Franciscan at Home

The illustration from the Compendium that we explore in this issue of The Sower is the dramatic crucifixion mosaic used to introduce section one of Part Two of the Compendium. Part Two is the ‘Celebration of the Christian Mystery’; section one of this part is entitled ‘The Sacramental Economy’.

At first glance this piece of art might be mistaken for an ancient mosaic; it is in fact the work of a brilliant contemporary Slovakian artist, a Jesuit priest, Father Marko Ivan Rupnik. It is to be found as part of an enormous mosaic, clothing all four walls, and also the gently curving ceiling, of the Redemptoris Mater chapel in the Apostolic palace of the Vatican City. Although this vast work covers some 7,150 square feet (664 square metres) of wall space, it was completed in less than three years, between 1996 and 1999. It is a magnificent and deeply impressive chapel, its theme covering the whole of salvation history.

The artwork chosen to introduce section one of part four of the Compendium, on prayer, is, unexpectedly, an icon of liturgical feasts. One expects an image relating to liturgy for part two of the Compendium since the subject for this part is liturgy and sacraments; but it may be less obvious why a liturgical icon has been used for the fourth part, on prayer.

As usual, we can turn to the text of the Compendium which is placed on the reverse side of the picture. This explains this intimate link that exists between prayer and liturgy:

‘All times are good for prayer. The Church, however, proposes special times to the faithful to stress and nurture continual prayer’.

In other words, coming together for liturgical celebrations nourishes personal prayer, and is a continual reminder to pray as one moves through the liturgical year. The important point for us to bear in mind for our catechesis, therefore, is not to separate public liturgical prayer from private devotional prayer. They belong together to nourish our life in Christ.

We can draw attention, also, to the title of section one which is placed over the image. The title is not just ‘prayer’; it is prayer in life and in a baptized life in particular. When we look at this icon we are looking at prayer in Christian life because it is the prayer which characterises those who have been baptized into Christ’s life. We learn, then, that the life of Christ is expressed through the Church, and that the great moments of the life of the Church are always liturgical events. Personal prayer is impoverished if it is not united to, and fed by, the liturgical life of the Church, since this is where prayer in the Christian life is centred.

This painting of Joos Van Gent (Wassenhove fl. 1460-1480) unites Jesus Christ, the Church and the Eucharist in a single harmonious illustration of the Catholic faith.

It is perhaps important to begin with an initial teaching point; it is worth helping people realize that such a painting as this is both a historical and a contemporary dimension to it. We do not need to believe, therefore, that the artist wishes us to see every part of the painting as a historical depiction. He is not necessarily wishing to communicate to us that the upper room really looked like this, or that the table was historically laid out lie this, or that the apostles necessarily knelt to receive the body and blood of Christ as he has painted it here. Of course, they may have done. However, what the artist is also trying to show us in the painting is that what Christ did as the last supper with the apostles he, still does for his disciples today at Mass.

One way to introduce this painting to those whom we are catechizing is to begin by teaching the Gospel accounts of the Last Supper from this piece of art. Then we can continue by explaining what the painting reveals about Mass today.

This Coptic icon of Pentecost has been chosen to prepare the reader of the Compendium for the section on Prayer. It has been chosen to lead us into, and open us up to, Christian prayer. The Church wants this icon to teach us the Christian foundations for prayer. Christian prayer is the raising of the heart and mind to God – as prayer is for all people of all religions and none - but specifically Christian prayer is also much more than this.

We are reminded in Scripture that Jesus had told his apostles that, after his Ascension, they were ‘to wait for the promise of the Father’ which was the ‘baptism of the Holy Spirit’. The Apostles humbly trusted Christ, now risen from the dead, and decided to wait by praying. ‘Humility is the foundation of prayer’ (CCC 2559).

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In this issue we continue our study of the artwork in The Compendium, and consider the Coptic "Icon of Pentecost" to be found at the beginning of Part four on ‘Christian Prayer’. The Coptic Church is the Christian Church in Egypt. Christianity was brought to Egypt by the Evangelist, St. Mark, the first bishop of Alexandria. Later the Coptic Church became separated from Rome but in 1741, the Coptic bishop, Athanasius, became reconciled to the Catholic Church and formed the Coptic Catholic Church in full communion with Rome. This Church has survived and flourished, though it comprises only a tiny minority in a largely Muslim country.

