is the Joseph that was the Earthly father of Jesus. It is the last in the Series of Ancestors on The Sistine Chapel Ceiling.

Artist: Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564).

Date: 1509.

Source: Web Gallery of Art[1]

(Wikimedia Commons)

The scenes, from the Altar towards the Main Door, are ordered as follows:

The Separation of Light and Darkness;
The Creation of the Sun, Moon and Earth;
The Separation of Land and Water;
The Creation of Adam;
The Creation of Eve;
The Temptation and Expulsion;
The Sacrifice of Noah;
The Great Flood;
The Drunkenness of Noah.

Adjacent to the smaller Biblical scenes, and supported by the Ignudi, are ten circular Parade Shields (Medallions), sometimes described as being painted to resemble bronze. Known examples are actually of lacquered and gilt wood. Each is decorated with a picture drawn from The Old Testament, or the Book of Maccabees, from the Apocrypha.

The Medallions represent:

Abraham about to sacrifice his son, Isaac;
The Destruction of the Statue of Baal;
The worshippers of Baal being brutally slaughtered;
Uriah being beaten to death;
Nathan the Priest condemning King David for murder and adultery;
King David's traitorous son, Absalom, caught by his hair in a tree, while trying to escape, and beheaded by David's troops;
Joab sneaking up on Abner to murder him;
Joram being hurled from a Chariot onto his head;
Elijah being carried up to Heaven;
On one Medallion, the subject is either obliterated or incomplete.

PART FOUR FOLLOWS

The Mystery Of Advent. Part Two.

Text taken from The Liturgical Year by Abbot Gueranger, O.S.B.
(Translated from the French by Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B.)
Advent. Volume 1. St. Bonaventure Publications, www.libers.com
Originally published 1949.
Republished by St. Bonaventure Publications, July 2000.

Illustrations are taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

English: The Adoration of The Shepherds.
Français: L'adoration des bergers.

Artist: Georges de La Tour (1593–1652).

Date: circa 1645.

Current location: Louvre Museum, France. 
Web-Site: www.louvre.fr

(Wikimedia Commons)

As for The Third Coming, it is most certain that it will be, most uncertain when it will be; for nothing is more certain than death, and nothing less sure than the hour of death.

When they shall say, peace and security, says the Apostle, then shall sudden destruction come upon them, as the pains upon her that is with child, and they shall not escape. So that The First Coming was Humble and Hidden, The Second is Mysterious and Full of Love, The Third will be Majestic and Terrible.

In His First Coming, Christ was judged by men unjustly; in His Second, He renders us just by His Grace; in His Third, He will Judge all things with Justice. In His First, a Lamb; in His Last, a Lion; in the one between the two, the Tenderest of Friends.' [De Adventu. Sermon III. Peter of Blois.]

An Angel with a Lamb, 
as a Symbol of Christ's Sacrifice, 
by Melozzo da Forli, 1482.

The Holy Church, therefore, during Advent, awaits in tears, and with ardour, the arrival of her Jesus in His First Coming. For this, she borrows the fervid expressions of The Prophets, to which she joins her own Supplications.

These longings for The Messias, expressed by The Church, are not a mere commemoration of the desires of the ancient Jewish people; they have a reality and efficacy of their own, an influence in the great act of God's Munificence, whereby He gave us His Own Son.

From all Eternity, the Prayers of the ancient Jewish people and the Prayers of The Christian Church ascended together to the prescient hearing of God; and it was after receiving and granting them, that He sent, in the appointed time, that Blessed Dew upon the Earth, which made it bud forth the Saviour.

The Adoration of The Lamb.

From the Ghent Altarpiece, by Jan van Eyck,1429.

The following is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

Rorate Coeli (or Rorate Caeli), from the Book of Isaiah (Isaiah 45:8), in the Vulgate, are the opening words of a Text used in Catholic and, less frequently, Protestant Liturgy. It is also known as The Advent Prose, or, by the first words of its English translation, "Drop down ye heavens from above."

It is frequently sung as Plainsong, at Mass, and in The Divine Office, during Advent, where it gives expression to the longings of Patriarchs and Prophets, and, symbolically of The Church, for The Coming of The Messiah. Throughout Advent, it occurs daily as the Versicle and Response after the Hymn at Vespers.

“ ℣ Rorate coeli desuper et nubes pluant justum
(Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just)

℟ Aperiatur terra et germinet salvatorem"
(Let the earth be opened and send forth a Saviour"). ” ]


PART THREE FOLLOWS

A Little Levity To Lighten Your Day.

