Paris Olympics 2024, Outrage and Sacred Art Symbolism

On July 28, 2024October 20, 2024 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Roman Catholic1 Comment

By this time the majority of the 2.3 billion Christians that live on the face of the earth have probably heard of the outrageous and blasphemous opening act of the 2024 Olympics.

One part of the three plus hours of the show presented LGBTQ+ people depicting what appeared to be the Last Supper Jesus celebrated with His Apostles on the night before His torture and crucifixion.

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Below you see a woman, representing Jesus, sitting at the center of a long table.

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Is the center figure a priestess? The woman makes a heart shape with her hands. Is that supposed to be a veiled reflection of the love of Christ for His Apostles, or the Sacred Heart of Jesus? She has what appears to be either a headdress, halo, or possibly a Eucharistic host above her head.

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The Da Vinci painting of the Last Supper shows the moment immediately after Jesus pronounces the words (as found in the Holy Gospels) of consecration and transubstantiation of the bread and wine into His Body and Blood. That moment, re-presented in every Holy Mass, is the source and summit of the Catholic, Orthodox, and the Eastern Rite Churches. It is the institution of the Sacrament of Holy Communion – all Roman Catholics, the 26 cultural Rites in union with Rome, and the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches believe it to be true.

The “blue man,” at the front center was intended to represent Dionysus. Or was he intended to represent the resurrected Jesus Christ?

In Greek mythology, Dionysus is the Greek god of wine. Dionysian consumption of wine brings a person to spiritual and physical ecstasy. Dionysus is known as a dying-and-rising god (resurrection). He also acts as the divine communicant between the living and the dead, and is known as a god of epiphany. Is this another veiled reference? The feast of Epiphany in the Roman Catholic Church is the celebration of the divine manifestation of the child Jesus to the world represented by the three wise men (Magi).

The blue man ascends (resurrection) in front of the female at the center of the table. A female Jesus, at the Last Supper before His death, then changes into the blue man. He was on a platter, presumably dead, then rises up, resurrected. He gives us the peace sign. He is also specifically transformed into a man. A reference to a transvestite? How could the IOC not see the intentional mockery?

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The color blue in Christian sacred art represents divinity, transcendence, and the guidance of a soul to divine life. Dionysus is the god of wine, health, and love. The blue man is surrounded by flowers. Red, in Christian iconography has many meanings, but is especially associated with wine, health, and love (wine -the consecrated body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ transubstantiated by a priest during Holy Mass; health – when consumed the transubstantiated wine provides the communicant with the divine life of Christ, love – the redemptive love of Jesus Christ given to His creation).

Some commentators said that the performance represented the “kitsch” that the city of Paris has embraced since the beginning of the 20th century. I disagree. The performance not only represented kitsch, it represented the contempt, willingness to insult all Christians, and specifically the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Rites in union with Rome. It also represented the stupidity of the IOC and all public and private individuals associated with it.

Thomas Jolly, the artistic director for the ceremony, said that he didn’t see a problem with the act because it was not meant to offend but unify people.

Hah!

For Mr. Jolly, his assistants, and many of the world’s correspondents to say that there is no relation of that Olympic act to the Christian faith is bogus. They are either grossly (and happily?) ignorant of the basic tenets of Christianity or they just don’t care that it was a direct act of contemptuous ridicule of the Christian religion and the Lord our God, Jesus Christ.

I saw a reporter interview Olympic attendees and asked them about the Dionysian performance. The eight people interviewed said they saw nothing wrong with it. They gave either woke answers or were completely oblivious to the symbolic meaning. I wonder if they would say that if the act portrayed a holy moment within the faith of Jews or Muslims. I’m sure Jews and Muslims would be in the streets protesting the blasphemy and rightly so. No faith should be mocked.

Christians of all faiths must be willing to speak out and protest such contemptuous insults to God and faith. What are we, and our clerics, waiting for?

Our Lord promised a winnowing. It will surely come. May God have mercy on our souls.

Copyright © 2011- 2024 by Deacon Paul O. Iacono – All Rights Reserved. Permission to reprint essays in their entirety and/or my personal paintings must be obtained from me by using the comment box and making a comment/request on the post. I will respond to you through answering in the comment box. Students, and those interested, may quote small sections of my essays as long as the proper credit and notation is given. Thanks.

A Journey

On March 2, 2022 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Ash Wednesday, Journey, Lent, Road to Emmaus. Ash Wednesday, Roman CatholicLeave a comment

Road-to-Emmaus-Apolinare-Nuovo-Ravenna-6th-c.--300x206 — Mosaic of two disciples of Christ encountering Him on the Road to Emmaus. This image is from the truly extraordinary mosaics found in the Basilica of Saint’Apollinare in Ravenna, Italy (6th century) Confer the Gospel of Luke Chapter 24: 13-35.

You may consider the mosaic of Christ speaking with two disciples on the journey to Emmaus to be a strange image to use today, Ash Wednesday, since it is found in Scripture as taking place after the Resurrection of Christ. The men pictured are on a practical, yet, spiritual journey. We see them prayerfully reflect about the extraordinary events that just occurred in Jerusalem. They ask, “What does it mean? Can it be true? Didn’t our hearts burn with happiness as He drew closer to us!”

The days of Lent are a practical and spiritual journey for us, too. Like every pilgrimage Lent has a conclusion, an endpoint, a destination achieved. But our journey’s conclusion can only be truly enjoyed and understood if we have prepared for it.

In the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church these Lenten days are a time of preparation. They are a time of personal repentance and sacrifice. These acts lead us to a point in which we are able to fully and joyfully participate in the Holy Triduum: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.

For all Christians Lent is a time to renew ourselves in penance, prayer, and good works. For Roman Catholics it is also a moment for formal repentance of sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, for how can we come to the Easter Banquet with the road’s dust and dirt clinging to us?

May your journey this Lent be a happy and penitential one.

Copyright © 2011- 2022 by Deacon Paul O. Iacono – All Rights Reserved. Permission to reprint essays and/or my paintings must be obtained from me by, using the comment box and making a comment/request on the post. I will respond to you through answering in the comment box. Students, and those interested, may quote small sections of my essays as long as the proper credit and notation is given. Thank you.

Good Friday/Easter 2021: Christ’s Embrace

On April 2, 2021April 3, 2021 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Catholic, Disciples, discipleship, Easter, Good Friday, Gospel Teachings, Gospels of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Religion, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Scriptures, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Jesus Christ Our Lord and Redeemer silently hangs in agony on the Cross. His bloody arms stretched wide as if to embrace us.

We safely stand at a distance. We are mute and deafened by sounds that intensify our cowardice.

Death arrives and it is over. Jesus is quietly carried away and buried.

Days pass, filled with doubts we walk along a path and suddenly see Someone.

Jesus.

We draw back, stopped by the sight of the pierced hands of the One we know and love.

We are hesitant, but the sound of His voice propels us toward Him.

He embraces and kisses us. We in turn kiss Him, not with the kiss of Judas but the kiss of an intimate friend.

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Copyright © 2011- 2021, Deacon Paul O. Iacono – All Rights Reserved. Permission to reprint must be obtained from the author in writing. Students, and those interested, may quote small sections of the article as long as the proper credit and notation is given. Thank you.

The above photograph is taken from Mr. Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of the Christ. It is an extraordinary film that is brilliantly acted and directed. Thanks to Mr. Gibson and his staff for allowing me to use it.

St. Francis of Assisi: A “Nice” Man or a Soldier of Christ?

On March 4, 2021March 5, 2021 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Franciscans, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Sacred Warfare, Saints, St. Francis of Assisi, Uncategorized4 Comments

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What is the man-in-the-street’s perception of St. Francis of Assisi? Is it one that is only shaped by the art that portrays him as soft and sweet, as just the saint of ecology and cuddly animals? Is he a man to be taken seriously only because of his love for nature? A “nice” non-threatening man willing to compromise and make everyone laugh and feel good?

Was St. Francis non-threatening? He never physically or psychologically threatened anyone. Yet, he did confront people with his profound belief and commitment to the Gospel message. He was as non-threatening as Jesus casting out demons, moneylenders, or the tricks and insults of the Pharisees. He was as non-threatening as our Savior confronting a rabid judgmental crowd and extending His hand to the woman caught in adultery.

Francis was a man who embodied the justice and mercy of Christ. His mission was to joyously proclaim the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and explain how it directly applies to our lives.

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St. Francis was not a rebel, revolutionary, or environmental reformer. He did not rail against the sinful imperfections and established order of the 13th century Church.

However, he certainly did challenge the established religious and social conventions of his day. He asked his fellow Italians: “Does your life reflect the life of Christ, and, if not why not?” He was not a social reformer but a reformer of the soul and spirit. He waged war, not against his neighbor and the Church, but against the sinful imperfections he perceived within his own mind, body and soul.

He did love nature, but only in reference to God. His love was not simply for the value and beauty of nature itself. He did not divinize nature. To do so is an attribute of paganism; it is heresy. He believed that the natural world, and all that is contained pointed to and is an indication of the Holy Trinity’s truth, goodness and beauty.

St Francis knew that the natural world is a reflection of the Lord’s creative diversity. It is a mirroring of His intimate action and the expression of His love. Do not trees, flowers, birds and wolves, and the entire cornucopia of plants an animals do this by their very existence? They follow God’s intimate plan by existing, living, and in their own unique way, proclaiming the glory of God.

How did he know this? As a sacred warrior he knew it because he was a man of the Scriptures and Sacraments. The Gospels and the Eucharist were his sword and armor; they were his rations, the “kit,” he needed to do battle on behalf of God.

He did not do battle with sin and the materialistic world in order to compromise the Catholic faith and have a “let’s all be religious buddies” attitude that promoted a watered down faith and a feel good theological commonality of “your god is my god.”

He did not disrespect others; yet, when he met with the Sultan during his mission to the Holy Land he did not venerate the Koran or say that other faiths and religious traditions had the truth about God. He did exactly the opposite; he confronted the imams with the challenge of the Gospel. Yes, he confronted them with the Truth, and they refused to accept it.

He was a committed and militant Roman Catholic. He did not condescend or lord it over others in the spirit of triumphalism. His tactics involved conquering his sins, his natural desires, and the “normal” perceptions of the world. His overall strategy was to model and convince others to give full belief, glory, and worship, not to the world, but to our Lord Jesus Christ. This could be accomplished by attending Holy Mass, receiving the Holy Eucharist with a clean soul, and applying Sacred Scripture to their lives

St. Francis, of course, did love his fellow man, but he was at war with his own sinfulness. He was a saint that exuded joy, yet, in the privacy of his own cell he shed tears over what he perceived as his own sins and failings. He commanded his brothers not to be sad and dejected in front of others, rather, to go to their own cells and there beg God for forgiveness and humility.

So why add the words “sacred warrior” to the many labels of a man and saint that cannot be labelled? When all is said and done, St. Francis of Assisi, as a warrior, vanquished himself. He overwhelmed his worldly desire for the honors of military service. He overcame his passions and distractions. He was victorious over the common day desires for wealth, position, power, and yes, even the great gift of the love of a wife and children. In its place he strapped on the humble sacred warriors garments of love for the Eucharist and the Holy Scriptures. Poverty, chastity, and obedience to God were his cincture.

The painting below shows the wounds in Francis’ hands and side. For his extraordinary witness to the love of God Jesus blessed him with the stigmata: an award, an honor, a medal far above anything that the world could provide.

Cimabue, original name Bencivieni di Pepo, modern Italian Benvenuto di Giuseppe, (born before 1251—died 1302), painter and mosaicist, the last great Italian artist in the Byzantine style, which had dominated early medieval painting in Italy.

Let us echo the words of St. Francis in his short prayer: Praise and thanks to Our Lord, Jesus Christ, “My God and my All.”

A profitable source for study are the authentic quotations compiled by Fr. James Meyer O.F.M. in his The Words of St. Francis – An Anthology (Franciscan Herald Press: Chicago, 1952). Meyer’s Anthology is backed up with sixteen different scholarly sources specializing in determining the actual words of St. Francis. It provides excellent insights through Francis’ words on poverty, chastity, obedience, prayer, and the rule that his brothers and sisters in Christ are to follow.

I have written about the virtues of St. Francis before, on October 4, 2012: https://fraangelicoinstitute.com/2012/10/04/the-virtues-of-st-francis-of-assisi-a-model-for-sacred-artists . I mention this not to sound a tinny trumpet and jangly bells but to request, if possible, the reader become familiar with it since it sets the stage for this post.

All photos were taken at Assisi, Italy. The Basilica is pictured behind the statue of St. Francis.

Starlings and Some Stress Release

On February 3, 2021 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Birds, Starlings, Roman CatholicLeave a comment

http://www.guideposts.org/video/mysterious-ways/the-miracle-of-flight?int_source=MysteriousWays&int_medium=RN&int_campaign=Starlingmurmurations

“Let the earth bless the Lord, Praise and exalt Him above all forever. Mountains and hills, bless the Lord. Everything growing from the earth, bless the Lord. You springs, bless the Lord. Seas and rivers, bless the Lord. You dolphins and all water creatures, bless the Lord. All you birds of the air, bless the Lord. All you beasts, wild and tame, bless the Lord. You sons [and daughters] of men, bless the Lord.” This quote, found in the Hebrew Scriptures, is an excerpt from the beautiful Canticle of Daniel (chapter 3, verses 56 – 88).

Below are three examples of the many varieties of starlings that are found throughout the world. Besides their aerial acrobatics and intelligence they have extraordinary iridescent wings. I would like to thank nature photographer Dylan Winter for this incredible starling murmurations video and for the Guideposts website for featuring it.

Praise be the name of of Our Lord Jesus Christ!

Copyright © 2011- 2021 by Deacon Paul O. Iacono – All Rights Reserved. Permission to reprint must be obtained from me by making a comment on this post. I will respond to you through answering in the comment box. Students, and those interested, may quote small sections of the article as long as the proper credit and notation is given. Thank you.

