Undsetiana‘The biography of Sigrid Undset is already a novel’, wrote Fr Jean-Robert Armogathe in an essay published in Communio eight years ago. If you read French, his piece is an excellent introduction to her life and work. Fr Aidan Nichols’s Read More
AgeingA monastic obituary provides, with the straightforwardness of the genre, a paradigm of how to age humanely: ‘[Fr Kenneth] had been suffering from memory loss for many years, but he was still praying the liturgy of the hours in choir Read More
BachHow would the official broadcaster of a state committed to dialectical materialism portray the Fifth Evangelist? With curiosity I approached the four-part series Bach made as a DDR-Hungarian coproduction in 1985. It is remarkable: carefully researched, humanely written, splendidly acted. Read More
St Sigrid?‘One can imagine the response of Sigrid Undset, had she been told that the Church would one day consider her a possible subject for a cause of beatification. She would have chortled. She might even have permitted herself a well-chosen Read More
Undsetiana‘The biography of Sigrid Undset is already a novel’, wrote Fr Jean-Robert Armogathe in an essay published in Communio eight years ago. If you read French, his piece is an excellent introduction to her life and work. Fr Aidan Nichols’s Reader of Hearts from 2022 has been described as ‘a portrait of Sigrid Undset without rival’. Do read Valerie Stivers’s account of the role Undset’s fiction played in her conversion: ‘I had always imagined the Church as a distant and cruel regulatory body, and suddenly I saw it as Undset did, as the place you turn with the whole unregulated mass of your life—as the only place large enough for it.’ Just the other day Amy Fahey, a scholar of Undset, wrote about her ‘Holdfast Sanctity‘, a phrase to chew on. In the blogosphere, Stubborn Veritas considers multiple aspects of Undset’s works. One can read there that Undset ‘had encountered the reality of Catholicism so clearly and convincingly that […] her being necessitated it.’ Another blog simply called Sigrid Undset provides fresh versions of texts not available in published volumes. It hasn’t had a lot of new entries recently, but something tells me it may become more productive soon.
AgeingA monastic obituary provides, with the straightforwardness of the genre, a paradigm of how to age humanely: ‘[Fr Kenneth] had been suffering from memory loss for many years, but he was still praying the liturgy of the hours in choir and celebrating Mass until a week before his death. He could do many things. He was a barber and tailor, played the organ and sang, painted (perhaps not so well), did crosswords and played Scrabble and gin rummy, and told many puns. Being old and limited by his failing memory was hard for someone used to being active and productive, but he adapted to his limitations with grace. As he became older and more forgetful, he became sensitive to noise and a bit belligerent if people blocked his way, but his default mode was to be gentle and unobtrusive. He had a strong sense of what was proper, whether in grammar or dress. He was not fussy about what he ate, but careful how he ate it. Although he couldn’t remember most things, each morning he thanked the cooks in French. If there are cooks in Heaven, I am sure he is thanking them too. We are grateful for having him in our midst, a gentleman, monk, priest, and faithful follower of Christ.’
How Grace WorksA conversation with Mark Makowiecki was an opportunity to talk about what makes a good teacher and about the impact good books can have, about how God’s grace works in ordinary people’s lives, about monasticism – and about Catholic life in the North. You can listen to the whole conversation here. On Sigrid Undset: ‘In addition to the great medieval cycles there are her so-called conversion novels, The Wild Orchid and The Burning Bush, both re-published in English, alongside many other Undset titles, by Cluny Media, that heroic enterprise which does so much to bring out excellent literature in new editions.’ The witness of a perseveringly faithful community is a strong incentive not to despair of one’s own circumstances. At a time when so many boats are being burnt and portcullises are lowered and walls are being built (unfortunately all these metaphors correspond to facts), it is really important to have places where there is an unconditional welcome. I saw this wall-painting recently, in Zurich, and liked it. I wouldn’t over-interpret, but it does convey something about life in the Spirit.
BachHow would the official broadcaster of a state committed to dialectical materialism portray the Fifth Evangelist? With curiosity I approached the four-part series Bach made as a DDR-Hungarian coproduction in 1985. It is remarkable: carefully researched, humanely written, splendidly acted. Ulrich Thein makes a credible JSB. He looks uncannily like him. Franziska Troegner is excellent as Anna Magdalena. A scene towards the end of Part One shows the famous incident when Louis Marchand left Dresden in stealth to avoid facing Bach in a public contest, having heard what Bach was capable of: ‘He knows’, says Marchand, ‘a different kind of music. He knows the circle of fifths the way people in the Antipodes know the backside of the moon, and strolls within it delightedly.’ This man oppressed by the stuffy air of small provincial towns has ‘made a new musical universe’. (Parts I, II, III, IV). The DDR production acknowledged that Bach was devout. It does though say little, it is true, about what devotion means. Supplement it with the account of Marie-Claire Alain.
St Sigrid?‘One can imagine the response of Sigrid Undset, had she been told that the Church would one day consider her a possible subject for a cause of beatification. She would have chortled. She might even have permitted herself a well-chosen expletive. Certainly, she is no plaster-cast saint. Her Christian trajectory was marked by struggles. She knew the complexities of life and love. That is why she speaks to us the way she does. And when we consider her life at a distance — she died in 1949 — we see that she did embody heroic virtue. She was one of the twentieth century’s foremost Catholic intellectuals, who used her creative gifts to proclaim Christ’s gracious truth. She was a fearless advocate of justice: this she showed to the full during World War II when, rushed into exile, she thundered against Nazism. She was an exemplary mother, not least in the way she cared for her handicapped daughter. She was a woman of prayer. I have been struck for years by signs emerging here and there, all over the world, of spontaneous devotion to Sigrid Undset, devotion sprung not only from love of her literary work but from a sense that she truly was, and remains, a friend of God. Her witness of unsentimental devotion and intelligent integrity is just what we need, I’d say, here and now.’ From an exchange with Luke Coppen on the launch of a causa for Sigrid Undset.
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Conducted Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration Led by Fr. John Keane , Director of Eucharistic Adoration Holy Hour Church of the Holy Rosary, Midleton - Tuesday 28th July Rosary at 7pm Eucharistic Adoration at 7:30pm All very welcome 1 Comments
Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Benedict. He was a sixth-century abbot who gave Christian monasticism its lasting foundation in Western Europe. St. Benedict was declared a co-patron of Europe (along with Saints Cyril and Methodius). St. Benedict is also Read More 2 Comments
Today we celebrate the feast of St. Kilian. He was an Irish missionary bishop and the Apostle of Franconia, where he began his labours in the latter half of the 7th century. 3 Comments
Today we celebrate the Feast of St Thomas the Apostle. He is the patron saint of architects. St. Thomas is best known for his role in verifying the Resurrection of Jesus. Thomas' unwillingness to believe that the other Apostles had Read More 2 Comments
Cloyne Diocese Eucharistic Adoration Holy Hour of Directed Adoration Led by Fr. John Keane , Director of Eucharistic Adoration Holy Hour Glengoura Church, Conna Parish - Friday July 10th at 7pm All very welcome 14 Likes
