Elementary My Dear Watson

Elementary My Dear Watson

Vincent Travers OP

It’s a powerful story. It is a challenging one. It’s meant to encourage minds to think and eyes to see. Sherlock Holmes, and Watson, his loyal friend and student, were on a camping trip in the countryside. After a good meal, they lay down for the night and went to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes woke up his faithful friend with a nudge. “Watson,” he said, “look up at the sky and tell me what you see.” “I see millions and millions of stars,” replied Watson.

“What does that tell you?” Holmes asked.

Watson pondered the question and said, “Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galax- ies and potentially millions of planets. Astrologically, I observe Saturn is in Leo. Homologically, I deduce it is approximately a quar- ter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignifi- cant. Meteorologically, I forecast tomorrow will be a beautiful day. What does it tell you?”

Holmes was silent for a minute before speaking. “Watson, you idiot” he said with a measure of restraint, “someone has stolen our tent.”

For those who have no tent over their heads and stick only to scientific explanations of the world, with no hope of a future beyond death, it is a disturbing story. It reveals a mindset hostile to religious truth.

Human Folly

Human beings cannot breach the gap between infinite and finite, creator and creature, mortal and immortal. Yet we demand God conform to our image and likeness. God does not dance to our tune. There are no easy answers about God. We have to quit playing God. God is unlimited; we are limited. God is not a definition. When we define God we lose him.

God is a hidden God. The bible tells us that nobody can see God and live. When Moses asks to see God, God tells him to stand between the rocks. Moses did what he was told. God covers his face and then passes and Moses gets to look at God’s back. He never saw his face. It would have been too overpowering. (Exodus 33:18-33).

Were God to show his face in prayer, the radiance of his glory would be too much. We would not be able to cope with his dazzling glow. We would be blinded, over whelmed, overawed. So God in his kindness turns down the radiance of his glory, and that means after prayer, we are able to go back to our lives, pick up where we left off, without the glow, and carry on as a normal human being.

Human beings complain that God is not immediately evident in our dysfunctional world. But that is as it should be. We are but human beings.

To live in the full glory of God would be too much for us.

Self-Knowledge

Moreover, we know very little about ourselves. We know what we feel, what we long for, whom we love, hate, judge. Everything we know about ourselves comes through our senses. Our knowledge of ourselves is patchy. God is the only one who knows us comprehensively. When we deny God’s existence, we reject the one person who knows us completely, with the result we become strangers to ourselves and others. C.S. Lewis rightly said, “I believe Christianity as I believe the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” There is no magic wand to wave or short- cut whereby everything becomes clear. We have to make the effort to find meaning in life. Sooner or later we have to discover that there is another world out there, and for the sake of our sanity, and well- being, the sooner we discover it the better, otherwise we struggle to live sane, authentic, and meaningful lives.

Dismissive Mentality

Why are so many dismissive of Christianity? Often it is because we have grown up in a culture that is overwhelmingly secular and antireligion. In a secular culture, it is not cool to be religious. Religion is seen like an ugly skin blemish and pardon my English it is not sexy. That mentality is akin to little kids showing off in the playground in front of their mates. When this mindset prevails we miss the clues to the meaning of life. Not surprisingly, those who hunger for religious truth are ridiculed and mocked. Bertrand Russell, one of the best known atheists of the 21st century, wrote in’ Triumph of Stupidity”: “In the modern world, the stupid are cocksure, while the intelligent are full of doubts.”

Problem

GK Chesterton wrote that the real trouble with the world is not that it is an unreasonable one or a reasonable one. The main problem is that it is nearly reasonable, but not quite. He is right. Only so much of life can be understood by reason; so much falls short of any reasonable explanation. Common sense tells us that. But common sense is rare. If common sense were common, more of us would have it. Secularism will not win the day. Atheism will not win the day.

GPS

If you struggle with some aspects of our Christian faith, you are not alone. Others have travelled the same road and have, eventually, found God. Our relationship with God is not simple or straight for- ward. It is complex because we are complex. Yes, there are challenges to our beliefs. Yes, there will be dark nights of the soul. Yes, there are questions that haunt us until we see God face-to-face. God has the best GPS System. God will see right those, whatever their religion is, who seek the truth with good will.

He has done it for others; he will do it for us. And one day we will hear him say to you, “Well done! Well done!”

Question Box

Question 1. Could you please tell me about St. Dominic the founder of the Dominican Order whose feast day is celebrated on the 8th of August.

Answer:

The Church has a great variety of saints. Some become a kind of living image of holiness like St. Francis of Assisi or our own St. Martin de Porres who was a member of St. Dominic’s order. Unlike many other saints Dominic did not attract veneration nor was he a cult figure during his lifetime. He lived on in the Church and is remembered because of his preaching of the gospel and for the Order which he founded with that purpose – to preach.

