Benedict XVI

by

Twelve Ethical Principles of a Christian Sacred Artist

My friends and fellow sacred artists, allow me to present to you my expression of twelve ethical principles that I have developed for members of the Fra Angelico Institute of Sacred Arts. These principles may be valuable to colleagues in other Rites and Denominations in fostering dialogue about these ideas. I write this as a preface to a series to follow at fraangelicoinstitute.com, on the spiritual and artistic values of Beato Fra Angelico. I perceive Fra Angelico as being one of the last artists of the Gothic Period in Western sacred art that was true to the tradition that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI speaks of in his book Spirit of the Liturgy. Please see the Explanatory Notes that follow these twelve principles. They further reveal my understanding of these points. Upon further discussion with you, these Principles may be edited to reflect your contributions. Thank you.

                        Twelve Ethical Principles of a Christian Sacred Artist

1) A Christian sacred artist’s work is wed to a Christ centered spirituality of service and tradition (with both a small “t” and a capital “T”).

2) A Christian sacred artist bases his or her work on prayer.

3) A Christian sacred artist’s spirituality has its roots firmly planted in Sacred Scripture and Church history.

4) A Christian sacred artist’s spirituality is enlivened when he or she prayerfully unites their inner senses (common sense, imagination, cognition, and sense-memory) fortified by faith, to their creativity.

5) Christian sacred artists recognize that the main work of the Church is threefold: spreading the good news of Christ’s Gospel message, prayer, and for the Western and Eastern Rites of the Church providing the Holy Sacraments (Holy Mysteries) to the faithful.

6) Christian sacred artists are a critical part of the liturgical work and prayer of the Church. They produce sacred arts that are sacramentals if they conform to the aesthetic, semantic, and theological principles of the faith.

7) Christian sacred artists believe that the grace of God compliments and strengthens their technical expertise.

8) Christian sacred artists believe that the act of making their work, and the finished product, is not just art; it is communion with the great mystery of God made visible in Christ and His saints.

9) Christian sacred artists who are members of the Western and Eastern Rites recognize that the creation of sacred art may be viewed as a liturgical act.

10) Christian sacred artists produce art that clearly teaches and preaches the lessons of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, and the Creeds of the Church, thus allowing their artistic message to contribute toward individual and congregational transformation in Christ.

11) Christian sacred artists are aware of the teachings of the 7th Ecumenical Council (2nd Council of Nicaea, AD 787) as it applies to icons and the role that the contributions of St. John of Damascus played in its debates.

12) Western and Eastern Rite sacred artists are aware of, and subscribe to, the principles that apply to sacred art within the writings of their spiritual leaders.

Explanatory notes – the numbers below correspond to the number of the specific Principle above:

 1) The small “t” relates to cultural norms of a specific Rite or denomination. The capital “T” refers to Church Tradition as specified by Jesus Christ, the Apostles, the Fathers of the Church, and the many hierarchical pronouncements proclaimed by Popes, Patriarchs, and Bishops of the Western and Eastern Rites of the Church.

2) Christian sacred artists undertake a great spiritual responsibility. This responsibility requires that the artist be firmly rooted in faith, grace, and prayer for they are promoting the truth, goodness, and beauty of Almighty God, His angels, and saints. Sacred artists are assisted in this by understanding that certain artistic schools or methods, an example being abstract expressionism, have no place in the sacred art of the Church.

3) This unity allows a sacred artist, through prayer, to walk the various paths of Holy Scripture and experience the moment that the Scripture, or story of the saints, presents to the soul. This experience feeds and transforms the sacred artist by affecting the clarity, line, and color of their art. This is how Beato Fra Angelico experienced the Crucifixion, and according to Vasari, as he painted it wept over the enormity of Christ’s sacrifice. In this process Fra Angelico prefigures Ignatius of Loyola by about 100 years in the ability to experience the words of Holy Scripture within his imagination. The use of the word – “imagination” – does not mean or imply “fantasy,” nor does the person at prayer “make-up” images not found in the Gospels or Church history. St. Andrei Rublev, Beato Fra Angelico, St. Ignatius of Loyola and others utilized this type of prayer experience to affect their work.

