The third Sunday of Advent is celebrated as Gaudete Sunday and it marks the middle of the Advent season. In ecclesiastical Latin, “gaudete” means “rejoice” and is symbolized by the rose-colored candle in the Advent wreath.
This Sunday’s reading from St. Paul may give you a sense of pause. You may say: “You mean I’m to rejoice even if I have just lost my job, or my spouse is very ill, or my husband, wife, or child has abandoned me and wants nothing to do with me?”
Remarkably, St. Paul’s message is “Yes, give thanks, and rejoice!” That is a hard pill to swallow. Although, let’s be careful. He is not saying for us to put on blinders and happily skip down the yellow brick road. St. Paul had plenty of trials and accusations leveled against him. His epistles to the various churches of Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy are filled with numerous personal problems and tribulations. Chained, beaten, and thrown into prison Paul came face-to-face with trouble, understood its meaning, and in the end, smiled.
“St. Paul in Prison” by Rembrandt, 1627
An example of this is in Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians, (composed between 52 and 62 AD, source: The Jerusalem Bible, chapter 1, verses 1-11, and following),
“1:1) From Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, together with their presiding elders and deacons.
1:2) We wish you the grace and peace of God our Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ. (1:3) I thank my God whenever I think of you; and (1:4) every time I pray for all of you, I pray with joy, (1:5) remembering how you have helped to spread the Good News from the day you first heard it right up to the present. (1:6) I am quite certain that the One who began this good work in you will see that it is finished when the Day of Christ Jesus comes.
1:7) It is only natural that I should feel like this towards you all, since you have shared the privileges which have been mine: both my chains and my work defending and establishing the Gospel. You have a permanent place in my heart, (1:8) and God knows how much I miss you all, loving you as Christ Jesus loves you.
1:9) My prayer is that your love for each other may increase more and more and never stop improving your knowledge and deepening your perception, (1:10) so that you can always recognize what is best. This will help you to become pure and blameless, and prepare you for the Day of Christ, (1:11) when you will reach the perfect goodness which Jesus Christ produces in us for the glory and praise of God.”
St. Paul links the ability to possess sincere joy with prayer. Our spiritual, and possibly physical survival, depends on our developing a sincere daily prayer life. Regardless of whether it is long or short the heart of all prayer is a conversation with our Lord. This conversation can only occur when we perceive reality as a trusting and knowledgeable child of God rather than that of a secular adult; however, we must “be as wise as serpents but as innocent as doves” (Matthew10: 16).
On Gaudete Sunday we rejoice that our faith and trust in His love will enable us to endure any tribulation; and this gives us the strength to love and serve Him by loving, serving, and praying for one another.
My family and I hope you have a prayerful Advent and a joy-filled Christmas season! May God bless you and your families.
The other night I watched the popular, opinionated, and entertaining BBC art historian Waldemar Januszczak discuss Medieval and Renaissance art. Over the years he has presented many shows on various artists and artistic movements. His programs, while informative, are distinctly opinionated. That’s fine, there is no law saying that you can’t present your own opinions (the exception, of course, being social media).
In one of his shows Mr. Januszczak briefly mentioned the Shroud of Turin. He said that the Shroud is a fake, a forgery, a bogus remnant of Medieval skullduggery. Yet, based on over fifty years of scientific research one can say that Mr. Januszczak’s opinion and conclusion is undoubtedly wrong.
It is my informed opinion that the Shroud is more than a just an interesting cultural artifact. I believe that it is a relic of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. My belief is based on faith and scientific evidence.
The Shroud of Turin is a linen herringbone weave cloth. It is 14 ft. 3 in. long by 3 ft. 7 in. wide. It appears to have served as the burial cloth of a man (5 ft. 11 in. tall and of muscular build) who had been severely beaten, scourged with a Roman flagrum, his scalp pierced with thorns or slivers of bone, who fell numerous times on a pavement, and was crucified in the Roman fashion.
Since the 1950’s significant and serious investigations have been completed by reputable physicians, scientists, and specialists on the Shroud.
Research is ongoing. Current results certainly lead the unbiased observer to conclude that the Shroud is not a fake. There are, however, commentators that continue to bang the drum and receive headlines claiming that the Shroud is bogus.