In the decree of canonization of St. Dominic in 1234, Pope Gregory the 9th called Dominic a man of the gospels in the footsteps of the Redeemer.’ He dedicated his life to preaching the gospel and founded an Order of Preachers, better known as the Dominicans, to continue this great work. Last year we celebrated the 800th centenary of the foundation of the Dominicans.

He told his followers that they should be always speaking about God or with God, and that is how he lived himself. Dominic used to spend most of the night in prayer. He was devoted to the bible and always carried St. Matthew’s gospel and the epistles of St. Paul with him and he encouraged his followers to be eager students of God’s word. From the testimony of people who knew him, Dominic was easy to live with and was always cheerful.

Question 2. Could you please explain to me the ways in which Christ is present in our world and in particular, how is he present in the Blessed Eucharist?

Answer

Thank you for your question. Christ is present in many ways in the world in which we live. He is present when we gather in prayer for He promised, “when two or three gather in my name I will be with you.” He is present in his Church, present in His word, and we see Him in the goodness and the kindness of our neighbour. He is present in all the Sacraments but His presence in the Blessed Eucharist is described as the ‘Real Presence.’ This does not mean that the other ways in which Christ is present are artificial or false. We say ‘Real Presence’ to emphasise that Jesus Christ, God and Man (‘body, blood, soul and divinity’) is present in person on the altar in the form of bread and wine. It is more than a spiritual presence. It is not just a symbolic presence. He is
present as one person is present to another person in the house. And after mass when the Blessed Eucharist is reserved in the Tabernacle, His presence there allows us to come to Him at any time to seek help and guidance in our lives.

No Shortcut To Heaven

In early August we celebrate the Transfiguration of Christ. We can easily get the impression that everything was different for Christ. All he had to do was to say ‘let it be done’ and it was done. After all he was God’s Son. But, even though he was instantly transfigured in the presence of his disciples on the mountain top, we know that Christ’s final glorification only came about after a lifetime of obedience to the father. He had to endure his passion and death before his glorious Ascension into Heaven.

There is no shortcut to glory. No easy way. Conversion is a lifetime work. We sin so often and with such regularity that there are times when we may feel like giving up. But conversion and change for the better is a slow process and it needs a lifetime dedication. We pray for the grace of perseverance, a stronger faith and a deeper awareness of God’s loving and helpful presence in our lives.

My interest and admiration of all things Art Deco, began with a visit some years ago to the magnificent Musee d’Orsay in Paris. Displays there covered all aspects of this distinctively luxurious style. It was certainly one of the most influential decorative styles in the first half of the twentieth century; particularly in the period between the two World Wars.

The Art Deco movement first appeared in France in the 1920s taking its name from 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes. Although it drew its inspiration from past art movements, one of the main features of Art Deco style was its orientation towards the future.

After its debut in Paris, this unique art movement gripped the imagination of nations worldwide, bringing its sleek lines and decorative style to architecture, furniture, jewellery, arts, and many other forms.

During its heyday in the early part of the twentieth century, Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, and technological progress. The wealthy traveled in luxurious ocean liners, bringing along the films, magazines, artistry, style and atmosphere of this new floor tall building crowned by a style.

Patterns

The easiest way to identify the most influencing style of the 1920s and 1930s is through its patterns. One of the main characteristics of Art Deco patterns are the use of mathe- matical geometric shapes, but also the architectural forms of Babylon, Assyria, Ancient Egypt, and Aztec Mexiconotably their ziggurats, pyramids and other monumental structures. However, in the later period of the movement, the pat- terns were known for their curving forms and long horizontal lines, characterised by rich colours, bold geometric shapes and lavish orna- mentation. Creators and designers used these patterns as the basis for decorating furniture, cars, buildings and houses; while visual artists use them in paintings, posters and drawings.

Art Deco Architecture

The skyscrapers of Manhattan built between the 1920s and 30s, marked the summit of the Art Deco style. Art Deco patterns were widely used for designing the interiors and lobbies of government buildings, theatres, and particularly office buildings. One of the most stunning examples of such interiors can be found in New York’s famous Chrysler Building constructed in 1930. It is a giant seventy seven stainless steel spire, and is ornamented by deco “gargoyles”. The architect of the building, was William van Alen. He intentionally decorated the lobby of the building so that it echoes the modernity of the outside, using geometric shapes in glass, ceramics and stainless steel.

Similar buildings soon appeared in Chicago and other large American and European cities. London has some of the most impressive and timeless examples of UK Art Deco Architecture which has left its mark on that capital city. Although the glamour associated with the style naturally lent itself to buildings purposed to house entertainment, such as cine- mas or theatres, here the style was also employed by many tube sta- tions, cafes, factories, as well as offices and apartment blocks, meaning it could be enjoyed by all.