4) What is prayer? The saints tell us that prayer is the turning of the heart toward Our Lord God and allowing the mind and heart to sincerely speak words of love to Him. It is the connection, the sharing, of rational mind and free will to conversational intimacy with Our Lord, His angels and saints. The sacred artist enters into communion with God through prayer and this communion comforts and assists the sacred artist in their work.

5) The Western and Eastern Rites go a step further and affirm that preaching the Gospel message and delivering the Holy Sacraments (Holy Mysteries) is critical for the spiritual health and salvation of God’s people.

6) An icon is a sacred image (confer John 1:14). An iconographer follows specific traditions of craftsmanship and specific elements of Theological (Scriptural and dogmatic content), Semantic (the visual language of the icon, appropriate perspective, the use of light, line, and color to create form, and correct use of signs and symbols within the icon), and Aesthetic principles (the quality of beauty with the icon itself). These three principles are based upon the sacred Tradition of the Church. The history of the Western and Eastern Rites illustrates that the sacred artist has continually moved through different artistic periods and technical understanding. As it relates to sacred art, the Western Rite of the Church moved out of an Iconographic period into the Gothic period, and then onto the Baroque period. The Eastern Rite stayed within the period of Iconography that developed out of the early centuries of the Church. Cultural conditions, access to earth pigments, and artistic differences affected the Iconographic period within the Eastern Rite of the Church. It is important to note that within the Western Rite a sacred image is an image that is created of a historical holy person or religious scene; however, the artist allows their full creativity and personal interpretation to enter into the craftsmanship and artistic process. Personal creativity and technique, while present within Iconography, is not seen as an important issue. An example of an icon is St. Andrei Rublev’s image of Christ, or his icon of the Holy Trinity. An example of a sacred image is Pietro Annigoni’s image of St. Joseph and the child Jesus in Joseph’s workshop, or Masaccio’s Holy Trinity. I am indebted to one of my teachers of iconography, Marek Czarnecki (whose teacher was Ksenia Pokrovsky), for clarifying the elements of theological, semantic, and aesthetic tradition for me.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI provides a wonderful overview of the three periods of sacred art within the Western Rite in his book Spirit of the Liturgy. You will notice that he does not include the Renaissance within the three traditions. Historical research has shown that Renaissance artists were not inspired so much by prayer in the production of their art; rather, they were motivated by the desire to please themselves, their patrons, or the profit motive. Some of the Renaissance sacred images do have spiritual value and can motivate the viewer to prayer and communion with God.

Icons, sacred images, woodcarvings, calligraphy and other sacred arts if based on the Holy Gospels and Church Tradition spread the good news of the Gospel. The sacred arts are sacramentals when they point the way to God. Sacramentals are blessings. The seven Sacraments (Holy Mysteries) provide the grace that interiorly heal and nourish us. Sacramentals, however, assist us in the exterior visualization of Our Lord Jesus who made that process possible through His Incarnation. It also assists us in the visualization of His angels and especially His saints, who modeled Jesus in their own lives. To picture this one has only to view an icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov, and remember his words that “A true hope seeks only the Kingdom of God…the heart can have no peace until it obtains such a hope. This hope pacifies the heart and produces joy within it.” Christian sacred artists are “hope filled” people.

7) Within the Western Rite, it is believed that “Our justification comes from the grace of God which was merited for us by the Passion of Christ. Grace is a participation in the life of God. Justification is conferred through the Sacramental grace of Baptism. Grace is the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to His call to become children of God, adoptive sons and daughters, partakers of the divine nature and eternal life” (confer John 1:12-18; 17:3; Romans 8: 14-17; 2 Peter 1:3-4). As the Council of Trent teaches – grace is known by faith – and as Our Lord teaches in Matthew 7: 20 “You will know them by their fruits” (confer Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd edition, paragraphs 1987 through 2005).

8) Contemporary Greek artist and iconographer, Dr. George Kordis, writes of this principle in his book Icon As Communion.

9) In the Western Rite, liturgy as defined in the New Testament, “refers not only to the celebration of divine worship but also to the proclamation of the Gospel and to active charity” (confer Luke 1:23; Acts 13:2; Romans 15:16, 27; 2 Corinthians 9:12; Philippians 2: 14-17, 25, 30. Confer Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd edition, and paragraphs 1066 through 1209). The work of a sacred artist (this of course includes all the sacred arts) can be viewed as a liturgical act because it provides a service to our neighbor, in that the sacred art elucidates the reality of the truth, goodness, and beauty of God by providing a means for the individual to hear or visualize that reality. The sacred artist assists the Church in making the reality of Christ present within the community of believers. Sacred artists, by providing this service, are participants in active charity. They aid in providing a “visible sign of communion in Christ between God and men” (confer paragraph 1071, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd edition).

10) Transformation in Christ is a spiritual process. Writers within both the Latin and Greek Rites of the Church and the various Protestant denominations have extensively written about it. The Holy Bible, the Philokalia, Dietrich von Hildebrand, and many other writers provide very helpful advice on this topic.

11) Christian sacred artists, as they study iconography and the various manifestations of sacred art need to also be aware of the significant contributions of Leonid Ouspensky, George Kordis, Aidan Hart, David Clayton, Jonathan Pageau, and the Monk Patrick Doolan. There is enough wisdom in their words and works to advance the studies of any serious Christian sacred artist.

12) Some of the Popes have expressed valuable artistic insights, which will assist the Western sacred artist in their comprehension of their task. A few examples of this are: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s book The Spirit of the Liturgy, Pope St. John Paul II’s Letter to Artists, and Pope Pius XII’s 1947 encyclical, Mediator Dei. The encyclical Mediator Dei explains in paragraph 187, that “Three characteristics of which our predecessor Pope Pius Xth spoke should adorn all liturgical services: sacredness, which abhors any profane influence; nobility, which true and genuine arts should serve and foster; and universality, which, while safeguarding local and legitimate custom, reveals the catholic unity of the Church” (Pius XII referenced this from an Apostolic Letter of Pope Pius X of November 1903). These three principles, when united with the principles of aesthetic, semantic, and theological truth, provide the Christian sacred artist with a firm foundation on which to build their creative work.

Thank you for reading this and I look forward to your comments, Deacon Paul O. Iacono.

Copyright © 2011- 2017 Deacon Paul O. Iacono All Rights Reserved

Images:

Christ-Pantocrator.-Andrei-Rublev.-1410-1420s.-The-central-part-of-the-iconographic-Deesis-of-Zvenigorod.-Moscow-The-State-Tretyakov-Gallery

St. Andrei Rublev’s Christ (completed 1410, above) and his The Trinity (1411, or 1425-27)trinity-rublev-1410

 

Masaccio_Holy_Trinity

Masaccio’s Holy Trinity (completed 1428, above) and

Annigoni’s St. Joseph the Worker (altarpiece, completed 1963, below)annigoni, st joseph

 

by

Beauty – “The Great Legacy” of Pope Benedict XVI

I am interrupting my series on Theophilus the Presbyter and the affect he had on the development Medieval art and technology with this post that just came in from the Catholic News Service/EWTN.

The following article is very important and relevant to our understanding of the significant role that his Holiness Emeritus Benedict XVI had in moving the Church forward while appreciating and applying the beauty of our faith, in all of its component parts, to our holy liturgy, prayer, and devotion to our Eucharistic Lord. This understanding contributes to our appreciation of what it means to be a member of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. The complete article appears below:

Beauty in liturgy the ‘great legacy’ of Benedict XVI

By Carl Bunderson

VATICAN CITY, March 1, 2013 (CNA/EWTN News) .  Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will be remembered in Church history for his work to recover the beauty of traditional liturgy, according to Bishop James D. Conley.