Candlemas – The Presentation of Christ in the Temple

On February 2, 2021February 2, 2021 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Roman CatholicLeave a comment

419px-Ambrogio_Lorenzetti_-_Presentazione_di_Gesù_al_tempio_-_Google_Art_Project — Ambrogio Lorenzetti (1290–1348) *Presentation of Jesus in the Temple* – it portrays the Holy Family (Mary in red and blue (red – suffering, and blue – the mystery of Divine life), Joseph, dressed in rose – the color of joy); the rabbi behind the altar; possibly her close kinswoman, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist (in orange and red – also expressed as the color of the Holy Spirit: fire, love, and communion); the holy man Simeon (in green, the color of revival and hope) and the prophetess and widow Anna (in purple, the color of dignitaries – she was a “dignitary” because she spent many hours in the Temple, praising God and fasting ). Refer to Luke’s Gospel (2: 22 – 40).

^{Today, February 2nd, we celebrate the holy day of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple of Jerusalem. St. Joseph and Our Blessed Mother Mary, as devout Jews, realized the injunction of Mosaic law that stated that the period of forty days from the time of an infant’s birth would be a time of purification for the mother of the child. After that period had passed the mother and father would then bring the infant to the Temple to be blessed and formally received into the Jewish faith (confer Leviticus 12 1 – 8; and Exodus 13).}^{St. Luke also recounts in his Gospel (Luke 2: 22- 40) “When the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord.”}

^{We should not confuse the Presentation of Christ with His circumcision since they are not celebrated on the same day. The Torah and other Jewish documents (confer Genesis 17:10–13) state that ritual circumcision of all male Jews (free and slave) is a requirement established by God and should take place eight days after the child’s birth, whereas the presentation at the Temple takes place forty days later.}

Another name for the Presentation of Christ in the Temple is Candlemas. St. Joseph and the Blessed Mother, in presenting Jesus to the rabbi for acceptance into their faith, offered two doves for sacrifice to God (prefiguring Jesus’ redemptive sacrifice on the Cross). In celebration of the Presentation, Christian churches traditionally bless candles used in liturgical services on this day. The light that the candles will provide are also a remembrance of Jesus being the Light of the World.

The 7th century bishop and Patriarch of Jerusalem, St. Sophronius, in his sermon on this feast day directs us to “… In honor of the divine mystery that we celebrate today, let us all hasten to meet Christ. Everyone should be eager to join the procession and to carry a light. The Mother of God, the most pure Virgin, carried the True Light in her arms and brought Him to those who lay in darkness. We too should carry a light for all to see and reflect the radiance of the true light as we hasten to meet Him. The true light has come, the light that enlightens every man who is born into this world. By faith we too embraced Christ, the salvation of God the Father, as He came to us from Bethlehem. Gentiles before, we [through Baptism] have now become the people of God.”

Let us too, go out to meet Christ, purifying ourselves through the Sacrament of Confession and receiving Him in the Holy Eucharist. The time is late, let us make sure we have oil in our lamps, ready to receive and walk with Him.

Praise be the Holy Name of God.

Vatican Creche – 2020 – A Contemptuous Insult

On December 15, 2020 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Blessed Mother, Catholic, Catholic Art, Christmas, Culture, Gospels of Jesus Christ, Iconoclasm, Iconography, Mary - Our Blessed Mother, Religious Art, Roman Catholic, Sacred Art, Sacred Images, The Blessed Virgin Mary1 Comment

The Vatican, last week, unveiled the 2020 Christmas crèche in St. Peter’s Square.

Historical tradition explains that St. Francis of Assisi was the first to promote the display of the birth of Our Lord. He believed that it would edify and improve prayerful worship of Jesus, the moment of His Nativity, and subsequent events.

For approximately 800 years the Christmas crèche has been portrayed in a respectful and accurate way. It combined different elements of the Nativity found in Sacred Scripture into one scene that conveys spiritual and historical truth to the viewer. Within the last fifty years people with specific agendas have changed that tradition.

I rarely use the first person pronoun in this blog. There are times that it must be done, this is one of them.

I believe that the Christmas crèche that was unveiled this past week, with the approval of certain high ranking Vatican authorities, is atrocious. The current crèche is presumed to be an example of modern Christian sacred art. It is not sacred art; it is secular art masquerading as sacred.

The purpose of sacred art (in both the Latin and Greek Rites of the Catholic Church, and the cultural Rites in union with Rome) is to edify and remind the viewer of the events surrounding the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Successful and reverent sacred art instructs and edifies the mind and soul of the viewer to those basic truths.

Christian sacred art does not confuse; it is not duplicitous. It is clear in proclaiming the Gospel of Christ and the witness of His faithful followers. Sacred art personalizes the Truths of the Church. It accomplishes that goal by being beautiful, good, and truthful as well as being spiritually transcendent.

The sacred art of the Church does not demean its history, Scriptures, dogma, traditions, and visual or musical arts. It acts in the same way as photographs which are remembrances of loved ones, activities, friends, places, and personalities. The Roman Catholic, Greek and Russian Orthodox, and the twenty-six ethnic Rites in union with Rome, have never worshipped sacred images; we venerate them in the same way we remember our loved ones.

Christian sacred art snaps our attention back to the preeminent Lover and Loved One, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The writings of St. John of Damascus (Damascene, born 675 – died 749) were successfully used during the Second Council of Nicaea (787), to explain these points and to explode the errors of the iconoclasts then, and, today.

The 2020 Vatican Christmas Creche, in my opinion, falls significantly short of the mark. It is a complete and total failure. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so important.

Briefly, it portrays the Blessed Mother, in what resembles a sarcophagus, looking like a reincarnation of an Egyptian Queen. A huge angel appears to resemble something out of a bad dream (I cannot understand its large rib cage). There is an astronaut (or is it a deep sea diver)? Let us not forget the repulsive and weird looking thing, with a horned helmet, to the right of the astronaut/diver. Sheep resemble goats. Geese are running around in a frenzy of honking. The main characters all have oversized heads reminiscent of the dolls called Cabbage Patch Kids which were all the rage with my daughters and nieces over forty years ago (at least the dolls were cute). At night a single hideous crooked string of neon lights illuminate the figures. Instead of traditional and appropriate sacred music the viewer is subjected to a bizarre rendition of what appears to be a compilation of joyless ethnic music from a specific area of the world. There is more of this vapid artistic effort but this is enough to give you the scope of the travesty.

vatican-nativity-scene-2020-05-640x368 — The Christmas angel looking like the head logo for a popular coffee company.

The 2020 Vatican Creche display is a very sad example of the misguided and ignorant intentions of those that approved it. It displays contempt for Scripture and Tradition and is an insult to all Christians. If the students who created it over a period of years wanted the public to see their final product then they should have displayed it on their campus not sacred ground.

If you are in Rome, do not take your children to see it – they will either collapse in laughter or run screaming from the Square.

You can view the clearest pictures of the monstrosity at the following site: https://novusordowatch.org/2020/12/mayday-vatican-nativity-scene-unveiled/

Copyright © 2011- 2020, Deacon Paul O. Iacono – All Rights Reserved. Permission to reprint must be obtained from me by using the comment box of this post. I will respond to you through answering in the comment box. Students, and those interested, may quote small sections of the article as long as the proper credit and notation is given. Thank you.

Suicide of a Nation

On November 1, 2020March 15, 2023 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Culture, History, National Issues, Political Issues, Politics, Religious Freedom, Roman Catholic, Social Change, Social Issues, Teaching, Uncategorized, Voting8 Comments

This list is not a typical statement for my blog owing to the fact that it normally concerns sacred art and catechesis; however, I felt I needed to compose and share my thoughts with you. The views below are solely mine and are not meant to imply they have the endorsement of my Diocese (Providence, RI, USA).

The United States of America consists of fifty states that are ruled by a National (and an individual State) Constitution. My views certainly may be applied to other world governments.

Any nation that allows and supports the destruction of established truth for the sake of educational indoctrination, political expediency and partisanship is on the road to national suicide.
Any nation that supports, allows, or turns a blind eye to destructive and prejudiced mobs, some of which have the specific desire to destroy the political, economic, and religious systems of the nation, is on the road to national suicide.
Any nation, wherever in the world, that supports the killing of its unborn (as of today, 1.72 billion worldwide abortion deaths since 1980; and in the United States 61,628,584 abortion deaths since 1973), ignores the worship of God, profanes His name and laws, and refuses to accept that the husband/wife family is the cornerstone of society is on the road to national suicide.
Any nation that allows the abuse of children and deprives its citizens the opportunities to improve their plight through unbiased education and hard-work is on the road to national suicide.
Any nation that ignores and discriminates against its poor and culturally indigenous people is on the road to national suicide.
Any nation that ignores its established historical citizenry to then welcome and support individual immigrants that have no desire to assimilate into the nation’s established political, economic, and historical culture, is on the road to national suicide.
Any nation that prevents its citizens from receiving appropriate health care, that is efficient and economically fair, is on the road to national suicide.
Any nation that allows its citizens to discriminate and attack its own history or an individual’s religious beliefs, ancestral, and national history is on the road to national suicide.
Any state or nation that allows its national and local press, except for its editorials, to become instruments of propaganda rather than truthful news dissemination is on the road to national suicide.
Any nation that ignores or discriminates against the rights of: life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, the freedom of economic well being through the preservation of jobs within the nation, and the freedom of productive opportunity, is on the road to national suicide.
Any nation that demoralizes its citizenry by fomenting confusion and fear, limits or eradicates freedom of speech, freedom to peacefully assemble, freedom of the press, freedom to peacefully petition the government for redress of grievances, freedom of religion, and the freedom to keep and bear arms, is on the road to national suicide.
Any nation that prevents its duly constituted political citizenry the right to have their votes legitimately counted, allows electoral fraud, does not preserve the privilege of one person-one vote in its elections, ignores the principles of compromise, and is politically corrupt, is on the road to national suicide.

A state and nation, that is a representative democracy, is its people. A free people determine their state and nation’s future by critically examining, and if necessary, vociferously removing elected politicians that are scoundrels, oligarchs, elitists and who willfully ignore their national Constitution and its documents of freedom. If citizens refuse to do so, or are ignorant of their responsibility, they are providing the foundation for tyranny.

What legacy will we leave our children?

Paul O. Iacono

Rhode Island/Massachusetts

Copyright © 2011- 2020, Deacon Paul O. Iacono – All Rights Reserved. The above views are mine and are not meant to imply they have the endorsement of my Diocese (Providence, RI). Permission to reprint must be obtained from the author in writing. Students, and those interested, may quote small sections of the article as long as the proper credit and notation is given. Thank you.

St. Lawrence – Deacon and Martyr

On August 10, 2020 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Art, Catholic, Catholic Art, Christianity, Church History, Dalmatic, Deacons, Evangelization, Fra Angelico, Martyrs, painting, Religious Art, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Sacred Images, Teaching, UncategorizedLeave a comment

18956-st-lawrence-distributing-alms-fra-angelico — St. Lawrence, deacon of Rome, distributing alms to the poor; painted by Fra Angelico, circa 1447.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Lawrence, a deacon and third century martyr.

St. Lawrence was one of the seven deacons of Rome who served as the Pope’s ministers during Holy Mass and as his administrators to the people of Rome.

There is little historical evidence remaining on St. Lawrence. His Acts had been lost by the time of St. Augustine in the 4th century, yet, Pope St. Leo the Great and St. Augustine wrote about him and his martyrdom. The tradition of the Church states that he was a native of northern Spain and was ordained by Pope St. Sixtus II. The Pope made Lawrence responsible for the distribution of the Church’s alms.

St. Lawrence died during a persecution by the Emperor Valerian (circa 258). His death occurred a few days after the martyrdom of Pope Sixtus II and four deacons (Januarius, Vincent, Magnus, and Stephen).

Art historian Carl Brandon Strehlke (see note at bottom) has mentioned that there is controversy over the specific date of his martyrdom. Some accounts state that Lawrence was martyred under the emperor Decius (AD 249 – 251) and others insist that it was under the reign of Valerian (253 – 260).

Regardless, the Church’s tradition states that he was martyred soon after the emperor Valerian issued an edict in early August, 257. This edict required all Catholic bishops, priests, and deacons to be denied trial and be immediately put to death.

As the Pope and four of his deacons were led to their deaths, Lawrence is purported to have said: “Where are you going, Holy Father, without your son? Where, O Bishop, without your archdeacon? Before you never approached the altar of sacrifice without your servant, and now you are going without me?” Pope St. Sixtus commented that Lawrence would soon follow him.

Valerian’s administrators came to Lawrence and demanded access to the wealth of the Church. He asked for a few days to assemble it, and subsequently, distributed much of the Church’s treasury to the poor.

The money transfer to the Roman government was to occur on August 10th. Lawrence led the prefect and guards to a room within the Vatican. Upon opening the door and with the force of a saint he declared: “Behold the jewels of the Church.” The room contained some of Rome’s blind, poor, sick and maimed!

On the same day Valerian ordered that Lawrence be taken out and slowly martyred in payment for his cheeky behavior towards imperial dignity. St. Lawrence refused to renounce our holy Faith, and was roasted on a gridiron used for cattle. Legend says that he was of good humor to the very end, at one point saying to his executioners: “I’m done on this side. You can turn me over now!”

Many centuries later his story of faith and heroism was artistically proclaimed to the faithful. In 1447 Pope Nicholas V selected Fra Angelico to decorate a Vatican chapel dedicated to the two famous martyrs and deacons of the Church: the protomartyr St. Stephen of Jerusalem and St. Lawrence of Rome.

Fra Angelico successfully linked the narratives of their stories together so that they convincingly expressed the main elements of each saint’s life. They are catechesis as well as beautiful art. Angelico’s painting portrays St. Lawrence in an exquisite rose colored dalmatic (the garment which signifies the deacon’s service and loyalty to his bishop). The fresco is approximately 9 by 7 feet and was painted between 1447 – 1449.

Note: Carl Brandon Strehlke’s comments on St. Lawrence are to be found in Kanter and Palladino. Fra Angelico. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Yale University Press, 2005.

Copyright © 2011- 2020, Deacon Paul O. Iacono – All Rights Reserved. Permission to reprint must be obtained from the author in writing. Students, and those interested, may quote small sections of the article as long as the proper credit and notation is given. Thank you.

Holy War: The Battle for Our Souls and the Soul of the Church

On July 30, 2020July 31, 2020 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Current Times, Elder Paisios, Greek Orthodox, Holy War, Roman Catholic4 Comments

What is our strategic plan in the Holy War to save our personal faith?

The overall plan is simple: it is to win the war for our soul.

Our tactics are paramount. For they must be in sync with the truth that God has given us Free Will (the ability to make decisions) and Reason (the ability to think through and logically make those decisions in the light of Scripture and Tradition).