Interiors and furniture

Art Deco interiors and furniture was very popular in America and Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. They were considered very glam- orous, elegant, functional, and modern. Art Deco interiors were all about making a big statement. Bold geometric patterns with hard angles. At the same time, the generous use of gold, steel and a variety of expensive materials spoke to the wealth that so many new industries were creating.

Furniture created during Art Deco’s early years tended to be an expensive luxury. Some furniture used rich hard woods like Ebony or Macassar, while others incor- porated modern materials like Aluminum and Chrome. Chairs, dressers and cabinets featured smooth, highly polished surfaces that reflected light. Bold colours like black and red were popular.

Most paintings and sculpture of the Art Deco period were, as the name suggests, purely decorative; it was designed not for museums, but to ornament office buildings, government buildings, public squares. Many Art Deco sculptures were small; designed to decorate private salons; while others were large pieces designed to be admired by many.

One of the most popular Art Deco salon sculptors was the Romanian born Demétre Chiparus, who produced colourful small sculptures of dancers that adorned many a salon. One of the best known and certainly the largest Art Deco sculpture is the Christ the Redeemer by the French sculptor Paul Landowski, completed between 1922 and 1931, located on a mountain top overlooking Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Graphic Art

Art Deco appeared early in the graphic arts, in the years just before World War 1. It appeared in Paris in the posters and the costume designs of Leon Bakst for the Ballets Russes, in the catalogues of fashion designers such as Paul Poiret; in images in fashion magazines such as La Gazette du bon ton, which perfectly captured the elegance and sensuality of the style, and in travel posters, made for steamship lines and airlines. Art Deco also influenced the work of American book illustrators such as Rockwell Kent.

Jewellery

Art Deco jewellery, focused on bold, geometric designs. Diamonds were often placed in combination with onyx for a sharp, black and white contrast, or coloured gems like emeralds and rubies to form abstract designs. Art Deco was also influenced by motifs originally seen in China, Japan and India, as well as Egypt. The opening of King Tutankahmun’s tomb there in 1922 was a huge discovery; and jewellery and artefacts found sealed inside were incorporated into jewellery design.

Fashion

Unlike the small waists and large bustles of the Victorian Era, early Art Decor fashion was marked by the newfound simplicity and a richness in colour and fabric that defines the period. Between 1911 and 1919, dresses moved to a narrow, relaxed, almost semi-fitted silhouette reminiscent of the Empire period. Designs such as those by French fashion designer Paul Poiret, were a fusion of western fashion com- bined with “exotic” influences of ancient Egypt and region- al folk styles; and later by the abstract, graphic designs char- acteristic of art deco in other media.

Art Deco Legacy

Art Deco reached its height over 80 years ago; however, its influence is still very much alive and present. It left an indelible mark on our world, with some of the greatest examples still standing tall today. From the skyscrapers in New York, to smoky jazz cafes in Paris, from apartment buildings in Bombay to ceramics, metal and graphic works in Japan. While many other art movements have come and gone, Art Deco retains a certain level of everlasting popularity; and continues to be a source of inspiration in such areas as decorative art, fashion and jewellery design.

Art Deco was a celebration of life in its most luxurious form; and in my opinion there really wasn’t, nor shall be, anything else quite like it.

Making A Difference

Michael Clifford

At various levels society there are those who work away in the background, making a difference. Two individuals who fit into that category in this country are Fr Sean Healy SMA and Sr Brigid Reynolds SM.

This pair are two of the main drivers behind the organisation Social Justice Ireland. This organisation does what it says on the tin, striving to ensure that a just society is designed for all. Those seeking more fairness in society work in many different ways. Some go out on the frontline, redistributing food and clothes to those most in need. Others might provide their own specialist services, in for instance, medicine or finance, to do their bit.

Social Justice Ireland, on the other hand, deals in what might be called the big picture. The organistion researches extensively in the socioeconomic field on how best to design policies that would contribute to greater equality in society. Having formulated such policies

Social Justice Ireland then promotes and lobbies government to implement them for the greater good. This is the most difficult hurdle to be faced. The reality in modern day politics is that those who are most vulnerable in society are forced often to rely on assistance rather than acquire a basic standard of living by way of a right. Attempting to change that skewed version of an equitable society is the daily struggle for Sean Healy and Brigid Reynolds.

Work of SJI highly regarded

The quality of work that Social Justice Ireland does is highly regarded not just in this country but aboard. This was reflected in an invitation to Sean Healy earlier this month to attend the UN in New York and present a paper.

Among the recommendations he made was one for the introduction of a basic income. This is a policy that SJI has been pursuing for a number of years and it is also one that is catching on in various centres across Europe in particular.

