THREE VIEWS OF ST. JOSEPH

A Young St. Joseph with the boy Jesus

Hello My Friend and Welcome.

Though we know little about him, St. Joseph, the husband of Mary and foster-father of Jesus, played a critical role in the Holy Family. Most of our information concerning St. Joseph comes from the birth narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. There are also several apocryphal accounts and legends regarding both Joseph and Mary that may, or may not, provide further illumination.

 

THE FINER DETAILS

Both Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 refer to Joseph as a tekton, a craftsman. Tradition has settled on his craft being wood working, thereby making him a carpenter. Whether he performed general work such as making yokes for oxen, plows and so on, worked mainly in the construction trade, or did fine woodwork such as carvings and finish details, can never be known. We know Joseph was a man of humble means since he presented the sacrifice of two turtledoves or a pair of pigeons when he took Jesus to the Temple for Mary’s purification. An offering of birds was the standard for those who could not afford a lamb. We also know that he was a holy and observant Jew since the Gospel refers to him as “a righteous man.”

 

DID JESUS HAVE BROTHERS & SISTERS?

Matthew 13:53-56 says, “And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, and coming to his own country he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?’” The question would appear to have been settled then and there. However, that is not the case. The three major divisions of Christianity have each developed their own viewpoint on this question. Each of these revolves around Mary as much as Joseph.

 

THE PROTESTANT VIEWPOINT

Luther argued that correct interpretation of scripture rests not with the Church but “in the heart of the pious believer.” This has led the majority of Protestants to follow the practice of plain or explicit interpretation of the Bible. This rule says that when the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other; take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, and literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context, studied in the light of related passages and fundamental truths, indicates otherwise.

 

At first glance, this passage from Matthew appears to be exactly such a situation. However, it comes with certain suppositions, making it problematic. Mary and Joseph are now assumed to be the parents of at least six additional children after the virginal, and miraculous, conception of Jesus. Joseph would also have to have been young enough to father this brood.

 

We know Jesus was the firstborn, and therefore the oldest, because they made an offering of two turtledoves or pigeons at the Temple (Luke 2:22-24) to redeem him as required by Numbers 18:15: “…nevertheless the first-born of man you shall redeem…” This becomes contradictory when one considers that Jesus assigned John with the task of caring for his mother from the cross. Why did he need to do this if he had four younger brothers? Tradition says John moved Mary from Jerusalem to Ephesus to protect her from harm. Wouldn’t her family have been upset by this, and expected her to stay with them rather than John, a non-relative?

 

An Old St. Joseph Holds the Baby Jesus

 

THE ORTHODOX VIEWPOINT

Among other differences, the Eastern Church holds to a doctrine of Mary’s perpetual virginity. In their traditions, Joseph was a widower with children when they married. So instead of having siblings, Jesus has step-brothers and step-sisters.

 

Making Joseph an older man solves two other issues. First, if he were not searching for a wife in the fullest sense of the word, but rather a caretaker, it becomes more reasonable to view him as “a most chaste spouse”…a term the Church has applied to him from earliest times. Secondly, making him older conforms to the tradition that Joseph had died by the time Jesus began his public ministry. (The last mention of Joseph in the Bible occurs when the 12-year-old boy Jesus is left behind at the Temple and he is not mentioned at the wedding feast in Cana.) The Orthodox view makes Jesus the youngest child in the family. And, since he was Mary’s only child, he would be solely responsible for her care when Joseph died. Were Joseph not dead, her care would have been a moot point.

 

THE CATHOLIC VIEWPOINT

Where the Protestant view tends to a younger Joseph and the Orthodox view to an older, the Catholic view demands neither. While agreeing with the Eastern view on Mary’s perpetual virginity and Joseph’s death prior to Jesus’ public ministry, the Catholic Church believes the Holy Family consisted of three persons: Joseph, Mary and Jesus.

 

This, of course, necessitates charging John with her care since there was no one else. This still leaves the question of his “brothers” and “sisters.” The Bible provides a list of these brothers. If they were not siblings, who were they? A real and close kinship between Jesus and these brethren is clear. But the term brethren, or brother, can be applied to step-brothers as well as to blood brothers, and in Scripture is often extended to near or even distant relatives, like cousins.