What are the tactics that support our efforts? The first is to realize that we are not powerless. Our God-given freedom allows us to make personal decisions for good or bad. For example, the decision to agree with our Catechism which explains our ultimate goal of personal and eternal union with Christ.

Our tactics are varied: the Western and Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church, and the Orthodox Church believe in the need for prayer, fasting, almsgiving, reception of Holy Eucharist, and the frequent (preferably monthly) reception of the Sacrament of Confession. This Sacrament, once avidly used by the faithful, is now sadly ignored. It is critical in our personal war, and through prayer, the goal of purifying our Church. A Church suffering from the effects of clerical sins and the heresy of Modernism.

Satan planning his strategy, from engravings by Gustave Dore. From Milton’s Paradise Lost by Robert Vaughan, D.D. Chicago and New York 1885

The Sacrament of Confession is proclaimed in the Epistle of St. James (5: 16), St. Paul’s 2nd Letter to the Corinthians (5: 18), St. Luke’s Acts of the Apostles (19:18), Jesus’ words in the Gospel of John (20: 21-23), and the proclamations of the Early Church Fathers. It is not a Sacrament that the post-Reformation Church thought up during the Council of Trent. Through history was this Sacrament clarified and given appropriate form to meet the needs of growing Christian civilization? Yes, of course, but that doesn’t mean that it didn’t exist in the early Church or was given witness to in the Christian Scriptures.

If we ignore Grace we have removed many of the foundation stones of our personal faith. Ignorance or belittling the truth of Holy Scripture, or the Sacramental weapons of Grace, effectively renders us defenseless in this Holy War for our souls.

As you will see, Greek Orthodox monk, Elder Paisios’, words ring like a bell of prophecy. They are especially poignant since he wrote them before his death in 1994.

Holy War is upon us. We have witnessed it since Eve handed the apple to Adam. Our enemies are clear: Satan, his demons, false teachers, and our own tranquil indifference.

9fb4864f7592abd9e000ea904250598c — The War in Heaven – Fallen Angels by Gustave Dore.

The words of a Greek Orthodox monk, Elder Paisios:

“What unsettles me is the reigning mood of tranquility. Something is in the works. We still haven’t understood properly either what’s going on, or the fact that we will die. I don’t know what will come of this. The situation is very complicated. The fate of the world depends on just a few people, but God is still putting on the brakes. We have to pray a lot, and with pain in our hearts, so that God will intervene: our times are very hard to understand. A lot of ash, rubbish, and indifference has accumulated, and a strong wind will be needed to blow it all away. It’s frightening! The Tower of Babel is upon us! Divine intervention is needed: Great upheavals are happening. What a bedlam! The minds of whole nations are in confusion. But in spite of the ferment I feel a certain consolation inside, a certain confidence. God still dwells in a part of the Christians. God’s people, people of prayer, still remain, and God in his all-goodness still tolerates us and will put everything in order. Don’t be afraid! We’ve gone through many storms, and still haven’t perished. So should we be afraid of the storm which is now gathering? We’ll not perish this time either! God loves us. In Man there’s a hidden power which comes out when necessary. The difficult years will be few. Just a lot of thunder. Don’t get upset in the least, for God is above everything. He rules everyone and will bring all to the defendant’s bench to answer for what they’ve done, according to which each will receive his just desserts from God. Those who’ve in some way helped the cause of good will be rewarded, and those who do evil will be punished. God will put everyone in their place in the end, but each of us will answer for what they did in these difficult years, both in prayer and in deeds. Today they’re trying to destroy faith, and for the edifice of faith to fall they quietly pull out one stone, then another. But we’re all responsible for the destruction; not just those who destroy but we who see how faith is being undermined and make no effort to strengthen it.

As a result the seducers are emboldened to create even greater difficulties for us, and their rage against the Church and the monastic life increases. Today’s situation can be resisted only spiritually, not by worldly means. The storm will continue to rage a bit, will throw all the flotsam, everything unnecessary, onto the shore, and then the situation will become clearer. Some will receive their reward, while others will have to pay their debts. Today there are many who strive to corrupt everything: the family, the youth, the Church. In our day it’s a true witness to speak up for one’s people, for the state is waging war against divine law. Its laws are directed against the Law of God. But we are responsible for not letting the enemies of the Church corrupt everything. Though I’ve heard even priests say: “Don’t get involved in that. It’s none of your business!” If they had reached such a non-striving condition through prayer I would kiss their feet. But no! They’re indifferent because they want to please everyone and live in comfort. Indifference is unacceptable even for laymen, and all the more so for the clergy. An honest, spiritual man doesn’t do anything with indifference. “Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully”, says the Prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 48:10).

There’s a war on today, a holy war. I must be on the front lines. There are so many Marxists, so many Masons, so many Satanists and assorted others! So many possessed, anarchists and seduced ones! I see what awaits us, and it’s painful for me. The bitter taste of human pain is in my mouth”

Chinese Martyrs and the Beautiful Art of Ken Jan Woo

On July 9, 2020July 9, 2020 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Catholic, Catholic Art, Catholic Education, Christian Faith, Church History, Faith, Hope, Jesus Christ, Ken Jan Woo, Martyrs, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Sacred ArtLeave a comment

This post was previously published in 2012; however I desired to rewrite and republish it because of the crisis the Chinese Catholic Church, that is loyal to Rome, is experiencing this day. The Communist Chinese Government’s persecution of the Church has already produced contemporary martyrs to the faith.

We remember today, July 9th, the 120 martyrs who died in China between the years 1648 and 1930. Eighty-seven of these were native born Chinese and were children, parents, catechists, and simple laborers ranging in age from nine to seventy-two.

In the early 19^th century, St. Augustine Zhao Rong was a Chinese soldier who accompanied French missionary Bishop John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse to his martyrdom in Bejiing. He was profoundly touched by the Bishop’s courage in the face of great trials, humiliation, and eventual death. As a result, Zhao Rong sought baptism, was given the baptismal name of Augustine, and soon ordained a diocesan priest. He spoke often of Bishop Dufresse’s sense of hope, love of Christ, and confidence.

In 1815 the Chinese government martyred Father Augustine Zhao Rong.

An icon of Father Zhao Rong was completed by the brilliant Chinese artist Ken Jan Woo. Many of his icons and sacred art can be seen at his website http://www.kenwooart.com/index.html. Classically trained, Ken brings a new contemporary spirit to the sacred images of the Church’s past history. His exquisite rendering of this saint, in a typical icon format, is powerful in its simplicity and harmony.

The witness of these Chinese saints, in association with the Gospel passage of Matthew 9: 18-26, begs a question: What sets St. Zhao Rong, his martyred companions, and the people in the Gospel apart from many in our society?

Jesus provided the people with faith-filled hope even when circumstances dictated that their situation was hopeless. Why is this? It is because Jesus’ love for them, and willingness to share The Truth, was always directed back to His Father. Jesus tells us, “With God, all things are possible to those who believe.”

Jesus’ words were incendiary; for He said to the woman “Take heart, daughter – your faith has made you well.” That phrase “Take heart” ignited the woman’s expectant faith. Her belief allowed her to cooperate with the healing process.

Matthew’s Gospel passage provides witness to the local ruler’s spiritual courage to request Jesus’ help. The girl was already considered dead. Professional mourners had already been hired to demonstrate the family’s public grief. The mourners and others in the crowd scornfully laughed at Jesus. Their grief was as bogus as their lack of faith. Jesus’ was ready to heal, teach, and be open to the needs of that family. It gave them a glimpse into the mind and heart of God; and it provides us with a model to follow, too.

Let our prayer be the prayer of the martyrs: Lord, you love each of us with a unique and personal love. As we face our troubles with confident hope, touch our souls with your saving power, and restore us to the fullness of your eternal life. Amen

Copyright © 2011- 2020, Deacon Paul O. Iacono – All Rights Reserved. Permission to reprint must be obtained from the author in email/writing. Students, and those interested, may quote small sections of the article as long as the proper credit and notation is given. Thank you.

Iconoclasm and Shaun King

On July 1, 2020July 6, 2020 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Apologetics, Black Lives Matter, Catholic, Catholic Art, Catholic Education, Catholicism, Christian Ethics, Christian Faith, Christianity, Church History, Culture, Education, Freedom, Gospel Reflections, Gospel Teachings, Gospels of Jesus Christ, Iconoclasm, Politics, Religious Freedom, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Shaun King, Social Change, Teaching, Uncategorized3 Comments

In the June 22, 2020 issue of Newsweek an on-line article by Aila Slisco reported some statements by political activist Mr. Shaun King.

She states: “He [King] also remarked that stained glass windows and other images of a white Jesus, his European mother and their white friends should all be destroyed, insisting they are racist, examples of ethnic propaganda, and “a form of white supremacy. “They should all come down.” (I’ll comment on these statements by Mr. King in another post).

King’s comments came in association with Black Lives Matter protests against the brutality of some police officers toward minorities. These protests quickly moved away from the issue of police brutality in some major cites and expanded into protests against historic and artistic representations of American/European civilization and the “white supremacy” that it allegedly represented.

We have observed over the last two weeks examples of the new iconoclasm.

Rhetoric like Mr. King’s and other activists could be passed off as uninformed except for the fact that two California mobs tore down and desecrated a statue of the Spanish missionary Fr. Serra. In the process they also harassed Catholic college students, laity, and a priest who were defending it.

Legitimate non-violent protests are protected by the U.S. Constitution, however, the destruction of public or private property is not.

Public religious, military and political statues are the property of the local churches and governments. What happened to the government’s responsibility to protect them? Churches, and whatever articles they contain, are the property of the church regardless of denomination. Will the governments across the nation protect them?

Religious statues, sacred art, stained glass windows, etc, are defended by the 1st amendment of the U. S. Constitution. Is Mr. King saying that a Satanic statue of Baphomet can be placed in a public square but a statue of a Roman Catholic saint, who is specifically honored for his cultural contributions, cannot?

Are the representations of the God and saints of the Roman Catholic Church, who has been a major contributor to world civilization, to be torn down because a segment of the population believe that they, without taking into account time period or cultural conditions, have been historically ethnocentric and intolerant of other cultures? Are these legitimate religious statues equivalent to the statues of Lenin, Stalin, Mao or Saddam Hussein?

What happened to Martin Luther King Jr.’s call for positive non violent change and tolerance in America?

Today, July 1st, is the Roman Catholic Church’s memorial of the missionary efforts of Fr. Junipero Serra, an 18th century Spanish missionary priest. Fr. Serra’s leadership and contributions to improving the educational and technological life of Native Americans and development of California is recognized as a public act and not just a religious effort; this is why his statues were erected by the state of California. His statue also stands in Statuary Hall in the U. S. Capitol building in Washington, D. C. At various times national and state politicians, of both political parties, were present to honor him.

Fr. Serra’s main goal was to be an effective Christian missionary. He was following the Gospel injunction of Christ Himself in the 28th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew: “All power in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

The new iconoclasm appears to be intolerant, or unaware, of history. The adherents public efforts, both in word and deed, are clearly seen in the mobs in California and specifically in St. Louis, Missouri where they beat Catholics who were praying in front of a monument of St. Louis IX. In both cases mob action desires to vent its anger, ideology, and psychological wounds against historic personalities. The mob desires to sponge away the past rather than continue to lawfully, peacefully, and vigorously work for social change.

Is significant change necessary in the way some police departments train their recruits? Absolutely. Productive change can occur. It cannot occur when the structures of Constitutional democracy are trampled upon. Polarization has never accomplished anything; positive social change has never occurred through a mob’s physical or verbal violence.

The past cannot be rewritten. In America, many times statues regardless of being religious, political, or military, celebrate the good that people have accomplished, not their ethnocentrism. If small groups through mob action tear down public property, or Church property, then they are no better than many other mobs, tyrants and demagogues through history; such as Mao Zedong’s actions during the ten years of China’s Cultural Revolution, Lenin and Stalin’s iconoclasm and political/religious oppression during the 70 odd years of their Communist debacle, Hitler’s 13 year rampage of mass destruction and inhumanity, or present day Isil and their damage of populations and archaeological sites in the name of religious ideology.

As civilizations are we still unable to learn from the lessons of history? Is it too late?

Holy Saturday/Easter 2020

On April 11, 2020 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Art, Catholic Education, Catholicism, Christian Faith, Christianity, Fra Angelico, Hades, Holy s, Holy Saturday, Orthodox Christianity, Purgatory, Religious Art, Religious Education, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Sacred Art, Uncategorized

Today, Holy Saturday, is observed by the Western and Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church, and other denominations as the Anastasis (Greek, “resurrection”), or the Harrowing of Hell by Jesus Christ.

In this harrowing, Christ’s purpose was to free the righteous people of the Old and New Testaments from their inability to enter Heaven. This occurred because of their death prior to the passion and death of Jesus. His Redemptive acts freed them from what Roman Catholics would call Purgatory and the Eastern Rites and some Protestant denominations would call Hades.

Anastasis_at_Chora — The *Anastasis*, or the Harrowing of Hades, a fresco found in the Chora Church, Istanbul, Turkey dated around 1315. It depicts the freeing of Adam and Eve and other righteous souls from Purgatory. This icon is usually in tandem with an icon of the bodily Resurrection. Notice Christ standing on the doors of Hades or Purgatory as he takes the hands of Adam and Eve and literally pulls them out of their resting places.

There are over fifteen verses and references found in both the Hebrew and the Christian Scriptures that mention Hades. It is also discussed in non-canonical apocryphal writings such as the Gospel of Nicodemus. Its referred to as Purgatory because it is “the state of those souls who die in God’s friendship, assured of their eternal salvation, but who still have need of purgation to enter into the happiness of Heaven” (CCCC; para. 210, see notation below).

An analogy for Purgatory, though limited, would be the understanding that you cannot enter a beautiful wedding without showering and dressing appropriately. Hell, however, is the place of eternal damnation for those who through reason and free will die in the state of unconfessed mortal sin. They have deliberately intended to separate from the love of God by pursuing and participating in deadly sins.

31_limbo — Egg tempera fresco by Fra Angelico. Notice Jesus standing on the doors of Purgatory as he leads the righteous souls out of their captivity. The beatified Fra Angelico interestingly puts a demon in the left corner *and under the door!* The demons and eternally lost souls were /are aware of the Redemption by Christ. This fresco, dated 1440, is found in the Museum of St. Mark (San Marco, a former Dominican priory) in Florence.