The head of the Lincoln, Neb. Diocese, who has been reading Benedict’s writings on liturgy for decades, said these works “will remain a great contribution to liturgical theology for years to come.”

“His great legacy,” Bishop Conley told CNA Feb. 27, “will be the re-discovery of the beauty of the traditional liturgy.”

Benedict awakened a “new way” of looking at the ordinary form of the Mass – the liturgy which came after the 1960s Second Vatican Council – “with a greater attempt to be more attentive to the rubrics.”

In the former pontiff’s view, Mass should be celebrated with beauty, dignity, and in continuity with the tradition of the Church, Bishop Conley noted.

Benedict’s liturgical legacy also includes his “blessing” of those “who have a great attachment to the old Mass” and who are in union with the Holy See, the bishop said.

In 2007, Pope Benedict released a directive titled “Summorum pontificum,” which in a “watershed moment,” gave every priest permission to say Mass using the 1962, or pre-Vatican II Missal.

“He made it one of his priorities to…introduce the ‘hermeneutic of continuity’, trying to show that the pre-conciliar liturgy of the 1962 Missal is the same liturgy as the Roman Missal of Pope Paul VI,” the bishop explained.

Pope Benedict “allowed the traditions to harmonize…so the cross-pollination could take place; so the very best of the reforms of the post-conciliar liturgy could be enhanced and influenced, by an open, unbiased acceptance of the Mass that preceded it.”

Bishop Conley believes that Pope Benedict has allowed the pre-conciliar liturgy to flourish alongside of the post-conciliar liturgy “in a hope that some of the transcendence, the beauty, the tradition, the Latin” will permeate the new liturgy.

The Pope’s own manner of celebrating Mass, including subtle “symbolic gestures” have “sent a message” and have had “a catechetical value” for both priests and faithful, said Bishop Conley.

These gestures include distributing Communion to the faithful kneeling; beautiful vestments and those which had fallen into disuse; ensuring a cross and candles are on the altar; and celebrating facing the same direction as the faithful, all elements of a “reform of the reform of the liturgy.”

“He even created a new way of looking at the two traditions,” reflected Bishop Conley, “the extraordinary form and the ordinary form.” Pope Benedict coined these terms in “Summorum pontificum,” to refer to pre and post Vatican liturgies respectively.

“They’re two parts of the same form, and of the same Roman rite: that’s what he really wanted to emphasize by that change in language.”

Transcendence and beauty

Pope Benedict has long been “trying to recover that sense of transcendence and beauty of the liturgy,” reflected the bishop.

Part of this effort was his involvement in the translation of the third edition of the Roman Missal. Bishop Conley noted the former Roman pontiff’s concern that the Latin prayers be translated both accurately and “also with a sense of beauty in the language.”

The bishop also noted Pope Benedict’s creation in November of a “Pontifical Academy for Latin.” He sees this as tied to the Pontiff’s desire to increase the use of Latin in the Church’s life, including in her liturgy.

Bishop Conley also noted how Pope Benedict’s vision was shaped by the Liturgical Movement of the early 20th century, an effort that called for a reform of the Church’s worship, led largely by Benedictines.

“He knew the great players of the Liturgical Movement back before the Council,” the bishop said.

One of his major writings on the liturgy was his 2000 work The Spirit of the Liturgy. That publication hearkened back to a book of the same name by Father Romano Guardini, known as one of those “great players.”

In The Spirit of the Liturgy,  Benedict – as a theologian writing before his rise to the papacy – encouraged a “New Liturgical Movement” that would recall the best elements of the first Liturgical Movement.

Benedict’s concern with beauty and liturgy is not one of mere aesthetics, Bishop Conley noted, but flows from a recognition that liturgical prayer is the “source and summit” of the Christian life, as the Second Vatican Council taught.

