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Micheline's Blog

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Micheline's Blog

Category Archives: the Bible

Why hast Thou forsaken me?

30 Tuesday Mar 2021

Posted by michelinewalker in Abrahamic Religions, Human Condition, Spirituality, the Bible, The Eucharist

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Anamnèse, Gethsemani, Lamartine, Les Sept Paroles du Christ, Mass, Seven sayings of Christ, the Canonical Hours, vigilance

Jesus Christ Pantokrator
Agony in the Garden by El Greco

The seven sayings of Jesus on the cross

Ten years ago, I published a post on the Canonical hours and noted that literary critic Northrop Frye suggested that these words: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” expressed the very essence of the tragic mode. They expressed:

a sense of his exclusion, as a divine being from the society of the Trinity.

Northrop Frye [1]

Jesus was no longer God.

The seven sayings are:

  • 1.11. Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do
  • 1.22. Today you will be with me in paradise (to the bon larron, or thief)
  • 1.33. Woman, behold, thy son! Behold, thy mother!
  • 1.44. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
  • 1.55. I thirst
  • 1.66. It is finished
  • 1.77. Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit

The seven sayings, being “last words”, may provide a way to understand what was ultimately important to this man who was dying on the cross.

(See Sayings of Jesus on the cross, Wikipedia.)

They do. The sayings of Jesus on the cross epitomize the burden of incarnation. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and had to leave the Garden of Eden, but they would be redeemed. Not only was Jesus made flesh, but he died a cruel death: crucifixion.

The Eucharist, or Holy Communion, commemorates the Last Supper. It invites an anamnesis. The host, l’hostie, represents the body of Christ. « Le Christianisme (…) utilise le pain pour représenter le corps de Jésus-Christ ».

“[D]o this in remembrance of me.”
« Ensuite il prit du pain; et, après avoir rendu grâces, il le rompit, et le leur donna, en disant: Ceci est mon corps, qui est donné pour vous; faites ceci en mémoire de moi.» (Luc 22 : 19).

During the Last Supper, Jesus of Nazareth knew that he had been betrayed and that he would be arrested. He was alone when his agony began.

The Canonical Hours

As for the nine (originally seven) Canonical Hours, they constitute vigilance. At the Garden of Gethsemane, during his agony, Jesus’ disciples would not keep watch with Him. Jesus was abandoned (See Matthew 26: 36 – 46).

Now Cenobite Monks, Monks who live under an abbey, observe nine Hours. Vigil was added, which precedes Matins. Monks keep watch night and day. Jesus, the Redeemer was a man and vulnerable. Vigils are kept the day or evening before Feasts. They may include or be replaced by fasting.

The Canonical hours are:

  • Vigil
  • Matins (nighttime)
  • Lauds (early morning)
  • Prime (first hour of daylight)
  • Terce (third hour)
  • Sext (noon)
  • Nones (ninth hour)
  • Vespers (sunset evening)
  • Compline (end of the day)

It is my understanding that the evening song or, evensong, comprises the Nunc Dimittis, Simeon’s song of praise. It is a canticle. The Hours are mostly Psalms, but include Antiphons, Responsories and Canticles.

“Why hast Thou forsaken me?”

This saying is Matthew 27: 46 & Psalm 22:1, but in my French psautier, the relevant Psaume is numbered 21. In my Bible, however, the same Psalm is numbered 22 (21):

« Mon Dieu, mon Dieu, pourquoi m’abandonner ? »
“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”
[Why hast Thou forsaken me?]

Jesus was a Jew and he spoke Aramaic. Eli would be Elijah. These words were uttered when Jesus was dying on the cross. In the ninth hour he said: My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? They are the fourth of seven sayings of Christ on the Cross (Les Sept Paroles du Christ).

Conclusion

On the cross, Jesus, God the Son, fully assumed his humanity, the incarnation. His disciples would not keep watch with him during his agony (Matthew 26: 36 – 46), and he was crucified (Psalm 22: [21]). All His sayings on the cross express the human condition, but none so powerfully as: “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” In « L’Isolement », Alphonse de Lamartine wrote: « Un seul être vous manque, et tout est dépeuplé » (Only one being is missing, and all is a wasteland). Lamartine borrowed this line from Nicolas-Germain Léonard (1844 – 1893). On the death of his daughter, Lamartine also wrote Gethsémani ou La Mort de Julia: « C’était le seul anneau de ma chaîne brisée » (She was the only link in my broken chain). Why hast Thou… Père, père…

I learned liturgy and liturgical music as a student of musicology and the theory of music. Jesus’ sayings on the cross have been set to music by several composers (see Sayings of Jesus on the cross, Wikipedia). To this body of music, Théodore Dubois (1837 – 1924) contributed: Les Sept Paroles du Christ, an Oratorio.

RELATED ARTICLES

  • A God Who Allows Suffering by Anna Waldherr atsunnyside blog
  • Canonical Hours or the Divine Office (19 November 2011)
  • Feasts & Liturgy, Page

_________________________
[1] Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism, (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1973 [1957]), p. 36.