A system of basic income would ensure that every citizen receives a regular income from the state in addition to anything they may receive or earn themselves. The level of income should be designed to be enough to meet a person’s basic needs.

This would thus eliminate poverty and ensure that all citizens are starting from an equal footing. A study by Social Justice Ireland in 2012 showed that such a system would be affordable with a 45% income tax rate and would ensure a better income for a majority of the population.

SJI also strongly advocates that we must view society in a holistic, all inclusive manner, rather than on how the economy is faring.

No connection with any Church

Social Justice Ireland has no connection with any church but its two principles did begin their campaigning lives through the Conference of Religious In Ireland (CORI).

CORI is an umbrella group for 138 religious institutes and orders in Ireland, north and south. In 1982, the group set up a justice office which was charged with formulating policies of social jus- tice in line with the church’s 12 Saint Martin Magazine ethos. The office was staffed by Brigid Reynolds, and Jesuit priest Fr Bill McKenna. The following year Fr Healy came on board.

Over the following twenty five or so years the commission gained a reputation for solid research in the socioeconomic field which strongly advocated for a more just society.

Their campaigning reached a high point of sorts in 2004, when Fianna Fail, which was in government, invited Fr Healy to their pre-Dail term retreat in west Cork to tell the politicians what they needed to do to work towards a fairer society. For Sean this was a homecoming of sorts, providing him with a platform to push his cause in Inchedonny which lies in the heart of his native West Cork.

In 2009, there was agreement in CORI that Sean and Brigid would move on from CORI and set up a separate organisation that would allow greater involvement from individuals and groups out side the church.

Social Justice Ireland was born and has continued carrying on the same work in a new environment with an independent board.

For Sean Healy there is one secret to attempting to change society and bring greater equality to all.

“My one rule has three words,” he says. “Persistence, persistence, persistence.”

Assumed Into Heaven

And Mary exclaimed,

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord And my spirit rejoices in God my saviour; Because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid. Yes from this day forward all generations will call me blessed, For the Almighty has done great things for me.”

Luke 1:46-49

The legend goes that two angels were once sent down from heaven each with a basket. They went from place to place, from door to door, to poor houses and rich houses, to children saying their prayers, the people in the churches, old and young. Then at length they came flying back with their loads. The basket borne by one angel was full to overflowing, while the other was very light, hardly worthwhile one would have thought to have travelled so far and collected so little. “What have you in the basket?” asked one angel of the other.

I was sent to collect the prayers of people who said, “I want and please send me,” answered the angel who carried the heavy load. And “what have you in yours? “Oh” replied the angel who had little or nothing in the basket, I was sent to collect the ‘thank you’ of all the people to whom God had sent a blessing but see how few have remembered to give thanks.”

What we have in the gospel today is Mary’s beautiful prayer of thanksgiving for the gift of new life in her womb. It is one of the best loved of all Christian prayers and one of the most beautiful in the whole of the scriptures, often referred to as the Magnificat. The stirring of new life in the womb, received as a precious gift of God, awakens an incredible joy which wells up in Mary and overflows in a prayer of thanksgiving. But not only does Mary pray her thanksgiving in words she also lives that thanks giving in deeds. In recognizing the new life within her as gift from God she sets out at once with a new spring in her step and crosses the Judean hills so as to be there for her cousin Elizabeth in her time of need. Even Mary’s greeting of Elizabeth is charged with a new power borne out of her gratitude to God. That is exactly what gratitude does: it empowers us with a new vitality, enthusiasm and joy for life. She prays her thank you’ and she lives her ‘thank you”.

Gratitude is an Attitude.

Mary reminds me of a woman, a teacher, who has been teaching for many years and still has tremendous enthusiasm for her work. One day she let us in on her secret when she said: “How fortunate I am to be doing what I love doing, thinking and researching and sharing what I find. So many people went out of their way to help me, as a woman, as scholar, as teacher. Without them, so many of them, I would not be here to- day. And the only way I have to say thank you is to pass it on, to give to my students as I have been given to.”

That is the attitude of Mary in the gospel. Everything she is and everything she has, even her new role in life, is experienced as a gift from God and generates a self giving in Mary which brings Jesus into the world.

Gratitude as a Vision of Life.

The passage invites us to celebrate people who live with a deep sense of gratitude for the gift of life, for who they are and all that they have been given in life the gift of fam- ily, the gift of friends, the gift of community, for the gift of work etc. and this experience of gratitude brims over and expresses itself in a ‘life of giving’ which is their ‘thanksgiving’. In these people gratitude is the cornerstone of a deep and vibrant faith life. It is a vision of life, a way of looking at life that sees gift and how gifted we are. The grateful person sees what everyone else sees but recognizes it under the aspect of ‘gift’.