Pentecost (Greek: fiftieth day) was originally the name given to the Jewish Feast of Weeks, when the first fruits of the harvest were offered to the Lord. It took place fifty days after the Passover. (Deut.16:9). For Christians, however, Pentecost is the Feast that marks the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, fifty days after Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday. The event is described in Acts 2: 1-41.

In this issue, we continue our study of the art in the Compendium with an examination of a painting by Joos van Wassenhove, which the Compendium entitles ‘Jesus gives Communion to the Apostles’. It introduces in pictorial form Part Two of the Compendium, ‘The Celebration of the Christian Mystery’. Its placing there emphasises yet again that “The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian Life. The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented towards it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch” (CCC 1324).

Joos van Wasenhove came from Ghent in Flanders, but worked for many years at the court of the great Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino in Italy (1422-1482). Hence he is also know as Joos van Ghent, and in Italian as Giusto da Guanto. He is generally credited with the introduction of oil-based paints and Flemish techniques to Italy. The altarpiece has a predella of six panels painted by Uccello, and is still in the Ducal Palace, (now a galleria), in the town of Urbino.

Consider using this Nativity scene to awaken adults or children to an appreciation this year of a Eucharistic Christmas. This work of art is obviously about the Incarnation but it is also wonderfully Eucharistic; like the 4th century Greek hymn at the end of this article, which is also about Christmas and about the Mass at the same time.

The first thing to remember is that this painting is an altar-piece. The altar would have been directly in front of this painting. It has been chosen to illustrate what happens at Mass. It is hard to know where to start in our exploration of the painting, so rich is the Catholic imagery.

Let us also look at this picture in the way the Compendium intends us to see it, as a ‘profession of faith’. This is the title of the whole of Part One of the Compendium and this painting, centred on Christ, encapsulates it all.

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I shall begin with a confession. Of all the miracles and divine manifestations in the New Testament, I often experienced awkwardness when I encountered the Transfiguration. For a number of years, I complacently listened to, and read, the passage, tiptoeing around the event, not wishing to disturb it, because I did not know how to grapple with its mystery.

My complacency was shattered when I read Jean Corbon’s The Wellspring of Worship. Originally a Parisian and a Roman Catholic, Father Corbon became a priest of the Greek-Catholic eparchy of Beirut.
When I encountered Corbon’s Eastern Catholic exegesis on the Transfiguration in The Wellspring of Worship, I imitated St. Peter - I did not know what to say! I was aware that my literal reading of the Transfiguration had been shallow, and now I was meeting, through Corbon, the patristic tradition, which gave me completely new insights, particularly in respect to who was transfigured. Corbon quotes from St. John Damascene’s Second Homily on the Transfiguration: Christ ‘was transfigured, not by acquiring what he was not but by manifesting to his disciples what he in fact was; he opened their eyes and gave these blind men sight.’

This is the second painting of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and it introduces the whole of Part One: The Profession of Faith. The text on the back of the painting in the Compendium explains: ‘The first part of the Compendium illustrates the encounter between God and man and the response of faith which the Church gives in the name of all people to the gift of the redeeming Incarnation of the Son of God and his divine revelation.’

As we shall see, this painting illustrates precisely:
the encounter between God and man
the response of faith
the gift of the redeeming Incarnation.

In this issue of The Sower we contemplate two ‘Mercy Seat’ images. This particular engraving is from 1914 by Eric Gill.

At the Last Supper, Philip said to Jesus, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.’ Jesus said to him, ‘He who has seen me has seen the Father.’ (John 14:8-9) The Sower has recently had an issue on Christ-centred Catechesis, and this engraving made in 1914 by Eric Gill, is an extremely profound exploration of this theme, examining as it does the linked Mysteries of the Father, the Trinity, the Eucharist and our Redemption. The engraving is loosely based on the traditional representation of the Mercy Seat Trinity, in which the Father, shown as the Ancient of Days, supports the crucified Son, with the Holy Spirit hovering between them, but it contains a number of original departures of considerable theological interest.