#teresa lady render

[allaboutjoseph]

Jul 16 - Our Lady of Mount Carmel

1. Early History of the Carmelites

The Carmelite Order originated on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land. They do not have a particular founder. Early historical accounts find Christian hermits already settled on Mount Carmel around the year 1200. The hermits dwelt near the fountain or well of Elijah. (You can read about Elijah on Mount Carmel in the 1st Book of Kings in the Bible.) In 1204, the hermits were given a Rule of life by St. Albert of Jerusalem.

2. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and The Brown Scapular Invasion by the Saracens caused the hermits to flee to Europe by the end of the 13th century. One of these hermits, St. Simon Stock, returned to his native England, entered the Carmelite order and was eventually named prior of his community. He appealed to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, the patroness of their order, on July 16, 1251, with the following prayer:Flower of Carmel, Blossoming vine, Splendor of Heaven, Mother Divine, None like to thee, Peerless and fair, Thy children of Carmel, Save by thy care, Star of the sea.The Blessed Virgin, accompanied many angels and the child Jesus, appeared to St. Simon Stock and presented him with the brown scapular. She made him this promise: “This shall be the privilege for you and for all Carmelites that whoever dies piously wearing this scapular, shall not suffer eternal flames.” The brown scapular is one of the most popular sacramentals in the Church. According to the Catechism, sacramentals are “sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments. They signify effects, particularly of a spiritual nature, which are obtained through the intercession of the Church. By them men are disposed to receive the chief effect of the sacraments, and various occasions in life are rendered holy”. CCC 1667

3. Carmelite Nuns The first community of Carmelite nuns was founded in Belgium in the 14th century. The nuns soon also spread throughout Europe. In 1534, St. Teresa of Avila, a great reformer and Doctor of the Church, entered the Carmel of the Incarnation in Avila, Spain. After almost three decades as a Carmelite nun, St. Teresa became convinced that the nuns had become too worldly and needed to return to the primitive rule of Carmel with its emphasis on silence, solitude, strict enclosure and a small, sisterly community life of manual labor, prayer, penance and joyful recreation, where all would strive to live “the evangelical counsels as perfectly as possible”. She founded the first monastery of Discalced Carmelite nuns under the patronage of St. Joseph in Avila, Spain.The Carmelite nuns have since spread throughout the world. The first monastery of Carmelite nuns in the United States was founded in 1790. Now there are 60 monasteries of Carmelite nuns in the U.S. alone. 

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, pray for us!

Source: CatholicLink | https://catholic-link.org/our-lady-of-mount-carmel/

[trinitysmaterialsmedialll]

Te Kiri Kanawa

Kiri Te Kanawa, in full Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, original name in full Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, (born March 6, 1944, Gisborne, North Island, New Zealand), New Zealand lyric soprano best known for her repertoire of works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Richard Strauss.

As a five-week-old infant, she was adopted by Tom and Nell Te Kanawa and given the name Kiri. Tom, like her biological father, was Maori, and his wife, like Kiri’s biological mother, was of Irish descent. Kiri attended a Roman Catholic girls’ college in Auckland, where one of the nuns was a well-known teacher of singing. After leaving school, she won various singing competitions in New Zealand and Australia, and in 1966, after a period as a popular singer and recording artist, she became a student at the London Opera Centre.

As a soprano, Te Kanawa shot to stardom in the 1970s with a series of appearances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, and the enthusiastic support of conductors such as Colin Davis and Georg Solti. Her first big success was as the Countess in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in 1971. That was followed by a run of Mozart operas and, among others, a production of Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème in which she sang Mimi. Her debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1974 as Desdemona in Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello was widely acclaimed. In 1981 she sang at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, and her rendering of George Frideric Handel’s “Let the Bright Seraphim” reached a worldwide television audience of more than 600 million. She was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1982. She received similar honours in Australia (1990) and New Zealand (1995).

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kiri-Te-Kanawa

[prof-kenny]

[archduchessofnowhere]

Countess of Trani, née Mathilde Ludovika, Duchess in Bavaria by Philip de László, 1900

In the spring of 1900, while de László was in Rome for two months to paint Pope Leo XIII for the Fine Arts Museum in Budapest, he also found time to paint other sitters, among them Mathilde, Countess of Trani, née Duchess in Bavaria, the younger sister of Elisabeth, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. Only some weeks earlier he had painted her daughter Maria Teresa, Princess of Hohenzollern in Potsdam. According to Schleinitz, the author of the first monograph on the artist, “the Princess recommended László to her mother living in Rome.”

De László himself remembered her as a ‘distinguished lady’, who: “in her general appearance, her ways of moving, her attitude while sitting, even in her coiffure […] was the image of her sister, Elisabeth Empress of Austria, but without the Empress’s beautiful eyes and lacking her feminine charm.” Apart from this great similarity to her more famous sister ‘Sisi’, which is also apparent in the painting itself, the portrait of Countess Trani “is characterised by deep inner and visible sadness. Countess Trani is rendered with a profundity quite devoid of any theatrical pathos, because in the Master’s art there is never any coldness or forced quality.”

The De László Archive Trust

[aion-rsa]

Hulu New Releases: April 2021

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

While the first day of spring technically belongs to March, everyone knows that it kicks into high gear in April. To celebrate the changing of the seasons, Hulu is finally bringing back its signature original series for April 2021.

Season 4 of the multiple Emmy award-winning The Handmaid’s Tale premieres on April 28. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen June and her dystopian world. In fact, it’s been so long that our own world decided to endure its own dystopian pandemic in the meantime. Hopefully this series’ return will mean we can keep our political and social collapses on television where they belong.

Aside from The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu isn’t brining much else to the table in terms of originals this month. Thankfully, the one other original that Hulu has in store for April sounds completely righteous. Sasquatch, the latest docuseries from the Duplass brothers producing team, will cover exactly what the title promises. This three-part series heads off to the Pacific Northwest for a tale about an elicit pot farm and the possibility that three men were viciously murdered by Big Foot on it. Sign us up!

Library titles for Hulu in April 2021 are also pretty thin. But April 1 does feature the arrival Mad Max (1980) and Die Hard (1988). Then April 28 sees the arrival of…well, Arrival (2016). Those aren’t bad streaming options in case the weather in April decides to not be spring-like.

Hulu New Releases – April 2021

April 1 Amy Schumer Learns to Cook: Complete Season 1 (Food Network) Caribbean Life: Complete Seasons 18 & 19 (HGTV) Chopped: Complete Season 44 (Food Network) Chopped Sweets: Complete Season 1 (Food Network) Christina On The Coast: Complete Season 2 (HGTV) Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives: Complete Seasons 34 & 35 (Food Network) Doubling Down with the Derricos: Complete Season 1 (TLC) Extreme Makeover: Home Edition: Complete Season 1 (HGTV) Guy’s Grocery Games: Complete Season 22 (Food Network) Naked and Afraid XL: Complete Season 6 (Discovery) Say Yes to the Dress: Complete Season 19 (TLC) Tournament of Champions: Complete Season 1 (Food Network) Undercover Billionaire: Complete Season 1 (Discovery) UniKitty: Complete Season 3 (Cartoon Network) Vegas Chef Prizefight: Complete Season 1 (Food Network) Worst Cooks in America: Complete Season 18 (Food Network) Higurashi: When They Cry: Season 1, Epsiodes 1-12 (DUBBED) (Funimation) 2012 (2009)    28 Days Later (2003)   A Hologram for the King (2016)         A Low Down Dirty Shame (1994)       A Simple Plan (1998)  The Abyss (1989)        Before We Go (2015)  Bug (2007)      Bulworth (1998)          Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)  Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974)        Changing Lanes (2002)           Chappaquiddick (2017)           Chato’s Land (1972)    Cheech & Chong’s Still Smokin’ (1983)           Cohen and Tate (1989)           The Color Purple (1985)         The Dead Zone (1983) The Devil’s Double (2011)      Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)    Die Hard (1988)          Die Hard With A Vengeance (1995)   Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)          Dude, Where’s My Car? (2000)          Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) Frankie & Alice (2014) Friends With Benefits (2011)  Garden State (2004)   The Gift (2000)            Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)          Guess Who (2005)      Hancock (2008)           The Hunting Party (1971)       In The Mix (2005)        Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (2000)   Lady in a Cage (1964) Larry The Cable Guy: Health Inspector (2006)           Life Of Crime (2014)   Live Free Or Die Hard (2007)  Mad Max (1980)         Madea Goes To Jail (Theatrical Feature) (2009)        The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959)      The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)   Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2004)  Monster’s Ball (2001) Motel Hell (1980)        Napoleon Dynamite (2004)    Never Back Down (2008)        New in Town (2009)   Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)       The Out-Of-Towners (1999)   The Pawnbroker (1964)          Platoon (1986)            The Polar Express (2004)        The Preacher’s Wife (1996)    The Program (1993)    Ramona and Beezus (2009)    The Replacement Killers (1998)          Rio (2011)       The Sandlot (1993)     Scary Movie 4 (2006)  Sex And The City (2008)          Sex And The City 2 (2010)       Shaft (2000)    Shrek 2 (2002) The Skull (1965)          Sleeping With The Enemy (1991)       Sliver (1993)    So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993) Star Trek: Generations (1994) Step Up Revolution (2012)     The Sum of All Fears (2002)    That Thing You Do! (1996)      The Upside (2017)      Vanilla Sky (2001)       Virtuosity (1995)         Waiting to Exhale (1995)        War (2007)      Warriors of Virtue (1997)       What About Bob? (1991)        Where the Heart Is (2000)      Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)          

April 2 WEWORK: OR THE MAKING AND BREAKING OF A $47 BILLION UNICORN : Documentary Premiere (Hulu Original) Law & Order: Organized Crime: Series Premiere (NBC) Manifest: Season 3 Premiere (NBC) The Moody’s: Season 2 Finale (Fox) Real Housewives of New York City: Complete Season 12 (Bravo)

April 3 Hysterical: Series Premiere (FX) Blair Witch (2016)       

April 5 Girl (2020)       

April 7 Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World: Season 1, Epsiodes 1-12 (DUBBED) (Funimation)

April 8 Home Economics: Series Premiere (ABC)

April 9 Everything’s Gonna Be Okay: Season 2 Premiere (Freeform) Rebel: Series Premiere (ABC) The Standard (2020)   Stars Fell on Alabama (2021)

April 10 The Day I Became a God: Season 1, Epsiodes 1-12 (DUBBED) (Funimation) Desierto (2015)           Knuckledust (2020)     

April 12 Paranormal Activity 4 (2012)  Spontaneous (2020)   

April 15        Real Housewives of Beverly Hills: Complete Season 10 (Bravo)

April 16      Fly Like A Girl (2020)   Songbird (2020)

April 17      Modern Persuasion (2020)     Thelma (2017)

April 20   Sasquatch: Documentary Series Premiere (Hulu Original)

April 21  Cruel Summer: Series Premiere (Freeform)

April 22   GRETA THUNBERG: A YEAR TO CHANGE THE WORLD: Documentary Premiere (PBS)

April 23        The Place of No Words (2020)           

April 25       Wild Mountain Thyme (2021)

April 26   The Oscars Red Carpet Show: Special (ABC) The 93rd Oscars: Special (ABC)

April 28   The Handmaid’s Tale: Season 4 Premiere (Hulu Original) Arrival (2016)  

April 30      The Judge (2014)

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Leaving Hulu – April 2021

April 27 Our Idiot Brother (2011)

April 30 50/50 (2011) 9 to 5 (1980) Affliction (1998) Article 99 (1992) Beloved (1998) Bloody Sunday (2002) Blow (2001) Body of Evidence (1993) Changing Lanes (2002) Chato’s Land (1972) Cocktail (1988) Cohen and Tate (1989) Crimes Of The Heart (1987) Damien – Omen II (1978) Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) The Dukes of Hazzard (2005) Escape from Alcatraz (1979) Everything Must Go (2011) Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) From Hell (2001) G.I. Jane (1997) Garfield (2004) Gargoyles: Wings of Darkness (2004) Happy Tears (2010) The Haunting In Connecticut (2009) The Haunting In Connecticut 2: Ghosts Of Georgia (2013) Hitman’s Run (1999) How Do You Know (2010) The Hunting Party (1971) The January Man (1989) Jennifer 8 (1992) Jumping The Broom (2011) The Last Waltz (1978) Mad Max (1980) Madea Goes To Jail (Theatrical Feature) (2009) Mafia! (Jane Austen’s) (1998) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2004) Motel Hell (1980) Mousehunt (1997) My Best Friend’S Girl (2008) Never Back Down (2008) Ninja Assassin (2009) The Omen (1976) (1976) Only God Forgives (2013) Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2009) Platoon (1986) Pretty Woman (1990) The Prince Of Tides (1991) The Replacement Killers (1998) Sands of Iwo Jima (1950) Shaft (2000) The Shootist (1976) Sideways (2004) Strategic Air Command (1955) The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009) Teresa’s Tattoo (1994) That Thing You Do! (1996) Two Weeks (2006) Waking Ned Devine (1998) Walking Tall (1973) Warriors of Virtue (1997) What About Bob? (1991) The Whole Nine Yards (2000) Wonder Boys (2000) X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) Young Adult (2011)

The post Hulu New Releases: April 2021 appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3wgWtl6

[kiruuuuu]

Maestro/Jackal oneshot in which Jackal feels left out even though he really isn’t. (Rating G, hurt/comfort, ~1.3k words) - written for @thedragonsarealive again! :) 💛

.

“You know your sister loves this bread, I can’t believe I was so clumsy, shame on me, look what I’ve done!”

It’s the night before Berenice’s wedding and, as expected, Maestro has both hands full with putting out fires left and right. Ottaviano has grown out of his suit, Giovanni and his wife had a heated fight over something or other and Romina was forced to make some last minute adjustments to the seating, to name only a few – as the eldest, Maestro is consulted frequently and his opinions valued highly, which would be flattering if it didn’t mean that he has to continuously babysit some of his younger siblings and/or their offspring. He’s starting to feel like his mother with how often he gets names wrong in the cramped Martello residence, and now even she has added to the pile of near-catastrophes.

She’s agonising over a yeast dough meant to slow rise for 48 hours, developing lots of beautiful air bubbles which render the bread fluffy and soft on the inside, whereas olive oil makes the outside deliciously crunchy. And she dropped it. After deflating, there’s only a sad-looking mixture left which would probably bake into a rock hard slab more akin to crispbread.

“Mamma, it’s okay, don’t worry about it”, Maestro hastens to assure her and takes the bowl out of her hands to erase the evidence. “I’ve done this before. You can just make a new dough and let it rise until we bake it tomorrow, out in the open. The warmth speeds up the process, believe me – and Berenice will be much too distracted to notice. I promise. It’s fine.” Ignoring her dejected frown, he quickly jots down detailed instructions and hands them over. “Here, do this and it’ll come out perfect.”