All the great spiritual teachers have all asked the question in one form or other, “What do you have that you have not received?” Gratitude answers thank you and greed answers more! Yes we have a part to play; we have responsibility to develop and to use well all that has been given to us but ultimately the grateful person recognizes that it all is gift. Sometimes too you meet people in the midst of situations of suffering or trouble of one kind or another and are open to live it with gratitude: trusting that God in his love is holding them and finding so much to be thankful for. I think I would concur with the belief that it is not happiness that makes us grateful but rather it is gratitude that makes us happy.

So Much to be grateful for!

It is interesting that the occasion of giving thanks for her pregnancy awakens in Mary a realization of so many other things that she has to be grateful for. Mary in her Magnificat is overwhelmed by an appreciation of the blessings of God and His presence and activity in her life and in the life of the world. It is like the elderly woman who spoke of her desire to say grace not just at meal time but several times throughout the day: throwing her feet out of bed in the morning; splashing the water on her face; doing little house chores; after a pleasant walk; on reading a good book; following a conversation with a friend. Ordinary everyday things can so easily be taken for granted but for the person with a kind of third eye, who perceives gifts and how gifted we are, they are a source of joy and gratitude.

One way of looking at The Assumption of Mary into heaven is to see that it was not merely a once off experience at the end of her life, but an ongoing process, all through her life, of being assumed more and more into the life of God, even as she lived her gratitude. God has two dwelling places: one in heaven and the other in a thankful heart.

The final Assumption, as it were, at the end of her life, is God’s moment to look at Mary and to say “Thank You too”

Come From The East: Patrick O’Healy And Conn O’Rourke

David Bracken BA, BD, MESL, MA

If you find yourself on the road from Limerick to Cork while the summer light is still long and there is time to spare, step away to Kilmallock. The ruins of the Domincian priory, the collegiate church and the merchants’ houses are strands of the town’s rich and wonderful millennial weave, all encapsulated in a little museum crammed with random history. As a child, my father working in the mart at the end of the main street, I wandered delighted by its walls and castle gates and the surprising nineteenth-century church which guards the entrance to the town from the north.

Saints Peter and Paul stand sentinel

The parish church of Saints Peter and Paul stands sentinel at the gateway to the Ballyhoura and Galtee Mountains, its imposing spire scraping skywards.

Designed by J.J. McCarthy, a disciple of Pugin and the Gothic revival, this place of worship is among the finest of Limerick’s temples: its sanctuary a kaleidoscope of mosaic and glass. Bathed in sunlight it is other- worldly. The building is emblematic of the late nineteenth century Irish church at the zenith of its power and influence. From the height of the church, looking down on the ruins of the great medieval St Saviour’s Dominican priory, established in 1291, the words of St Paul are called to mind: ‘Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.”

Crochta: the hanging place

In the grounds of the church there is a quiet corner, a place easily overlooked, called Crochta in Irish: the hanging place located in no man’s land outside the walls, the place of execution. There stands a memorial in stone by Limerick-born artist Clíodhna Cussen from nearby Newcastle West. Unveiled in 1988 by the Franciscan Bishop Fiachra Ó Ceallaigh, the simplicity of the memorial is in stark contrast with McCarthy’s great edifice but none the less striking. It speaks of darker more difficult times for those who would listen. On this spot in August 1579 the Franciscans Patrick O’Healy and Conn O’Rourke were hanged.

Bishop O’Healy and Connbráthair O’Rourke

One source suggests that Patrick O’Healy who was born about 1540 was a native of Dromahaire, County Leitrim or made his novitiate at the Franciscan friary which was established there in 1508. He later pursued studies for the priesthood in Spain, in the 1560s becoming a member of the Franciscan province of Cartagena. In 1575 O’Healy was sent to Rome to represent Irish interests at the court of Pope Gregory XIII where he was provided Bishop of Mayo in 1576. Meanwhile, James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald of Desmond had secured the pope’s support for a Catholic rebellion against Queen Elizabeth. And when Fitzmaurice set sail for Ireland from Lisbon in November 1577 he was accompanied by Bishop O’Healy. However the venture fell foul both of bad weather and a mutiny by the Breton captain and his crew, with Fitzmaurice and O’Healy afterwards going their separate ways. After a little over a year in Paris, Bishop O’Healy made his own way to Ireland in early summer 1579. His companion was a young Irish Franciscan confrere, Conn O’Rourke, not yet thirty years old and probably a fellow alumnus of the Dromahaire friary.