 

Comparing John 19:25 to Matthew 27:56 and Mark 15:40, we find that Mary of Cleophas, or Clopas, was the sister of Mary the Mother of Jesus. We know she is Clopas’ wife because that is the way a married woman would have been identified. So this Mary is the same Mary who was the mother of James the Less and of Joseph, or Joses. Isn’t James the Lesser named in the list of apostles as the son of Alpheus? Yes, but it is commonly recognized that Clopas and Alpheus are different transcriptions of the same Aramaic word, Halphai.

 

FOLLOWING THESE BRETHREN THROUGH HISTORY

We know nothing of Joses, or Joseph. Jude, however, is the author of the Epistle of Jude. He is identified Judas Jacobi, Jude the brother of James, in the Douay Version of Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13. It was Greek custom for a man to append his brother's name instead of his father's when the brother was better known. In his Epistle, Jude calls himself the brother of James.

 

Simon, like Joseph, remains a bit of a mystery. Many commentators identify him as Symeon, or Simon, who, according to Hegesippus, was a son of Clopas and succeeded James as Bishop of Jerusalem. Others have identified him as the Apostle Simon the Cananean (Matthew 10:4; Mark 3:18) or Simon the Zealot (Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). The grouping of James, Jude (or Thaddeus), and Simon, after the others, but before Judas Iscariot, seems to indicate a connection between them.

 

So two, and possibly three, of these cousins were among Jesus’ Apostles. This seems to be verified in 1 Corinthians 9:5 where Paul writes, “Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a wife, as the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?” The mention of Cephas (Peter) at the end indicates that St. Paul, after speaking of the Apostles in general, calls special attention to the more prominent ones, the brothers (brethren) of the Lord and Cephas.

 

FURTHER ARGUMENTS

Some would object that the brethren of the Lord couldn’t have been Apostles since just months before his death they didn’t believe in him (John 7:3-5). This is based on a misreading of the text. They didn’t doubt his powers, what they misunderstood was his Messianic mission. They wanted him to declare himself a temporal leader. This expectation remained alive among the Apostles even after his resurrection.

 

The final objection to the Catholic position references Matt 1:24-25, “When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, but knew her not until she had borne a son...” It can be demonstrated from other examples that the phrase firstborn son doesn’t necessarily imply that there were, or were not, other children. Nor does the phrase knew her not until she had borne a son necessarily imply that he knew her afterwards.

 

Until next time, we wish you Peace and Blessings.

WOMEN in the EARLY CHURCH

Ancient Mosaic of Women of the Early Chruch

Hello My Friend and Welcome.

Even during a cursory reading of the Gospels you’ll find yourself surrounded by women who, in one way or another, ministered to Jesus and his inner circle. Most famous of these is Mary and Martha of Bethany and, thanks to Dan Brown and his DaVinci Code nonsense, Mary of Magdala…usually called Mary Magdalene. One who is never mentioned, though she must have been a supporter, is Mary, wife of Aristopulus. It was in the upper room of their home that Jesus celebrated his Last Supper with his disciples.

There are others as well. The woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, the woman with the hemorrhage who just wanted to touch the hem of Jesus’ cloak, Peter’s mother-in-law, the woman who washed his feet with tears — some associate her with Mary Magdalene, though this seems doubtful. And, of course, his mother, Mary, who was no doubt always in the background.

Sinner or saint, the one thing we glean from the Gospels is that our Lord treated each these women with as persons worthy of dignity and respect. Clearly, he was a modern man almost 2,000 years before the term was invented.

But what of the early church? Once Christ handed the reins over to the apostles did they revert to the misogynistic, patriarchal ways that we’re told prevailed in First Century society? Did they banish women to the kitchen to be seen, but not heard? No, they did not.  

Ikon of Lydia

The history of women taking an active role in the early church is well documented. A number of women are mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles and the various Epistles. Some examples would be Timothy’s mother and grandmother; fellow tent-makers, Aquila and Priscilla, Lydia the seller of purple cloth, Dorcas, or Tabitha, whom Peter raised from the dead, and the four daughters of Phillip who were prophetesses. There are also numerous instances where women are mentioned without specifying their names…the distinguished widows of Asia, women among the 120 and so on. Paul and his companions frequently relied upon the charity and social standing of some of these women —many no doubt wealthy widows— ­to ease them into the local society so they could accomplish their mission.