“I’m not convinced”, his mother states, unsurprisingly, “but I will try. I’m just angry at myself.”

“Don’t be, it happens.” He presses a kiss to her temple which gets him a smile in return. “Have you seen Ryad? He hasn’t come to see me in a while, I’m worried Raffaele is trying to argue with him about sports again.”

“He’s in the garden”, Lucia replies just as she enters the kitchen. “Out by the pavilion – probably looking for some peace and quiet. Not like I can blame him.”

“What is that supposed to mean, young lady?”, Maestro’s mother booms jokingly and threatens her granddaughter with a spoon, earning good-natured giggling which follows Maestro all the way outside.

It’s late summer and the nights are his favourite time of day: the oppressive heat is no more than a mild cocoon and the sheer volume of the cicadas makes for a proper concert carried to and fro by the gentle breeze. It even smells of summer, even more so in the flower-lined garden which stretches over a soft hill. In the wooden construction meant as a shelter from direct sunlight, there’s a lone figure leaning against the railing and overlooking the landscape surrounding the garden.

“Needed a moment?”, Maestro addresses the Spaniard quietly before joining him. He covers one of Jackal’s hands with his own, smiles when it twists so their fingers can weave together.

“Yes. I just – I needed to get away.” For once, he doesn’t sound tired. He’s been sleeping well, for his standards, and Maestro almost burst with joy when his lover admitted to him that he enjoys the atmosphere in the family home.

“They can be a handful, I know. I can be a handful.”

Even in the pale moonlight, he can make out Jackal’s smile. “It’s not that. They’re all wonderful.”

“What, even old Leandra?”

“Is she the hag from next door who called you fat, lazy and spoilt?”

Maestro just nods and they share a chuckle. He can tell something is on his lover’s mind though, and so he shifts his weight to move a little closer. “Amore, tell me. What’s wrong?”

The Spaniard sighs but, instead of distancing himself or refusing to open up, he leans into Maestro. They’ve come a long way. “I’m an intruder”, he mutters. “I shouldn’t be here. You all – you’ve made so many memories together, you’ve known each other forever. This is an intimate wedding. I shouldn’t have come.”

So this is what’s bothering him. He should’ve figured. There was a moment of hesitation when he asked Jackal to accompany him, he won’t lie, born from the fear of upsetting him, of strengthening his depression with this unadulterated display of what he’s been missing all his life. What he’s been chasing all his life. He kisses the back of Jackal’s hand and then wraps his arm around the slim frame, pulls the other man against his side in a half-hug to pepper his shoulder with kisses as well.

“Don’t tell me it’s silly, because I know it is. Your mother is nothing but hospitable and everyone has been lovely, but…”

“When she was seventeen, Teresa brought home a young lad called Adolfo. He had a driver’s license and a fast motorcycle, his parents were wealthy enough and he was handsome, I’m talking utterly gorgeous.” Maestro is aware of Jackal’s dubious expression but continues his anecdote nonetheless. “I would’ve fallen for him on the spot, hadn’t it been for the fact that he was an asshole. Treated those he thought beneath him like dirt, wanted only one thing from Teresa, all bark, no bite. He had this stupid little moustache of which he was so proud that he’d actually fill it in with his mother’s eyeliner. Do you know how my family reacted when Teresa brought him home?”

“I can’t picture them being anything but nice.”

“Oh, we were positively amicable whenever he was over. But whenever he wasn’t, mamma started asking some other boys from the neighbourhood to help her with her groceries – you know, polite boys who’d actually show up whenever Teresa was home. And Giovanni mentioned that he heard Adolfo brag about having run over a bunny. And Giuliana excitedly asked Teresa about all the gifts he must be getting her, about how well he’s treating her, how often he takes her out for dinner, basically unreachable ideals. And Teresa had to say no, he’s not doing any of that. They didn’t last for more than a few months, and Teresa believed it was her decision to break up. We left it at that.”

Jackal is still looking at him expectantly, waiting for the other shoe to drop, and Maestro doesn’t disappoint.

With an even voice, he continues: “When you were talking to Ottaviano yesterday, Giovanni wanted to know whether you liked fishing so he could take you on a trip. Mamma asked about your favourite dishes so she can make them next week. Giuliana wanted to know how we met, how we came to be, and all the while she smiled at me, that smile she does – growing wider every time I could answer to her satisfaction. And Romina mentioned in passing that there aren’t any weddings scheduled for next year. Yet.”

At this point, Jackel’s eyes are glistening, lips pressed together. Maestro doesn’t want to witness wet trails appear on his cheeks, so he embraces him fully, squeezes him tight and reassuringly.

“If you allow them, they will be your family”, he whispers against warm skin. “Please, Ryad. Let them be your family.” He leaves so much unsaid – he knows nothing can replace Faisal, knows nothing can ever make up for decades of feeling unwanted, outcast, but he trusts that Jackal understands this isn’t meant to be a substitute. This is meant to be something on its own, an addition to his life rather than an attempt to stitch up all these tears.

He runs his hand through Jackal’s short hair, kisses his cheek, feels his rapid heartbeat against his own chest. And adds: “Let me be your family.”

And Jackal’s hesitant nod tells him that he’s beginning to accept the idea of belonging.

[materialsandmediaiiimaddyfisher]

Kiri Te Kanawa

Kiri Te Kanawa, in full Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, original name in full Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, (born March 6, 1944, Gisborne, North Island, New Zealand), New Zealand lyric soprano best known for her repertoire of works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Richard Strauss.

As a five-week-old infant, she was adopted by Tom and Nell Te Kanawa and given the name Kiri. Tom, like her biological father, was Maori, and his wife, like Kiri’s biological mother, was of Irish descent. Kiri attended a Roman Catholic girls’ college in Auckland, where one of the nuns was a well-known teacher of singing. After leaving school, she won various singing competitions in New Zealand and Australia, and in 1966, after a period as a popular singer and recording artist, she became a student at the London Opera Centre.

As a soprano, Te Kanawa shot to stardom in the 1970s with a series of appearances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, and the enthusiastic support of conductors such as Colin Davis and Georg Solti. Her first big success was as the Countess in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in 1971. That was followed by a run of Mozart operas and, among others, a production of Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème in which she sang Mimi. Her debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1974 as Desdemona in Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello was widely acclaimed. In 1981 she sang at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, and her rendering of George Frideric Handel’s “Let the Bright Seraphim” reached a worldwide television audience of more than 600 million. She was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1982. She received similar honours in Australia (1990) and New Zealand (1995).

In addition to singing in a great number of opera recordings, Te Kanawa produced a number of popular recordings, including such works as Kiri Sings Gershwin (1987), Kiri Sings Porter(1994), Kiri Sings Berlin (1998), and Maori Songs (1999). Although in 2002 she began to scale back her appearances on the opera stage, she actively continued to perform concerts and recitals in connection with the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation (2004), whose mission it is to provide support and financial aid to struggling singers and musicians of New Zealand. In August 2009 Te Kanawa announced that she would fully retire from opera the following year. However, she continued to sing in public until 2016, when she performed her last concert. During this time she played Australian opera singer Nellie Melba in an episode (2013) of the TV series Downton Abbey.

- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kiri-Te-Kanawa

[spiritualdirections]

St. Joseph, Master of Prayer

“If anyone cannot find a master to teach him how to pray, let him take this glorious saint as his master and he will not go astray,” says St. Teresa of Avila, in her Autobiography (ch. 6). The 16th century Doctor of the Church describes in some detail her devotion to St. Joseph, which began when through his intercession she was cured of a serious, paralyzing illness. St. Teresa named the first convent she founded after St. Joseph, whom she habitually referred to as “glorious.”