“A lot of people are talking about the impact that he’s had on the Church, and you certainly have to say that the liturgy is going to be one; primarily because he took such a personal interest in it and he believed that…everything flows from prayer,” said Bishop Conley.

“That’s what he said when he announced his resignation, that he made this decision after deep prayer. And now he’s going to a life of deep meditation and contemplation, and all that centers on the Eucharist, and the liturgical worship of the Church, which he very much has a profound love for.”

 

A continuing influence

Doctor Horst Buchholz, director of music at the St. Louis archdiocese, told CNA Feb. 25 that Pope Benedict has offered such a wealth of teaching on the liturgy that his influence has yet to come to full fruition.

“There has been no Pope since Pius X, or even before, with such a fervent love for liturgy and Sacred Music like Benedict XVI…We still have to accept, digest, and adapt many of Benedict’s thoughts and directives on liturgy and Sacred Music,” he said.

Buchholz commended Pope Benedict’s example of including the use of the Gradual at his recent Masses in St. Peter’s Basilica. The Gradual is an ancient form of singing the psalm between the readings that may replace the responsorial psalm.

“The Gradual is rarely, rarely ever sung, so that is a very good sign, that people are even aware that there is an option like that,” largely through the example of the Pope’s Masses.

Illustration, not imposition

Jeffrey Tucker, publications director for the Church Music Association of America, agreed that Pope Benedict has led by example in liturgy.

“I knew he would show us the beauty of the Roman rite in a way people hadn’t seen it before, and inspire people through example,” he said to CNA Feb. 20.

Tucker called Pope Benedict a liberal, “in the best sense of that term.” The Roman Pontiff provided “a kind of license” for the pre-conciliar liturgy, he said, and integrated “the reformed Mass into the tradition of the Roman rite more generally.”

“The reforms at St. Peter’s Masses and (papal) liturgy generally have been astonishing, extraordinary, especially from a musical standpoint,” Tucker said.

He pointed particularly to the use of the Introit, the official text from the psalms meant to be sung at the beginning of Mass, at every large Mass said at St. Peter’s recently.

“He’s worked to make the Roman rite more true to itself, which is very encouraging for those of us at the grass roots level, because now we can point to papal liturgies as a useful example of what we’re seeking to accomplish in our own parish lives.”

Tucker praised the fact that while Pope Benedict did make minor changes in liturgical laws, he recognized that “beauty itself, once it’s liberated, compels belief in a sense.” He described the Pope as working not through imposition, but with “inspiration, illustration, example – putting beauty on display and creating a kind of global hunger for solemnity and seriousness, and ritual.

Charles Cole, director of the schola at the London Oratory, told Vatican Radio Feb. 24 that “under the pontificate of Benedict XVI there has been a particular focus on the relationship of the liturgy and music and this remarkable heritage and its grown to ever greater prominence.”

In 2007 Pope Benedict wrote an apostolic exhortation on the Eucharist, “Sacramentum Caritatis,” cementing some of his teachings on the liturgy into the Magisterium.

Writing for The Catholic Herald, Dom Alcuin Reid, a Benedictine monk, said that “his conviction expressed therein, that ‘everything related to the Eucharist should be marked by beauty,’ was reflected in papal liturgies. These became master classes on how to celebrate the modern liturgy in continuity with tradition, where the best of the old and of the new serve to raise our minds and hearts to God.”

Bishop Conley concluded with CNA by remembering the Pope’s constant example of reverence and beauty in celebrating the liturgy.

“When I first came to Rome in 1989 as a priest-student, on Thursday mornings he would celebrate Mass in a chapel of the proto-martyrs inside the Vatican.”

“It would be a Latin Novus Ordo mass, always Novus Ordo, but always celebrated very reverently and with a great sense of transcendence. So not only by his writings, but by the way he celebrated Mass, he was teaching.”