Betrayal and death

En route to Connacht, O’Healy and O’Rourke were entertained in Askeaton, County Limerick by Eleanor, wife of Gerald Fitzjames Fitzgerald, earl of Desmond and promptly betrayed by her to the authorities in Limerick, who were forewarned of their passage through the city. The friars were condemned without trial by the lord president of Munster, Sir William Drury and sentenced to death for refusing to acknowledge the queen as supreme head of the church. They were brought the twenty miles from Limerick to Kilmallock where they were both executed by hanging on or about 13 August 1579. O’Healy was the first Catholic bishop to be put to death in Ireland since the beginning of the Henrican Reformation and his death was recorded that year in the Irish Annals of Loch Cé.

The Bishop O’hElidhe, the paragon of learning and piety of the whole world, and the son of O’Ruairc, Connbráthair, the son of Brian, son of Eoghan O’Ruairc, came from the east, after their education and tour. The justiciary of Erinn apprehended them and they were both hanged, to the profanation of God and men.

A bloody harvest

The government was panicked by the immediate circumstances of the summer, namely the landing of a Spanish expeditionary force in Kerry under O’Healy’s erstwhile fellow traveller, James Fitzmaurice on 18 July. Moreover, it was increasingly fearful of the influence of seminarytrained priests and bishops in strengthening the resolve of the Catholic laity. The executions of O’Healy and O’Rourke signalled a hardening of attitudes on the part of the English administration in Ireland and were followed by a particularly bloody period for the Catholic community, marked by severe repression. Many of those beatified by John Paul II in 1992 lost their lives during these years, including the so-called Wexford martyrs, also Fr William Tirry, OSA, Archbishop Dermot O’Hurley, Margaret Ball and Maurice MacEnraghty. MacEnraghty was executed in Clonmel in 1585 and is commemorated alongside O’Healy and O’Rourke in his native Kilmallock. On the road this summer, step away to Kilmallock. Visit the town, its museum, churches and ruins and why not steal a quiet moment in prayer to the martyrs memorial- ized at Crochta.

The Garden This Month

Deirdre Anglim

Mallow bushes are the main feature of my garden this year. Clusters of pink and white flowers adorn the branches, attracting dozens of bees on sunny days. Taking cuttings of this lovely bush couldn’t be easier. Choose non- flowering shoots about 6/7 inches long. Remove all but the top few leaves. You can either put the slips into a deep trench in a shady part of the garden or into a pot of compost. Keep the cuttings watered and in shade till they take root. Lavatera, (to give it the proper title) needs staking to protect the bush from strong winds.

Dad’s red roses bloom in the front garden. I planted a slip of his pink rose in the big flower bed last year. It warms my heart to see it growing tall and strong this summer.

The elegant red crocosmia (known as Lucifer because of its searing paprika red colour) is magnificent. This elegant red crocosmia was originally gifted to me by one of my gardening friends. This year she donated more bulbs so I am blessed with an abundance of flowers.

Another generous gardener has shared his lilies and irises with me. His garden is a delight to see. He spends every day weeding, hoeing, and composting. Vegetables and flowers are lovingly tended and nurtured.

Osteospermum continues to spread itself in purple, keeping weeds at bay.

We have cabbage, potatoes and onions growing in pots, tubs and the dog’s old kennel bed. ‘We’ being the royal plural as I am not responsible for these. My other half prefers to feed the body with his produce. He knows what he is doing too. Lettuce has been sown at least twice since the beginning of May.

Water every day too, (except when the heavens open). Use the hose on hydrangea, gladioli, delphinium, and any shrub that needs moisture. I prefer to water in the evening.

Just in case you are heading off on your holidays soon- here are a few essential jobs to do BEFORE you leave home.

Long Fight For Civil Rights

On 16th March, 1827, a signifitle against slavery in the United States was reached with the founding of a weekly newspaper entitled Freedom’s Journal. It was the first newspaper in the United States that was owned, published, edited and operated by black people. The new publication told its readers that release from slavery was only the beginning, and there was a long road to be travelled if they were to achieve their full civil rights.

Black people needed a strong voice to speak for them. Before the American Civil War the slave states controlled around four million slaves, almost one-third of their entire population. From sunrise to sunset, these unfortunates toiled in the fields, served as house servants, worked in factories, in mines and on the construction of railroads and canals. The market value of a slave ranged from a few dollars to 1,000 dollars.

Man’s Inhumanity to Man

A graphic account of the conditions in which they were forced to live is given by Josiah Hensen, who wrote about his own experience as a slave. ‘Our dress was of tow cloth … a pair of coarse shoes once a year. We lodged in log huts.. wooden huts were an unknown luxury. In a single room we were huddled, like cattle, ten or a dozen persons, men, women and children….There were neither bedsteads nor furniture… Our beds were collections of straw and old rags… The wind whistled and the rain and snow blew in through the cracks, and the damp earth soaked in the moisture till the floor was miry as a pigsty’.

Nearly forty years after the establishment of Freedom’s Journal, another important milestone along the road to civil rights was reached with the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation on 1st January, 1863, by Abraham Lincoln as America approached the third year of its civil war.

