Catholic Art Institute’s 6th Annual Conference – September 19-20 at CUA

Reviving Faith & Hope Through Sacred Art

The Catholic Art Institute is pleased to present its 6th Annual Conference, with the theme “Reviving Faith & Hope Through Sacred Art,” scheduled for September 19 & 20, 2025 at the Catholic University of America. This gathering will feature six distinguished speakers from across the artistic disciplines, bringing their insight, experience, and expertise to bear on the pressing questions about the role of beauty in our liturgy and culture. The conference is geared towards artists, art lovers and patrons alike, and provides a unique opportunity to network with creative and entrepreneurial Catholics from around the world.

Featured Speakers

• James C. McCrery, II, AIA, NCARB, classical architecture practitioner, founder of McCrery Architects and Director of Classical Architecture & Urbanism at Catholic University, McCrery brings a wealth of experience in ecclesiastical and civic buildings informed by profound symbolic meaning. Most recently, he was commissioned to design the new White House Ballroom by President Trump.
• Fr. Patrick van der Vorst, Precentor at Westminster Cathedral, former art-world leader and founder of Christian.art. Recently ordained to the priesthood (June 2023), Fr. van der Vorst brings a remarkable background—25 years as a Director of Sotheby’s Europe including auctioning collections of the Duke & Duchess of Windsor and Elton John. Fr Patrick is the Cathedral Precentor and Prefect of the Sacristy. He oversees the liturgy and coordinates special services, liaising with the Music Department. As founder of the Christian.art website, he offers daily meditations of gospel readings accompanied by sacred art, as well as video presentations on sacred art.
• Duncan G. Stroik, architect, scholar, and advocate for sacred architecture. As a Professor of Architecture at Notre Dame and founding editor of Sacred Architecture Journal, Stroik is celebrated for designing liturgical masterpieces like Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel in California. His writings, including The Church Building as a Sacred Place, offer guidance on how beauty can elevate worship.
• Dr. Barbara Nicolosi, screenwriter, producer, and cultural prophet. With 23 years in Hollywood and membership in the Writers Guild of America-West, Nicolosi blends faith and mainstream storytelling. Her credits include Fatima (2020) and The Last Supper (2025) and theological consultant to Mel Gibson for The Passion of the Christ (2004).
• Dr. Mark Nowakowski, composer bridging tradition and innovation. As composer-in-residence for His Majesty’s Men and composer for the Mass of the Ages trilogy, Nowakowski’s music has been released on the Naxos and DUX labels. He will speak about the unique dignity of the vocation of the arts of the beautiful.
• David Riccio, conservator and plaster-gilding specialist. As a principal at Canning Liturgical Arts, Riccio is a leading expert in historical plaster, decorative painting, and gilding, having directed restoration on landmarks including the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Wisconsin and The Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Pennsylvania.

Event Highlights

• Opening Mass (September 19) – A Votive Mass of Bl. Fra Angelico at the Dominican House of Studies Chapel, accompanied by choral selections of Palestrina and Guillaume Du Fay.
• Friday & Saturday, Presentations & Receptions – Each followed by moderated Q&As, with a VIP Reception on Friday for VIP ticket holders to engage with the speakers and a general reception on Saturday for all conference attendees.
• Exhibitors – Canning Liturgical Arts, Albl Oberammergau, Conrad Schmitt Studios, Evergreen Architectural Arts, Exquisite Art, King Richard's Liturgical Design, Harrison Design Architecture, St. Augustine Academy Press, and Willet Studios will be exhibiting and meeting with conference attendees.

Additional Sponsors: The Non Profit Solution, New Jerusalem Studios, Atelier Sirio. Liturgical Arts Journal.

Tickets & Participation

Member rate: $300; Non-member: $350; VIP: $400 (includes reserved front seating and access to VIP reception).

Registration closes September 16, 2025. No walk-ins.

To register please visit; https://www.catholicartinstitute.org/conference2025

We hope to see you at one of the most exciting Catholic events of the year focused on restoring beauty and excellence to the Catholic arts!

The Feast of St Augustine, According to the Order Formerly Known as the Hermits of St Augustine

Lost in Translation #138

Saint Augustine of Hippo, whose feast we celebrate tmorrow, left an indelible mark on the theology of Western Christianity, as well as on the priesthood and religious life. Augustine was one of the earliest bishops to establish what were later called Canons Regular, originally, priests that live with their bishop and share a common life, and his Rule led to the formation of several religious orders. The largest and most familiar of these is the Order of Saint Augustine (OSA), founded in 1244 and originally known as the Hermits of Saint Augustine (OESA). Our current Pontiff, Pope Leo XIV, is the only member of this order to have assumed the throne of Peter.

Before Vatican II, the old Augustinians kept several feasts of their own, including a vigil on August 27 in preparation for St. Augustine’s feast day (August 28) and an octave in his honor that ended on September 4. Here are the Orations and Preface for the festal Mass on August 28.

