Spirituality

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Link to the Film Within the Post: The Sacred Artist’s Cultivation of Silence

A few readers have emailed me to say that they are having a problem linking to the film mentioned in yesterday’s post. Since many subscribers receive these postings through their email address the easiest way to link to the film is to click on the blue title of the post that appears at the top of your opened email. When you single or double click on this blue title you are redirected to the actual website. The film appears within the website posting.

Another way to connect to the film is to go down to the last part of the opened email and you see the titles of the “tags and categories.” Connected to this section is a URL address, if you click on that URL address it will redirect you to the film, too. It is much easier to read the posts if you  come to the actual website rather than trying to read the tiny print of the email.

I have Cox Communications and when the posts come back to me in my email they are appearing in a font size that is close to size 8, which is pretty hard to read for these old eyes! So click on the blue title and it will redirect you to the website which is in a much bigger, and more enjoyable, font. If you still are having problems, please email me and I will make other arrangements for you to see the film.

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St. Therese of Lisieux and the Christian Way of Beauty

On October 1st we celebrate the memorial to Saint Thérèse of The Holy Face, also known as St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St Thérèse  – The Little Flower. She was born Therese Martin in France in 1873 and died from tuberculosis 24 years later in 1897. When she was fifteen she entered the Carmelite monastery at Lisieux and took the name Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.

She lived a life of simplicity, humility, and trust in God. “Therese never went on missions, never founded a religious order, and never performed great public works. Her only book, published after her death, was a brief edited version of her journal called Story of a Soul,” and in it she dramatically proclaims, “’Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I  to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love.’”

Her spirituality and her method of achieving holiness is known as “her little way” – her little way – let’s examine for a moment what that means.

Therese saw herself as a child of God. She liked to keep things simple and focused. Trust, especially trust in God, is a childlike, not a childish  virtue – childlike, because its qualities consist of innocence and being down-to-earth. She believed that life presents many challenges and opportunities for grace. This was a young woman who tolerated great emotional, physical and spiritual suffering, yet, she was able to rise above all of it.

Her “Little Way” coaches us to do the ordinary things of life with extraordinary love. A smile, a note or email of encouragement, a phone call or visit, joining your suffering to the suffering of Jesus and Mary, being positive rather than giving in to the impulse to be grumpy, doing simple unnoticed tasks to help another person – deeds done with the love of, and for Christ, who is within each person – this is the heart of her “little way” – her Christian spirituality.

Saint Therese would say that the smallest action, done with love, is more important than great deeds done out of obedience or self-gratification. She was an average person who saw that our daily life is truly not average or ordinary because it provides us with the opportunity for union with Jesus and His life giving energy and grace.

We can also see her greatness in her method of prayer; again, Therese teaches simplicity – talk to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a direct, personal and genuine manner. She tells us, “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”

“She did not like long repetitive prayers; in fact, she was known to fall asleep during community prayer.” What she excelled at was prayer from the heart; she prayed from her heart as a child speaking honestly and trustingly to a parent they love.

We honor Saint Therese today because she was faithful to the Gospel of Jesus and the heart of His message.  So many Catholics are drawn to her because she has shown them that sanctity through simplicity is possible for all of us. She helps us understand that short heartfelt prayers, and simple deeds done with love for both Jesus and neighbor, are a sure path to union with Christ. She truly lived the Christian way of beauty.

Copyright © 2012 Deacon Paul O. Iacono All Rights Reserved. Special thanks to the website the Society of the Little Flower – http://www.littleflower.org/ for information about St. Theresa’s life; and to the iconographer Guillem Ramos-Poqui who painted this beautiful icon of St. Therese of the Holy Face in 2009. It measures 29″ by 251/2 inches.

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Thank You! Our One Year Anniversary!

We are so very grateful to everyone who has visited this website over the past year. It was on August 1, 2011 that I posted my first essay. By midnight tonight over 13,000 people, from 106 nations, will have visited this site and, hopefully, been spiritually fed by the discussion on issues concerning sacred images and iconography, prayer, and reflections on the Holy Scripture.

May God continue to bless all those who have an interest in sacred art and move them to deepen their prayer life by using sacred art as a focal point in their meditations.

Thank you!

May the Blessed Mother continue to intercede for all of us.

Peace and Victory in Christ!

Deacon Paul and Jackie Iacono

Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island

Copyright © 2012 Deacon Paul O. Iacono All Rights Reserved. The above image on The Annunciation was painted by the great American painter Henry Ossawa Tanner. It may be seen at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

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ORO et CREO: PART THREE – A Personal Reflection

This is the third part of a three part series on a Spirit filled idea called Oro et Creo (“I Pray – I Create”). This idea was started by artists Jamie Medeiros and Deacon Tom Lambert. Please check out the first two parts of this series which have already been posted in order to get a full perspective on what they are accomplishing on the parish level.