For when I found that, while still so young, I was so seriously paralysed, and that earthly doctors had been unable to cure me, I resolved to seek a cure from heavenly doctors... I took for my advocate and lord the glorious Saint Joseph and commended myself earnestly to him; and I found that this my father and lord delivered me both from this trouble and also from other and greater troubles concerning my honour and the loss of my soul, and that he gave me greater blessings than I could ask of him. I do not remember even now that I have ever asked anything of him which he has failed to grant. I am astonished at the great favours which God has bestowed on me through this blessed saint, and at the perils from which He has freed me, both in body and in soul. To other saints the Lord seems to have given grace to succour us in some of our necessities but of this glorious saint my experience is that he succours us in them all and that the Lord wishes to teach us that as He was Himself subject to him on earth (for, being His guardian and being called His father, he could command Him) just so in Heaven He still does all that he asks. This has also been the experience of other persons whom I have advised to commend themselves to him; and even today there are many who have great devotion to him through having newly experienced this truth.

    I used to try to keep his feast with the greatest possible solemnity; ... I wish I could persuade everyone to be devoted to this glorious saint, for I have great experience of the blessings which he can obtain from God. I have never known anyone to be truly devoted to him and render him particular services who did not notably advance in virtue, for he gives very real help to souls who commend themselves to him. For some years now, I think, I have made some request of him every year on his feast and I have always had it granted. If my petition is in any way ill-directed, he directs it aright for my greater good…

Those who practise prayer should have a special affection for him always. I do not know how anyone can think of the Queen of the Angels, during the time that she suffered so much with the Child Jesus, without giving thanks to Saint Joseph for the way he helped them. If anyone cannot find a master to teach him how to pray, let him take this glorious saint as his master and he will not go astray. May the Lord grant that I have not erred in venturing to speak of him…

Once, when I was in a difficulty and could not think what to do, or how I was going to pay some workmen, Saint Joseph, my true father and lord, appeared to me and gave me to understand that money would not be lacking and I must make all the necessary arrangements. I did so, though I had not a farthing, and the Lord, in ways which amazed people when they heard of them, provided the money…

On the feast of the Assumption of Our Lady… there came upon me a rapture so vehement that it nearly drew me forth out of myself altogether…  I thought I saw myself being clothed in a garment of great whiteness and brightness. At first I could not see who was clothing me, but later I saw Our Lady on my right hand and my father Saint Joseph on my left, and it was they who were putting that garment upon me...I thought that Our Lady suddenly took me by the hands and told me that I was giving her great pleasure by serving the glorious Saint Joseph and that I might be sure that all I was trying to do about the convent would be accomplished and that both the Lord and they two would be greatly served in it. I was not to fear that there would be any failure whatever about this...

[prof-kenny]

[aion-rsa]

Hulu New Releases: February 2021

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Hey, remember when they released that picture of the CGI movie Sonic the Hedgehog and it was so freakish and unnerving that animators had to work overtime to fix it? Anywho, Sonic the Hedgehog is coming to Hulu this month.

The heroic blue hedgehog who just wants to go fast is far from the only exciting new film or TV show coming to Hulu in February 2021. The library titles are unusually packed this month. In addition to Sonic, the sublimely goofy Mars Attacks!, 2020 horror film Possessor, and the first six Star Trek films all arrive on Feb. 1. Later on in the month are Antebellum (Feb. 5) and Nomadland (Feb. 19).

It’s a good thing that the library titles are strong because Hulu isn’t brining many originals of note to the table in February 2021. Into the Dark continues on its spooky mission with the Valentine-centric Tentacles dropping on Feb. 12. That will be joined later in the month by the documentary The United States vs. Billie Holiday.

The original TV side of things is particularly barren, but it nothing else National Geographic’s North Korea: Inside the Mind of a Dictator premieres on Feb. 16 and seems quite interesting.

Hulu New Releases – February 2021

February 1 60 Days In: Complete Season 6 (A&E) Abducted: The Mary Stauffer Story (2019) (Lifetime) Ancient Aliens: Complete Season 14 (History) Bride & Prejudice: Forbidden Love: Complete Season 2 (Lifetime) Forged in Fire: Beat the Judges: Complete Season 1 (History) Kings of Pain: Complete Season 1 (History) Married At First Sight: Complete Season 10 (Lifetime) Mommy is a Murderer (2020) (Lifetime) Pawn Stars: Complete Seasons 11 & 12 (History) The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch: Complete Season 1 (History) Tempted by Danger (2020) (Lifetime) The UnXplained with William Shatner: Complete Season 2 (History) 9 to 5 (1980) Affliction (1998) American Psycho (2000) American Psycho 2 (2002) The Bellboy (1960) Bug (1975) Cinderfella (1960) Crimes Of The Heart (1987) Did You Hear About The Morgans? (2009) District 9 (2009) Downhill Racer (1969) Employee of the Month (2006) Everything Must Go (2011) From Hell (2001) G.I. Jane (1997) Garfield (2004) Gargoyles: Wings of Darkness (2004) Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962) Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) Happy Tears (2010) Haunting In Connecticut 2: Ghosts Of Georgia (2013) Hello, My Name is Doris (2016) Hitman’s Run (1999) Jane Austen’s Mafia! (1998) Jennifer 8 (1992) John Grisham’s The Rainmaker (1997) The Juror (1996) Mars Attacks! (1996) Me, Myself And Irene (2000) Ninja Assassin (2009) The Omen (1976) (1976) Damien – Omen II (1978) Only God Forgives (2013) The Patsy (1964) Phase IV (1974) Possessor (2020) The Prince Of Tides (1991) Shirley Valentine (1989) The Shootist (1976) Sideways (2004) Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) The Tenant (1976) Teresa’s Tattoo (1994) Turbulence (1997) Van Wilder: Party Liaison (2002) Waking Ned Devine (1998) Witness (1985) X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) You Laugh But It’s True (2011) You’ve Got Mail (1998)

February 2 The School That Tried to End Racism: Complete Season 1 (Banijay)

February 4 12 Hour Shift (2020)

February 5 The New York Times Presents: “Framing Britney Spears”: New Episode (FX on Hulu) Antebellum (2020)

February 7       Harrow: Season 3 Premiere (ABC Studios) 

February 11     Then Came You (2019)

February 12       Into the Dark: Tentacles: New Episode Premiere (Hulu Original) 2067 (2020) You’re Next (2013)

February 13       Hip Hop Uncovered: Documentary Series Premiere (FX)

February 15       Cutthroat Kitchen: Complete Season 15 (Scripps) Dragnificent!: Complete Season 1 (Discovery) House Hunters International: Complete Seasons 139 & 140 (Scripps) House Hunters: Complete Seasons 160-162, 164 & 165 (Scripps) Property Brothers: Complete Season 14 (Scripps) Southern Gothic: Complete Season 1 (ID) Witches Of Salem: Complete Season 1 (Scripps) Lost Girls and Love Hotels (2020) The Shape of Water (2017)

February 16       Bad Habits, Holy Orders: Complete Season 1 (Keshet) Keeping Up With The Kardashians: Complete Season 19 (E!) North Korea: Inside the Mind of a Dictator: Complete Season 1 (National Geographic) The Warrior Queen of Jhansi (2019)

February 17       Logan Lucky (2017)

February 18       Good Trouble: Season 3 Premiere (Freeform) Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

February 19       Nomadland (2021)

February 23 Spring Baking Championship: Complete Season 7 (Food Network) Dredd (2012)

