‘… On the Wings of the Wind …’
May 21, 2020 by at 6:00 am
From the Armadio degli Argenti of Blessed John of Fiesole, OP (Fra Angelico), c. 1450
‘… he came, cherub-mounted, borne up on the wings of the wind….‘
From the YouTube Music Video Archives: Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (‘Resurrection’) – Finale
April 12, 2020 by at 10:00 am
“Why have you lived? Why have you suffered? Is it all some huge, awful joke? We have to answer these questions somehow if we are to go on living – indeed, even if we are only to go on dying!” These are the questions Mahler said were posed in the first movement of his Symphony No. 2, questions that he promised would be answered in the finale.
–John Henken, Los Angeles Philharmonic, ‘About the Piece’
The full symphony is available on YouTube here, courtesy of the Netherlands’ Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Quin Finnegan has more on Mahler (and Percy!) here.
‘… Still With You.’
April 12, 2020 by at 12:00 am
From the Armadio degli Argenti of Blessed John of Fiesole, OP (Fra Angelico), c. 1450
‘… I rose up and am still with you.’
‘… He Brought Them Out of Darkness …’
April 11, 2020 by at 12:00 am
From the Armadio degli Argenti of Blessed John of Fiesole, OP (Fra Angelico), c. 1450
‘And he brought them out of darkness, and the shadow of death; and broke their bonds in sunder.’
Three Two One Zero
March 9, 2019 by at 1:44 pm
“And the Darkness Did Not Comprehend It”
February 21, 2018 by at 12:08 pm
An early December story in The Hollywood Reporter recounts the first time that Hollywood actress Meryl Streep and legendary director Steven Spielberg met. “Most of the time,” Streep recalled in the December 5 story by Peter Galloway, she and Spielberg “talked about how his property was haunted and did I know anybody who did exorcisms? And of course, I did. I got him a priest.”
This comment from a member of the Hollywood community might come as a surprise to some people. After all, Streep works for the same business that produced a legion of movies about the devil—from Rosemary’s Baby to The Omen to The Exorcist—all in one way giving the devil more than his due by sensationalizing evil. Sure, images of devil and hellfire help maximize ticket sales—but do people in Hollywood actually believe all this Satan stuff?
While it’s not clear from The Hollywood Reporter story whether the famed director rid his house of the suspected evil, it is clear that even those who make fantasies for a living accept that the devil is real and that when he shows up on its doorstep, even the world of make-believe knows there’s only one place to turn: the Catholic Church.
Perhaps implicit in Streep’s recommendation to Spielberg is an understanding that believer and non-believer alike acknowledge, grudgingly or not—that the Catholic Church alone offers a direct, no-nonsense and effective solution to demonic affliction…
These Guys Want to Have a Few Words with You
Did you hear? Next Sunday, you ought to get drunk at Mass.
But in a sober way, of course.
That’s what the Liturgy Guys were saying during one of their recent podcasts.
But what do they know?