 

Literary sources have left ample records of deaconesses in different parts of the Byzantine Empire. Constantinople’s main cathedral, the Hagia Sophia, counted among its clergy 6o priests, 100 male deacons and 40 deaconesses. (Justinian, Novella 3.1) The early church’s practice of baptizing converts by full immersion in the nude ―a symbolic rebirth into the life of Christ― made the presence of deaconesses a practical necessity. In addition to assisting with baptisms, they tended the sick, nurtured the waifs the ecclesia rescued, and cared for the crippled, mentally ill, and dying.



A Wall Painting of Early Deaconesses

Some of these women are known by name because of their association with other notable members of the early church. These few undoubtedly represent unnamed thousands whose contributions have been lost to history. Here is a short list of some of them:

Olympias in Constantinople, ordained by Bishop Nektarios, friend of St. Gregory of Nazianze and later of St. John Chrysostom.
Anonyma who ministered in Antioch during the persecution of Julian the Apostate.
Procula and Pentadia, two deaconesses to whom St. Chrysostom wrote letters.
Salvina whom St. Jerome knew and who later became a deaconess in Constantinople.
The deaconess Anastasia whom Severus, Bishop of Antioch, mentions in his letters.
The deaconess Macrina, sister of St. Basil the Great, and her friend and deaconess Lampadia.
The deaconess Theosebia, wife of St. Gregory of Nissa.

The names of others have been preserved on their tombstones:
Sophia of Jerusalem, whose Greek inscription reads: “Here lies the servant and virgin of Christ, the deacon.”
Theodora of Gaul carried this Latin inscription on her tomb: “Here rests in peace and of good remembrance Theodora the deaconess who lived about 48 years.”
In Delphi, Greece, a tombstone dating to the 5th century remembers a certain Athanasia. “The most devout deaconess Athanasia, established deaconess by his holiness bishop Pantamianos after she had lived a blameless life.”
Another tombstone in Jerusalem remembers the deaconess Eneon who ministered to the sick.

Notice also that the ordination of deaconesses was not restricted to only the early church; it continued well into the later centuries. Another question inevitably arises when discussing the role of women in the early church. Were there also female priests…priestesses, if you will? All claims of radical feminists aside, the records indicate that, though a deaconess might head a congregation when no episkopos (Bishop) was available, they never exercised the full authority of the office.

Until next time, we wish you Peace and Blessings.

 

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EARLY CHRISTIAN SYMBOLS — THE IKTHUS, or FISH

Hello My Friend and Welcome.

One of the earliest, and most common, symbols used by the Christians was the Ikthus, or Fish. We see used it today in its plainest form, two swooping lines, and in more elaborate forms with the inclusion of a small cross, the word JESUS, or the Greek ΙΧΘΥΣ within the classic fish shape. There’s more than one reason the Early Christians chose the symbol of a fish.

FISHERS OF MEN

The use of the fish symbol reminds one of the familiar scene in Matthew 4:18-20, Mark 1:17 and Luke 5:2-11. In all of these passages, Jesus, who has returned from his 40 days of preparation in the desert, begins to gather his first disciples. While walking along the shores of the Sea of Galilee, or Lake Gennesaret as the Jews called it, Jesus encounters Simon and his brother, Andrew and invites them to become his followers with enigmatic phrase, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Luke elaborates on the scene a bit and places the men in their boat after a night of luckless fishing. Jesus tells them to put down their nets for a catch, they do, and the nets fill to the point of bursting. True to form, Simon’s responds by saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

THE ACROSTIC OF THE FISH

An acrostic is a word or phrase in which each letter stands for a word. We’ve all heard the song that spells mother by starting with, “M is for many things she gave me…” Acrostics are closely related to acronyms, which are an abbreviation formed from the initial components of a word or phrase…for instance, OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Association), the dreaded FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) and so on. There’s probably a vacation travel game lurking in our penchant for acronyms. It surely beats license plate bingo, but we digress.

The Greek word for fish is IKTHUS, spelled ΙΧΘΥΣ. Using those five letters, we can develop a phrase in the following way:

With the Iota, we create the word Ιησονς…Iesous.
Using the next letter, Chi, yields the word Χριστος…Christos.
The Theta yields Θεος, Theos…God.
With the Tau, we make Υιος, Uihos…Son.
And the Sigma, gives us Σωτηρ, Soter…Savior.
As the song says, put them altogether and you get Iesous the Christos, God’s Son and our Savior.

A MEANS OF COMMUNICATION

The simple image of the fish, or ikthus, became a means of identification for members of what the Romans considered a subversive cult. We find this simple symbol so rich in meaning scattered throughout the earliest examples of Christian art.

