The Work of Art as Religious Enactment. Georges de la Tour’s The Repentant Magdalene (essay by David Jasper)
In the art of the Counter-Reformation, Mary Magdalene, like other saints, could sometimes be enlisted as an instrument of ecclesial propaganda in the celebration of the sacraments: in Francesco Vanni’s painting The Last Communion of Mary Magdalen (c. 1600), for example, the legendary Bishop Maximim (who was, according to The GoldenLegend, one of Christ’s original seventy-two disciples to whom St. Peter had particularly entrusted Mary), administers communion to the dying woman in a visual affirmation of the triumph of the Eucharist and of the Catholic faith over the incursions of Protestantism. But the clear implication is that the artist La Tour gives us something other, and far more than mere religious propaganda. In looking at this picture we literally join with Mary herself in her act of contemplation. Together we look into the glass, seeing, respectively, her beautiful face and the death skull, each of which she is touching. Life becomes death and death becomes, in Mary, beautiful. Through our commonality with Mary in the watching, we also touch the skull as it literally rests on the very pages of scripture, a real presence though the skull is in shadow, while her face is beautifully illuminated. Thus, to see the picture is to enter into it, and as we respond thereby to Mary’s beauty it is not, as it might have been in her former life, with the erotic gaze fuelled by aspects of the sensual, but with a sense of her human beauty already transformed and transfigured in life and through death. Mary herself, in her bodily presence, has taken us through the history of her life, which is ours also in the journey towards salvation and righteousness, and if we see in the mirror the sign of our passage through this fallen life into the next, we see in Mary’s face the overcoming of death in her ageless beauty which is her real presence amongst us. In La Tour’s art, the woman of scripture and of fabulous legend has become a reality which we know and respect, and all anecdotal and extraneous detail is eliminated in that universal stillness which Blunt so well describes. Such still-looking and profound contemplation is itself, I suggest, nothing less for us than a liturgical act.
My Wife
A woman of valor, who can find? Far beyond pearls is her value.
Her husband’s heart trusts in her and he shall lack no fortune.
She is like a merchant’s ships; from afar she brings her sustenance.
She rises while it is still nighttime, and gives food to her household and a ration to her maids.
She considers a field and buys it; from the fruit of her handiwork she plants a vineyard.
She girds her loins with might and strengthens her arms.
She senses that her enterprise is good, so her lamp is not extinguished at night.
She puts her hand to the distaff, and her palms support the spindle.
She spreads out her palm to the poor and extends her hands to the destitute.
Strength and splendor are her clothing, and smilingly she awaits her last day.
She opens her mouth with Wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She anticipates the needs of her household, and the bread of idleness, she does not eat.
Her children rise and celebrate her; and her husband, he praises her:
“Many daughters have attained valor, but you have surpassed them all.”
False is grace, and vain is beauty; a God-fearing woman, she should be praised.
Give her the fruit of her hands, and she will be praised at the gates by her very own deeds.
-Proverbs 31(edited)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 20 Things I Wish I’d Known When I Was 30
This is a really lovely piece from a genuine class act. A guy who really is worth paying attention to. I just turned 32, and I’m still trying to figure out how to live a balanced, grown-up life. Kareem gets it.
Numbers 1, 6, and 12 for sure. And yes to all the rest as well.
Today marks one year since my last chemo infusion. My life is richer from that suffering. I can sense Jesus more clearly now than I ever could have without it. Pray with me for anyone suffering the gift and trial of cancer today.
Also, my wife is heroic- more on this later.
On a close read, it seems that Pope Francis believes that we must — indeed, that God is calling us to — relax.
Responding to the question, “Do we need to rediscover the meaning of leisure?” Pope Francis replies: “Together with a culture of work, there must be a culture of leisure as gratification. To put it another way: people who work must take the time to relax, to be with their families, to enjoy themselves, read, listen to music, play a sport. But this is being destroyed, in large part, by the elimination of the Sabbath rest day. More and more people work on Sundays as a consequence of the competitiveness imposed by a consumer society.” In such cases, he concludes, “work ends up dehumanizing people.”
And with that, I’m leaving my computer. Pope Francis strikes again.
Talking Your Tech | Ten Great Apps
Looking for the next great app? On our Talking Your Tech series, we always personalities and newsmakers for their tips on favorite apps. Here are 10 of their recent picks.
Coco Rocha loves Pictwo!
The Animals - We’ve Got To Get Out Of This Place (Shindig! 1965) (by nyrainbow5)
This is officially my favorite music video ever. Ever. EVER.
Someday stop & imagine this:
In 15 or so decades, after you’re gone, there will come a day- a morning, midday, evening or night. On this day, there will be one person who is the last living person to ever know you and they will die. After that day the sun will rise on a new morning. Does your hope die on that day? Do you have a hope that can outlast the death of the memory of you?
Dove Real Beauty Sketches (by tvmamamia)
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“The Church has become close to me in its distrust of man, and my distrust of form, my urgent desire to withdraw from it, to claim ‘that that is not...”
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“I have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked too hard...
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“It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done...”