The Collect is:

Deus, qui abditiora sapientiae tuae arcana beato Patri Augustino revelando, et divinae caritatis flammas in ejus corde excitando, miraculum columnae nubis et ignis in Ecclesia tua renovasti; concede: ut ejus ductu mundi vortices feliciter transeamus, et ad aeternam promissionis patriam pervenire mereamur. Per Dominum.

Which I translate as:

O God, who by revealing the more hidden secrets of Your wisdom to blessed Father Augustine and who by fanning in his heart the flames of divine charity, You renewed in Your Church the miracle of the pillar of cloud and fire: grant that by his leadership we may happily pass through the world’s eddies and be worthy of reaching the eternal and promised homeland. Through our Lord.

There is a clever parallelism between Augustine’s clarifying wisdom (dispelling, we imagine, the fog of ignorance) and his ardent heart on one hand and the biblical pillar of cloud and fire on the other. That pillar led the Hebrews in the wilderness, and this Collect asks God to make Augustine our leader (ejus ductu can also mean “by his generalship”) as we pass through the eddies of life (the Red Sea?) to reach the Promised Land. Augustine is thus both a new pillar and a new Moses.

I also note that here in the Collect as well as in the Secret and Postcommunion, all the second-person-singular verbs in the perfect past tense (which, addressing God, describe what He has done) are syncopated. [1] In Latin, a syncopated verb is when a ‘v’ is dropped and a vowel contracted. Although it can be compared to an English contraction such as “can’t,” there is no whiff of informality as there is in English. And although syncopated verbs are not unheard of in the ancient Roman Orations, they are not as concentrated as they are here. I suspect this concentration betrays the influence of the times, after the reintroduction of classical Latin during the Renaissance.

The Secret is:

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui praeclaro sapientiae lumine, beati Patris nostri Augustini mentem illustrasti, et sancti amoris jaculo ejusdem cor transverberasti: da nobis famulis tuis; ut illius doctrinae et caritatis participes effici mereamur. Per Dominum.

Which I translate as:

Almighty, everlasting God, who illuminated the mind our blessed Father Augustine with the splendid light of wisdom and transfixed his heart with the dart of holy love: grant to us Your servants that we may be worthy of being made partakers of his teaching and charity. Through our Lord.

The Secret retains the theme of Augustine’s brilliant intellect and his charitable heart. Christian art often portrays Augustine holding his heart pierced by a dart or arrow.

Symbol of the Order of Saint Augustine, which His Holiness Pope Leo XIV incorporated into his coat of arms.

The Mass also has its own Preface:

Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper et ubique gratias agere, Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus: Quia vas electionis tuae et lux Doctorum mellifluus Augustinus, toto terrarum orbe radio mirae claritatis infulsit: et Ecclesiam sanctam fidei orthodoxae vere Augustinus illustravit: destruxit haereses; errores repulit: haereticosque prostravit: ac status fidelium universae christianae vitae, Augustinus moribus decoravit. Clericos docuit; laicos monuit; devios in viam veritatis reduxit; cunctorumque conditionibus salubriter providendo, tuam in hoc mari naviculam Augustinus provide gubernavit. Et ideo cum Angelis et Archangelis, cum Thronis et Dominationibus, cumque omni militia caelestis exercitus, hymnum gloriae tuae canimus, sine fine dicentes:

Which I translate as:

It is truly meet and just, right and salutary, that we should at all times and in all places, give thanks to You, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God; because the vessel of Your Election and the light of the Doctors, the mellifluous Augustine, enlightened the entire world with a ray of marvelous brilliance. And Augustine illuminated the Holy Church with a truly orthodox Faith; he destroyed heresies; he refuted errors; he brought low the heretics; and the status of all the faithful of a Christian life, Augustine decorated with his deeds. He taught the clergy; he admonished the laity; the returned the wayward to the Way of truth; and by salubriously providing in all conditions, Augustine providently piloted Your ship in this sea. And therefore, with the Angels and Archangels…

With its numerous short sentences and almost random placements of Augustine’s name, this Preface is far from being a model of the genius of the Roman Rite. But it does provide a fairly accurate (albeit meandering) biography of the Saint, who famously battled several heresies as well as the Donatist schism. The one glaring omission is mention of Augustine’s notorious past as a sinner. Perhaps it is indecorous when speaking of our Blessed Father to bring up his wild youth.

The Postcommunion is:

Fove, Domine, familiam tuam muneribus sacris, quam caelesti libamine recreasti: et, ut solemnia sancti Patris nostri Augustini devote concelebret; infunde lumen supernae cognitionis et flammam aeternae caritatis. Per Dominum.

Which I translate as:

Foster, O Lord, Your family, which You have revived with [these] sacred offerings and heavenly libation; and, so that it may celebrate devoutly the Feast of our holy Father Saint Augustine, pour onto it the light of supernal thinking and the flame of eternal charity. Through our Lord.

Again we see the double theme of Augustine’s intellect and will, both of which his spiritual children wish to emulate. “Light of supernal thinking” is an awkward translation of lumen supernae cognitionis; I chose “supernal” because it simply means “from above” rather than something more theologically specific, such as “supernatural” or “infused.” Augustine saw the world through the eyes of God, from a divine viewpoint, and we wish to do so as well. I also chose “thinking” rather than “thought” because I assume it is better to have a habit of thinking and of discovery that makes one a better knower rather than a series of thoughts that are injected into the mind.