An Ancient Grave Carving Using the FISH

No one knows for sure who created it or when. However, the Acts of the Apostles tells us that it was in Antioch that the believers were first called Christians. Antioch was a thoroughly Greek city and former capitol of the Seleucid Empire. In the First Century it quickly became a leading center of the Early Church. It was the place from which Paul, Barnabas, John Mark, Silvanus and others left on their earliest missionary journeys. It was also the place to which they returned to rest, re-energize, and prepare for the next trip.

This coupled with the fact that the fish relies upon a Greek spelling of the word to convey its message, tends to lead one to the assumption that it, like the word Christian, originated in or around Antioch of Syria. Think about that the next time you see the symbol on the back of someone’s car.

Until next time, we wish you Peace and Blessings.

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LECTIO DIVINA — AN ANCIENT FORM OF MEDITATION

Hello My Friend and Welcome. 

Today we will be looking at the ancient, four or five-part meditation, used by the Church since earliest times, known as Lectio Divina. The Church Father, Origen (d. 254) and the monk John Cassian (d.435) both wrote of the benefits of this type of meditative study of Scripture. The Twelfth Century monk Guido brought the process into sharper definition as a stairway of spiritual steps. It works well when done alone and is ideally suited for small groups. As a matter of fact, you may be using a similar process and have never heard of it referred to by its Latin name, Lectio Divina. 

STEP ONE - LECTIO

This is a slow, contemplative method of reading the Scriptures that attempts to enable the Word of God to become a means of union with God. To those who have grown familiar with certain passages and are accustomed to reading them quickly, this can take some work. The first step is reading and active listening to the Word of God. To do this successfully, you must develop the ability to listen carefully to what is read and open your heart to hear God speak to you through his Scripture.  

This is very different to the reading most of us do on a day-to-day basis. We’re used to skimming a page of text onscreen or in a newspaper or magazine. Lectio is reading or listening with both mind and heart. It sometimes helps to sit quietly for beforehand, centering your thoughts and stilling your mind. As God has said, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Ps 46:10. When you are ready, read a short passage…only a couple of paragraphs is fine or if you’re reading the Gospels complete one scene.  

Listen fully expecting God to speak to you personally through what you are reading or is being read. As you listen, expect one word or phrase to stand out to you. 

STEP TWO — MEDITATIO

After you have identified your special phrase or phrases and thought about it, read the passage a second time. Open yourself to the reading and let it speak to your thoughts, dreams, memories and ambitions. Maybe you hear Christ in your verse or perhaps the verse says something about you…where you are in life, etc.  

Luke tells us that when the shepherds told Mary of the angels that appeared to them in the field, she “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.” And later, where Jesus is found after three days in the Temple, Luke again tell us “…his mother kept all these things in her heart.” That is exactly what we want to do; ponder in your heart what these things mean. Now you are asking God to speak to you. 

STEP THREE — ORATIO

Read the passage a third and final time. The next step of the Lectio Divinia is speaking to God in prayer, both as dialog and concentration. In the reading we have discovered a truth about ourselves. Now communicate this learning to God, thanking him for it and asking for validation. Now that you have it, what are you to do with it? Always remember, at its heart, prayer is a conversation between two lovers.   

STEP FOUR — CONTEMPLATIO

Now we become still and know that God is God. Lay aside your thoughts, worries and concerns and simply experience God’s presence. If it helps to use some sort of centering word or phrase such as Abba-Father, Lord have mercy, Maranatha (Aramaic for Come, Lord) or something else to slow down your mind, by all means, do it. 

OPTIONAL STEP FIVE — ACTIO

Some people suggest a fifth step based on the admonition, “But be doers of the word not hearers only…” Jas 1:22. In this step, being a true disciple, you would attempt to be someone who, “listens to my words, and acts on them.” Luke 6:47. 

And there you have it. The Lectio Divina is a method of study, contemplation and prayer used by Christians since the earliest of times, and with good reason. 

Until Next time, we wish you Peace and Blessings.  

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PASSING ON THE FAITH IN THE EARLY CHURCH

The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan

Hello My Friend and Welcome. 

Before we leave Easter behind, this seemed like the opportune time to examine the Early Church’s process of formation leading to Baptism. This post was also motivated by research findings from my Seeds of Christianity™ Series.  