February 25 Snowfall: Season 4 Premiere (FX)

February 26 The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021) (Hulu Original) Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)

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Leaving Hulu – February 2021

February 8 District 9 (2009) Year One (2009) February 10 The Girl Next Door (1999) February 14 Spy Kids 4 (2011) Stir Of Echoes (1999) February 28 3 Ninjas (1992) American Dragons (1998) American Psycho (2000) American Psycho 2 (2002) Breathless (1983) Broken Arrow (1996) Cake (2006) Carrington (1995) Changing Lanes (2002) Con Air (1997) Cool Blue (1990) Criminal Law (1989) Cujo (1983) De-Lovely (2004) Desperate Hours (1990) Deuces Wild (2002) Dragonball: Evolution (2009) Employee of the Month (2006) Enemy at the Gates (2001) Eyes Wide Shut (1999) Face/Off (1997) Fun in Acapulco (1963) Garfield a Tail of Two Kitties (2006) Girl Most Likely (2013) Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) Hanoi Hilton (1987) Hemingway’s Garden of Eden (2010) Here On Earth (1999) Hud (1963) Invasion U.S.A. (1985) John Grisham’s The Rainmaker (1997) Kiss the Girls (1997) Last of the Mohicans: Director’s Cut (1992) Lost In Space (1998) Love Is All There Is (1996) Love Potion No. 9 (1992) Mad Money (2008) Man of La Mancha (1972) Me, Myself And Irene (2000) Mr. North (1988) Much Ado About Nothing (1993) Music Within (2007) Our Family Wedding (2009) Pieces of April (2003) Places in the Heart (1984) Poseidon (2006) Selena (1997) Southside With You (2016) Sunshine (2007) Teen Wolf (1985) (1985) The Dead Zone (1983) The Firm (1993) The Gift (2000) The House on Carroll Street (1988) The Hurt Locker (2008) The Juror (1996) The Last House on the Left (1972) The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) The Mechanic (1972) The Peacemaker (1997) The Portrait of a Lady (1996) The Quick and the Dead (1995) Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her (2001) This World, Then the Fireworks (1997) Universal Soldier (1992) Virtuosity (1995) Witness (1985)

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[prof-kenny]

[pope-francis-quotes]

6th December >> Pope Francis’ Wednesday General Audience Address ~ Reflections on Recent Journey to Myanmar and Bangladesh Virginia Forrester (Photo ~ © L'Osservatore Romano) This morning’s General Audience was held at 9:15 in Paul VI Hall, where the Holy Father Francis met with groups of pilgrims and faithful from Italy and from all over the world. In his address in Italian, the Pope reflected on his recent trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh. After summarizing his catechesis in several languages, the Holy Father addressed special greetings to groups of faithful present. The General Audience ended with the singing of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing. * * * The Holy Father’s Catechesis Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today I would like to talk about the Apostolic Journey I undertook in past days to Myanmar and Bangladesh. It was a great gift of God, and so I thank Him for everything, especially for the meetings I was able to have. I renew the expression of my gratitude to the Authorities of the two countries and to the respective Bishops, for all the work of preparation and for the welcome that was given to me and to my collaborators. I wish to give a heartfelt “thank you” to the Burmese people and to those of Bangladesh who showed me so much faith and so much affection: thank you! For the first time a Successor of Peter visited Myanmar, and this happened shortly after diplomatic relations were established between that country and the Holy See. In this case also, I wished to express the closeness of Christ and of the Church to a people that has suffered due to conflicts and repressions, and that now is walking slowly to a new condition of freedom and peace. A people in whom the Buddhist religion is strongly rooted, with its spiritual and ethical principles, and where Christians are present as a small flock and leaven of the Kingdom of God. I had the joy of confirming in the faith and in communion this Church, alive and fervent, in the meetings with the Bishops of the country and in the two Eucharistic celebrations. The first was in the great sports area in the center of Yangon, and the Gospel of that day recalled that persecutions caused by faith in Jesus are normal for His disciples, as occasion of testimony, but not a hair of your head will perish” (Cf. Luke 21:12-19). The second Mass, last act of the visit in Myanmar, was dedicated to young people: a sign of hope and a special gift of the Virgin Mary, in the Cathedral that bears her name. In the faces of those young people, full of joy, I saw the future of Asia: a future that will not be of those that construct arms, but of those that sow fraternity. And ever in the sign of hope, I blessed the stones of 16 churches, of the Seminary and of the Nunciature: eighteen. In addition to the Catholic community, I was able to meet the Authorities of Myanmar, encouraging the efforts for the country’s pacification and hoping that all the different components of the nation, not one excluded, will be able to cooperate in this process in mutual respect. In this spirit, I wished to meet the representatives of the different religious communities in the country. In particular, I manifested to the Supreme Council of Buddhist monks, the Church’s esteem for their ancient spiritual tradition, and the confidence that Christians and Buddhists will be able together to help people to love God and their neighbor, rejecting all violence and opposing evil with goodness. Having left Myanmar, I went to Bangladesh, where, as the first thing, I rendered homage to the martyrs of the struggle for Independence and to the “Father of the Nation.” Bangladesh’s population is in very great part of Muslim religion and, therefore, my visit in the footsteps of Blessed Paul VI and of Saint John Paul II – marked a further step in favor of respect and of dialogue between Christianity and Islam. I reminded the country’s Authorities that, since the beginning, the Holy See has supported the will of the Bangladeshi people to constitute themselves as an independent nation, as well as that in it the need of religious freedom be always protected. In particular, I wished to express solidarity with Bangladesh in its commitment to help the Rohingya refugees who have flocked en masse to its territory, where the population density is already among the highest in the world. The Mass celebrated in a historic park of Dhaka was enriched by the Ordination of sixteen priests, and this was one of the most significant and joyful events of the trip. In fact, be it in Bangladesh as well as in Myanmar and in other countries of South East Asia, thank God vocation are not lacking, a sign of living communities, where the Lord’s voice resounds, who calls to follow Him. I shared this joy with the Bishops of Bangladesh, and I encouraged them in their generous work for families, for the poor, for education, for dialogue and social peace. And I shared this joy with many priests, and consecrated men and women of the country, as well as with the seminarians and men and women novices, in whom I saw seeds of the Church in that land. At Dhaka, we lived an intense moment of inter-religious and ecumenical dialogue, which enabled me to stress the importance of openness of heart as a basis of the culture of encounter, of harmony and of peace. In addition, I visited “Mother Teresa’s House,” where the Saint stayed when she was in that city, and which receives very many orphans and persons with disabilities. There, in keeping with their charism, the Sisters live every day the prayer of Adoration and the service to Christ, poor and suffering. And a smile is never lacking on their lips. Sisters that pray so much, that serve the suffering continually with a smile. It’s a beautiful testimony. I thank these little Sisters so much. The last event was with the Bangladeshi young people, rich in testimonies, songs, and dances. But how well they dance, these Bengalese! They know how to dance well! A celebration that manifested the joy of the Gospel received by that culture; a joy fecundated by the sacrifices of so many missionaries, so many catechists, and Christian parents. Also present at the meeting were young Muslims and <youths> of other religions: a sign of hope for Bangladesh, for Asia and for the whole world. [Original text: Italian] [ZENIT’s translation by Virginia M. Forrester] In Italian A warm welcome goes to the Italian-speaking pilgrims. I greet the parish groups, the schools adhering to the project of formation to legality of the Archdiocese of Capua, and the Associations, in particular: the Friends of Raoul Follereau-Italy; the Italian Catholic Businessmen; the parents of children affected by leukemia or tumors, as well as the members of the Civil Protection of Cerveteri. May the visit to the Eternal City help each one to live intensely the time of Advent in preparation for the birth of the Lord Jesus. I welcome the faithful from Episcopia, and I gladly bless the golden crown that will be placed on the effigy of Our Lady who is venerated in the local Shrine. I greet and receive with joy the group of Syro-Iraqi refugees residing in Italy, as well as the priests, the Sisters and lay people from Myanmar and from Bangladesh, who are present here to return my recent visit to their countries of origin. A special thought goes to young people, the sick and newlyweds. Today is the Memorial of Saint Nicholas of Bari. Dear young people, put the search for God and His love above everything; dear sick, may the example of the Saints help and comfort you in moments of greatest need, and you, dear newlyweds, with the grace of God, every day make your union more firm and profound. [Original text: Italian] [ZENIT’s translation by Virginia M. Forrester] The Holy Father’s Appeal My thoughts now turn to Jerusalem. In this regard, I cannot remain silent about my deep concern for the situation that has developed in recent days and, at the same time, I wish to make a heartfelt appeal to ensure that everyone is committed to respecting the status quo of the city, in accordance with the relevant Resolutions of the United Nations. Jerusalem is a unique city, sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims, where the Holy Places for the respective religions are venerated, and it has a special vocation to peace. I pray to the Lord that such identity be preserved and strengthened for the benefit of the Holy Land, the Middle East and the entire world, and that wisdom and prudence prevail, to avoid adding new elements of tension in a world already shaken and scarred by many cruel conflicts. [Original text: Italian] [Translation by the Holy See] © Libreria Editrice Vatican JF