Science can never prove that the Shroud of Turin is the burial cloth of Jesus. That is not its job. It can, however, determine and clearly pronounce the scientific and historical evidence contained within it. Valid research results point to specific conclusions. In the case of the Shroud of Turin science, logic, reason and ultimately faith will lead a Christian to conclude that the Shroud of Turin is the true burial cloth of Jesus.
The responsibility of scientists and specialists gleaning the Shroud is to follow the Scientific Method of establishing a hypothesis, produce correct models of investigation and data collection, accurately and without bias thoroughly investigate, check for error, and publish their conclusions for peer review. Impartial scientists, anthropologists, and historians of the Shroud should have no agendas secret or public.
Face of the man found on the Shroud of Turin. Notice the blood stains (white blotches and lines), broken nose, swollen eyes. This image is a photographic negative.
The following points are a minuscule portion of the available scientific and historical results related to the Shroud of Turin:
The “Hungarian Pray” Manuscript (1192 – 1195 AD) contains a painting of the burial cloth of Jesus Christ that had, at one time, resided in the city of Constantinople. Interestingly, it clearly shows a herringbone weave, the lack of visible thumbs on the body, L-shaped burn holes that are also on the Turin shroud, etc. The date of that manuscript provides a clear discrepancy with the 1988 Oxford C 14 date of 1260 – 1390 AD.
The Shroud shows over 100 scourge marks on the man’s body resulting from a Roman scourging tool called a flagrum. It is a whip of two or three leather strips with lead balls or pieces of splintered bone attached at the end. Its purpose was to tear pieces of flesh off of the chest, back, thighs, and calves. The man in the Shroud was simultaneously scourged by two men.
There are deep abrasions on the man’s shoulders from carrying a heavy object.
There are 141 different pollens found within the fibers of the Shroud. Forty-five of them are specifically from the area in and around Jerusalem, and thirteen from the area within and around Constantinople (present day Istanbul, Turkey).
The coloration of the entire image goes only one or two fibers deep into the thread structure. It has been determined that no paint was used to discolor the fibers. The fibers were scorched by some unknown process which contributed to the image being formed of the crucified man.
The facial features of an icon of Christ (known as Christ Pantocrator), found in St. Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt, perfectly corresponds to the facial image found on the Shroud of Turin and the Sudarium of Oviedo (the face cloth that covered the face of a man who was severely beaten). That specific icon of Jesus Christ is dated to the 500’s, not the Middle Ages.
Human blood is found throughout the Shroud. It is type AB. “The blood has a high bilirubin content and nanoparticles of creatinine bound to ferritin” indicating that the man on the Shroud was severely tortured (quotation of research by scientist Robert Rucker which is found on-line).
The Shroud shows the location of nail wounds possibly through the wrist. The nails may have extended up through the palm; this would allow the nails to suspend the man without having his body’s weight tearing him away from the cross/tree.
Photographs taken in 1988 show Giovanni Riggi cutting samples from a part of the Shroud that would be Carbon 14 tested that year. Riggi is not wearing protective gloves or face mask. Cardinal Ballestrero is leaning on the table over the Shroud, and another technician has his ungloved hand on the table right next to the area that was being sampled. How can we conclude that this sampling was pure since its data collection methodology was so flawed and sloppy? This provides another fact that throws the 1988 C-14 date into question
Pope Stephen III (768 – 772 AD) specifically discusses the Shroud and how the “Lord’s face and entire body …was transfigured on the cloth so that those who could not see Him bodily were able to see Him divinely transfigured on the cloth” (quotation found in Ian Wilson’s The Shroud of Turin. Image Books, 1979). Other Popes, prior to 1200 also speak publicly about the Shroud.
If you are interested in this subject you should seek out additional research papers and books (that are legitimate) to help you form your own conclusions (start with Vittorio Guerrera’s book – The Shroud of Turin, published 2001. He provided the basis for the above ten points). Ultimately, for many Christians, belief in the Shroud as the burial cloth of Jesus, comes down to scientific evidence, personal faith, and the realization that Jesus Christ’s savage death led to our Redemption and the joy of His glorious resurrection.