Somewhat surprisingly, the preparation required for acceptance into the Church has varied over time. In APOSTLE, the third book of the Series, the Church at Antioch was preparing to celebrate the Pascha, or Feast of the Lord’s Resurrection. This was the time when new catechumens were baptized and brought into full fellowship with the congregation. Like the current Mass, early worship was divided into parts, principally the Introductory Rites, the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Prior to their Baptism, catechumens left after the Liturgy of Word —the Scriptural Readings. Since they were not yet full members, it would have been inappropriate for the catechumens to participate in the profession of faith, or Creed, and the breaking of the bread and sharing of the cup, as St. Paul calls it in 1 Corinthians. 

It should be clear that we are speaking of initiation into the Church via Baptism, not the Jesus Prayer which has become popular in recent years. The Jesus Prayer was developed by traveling evangelists for their tent meetings as a method of formalizing a person’s commitment when Baptism was either unavailable or inconvenient. Unfortunately, this prayer has begun to supplant Baptism in some circles. Historically, the Church has always adhered to the Great Commission as expressed in Matt. 28:19 “…Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”  

IN THE APOSTOLIC ERA

During the period immediately after Pentecost and in the earliest years of the Church, acceptance into the Church was quick and simple. Many examples can be found in Acts of the Apostles. For instance, Acts 2 tells of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and, in its concluding verses says, “So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.” The apostles started the morning still awaiting the Paraclete; they clearly hadn’t developed any program for the formation of catechumens.  

Early in Acts 4 we find Peter preaching in the Temple and it says, “But many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to about five thousand.” From this passage it’s unclear whether Luke is giving us a cumulative total or the number of new converts. Either way, at the very least they’ve added 2,000 more.  

Let’s skip to Acts 8:5, where we find Phillip, the evangelist, not the apostle, in Samaria preaching and baptizing.  In Acts 8:26-39, Phillip encounters the Ethiopian eunuch, preaches to him, and the eunuch says, “See, here is water. What is to prevent my being baptized?” He baptizes the man without hesitation. In Acts 10 Peter is in Caesarea. He’s called to the home of Cornelius the Centurion and baptizes his whole household. 

IN THE POST-APOSTOLIC ERA

If we fast forward a bit, we find that the Church has instituted a systematic process of formation prior to baptism. Rather than what we’ve seen in Acts, aspiring Christians must first become catechumens (those who were under instruction). The candidates enter this state when they present themselves to the catechists (instructors) and their names are inscribed on a list kept by the deacons. During this act of enrollment the aspirants are accompanied by some of the believers who testify to their right intentions and true commitment to grow in the knowledge of the Christian faith. Thus the candidates’ first steps were not taken alone, but in full sight of the community thanks to the presence of these witnesses who much later came to be known as godparents.

After the enrollment of names and presentation of the candidates, they went on to examine their lives, the occupations they followed and the motives which animated them. The questioning, often rigorous, was intended to assure the Church that the practical conditions existed for actually living the Christian life, uncompromised by pagan customs and immorality.  

A detailed list of activities incompatible with being a Christian is furnished by a Third Century text called the Apostolic Tradition. “The trades and occupations of those being brought for instruction must be examined. If they run brothels, they must give them up or be sent away. If they are sculptors or painters they be told not to make representations of idols; they must give this up or be sent away. If they are actors, they must give this up or be sent away. If they are racing charioteers or participate in the public games, they must give this up or be sent away. If they are gladiators or train gladiators to fight, or are officials involved in arranging gladiatorial games, they must give this up or be sent away. Prostitutes, lechers, the dissolute and others we cannot speak well of, must be sent away because they are impure. Magicians must not be taken before the examiner. Forgers, astrologers, diviners, interpreters of dreams, charlatans, liars, makers of amulets, must give these up or be sent away. He who has a concubine must give her up and take a wife according to the law; if he won't he must be sent away.” 

SEARCHING FOR AN EXPLANATION

So what is going on here? Several things are in play, actually. One might ask, “Why didn’t the apostles scrutinize baptismal candidates in the initial stages of the Early Church?” Or, turning that around, “What changed that required candidates to be scrutinized so carefully?”