Please enjoy another Fra Angelico fresco of the Resurrection of Christ. I wish you a happy and blessed Easter!

angelico women rev

CCCC: refers to the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. 2nd edition, 2012.

Good Friday 2020

On April 10, 2020 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Baptism, Catholic, Christianity, Faith, Good Friday, Gospel Teachings, Jesus Christ, Religion, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Sacred Images, Shroud of Turin, Uncategorized2 Comments

Father, by the merits of your Son’s passion, death, and resurrection hear us in our troubles and fears. Strengthen us against anxiety and illness. This day allow us to join Jesus’ suffering with ours. Please have mercy on the souls of those who, from this current pandemic, pass into eternal life.

Thank you Lord, for Your Son’s sacrifice, love, and mercy.

“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: ‘Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit;’ and having said this He expired.”

maxresdefault — Closeup of the face on the Holy Shroud of Turin. A forensic artist’s recreation of a potential human likeness of the image found on the Shroud.

St. John Chrysostom, an Early Church Father, tells us: “There flowed from His side water and blood. Beloved do not pass over this mystery without thought; it has yet another hidden meaning, which I will explain to you. I said that water and blood symbolized Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. From these two Sacraments the Church is born: from Baptism, the cleansing water that gives rebirth [into the family of God] and renewal through the Holy Spirit, and from the Holy Eucharist [physical and spiritual nourishment; as He said: “Take and eat this is My Body. Take and drink for this is My blood]… (Excerpts from the Holy Gospels and the Catechesis by St. John Chrysostom, AD 347 – 407, Archbishop of Constantinople).

Full view of the Holy Shroud of Turin. It shows the results of the scourging on both sides of His Body, the crowning with thorns, the wound in His side, and the marks of the nails in His feet and wrists (necessary because the wrists would have been able to hold the weight of His Body). The triangular patches surrounded by white areas on the Shroud are the result of a fire which melted a lead casket encasing the Shroud.

On this day our Redemption [from sin] was earned by the suffering and death of Jesus, the Son of God; by His wounds you were healed. JESUS CHRIST IS LORD! (Philippians 2: 6-11, and 1 Peter (chapter 2: 21-24).

Virgin Mary: Trust and Obedience in the Lord

On March 25, 2020March 30, 2020 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Angels, Annunciation of Mary, Art, Art Education, Beauty, Bible, Blessed Mother, Catholic, Catholic Art, Catholicism, Christianity, discipleship, Faith, Holy Spirit, Iconography, Icons, Mary, Mary - Our Blessed Mother, Mothers, New Evangelization of the Catholic Church, Religion, Religious Art, Religious Education, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Sacred Art, Sacred Iconography, Sacred Images, Scriptures, St Gabriel, St. Luke, The Blessed Virgin Mary, Uncategorized6 Comments

On this solemnity of the Annunciation, March 25th, we remember St. Luke’s account of the Annunciation:

“Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.”

“And when the angel had come to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women.” When she had heard him she was troubled at his word and kept pondering what manner of greeting this might be.

And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he shall be king over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end”

“But Mary said to the angel, “How shall this happen, since I do not know man?”

“And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee; and therefore the Holy One to be born shall be called the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth thy kinswoman also has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month; for nothing shall be impossible with God.”

And Mary said, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word.” And the angel departed from her.” (Luke 1: 26-38)

Mary, the Blessed Mother, the Theotokos – “the God bearer” at first, questions Gabriel, “How shall this happen…” Upon his explanation Mary undertakes her all important journey with perfect trust and obedience to God’s will. She accepts her eternal role not in fear but in love. Mary will be the God Bearer, the bearer of her Son Jesus, our Savior, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.

Jesus, at the moment of His conception, is both true God and true man: two natures in one Person.

iu-2 — Icon of Mary: it is the icon called The *Madonna of Saint Sisto,* located in Rome in the Dominican convent of Monte Mario. It is one of the oldest and most beautiful icons of the Virgin from antiquity.

Mary is the perfect disciple of God. She provides us with the model of love, obedience, and trust in Him. There were many times throughout her life that she had to express her trust and obedience, and at times not knowing where the journey would lead. It led from the great joy of her pregnancy, Jesus’ birth, family life, through to His ministry, and her motherly presence before the Holy Cross.

A few verses later, in her beautiful canticle the Magnificat, she exclaimed to her kinswoman Elizabeth her lack of doubt in what has happened. She praises the mercy of God and her willingness to be the servant of Him who is faithful to His word. In her humility, trust, love, and obedience to God, Mary, as the New Eve, will be given the privilege of crushing Satan at the end of time.

From the beginning, the Catholic Church has never worshipped Mary. The Church venerates her as the first disciple and its greatest saint.

On this beautiful Solemnity of the Annunciation let us join with the great St. John Henry Cardinal Newman in his prayer to Jesus: “Dear Jesus, Your Holy Mother cooperated with the divine plan for the human race. Let me try to imitate her in her obedience and service to You.” Thank you, Jesus.

Note: The sacred image that appears at the top of all of my posts is The Annunciation by Fra Angelico.

Do Pagans Go To Heaven or Hell?

On October 15, 2019October 18, 2021 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Baptism, Catholic, Catholic Education, Catholic Spirituality, Catholicism, Christian Spirituality, Christianity, Church History, Council of Nicaea, Culture, discipleship, Education, Evangelization, Gospel Reflections, Gospels of Jesus Christ, Grace, Idolatry, Jesus Christ, New Evangelization of the Catholic Church, Orthodox Church, Pagans, Religion, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Scriptures, Teaching, Uncategorized4 Comments

by Deacon Paul O. Iacono, Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island USA

The author of the interesting and challenging blog site on sacred art and its analysis called Catchlight sent me two questions yesterday. They related to my last post which was entitled Fatima Messages, Pagans in the Vatican, and the End Times.

“Paul, your protestations begs the question, do pagans go to Heaven? If so, why? If not, why not?” from Bernard Gallagher

These are excellent questions.

Before I attempt to answer them my readers should understand that I am a committed and Traditional Roman Catholic. His questions will be answered through the lens of the teachings of my Faith. That Faith is based on a foundation of Holy Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and two thousand years of Catholic scholarship.

Allow me to also mention that we need to understand that two Councils of the Church, the Councils of Orange and Trent (1000 years later), are critical in forming a correct answer to Mr. Gallagher’s questions. The Councils of Orange are significant (both of them were held in the city of Orange in Southern France, AD 441 and 529). The more important Second Council of Orange’s episcopal deliberations were sent to Rome and approved by Pope Boniface II in AD 531. That Council specifically proclaimed that everyone (who has reached the “age of reason”) is given sufficient Grace to be saved from eternal damnation. God will give, and has given all people, Actual Grace. If a person accepts and acts on that Grace, they will be saved.

What is Actual Grace? Actual Grace is an admonition by God for a person to correct their way of life, desire, search after, and make the sincere effort to obtain the Sanctifying Grace provided by the Catholic Church. The key action which achieves salvation and eternal life with God is the Holy Sacrament of Baptism. This allows the person to enter into God’s family. The Sacrament of Baptism removes Original Sin from an individual’s soul and enables it to receive additional Sacramental Sanctifying Grace. All Grace enables a person to become holy in God’s eyes. The other six Sacraments flow from the waters of Baptism. Pope Pius 9th (papal reign 1846 -1878) proclaimed that it would be extraordinary for an unbaptized person to achieve the eternal salvation and reward of Heaven.

First principle,

a) The Roman Catholic Church, the ethnic church Rites that are in union with Rome, the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches, and some of the Protestant churches say that Jesus Christ, is the Word of God, the Son of the Father, begotten not made and consubstantial with Him. He is the Messiah, the Savior. His human life, ministry, passion, death, and resurrection redeemed mankind from their sins. His divinity is expressed through His position as the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.

b) He is known to mankind through the historical Gospels and Epistles of the Apostles, the witness of His Mother, the Virgin Mary (especially at her apparition at Fatima, Portugal in 1917. When asked what sin was most harmful and condemned unrepentant people to Hell she responded: ‘The sins of impurity are one of the major reasons why men and women are condemned to Hell.'” We cannot ignore our sins or consider them unimportant because of the current worldview. Also, the erudition of the Catholic Church Fathers, Doctors of the Church, Saints, and the historical teaching authority of the Church have all provided the scholarship and analysis that is sufficient for humanity to understand God’d Revelation and laws.

c) He is also known through the extraordinary scholarship of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. The teaching authority of the Church, (as found in its Magisterium), is the Church’s responsibility to give to the world an authentic interpretation of the Revelation of God as found in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.

d) Additionally, let us not forget the importance of the testimony of the angels found in Holy Scripture, and the saints, of whom Jesus’ Mother Mary is the greatest of saints. All of these facts contribute to mankind’s understanding and witness of our Savior Jesus Christ.

e) Jesus commissioned His Apostles (the first bishops) to make known the free gift of His Redemption and graces. These critical graces are found in the Seven Sacraments of the Church, beginning with the keystone Sacrament, Baptism.

Hagiasophia-christ-1 — An icon of Jesus Christ. It is found within the former Eastern Rite Church of Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom). The Church was built in the early 6th century and is located in Istanbul, Turkey (formerly Constantinople). It was a mosque, then was a museum since 1935, but recently it was converted back into a mosque.

Second, let’s refer to what Jesus Christ says in response to Nicodemus’ questions concerning eternal life in the Gospel of St. John, John 3: 1-21: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus continues to question Him, and Jesus responds, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God…You must be born again.”

The great significance of the necessity of Baptism into the Christian faith is again stressed in another passage of the Gospels. The Gospel of St. Matthew, in its very last passage deals with the commissioning of the Apostles which occurred after His resurrection and before His Ascension back to the Father. Jesus emphasizes that combined with their preaching and works they must baptize faith-filled individuals because of Adam and Eve’s sin. Humanity’s broken relationship with God must be healed. It was healed through the death and resurrection of the Father’s Son Jesus the Christ. Jesus death, on our behalf allowed the formation of the Church and the Sacraments to be instituted to provide the grace to a broken humanity. Baptism is the Sacrament that makes this happen. It makes an individual’s body and soul a member of God’s family. Matthew 28: 18-20: “Jesus drew near and spoke to them saying, “all power in Heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

Third, it appears, within the Christian faith, that we can come to specific conclusions that will provide a springboard for my response to Mr. Gallagher:

If the human race was alienated from God, and the spiritual relationship with Him was broken, then a loving and merciful God would not give up on His children. Thus, through the course of history God has slowly manifested and revealed Himself to humanity starting with our spiritual parents, Adam and Eve; then through the patriarchs, leaders, and prophets of the chosen Jewish tribes culminating in the Incarnation of His Son, Jesus the Christ. God desires us to love Him and conform to His Laws. He has given us reason and free will. He has given us the ability to think and act not like robots but as free men and women. His revealed truths and laws must be evangelized and faithfully kept by individuals and mankind as a whole. The “Good News” must be spread by the Church as a whole and individuals, too.
The First Commandment applies, as we see in Exodus 20: 1-6ff: “I, the Lord am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides Me. You shall not carve idols for yourselves…you shall not bow down to them or worship them. For I the Lord am a jealous God…inflicting punishment on those who are wicked and hate me…and mercy on those who love Me and keep My commandments.”
Through Scripture and study of the Catechisms of the Council of Trent and that of Pope St. John Paul II, united with faith we also know that Jesus Christ is the consubstantial only Son of God and the promised Savior. Now, have (for example) the Amazonian pagans that we recently observed in Rome, or the new pagans of the 20th and 21st centuries been exposed to that truth?
Christ freely offered Himself for our eternal salvation. This was accomplished through the words and actions of His human ministry and ultimately through His Passion, death, and resurrection. Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Have apostates, pagans, or other non believers been exposed to that truth?
We see God through faith in Him, participating in prayer, Scripture study, good works, and the Sanctifying Grace found in the Seven Sacraments. Have pagans, past and present, been exposed to and accept these truths?

Fourth, so, are pagans going to Heaven or Hell?

In a nutshell, I would never presume to know God’s mind, except from that which He revealed through Holy Scripture and Sacred Tradition. I would never make a judgement on another person’s soul as he or she are seen by God at the time of their death and individual judgement. Unknown to the world, even a great sinner may suddenly, in their last moments, repent of their sins and ask for God’s mercy. But, make no mistake about it, Scriptural Revelation, and the Sacred Tradition of the Catholic Church and specifically the words of Jesus in the Holy Scriptures, states that there is a Hell (Matthew 10: 28; 22: 13. Luke 16: 26; etc.); there is a Heaven, and, damnation into Hell for all eternity.

It is believed that there is also a place of natural happiness called Limbo. It is not within Heaven, nor is it in the fires of the Hell of the Damned. It is a state of natural happiness and joy. It is not supernatural happiness because its inhabitants do not have the Beatific Vision (see additional discussion in the Summa Theologica, Supplement 1, 3rd part article 2, by Fra Rainaldo da Piperino). The question of what happens to infants who die without the Sanctifying Grace of Baptism is a much debated issue. Many Traditionalists support the idea of Limbo; however, contemporary scholarship supports the idea that God, in His mercy, would not withdraw the vision of His glory to unbaptized infants who have died.