—ooo—

Love to everyone 💕

Les Sept Paroles du Christ de Théodore Dubois interprété par l’Ensemble vocal Abbaye de la Cambre
Bronzino‘s depiction of the crucifixion with three nails, no ropes, and an hypopodium standing support, c. 1545. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

© Micheline Walker
30 March 2021
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A Strange Experience …

23 Tuesday Feb 2021

Posted by michelinewalker in Illuminated Manuscripts, Sharing, the Bible

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Four Bibles, ME, Sappho, sharing

A 1st-century fresco painting from Pompeii, Italy, depicting the poet Sappho holding a stylus. Photograph: Mimmo Jodice/Corbis (The Guardian)

Most of yesterday’s post was written online. It was quite the adventure. It was published before I had finished writing it. I had a copy in Word, but it was not complete. Moreover, I am not the only person writing my posts. Parts of my posts can be and have been removed by someone else.  

Yesterday’s post lacks a formal conclusion, but it is fine as it is. Missing from the post is the name of a Danish scholar and a link to his publication: a booklet.

This morning I added links. One needs a link to Blanche de Castile and Louis IX.

We know that four Bibles moralisées were realized in France in the 13th century and that they constitute paradox literature. You may have noticed the feet of our depiction of Gods. They are nicely depicted if the side of a foot is drawn, but not if the front of the feet is depicted. Dimensionality had not been fully explored when our Bibles were illuminated and it remains somewhat problematical.

On a more personal but interesting note, I would like to tell you that I have recovered from myalgic encephalomyelitis after 44 difficult years. The problem started when I caught a virus in 1976, but ME was not diagnosed until 1991, after I underwent a SPECT scan at Mount Sinaï hospital in Toronto. I was told that my brain was damaged and that I could no longer lead a normal life. I chose to remain intellectually active as a university teacher.

ME disappeared quietly during the last eighteen months to two years. I cannot tell how it went away, but I can tell when my life started to change. It did after a strange three-month flu and voice extinction that triggered advanced emphysema. I had never smoked, not even one cigarette, and I am feeling quite well.  

I apologize for rebuilding my post online. It took a long time because older versions would eliminate changes. Life can be strange.

Loreena McKennit sings Greensleeves by Henri VIII
Sappho (1877) by Charles Mengin (1853–1933). One tradition claims that Sappho committed suicide by jumping off the Leucadian cliff. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

© Micheline Walker
23 February 2021
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Noah’s Ark: the Unicorn Song

06 Friday Jul 2018

Posted by michelinewalker in Bestiaries, the Bible

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

Christ, Noah's Ark, Shel Silverstein, the Irish Rovers, The Lady and the Unicorn, the Unicorn, the Unicorn as Symbol, the Unicorn Song

Edward_Hicks,_American_-_Noah's_Ark_-_Google_Art_Project

Noah’s Ark (1846), a painting by the American folk painter Edward Hicks (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I knew there was a song about the Unicorn missing the boat, Noah’s Ark. I had not retrieved the song, but our WordPress colleague Gallivanta sent me the link. The Unicorn is an important legendary and zoomorphic, creature. Zoomorphic animals combine the features of many animals, including humans. (See Legendary animals, Wikipedia.)

The Bible, the Book of Genesis in particular, is an etiological text, or the pourquoi story of children’s literature, the preeminent example being Rudyard Kipling‘s (30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936) Just So Stories, in which he describes the origins of a certain animal’s characteristic. How the Camel got its Hump is an example of Rudyard Kipling‘s Just So Stories, published in 1902. Kipling’s book is not restricted to the origin of animal features.

The Dove and the Unicorn resemble one another. For instance, both the dove and the Unicorn are white, and, in Christianity, the Unicorn can only be tamed by a maiden, representing the Virgin Mary, and it stands for the Incarnation.[1] As for the white dove, it represents the Holy Spirit and is also a messenger. In this respect, we must examine doves more closely. Messengers are frequent in the Abrahamic religions, Islam especially. However, the Unicorn is transcultural and the product of man’s imagination.

The medieval bestiary is abundant and it includes several legendary animals many of which are allegorical. The Middle Ages, which ended after Constantinople fell to the Ottomans (1453),[2] was the Golden Age of Bestiaries. Bestiaries are home to several allegorical animals that may be real animals, or fantastical. The Unicorn is featured in the Bible. (See Daniel 8:5, NIV.)

1024px-Stom,_Matthias_-_Christ_Crowned_with_Thorns_-_c._1633-1639

Jesus Christ in his Passion as the Lord of Patience or Lord of Contemplation as offered with the crown of thorns, the scepter reed and mocked by Roman soldiers. Oil on canvas by Matthias Stom.

As we have seen, the Unicorn is featured in the six tapestries known as Dame à la licorne and housed in the Cluny museum, in Paris.

I thank Gallivanta for forwarding the link to the Unicorn song. It was composed by Shel Silverstein, in 1968, and made popular by the Irish Rovers.

RELATED ARTICLES

  • A Tapestry: The Lady & the Unicorn (16 February 2012)
  • The Lady and the Unicorn: the Six Senses (16 February 2012)
  • The Phœnix: on the Importance of Sympols & Myths (1 February 2012)

Sources and Resources

  • Unicorn, Wikipedia
  • The Unicorn Song, Wikipedia
  • Bestiary.ca (Animals in the Middle Ages)
  • The Just so Stories are Gutenberg project’s [EBook #2781]


Love to everyone
♥
____________________

[1] Boria Sax, The Mythical Zoo: An Encyclopedia of Animals in World Myth, Legend, and Literature (Santa Barbara, US; Denver, US; Oxford, UK: ABC-CLIO, 2001).
[2] See The Fall of Constantinople, Wikipedia

The Unicorn Song by Shel Silverstein, 1968

Of the Unicorn (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

© Micheline Walker
5 July 2018
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