Let’s retrace our steps back to the Acts of the Apostles. The very first believers on Pentecost were all Jews who had come to Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost, as it was called. Judaism had its own well-developed system of formation. Young men attended school at their local synagogue where a Rabbi trained them in the Torah―the Law, the Nevi’im―the Prophets, and the Ketuv’im―the Writings. At the time of a boy’s Bar Mitzvah he was questioned on his knowledge and expected to be able to respond and debate intelligently. These new converts had already gone through an extended period of formation. 

Consider also that in the very earliest of times, adherents to The Way of Yeshua still considered themselves Jews. It was only after the continuing persecutions and arrests by the High Priest and Temple authorities that they began to distance themselves from Judaism. These initial converts were not being asked to change their beliefs as much as they were being asked to expand them. In Matt 5:17 Jesus himself says, “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

Phillip Baptizing the Eunuch

Despite any bad blood between the Jews and the Samaritans, the Samaritans were also trained in the faith and devout in their practices. That leaves us with the eunuch and Cornelius. Both of them were what the Jews called a God-fearer, someone who accepted and practiced the tenets of Judaism without formally converting. Reading between the lines of Acts, we might conclude that when the eunuch asks Phillip, “What is to prevent my being baptized?” It may have been his oblique way of asking, “Will you discriminate against me because I am a eunuch?” The Jews strongly disapproved of castration and had laws preventing eunuchs from the priesthood and other offices. 

A CHANGING SITUATION

Contrast the situation Peter faced on Pentecost to what the Post-Apostolic Church had to contend with. They have now become dispersed among gentiles who worshipped pagan gods. People of that era had few scruples. They routinely divorced and remarried multiple times, engaged in extra-marital relationships, practiced homosexuality, exposed unwanted children to the elements, and countenanced abortion. These people knew nothing of the Ten Commandments, the Prophetic writings, the Psalms and so on. 

The Early Church clearly had their work cut out for them. They not only had to find people of good moral character, but they had to take them from ignorance of God and his Laws to knowledge of, and a belief in, the message of Jesus Christ.  

As time progressed, Christianity became a legal religion, then the official religion. Years of instruction and teaching resulted in a populous that had a general understanding of the tenets of the Christian faith. Once this was accomplished, the period of preparation was gradually diminished since the catechist had more familiarity, and therefore, less to master.  

LACK OF BIBLICAL KNOWLEDGE IN MODERN TIMES

During the 1940s C. S. Lewis spent time meeting and discussing religious doctrine with new recruits in the British Army. In his book, Mere Christianity, he laments their woeful lack of understanding of even the most fundamental Christian beliefs. Things have certainly not improved in the intervening years. We live in a Post-Christian world driven by a Secular-Humanist approach to life. We cannot depend on converts coming from a Christian home or having the same understanding they once did. The only response is to make our processes of formation increasingly more rigorous. Perhaps we have more in common with the Early Christians than most people realize. 

Last week we visitied the Jewish Passover. Tomorrow, we'll be looking at the Samaritan Passover.

Until then, we wish you Peace and Blessings. 

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THE FEAST DAY OF ST. VALENTINE – FEB. 14th

Ikon of St. Valentine
Note Red Garb of a Bishop Similar to St. Nicholas

Hello My Friend and Welcome. 

Tomorrow, February 14th, is Valentine’s Day… or more properly the Feast Day of St. Valentine. By the way, when we were growing up my friends and I still referred to it as SAINT Valentine’s Day. It seems that secular materialism has overtaken all of the historic religious celebrations. Consider this list, Valentine’s Day, Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras), St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Halloween — once called All Hallows’ Eve, Thanksgiving and, of course, the King of commercialism, Christmas. The religious origins and deeper meaning of each of these days has been lost in the race to sell cards, candy, and related bric-a-brac. But I digress. 

VERY LITTLE KNOWN

In truth, very little is known about St. Valentine. He is described as a presbyter (priest) who was martyred in Rome and buried on February, 14th on the Via Flaminia north of Rome. The name, in Latin, Valentinus, is derived from the root word valens meaning worthy, strong, or powerful. Interestingly enough, the name Valentinus does not occur in the earliest lists of Roman martyrs.  

The origin of St. Valentine and how exactly many St. Valentines there were, remains a mystery. One opinion is that he was a Roman martyred for refusing to give up his Christian faith. Other historians hold that St. Valentine was a priest jailed for defiance during the reign of Claudius. Whoever he was, Valentine really existed because archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb and an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine. In the year 496 Pope Gelasius marked February 14th as a celebration in honor of his martyrdom, saying Valentine was among those “... whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God.”