[aion-rsa]

For Your Eyes Only Was Not Supposed to Star Roger Moore

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For Your Eyes Only, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this week, was a transitional James Bond film. Released in 1981, this 12th entry in the long-running series, and Roger Moore’s fifth outing as the man in the tuxedo, was deliberately styled as a return to the 007’s roots after he went to space in the over-the-top Moonraker (1979): the one where series producers did their best to compete with Star Wars. By contrast Eyes seemed stripped down and also marked the debut of John Glen in the director’s chair—a position he would hold for a series-most five entries. He received that promotion after working on several previous installments as a second unit director.

But Eyes was also meant, at one point, to usher in the most important change in any Bond movie: the introduction of a new actor in the role of 007.

Roger Moore’s original contract was for three films, with his participation going on a film-by-film basis starting with Moonraker. Following the completion of that film, rumors surfaced that Moore was ready to retire from the role, leading 007 production company Eon Productions and producer Albert “Cubby” Broccoli to begin the search for a new Bond.

But Moore himself suggested that he wanted to continue in the role, and that the highly publicized audition process was all part of the negotiations to bring him back.

“I understand that Eon had been holding casting sessions where would-be James Bonds were tested with a view to replacing me,” Moore was quoted as saying in The James Bond Archives. “It didn’t bother me, as I knew Cubby would never find anyone who would work as cheaply as I did.”

Moore added, “To be honest, I did want to do another film. But this was all part of the bargaining ploy on Eon’s side: let it be known that they were testing others so I’d take the deal on the table for fear of losing the part. Fair enough, we all enjoy a game of poker.”

Ploy or not, Eon and John Glen did proceed with a series of screen tests that included a number of actors who were well-known in England (and in some cases internationally) but relatively obscure in the U.S. Those included Ian Ogilvy (Witchfinder General), Lambert Wilson (the Merovingian in the Matrix sequels), Lewis Collins (The Professionals), David Warbeck (The Beyond), David Robb (Downton Abbey), Michael Jayston (the 1986 Doctor Who arc “The Trial of a Time Lord”), and Nicholas Clay (Excalibur).

“We searched high and low,” said Glen in The James Bond Archives. “I tested no end of people. Roger was in the background with a smile on his face, waiting to be called.”

Read more

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For Your Eyes Only: The Last Good Roger Moore James Bond Movie

By Max Williams

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James Bond: Villains With the Most Ridiculous Schemes

By Tim George

There were three notable candidates for the job that stand out now. One was Timothy Dalton, who had been considered for the role as far back as 1968 when Sean Connery first vacated the tux. He allegedly declined a shot at For Your Eyes Only because he had seen Moonraker and thought the series was going for more of the same. He would get his chance six years later.

The second was Michael Billington, a British actor who was often used as a Bond stand-in to screen test leading ladies and even had a role in The Spy Who Loved Me as the Russian agent 007 kills in the opening sequence. Billington tested for Bond five times—he was reportedly on standby for Eyes if a deal couldn’t be closed with Moore—but ended up always a bridesmaid.

The third and most fascinating name was James Brolin. It’s a little unclear when Brolin’s involvement with the 007 franchise began, but he was apparently considered for Eyes and was later given a full screen test and even hired for 1983’s Octopussy after Eon and Moore began another game of chicken about Moore’s return. Brolin—a respected actor, not to mention husband of Barbra Streisand and father of Josh Brolin—was the second American thespian who came close to playing the British agent; John Gavin was signed in 1971 before Sean Connery came back for an encore in Diamonds Are Forever.

But that’s another story. In the end, Moore did come back for Eyes, although his contract was not completed until well into production. Glen for one was glad to have the dapper Moore back.

“As it happened, I was very pleased that Roger did it, because it helped me enormously in the fact that he was an established James Bond,” the director said in the “making-of” documentary on the Eyes Blu-ray. “If I had to take someone new and establish them in the role, it would have been quite difficult for me, I think.”

One leftover from the “will Moore or won’t he” era of Eyes’ pre-production was the opening sequence, in which we see Bond visit the grave of his wife Teresa “Tracy” Bond, who was murdered by arch-villain Blofeld and his accomplice Irma Bunt at the end of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The sequence initially shows Bond from the legs down, placing a bouquet of flowers on Tracy’s grave, before cutting to a shot of his face, which ostensibly would have been the new actor.

Eon Productions

The scene was meant to establish that this was the same Bond, even if the face was different.

“It was John Glen who came up with the idea of going to Tracy’s grave,” said executive producer and co-screenwriter Michael G. Wilson on the Eyes Blu-ray. “He wanted to show a continuity of the Bond stories and show that he’s still the same character, he’s still going on, and he has a history.”

The rest of that sequence after that somber opening takes a turn for the ridiculous as Bond is trapped in a remote-controlled helicopter by a bald, wheelchair-bound villain. The bad guy is clearly meant to be Blofeld in all but name—Eon at the time had lost control of the rights to Blofeld and certain story elements involving him and criminal organization SPECTRE—but that too is an entirely different tale.

In the end, everyone involved seems glad that Roger Moore did in fact return in For Your Eyes Only: the $28 million movie earned a healthy (for 1981) $195 million around the world. While reviews for the film then and now remain mixed, the retro approach to the plot—more espionage and realistic action, less gadgets—plus Moore’s harder-edged-than-usual performance have managed to place it in the upper ranks of Moore’s seven outings, arguably second only to The Spy Who Loved Me. To coin a phrase, the more things were meant to change, the more they stayed the same.

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[603breezedurham]

Kiri Te Kanawa History

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, original name in full Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, (born March 6, 1944, Gisborne, North Island, New Zealand), 

New Zealand lyric soprano best known for her repertoire of works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Richard Strauss.

As a five-week-old infant, she was adopted by Tom and Nell Te Kanawa and given the name Kiri. Tom, like her biological father, was Maori, and his wife, like Kiri’s biological mother, was of Irish descent. 