But since the greatest thinkers are nothing without charity, we also ask for Augustine’s impassioned love of God and neighbor. Augustine’s first biographer Possidius wrote that as impressive as Augustine’s writings were, they pale in comparison to his daily deeds:

From his writing assuredly it is manifest that this priest, beloved and acceptable to God, lived uprightly and soberly in the faith, hope and love of the Catholic Church in so far as he was permitted to see it by the light of truth, and those who read his works on divine subjects profit thereby. But I believe that they were able to derive greater good from him who heard and saw him as he spoke in person in the church, and especially those who knew well his manner of life among men. For not only was he a “scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old,” and one of those merchants who "when he had found the pearl of great price, sold all that he had and bought it," but he was also one of those of whom it is written : “So speak ye and so do,” and of whom the Saviour said: “Whosoever shall so do and teach men, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” [2]

Notes

[1] The verbs are renovasti in the Collect, illustrasti and transverberasti in the Secret, and recreasti in the Postcommunion.

[2] Possidius, Sancti Augustini vita, trans. Herbert Theberath Weiskotten, (Princeton University Press, 1919), 143-44.

Question for Readers: Origin of This Familiar MC Gesture?

I’ve come across a discussion circulating on Brazilian liturgical Instagram pages dismissing a particular gesture—hands joined with fingers extended and touching, instead of folded—as something invented, lacking any historical grounding.

I’ve seen photos, like those of Cardinal Dante using this posture, and I’m convinced it’s rooted in liturgical tradition, not just modern preference. However, I’ve struggled to find solid written sources or rubrical references that explicitly mention or explain this gesture.

Do readers happen to know of any official rubrics, commentaries, or scholarly works that support the legitimacy or origin of this specific form of joined hands? My best guess is that it’s a kind of “courtly” gesture, not something formally documented, but passed down organically through tradition. But I would like to be proved incorrect!

Gregorian Modes: Solfège, Psalm Tones, and Musical Analysis - Online Workshop Starts Sept. 15th

Unlock the timeless beauty of Gregorian chant through the key of modality, with the Catholic Institute of Sacred Music’s 9-part online workshop series, starting Monday, September 15, at 5:30 p.m. PT (8:30 p.m. ET).

More information and registration are available here.

Whether you’re a choir member or director, this engaging Zoom-based series is designed to deepen your musical understanding and mastery of the Gregorian repertory.

I’ll begin the series with a clear, theoretical introduction to Gregorian modality, laying a strong foundation for singing the psalm tones and understanding the unique characteristics of the Gregorian repertory in each mode. Through carefully guided solfège exercises, you’ll build confidence in sight-singing, and sharpen your ear to navigate modal changes across the repertory with ease. Even if you’re new to chant notation, ease in reading will be gained through this immersion in the pitch content of the chant.

Beyond these fundamentals, you’ll also learn to design targeted warm-ups that align with the modes and musical highlights of the particular chants you’ll cover in a rehearsal, helping you make rehearsals more efficient so that the Gregorian repertory can play a greater role in the liturgies of your parish. Additionally, we’ll develop analytical skills to interpret the musical grammar and structure of the chant repertory in light of the modes, empowering you to sing and direct chants with artistry and insight, making intelligent decisions about phrasing and breath. 

This workshop is ideal for anyone passionate about growing as a musician within the Church’s treasury of sacred music.

Join us! Mondays, Sept. 15, 22, 29, Oct. 6, 13, 20, 27, Nov. 3, 10, 5:30–6:30 p.m. PT/8:30–9:30 p.m. ET.

If the hour for live instruction doesn’t work for you, or you’d like to be able to review each class, an optional add-on is available for archived access in perpetuity. Instruction is $60 for the 9 live sessions, and $10 extra ($70 total) for live instruction plus archived access.

Mary as the Untilled Field That Bears the Wheat Divine

Call for Artists - An Image of Mary Needed to Portray an Ancient Symbol of the Theotokos!

St. Romanos the Melodist, who died in 556 AD, is credited with writing many of the hymns of the Byzantine liturgy. One of the most famous hymns associated with him (although we don’t know for certain that he wrote it) is the Akathist Hymn, which praises the Mother of God, the Theotokos; it is one of the most beloved services in the Byzantine Church. It was composed in Constantinople, “the city of the Virgin,” and consists of 8 strophes, known as ‘Odes’, each of which contains allegorical references to Our Lady in beautiful poetic language and imagery. Typically, the starting point for this imagery is a symbolic reference to Christ, for example, the grapes, an image which alludes to the wine in the Eucharist. Then Mary is described through an extension of this imagery to something closely associated with it. I described this way of generating symbolism for Mary in a post earlier this year about the symbolism of Mary in images of the hospitality of Abraham.