The Sistine Chapel Ceiling. An Artistic Vision Without Precedent. (Part Two).

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

English: The Prophet Daniel,

by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564).

The Ceiling of The Sistine Chapel.

Русский: Пророк Даниил, Роспись свода Сикстинской капеллы.

Date: 27 June 2007.

Source: Электронная библиотека. Музеи Ватикана.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The middle level contains a complex scheme of frescoes, illustrating The Life of Christ on the Right Side, and The Life of Moses, on the Left Side. It was carried out by some of the most renowned Renaissance painters: Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Perugino, Pinturicchio, Signorelli and Cosimo Rosselli.

The upper level of the walls contains the windows, between which are painted pairs of illusionistic Niches, with representations of the first thirty-two Popes. A draft, by Matteo d'Amelia, indicates that The Ceiling was painted Blue, like that of the Arena Chapel, and decorated with Gold Stars, possibly representing the zodiacal constellations.

It is probable that, because the Chapel was the site of regular meetings and Masses of an elite body of officials, known as the Papal Chapel, who would observe the decorations and interpret their Theological and Temporal significance, it was Pope Julius' intention and expectation that the iconography of the Ceiling was to be read with many layers of meaning.

The Sistine Chapel Ceiling.

Photo: August 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Patrick Landy (FSU Guy).

(Wikimedia)

Michelangelo, who was not primarily a painter, but a sculptor, was reluctant to take on the work. Also, he was occupied with a very large sculptural commission for the Pope's own tomb. The Pope was adamant, leaving Michelangelo no choice but to accept. But a war with the French broke out, diverting the attention of the Pope, and Michelangelo fled from Rome to continue sculpting. The tomb sculptures, however, were never to be finished, because, in 1508, the Pope returned to Rome victorious and summoned Michelangelo to begin work on The Ceiling. The contract was signed on 10 May 1508.

The scheme, proposed by the Pope, was for twelve large figures of the Apostles to occupy the Pendentives [Editor: Pendentive: A Spherical Triangle which acts as a transition between a Circular Dome and a Square Base, on which the Dome is set]. However, Michelangelo negotiated for a grander, much more complex, scheme, and was finally permitted, in his own words, "to do as I liked".

His scheme for the Ceiling eventually comprised some 300 figures and took four years to execute, being completed in 1512. It is unknown, and is the subject of much speculation among art historians, as to whether Michelangelo was really able to "do as he liked". It has been suggested that Egidio da Viterbo was a Consultant for the Theology. Many writers consider that Michelangelo had the intellect, the Biblical knowledge, and the powers of invention, to have devised the scheme himself. This is supported by Condivi's statement that Michelangelo read and re-read The Old Testament, while he was painting The Ceiling, drawing his inspiration from the words of Scripture, rather than from the established traditions of Sacral Art. There was a total of 343 figures painted on The Ceiling.

Arches (left and right), Dome (top), and Pendentive (centre), in Moscow Cathedral.

Interior of Cathedral of Christ The Saviour, Moscow, Russia.

Photo: 29 June 2004.

Source: de:Bild:Moskau erloeserkathedrale innen.jpg

Author: de:Benutzer:Sansculotte

(Wikimedia Commons)

To reach the Chapel's Ceiling, Michelangelo designed his own scaffold, a flat wooden platform, on brackets, built out from holes in the wall near the top of the windows, rather than being built up from the floor. Mancinelli speculates that this was in order to cut the cost of timber. According to Michelangelo's pupil and biographer, Ascanio Condivi, the brackets and frame, that supported the steps and flooring, were all put in place at the beginning of the work and a lightweight screen, possibly cloth, was suspended beneath them to catch plaster drips, dust and splashes of paint.

Only half the building was scaffolded at a time and the platform was moved as the painting was done in stages. The areas of the wall covered by the scaffolding still appear as unpainted areas across the bottom of the Lunettes. The holes were re-used to hold scaffolding in the latest Restoration.

Contrary to popular belief, he painted in a standing position, not lying on his back. According to Vasari: "The work was carried out in extremely uncomfortable conditions, from his having to work with his head tilted upwards". Michelangelo described his physical discomfort in a humorous sonnet accompanied by a little sketch.