The proclamation declared ‘that all persons held as slaves’ within the rebellious states ‘are, and henceforward shall be free’.

Ingrained Prejudice

Although the Emancipation Proclamation did not immediately free a single slave, it raised the hearts and imagination of millions of African Americans. However, prejudice is very resilient and it takes more than words to end discrimination. Just over a year after the Emancipation Proclamation, on 23rd February, 1864, two African Americans attended a public event at the White House. They were Dr. Alexander Thomas Augusta, the army’s first African American physician, and his assistant, Dr. Anderson Abbott. With the Marine Band playing, the pair went to meet President Lincoln. As they were being introduced, Lincoln’s son, Robert came up to the President and asked him ‘Are you going to allow this invasion?’ obviously referring to the presence of the Black Americans.

The President replied: “Why not?’ Nothing more was said. However, the two doctors were stared at by stunned guests and they were the objects of equal amounts of curiosity and hostility for the remainder of the reception.
Fast forward to 16th October, 1901. Booker T. Washington, a distinguished educator, orator and author, received an invitation to dine with President Theodore Roosevelt in the White House. You might think that inviting a black man to dinner at the White House wasn’t a big deal. You would be wrong. Southern newspapers expressed outrage.

Letters poured into the White House full of anger and menace. Men swore never to vote for Roosevelt in future elections, and for the remainder of his term as President (1901-1908), Theodore Roosevelt was never again to invite a black person to dinner at the White House.

Shameful Double Standards

The world premiere of ‘Gone with the Wind’, in Atlanta, Georgia, in December, 1939, was almost as big a production as the epic film itself. It was the climax of three days of festivities attended by more than 300,000 people. On the surface, the three days of festivities went off without a hitch, but one shameful episode was covered up by the glamour and the spectacle.

The black actors in the film were excluded from the festivities. The people of Atlanta were prepared to receive them when they appeared on the stage of Loew’s Grand Theatre, but they would refuse to dine with them or sit with them in an auditorium.

Since then, Civil Rights Acts, initiated by President John F. Kennedy, were put on the Statute book by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and 1965. These laws are more than welcome, but few would be foolhardy enough to claim that they have succeeded in eliminating racial prejudice from hearts and minds.

LOST

Harold Murphy

He wandered around his bungalow looking in each room: searching in cupboard drawers, searching, searching, wondering just what he could have done with it. He knew it was in the bungalow somewhere. He had it last week, the week before, even the month before. So where did he put it? This was not like him at all, for he had always put it back in its nor- mal place. It was not something you just left lying around: it was valuable, so why was it not in its usual place? He sat down on the settee. He could feel himself getting agitated; he knew his mind and memory were no longer what they had once been. He quietly cursed himself for getting old and feeble as his years caught up with him. He sat there looking around his living room “I know you are there! You are there somewhere but where?” He sighed and got up to search again, looking under the cushions, back to the cupboards in the sideboard, into the kitchen to go through the drawers and cupboards, then into his bedroom to the dresser drawers then the wardrobe. “Perhaps it is under the mattress?” But this glimmer of hope quickly faded when his search turned up nothing. He sat on the edge of the bed thinking what he could have done with it from last week.

We can never go back

“Oh Archie Mc Bride”, he said to himself “if only it was possible to get this mind of yours serviced”. That thought brought a smile to his face “you can get most things serviced” he told himself, “Cars, washing machines, vacuum clean- ers and most electrical things, so why not the mind? If only I could go back, to when I had a memory like a brand new shiny sixpence. My old mind in those days had a memory like an elephant’s; it forgot nothing. But now-a-days Archie, me boy, your old memory is getting worse”, he told himself. As he sat there, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the wardrobe mirror, his hair getting
more greyish and lighter on top as his years went by. “Oh to be young once more and to have the life of my youth all over again; oh but Archie my boy, it is only wish- ful thinking and no matter how we all wish, we can never go back, and all of this will not find what you have put somewhere and now lost.”

As he rose off the bed he sud- denly thought, “Could someone have taken it?” muttering to himself. His elderly mind quickly dis- missed this thought for it was himself to blame. He had put it somewhere after last week and now he couldn’t find it. He had heard others at the pensioners’ club talking about how their memory was fading. “Dear God, what if I don’t find it?”. He cursed himself again for being old and feeble – minded. He wandered back to his bedroom again. Even though he knew it wasn’t there he still searched and searched. Now he was going to have to report it lost to his local police station; per- haps that was just as well for they would know what to do. He of course knew there would be no end of questions.