If I were an artist seeking a source for new images of Mary that sit within the tradition, this would be the first place I would look. There is so much symbolism contained within it the Akathist that, to my knowledge, much of it has never been represented visually. I do not know if Romanos was composing this imagery, or reflecting in his poetry that which was already part of the tradition. Perhaps it was a bit of both. However, to the degree that he is the original source, his composition has become hugely influential, as so much of what it contains appears across the tradition of liturgical hymns to the Blessed Mother in both East and West.

For example, taking that example given above in which Mary is the vine. This appears in the Akathist hymn.

Ode VII: O Most holy Theotokos, save us!

We praise you and cry out to you: Hail, mystical chariot of the living Sun! True vine who has given forth a full-grown Cluster, dripping with spiritual wine to fill with joy those who faithfully sing your praise!

I am not aware of paintings that make this connection explicitly (readers may have some thoughts here), but I do immediately think of the mosaic in San Clemente in Rome, dating from the 12th century. I do not know if this trailing vine that becomes the tree of the cross, so to speak, and which bears the Fruit of the Tree of Life, Christ, has been associated with Our Lady. But it could be, it seems to me.

It also seems natural, as a corollary to this, to have imagery of Mary as the source that nurtures the grain that becomes the bread, and subsequently the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. This imagery also appears in the Akathist Hymn:

Ode III: O Most holy Theotokos, save us!

Hail, mystical earth, who, without ploughing, has given forth a Wheat divine! Hail, living table that supports the Bread of life! Hail, O Lady, unfailing fountain of the living Water!

However, although I am aware that bread often appears in sacred art, clearly, and even grain, but not a field, the reference to the field as ‘untilled’ is clearly an allusion to Mary’s Perpetual Virginity.

John Constable’s Cornfield, shown below, was not intended as an allusion to Mary. Still, it can now serve as an inspiration for us to see Her in the ordinary images of everyday life. The lost sheep, and you and I-as observers of the painting—numbered among them—are finding their way to Christ, who is the Wheat in the field. It seems that Kansas could be considered an image of Mary in this way—the Corn Belt is Mary Land! How great is that!

Here is my first artist contribution to the new prototype. It is not liturgical art, but an ex post facto attribution to a painting of a field created a couple of years ago. I can now tell people who visit our house that this represents Mary, and the shaft of sunlight is the Holy Spirit; this then becomes an allegory of the Annunciation!

This last suggestion is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but it makes a point that I do think is important. The re-establishment of tradition is not restricted to rediscovering the past. Rather, it is one in which we re-establish the principles that underlie it. Once this is done, our fresh reading of the Book of Creation in the light of tradition can give rise not just to new paintings but to an expanding and vibrant symbolism that speaks to the modern era, enlivening the Faith and stimulating greater awe and wonder at Creation itself.

UGCC SingCon 2025 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Oct. 23-26

SingCon is an annual gathering of cantors, choristers, choir directors, and anyone interested in the musical tradition of the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church. This year it is being hosted by the parish of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, from October 23-26. The weekend includes workshops on liturgical and musical topics, vocal exercises, mass choir practices, and liturgical services, including Vespers, Matins, and the Divine Liturgy. For further information, visit the website at https://ugccmusic.com/, or the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ugccmusic. (Student rates are available)

The link to registration is here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfqK0lfq_0xaLqgDFnzAH30RLIH6OOTf9zDXWBPjzCmg22FXA/viewform

Registration Fees: Regular rate: $175 USD (includes all meals, photocopies, etc.)

Student rate: $150 USD (also open to all Canadian residents due to the exchange rate)

Family rate: write to hello@ugccmusic.com for more information and rates.

The goal of SingCon is to advance the state and quality of church music in the Ukrainian Greco-Catholic Church (UGCC) in the English-speaking world, gathering cantors, choir directors, singers, clergy, and others interested in church singing to meet one another, network, share resources, discuss various issues, and—most importantly—to pray together, glorifying God. SingCon sees the traditional Byzantine liturgy and chant of the UGCC as essential sources of liturgical and spiritual renewal for Christians in the twenty-first century. Following the principles outlined by Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky in his pastoral letter on church singing from 1941, SingCon seeks to successfully integrate congregational and choral singing, raising both to the highest standard.

Two Manuscripts from the Sainte-Chapelle

To mark the feast of St Louis IX, king of France (1214-70; r. 1226), here is a look at two very different manuscripts from the collection formerly housed at the Sainte-Chapelle, the great chapel which he built to house the relic of Our Lord’s Crown of Thorns. The first is a missale festivum, a missal which was made to be used only a very limited number of major feast days. (Bibliothèque nationale de France. Département des Manuscrits. Latin 8890) This was produced in the first years of the 16th century during the reign of King Louis XII (1498-1515), and the images very much reflect the French interest in Italian art and culture. (Louis XII and his father Charles VIII were both deeply embroiled in invasions of the various Italian states.) Note, however, that the lettering throughout is the more traditional fraktur font typically used in liturgical books of the period.

The frontispiece, with the royal arms of Louis XII; at the bottom, the words “Louis, king of the French” (with the word Francorum misspelled as Frencorum.)