One of my goals in painting the above image of St. Peter was to provide a catechist/observer with seven focus ideas within one image. This sacred image also presents some of the life events of the “Rock” on which Jesus Christ built His Church. I have painted this image with the approach of the Naive/Folk Art genre or “school.” I will discuss the Naive/Folk art approach in my next post. Below are my seven fundamental ideas that can be used as a lesson plan(s) for the above image:
The image is based on Christ’s words and Peter’s actions within the New Testament (have the students look up the verses found within the Gospels and Epistles).
The image itself presents the presence of Peter who is suffering (his posture, body movement, expression, tears, and the extension of his hand). He is requesting Christ’s forgiveness.
Christ is identified by the label IC XC (the Greek abbreviation for the name Jesus Christ). Christ is extending His hand in forgiveness and to raise Peter’s spirit.
The rooster in the bottom left corner is harkening back to its crowing after Peter denies Jesus (Scripturally predicted by Christ). The rooster is also looking at the viewer, reminding us of our personal sins.
Papal authority. Peter is the first pope. He is the first bishop of Rome, the spiritual leader of the Church, and is symbolized by the two keys that are given to him, echoing Christ’s words of “you are Peter (Petros) and on this rock/stone (Petra) I will build my Church.” The keys are painted in gold and silver. Gold represents spiritual authority in union with the Church’s bishops. The silver key represents the papal influence within the world for issues that would affect the good of the Church and people as a whole. The keys are united by a red anchor (symbol of hope and steadfastness – found in the catacombs and the Epistle to the Hebrews). The sufferings of the clergy and laity are built upon the sufferings of Christ and the ministry/martyrdom of the first Apostles (12 squares under the keys; the green square represents St. John who was not martyred). The brown border encapsulating St. Peter reminds us of the cross on which he was martyred as well as the Cross of Christ.
Diagonal lines could be visually drawn through Peter from the upper left corner of the books of the Holy Scriptures to the lower right representing the teaching authority of the pope (Peter’s successors); as well as the upper right of Christ’s hand to the rooster on the lower left reminding us of Peter’s denial and Christ’s forgiveness.
This denial by Peter is not the denial of Judas Iscariot who was also an Apostle. Throughout the Catholic Church’s history we have had both clergy and lay people deny Christ through their words and actions. It all began with the Apostles; however the difference between Peter and Judas is that Peter despaired, pleaded for forgiveness, and was picked up through Christ’s forgiveness. Judas despaired, did not plead for forgiveness, and threw himself down on the end of a rope.
If you find this subject interesting I recommend you read my post on Catechesis and Catholic Art published on June 26, 2021. Thanks.
Sacred art, by its very nature, is catechetical. The purpose of this art was and continues to be a method of instruction. The Catholic Church, in its Latin and Greek Rites, and the twenty-six Catholic Rites that are in union with Rome, have all produced magnificent sacred calligraphy and art; non-Catholic faiths have done this, too.
Two thousand years ago Christians hiding in Rome inscribed images of Christ, the Blessed Mother and with the Christ child, and other Scriptural images on the walls of the catacombs. That art contributed to the catechesis of the early Christians. Two millennia later, Pope St. John Paul II in paragraph 18 of his Apostolic Exhortation, Catachesi tradendae, speaks of this function: it is “an education in the faith… in an organic and systematic way, with a view to initiating the hearers into the fullness of Christian life.”
Sacred art, in tandem with scholarship, edifies and makes beautiful the truth, goodness, and beauty of God. One of my favorite forms of sacred art is that of the Coptic Christian Church (historically based in Alexandria, Egypt). Coptic art is presented in an especially down to earth way. It is beautiful and humble at the same time. It is catechetical and colorful. It possesses a fine palette, yet the viewer does not get caught up in the colors to the detriment of catechesis.
The Coptic faith’s icons are simple, yet, profound. They convey theological truths in a way that can be understood by all age groups and are excellent sources of catechesis.
The first image above is a 7th century Coptic icon. It was discovered at the Monastery of Bawit (Egypt) in the early 20th century by two French archaeologists who brought it, and other Monastery artifacts, back to Paris. Currently located in the Byzantine wing of the Louvre it is unique because it presents Jesus affectionately putting his arm around the Monastery’s abbot – Abbot Mena.
The second sacred image is my original composition. It is painted in archival ink, acrylic paint, and the halos are 23 karat gold leaf. My style slightly follows the Coptic in that it portrays figures that are not intimidating, are easily understandable, and act as a teaching tool for children and adults. It does present additional symbolism which further explains key theological truths of our faith.