What is wonderful about what Jamie and Deacon Tom are doing is that they are providing a simple, no anxiety-no pressure structure through which the  Holy Spirit can move the person to unite their artistic and creative impulses to their desire for union and communication with God. This is done in a silent, communal, setting, but it can also be done in an individual setting.

Creativity and prayer go hand-in-hand – it just takes the desire of the individual artist, regardless of the medium, to take the simple step of uniting the creative moment to their spiritual life. How is that done? Simply, it is an affirmation of the will to prepare yourself through short silent prayers, and then to consciously say, “Lord God – I offer this moment of creativity to you, help me to create something which gives You glory;” and  then, you create: poetry, stories, visual art, cosmetic design, fashion design, music, photography – whatever appeals to you.

St. Benedict of Nursia, when he established his community of Benedictine monks at Monte Cassino in 6th century Italy, was concerned that his monks balance their life between work and prayer. He developed his Rule which ordered their day into specific moments of prayer, work, and relaxation. Even in the 21st century we can relate to the significance of this type of structure within our busy day.

The point being that we must be balanced and make time for the important things of our life and not be a slave to the world, materialism, or current fads. St. Paul speaks of this in Colossians 3: 23-24 when he says: “Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being. Do it for the Lord rather than for men, since you know full well you will receive an inheritance from Him as your reward. Be slaves of Christ the Lord.” 

As I perceive it, when we are involved in the Oro et Creo process we have made the decision  to unite ourselves to the Holy Spirit – the Sanctifier – and then, we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in our creative work. It is through the process of this creative effort that we speak to God and tell Him we love Him.

This process occurs when we are silent, and caught up in the moment of doing our work. It is at these times of intense concentration that we are taken “out of ourselves” (only to come back when we realize that we have been so focused on the creative work that we have forgotten the experience of time).

Our conscious prayerful effort at the beginning of the process expresses to God our love and thanks. From my experience, we don’t have to be consciously involved in constantly praying as we are creating. When your mind reflects on the need to pray – it is then appropriate to say a short prayer – such as “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner” or, “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One have mercy on us,” or, just simply, “Jesus, I love and trust you.”

Jamie and Deacon Tom use the phrase Oro et Creo (I Pray – I Create) which was inspired by the Benedictine motto Ora et Labora (Pray and Work). To this I would add another section of the Benedictine Rule:  ut in omnibus glorificetur Deus, “that in all [things] God may be glorified” (Rule, chapter 57.9) which was also adopted and adapted by St. Ignatius of Loyola in his Jesuit motto: All for the Greater Glory of God. So, in our prayer/creative efforts – our intent – whatever results, should always be our desire to give honor, thanks, love, and glory to God. If we enter into these moments with an open heart and pure soul – it will.

Bravo and thank you, Jamie Medeiros and Deacon Tom Lambert, for your faith, prayer, and creativity! I am sure you have inspired many to continue your ideas in their own settings.

Thanks to ad-orientem.blogspot.com/200 for the icon of St. Benedict.

Copyright © 2012 Deacon Paul O. Iacono All Rights Reserved


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Shaped By The Potter’s Hands

All of us struggle with the reality that the experiences of our life may harden our hearts and deafen our ears to God’s truth. We may be similar to the  disciples in this past Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 24: 35-48), who were filled with anxiety – until – – the moment “He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”

Jesus shows them the nail wounds in His hands and feet. He explains to them that the Scriptures teach that we cannot have glory and honor without the willingness to suffer and die to our own sinful will and perceptions.

He teaches them that they need to see the connection between His passion and death with His resurrection. He explains this so that they can understand what He is truly about, and that their mission, “as witnesses to these things” is to go out and preach the truth of His words and resurrection. Jesus explains, if they cooperate with and are open to His teaching, then they will realize that life’s events will shape them into what they are truly meant to be and the Father’s plan will end in glory for them, too.

We can relate the shaping and opening of the disciples’ minds to the creation of a beautiful piece of pottery or a favorite coffee mug or tea cup that we may own. That cup started out as a simple lump of clay. Its creator – the artist – put it on a potter’s wheel, moistened his or her hands, and began to firmly and patiently mold the lump of clay into a cup.

The cup had to be put into a kiln and heated – then taken out, allowed to cool – painted – put back into the kiln again – and then, at the right moment – taken out of the heat and allowed to cool – to eventually be used for the purpose it was created.

