VIGIL OF THE XXIII WORLD YOUTH DAY - HOMILY OF POPE BENEDICT XVI [Ecumenical]

WITL ^ | July 19, 2008 | Rocco Palmo

[NYer]

Are y’all watching this beautiful last Mass? Incredible .. and the soloists are just wow.

It was awe inspiring! The Book of the Gospels was presented by a group of aborigine natives that danced and chanted. Fr. Mark later explained that in certain parts of the world, such as Oceania, this form of liturgical dance is appropriate, even though it strikes our western minds as odd. He pointed out that the troupe was comprised of a priest and several seminarians and that their interpretive dance was considered most reverent.

Cardinal Pell commented on the amount of effort and work it takes to pull this all together. Judging from the flawless execution of all the events over the past few days, my head reels with amazement at who and how coordinated so many different aspects - the music, choirs, vestments, floral arrangements, proper seating, arranging housing for the visitors, transportation, etc. - all of which had to be provided to and approved by a Vatican delegation! It boggles the mind!

Question! Does anyone know what happens to these special vestments designed specifically for this event?

[NYer]

I think you are referring to the consecration of an Institute of Christ the King church in Wausau, WI where Bishop Burke officiated, but other than that ... ;-)

Yes! That's it ... thank you! Perhaps you can post a link for fatima to that web site (I'm at home on my 'dial up' challenged computer). Fatima, you can get a feel for the magnificence of that consecration through the photos on their web site.

[NYer]

Maybe I’ll be able to drag my 44-year-old carcass to Madrid in 2011.

If an 81 y/o pope can travel half way around the globe to Australia, not to be outdone by a 90 y/o Patriarch - Cardinal Sfeir who came from Lebanon, then you can certainly find the strength to fly to Madrid. As for personal accomodations, however, will you body hold up to a sleeping bag, unlike the Holy Father who is provided with a nice, soft mattress ;-)?

[AnAmericanMother]

Thank you! All those museums my parents dragged me to as a child . . . . :-D

Just for what it's worth, a stained glass window is like heraldry, in that you want to communicate the essence of the saint and her attributes in a plainly understandable way.

There are a couple of styles in glass, naturally I don't like the ultra-modern style. As a former Anglican, I'm partial to the English style.

This is a window of St. Anne and the Virgin, by the well known Victorian English stained glass artist C.E. Kempe. He is influenced by both the medieval English tradition (the decoration) and the pre-Raphaelites (the faces). And he was very "high church", collaborating on Anglo-Catholic churches.

The book is open to "Exultavit cor meum in Domino" - "My heart rejoiceth in the Lord." And this is the traditional depiction of St. Anne - instructing the Virgin as a child.

[AnAmericanMother]

Other images:

A very old St. Anne (15th c.) that Cromwell somehow missed. You can see the difference between a medieval face and the pre-Raphaelite faces in the Kempe window.

Here's a more modern interpretation, from D.C.

Another 15th century English version, from Oxford, with some very interesting background information on the origin of the saint's attribute (teaching the Virgin to read) here.

Hope that helps!

[fatima]

Darn I missed it all.I will catch it in reruns when I have control of the TV.

[fatima]

What an exciting project.I was once given an old statue about 21 inches high with a hole at the bottom so you could slide it into a niche.We had no idea who it was.It was a woman dressed in red with a look of joy and her eyes looking up to Heaven.I kept the statue on my desk and every day I would think about it when I had time.People were guessing St Mary Madeline,St Ann.I knew there were clues in the statue but it took me a month to figure out.The more I looked I realized the woman was pregnant.Then it came to me,it was Elizabeth and the 2nd joyful mystery-The Visitation.The statue captured the moment when St John leapt in her womb.Wow,it went to a church named after St Elizabeth and they were thrilled to get it.I miss the statue but many get to see it now.

[ELS]

Introduction to the Consecration

[fatima]

What a great link ELS.I wonder where they store all these relics back at Rome.

[AnAmericanMother]

More St Annes .. . (or Ann, or Anna) . . . I'm really having fun tracking these down!

All Saints North Street, in the city of York.

And remains, saved from the Roundheads, from St. Mary's, Thenford, Northants.

I prefer the old English glass to the more (some would say overly) representational German glass of the late 19th/early 20th century, and certainly to the modern stuff which is too flat and abstract.

[NYer]

Thank you so very much for posting these beautiful stained glass windows of St. Ann! I plan to print them out tomorrow and show them to the pastor. One of the images above bears a strong resemblance to the one he chose for the window. The difference is that the image will be in a central ‘medallion’ surrounded by colored glass.

[AnAmericanMother]

The devotion to St. Ann in medieval England was particularly strong (as the article notes). The Life of the Virgin was of great interest to the English, not least because England was known as "Our Lady's Dowry".

I guess it's because my people are all from Britain, but I simply love all the old English churches and their glass and statues. One of the most beautiful depictions of the Blessed Virgin is Our Lady of Walsingham.

[NYer]

This has always been my favorite.

[AnAmericanMother]

That's very sweet!

Here's an oddball one from one of the PreRaphaelites - Rosetti. It's one of his better works.

Rosetti was nervous about perspective and the human figure, but I really like St. Joachim in the background (even though it looks like he handed his halo to the dove to hang onto while he was working).

[NYer]

it looks like he handed his halo to the dove to hang onto while he was working

OMG ... that's funny! We know so little about St. Ann but one can imagine that she was still around when Jesus was a small child and must have rocked him in her arms and sung lullabyes, like all grandmothers do :-)

[danno3150]

Thank you for posting this. For a truly worldwide, totally positive event, WYD has gotten zero new coverage. A gathering of over a half million people gets trumped by a handful of idiots protesting the war on some street corner in Berkeley. I am personally acquainted with 30+ young people who made the pilgrimage (my own son had to cancel due to a health issue). We had hundreds of adults and teens from the Boston area attend this event, yet all the local media could cover were three women who had themselves ordained priests. The attendance of this “oridination” was far less than the local participation at WYD. It sickened and discouraged me, as well as my kids. Seeing this, and other WYD threads posted here helps to restore some of my faith in the FR forum that, frankly, has been shaken of late.

[AnAmericanMother]

Has anybody called the paper? Did the Archdiocese issue a press release? Give a heart-tugging interview opportunity (cute kid, somebody who beat cancer, etc.)?

Ya gotta reel the media in with some human interest to get a story.

[AnAmericanMother]

I would think, given the Blessed Virgin's age, that St. Ann would still have been around to spoil the Baby Jesus a little . . . .

[danno3150]

This is Boston. The media here has made a cottage industry out of trashing the Archdiocese before during and after the abuse scandal. The network affiliates were notified, but didn’t care. Frankly, if 5-6 hundred thousand people gather for a peaceful vigil for anything and you aren’t interested, there isn’t anything else that will reel you in.

[AnAmericanMother]

Sigh.

I guess all the Archdiocese can do is try to expand the circulation of the Archdiocesan newspaper!