The painting technique employed was fresco, in which the paint is applied to damp plaster. Michelangelo had been apprenticed in the workshop of Domenico Ghirlandaio, one of the most competent and prolific of Florentine fresco painters, at the time that the latter was employed on a fresco cycle at Santa Maria Novella, and whose work was represented on the walls of The Sistine Chapel. At the outset, the plaster, intonaco, began to grow mold, because it was too wet. Michelangelo had to remove it and start again. He then tried a new formula created by one of his assistants, Jacopo l'Indaco, which resisted mold, and entered the Italian building tradition.

The location of the scaffolding is evident on this Lunette in The Sistine Chapel.

Note the unpainted area at the bottom.

Date: 1509.

Source: Web Gallery of Art[1]

Author: Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564).

(Wikimedia Commons)

Because he was painting fresco, the plaster was laid in a new section every day, called a giornata. At the beginning of each session, the edges would be scraped away and a new area laid down. The edges, between giornate, remain slightly visible, thus they give a good idea of how the work progressed. It was customary for fresco painters to use a full-sized detailed drawing, a cartoon, to transfer a design onto a plaster surface – many frescoes show little holes made with a stiletto, outlining the figures.

Here, Michelangelo broke with convention. Once confident the intonaco had been well applied, he drew directly onto the Ceiling. His energetic sweeping outlines can be seen scraped into some of the surfaces, while, on others, a grid is evident, indicating that he enlarged directly onto the Ceiling from a small drawing.

Michelangelo painted onto the damp plaster using a wash technique to apply broad areas of colour, then, as the surface became drier, he revisited these areas with a more linear approach, adding shade and detail with a variety of brushes. For some textured surfaces, such as facial hair and wood-grain, he used a broad brush with bristles as sparse as a comb. He employed all the finest workshop methods and best innovations, combining them with a diversity of brushwork and breadth of skill far exceeding that of the meticulous Ghirlandaio.

Sistine Chapel Ceiling fresco, by Michelangelo.

The evidence of the plaster, laid for a day's work, can be seen around the head and arm of this Ignudo [Editor: "The Ignudi" is the phrase coined by Michelangelo to describe the twenty seated male nudes he incorporated into The Sistine Chapel Ceiling frescoes. Therefore, "Ignudo" is singular. "Ignudi" is plural.]

Date: 1509.

Source: Web Gallery of Art[1]

Author: Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564).

(Wikimedia Commons)

The work commenced at the end of the building furthest from the Altar, with the latest of the narrative scenes, and progressed towards the Altar with the scenes of The Creation. The first three scenes, from the story of Noah, contain a much larger number of small figures than the later Panels. This is partly because of the subject matter, which deals with the fate of Humanity, but also because all the figures at that end of The Ceiling, including the Prophets and Ignudi, are smaller than in the Central Section. As the scale got larger, Michelangelo's style became broader, the final narrative scene of God in the Act of Creation was painted in a single day.

The bright colours, and broad, cleanly defined outlines, make each subject easily visible from the floor. Despite the height of The Ceiling, the proportions of The Creation of Adam are such that, when standing beneath it, "it appears as if the viewer could simply raise a finger and meet those of God and Adam".

Vasari tells us that the Ceiling is "unfinished", that its unveiling occurred before it could be re-worked with Gold Leaf and vivid Blue Lapis Lazuli, as was customary with frescoes, and in order to better link the Ceiling with the walls below it, which were highlighted with a great deal of Gold. But this never took place, in part because Michelangelo was reluctant to set up the scaffolding again, and probably also because the Gold, and particularly the intense Blue, would have distracted from his painted conception.

Some areas were, in fact, decorated with Gold: The Shields, between the Ignudi, and the Columns, between the Prophets and Sibyls. It seems very likely that the gilding of the Shields was part of Michelangelo's original scheme, since they are painted to resemble a certain type of Parade Shield, a number of which still exist and are decorated in a similar style with Gold.

A Sistine Chapel fresco, by Michelangelo.

The image of God in the Act of Creation was painted in a single day,

and reflects Michelangelo, himself, in the act of creating the Ceiling.

Date: 1509.

Source: Web Gallery of Art[1]

Author: Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564).

(Wikimedia Commons)

The overt subject matter of The Ceiling is the Doctrine of Humanity's need for Salvation, as offered by God, through Jesus. It is a visual metaphor of Humankind's need for a Covenant with God. The Old Covenant of the Children of Israel, through Moses, and the New Covenant, through Christ, had already been represented around the walls of The Chapel.