Some additional issues:

Let’s take a look at three major Greek philosophers: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. They were scholars who lived and died before the birth and ministry of Jesus Christ. They lived within a pagan/pantheistic society whose members believed in a multitude of gods Are Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle in Heaven or Hell?
The answer is, “I don’t know!”
But Jesus said, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14: 6). Wouldn’t that statement preclude the unbaptized Greek philosophers entrance into Heaven?
The answer is “Not automatically.”
So, what do we know? We know that those three philosophers were men who searched for the truth, not only about themselves as individuals but about the world itself. They searched after the truth. They made the sincere effort to find the truth by thinking, questioning, analyzing reality, both physical and metaphysical. They used all the evidence at their disposal to do so. They lived, before the Son of God was incarnated. They did not have the witness of Jesus Christ and to His specific and eternal revelation as the Son of God, both human and divine. They also probably did not have any exposure to the history of the Jewish people and God’s revelation to them. As per the the points made earlier, did they act on God’s Actual Grace to truly desire life with Him?
But, in the time after the Incarnation and Ascension of Jesus, a person who had the opportunity to be exposed to and Baptized into the Christian Faith (in the full expression of it in the Western and Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church, and some of the Protestant and Anglican churches if they use the Trinitarian formula), would have a critical free choice to make.
If they are pagan, agnostic, atheist, Catholic Christian, Deist, Protestant Christian, Satanist, Wiccan, etc, and they would then, after an effort to know the truth, reject Actual Grace and the witness of Jesus Christ out of intentional misunderstanding, intellectual arrogance, stubbornness, cultural and historic prejudices, selfishness, willful rejection of Christian Revelation, narcissistic impulses, apostasy, or some evil influence, they would be freely putting their eternal soul into mortal sin. They would be facing the eternal punishment of Hell because they chose the path, through their own free will of “definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed in Heaven” (confer page 269 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd edition).
God is loving and compassionate. He is filled with mercy for those who sincerely repent their sins. God is merciful; however, our God is a God of Justice. Why would Jesus Christ be Incarnated to minister, suffer, die, and be resurrected if the Holy Trinity would give mortal sinners “A get into Heaven free pass?” The “Pass theory” doesn’t make sense, it is illogical, bogus, and yes it is a lie. There are dire consequences for freely turning your back on Jesus Christ: Hell.
But do today’s pagans turn their backs?
The answer to that question is: Have they made the effort to know the Truth? Have they been exposed to the truths of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures? Have they been evangelized by courageous and selfless missionaries who are willing to undergo all sorts of hardships and possibly even martyrdom for the sake of their flocks’ eternal souls? Have they deliberately turned their backs on the truth and revelation of God through the Christian Scriptures, and the documents and witness of the Apostles, Saints, Church’s Doctors and Fathers, bishops and Pope as they present the truth on faith and morals? Have the pagans or people of other religions acted on the free gift of God’s Actual Grace?
The Church’s duty and responsibility is to bring, without arrogance or condescension, the Holy Scriptures, Sacred Traditions, and the Holy Sacraments to the world. If its bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated brothers and sisters in various religious orders, and laity shirk or compromise their duties and teaching authority, give bad example through public and private sin, then they possibly will be denied entrance into Heaven, too.
Is the Church giving sufficient resources to the missionaries in the field? Are we able to inspire young men and women in today’s world of the necessity and challenge to enter the life of a missionary? Have we thrown in the towel?
This is my great concern about what I see in the Church today (especially the recent blessing of the pagan Pachamama statue in Rome; (by the way, all of the Amazonian Pachamama rituals were condemned by six Cardinals). The Christian churches should not be about assimilation of pagan cultures into the Faith in order “to learn from them,” or do so in a “spirit of dialogue” and accommodation.
The Western and Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church have the complete and total revelation of God to humanity. We have the complete revealed truth of The Trinity. We have the example of what it means to live in the heart of the Father through the life of Jesus Christ. Christ’s life, redemptive death, and resurrection made possible our entrance into God’s family. This entrance is accomplished through the Sacrament of Baptism (using the Trinitarian formula), and individuals’ growth in faith and good works.
Matthew 28: 18-20, relates Jesus’ specific command. Our duty is to compassionately and without arrogance teach pagans and other non-believers about Jesus Christ, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
It is intellectually and morally irresponsible to give the impression that apostates, heretics, pagan/polytheistic cultures, and people of other faiths can add to the Deposit of Faith.We either understand the gift of the Deposit of the Faith or we don’t. There should be no waffling.
We either proclaim His truth effectively and with conviction or we will see the Church continue to decline, make compromises, cause confusion, anxiety, division, and resentment among its faithful. Hell is a reality. It is our responsibility to act with courage and truthfulness to ensure that a person’s eternal salvation is not compromised through confused or false teachings.
The Gospel of Luke 18: 8 challenges us to examine our own hearts: “When the Son of Man comes will He find faith on the earth?”
To paraphrase Peter Kreeft, Ph.D and Rev. Ronald Tacelli S.J. “if we have a diamond of immense and extraordinary value (our Catholic/Christian Faith) why would we go about the world seeking additional baubles?
Refer also to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd edition, 1997, pages 311-324) which has an excellent section on the Sacrament of Baptism.

Copyright © 2011- 2019, Deacon Paul O. Iacono – All Rights Reserved. Permission to reprint must be obtained (through the Comments section below) from the author in writing. Students, and those interested, may quote small sections of the article as long as the proper credit and notation is given. Thank you

Fatima Messages, Pagans in the Vatican, and the End Times

On October 12, 2019 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Blessed Mother, Catholic Education, Catholicism, Christian Faith, Church History, Culture, End Times, Evangelization, Faith, Fatima, heresy, Mary, Mary - Our Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Fatima, Pagans, Religion, Religious Education, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, The Holy Rosary, Uncategorized, Virgin Mary4 Comments

October 13, 2019 commemorates the last message in the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary by three Portuguese children. The children’s ages were six through nine, and they lived in the town of Fatima, Portugal. The apparitions occurred over a five month period which began on May 13th and ended on October 13, 1917.

The Roman Catholic Church, after a period of study, formally declared in 1930 that these apparitions are worthy of belief by the faithful. It is wise to remember that many supposed apparitions have occurred over the centuries that have not been approved by Church authorities.

In this post let us pursue a quick review of who Mary is in the teachings of the Church, the three parts of the message of Fatima, and the ramifications of what the Blessed Virgin Mary told the children over that five month period.

Who is Mary?

Mary was a human being, born during the early first century in Israel, her parents were named Anne and Joachim.
Mary was engaged to a man named Joseph, whom she eventually married. The Sacred Scriptures and the Traditions of the Church teach us that prior to the marriage she conceived, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. Joseph became the stepfather of Jesus. He was not His biological father. Mary remained immaculate from the stain of sin and a virgin prior, during, and after the birth of Jesus.
As the Gospels clearly state, Jesus’ Mother appears at very critical times in His ministry; she was present at the Crucifixion, and at Pentecost. The Fathers of the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Rites of the Catholic Church clearly discuss and formally state Mary’s role in Salvation History in their scholarship from the first through fifth centuries.
The Fathers of the Church, at the Councils of Nicaea, Ephesus, and Chalcedon in the 4th and 5th century discuss these basic points. The Council of Ephesus clearly proclaims and defines Mary as the Theotokos, the Mother of God – “the one who gave birth to God”.
The Holy Trinity could have chosen any method for our Redemption. The Father chose the Son’s Incarnation through the means of a human birth to be the instrument through which the Redemption occurred. This was accomplished through the ministry, suffering, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus the Christ.
Mary’s “Yes” in response to the angel Gabriel’s invitation during the Annunciation allowed the Incarnation of Jesus to occur. The Council of Nicaea defines very specifically that Jesus, as the Son of God, has dual natures: human and divine. The human woman, Mary, gave birth to the human nature of Jesus. Yet, the two natures of Jesus – human and divine – are united in Him. Jesus has a direct human relationship and unity with us through His Blessed Mother; and He has a spiritual relationship to us through His Redemptive Act and as the 2nd Person of the Holy Trinity.
Early heretics denied these ideas. But the early Councils clearly refuted the heretics. The Gospel writers, and specifically St. Paul in his Epistles, stated these truths in their writings.
We should always remember that our Blessed Mother Mary, was never considered by the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Churches, to be a goddess. We worship One God who is known through the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. We venerate Mary as the greatest of the saints. She is the perfect and most virtuous of women. She is our spiritual mother.

Mary, is the “without which nothing,” the sine qua non, of our Redemption. Of course, Jesus, as the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, accomplished the healing of the separation that occurred as a result of the sins of Adam and Eve. The Holy Trinity willed it, Jesus fulfilled it, but the instrument that started the process was the woman, Mary; this is why we call her the Blessed Mother.

Now, what does this have to do with the messages of Mary at Fatima? As our spiritual mother Mary warns us that we need to rise from our spiritual slumber and take seriously her messages to us. Below are the three basic parts of the Fatima message conveyed during the summer of 1917:

The Message of Fatima:

The First Part: Heaven is real, and Hell is real, too. The extraordinary fearful vision of Hell was received by Lucia, the oldest of the children, on July 13, 1917. She saw a “lake of fire” with demons and humans within it. The Church Fathers and St. Thomas Aquinas discuss and assert the reality of Hell. It was clearly stated that many people, including members of the clergy, are going to Hell as a result of their lifestyle and unrepented sins. Lucia, who ultimately became a religious sister, was not known to be, as a child or adult, a liar. The reality of Hell was seriously questioned by some theologians and some members of the clergy during the 20th century and it continues into the 21st century. The question can be asked “If we don’t admit to the reality of Hell, then why do we need the Sacraments? Why did Jesus need to suffer and die for us?” Jesus Himself stated and exhibited the need to fight the demons, their temptations, and the possibility of spending eternity in Hell. If we don’t believe this then we are calling Jesus a liar, and the Sacred Scriptures nothing but a collection of pious stories. The life of the average Catholic has been dramatically affected by many clergy, over the past sixty years, not preaching the doctrine of Hell. What are the spiritual consequences of unrepented sinful acts if there is no Hell? In the first message of Fatima, Mary warns us about the reality of Hell, and the fact that many in the 20th and 21st century would deny it – to their peril.
The Second Part: Mary told the three children to inform the Pope that he needed to consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart. Russia would soon be renamed the Soviet Union through the Communist Revolution in November 1917. Through this consecration to Mary’s heart, Russia would be converted and become a sensible member of the community of nations. I learned in high school, fifty-seven years ago, the phrase “To Jesus through Mary.” The Lord does not want mankind to suffer damnation or turmoil. Mary was warning that Russia, if it wasn’t consecrated to her Immaculate Heart, would become a major cause of war, famine, turmoil and suffering during the 20th century. There is continuous discussion and debate whether or not the Popes of the 20th century formally and correctly performed this consecration, or, if it was ignored and/or performed in an incomplete way.
The Third Part: This part is the most discussed, furiously debated, and controversial of the three messages of the Blessed Mother. Some declare that the entire Third Part of the message of Fatima has not been released. This part of message has been reviewed in great detail on the internet and in video on YouTube. When you view these videos make sure you are on a Catholic site, but understand that even Catholics disagree on this part of the message of Fatima. The Third part is indirectly related to the approved apparition of the Blessed Mother in Akita, Japan. Pope Benedict XVI when he was known as Cardinal Ratzinger, the head of the Congregation of the Faith and a direct advisor to St. Pope John Paul II, said that the messages of Mary in Akita, Japan are related to the Third Message of Fatima. It has been recommended that you review Mary’s message at Akita, Japan for a clear understanding of many of the elements of the third part of the Fatima message. Mary repeated her warnings at Akita to again emphasize to the world that the time is short. She tells us to be on our guard. To be ready and watchful, to repent, prepare, and pray the Holy Rosary.

The Blessed Mother, as our spiritual mother, has warned mankind of the reality of Hell, the significance of Russia, and the entrance of Satan and turmoil into the Catholic Church. Did the world take her warning seriously? Did the Church?

In Rome the Amazon Synod this past week produced a series of events that were egregious and flagrantly offensive to the theology, sacred traditions and dignity of the Church. October 4th produced the spectacle of pagan idol worship ceremonies by Amazonian shamans and tribesman in the Vatican Gardens. The Pope, certain clergy associated with the Synod, lay men and women from the nations of the Amazon region, and a Franciscan friar were present. The shaman performed ritual pagan blessings and was accompanied by two fertility symbols of naked women. The purpose of this disgraceful event was to show the Amazonian cultures’ pantheism, love of the earth and the interrelationship of all the elements of nature.

Have men forgotten the first Commandment, the preeminence of God the Father, Christ’s Redemptive Act, and the role of the Holy Spirit? Have they forgotten the dogmas of the Nicene Creed?

Hopefully, the clergy that organized the event would say that they did not forget any of these basic principles. Yet, is it not fair to say that in the case mentioned their theological judgement, pastoral sense, ignorance of the “optics” of the situation, and defiance of the dignity and sacredness of a church and its gardens was totally lacking?

Some of the Synod leaders and supporters said that we can “learn” from these cultures. Have they forgotten that their evangelization efforts are to bring the truths of Jesus Christ, His redemptive act as Savior, the grace of the Sacraments, and the truths of Sacred Scripture to the world?

God does not come from within us. God’s transcendent truths have been made immanent through the events found within Holy Scripture and specifically through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God’s truths have been revealed to us. We have the free will and reason to accept or reject it. We do not need to learn and adapt the theological truths of pantheistic cultures to our Faith.

To add insult to injury, during this past week at the church of Santa Maria in Traspontina (close to the front piazza of St. Peter’s Basilica) what appeared to be an additional pagan like “nature” ceremony took place in front of the sanctuary and the tabernacle. Also, contained within that church were exhibits showing the tribal cultures of the Amazonian rainforest region of South America. A Brazilian guide explained a large poster of the “nature relationships” of the Amazonian tribes to the earth. One photo portrayed a woman suckling a human infant on one breast and a dog, yes, a dog, on the other breast. See journalist George Neumayr’s (he writes for the American Spectator) video report of this event on Taylor Marshall’s podcast of October 11th, it is entitled “Dog Nursing Story & Cardinals in Rome” warning: this video is a very frank discussion of what happened).

Are the current troubles and sins a potential precursor of the “end times”? Only God the Father knows the “time and the date,” but the events of the last 102 years, 1917 – 2019, certainly indicate that it may be right around the corner.

Let us pray, Jesus, I trust in you. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us. St. Michael protect us from the snares of the devil.

annunciation-1434 our-lady-of-sorrows

Copyright © 2011- 2019, Deacon Paul O. Iacono – All Rights Reserved. Permission to reprint must be obtained from the author in writing. Students, and those interested, may quote small sections of the article as long as the proper credit and notation is given. Thank you

The Assumption of Our Mother Mary – We Venerate Her Today

On August 15, 2019 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Assumption of Mary, Blessed Mother, Blessed Mother Mary and St. Joseph, Catholic, Catholic Education, Catholic Spirituality, Catholicism, Christian Spirituality, Christianity, Church History, Education, Evangelization, Faith, History, Mary - Our Blessed Mother, Motherhood, New Evangelization, Popes, Religious Art, Religious Education, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, The Blessed Virgin Mary, The Queenship of Mary, Virgin MaryLeave a comment

A 21st century icon by Marek Czarnecki, an American Roman Catholic iconographer.

We celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary. In her honor let us review some the Church’s truths; dogmas which progressed to the point of Venerable Pope Pius XII proclaiming the meaning of the Blessed Mother’s life and her Assumption into Heaven.

We are able to see this progression through Sacred Scripture, the various early ecumenical Councils of the Church, the individual writings of the early Church fathers (such as St. Cyril of Alexandria, St. John Cassian, St. Vincent of Lerins, St. Irenaeus, Tertullian, St. Augustine, St. John of Damascus, and the Gothic Missal of the 6th century).

The Church’s movement through the process of unfolding the truths that were to become its dogmas progressed over time. Below are a few key occurrences which provide evidence for the debate and development proclaiming the dogmas of the Church.

• In AD 313, the Emperor Constantine declares that Christians can freely worship throughout the Roman Empire, thus, providing for a peaceful development of Christian communities, formal places of worship, and the continuation of theological scholarship and Scripture study.

• In 325, the Council of Nicea declared that the Father and the Son are consubstantial (that is, having the same substance);

• In 381, the Edict of Emperor Theodosius declared that Christianity is the official religion of the Roman Empire (the Roman Empire formally collapsed in 476);

• In 431, the Council of Ephesus proclaimed that Mary is the Mother of God, that is, mother of the human nature of Jesus: Mary is declared to be the Theotokos, the God Bearer – Mother of the Son of God’s human nature.

• In 451, the Council of Chalcedon declared that two natures, both human and divine, coexist in Jesus Christ;

In 1950, Venerable Pope Pius XII, in his Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus, declared the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of the Faith. Dogmas are defined as the set of principles of the Church which are unquestionably true, and must be accepted and believed if a person is a member of one of the Rites of the Catholic Church.

Pope Pius XII tells us in this Apostolic Constitution that “from the second century the holy Fathers present the Virgin Mary as the new Eve, most closely associated with her Son, the new Adam.”

“She is subject to Him in the struggle again the enemy (Satan).” Confer the Book of Revelation (chapter 12, verse 1 ff) on her role in the war with the deceiver of mankind.

Pope Pius XII continues: “Hence, the august Mother of God, mysteriously united from all eternity with Jesus Christ in one and the same decree of predestination, immaculate in her conception, a virgin inviolate in her divine motherhood, the whole hearted companion of the divine Redeemer who won complete victory over sin and its consequences, gained at last the supreme crown of her privileges: to be preserved immune from the corruption of the tomb, and like her Son, when death had been conquered, to be carried up body and soul to the exalted glory of Heaven, there to sit in splendor at the right hand of her Son, the immortal king of the ages.”

Mary is not a goddess. Eastern and Western Rite Catholics do not worship her, rather, we venerate her as the greatest of all the saints.

Catholics view the Blessed Mother Mary as an intercessor. As our spiritual Mother she intercedes with Jesus, similar to our biological mother interceding on our behalf with our biological father. Eastern and Western Rite Catholics do this because this example of her intercession is seen in Sacred Scripture, when at the Wedding Feast of Cana Mary intercedes with her Son to help the newly married couple avoid embarrassment and additional expense.

Mary is always present and truly cares for all of us. We should never ignore her.

May Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother bless you and your loved ones on this holy day of the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary.

P.S. I’d like to thank all the new followers of this blog who came aboard this summer. I pray that you continue to find my posts beneficial. I would like to thank Mr. Marek Czarnecki for use of the image of his beautiful icon of the Assumption of Mary. I had the pleasure and good fortune of studying with him during one of his workshops a number of years ago.

Bernini’s Bronze Sculpture of Four “Giants” of the Church

On May 2, 2019May 2, 2019 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Apologetics, Apostolic Fathers, Art, Art Education, Artists, Beauty, Catholic, Catholic Art, Catholic Education, Catholicism, Christianity, Church History, Culture, Education, Evangelization, Faith, History, Iconography, Jesus Christ, New Evangelization of the Catholic Church, Popes, Religion, Religious Art, Religious Education, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Sacred Art, Sacred Artists, Sacred Images, Saints, St. Athanasius, Uncategorized3 Comments

Today, May 2nd, is the “Memorial” day of St. Athanasius, a Doctor (profound theologian) of the Church.

There are four “giants” of the Nicene and Post Nicene period, all are known as “Doctors” of the Church: St. Athanasius, St. Ambrose, St. John Chrysostom, and St. Augustine. They are immortalized in bronze by the Renaissance sculptor, Bernini, and are portrayed in his magnificent sculpture of the Throne of St. Peter found in the sanctuary of St. Peter’s Basilica.

St. Athanasius and St. John Chrysostom are saints of both the Latin and the Greek Rites of the Church. Both were bishops. Yet, Bernini does not put the Bishop’s mitre on their heads. Sadly, the sting of the Great Schism of 1054 between the Latin and Greek Rites still stung in the 17th century.

Thus, these two Greek Fathers of the Church were slighted, not because of anything that they did (they were profound shepherds and theologians), but because Bernini wanted the authority of and preeminence of St. Peter’s position of “first among many” and the importance of two of the Latin Rite Fathers, to be showcased in bronze and remembered in the centuries to come.

The above photo is the “Chair of St. Peter” and is found in St. Peter’s Basilica (Chair created 1656 – 1665). It is an extraordinary masterpiece by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598 – 1680) which he made for Pope Alexander VII (Chigi family, 1655/67). Bernini was a child prodigy and polymath. This Chair proved to be a wooden throne dating to the year 875. It was donated by Charles the Bald to Pope John VIII (served AD 872/882) on the occasion of his coronation to the papacy. Four humongous bronze statues of Doctors of the Church flank the chair: In front to the right “St. Augustine”, to the left “St. Ambrose” (Latin Rite). Behind to the left “St. Athanasius”, to the right “St. John Chrysostom” (Greek Rite). The entire bronze structure’s weight is 74 tonnes (81.5 tons). The height is 14.74 m (48.3 feet). The statues of the Doctors of the Church are 5.35 m (17.5 feet) high. Above the four saints is located a stained glass window: “Dove of the Holy Spirit,” dated 1911 by the German glassmaker Hagle from the original design of Giovanni Paolo Schor (1615/74). These facts are from https://romapedia.blogspot.com/2013/10/basilica-of-st-peter-second-part_3.html. That blog is edited by David Macch. This is an excellent website about all aspects of the art, architecture, and history of Rome.

There are five Councils of the Church that had major impact on the development of the Church’s sacred art: the Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Nicaea/Constantinople, the Council of Ephesus, the Council of Chalcedon, and the 2nd Council of Nicaea (2nd Nicaea met in AD 787 and is the last of the Seven Ecumenical Councils). Besides these Councils all the Church Fathers through their scholarship, pastoral zeal, and extraordinary homilies, witnessed to the truth, beauty, and goodness of the Holy Trinity.

The list below provides the names and birth/death dates of the Fathers of the Church within the “Post Nicene” (that is, the time after the Council of Nicaea, AD 325) period of Church history. A quick review of each of their contributions will prove to be beneficial to you if you decide to paint a sacred image of them. How can you truly benefit from painting a sacred image of a person that you don’t know! 🙂

I recommend that you refer to my bibliography (“Early Church Fathers”) provided in my post of February 8, 2019. There are a number of different books in that bibliography that will prove to be helpful to you.

The Post Nicene Church Fathers born within the Western (Latin) Rite are:

St. Ambrose (AD 340-397),

St. Jerome (AD 345 – 420),

St. Augustine (AD 345-430),

Pope St. Leo the Great (AD 400 – AD 461),

St. Benedict of Nursia (AD 480 – 547) and

Pope St. Gregory the Great (AD 540 – 604);

the Post Nicene Fathers born within the Eastern (Greek) Rite are:

St. Athanasius (AD 295 -373) – (he straddles the Nicene and Post Nicene Periods),

St. Basil the Great (AD 330 – 379),

St. Gregory of Nazianzus (AD 330 – 390),

St. Gregory of Nyssa (AD 330 – 395)

St. John Chrysostom (AD 345 – 407),

and St. John Damascene (Damascus) (AD 675 – 749)

All of the saints listed, including those in the Greek Rite, are venerated within the Western Rite of the Catholic Church.

Ciao!

Sacred Icons and Sacred Images – the Nicene Debate Continues!

On April 17, 2019 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Arius, Art, Art Education, Artists, Catholic, Catholic Art, Catholic Education, Catholic Spirituality, Catholicism, Christian Spirituality, Christianity, Church History, Council of Nicaea, Deacons, Education, Evangelization, Faith, Greek Orthodox, heresy, Iconography, Icons, Jesus Christ, John Daly- Australia, New Evangelization, New Evangelization of the Catholic Church, Orthodox Art, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, painting, Protestant, Religion, Religious Art, Religious Education, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Russian Orthodox, Sacred Art, Sacred Artists, Sacred Iconography, Sacred Images, Saints, St. Athanasius, St. Spyridon of Cyprus, Teaching, UncategorizedLeave a comment

AyaSofya — A photo of the inside of the Aya Sofya (Hagia Sophia) church in what is the present-day city of Iznik, Turkey. Iznik was called Nicaea prior to the rule of the Ottoman Turks . **This photo shows the interior of one of the rooms in the building complex that served as the location for the First Council of Nicaea (AD 325).** Also, in the late 8th century the Seventh Ecumenical Council met in this building, too. That Council met to debate and decide the issue of iconoclasm (should sacred icons and images be prohibited and destroyed). The written arguments of St. John Damascene (Damascus) won the day and sacred icons were allowed to continue to be made. Iconoclasm was to raise its ugly head again in later years, and came to full fruition during the Protestant rebellion/reformation, the French Revolution, and worldwide Communism in all its cultural forms. This photo of the inside of the Nicaean building is from Bryan Cross’ website: calledtocommunion.com. It was posted in May, 2010. Thanks Bryan!

I would like to thank one of my readers who identified the contemporary icon of St. Spyridon (thanks Carol!). The iconographer is the Catholic priest William Hart McNichols. He is a very talented artist who paints traditional icons and sacred images. At times, he steps out of the bounds of the traditional approach and adds his own personal interpretation of the person he is portraying. His artistic vision is unique.

John Daly from Australia emailed me this morning to provide further grist for our mill concerning St. Athanasius, St. Spyridon, and the Council of Nicaea. One of the participants in his iconography school is a Greek Orthodox lady who is the sister-in-law of an Orthodox priest. He is coincidentally named Athanasius.

John had the opportunity to discuss with her the icons that we were analyzing in my posts of the last few days. She provided John some valuable information by explaining that her mother had given her a beautiful sacred image of the First Council of Nicaea and specifically St. Spyridon’s role in the debate with the heretic Arius. The sacred image is below.

Greek Orthodox sacred image of the First Council of Nicaea. Notice St. Nicholas on the lower right about to possibly physically strike Arius who reacts by pulling away. On the left you see St. Spyridon, holding a brick with flames streaming upward and water puddling below it to the floor (confer yesterday’s post of April 16th to obtain the explanation of that imagery). The room of the actual Council, as portrayed in this sacred image is quite ornate.

Also, like the sacred icon we examined in yesterday’s post we see the Emperor Constantine, dressed in the royal robes of Byzantine reddish purple (almost a maroon) sitting on the right. On the Emperor’s right we again observe a bishop, maybe its Bishop Alexander of Alexandria, Egypt. In front of him we again see a deacon, dressed in what is either an alb or dalmatic (he would have to stand up to see all the garments).

In the above sacred image, the deacon is again seated at the scribe’s desk. This makes sense, since a deacon serves the administrative needs and report’s directly to his bishop. That is true to this day; yet, throughout the world today the local bishop has his deacons serving in parishes, hospitals, prisons, etc. rather than in an administrative capacity in the local chancery. Notice the bishop is behind the deacon scribe to facilitate accurate communication.

The above sacred image, which I have never seen before John Daly sending it to me, is very well done. The painter has captured the meaning of the Council as a whole and two of its major participants: St. Nicholas’, in his famous interaction with the heretic Arius, and the great oratorical and mystical abilities of St. Spyridon challenging Arius, too.

Is the deacon pictured in the painting from the Latin Rite or is he Orthodox? Truly, there is no way to accurately tell because the deacon is seated, and what is showing of the deacon’s stole is inconclusive. Depending on the angle of view both the Western and Eastern Rites’ deacon’s stole placement looks the same.

In today’s painting and in yesterday’s post of the icon, the deacon is seated and the possible vertical panel on the Eastern Rite and Orthodox stole is in shadow or not detectable, yet, the panel that drapes from left shoulder and gathers at the waist is visible, and would appear, as you see below, in both Latin, Eastern, and Orthodox Rites!

Just between you and me, I think the deacon depicted in the icon, from my April 16, 2019 post and today’s, is St. Athanasius from Alexandria, Egypt. The Catholic Church, the Eastern Rites in union with Rome, and all the Orthodox Churches venerate St. Athanasius as a great saint and designate specific feast days for him. He belongs to all of us.

The deacon’s stole in the Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church that are in union with Rome; and, the Greek Orthodox, the Russian Orthodox, and Coptic Orthodox deacon stoles look like this:

Unknown — Orthodox deacon’s stole in a royal Byzantine fabric (in what appears to be a royal maroon purple) is bordered in gold thread with gold crosses. Originating at the left shoulder, gathered at the waist, with the fabric of the stole hanging vertically on the left shoulder both in the front and the back. The stole is worn ***on top of*** the ornate gold and white dalmatic.

The cassock, alb, stole, and dalmatic all have the same meaning and functions in both the Western and Eastern Rites of the Church. In today’s Western, that is, the Latin Rite (Roman Catholic) tradition, a deacon wears the rank of his ministry and ordination, the stole, over the alb but under the dalmatic. Latin Rite deacons would wear their stole’s in this manner:

th-3 — A Roman Catholic deacon’s stole running from the left shoulder and gathered at the waist, then hangs vertically under the right arm. It is worn on top of a white alb, and ***under*** a dalmatic. The dalmatic is *only* worn during Holy Mass. When the deacon performs baptisms, marriage and funeral services, liturgical prayer services, and formal blessings, etc. the deacon would **not** wear a *dalmatic*, so the deacon would appear as in the above photo wearing a simple white or cream colored alb and a stole in the appropriate color.. The stole’s fabric in the photo above is dyed dark purple for Lent; during the season of Advent a purple stole is used, too; sometimes, it is of a lighter purple than the Lenten penitential purple. A white stole would be used for Baptisms. Marriages, Funerals, Holy Thursday services, and during the Easter and Christmas season. Red stoles would be worn at Palm Sunday and Good Friday services, Pentecost, and on the feast days of martyrs.

th-5 — A Roman Catholic deacon’s dalmatic which is worn ***over*** the white alb *and* the stole. The dalmatic is in the corresponding color to the stole. The color green is worn during “Ordinary” time (which is the liturgical period that borders the great seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter).