The Mass of Christmas day. Following a convention of Italian painters, the stable in Bethlehem is shown as a ruined building, symbolizing the condition of the fallen world as it waits for renewal with the coming of the Savior. The floral backgrounds are typical of high quality French books of Hours.

Most of the pages look like this, with various kinds of decorative letters at the beginnings of the prayers, or, as here, at the beginning of the proper part of the preface of Christmas.

The Mass of Easter Sunday.

The dedication of the church.

Continue Reading this Article. . .

The Legend of St Bartholomew

In all three Synoptic Gospels, Saints Philip and Bartholomew are named fifth and sixth in the company of the Twelve Apostles, and then nothing else is said about them. The latter is traditionally identified with Nathanael, who figures prominently at the end of the first chapter of St John’s Gospel, and is mentioned at the beginning of the last chapter among those who saw the Risen Lord at the sea of Tiberias. This identification is made partly because in John 1, it is Philip, with whom he is always paired in the Synoptics, who brings him to Christ, and partly because Bartholomew is a patronymic, “son of Tolmai”, which would make “Nathanael” his personal name. The custom of the Church accepts this identification, but always uses the name Bartholomew in the liturgy.

The Apostles Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew and Simon, each of whom contributes one article to the Apostles’ Creed, following a popular medieval legend. 1483-7, by the workshop of the Spanish painter Miguel Ximenez. Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.

However, the Roman Gospel of his feast day is not his exchange with Christ recorded in St John (1, 44-51), but rather, St Luke’s list of the Twelve Apostles, and the beginning of the Sermon on the Plain, 6, 12-19.

“At that time: Jesus went out into a mountain to pray, and he passed the whole night in the prayer of God. And when day was come, he called unto him his disciples; and he chose twelve of them (whom also he named apostles): Simon, whom he surnamed Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon who is called Zelotes, and Jude, the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who was the traitor. And coming down with them, he stood in a plain place, and the company of his disciples, and a very great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and the seacoast both of Tyre and Sidon, who were come to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases. And they that were troubled with unclean spirits, were cured. And all the multitude sought to touch him, for virtue went out from him, and healed all.”

This choice depends on the final words, referring to the healings of the sick and the possessed, since in his various apocryphal acts Bartholomew effects many cures of both kinds. Many pre-Tridentine breviaries give a fairly full account of these stories, which in their broad outline are similar to the apocryphal acts of some of the other Apostles, most particularly those of St Matthew. Bartholomew goes to India and silences a demon in a temple where people had been wont to come for healing. He then heals the possessed daughter of a king, who embraces Christianity, and helps the Apostle to convert many people, including a good number of the pagan priests. Many impressive miracles and healings attend this preaching, but also excite the jealousy of some of the pagan priests, who remain unconverted, and convince the king’s brother to rise up against him. The latter kills the Apostle, but comes to a bad end, slain by a demon, as are the pagan priests who egged him on, and the faith flourishes in the region.

(Two panels of an altarpiece depicting the legend of St Bartholomew, by the Sienese painter Pietro di Giovanni d’Ambrogio, ca. 1435. (Public domain images from Wikimedia Commons.) In the first, the Apostle is tried before the King Astyages...

and in the second, beaten with clubs.)

Already by the beginning of the 13th century, the Ordinal of Pope Innocent III, the ancestor of the breviary of St Pius V, had reduced this story to a single lesson, a very basic outline of barely more than 100 words. This is a sure sign that even in an age which has, and in many ways deserves, a reputation for uncritical acceptance of all kinds of legends, there was an awareness that the tale is not historically reliable. This lesson does, however, accept the common tradition, going back to Eusebius of Caesarea and St Jerome (both in the 4th century), that Bartholomew preached in Lycaonia, a central region of Asia Minor, before going to India, and then ended his days in Armenia. The oldest version of his acts says that he was beaten with rods and then beheaded; by the high Middle Ages, the tradition was commonly accepted that he was skinned alive before his beheading.

Just as many other Saints are depicted holding the instruments of their passion, St Bartholomew is therefore often shown holding the knife by which he was flayed.

St Bartholomew, by Cecco di Pietro, 1370-1400 ca. (Image from Wikimedia Commons by Sailko, CC BY 3.0)

Artists could also take the opportunity to display their knowledge of anatomy by showing him actually flayed. A particularly good example of this is found in the cathedral of Milan, a sculpture by Marco d’Agrate completed in 1562. In the inscription on the base, the artist cleverly pretends to fear being mistaken for Praxiteles, the most famous sculptor of ancient Greece. “Non me Praxiteles, sed Marcus finxit Agrates. – It was not Praxiteles who made me, but Marco from Agrate.”

Image from Wikimedia Commons by Darafsh, CC BY-SA 3.0

The best known image of St Bartholomew, however, is certainly that in Michelangelo’s Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel, not least because of the popular but mistaken idea that the artist put his own face on the skin.