As a soprano, she shot to stardom in the 1970s with a series of appearances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London.

First big success was as the Countess in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in 1971. 

Followed by a run of Mozart operas and, among others, a production of Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème in which she sang Mimi. 

Her debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1974 as Desdemona in Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello was widely acclaimed. 

In 1981 she sang at the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, and her rendering of George Frideric Handel’s “Let the Bright Seraphim” reached a worldwide television audience of more than 600 million.

She was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1982. She received similar honours in Australia (1990) and New Zealand (1995).

[charlottenm3217]

Critique of Las Meninas

I came across Las Meninas on a Youtube video, and was intrigued and fascinated by the many layers to this iconic work by Diego Velasquez. Hailed as one of the greatest oil paintings ever produced, Las Meninas meant ladies-in-waiting in Spanish and was painted in 1656, becoming one of the last works of Velasquez. The painting is  set in the Pieza Principal of the Royal Alcázar of Madrid, a room specially given to Velaquez by his employer the King Philip IV for his personal use. Characters featured included the Infanta Margarita Teresa, the only child of the king with her titular ladies-in-waiting, a dwarf, a jester, a chaperone, a guard as well as Velasquez himself.

While there were many points of focus in the painting rendering even finding a central one almost futile, Velasquez masterfully used the tools of lighting, colour and lines to draw the viewer’s attention toward certain elements. The princess is painted to be the most brightly lit and therefore naturally drawing the viewer’s eye, with her light golden locks, pale skin and a voluminous cream dress with orange floral accents. Surrounding her, the light bounces off onto her ladies in waiting, similar wearing mostly light coloured clothing and with similar orange accents. Beyond them, the light steadily fades off the foreground but mostly in the background which is mostly shrouded in shadows. This however is contrasted by the stark pale and hazy quality of the small mirror at the back, featuring none other than the queen and king of Spain at the time, as well as a door to a further room, adding a very thorough visual depth to the painting as the painting is now set in more rooms than one through such clever use. 

The use of frames also served to literally frame and group the different scenes occuring, creating a myriad of moods within the same larger frame of the painting itself. While the foreground seems to be full of life, as the viewer looks to the background, the mood becomes more sombre and mysterious. The way Velasquez shaped the eyelines of the characters also serve more functions than one. Initially, the characters seem to be reacting to the arrival of the king and queen as shown in the mirror, resulting in the lady in waiting curtsying. However, upon closer observation, the characters are simultaneously staring outward towards the viewer, making the viewer both an inadvertent observer and participant of the action. This creates an unprecedented level of dialogue between the viewer and the characters in the painting, allowing perception and observation to flow both ways. This is further extended by the way Velasquez is holding his paintbrush and too looking at the viewer, almost in contemplation while standing in front of an easel, creating the uncanny sense of the viewer being the subject of a Velasquez portraiture, despite being outside of it. This too gives an unusual sense of agency to the characters, allowing them to pause and study the viewer as vividly as the viewer could pause and study them. With the painting being almost life-size, this adds to the uncanny life-like quality of the painting as the characters become the same size as the viewer, making the painting almost a window into life that could very well be happening in modern times, creating a sense of familiarity and breaking the barrier between then and now. The use of space within the painting also lends to this, with the princess being off-center despite being the focus yet the eyelines of characters staring outwards pointing towards center, where the viewer would be standing, adding a further layer to such reciprocative dialogue. The characters also seem to be in mid-motion, with the jester about to shake the mastiff or the lady-in-waiting getting down to a full curtsy, lending a subtle casual and of-the-moment air starkly contrasted to the usually austere Baroque court paintings of that time. Despite the many characters and activities going on, they are united by a primarily warm and almost monochrome colour palette, featuring mostly white/beige, orange and black, creating a literal warmth and informality to the usually formal court setting.

Beyond this, the prominent position in which Velasquez places himself within the painting also speaks volumes of societal norms as well as his subversion of it at the time. Then, artists were not revered as philosophers and writers as they worked with their hands, and there was a strong societal hierarchy with the monarchy squarely at the top. Therefore by painting himself a lot larger than the queen and king, as well as being in much closer proximity to their only child, this highlights and immortalises his ambition and desire to be apart of the royal family and the court. Spain at the time was also at the brink of a historically unprecedented breakdown economically and politically, however they were experiencing a Renaissance in arts and culture. This can also be reflected in the subverted and loss of hierarchy within the painting as well as a prominent literal spotlight on the artist Velasquez himself.

Personally, this painting struck me by how unique such a dialogue was between the viewer and the painting, as to me characters of paintings have always been looked at and admired, but not given any agency. Despite me being rather new to this painting, the sense of familiarity was almost immediate, as I felt that despite the trappings of the court, I saw them as people going about their daily lives and pausing to people-watch, something i did often living in a busy city like Singapore. To me, portraiture always felt frozen in time and rather distant and mysterious, with the subjects feeling more art than real life people. On the other hand I curiously saw myself and a sense of humanity in this painting, and it felt like I was passing by courtiers in a palace window rather than characters in a painting online. This of course speaks to Velasquez’s talent in being able to paint realism so well, such that it looked like a portraiture of real life that could be relevant even in modern times. While this may not be Velasquez’s primary intention, I felt that this painting made artworks more accessible and connected more deeply with the viewer, allowing him/her to be an active participant of the story instead of being one of many passers-by. Such a refreshing take on a viewer’s agency also altered my way of looking at paintings, now not only seeing what the characters role was, but what the viewer could possibly bring to the painting. I truly hope that the feeling of familiarity and natural curiosity Las Meninas exudes would be able to intrigue even the most jaded passers-by, allowing them to pause, reflect and study this masterpiece with as much unfettered curiosity as the characters have.

[live4thelord]

Cardinal Sarah’s Guide to the New Counter-Reformation

MICHAEL WARREN DAVIS

In 1577, St. John of the Cross was taken prisoner by a group of Carmelites from Toledo who were opposed to the reforms of the Order he was undertaking with St. Teresa of Ávila. For eight or nine months, he was held in a six-by-ten-foot cell. The ceiling was so low that John (not a tall man) could hardly stand up. His one tunic was constantly soaked with blood from the frequent scourgings. The food they gave him was so bad that he suspected his guards were trying to poison him; he would say an Act of Love with every bite to steel himself against calumny.

Yet it was here that he wrote the Spiritual Canticle and parts of his masterpiece, Dark Night of the Soul. He bore captivity and torture with such love, patience, and determination that the older Carmelites called him “the coward”. The younger monks—not yet poisoned by the decadence and factionalism of the 16th- century Church—wept at John’s courage in the face of suffering. “This is a saint,” they whispered among themselves.

The most moving story, in my opinion, comes near the end of his confinement. John’s spiritual daughter, St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross—inexplicably known even to Catholics by her secular name, Edith Stein—recalls it in The Science of the Cross:

Prior Maldonado [the “Calced” leader] came to John’s prison cell accompanied by two religious. The prisoner was so weak that he could hardly move. Thinking his jailer had entered, he did not move [to stand] up. The prior poked him with his foot and asked why he did not stand up in his presence. As John begged pardon, saying he had not known who was there, Padre Maldonado asked, “What were you thinking about since you were so absorbed?” [St. John replied,] “I was thinking that tomorrow is the feast of Our Lady and that it would be a great consolation for me if I could say Mass.”

(It’s said that the Virgin appeared to him the next day and showed him how to pick the lock. Talk about a mother’s love!)