I’ve really enjoyed this lively information exchange. Thanks to all who participated in it!

May you have a blessed Easter Tridiuum of the Passion and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Peace be with you.

St. Athanasius and St. Spyridon: A Correction and Another Interpretation – Let’s Take A Closer Look!

On April 16, 2019 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Anna Erakhtina, Apologetics, Apostolic Fathers, Archpriest Vladislav Tsypin, Art, Art Education, Artists, Beauty, Catholic, Catholic Art, Catholic Education, Catholic Spirituality, Catholicism, Christian Faith, Christian Spirituality, Christianity, Church History, Council of Nicaea, Culture, discipleship, Education, Evangelization, Faith, God, heresy, History, Holy Trinity, Iconography, Icons, John Daly- Australia, New Evangelization, New Evangelization of the Catholic Church, Orthodox Art, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, painting, Protestant, Religion, Religious Art, Religious Education, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Sacred Art, Sacred Iconography, Sacred Images, Saints, Spirituality, St. Athanasius, St. Spyridon of Cyprus, Teaching, Uncategorized, Zemen Monastery1 Comment

I am always very appreciative of my readers writing to me and providing new information and interpretations of sacred icons and images. Happily, that occurred last evening when a reader, Mr. John Daly from Australia, provided me with information on the second icon that was in yesterday’s post on St. Athanasius. Let me provide you with that image so we will have a reference point:

THE_FIRST_COUNCIL_OF_NICEA — This is the sacred icon of a bishop confronting a heretic at the Council of Nicaea (AD 325). Mr. John Daly of Melbourne, Australia informed me that we should take a closer look at the details of this icon because of how it depicts the bishop’s castigation of the heretic. I concluded erroneously that it must be St. Athanasius since he was a pivotal orthodox figure at the Council. Even though he was a deacon at that time, and not a bishop at the Council, he was ordained a priest and bishop about three years later, so the iconographer just inserted him as a bishop. Mr. Daly recommends a closer look to discover that it is St. Spyridon of Cyprus.

Mr. Daly is correct – it is St. Spyridon (born AD 270, died 340).

Let’s take a look at the reasons for this correction:

The bishop castigating the heretic Arius is wearing a distinctive hat. The hat is unique. It is shaped like a beehive. It is made of woven straw and was traditionally worn by Cypriot and other shepherds tending their flocks – an apt metaphor for a bishop caring for the flock of his faithful.
St. Spyridon was from the island of Cyprus, and eventually became a bishop serving the people of Trimythous, thus, he would have been invited to the First Council of Nicaea as were all the other bishops in Christendom.
At another time, possibly in Cyprus, St. Spyridon was involved in a debate with a pagan philosopher whom he ultimately converted to Christianity. Besides his theological arguments about the Holy Trinity, the good bishop used a piece of pottery or a brick, to demonstrate to the philosopher how you could have one single substance be also composed of three separate substances (pottery and bricks consist of clay, water, and are unified by the substance of fire).
The story of his discussion with the pagan philosopher continues and says that as soon as St. Spyridon finished speaking the piece of pottery or brick burst into flame, water dripped from it, and clay ash remained in his hand. Well that would have been enough to place me on the road to conversion, and so it was with the philosopher, too. If you look closely at the icon above you can perceive the fire bursting out of the brick and the water puddling beneath it. Hmm, I didn’t see that! As Sherlock Holmes once said, “Watson, you see, but you do not observe” (taken from the story A Scandal in Bohemia by Sir A.C. Doyle). Wise advice.
Mr. Daly also relates that it was [and probably still is] common for an iconographer to fuse the two incidents of St. Spyridon converting a pagan, and St. Spyridon at the Council of Nicaea debating with the heretic Arius.
There it is: the beehive woven straw hat, the bishop’s vestments, the water, fire and ash metaphor, the confrontation with an individual that has an opposite argument, and the public venue for both incidents.
So where is St. Athanasius in this icon? Mr. Daly offers that in the upper left corner of the icon, we see an individual portrayed as listening intently to St. Spyridon. He is dressed in a dark alb with a white collar. He suggests that this is St. Athanasius. That argument makes some sense because, as a deacon, Athanasius may not have been up front with the bishops, rather he possibly would be located near the altar ready to perform his diaconal duties. At the same time he is still involved in the proceedings, and/or ready to respond to the needs of his bishop – Alexander of Alexandria. You notice the priests and monks in the back of the room, too, in dark conical monastic hats and cassocks.
My only issue with that interpretation is that the figure portrayed in the upper left does not have a nimbus (halo) circling his head, nor is he wearing his deacon’s stole; however, the scribe in the lower left corner is wearing a deacon’s stole. My stole comes across my chest from the left shoulder and is gathered at the right hip; and the scribe’s stole does the same thing. Is this individual St. Athanasius? There appears to be writing on his stole. I have no proficiency in Greek so I cannot be of help there.
The scribe in the lower left corner has a halo, too, and so do all the bishops. Did the iconographer think that all the bishops present were saints? This is not unlikely, since they produced a Creed for Christendom in three months. Truly, a stunning achievement. It indicates that the assembled bishops were very clear in their own minds what the Faith, based on Scripture and Apostolic Tradition, was all about. The bishops all appear very animated and involved in the Council proceedings. It’s obvious that the Holy Spirit was working within that Council!
There is a lot going on in the upper part of this icon, too. Christ, as a young child, is found walking across what appears to be an altar towards another bishop. That bishop on the upper right is seen discussing some issue with, possibly, another dissenter (a priest, or deacon; even though the priests and deacons in attendance didn’t vote, they certainly could influence the bishop of their diocese on issues and arguments).
Sadly, I believe that the only existing documents that we have concerning this Council that are still in existence are the Nicene Creed itself, the procedural rules of the Council, and Emperor Constantine’s address to the assembled bishops. It is said that many of the bishops came, returned to their dioceses, and then came back to the Council. This probably contributes to the fact that we don’t have all the names of the participating bishops, just those mentioned in other documents or in the stories that were passed on through to the faithful (confer Anna Erakhtina’s article The “Model of Meekness,” and Slapping Arius, at http://www.orthochristian.com, May 22, 2016, specifically the contribution by Archpriest Vladislav Tsypin. He discusses the documents available to us today). If anyone has additional information on the actual participants please tell me your source, and the participants, and I will spread the information through a post.
St. Spyridon was also known as a miracle worker, especially for his successful intervention (caused by the prayers of the soldiers and sailors of the Catholic Rites) in the 1716 battles with the invading Ottoman Turks on the Greek island of Corfu.

John, thanks again; this was a fun interaction.

Additional images of St. Spyridon:

ST. Spyridon Orthodox — A contemporary Sacred Icon of St. Spyridon showing his beehive woven straw hat, his bishops stole, the blazing potsherd or brick with water dripping from it, and his holding the book of the Gospels (dogmatic truth based on the Holy Scriptures and the Sacred Apostolic Traditions of the Western and Eastern Rites of the Catholic Church. If anyone knows that artist that is responsible for this beautiful icon please tell me and I will credit him/her in this post. Icon found on Wikipedia and originates at St. Spyridon Orthodox Church in Loveland, Colorado (thanks to them for posting the image of this magnificent icon).

220px-Zemen-monastery-st-spiridon — A medieval icon of St. Spyridon, wall fresco, Bulgarian Orthodox, found in the Zemen Monastery, Bulgaria. Photograph may have been taken by I.E. Stankov in 2012 using a Canon EOS 600D camera.

In the Roman Catholic Church, St. Spyridon is venerated on his feast day, December 14th; and on December 12th in the Eastern Rites and the Orthodox Church.

Thanks for stopping by and reading this post.

St. Athanasius – Coptic and Eastern Orthodox Icons

On April 15, 2019 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Arius, Art, Art Education, Artists, Catholic, Catholic Art, Catholic Education, Catholic Spirituality, Catholicism, Christian Faith, Christian heresy, Christianity, Church History, Culture, Education, Evangelization, Faith, God, heresy, History, Holy Trinity, Iconography, Icons, Idolatry, Jesus Christ, New Evangelization, New Evangelization of the Catholic Church, Orthodox Art, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, painting, Protestant, Religion, Religious Art, Religious Education, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholic Beliefs, Roman Catholicism, Sacred Art, Sacred Iconography, Sacred Images, Saints, Scriptures, Spirituality, St. Athanasius, Teaching, Uncategorized1 Comment

St. Athanasius of Alexandria was “the Lion” of the Council of Nicaea. He was instrumental in providing well argued testimony rebuking the heretic Arius during the Council’s debates. His verbal skills, as powerful and commanding as a lion, shredded Arius’ arguments. His eloquence convinced the assembled bishops of the correct dogma that Jesus Christ has two, separate and distinct, natures (divine and human), and that Jesus Christ is fully human and fully divine. The heretic Arius insisted that Jesus was “just a creature” of God.

A contemporary icon, completed in The Egyptian Christian Coptic style, of St. Athanasius of Alexandria standing on the back of the heretic Arius (seen in very dark colored clothing) at the Council of Nicaea (AD 325). Athanasius is seen in front of the assembled bishops from the Eastern and Western Rites of the Catholic Church. He is holding the Council’s accepted conclusions in the document known as the Nicene Creed. Notice that he does not have a bishop’s mitre on his head similar to the bishops sitting in attendance behind him, and is dressed in what appears to be a deacon’s dalmatic with cape. The style of this sacred icon is very similar to the style of the Coptic (Egyptian) Orthodox Church’s sacred art; yet, the inscription above his head is in Greek rather than Coptic. Image found at churchofourladyofkazan.org; (thanks to them) throughWikipedia images.

The Council’s main purpose was to address the divine nature of Jesus Christ and the concept of HIs being the Son of God the Father. This had to be done in order to squash the Arian heresy once and for all. It was also to establish a date for the celebration of Easter, resolve organizational and clerical issues, and the development of Church law (what today is called Canon Law). They were also attempting to settle a schism that had occurred in Egypt. That schism was being fomented by another bishop who had enlisted with the heretic Arius.

The Council was also tasked with development of a Christian Creed that would provide unity of belief for both the Eastern and Western Rites of the Church. This unity of belief was critical since the Church needed a formal set of beliefs that could be used as a catechetical tool and a binder that kept all the cultural and geographical “Catholic” churches together.

The Council of Nicaea basically resolved all the main issues of its agenda. It was a stunning achievement. The priest Arius was banished for promoting heresy and his ideas declared anathema. Yet, the problem the Council still faced was convincing Arius’ followers of their heretical errors. Banishment or not, an unrepentant Arius continued to spread his opinions fomenting confusion throughout the Empire.

The Eastern and Western Rites of the Catholic and Orthodox Church have always believed that sacred icons and sacred images are always venerated by the faithful; they have never and are never worshipped.To worship sacred icons, sacred images, statues, and other visual reminders of the glory of God and His saints is against the 1st Commandment (confer Exodus 20: 2-17, and Deuteronomy 5: 6 – 21). If anyone worshipped those visual images they would correctly be called idolaters. Worship is for God alone, that is, the Holy Trinity – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; Three Divine Persons in One God.

Our Savior Jesus Christ is One Person with two natures: human and divine; that is a state of being which is part of the great Mystery of the Incarnation of God into human existence.

Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, sacrificed in Jerusalem through His Passion, Crucifixion, and death. Jesus, following His Father’s will, suffered and died for us in order to atone for all of humanity’s sins (past, present, future). God the Father and God the Holy Spirit responded by raising Jesus from the dead on the third day, ultimately enabling Jesus to interact and be seen by His Apostles and hundreds of disciples.

Truth, Goodness, Beauty, and Love, incarnate in our Savior.

Thanks for stopping by.

May you continue to have a prayerful Holy Week and a joyous Easter Season.

Saint Nicholas Slaps a Heretic! A Reflection Appropriate for Palm Sunday

On April 13, 2019 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Apologetics, Apostolic Fathers, Arius, Art, Art Education, Artists, Beauty, Bible, Catholic, Catholic Art, Catholic Education, Catholic Spirituality, Catholicism, Christian Spirituality, Christianity, Church History, Culture, discipleship, Easter, Education, Evangelization, Faith, God, God the Father, Gospel Teachings, Grace, Greek Orthodox, heresy, History, Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity, Icons, Jesus Christ, New Evangelization of the Catholic Church, Orthodox Art, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Church, Religion, Religious Art, Religious Education, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholic Beliefs, Roman Catholicism, sacred, Sacred Art, Sacred Artists, Sacred Images, Spirituality, St. Athanasius, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The extensive Gospel reading for Palm Sunday relates the Scriptural and historical truth that Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem, yet, five days later He was arrested, put on trial, tortured, and executed.

As you know, the religious and secular leaders of Israel did not accept Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God. They were adamant about the fact that Jesus was just a man and that His claims, teachings, and healings were all fraudulent. Their disbelief took place during the first century, yet, two hundred years later there were Christians saying the same thing.

The questions came down to, “Who is Jesus Christ? Is He a man? Is He God? Is He both?”

These were the same questions that the people of Jerusalem, some of them waving palm branches, and their leaders were asking each other.

In the year 325 scholars and clerics were still grappling with those questions, too.

Many deacons, priests, and bishops of the Church had settled the question in their own mind, yet, all of Christendom was not in agreement. Emperor Constantine was worried; as a military man he knew trouble when he saw it. Religious disagreements could easily spread into civil war. Something had to be done.

Stories have come down to us through the centuries that St. Nicholas of Myra, a faith-filled bishop, decided to defend Sacred Tradition and the Scriptural interpretation of the reality of Jesus as the Son of God the Father. The story relates that he not only vigorously defended Sacred Tradition but became so worked up that during one of the debates he slapped the author of this heresy which was called Arianism.

But, was it a verbal or physical slap?