There is also a very complicated tradition about the frequent translation of his relics, which are venerated in many different places. In his Books of Miracles (chapter 33), St Gregory of Tours writes the following:

“When many years had passed after his passion, and persecution had once again come upon the Christians, and the pagans saw that all the people were coming together at the tomb (of Bartholomew), and frequently offered prayers and incense, led on by jealousy, they stole the body, and putting it into a lead sarcophagus, they threw it into the sea, saying, ‘No longer shalt thou lead our people astray.’ But by the secret working of God’s providence, the lead sarcophagus was picked up and carried from that place by the waters, and brought to an island called Lipari. And it was revealed to the Christians that they should collect the sarcophagus; and when they had done so, they buried it and built a large church over it. When now he is invoked therein, (the Apostle) makes it clear that he helps the peoples by many miracles and blessings.” (PL LXXI, 734A-B.)

A reliquary of St Bartholomew, covered with ex votos, in the cathedral of Lipari. Image from Wikimedia Commons by Effems, CC BY-SA 4.0)

This tradition is also known to the Byzantine Rite, which celebrates a feast of this translation on August 25, and sings these two hymns at Vespers:

“Thy journeys were seen in the sea, o Apostle, and made manifest beyond the understanding of men; for being cast into the sea in a casket, thou didst turn thy course to the West, as renowned martyrs followed thee from the East on either side, and rendering homage to thee at the behest of the Master of all, o Bartholomew the Apostle.

With thy wondrous ascents thou didst sanctify the water, and arrive at the island of Lipari, pouring forth myrrh, o glorious one, and healing incurable diseases, having become for the faithful in that place a savior and a refuge, an intercessor and deliverer before the King and Savior of all, a Bartholomew the Apostle.”

Part of these relics were then moved from Lipari to Benevento, and from there to a church on the Tiber Island in Rome, where they remain to this day.

The altar of the church of St Bartholomew on the Tiber Island in Rome, with a plaque on the front that says “The body of the Apostle Bartholomew.” Photo courtesy of Liturgical Arts Journal, via their Facebook page.

The Life of St Philip Benizi in Art

Today is the feast of St Philip Benizi, a 13th century Florentine who stands to the Servite Order in the same position that St Bernard of Clairvaux does to the Cistercians. He was not the order’s founder, but he was its most effective early propagator, and his lifetime of work and reputation for holiness did a great deal to consolidate its position in the Church. He entered as a lay brother in 1254; four years later, he was ordained a priest, and rapidly rose to prominence. In a general chapter held in 1267, he was elected superior general, despite the fact that three of the original seven founders were still alive, and held that office for the rest of his life. During the papal conclave of 1268-71 (at 33 months, the longest in history), he was seriously proposed as a candidate, and had to go into hiding to avoid being elected. (The pope elected by this conclave and his successor are both Blesseds, but not Saints, so it seems Philip really did choose the better part.) He was born on the feast of the Assumption in 1233, and died on its octave, August 22nd, 1285; his feast was therefore assigned to the 23rd when he was canonized in 1671.

St Philip Benizi Refusing the Papal Tiara, medallion by Antonio Raggi (1621-89) on the façade of the church of San Marcello al Corso in Rome. (Image from Wikimedia Commons by Torvindus, CC BY-SA 3.0)

In the mid-15th century, a new portico, now known as the “chiostrino dei voti – the little cloister of the vows”, was added to the front of the Servite church in Florence, which is dedicated to the Annunciation. A project was begun to decorate it with frescoes depicting episodes from the life of the Virgin Mary and of St Philip, which, however, went forth very slowly. In 1509, the painter Andrea del Sarto was hired to complete it, and the majority of the paintings are his work. In 1513, a native son of Florence, Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici, was elected Pope with the name Leo X; the decoration of the portico was hastily finished with the hiring of new painters to prepare for his first official papal visit to the city. By the early decades of the 16th century, the Renaissance had effectively run its course, and the paintings are in the early Mannerist style, which is very much more interested in artifice than in realism, and is probably to the modern eye more interesting than attractive.

The Calling and Profession of St Philip, by Cosimo Rosselli, 1476 (one of only two parts of the fresco series to be completed at the time of its original proposal.) - On the right, St Philip has a vision of the Virgin Mary while he prays in his room; on the left, he receives the habit of the order. The depiction of the Saint in his underwear as he is about to receive the habit will perhaps strike the modern viewer as rather inappropriate. Florence was a city that made its fortune in the cloth market, and less than half a mile away, walking in an almost perfectly straight line from the door of this portico, stands the famous and very richly decorated city baptistery, which was paid for by the cloth merchants’ guild. The depiction of the Saint in this fashion therefore serves to emphasize the poverty which he embraced by entering the mendicant Servite order.

(The remaining paintings of the life of St Philip are all by Andrea del Sarto, done from 1509-14.)

St Philip Heals a Leper - In the scenes in the background, the leper, having been healed, is able to come close to the Saint, who then embraces and clothes him. The Roman Breviary states that it was because of this miracle specifically that the cardinals in Rome thought to make him Pope in the midst of the long-deadlocked conclave.