It has become common now to say that the Church faces her greatest crisis since the Protestant Reformation. We should remember that a very different priest—Martin Luther, an Augustinian friar—had a very different response to the corruption in the Church: he accused the Pope of being the Antichrist and attacked magisterial teaching, including the dogma of the Real Presence. He defied the bishops, incurred excommunication, and founded a brand-new church to propagate his teachings.

John knew there can be no authentic reform in the absence of obedience to one’s lawful superiors—even superiors as cruel and corrupt as Prior Maldonado. That’s why John is remembered as the greatest saint of the Counter-Reformation, and Luther as the most dangerous heretic in Christian history.

I thought of John as I read Robert Cardinal Sarah’s new book, The Day is Now Far Spent. It is dedicated to two very different pontiffs: Pope Benedict XVI (a “peerless architect of rebuilding the Church”) and Pope Francis (a “faithful and devoted son of Saint Ignatius”). Yet it is Sarah himself, I think, who lays out the finest blueprint we’re likely to see for ecclesial reform—or perhaps I should say counter-reform.

Today, the word “reform” drips with innuendo, just as it did in the time of St. John of the Cross. It signifies a desire to change the permanent teachings of the Church as a solution to institutional corruption. It uses a temporal crisis as an excuse to propagate spiritual errors. It uses moral confusion to camouflage innovation. It can also encourage disobedience in the name of theological purity: we shouldn’t forget that the original Protestants viewed themselves as conservatives.

Just because a man opposes the Maldonados in the Church it doesn’t make him a John of the Cross. He may very well be a Martin Luther.

I have no doubt that Cardinal Sarah, for one, is a John of the Cross. Like the Mystical Doctor, he takes seriously St. Paul’s warning to the Ephesians: “For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ultimately, the source of the present crisis—whether “present” means the 16th century or the 21st—isn’t new: it’s original sin.

Ultimately, then, the solution isn’t novel either: it’s the pursuit of greater holiness. As our Enemy is sin itself, the easiest sins to do battle against are those festering in our own souls. As St. Francis of Assisi put it, “the soldier of Christ must begin with victory over himself.”

The Day Is Now Far Spent is a manual for the new Counter-Reformation. As such, it’s as concerned with addressing the false solutions to the crisis as it is with the crisis itself—with refuting the Luthers as well as the Maldonados. His Eminence warns that,

No human effort, however talented or generous it may be, can transform a soul and give it the life of Christ. Only the grace and the Cross of Jesus can save and sanctify souls and make the Church grow. Multiplying human efforts, believing that methods and strategies have any efficacy in themselves, will always be a waste of time.

Cardinal Sarah isn’t recommending we ignore the crisis. On the contrary. “Let us not be afraid to say that the Church needs profound reform and that this happens through our conversion.” (Emphasis added.) “Go,” he commands; “repair by your faith, by your hope, and by your charity.”

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��Wait a minute, Davis,” I hear some of you saying; “This doesn’t sit right with me. What about Bergoglio? What about Pachamama and the German bishops’ ‘synodal journey’? What about the Viganò report and the unanswered dubia? Are you saying we should ignore all of this and just say the rosary?”

Well, the rosary is certainly a good place to start—and a good place to end. It’ not a bad place to stop along the way either.

It is true that no crisis has ever been solved by mere inaction. But, once we’ve resolved to act, the question becomes, How do we act most effectively? Cardinal Sarah’s answer: prayer. His book is fundamentally about the efficacy of grace.

Those who follow the daily meditations of another Discalced Carmelite, Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen’s Divine Intimacy, may remember the reflection from two Wednesdays ago on apostolic prayer. As Fr. Gabriel reminds us,

We can never be certain at all that our prayers will be answered according to our expectation, for we do not know if what we ask is conformable to God’s will; but when it is a question of apostolic prayer which asks for grace and the salvation of souls, it is a very different matter. In fact, when we pray for the aims of the apostolate, we are fitting into the plan prearranged by God Himself from all eternity, that plan for the salvation of all men which God desires to put into action infinitely more than we do; therefore, we cannot doubt the efficacy of our prayer. Because of this effectiveness, apostolic prayer is one of the most powerful means of furthering the apostolate.

For “if God has willed the distribution of grace in the world to depend upon the prayers of men,” then we can render no better service to the Church than to set about diligently distributing these graces, teaching others how to do so, and encouraging them in their efforts.

By the same token, the Enemy would be most gratified if we came to value our own “methods and strategies” above Our Lord’s. Better yet, we could distract others. We could join the secular, anti-Catholic media in amplifying the corruption within the Church, thereby leading others to become scandalized. (Nearly 40 percent of U.S. Catholics have considered leaving the Church over clerical sex abuse.) We could cause our fellow Catholics to lose faith in our spiritual fathers. (“Those who make sensational announcements of change and rupture are false prophets,” Cardinal Sarah charges.)

Our Blessed Lord’s strategy for reform is quite simple: “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Everything else is idle noise.

Of course, Cardinal Sarah isn’t suggesting we ignore the crisis in the Church. On the contrary, he writes: “Let us not be afraid to say that the Church needs profound reform and that this happens through our conversion.” Those last three words are crucial: through our conversion. “We do not reform the Church by division and hatred,” he warns; “We reform the Church when we start by changing ourselves!”

Where should our conversion lead us? To a deeper faith in Christ, as opposed to a prideful faith in our own schemes. What do we need to change in ourselves? Anything that separates us from Him. He attacks the spiritual and moral roots of the rot—roots that spread far wider than the Vatican and go further back than 2013.

At the heart of all modern corruption and decadence—both within and without the Church—is the problem of materialism. As Cardinal Sarah states rather movingly, “The supernatural is swallowed up in the desert of the natural.” This is why the real solution to the present crisis—namely, prayer and fasting—seems so quaint, perhaps even naïve. It’s as though we can’t tell the difference between an image of St. Michael armed for battle and one of Bouguereau’s putti.

The most obvious manifestation of this decadence, this pervasive materialism, is the smartphone. His Eminence asks us to consider how much time we spend “absorbed by the images, lights, [and] ghosts” it offers. He calls the ubiquitous screen “an eternal illusion, a little prison cell.” The cardinal warns that these devices

steal silence, destroy the richness of solitude, and trample on intimacy. It often happens that they snatch us away from our loving life with God to expose us to the periphery, to what is external to us in the midst of the world.

(By the way, that goes for tablets, computers, and televisions as well.)

Can we bring ourselves to get rid of our devices, deactivate our social media accounts, and dedicate those liberated hours to deepening our relationship with God? Can we accept that the Church will only grow bigger and stronger as we ourselves become smaller and meeker? Can we trust Christ enough to take Him up on His offer to cease carrying our burden and rest? Are we humble enough to admit that our burden is too heavy for us to carry, and to take up His easy yoke instead?

Martin Luther said No, and went on to appoint himself reformer of the Church. In his arrogance and disobedience, that one friar wounded our Holy Mother more grievously than all the Maldonados put together.

John of the Cross stood by the Church. He cleaned her wounds with the tears he wept over sins—most especially his own. He nourished her with his fasting. He strengthened her with his suffering. He kept her company in the dark night, even when Our Lord withdrew His sweet consolation. It was his patience, humility, and obedience—even towards Maldonado—that won the wicked prior’s monks to his cause.

“If you think that your priests and bishops are not saints,” Cardinal Sarah writes, “then be one for them.” Today, there’s only one Carmelite monastery in Toledo, and it’s Discalced.

There will be no shortage of Luthers in this generation. But, with The Day Is Now Spent, we know there’s at least one John of the Cross in our midst.

Cardinal Sarah's Guide to the New Counter-Reformation - Crisis Magazine