Let’s take a brief look at some of the details:

Partial icon of the “incident” at the 1st Council of Nicaea. Immortalized in an early icon. The Early Church was well aware of the importance of this Council in debating and agreeing to the specific dogmas of the Church that would be ultimately proclaimed in the Nicene Creed. All catechumens that enter the Church at the Easter Vigil Mass proclaim their belief in the great Sacred Mysteries and historical truths of the Nicene Creed.

Who: Saint Nicholas of Myra, Bishop, (Myra, an Ancient Greek city on the coast of present day Turkey), vs. Arius, priest from the diocese of Alexandria, (Alexandria, a city on Egypt’s Mediterranean coastline). Emperor Constantine, Roman Empire, centered in the new city named in his honor: Constantinople (present day Istanbul, Turkey). Constantine convenes an ecumenical council of bishops from the five major patriarchies of Christendom (Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, Jerusalem, and Rome).

What: Supposed incident of Bishop Nicholas “slapping” the priest Arius, at the first ecumenical Council of Bishops: the Council of Nicaea. This was the first Council since the Council of Jerusalem (held in the first century and was attended by luminaries such as St. Peter and St. James).

When: Late Spring and early Summer of the year 325.

Why: The incident concerned the critical issue of who is Jesus Christ, and whether Jesus Christ is “the same in being and the same in essence” as God the Father. Arius was promoting the heresy that Jesus Christ was “just a creature” of God and not a divine Person of the Holy Trinity.

Where: Nicaea, an ancient city in Asia Minor; it is the present day city of Iznik, Turkey.

As it applies to sacred art, the Council of Nicaea provided a specific creed: a set of theological proclamations that impacted sacred artists from the 4th century to the present day. It is stated clearly in this Creed that God the Father has communicated His love, mercy, and laws to humanity through His revealed word in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. This action culminated in the ministry, passion, death, and resurrection of His incarnated Word, His Son Jesus Christ.

The Nicene Creed definitively proclaimed that Jesus Christ is the same in essence, and the same in being, as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. So we have the great Mystery of the Incarnation, the nature of Jesus Christ: He is both human and divine – the Son of God – One Person with two natures – human and divine.

The day-to-day proceedings and debate notes of the Council have been lost to history, so we will never know if St. Nicholas gave Arius a physical or just a verbal “slap.” Regardless, St. Nicholas made his point and contributed to giving us the gift of the Nicene Creed.

In AD 381, the Nicene Creed was edited and amended at the First Council of Constantinople (thus, the Creed is called the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed. Try to say that phrase fast, three times!😃).

Thanks for visiting with me. May you have a prayer-filled Holy Week.

Sources for the above post are found in my bibliography post, entitled Early Church Fathers – A Short bibliography of February 8, 2019. I relied primarily on Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s works, also Aquilina and D’Ambrosio’s volumes.

Copyright © 2011- 2019, Deacon Paul O. Iacono – All Rights Reserved. Permission to reprint must be obtained from the author in writing. Students may quote small sections of the article as long as the proper credit and notation is given. Thank you.

Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32. The Prodigal: Which Brother Are We?

On March 31, 2019March 31, 2019 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Art, Bible, Catholic Art, Catholic Education, Catholic Spirituality, Catholicism, Christian Faith, Christian Spirituality, Christianity, Compassion, Confession, Conversion, Culture, discipleship, Education, Evangelization, Faith, God, God the Father, Gospels of Jesus Christ, Healing, Holy Spirit, Hope, Jesus Christ, Lent, Parables of Jesus, Reconciliaton, Religion, Religious Art, Religious Education, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, sacred, Sacred Art, Scriptures, St. Paul, Teaching, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I once heard a friend repeat a quote by the author Katherine Mansfield: If you wish to live, you must first attend your own funeral.”

How true. We begin to live life perceptively only when we project ourselves to the time of our own death, imagining how we’ve lived our life and wondering whether we’ve met the mark.

Depending on our frame of mind, and perspective on life, we may not include the spiritual in our self-assessment, or, only give it a passing thought. That is why Mansfield’s phrase may be viewed as spiritually deficient.

In today’s Gospel on the parable of the Prodigal Son there are family members that Jesus is requiring us to understand. The behavior of these people, the father and the two sons, provokes four questions. Questions not so much about our secular situation but our spiritual – our relation to God, and, each other.

At first glance, the younger son impresses us as an individual who is quite selfish. When he requests his inheritance from his father, he isn’t just asking for the cash, he is in effect saying to his father: “I want to live my life now and without any strings attached. To me you’re unimportant, this family is unimportant. Just let me get on with my life and give me my share right now.”

Are we living in a way that categorizes God? Are we willing to acknowledge Him only because we want to get something out of Him? Do we play upon His charity and generosity?

If this is so, if we have the younger son’s attitude, we end up like him – swimming with the pigs. What will be our inheritance? It will undoubtedly be spiritual poverty and secular discontent. Sadly, sometimes people understand this only in the last few months of their life, or, in the moments right before their death.

Jesus is teaching us that the prodigal son was only able to enter into a state of recovery when he “attended his own funeral.” When he was able to perceive his own personal endpoint, his own material and spiritual poverty. He was finally able to admit that he was grievously wrong only when this realization slammed into his consciousness.

His new perception demanded that he learn the root causes of his problem, reject his worldly self, and humbly ask for repentance. He needed to realize that his father and family were all important to his happiness. This required acceptance of and humbly requesting his father’s mercy and love.

This perception did not demand psychoanalysis. He did not need years of therapy on a psychologist’s couch. He had the intelligence to figure it out because he confronted himself as he truly was and extended that personal analysis to his family and surroundings. He acknowledged his sins, and how truly needy he was of his father’s love and mercy.

We are half way through the Season of Lent. Like the younger son, have we confronted our own faults, our lack of perception, and yes – our own sins?

The Prodigal says: “I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you.”

This is the turning point in the Prodigal’s life. It can also be ours.

Improvement begins with a decision to change the way we do things, the way we behave and perceive reality, both in a secular and spiritual sense. If you are a Western Rite Catholic, this is accomplished in three ways: Sacramental Confession, prayer, and resolution of purpose. Reconciliation is always possible. Our God is a God of justice, but also, a God of infinite familial love and mercy.

Do we behave like the younger son or the elder son? Are our hearts cold?

What the younger son ultimately accepts the elder son initially rejects. At first, the elder son resents the generosity of the father’s love – he resents the generosity of the act of forgiveness. It appears that he is unable to accept his repentant brother or his generous father.

Does this, in any way, apply to us? Do we ignore the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit’s love for us; do we resent people who have converted, changed their spiritual way of life? Or do we continue to judge them as if they were still enveloped by their sins? Do we verbalize our resentment or question their repentance? Are we unwilling to repent of these attitudes? Are our hearts cold?

I am a sinner and you are a sinner. There are very few people on this earth that are living saints. Regardless of whether our sins are small or large, visible or hidden, it is paramount that we remember the words of St. Paul: God the Father “reconciles us to Himself [through the passion and death of His Son] and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. Be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him [Jesus Christ] to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5: 17-21).

We need to take stock of ourselves this Lenten season, repent and return to the Father’s embrace. This can only be done through the Sacrament of Confession/Reconciliation – a Sacrament made possible through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

the-return-of-the-prodigal-son-illustration-for-the-life-of-christ1.jpglarge — Painting by James Tissot (French; 1836 – 1902). “Return of the Prodigal Son.”

Thank you for reading this post.

The Holy Trinity – Communication Through Word and Art

On March 27, 2019 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Apologetics, Art, Beauty, Bible, Catholic, Catholic Art, Catholic Education, Catholic Spirituality, Catholicism, Christian Faith, Christian Spirituality, Christianity, Church History, Communication, Culture, discipleship, Easter, Evangelization, Faith, God, God the Father, Gospel Teachings, Gospels of Jesus Christ, History, Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity, Hope, Icons, Jesus Christ, New Evangelization of the Catholic Church, Orthodox Art, Religion, Religious Art, Religious Education, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Russian Orthodox, Sacred Art, Sacred Iconography, Scriptures, Spirituality, St. Andrei Rublev, Teaching, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Is communication just a trait of human beings? Is it a trait of God?

The Dogma of the Holy Trinity is one of the great Mysteries of the Christian Faith. All Christians acknowledge and accept that The One True God, the divine Holy Trinity, are three separate and distinct Persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity is not three separate Gods. They are one God in three Divine Persons. This is known as the dogma of the “consubstantial” Trinity: each of the three Persons is God – completely and entirely.

These ideas were debated and verified by the assembled bishops at the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325 and subsequent Councils (specifically the ecumenical Council of Nicaea/Constantinople in AD 381).

In the 13th century the Fourth Lateran Council stated: “Each of the Persons is that supreme reality (nature, essence, and substance) of God” (confer Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd edition, paragraphs 198 through 315, pp. 54-84).

These three Divine Persons relate and communicate among themselves and desire to communicate and relate with Their creation. This is verified through Holy Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the historic teachings of the Apostles, the Ecumenical Councils, and the saints of the Church.

The first of Their creation, the nine choirs of angels, communicate with God and each other, too.

Obviously, human beings communicate and relate through speech, behavior, and the written word, though at times, not very well. To a much lesser extent, there is “communication” in the other members of the animal kingdom (by instinct, chemical, and behavioral signals) and in the plant kingdom (through chemical signals).

God the Father has communicated specifically through His Word, the incarnated Son, Jesus Christ. In accordance with the Father’s will the human Jesus is “born of a woman” into space and time through the great Mystery of the Incarnation of Christ.

Jesus agreed to humbly obey His Father’s will. Through His Incarnation the Divine Son Jesus expresses His two natures: human and divine. He does this while “hiding” the full majesty of His divinity (except for the moments of His Transfiguration, Resurrection, and subsequent appearances to His Apostles).

The Holy Spirit (as the Council of Florence stated in 1439) “Is eternally from the Father and Son; He has His nature and subsistence at once from the Father and the Son. He proceeds eternally from both as from one principle and through one spiration (the life-giving breath of God).”

“When the Father sends His Word to His Creation He also sends His Breath. “Jesus and the Holy Spirit are on a joint mission, while at the same time being distinct but inseparable. It is the Son who is seen, the visible image of the invisible God, while it is the Holy Spirit that reveals Him.” (please refer to page 181 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd edition, also pages 54 through 90).

The Holy Spirit communicates and spiritually shapes us through the Holy Scriptures, liturgical and private prayer, the teachings of the Western and Eastern Rites of the Church, and with the Father and Son in the seven Holy Sacraments (in the Eastern Rites – the Holy Mysteries).

The solemnity of Pentecost recalls the full expression of the Holy Spirit’s “Fruits and Gifts” to the Apostles, and through the Holy Sacraments to us, too (refer in the Christian Scriptures to the Acts of the Apostles chapter 2, verses 1 – 42; and in St. Paul’s letters to the Galatians chapter 5: verses 22 ff; and 1st Corinthians chapter 12, verses 4 ff; also refer in the Hebrew Scriptures to the book of the prophet Isaiah chapter 11, versus 2 – 3).

iconorininal — *“The Trinity”:* early 15th century; egg tempera and gold on wood panel by St. Andrei Rublev (1370 – 1430). St. Rublev was a Russian Orthodox monk. He resided and “wrote” with egg tempera paint to produce images of God, the angels, and the saints in sacred icons. He lived at St. Sergius Monastery in Moscow, Russia. His sacred icon above captures some of the truth of the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity communicating with each other. God the Son, Jesus Christ, is the figure in the center of this painting. You see two of His fingers extended to express His human and divine nature, and in a pointing gesture, to the “Cup of His Blood” made manifest through His Redemptive sacrifice. In this masterpiece you observe the colors blue representing divine life and purple madder/burgundy signifying Christ’s humanity. God the Father is on your left and God the Holy Spirit is on your right. The Holy Spirit is garbed in blue and in green as a symbol of new life and spiritual growth through prayer and the Holy Sacraments (Holy Mysteries). God the Father is painted in both blue, green, and a very light, transparent gold ochre. The First Council of Nicaea (AD 325) verified and promoted the Dogma of the Holy Trinity. This Dogma was reaffirmed, and further explained by the Council of Nicaea/Constantinople in AD 381.

trinityicon — A contemporary copy of the original *Trinity* by Rublev.

God the Father sent His Son to be born of a woman through the fecundity of the Holy Spirit. The Incarnation of Jesus Christ changed the Universe. God became flesh and walked among us. Why? In order to teach, heal, and redeem us from our sins. The New Covenant with His creation is written in His Blood. There is, if you have the gift of faith, ample proof that God wants to communicate with you.

It is up to each man and woman to honestly determine whether or not they are ignoring Him, and if so, to decide what to do about it. Time is short.

God is a God of Compassion

On March 24, 2019 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Beauty, Catholic, Catholic Education, Catholic Spirituality, Catholicism, Christian Spirituality, Christianity, Compassion, Conversion, Culture, Faith, Franciscans, God, Gospel Teachings, Healing, Hope, Jesus Christ, Lent, Orthodox Christianity, Prodigal Son, Religion, Rembrandt, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Sin, Spirituality, UncategorizedLeave a comment

“God of all compassion, Father of all goodness,

to heal the wounds our sins and selfishness bring upon us

You bid us turn to fasting, prayer, and sharing with our brothers and sisters.

We acknowledge our sinfulness, our guilt is ever before us;

when our weakness causes discouragement,

let your compassion fill us with hope

and lead us through a Lent of repentance to the beauty of Easter joy.

Grant this through Christ our Lord.”* Amen.

*Roman Breviary – Vol. 2; Third Sunday of Lent, Evening Prayer I, Closing Prayer, pg. 210.

Rembrandt_Harmensz._van_Rijn_-_The_Return_of_the_Prodigal_Son_-_Detail_Father_Son

Rembrandt-The_return_of_the_prodigal_son — Rembrandt van Rijn, *The Return of the Prodigal Son*, c. 1661–1669.

Ken Jan Woo – sacred artist

On July 9, 2012July 9, 2020 By Deacon Paul O. IaconoIn Art, Artists, Catholic Art, Christianity, Education, Hope, Iconography, Icons, Ken Jan Woo, Martyrs, Religious Art, Roman Catholic, Sacred Art, Sacred Images, Uncategorized5 Comments

Please see my post of July 9, 2020 entitled Chinese Martyrs and the Art of Ken Jan Woo. Thank you.

The Fra Angelico Institute for Sacred Art

Tag: Uncategorized

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God is a God of Compassion

Ken Jan Woo – sacred artist

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