The Punishment of a Group of Blasphemers, who are struck by an arrow from heaven. The art historian Giorgio Vasari singled out the startled horse in the background as a particularly praiseworthy aspect of del Sarto’s work.

St Philip Heals a Possessed Woman by making the sign of the Cross over her. Note how the figure of the woman, the beneficiary of the miracle, is highlighted by the luminosity of her dress, while the rest of the figures, including the Saint himself, are less bright.

The Death of St Philip - a newly deceased child is brought to the place where his body is laid out, and raised to life upon touching the bier. As is typical with Mannerists, who generally preferred to imitate art rather than life, this painting was done as a deliberate imitation of Ghirlandaio’s Funeral of Santa Fina in the collegiate church of San Gimignano.

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Christ the King Centennial Music Festival in St Louis, Missouri, Oct. 24-26

This year commemorates the 100th anniversary of the establishment of this feast by Pope Pius XI with his encyclical Quas primas. As the titular feast of the Institute of Christ the King, St Francis de Sales Oratory in St Louis, Missouri, honors this grand feast with its annual Music Festival, bringing musicians from far and wide to sing and play for the King. In collaboration with Oratorio, a non-profit which promotes revitalization of the urban area through music, the church we will host ensembles like the St Louis Symphony Orchestra, Floriani, and more, over the weekend of October 24-26. More information can be found at this website: https://www.oratoriostl.com/

A special Centennial Ball in honor of the 100th anniversary of the feast of Christ the King will be held on on Saturday, October 25, situated within the context of the Christ the King Music Festival, and open to all. This grand celebration will featureslive music, dancing, and refreshments. Please see more details and RSVP via this form link: https://forms.gle/FiNvnk8mD18CDFY16

Regina Pacis, Ora Pro Nobis!

One of the few sensible changes made to the calendar in the post-Conciliar reform is the exchanging of the places (more or less) of two Marian feasts, those of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and of Her Queenship. Both of these were added to the general calendar by Pope Pius XII, the first in 1944, the second ten years later. The latter was originally assigned to the last day of May because of the popular custom of keeping May as a Marian month, even though there was no general Marian feast within it. The former was placed on the octave of the Assumption for no discernible reason, other than the fact that before it was put on the general calendar, some places kept it on the Sunday after the octave; but the Carmelite Rite, one of the first of the religious orders to adopt it, had it in the same place it was given in the Novus Ordo, on the day after the feast of the Sacred Heart.

As I am sure our readers know, the Holy Father Pope Leo asked that today be observed as a special day of prayer and fasting for the peace throughout the world. This made me think of a Marian title which has no formal liturgical expression, and so would be covered by the feast of Our Lady’s Queenship, which I am pretty certain is the reason why he chose today, “Queen of Peace.” This title was proclaimed by Pope Benedict XV when he added it to the Litany of Loreto in November of 1915, as the First World War was approaching its second Christmas.

He also commissioned this statue of the Virgin for the basilica of St Mary Major in Rome, the first major public artwork in the city to be displayed with the new title on it. It was completed and unveiled in 1918, the work of a sculptor named Guido Galli. 

Image from Wikimedia Commons by Fallaner, CC BY-SA 4.0

I have always thought there was something very Italian about this statue, the way the Madonna is the one to raise Her hand, seemingly less in blessing, and more as if to say, “End this war!”, the “useless slaughter”, as Pope Benedict himself called the war which did not yet need to be distinguished as the first of its kind. Her other hand extends over Christ’s bare side, covering the place where He will be wounded with a lance by a soldier, as if she were protecting all the young men threatened by the terrible violence of war. Her expression is almost stern, as if to express her disapproval, and makes for a notable contrast with the more cheerful face of the young Jesus.

Michelangelo died in 1564, but even three-and-a-half centuries later, every sculptor who worked in Rome lived under his shadow, and there are some interesting references to and contrasts with his work here. The complicated folding of the Virgin Mary’s robes, especially around her head, the deep spaces to either side of her neck, and the deep cut into the marble under her arm, are all very much a tribute to the great Florentine’s Roman debut, the Pietà.

But Galli was not afraid to do things that Michelangelo did not do, not because he couldn’t do them, but because he couldn’t muster up any interest in doing them. For Michelangelo, there is only one subject worthy of the sculptor’s art, the human form. Galli, on the other hand, included both a dove, the symbol of peace, on the left, and a rather complicated pile of flowers on both the left and right. Michelangelo also believed, with a conviction that could well be described as dogmatic, that sculpture is an art of subtraction, of finding the image and releasing it from the block that imprisons it. For this reason, he absolutely rejected the technique employed here, by which pieces made of other materials are added to the work, such as the metal olive branch in Jesus’ hand, the halos, and the throne, which itself is made of several different pieces of stone, and detailed with metal bosses. 

The whole ensemble, including the panel behind the statue and the lamps to either side, is a rare example of early art nouveau (or “stile Liberty”, as it is often called in Italian) in an Italian church; rare, because with the coming of fascism to Italy in 1922, the whole style fell very much out of fashion, withering under official disapproval of it as American (or French), and therefore decadent.