He went out to the hall closet to get his coat from the coat rack. As he began to put his arm into one of the sleeves it was then he saw it. “So there you are” he mut- tered to his pension book.”Oh you have caused me a lot of worry this day”. As he stood with one arm in his coat jacket, the fear and panic subsiding from his aged face and mind there came to him the knowledge that somehow he had forgotten to take it from his pocket after he came back from the Post Office last Friday, and put it back into the drawer in the living room cabinet. As he held the pension book in his hand he thought to himself “now I know why there is rejoicing when that which was lost is found”.

Beyond Caravaggio

Deirdre Powell

Μichelangelo Merisi dacaravaggio (1571 1610) was one of the most revolutionary figures in the history of art. He was a master of storytelling, and his paintings depict an intense rationalism and dramatic use of light. His work had a lasting impact on European artists during his lifetime and following his death. Artists who were strongly influenced by Caravaggio’s work were known as the “Caravaggisti” or “Caravaggesques”.

Beyond Caravaggio showcased four major works by this Italian artist. These were “The Supper at Emmaus” (1601) (National Gallery London); “The Taking of Christ” (1602) (National Gallery of Ireland); together with two works never previously exhibited in Ireland – “Boy Bitten by a Lizard” (1594-95) (National Gallery London) and “Boy Peeling Fruit” (c.1592) (The Royal Collection). The exhibition brought together over 40 major paintings that were undertaken by the Caravaggisti.

His most Famous Work

Perhaps the most famous of the four works by caravaggio himself is “The Taking of Christ”, which was painted in 1602 and is on indefinite loan to the National Gallery of Ireland from the Jesuit Community in Leeson Street, Dublin. The artist was at the height of his fame when he painted this picture for the Roman Marquis Ciriaco Mattei. The artist offered a new perspective of the narrative of the Gospels, with the work avoiding any description of the setting. The focus of the painting is on the action of Judas and the Temple guards on an unresisting Jesus. A fleeing St. John the Evangelist is also portrayed. Caravaggio includ- ed himself in the work as a man holding a lantern, who is a passive spectator in the scene.

“The Taking of Christ” was a gift from the Jesuit Community to the National Gallery of Ireland. The identity of the painting is of note because it had been attributed to the artist Gerard Honthorst as a result of a label on the painting. Following restoration work by restorer Sergio Benedetti, the paint- ing was identified as a “lost” Caravaggio. The painting had been gifted to the Jesuit community by a medical doctor Marie Lea-Wilson (neé Ryan), who had originally bought the painting as a student while holidaying in Edinburgh, Scotland, for £8.00 in the 1920s.

Another Major Work

The second painting of interest is “The Supper at Emmaus”, painted in Rome in about 1601. The picture depicts the meal that the two disciples had with a stranger (the Resurrected Christ), whom they met on the Road to Emmaus; the story is told in St. Luke’s gospel. In his painting, Caravaggio has chosen to represent that moment when, at the breaking of bread, the two disciples realize that the stranger is, in fact, the Resurrected Christ. Caravaggio in essence freezes that moment, allowing us to consider the miracle and also to feel that sense of astonishment and shock that was felt by the two disciples.

In his religious paintings, Caravaggio invests a sense of powerful drama; he accomplishes this by his handling of shadow and light, which is referred to as chiaroscuro in fine art. According to the 17th century writer Giovanni Pietro Bellori, a prominent biographer of artists, Caravaggio “never brought his figures out into daylight but placed them in the dark brown atmosphere of a closed room, using a high light that descended vertically over the principal parts of the bodies, while leaving the remainder in shadow, in order to give force through a strong contrast of light and dark.”

Caravaggio challenged the convention established by Renaissance artists that the canvas, i.e., the picture surface, served as a barrier between the painted world and the real world. The Renaissance idea was that the viewer would observe the painting but not enter into it. By contrast, Caravaggio sought to project his figures physically through the canvas and out into our own space, thereby consolidating the notion that the viewer is part of the picture also.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s brief career has taken its place as a turning point in the history of art. His life was short and violent and he seems to have had a tempestuous nature. However, his life provides us with a story that is dramatic and sensational, and his paintings continue to demand our attention.

Patron Of Europe

St. Teresa Benedict of the Cross (Edith Stein) Feast Day 9th August

Edith Stein was born in Poland in 1891 the youngest of seven children of a Jewish family. By the age of thirteen she had lost her faith in Judaism. A brilliant student and philosopher she obtained a doctorate in Philosophy. Witnessing the strength of the faith of her Catholic friends led her to an interest in Catholicism, which led her to studying a catechism on her own before converting to Catholicism in 1922. She became a Carmelite nun, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, and is recognised as a profound spiritual writer. When the Nazis came to power she fled to Holland. However she and her sister were captured and sent to Auschwitz where she died in the gas chamber on 9 August 1942. She was canonised by Pope John Paul 2nd who declared her a Patron of Europe.

Saint Martin Replies

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