Antique Illumination of St. Valentine

WILL THE REAL ST. VALENTINE PLEASE STAND UP

The Catholic Church's official list of recognized saints, the Roman Martyrology, lists seven Valentines: a martyr (possible a Roman priest or Terni bishop) buried on the Via Flaminia (February 14); a priest from Viterbo (November 3); a bishop from Raetia who died in about 450 (January 7); a fifth-century priest and hermit (July 4); a Spanish hermit who died in about 715 (October 25); Valentine Berrio Ochoa, martyred in 1861 (November 24); and Valentine Jaunzarás Gómez, martyred in 1936 (September 18). Valentine did not appear in the official Church calendar for centuries, however “Martyr Valentinus the Presbyter and those with him at Rome” remains on the list of saints proposed for veneration by Catholics. 

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Saint Valentine the Presbyter is celebrated on July 6, and Hieromartyr Saint Valentine (Bishop of Interamna, Terni in Italy) is celebrated on July 30. Clearly they are viewed as two separate people. Notwithstanding that, conventionally members of the Greek Orthodox Church named Valentinos (male) or Valentina (female) celebrate their name on February 14th. 

The Nuremburg Chronicle states that Valentine was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius II, known as Claudius Gothicus. He was arrested and imprisoned when caught marrying Christian couples and otherwise aiding persecuted Christians. Claudius took a liking to this prisoner, at least until Valentinus tried to convert the Emperor. Then the priest was condemned to death.

FROM YOUR VALENTINE

The Golden Legend, or  Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine, compiled about 1260 and one of the most-read books of the High Middle Ages, gives sufficient details of the saints for each day of the liturgical year to inspire a homily for the occasion. The very brief details of St. Valentine have him refusing to deny Christ before the Emperor Claudius in the year 280. One legend says, while awaiting his execution, Valentinus restored the sight of his jailer's blind daughter. A further legend says that on the eve of his death he penned a farewell note to the daughter, signing it, “From your Valentine.”

Pompeii Frescoe of Adult Cupid with Physche

WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?

Most of the romantic lore surrounding Saint Valentine was invented in 14th Century England by Geoffrey Chaucer. In Chaucer's Parliament of Foules there is a fictional reference to old traditions, although no such tradition existed before Chaucer. These sentimental customs posing as historic fact, appeared in the 18th Century Butler's Lives of Saints, and have been perpetuated by scholars ever since. In a 14th Century French manuscript, Saint Valentine, the Bishop of Terni, oversees the construction of a basilica. There is no suggestion that the bishop was a patron of lovers. 

Valentine greetings have a long history. The oldest known valentine still in existence was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

Cupid's Transition from Adult to Baby Begins

In Great Britain, Valentine's Day became an official holy day under Henry VIII and began to be popularly celebrated around the 17^th Century. By the middle of the 18^th Century, it had become common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By 1900 printed cards began to replace written letters.  

Americans also probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America. Howland, known as the “Mother of the Valentine,” made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures. The Greeting Card Association says an estimated 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year.



A Victorian Image of Cupid

STUPID CUPID

Somewhere along the line the cherubic Cupid entered the scene. Ask most people about Cupid and they’re apt to describe a cute, chubby cherub with wings and a bow. Cupid is, of course, a Roman God adapted from the Greek, Eros. In both cases they are winged entities and usually represented carrying a bow and arrows with which they inflict the sting of love. However, they were always depicted as virile young men rather than plump little babies. How and why this pagan God invaded the celebration of St. Valentine’s Feast Day is unclear. What is clear that this cutesy character first appeared in Victorian times and, like Santa Claus, found a place in the collective imagination. 

Looking ahead, on Wednesday we’ll have our monthly post in the Christian Writer’s Chain. On Friday we temporarily set aside other interests in order to concentrate on The Ancient Traditions and History of Lent and Easter. Our first post in this special series will deal with what was historically called Quinqagesima Sunday…the last Sunday in the Church calendar prior to Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent.

Until then, we wish you Peace and Blessings. 

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THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS

Stations Sculpted in Relief Circle the Walls

Hello My Friend and Welcome

We have what I believe will be a very interesting post today. It covers two inter-connected topics…the mostly Catholic practice of honoring and praying the Stations of the Cross as mentioned in the header, but also a particular life-sized representation of those Stations in Texas.