The Hanc igitur

Lost in Translation #137

Following the Communicantes, the priest prays the Hanc igitur:

Hanc ígitur oblatiónem servitútis nostrae, sed et cunctae familiae tuae, quaesumus, Dómine, ut placátus accipias: diesque nostros in tua pace dispónas, atque ab aeterna damnatióne nos éripi, et in electórum tuórum júbeas grege numerári. Per Christum Dóminum nostrum. Amen.

Which the 2011 ICEL edition translates as:

Therefore, Lord, we pray: graciously accept this oblation of our service, that of your whole family; order our days in your peace, and command that we be delivered from eternal damnation and counted among the flock of those you have chosen. (Through Christ our Lord. Amen.) [1]

And which I translate as:

We therefore beseech You, O Lord, graciously to accept this oblation of our service, but also of Your whole family; that You may dispose our days in Your peace and deliver us from eternal damnation, and that You may bid us to be numbered in the flock of Your Elect. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Hanc igitur, writes Fr. Adrian Fortescue, “is perhaps the most difficult prayer in the Mass.” [2] Scholars have speculated that it is a fragment of a litany of intercession said by the deacon before it was taken over by the priest and made a later addition to the Canon, with St. Gregory the Great putting on the finishing touches before his death in A.D. 600. And variations of the prayer, both in its main and subordinate clauses, abound: In the 1962 Missals, there are four (Holy Thursday, Easter, Pentecost, and at a bishop’s ordination), but the Gelasian Sacramentary lists thirty-eight.

The Hanc igitur is a recognizable feature of the Mass because the bells are rung when it is begun, while the priest stretches his hands over the oblata, his right thumb forming the sign of the cross over his left. This action imitates that of the Hebrew priest stretching his hands over the Old Testament scapegoat, which ritually took on the sins of the people and was subsequently sacrificed. (see Lev. 16, 11-14) Originally, lots were cast to determine which of two goats would be the scapegoat and which would be set free in the wilderness. The arrangement is evocative of the fickle crowd choosing Barabbas over Jesus, on whom was laid the iniquity of us all. (see Is. 53, 6)

The custom of stretching the hands over chalice and host did not arise until the fifteenth century. One theory is that the original signs of the cross before the consecration were a de facto epiclesis or calling of the Holy Spirit upon the gifts; after this meaning was forgotten over time (and signs of the crosses were added to the prayers after the consecration to change the meaning further), the scapegoat-gesture was added to have the same pneumatological effect. [3] Whatever the reason, this action about a goat, as we will see below, fits in well with the prayer’s words about sheep.

And since debates over the epiclesis (and whether the Roman Rite even needs one) continue unresolved, let us turn our attention to the language of the text:

For the second time, the word igitur occurs in the Canon, with the sense of continuing an interrupted thought. Perhaps the “interruption” was dwelling on the Church Triumphant in the Communicantes; in any event, the priest returns to “the oblation of our service.” The service in mind is probably that of the clerics serving in the sanctuary, which is why it is followed by “that of Your whole family.” Unlike the Te igitur, which mentions “those standing around,” the reference to God’s whole family includes those who are not physically present at Mass, but who unite their intentions to the sacrifice of the altar nonetheless. Anyone who does a Morning Offering that includes the petition “O my Jesus....I offer You my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day... in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world” falls into this category.

The prayer describes the oblation as the product of our servitus, which both ICEL and I translate as “service.” “Service” is accurate, but it is perhaps too innocent a word. A rich and powerful man, for example, can provide a service to his community by funding a public park. Servitus, on the other hand, denotes the condition of a servus or slave. [4] It is the oblation of our servitude or the oblation of our enslavement to Jesus Christ that is being offered, not that of a titan of the economy like Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos. [5]

Finally, as Fr. Nicholas Gihr writes, “The same petitions are again presented, but now with heightened confidence and intensified expression.” [6] This prayer presumes that even if we consider ourselves part of God’s family, it is not a foregone conclusion that we are part of his Elect flock. The addition of the scapegoat-gesture heightens this sentiment: just as we ritually acknowledge that Jesus Christ is He who made Himself a goat for our sake by taking on our sins and being cast out, so too we pray that we may be a part of His sheepfold, numbered at the right hand of the Father and not counted on His left. But this heightening is negated when the stretching of hands is moved to another prayer, as it is in the Novus Ordo over the Quam oblationem.

Notes

[1] 2011 Roman Missal, p. 638.

[2] Adrian Fortescue, The Mass: A Study of the Roman Liturgy (Longmans, Green, and Co, 1912), p. 333.

[3] Daniel Cardó, The Cross and the Eucharist in Early Christianity: A Theological and Liturgical Investigation (Cambridge University Press, 2019).

[4] “Servĭtūs, ūtis,” Lewis and Short Latin Dictionary.

[5] Almost every Epistle writer in the New Testament calls himself a slave of Jesus Christ: Paul (Rom. 1, 1), Peter (2 Pet. 1, 1), Jude (Jude 1, 1), and John (Rev. 1, 1).

[6] Gihr, The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, p. 622.