Symbolism of the second sacred image:
The IC XC is the Greek abbreviation for Jesus Christ.
The slightly larger than normal eyes represents holiness, spiritual wisdom, and maturity.
Jesus’ white alb (tunic): purity; King David’s light green alb: hope for spiritual growth and friendship with God.
Jesus’ outer garments consist of two parts: robe and stole which are painted in various shades of royal purple. Royal purple indicates kingly authority. The tassels of His stole are multicolored representing the intersection of purity and kingship. Christ’s lower stole’s has an intersecting weave representing Jesus’ blood and water shed for us on the Holy Cross. Liturgically, deacons, priests, and bishops all wear albs, cinctures (belts), stoles, and outer garments (dalmatic or chasuble). These articles of clothing each symbolize different aspects of Jesus’ Passion and ministry.
Elevated above Jesus’ left hand are the scrolls of the Old (Hebrew) and New (Christian) Testaments. The color symbolism for the Hebrew Scriptures’ scroll: green, which represents hope, expectation of the Messiah, and devotion to God. The Christian Scriptures‘ scroll: red, representing Jesus divine and human energy, love, Redemptive sacrifice, and His mercy and justice.
Jesus’ arm is around David’s shoulder. His gesture to David expresses His love, affection, and mercy which are evident and available to everyone. However, the expression that I put on Jesus’ face, especially His eyes, conveys the severe justice that Jesus’ renders to all non repentant sinners. David committed murder and adultery yet ultimately becomes aware of the enormity of his sins. His Psalms were written to plead for mercy, express sorrow for sins, and give praise and thanksgiving to God (see especially: Psalms: 1, 51, 56, 65, and 117). David’s crimson coat symbolizes human life and energy, it is trimmed in dark green symbolizing his hope for mercy.
Circa 1000 BC, David and his armies captured Jerusalem and brought the Ark of the Covenant into the city (1 & 2 Samuel). King David is holding the city of Jerusalem in his right hand; and in his left the book of Psalms. David’s son Solomon built the First Temple to house the Ark of the Covenant (1 & 2 Kings).
Between David and Jesus are a ram and a new born lamb.
The ram refers to the sacrifice by Abram (Abraham) of a ram caught in a thicket in substitution for the sacrifice of his son Isaac (Genesis 22). Jesus and David are members of the same genealogical family, stretching all the way back to Abraham and Isaac and Isaac’s son Jacob.
The newborn lamb represents Jesus Christ, the “lamb of God” (John 1: 29). He was given in sacrifice by the Holy Trinity for the Redemption of mankind from their sins. That Redemptive act by Our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, instituted the New Covenant which was sealed with His, the Lamb of God’s, blood.
The New Covenant does not replace the Old Covenant God made with the Hebrews. The New Covenant of Christ’s sacrifice (as described in the 27 books of the Christian Scriptures) fulfills the Old Covenant promise of a Savior found within the 45 books of the Hebrew Scriptures. The ram and the lamb provide the visible connection between the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Covenant) and Christian Scriptures (New Covenant).
The New Covenant is continued down through the centuries by the un-bloody sacrifice of Holy Mass. Selections from the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures are read. The Gospel is proclaimed prior to the priest representing Christ, in Persona Christi, transubstantiating the host and wine into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ.
In faith and action Catholics consume His Body and Blood toward the end of Holy Mass. This consumption does not transform Him, as simple food, into ourselves. Rather, we (as repentant sinners) are transformed by Him (through Sanctifying Grace) into Himself. He doesn’t become part of us, rather, we become part of Him. This is an article of faith believed by all Catholic Christians of the Western an Eastern Rites of the Church. The reception of Holy Communion by Catholics is not a “right,” it is a privilege given by Jesus Christ to worthy (repentant and Reconciled) recipients (culminating in our giving eternal thanks and praise to Him in Heaven; see Matthew 26: 29).
Therefore, in this non-intimidating sacred image you have a teaching tool that includes elements of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. It is simple grist for any informed catechist’s mill.
UPDATE:If you find this subject interesting I recommend you read my post on CatechesisandNaive Sacred Art: St. Peter – A Lesson Plan, published on January 25, 2022. Thanks!
The Fra Angelico Institute for Sacred Art 
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