THE HISTORY OF THE STATIONS

The Stations of the Cross grew out of the popularity of pilgrimages during the mediaeval period and earlier in the Church’s history. Jerusalem was a particularly popular destination as it contained all of the places of the Lord’s passion, death and burial so familiar to believers.

The stations and the practice of pilgrimage would be incomplete without a mention of St. Helena, mother of Constantine the Great. Upon the death of his father, Constantine became Emperor and summoned his mother to the imperial court and conferred the title of Augusta on her as mother of the sovereign. She converted to Christianity after her son’s victory over Maxentius…the battle in which he had a vision telling him he would conquer under the sign of the cross.

As Empress, Helena traveled to Palestine and, with the aid of Eusebius and others, identified the places that played a key role in the life of Christ and constructed churches on those spots. Then, after she “had shown due veneration to the footsteps of the Saviour”, she had two churches erected for the worship of God. One was raised in Bethlehem near the Grotto of the Nativity, the other on the Mount of the Ascension, near Jerusalem.

A DESIRE TO REPRODUCE THE HOLYLAND FOR THE COMMON MAN

Of course, not everyone had the time and resources of the Empress of the world. The common folk were left to linger at home, yearning to walk in the footsteps of Christ, but not able to afford the trip. To meet this need the monastery of San Stefano at Bologna constructed a group of connected chapels in the fifth century, which were intended to represent the more important shrines of Jerusalem. As a consequence, the monastery became known as Hierusalem — the Latin name for Jerusalem.

These chapels can be regarded as the germ of the concept from which the Stations later developed, though nothing that we have before about the fifteenth century can strictly be called a Way of the Cross in the modern sense. However, several travelers who visited the Holy Land during the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, mention a Via Sacra, a settled route along which pilgrims were conducted. The Via Dolorosa — the Way of Grief or Way of Suffering— for was probably developed by the Franciscans after they were granted administration of the Christian holy places in Jerusalem in 1342.

 THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FIXED NUMBER OF STATIONS

The earliest use of the word stations, as applied to the accustomed halting-places along the Via Sacra at Jerusalem, occurs in the narrative of an English pilgrim, William Wey, who visited the Holy Land in the mid-1400s, and described pilgrims following the footsteps of Christ to the place of crucifixion.

Reminiscent of Earlier Times
Prayer Chapels form the Stations at the
Church of St Casimir in Krakow, Poland

During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the Franciscans built a series of outdoor shrines in Europe to duplicate their counterparts in the Holy Land. The number of stations varied between eleven and thirty. In 1686, in answer to their petition, Pope Innocent XI granted to the Franciscans the right to erect stations within their churches. In 1731, Pope Clement XII extended the right of all churches to have the stations, provided that a Franciscan father erected them with the consent of the local bishop. At the same time the number was fixed at fourteen. In 1857, the bishops of England were allowed to erect the stations by themselves, without the intervention of a Franciscan priest, and in 1862 this right was extended to bishops throughout the church.

MODERN USAGE OF THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS

The object of the Stations is to help the faithful to make a mini-pilgrimage in spirit, through meditating upon the chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and death. It has become one of the most popular devotions for Roman Catholics, as well as a Good Friday feature in the worship and devotion of other Christian denominations.

Lighted and Inset Along a Wall at the
Church of St. Patrick, Racine, WI.

Today, the Stations themselves are usually a series of 14 pictures or sculptures depicting the events of Christ’s trial, crucifixion and burial. In order, they are: Jesus is condemned to death,  Jesus is given his cross, Jesus falls the first time, Jesus meets His Mother, Simon of Cyrene carries the cross, Veronica wipes the face of Jesus, Jesus falls the second time, Jesus meets the daughters of Jerusalem, Jesus falls the third time, Jesus is stripped of His garments, Jesus is nailed to the cross, Jesus dies on the cross, Jesus' body is removed from the cross, and Jesus is laid in the tomb.

A group called Cross Ministries has constructed the Stations using life-sized statues set in a circle in a field alongside Interstate 40 in Groom, Texas. The statues form a circular path around a huge cross nineteen stories tall. They also have a representation of the Last Supper among others. Here is a sampling:

Jesus is Condemned to Death

Simon of Cyrene Helps Carry the Cross

Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

Jesus is Removed from the Cross and Placed in His Mother's Arms

If you would like to see the entire set, I encourage you to visit Cross Ministries.

Until next time, we wish you Peace and Blessings.