Divine Beauty: Love Unto the End

Popule meus, quid feci tibi?

Aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi.
Quia eduxi te de terra Aegypti:

parasti Crucem Salvatori tuo.

My people, what have I done to thee?

Or wherein have I afflicted thee? Answer me.
Because I led thee out of the land of Egypt,

thou hast prepared a Cross for thy Saviour.



Crux fidelis, inter omnes
Arbor una nobilis:
Nulla silva talem profert,
Fronde, flore, germine.
Dulce lignum, dulce clavo,
Dulce pondus sustinens.

Faithful Cross! above all other,

one and only noble Tree!

None in foliage, none in blossom,

none in fruit thy peers may be;

sweetest wood and sweetest iron!

Sweetest Weight is hung on thee!

Divine Beauty: The Byzantine Liturgy - The Blessing

Nope, they aren't 'Orthodox' - they are as Catholic as anyone, but merely follow their own distinctive (and gorgeous) liturgical and other traditions. These so-called Eastern Catholics also elect their own Bishops and follow their own legal code, all in perfect harmony with the Patriarch of Rome (that's the Pope for you). Here, some of their Bishops are seen blessing the congregation with the dikirion and trikirion, candlesticks with two and three candles, respectively, with which he makes the sign of the cross:

The trikirion symbolizes the Holy Trinity and the dikirion the dual nature of Christ: God and man.

(H/T Rorate Caeli)

On a related note: this evening I will be attending the annual meeting of the Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius in Copenhagen. The fellowship exists to promote unity between Eastern and Western Christians - mostly Orthodox and Anglicans/other traditional Protestants, respectively, but I'll try to have some Catholic viewpoint thrown in. In fact, the unity which the fellowship seeks is already effected in the Catholic Church, where Eastern and Western Christians are even now under the same roof, united in doctrine and with equal rights and dignity - but unfortunately most of those involved in the fellowship don't realize that that unity is already there and just waiting for them to join in.

Divine Beauty: Cope of Pius XI

... or possibly a mantum. They just don't seem to make them like that any more...

(Can't remember where I found this. Probably the NLM.)

Divine Beauty: Rheims Cathedral

Once the venue for the coronation of the Kings of France. May the French people by the intercession of St. Louis come to acknowledge Christ as King.

Divine Beauty: Ssa. Trinitá dei Pellegrini, Rome

This church is run by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), which is dedicated to the traditional Latin liturgy. It is a personal parish serving those Latin Catholics in the Eternal City who (with good reason) favour the older rite of Mass.

The dome:



And a picture of the sanctuary in use.

From ORBIS CATHOLICVS

Divine Beauty: Our Lady of the Assumption, Malta

From the dedication feast of this lovely Maltesse Church:

A close-up of the main altar:

H/T New Liturgical Movement

Divine Beauty: Sainte-Chapelle, Paris

Truly one of the priceless gems of Christendom, Sainte-Chapelle, once the private chapel of the Kings of France, housed what was believed to be one of the very greatest Christian relics: the Crown of Thorns of Christ, which was displayed under the canopy seen above. I can personally attest to the staggering beauty of this fantastical edifice, although today, stripped of virtually all religious symbols and turned into a museum, it is even more soulless than the Hagia Sophia.

Divine Beauty: Humility and Charity

Perhaps not such a beautiful image per se, but what it signifies is: HH Pope Benedict washing the feet of priests on Holy Thursday, in imitation of what Christ did to His Apostles (in ancient times, washing someone's feet was the work of slaves).

This rite is accompanied by the singing of several antiphons, among them the profound Ubi Caritas. The most beautiful modern setting of this originally gregorian antiphon is, in my mind, that of Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986):


This captures the essence of Christianity wonderfully. The text of the full antiphon, with translation:

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.
Exultemus, et in ipso iucundemur.
Timeamus, et amemus Deum vivum.
Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Simul ergo cum in unum congregamur:
Ne nos mente dividamur, caveamus.
Cessent iurgia maligna, cessent lites.
Et in medio nostri sit Christus Deus.

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
Simul quoque cum beatis videamus,
Glorianter vultum tuum, Christe Deus:
Gaudium quod est immensum, atque probum,
Saecula per infinita saeculorum. Amen.

Where charity and love are, God is there.
Christ's love has gathered us into one.
Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him.
Let us fear, and let us love the living God.
And may we love each other with a sincere heart.

Where charity and love are, God is there.
As we are gathered into one body,
Beware, lest we be divided in mind.
Let evil impulses stop, let controversy cease,
And may Christ our God be in our midst.

Where charity and love are, God is there.
And may we with the saints also,
See Thy face in glory, O Christ our God:
The joy that is immense and good,
Unto the ages through infinite ages. Amen.

Divine Beauty: Hagia Sophia, Constantinople

Once the grandest church in Christendom, the Church of Divine Wisdom was expropriated by the Turkish conquerors of Constantinople in 1453 and changed it into a mosque. Today it is a museum, somewhat soulless and a shadow of its former self, but spectacular nonetheless. To think that this enormous structure was built in a mere five years - and that in the sixth century!

On the newer picture below can be seen the result of a recent restoration of the roof of the apse:

Divine Beauty: The Elevation of the Host

The most beautiful and precious moment for a Catholic Christian is every time the Host and Chalice is transformed into the Body and Blood of Our Lord. When the Host is elevated, we adore and love the One who loved us and gave Himself up for us. The beauty of this moment is encapsulated especially well in the traditional Solemn Pontifical Mass of the Latin Church.

(At the top is the Celebrant, here a Bishop, to his left and right the Assistant Priest and Deacon, resp., and below them the Subdeacon flanked by the Assistant Deacons. Sober, dignified, not over-elaborate. In the post-1970 liturgy, on the occasion of such a Mass the sanctuary would be overcrowded with Priests in chasubles up to no good.)

Divine Beauty: Monreale Cathedral, Sicily

Divine Beauty: The Rose Window of Strasbourg Cathedral

Beauty leads us to penetrate deeper into the mystery of the divine as well as all of creation, which is why I will suffuse this blog with images such as this: