Two days ago, London was attacked. Britain’s Magna Carta and its Parliament are symbols of democracy.
At times, such events can be expected. Why did the attacker convert to Islam? Why did he become radicalized? We will never know, but he may have felt rejected. How else does one feel when US President Donald Trump bans Muslims from entering the United States? The attacker committed a horrible crime, but why?
Canada’s anti-Islamophobia motion
Yesterday, the Canadian government passed an anti-Islamophobia motion. The vote was not unanimous. The problem may be with the term. But Muslims are being denied access to the United States which may explain the choice of the term Islamophobia. Many Canadians are afraid, but I believe our new Canadians: Muslims, Syrians, Iraqis, Armenians, Afghans, Syriacs and Yazidis, will be fine citizens, which will reassure everyone. A few members of Parliament voted against the motion, but it was passed. Migrants and survivors of a genocide who might perish, such as the Yazidis, should be given a home.
I am creating a page listing my posts on Beast literature. I retrieved most of the posts on this subject. If one has no list, one is lost. New posts will be written, but I would prefer not to be too repetitive.
Condolences
I would like to express my condolences to the family and friends of the dead and wounded.
It was the saddest of days. I was in my office, but was told to come and see what was happening in New York. We were crying. All flights to the United States were redirected to Canada and in localities where there were no hotels, motels, inns, such as Gander, Newfoundland, local families took in bewildered passengers.
I worried. If they needed medication, did they have enough? Did they have their nightgowns or pyjamas. Little things. I think my concerns were of a motherly kind.
However, later that day, I received a telephone call from a person of considerable influence in Ottawa, Allan J. MacEachen. We discussed the attacks. He wanted to know what I would do under such circumstances. I answered that, personally, if I were the President of the United States, I would not do anything. I explained that, in my opinion, the terrorists had to be tracked down, but that the United States should not engage in a war.
And what would you do as a Canadian, he asked. I answered that, in my opinion, we were doing what we could and should do. Planes headed for the United States were landing in Canada. We had to be compassionate, hospitable, generous. We had to be good neighbours.
President Obama’s Campaign
As a Canadian, I cannot even imagine life without the social programs put into place about 50 years ago. The person I mentioned above, had lost his elections and was coming back to Antigonish, Nova Scotia. However, Lester B. Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972), an extraordinary Canadian, asked him to stay in Ottawa and design social programs: universal health care, students loans, the Canada Pension Plan, which he did. We are very fortunate. I have written a blog about this person, the Honourable Allan J. MacEachen.
Regarding yesterday’s posts, I have decided to feel flattered and let things be. I am not engaging in hostilities as it could harm some of my colleagues at WordPress. They could lose a sponsor.
Hymns to the Virgin Mary, or Marian hymnology, as I will call it, constitute a substantial part of sacred music. Moreover, Marian art is abundant. Mary’s main feasts are the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Assumption and the Immaculate Conception, three of which are related to the Nativity Cycle. The exception would be the Assumption. Mary did not die. She ascended into heaven.
1. The Annunciation
The Feast of the Annunciation commemorates the day on which the Archangel Gabriel visited Mary to announce that she would bear and give birth to the son of God. The Feast of the Annunciation (see Rubens, below) is celebrated on 25 March, exactly nine months before Christmas Day, when Christians celebrate the birth of Christ. The above image is by Paolo de’ Matteis (9 February 1662 – 26 January 1728).
2. The Nativity
The central Marian feast is the Nativity. The Nativity is in fact a celebration of the birth of Christ, but Marian feasts are rooted in the Nativity cycle. Where Marian art is concerned, the Nativity includes portrayals of the Shepherds in adoration, of the visit by the Kings of Orient, as well as portrayals of the Presentation of Jesus as firstborn son, and the Purification of Mary. Just below, I have inserted a visit by the Shepherds, by Gerard van Honthorst (4 November 1592 – 27 April 1656), a Dutch Golden Age artist who is also called Gerrit van Honthorst.
The Adoration of the Shepherds, by Gerard van Honthorst, 1622
3. The Assumption
Mary did not die. She ascended into heaven and her Assumption is celebrated on 15 August. In the Eastern Church, Byzantine Emperor Maurice selected 15 August as the date of the feast of Dormition and Assumption. The 15th of August is also the Acadian’s Feast Day. Acadians are the French-speaking inhabitants of Canada’s Atlantic provinces. Their national anthem is the Ave Maris Stella.
The Assumption of the Virgin Mary, by Rubens, 1626
(Please click on the picture to enlarge it.)
4. The Immaculate Conception
According to Roman Catholicism, Jesus was conceived without stain or macula. This dogma is disputed as it is linked with the notion of an inherent fault, the original sin, the sin committed by Adam and Eve. Newborns or infants who die before Baptism do not go to heaven. They are sent to Limbo.
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THE FOUR ANTIPHONS (Antiennes)
Marian hymnology
As for Marian hymnology, it originally consisted of four antiphons (antiennes, in French) sung in Gregorian Chant. Two (the Alma Redemptoris Mater and the Salve Regina were composed by Hermann of Reichenau, and would have been Gregorian chants. The four Marian antiphons are in fact linked to the Liturgy of the Hours, the Canonical Hours, and commemorate the four seasons.
Antiphons are “responsories” or the response by the choir or the congregation to a psalm or hymn. But they may involve responsorial singing by alternating choirs. Simply expressed, antiphons resemble a refrain. “The refrain was called an antiphon (A). The resulting musical form was A V1 A V2…”[1] Antiphons are not restricted to Marian hymnology. We should also note that Marian feasts are associated with the seasons, as are other Christian feasts. Antiphons are not restricted to Marian hymnology.
The Marian liturgical calendar is divided as follows:
Traditionally, the Alma Redemptoris Mater is sung at the end of Compline, one of the Canonical Hours. It is said to have been composed by Hermannus Contractus (Herman the Cripple) (1013–1054).
Traditionally, the Ave Regina Cælorum has been sung at the end of each Canonical Hours, but mainly Compline,between 2 February (Candlemas or Chandeleur in French) until the Holy Week. Candlemas is the day commemorating the Presentation of the Jesus at the Temple and the Purification of the Virgin Mary.
The Regina Cœli or Cæli (Queen of Heaven), is a night prayer (Compline or Vespers). Its authorship has not been determined but it was sung by Franciscans in the twelfth century. It was sung in place of the Angelus from Holy Saturday through Pentecost. It is therefore associated with the celebration of Easter.
The Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen) is sung at Compline from the Saturday before Trinity Sunday until the Friday before the first Sunday of Advent. (Wikipedia). It was composed by German monk Hermann of Reichenau, the above-mentioned Hermannus Contractus (Herman the Cripple) (1013–1054), the composer of the Alma Redemptoris Mater.
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However, to the four antiphons, we may add the above-mentioned Ave Maris Stella, Mozart’s breathtaking Ave Verum Corpus, various Ave Maria‘s, the most famous of which are Schubert’s Ave Maria, and the Ave MariaCharles Gounod composed on the first prelude of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Wohltemperierte Klavier (BWV 846-893). I will discuss these in my next blog.