The cup – a few days or weeks before – was just a soggy lump of clay – all closed in on itself; but now, after all the pounding, shaping, heat, and stress of its experience – it is open to serve the purpose intended for it by its creator – its ceramic arms now open to embrace and hold what it was intended to receive – and thus, be a useful instrument – a good and faithful servant.

This analogy helps to explain a thread running through the fabric of Holy Scripture, a thread, Jesus probably repeated to His disciples which is from the prophet Jeremiah, it says “As clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand…” (Jer.18.6);

Our creator, God the Father – has spoken to us through His Son and laid His potter’s hands on us – His chosen vessels. We are all lumps of clay. We have all been pounded and shaped on the wheel of life.

We are a people who have been put into the furnace of life’s circumstances, suffered through sickness or various types of torments and troubles, and who sometimes find ourselves hanging on by a mere thread, but with Jesus’ help – in the end – even though we have suffered much – we are made stronger in our faith – and are viewed as beautiful in the eyes of God because we have not given up.  The clay of our life has been moistened by God’s Holy Scriptures and Sacraments – and because we have patiently kept the faith – we have not cracked in the heat of the kiln of life.

Like the disciples in today’s Gospel let us be willing during this Easter season, to have our hearts and minds opened, shaped, and molded through the patient and loving hands of Our Lord in His Words and Sacraments. If we allow Him to do this, even though we have experienced the wheel of life and the kiln of adversity, we will emerge as beautiful and faithful servants of our Lord.

Special thanks to http://blog.lablanchepoterie.com/ for providing the image of the potter cutting the cup away from its base.

Copyright © 2012 Deacon Paul O. Iacono All Rights Reserved

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Our Living Hope: The Tomb Cannot Hold Us

Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants  – we are all an Easter people. For two thousand years we have – through faith in historical documents and human witness – been invited to believe in a divine act of revelation: the Easter resurrection of our Lord and Savior; for it is in that act that our God shows us who He truly is.

We believe that the resurrection of Jesus is a historical and spiritual fact; and that the resurrection of Jesus not only explains the truth of His promises but it demonstrates what has been promised to us.

On the first Easter morning, Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John saw that the stone had been rolled away from Jesus’ tomb; and as they looked in  – they came face to face with their eternal destiny. Since no stone could have stopped the resurrected Jesus, it was pushed away not to let Jesus out – but to let them – and us – in.

Like Mary, Peter, and John, and all the others, we come to realize that we are an Easter people – which means that we are an eternal people – members, through our holy baptism, of the family of the eternal high God. The tomb could never hold the resurrected Jesus, and – as a people of faith – it cannot hold us.

St. Paul tells us in his epistle to the Hebrews that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (11: 1)

But what is hope? Hope is trust based on a divine promise. We have hope because we trust the words and deeds of Jesus Christ. We trust in His promises to us.

Our hope interacts with our faith in Him – and we are forever changed because of it. You and I are certain of our faith, because we understand and rejoice in the hope that our God does not lie – our Scriptures do not lie  – our Sacred Tradition does not lie; so as an Easter people we possess the hope that St. Peter speaks of when he says: “…we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.   (1 Peter 1:3).

As we celebrate the Easter season, let us – as our Lord tells us today – “Be not afraid”  – let us be joyful and thankful for the gift of faith and the willingness, in the face of all odds, to share our faith and joy with others.

May God grant you a joyous and creative Easter season!

The attached sacred image was painted by Fra Angelico in 1441 and is entitled “The Women at the Tomb.”       Copyright © 2012 Deacon Paul O. Iacono All Rights Reserved

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Good Friday Meditations

It was about nine in the morning when they nailed Jesus to the cross.

From noon until three o’clock there was darkness over the whole world.

At three o’clock, Jesus cried out in a loud voice: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

It is finished.

When we were His enemies, God reconciled us to Himself by the death of His Son.

Realize that you were delivered from the futile way of life your fathers handed on to you, not by any diminishable sum of silver or gold, but by Christ’s blood beyond all price: the blood of a spotless, unblemished lamb chosen before the world’s foundation and revealed for your sake in these last days. It is through Him that you are believers in God, the God who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory. Your faith and hope, then, are centered in God.  (1 Peter 1: 18-21)

“Awake, O Sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

 

Copyright © 2012 Deacon Paul O. Iacono All Rights Reserved

The painting, Christ’s Crucifixion, is by the Spanish master Diego Velazquez (1599 – 1660); it was completed between 1631 – 32.  All the Scriptural quotations are taken from The New American Bible (1970) Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. The “Awake, O sleeper…” verse is taken from an ancient homily from the first centuries of the Church.