The main components of the design are nine scenes from The Book of Genesis, of which five smaller ones are each framed and supported by four naked youths or Ignudi. At either end, and beneath the scenes, are the figures of twelve men and women who prophesied The Birth of Jesus. On the crescent-shaped areas, or Lunettes, above each of the Chapel's windows, are Tablets listing the Ancestors of Christ and accompanying figures. Above them, in the triangular Spandrels, a further eight groups of figures are shown, but these have not been identified with specific Biblical characters. The scheme is completed by four large corner Pendentives, each illustrating a dramatic Biblical story.

The narrative elements, of the Ceiling, illustrate that God made the World as a Perfect Creation and put Humanity into it, that Humanity fell into disgrace and was punished by death and by separation from God. Humanity then sank further into sin and disgrace, and was punished by The Great Flood. Through a lineage of Ancestors – from Abraham to Joseph – God sent The Saviour of Humanity, Christ Jesus.

The coming of The Saviour was prophesied by Prophets of Israel and Sibyls of the Classical world. The various components of the Ceiling are linked to this Christian Doctrine. Traditionally, the Old Testament was perceived as a pre-figuring of the New Testament. Many incidents and characters, of the Old Testament, were commonly understood as having a direct symbolic link to some particular aspect of The Life of Jesus, or to an important element of Christian Doctrine, or to a Sacrament, such as Baptism or The Eucharist. Jonah, for example, was readily recognisable by his attribute of the large fish, and was commonly seen to symbolise Jesus' Death and Resurrection.


PART THREE FOLLOWS

The Mystery Of Advent. Part One.

Text taken from The Liturgical Year by Abbot Gueranger, O.S.B.
(Translated from the French by Dom Laurence Shepherd, O.S.B.)
Advent. Volume 1. St. Bonaventure Publications, www.libers.com
Originally published 1949.
Republished by St. Bonaventure Publications, July 2000.

Illustrations are taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

Advent wreath. 
First Sunday of Advent.

Photo: November 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Micha L. Rieser.

(Wikimedia Commons)

CHAPTER THE SECOND

The Mystery of Advent

If, now that we have described the characteristic features of Advent which distinguish it from the rest of The Liturgical Year, we would penetrate into the profound Mystery which occupies the mind of The Church during this Season, we find that this Mystery of the Coming, or Advent, of Jesus is at once simple and threefold.

It is simple, for it is the one same Son of God that is Coming; it is threefold, because He comes at three different times and in three different ways.

'In the First Coming,' says Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, 'He comes in The Flesh and in Weakness; in the Second, He comes in Spirit and in Power; in the Third, He comes in Glory and in Majesty; and the Second Coming is the means whereby we pass from The First to The Third.' [Fifth Sermon for Advent.]

Deutsch: Weihnachtsbeleuchtung der Hauptstraße 

in Remshalden-Geradstetten, Deutschland; Nachtaufnahme.

English: Christmas Lighting 

in Remshalden-Geradstetten, Germany.

Photo: January 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Wildfeuer.

(Wikimedia Commons)

This, then, is the Mystery of Advent. Let us now listen to the explanation of this threefold visit of Christ, given to us by Peter of Blois, in his third Sermon de Adventu: 'There are three Comings of Our Lord; the First in The Flesh; the Second in The Soul; the Third at The Judgement.

The First was at Midnight, according to those words of the Gospel: At Midnight, there was a cry made, Lo the Bridegroom Cometh ! But this First Coming is long since past, for Christ has been seen on the Earth and has conversed with men.

English: Illuminated Christmas Tree for the “Quiet Advent” on the Johannes-Brahms-Promenade, Western Bay, in Pörtschach am Wörthersee, District Klagenfurt Land, Carinthia, Austria.

Deutsch: Erleuchteter Weihnachtsbaum für „Stiller Advent“ an der Johannes-Brahms-Promenade, West-Bucht in Pörtschach am Wörthersee, Bezirk Klagenfurt Land, Kärnten, Österreich

Photo: December 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: Johann Jaritz.

(Wikimedia Commons)

We are now in the Second Coming, provided only we are such as that He may thus come to us; for He has said that if we love Him, He will come unto us and will take up His abode with us. So that this Second Coming is full of uncertainty to us: For who, save The Spirit of God, knows them that are of God ?

They that are raised out of themselves by the desire of Heavenly things, know indeed when He Comes; but whence He Cometh, or whither He Goeth, they know not.

PART TWO FOLLOWS

The Agony And The Ecstasy. Saint Thomas More Church, Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York.

Stained-Glass Window in the Apse of

Saint Thomas More Church,

Upper East Side, Manhattan,

New York.

Illustration:

THE SOCIETY OF ST. HUGH OF CLUNY

THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY.

After the wonderful news that The Church of The Holy Innocents, New York, had been saved from demolition, the following News has arrived, reference Saint Thomas More Church, Upper East Side, Manhattan.

The following Text is taken from THE SOCIETY OF ST. HUGH OF CLUNY

We told you it was a little premature to break out the champagne. We have now had a report that St Thomas More parish on the Upper East Side will be closed and its parishioners “invited” to join St Ignatius Loyola and its Jesuits:

“Gasps were heard and tears were seen when Pastor Kevin Madigan informed parishioners this past Sunday at each Mass that their church was likely to close next August. It was a stunning blow for the vibrant church community that had received numerous assurances that St. Thomas More Catholic Church was safe.

St. Thomas More serves a highly affluent family community on Manhattan’s Upper East Side with regular Masses, as well as with many informative and noteworthy events. The church is free of debt and its operations are financially sound.”

From the Huffington Post.

In a way it is poetic justice, for St. Thomas More was established to offer an alternative to Jesuit dominance of the wealthiest neighborhood of New York City. I doubt anyone could have imagined that such a parish would be closed. but it continues a emerging pattern of the liquidation of smaller parishes (Our Lady of Peace, St. Elizabeth of Hungary have been announced; others have been rumored) in some quite well-to-do areas of the city. Areas with correspondingly high real estate values….

The following Text is taken from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia, unless otherwise stated.

The Church of Saint Thomas More, Upper East Side, is part of a Roman Catholic Church complex located on East 89th Street, off Madison Avenue, the Upper East Side, in Manhattan, New York City. The Parish is under the authority of the Archdiocese of New York.

Attached to the complex is the Church (1870), a Single-Cell Chapel (1879), a Rectory (1880), and a Parish House (1893). The Church building was built, in 1870, for the Protestant Episcopal Church, as the Chapel of The Beloved Disciple, in the Gothic Revival architectural style.

Saint Thomas More Church,

Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York,

originally owned by The Protestant Episcopal Church

as The Chapel of The Beloved Disciple.

Photo: 22 December 2009.

Source: Own work.

Author: Jim.henderson

(Wikimedia Commons)

Under various names, the Church building has been used by three Christian denominations, including Episcopalians, Dutch Reformed, and Catholics. It is the second-oldest Church on the Upper East Side.

The Church was built from Sandstone, from Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1870, to a design by the architectural firm of Hubert & Pirsson. Architectural historian and New York Times journalist Christopher Gray wrote that: "The Gothic-Style building has the air of a picturesque English Country Church, with a Plot of Green in front and a Square Tower rising in front of the Sanctuary.

According to Andrew S. Dolkart, an architectural historian specialising in Church design, the building is closely modelled after Edward Buckton Lamb's Church of Saint Martin's, Gospel Oak, London (see Gospel Oak), built in 1865. 'It has almost every little quirky detail of the London Church,' says Mr. Dolkart. 'The chamfered corners, the varying planes of the façade, the asymmetrical Pinnacle at the top of the Tower. It really captures your attention.'"

Saint Martin's Church,

Gospel Oak, London.

According to Andrew S. Dolkart, architectural historian (see, above),

Saint Thomas More Church, Upper East Side, is closely modelled

after this Church of Saint Martin, London.

This London Church was described by Nikolaus Pevsner as the 

craziest of London's Victorian Churches', adorned, as it was,

with Pinnacles, like some Fairy-Tale Castle.

The Church was built in 1865.

Illustration: THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

Attached to the complex are a Single-Cell Chapel (1879), and a Rectory and a Parish House (1880 and 1893). The larger Episcopal Church of The Heavenly Rest, on Fifth Avenue and 45th Street, relocated to 2 East 90th Street, forcing The Beloved Disciple Church to merge with it (its name retained in a Chapel). "The old Church was sold in 1929 to a Dutch Reformed Congregation, and then, in 1950, to The Roman Catholic Church, [and re-Dedicated to] Saint Thomas More."

The Church was renovated, in the latter half of the 20th-Century, by architect Paul Cornelius Reilly.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was a Parishioner here until her death. However, her funeral was held at the nearby Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola because of the number of attendees. On 30 July 1999, after the death and cremation of John F. Kennedy, Jr., the Kennedy family held a Private Memorial Service for him here, which President Clinton attended, and Senator Ted Kennedy gave the Eulogy.