Now
that spring is here and many are working on our gardens, I wanted to share the
pictures I took of my mother’s garden over the course of last year.A good garden should try to create interest
across the seasons.As one plant recedes
another blooms.I was reviewing the
snaps I took over last year and I took a fair amount of my mother’s
garden.I didn’t capture it all, but I
did capture most across three seasons.I
missed winter.
In
the front of the house my mother has a Madonna statue where a number of
flowering plants blossom throughout the season.The most stunning is this Hibiscus planted to the left (in the picture) which
blooms for a couple of weeks in May.
But
if you step back you will see a gorgeous Lincoln rose growing behind.
You’ll
notice to the right (in the picture) and just behind is a black-eyed Susan and
a day lily which have not bloom yet.Here
a close up of the rose.
Let’s
move on to the summer time.Here’s a
picture of that same front, now with some zinnias (I think) in front of the Madonna.You can start seeing the yellow day lilies in
the back.
On
the side of the house she has an assortment of lilies.
Here
is the entire side.
Opposite
the assorted lilies is a climbing pink rose.But let me take you closer to the climbing rose.
When
that climbing rose bursts out, it’s stunning.Looking toward the back of the yard, you will see the grape arbor as a
canopy.Here is a picture of the grapes
hanging down.
Unfortunately
the last few years we’ve got some sort of grape disease that kills over three
quarters of the grapes.They grow
beautifully but by August they blacken and shrivel up.
The
backyard opens up after the arbor.
To
the left is a fig tree and the tree toward the back on the right is a dwarf pear
tree.The pear tree is old and has now for
a couple of years stopped producing.You
can see the various potted plants my mother still tends.In her younger years this would be full of
vegetables.There she is.She’s a lot thinner this year now.She’s lost, not by choice, a lot of weight
this year from last with her gastro problems.But she’s been out there this spring already.
She
had a magnificent potted petunia last year.Back to the front of the house you can see the black-eyed Susan and day
lilies in bloom.
Some
more interest on the side of the house in the summer with tall flowers, potted
plants, and more roses.
Let
me finally show some fall photos, here from the backyard.Here you see yellow chrysanthemums in bloom
in front of the St. Francis statue.The
tree framing from above is a persimmons tree, with the most delicious
persimmons I have ever tasted.They were
just about ready to get picked at the time of this picture.The persimmons tree is just over from the
grape arbor.
The
weight of the ripened persimmons lowers the branches significantly.Normally the branches are pointing
upward.Some more pictures from the
fall.
There
was more.I didn’t capture pictures of
everything.I missed the dwarf lilac in
bloom, a hydrangea, begonias, and annuals.I just didn’t take pictures of those last year. But not everything in 2020 was bad!
Today
Pope Francis released an apostolic letter, Candor
Lucis Aeternae, celebrating the great poet Dante Aligheri and his work The Divine Comedy. This year, 2021 marks
the 700th anniversary of Dante's death, and so be prepared for a number of events
marking it. I haven't read the apostolic letter yet but I have seen several
articles about it. Oddly, two articles come from the same writer (Inés San
Martín) from the same magazine (Crux)
released on the same day, today. That’s certainly unusual. One article focuses
on the apostolic letter, “Pope Francis calls Dante a ‘prophet of hope.’”
Following in the
footsteps of his predecessors, Pope Francis on Thursday released a document
reflecting on the life and work of Italian poet Dante Alighieri, calling him a
prophet of hope in a historic moment where inhumanity and lack of prospect loom
large.
“At this particular
moment in history, overclouded by situations of profound inhumanity and a lack
of confidence and prospects for the future, the figure of Dante, prophet of
hope and witness to the human desire for happiness, can still provide us with
words and examples that encourage us on our journey,” Francis wrote in the
closing lines of Candor Lucis Aeternae (“Splendor of Light Eternal”).
Dante, Francis writes,
has an important message to convey, one that is meant to touch the hearts and minds
of all, and still in present time has the ability to inspire change and
transformation. The message his tale tells should help appreciate “who we are
and the meaning of our daily struggles to achieve happiness, fulfilment and our
ultimate end, our true homeland, where we will be in full communion with God,
infinite and eternal.”
Though often labeled as a
“pope of firsts,” Francis’s Candor Lucis Aeternae is not the first reflection
by a pontiff on the poet: Benedict XV published the encyclical titled In
Praeclara Sumorum (“Among the many celebrated geniuses”) in 1921, which was
dedicated to Dante’s memory and written for the occasion of the sixth centenary
of his death. Pope St. Paul VI also wrote apostolic letter in 1965, Altissimi
Cantus, to mark the seventh centenary of his birth.
“Someone might perhaps
ask why the Catholic Church, by the will and work of its visible Head, takes it
to heart to celebrate the memory of the Florentine poet and to honor him,” Paul
VI wrote. “The answer is easy and immediate: Dante Alighieri is ours by a
special right: Ours, that is, of the Catholic religion, because everything
breathes love for Christ; ours, because he loved the Church very much, of which
he sang honors; ours, because he recognized and venerated the Vicar of Christ
on earth in the Roman Pontiff.”
In 2015, ahead of the
inauguration of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, Francis said that
Dante “is a prophet of hope, herald of the possibility of redemption,
liberation and the profound transformation of every man and woman, of all
humanity.”
Both of Francis’s most
recent predecessors also praised the poet.
At a reading of The
Divine Comedy in 1997, Pope St. John Paul II noted that “almost seven centuries
later, Dante’s art evokes lofty emotions and the greatest convictions, and
still proves capable of instilling courage and hope, guiding contemporary man’s
difficult existential quest for the Truth which knows no setting.”
Benedict XVI also voiced
great admiration for the poet, and when he was still a priest and wrote his
famous book Introduction to Christianity in 1968, he uses The Divine Comedy to
explain the “scandal of Christianity.”
Now
if you want the actual apostolic letter, you can read it here:
I
haven't read it yet, but I hope to. I will certainly post on it when I do.
Those
who read my posts of The Divine Comedy
several years ago you know my love for Dante and his work. A few weeks ago I
compiled all the links to my blog posts on Dante into one post for easy
access. Now I am adding a link on my
header above to that post on my Dante links. I hope people find the link and ultimately my
commentary on Dante useful.
Photo Credit: Marco Bucco/Reuters via CNS, A bust of Italian poet Dante Alighieri is seen next to an etching of him at the University of Bologna in Ravenna, Italy.
The
first post provided a chapter by chapter summary of the novel.This second is more of a literary analysis of
the novel, albeit a cursory one.
I
have to say that the novel is a hodgepodge of elements held together by the
central character, Philippa, the stability of the monastery, and the central
theme of what I’ll call the theme of “becoming.”I’ll flesh out that central theme in time,
but let’s look at the plot first.
The
plot divides into two core narrative movements, bifurcating the novel, and as
far as I can see unrelated to each other.The first half of the novel revolves around the financial crises Abbess
Hester has put the monastery in.Her
paralysis and death, the discovery of the debt caused by Sister Julian’s
departure, the stone altar that needs to be paid, the decision to sacrifice to
pay for it, the building of the altar, and the miraculous windfalls that covers
the debt all take up the first ten chapters.The second half of the book, chapters eleven through twenty, mostly
revolves on the Japanese postulants who enter Brede, their entrance, their
benefactor, their development as nuns, and the establishment of a new monastery
in Japan.I fail to see the relationship
between the first main narrative and the second.From an aesthetic point of view, it’s rather
disjointed.
Not
only are the two narrative movements disjointed, but each come with some
flaws.In the first movement, the one
concerning Abbess Hester and the financial crises, the narrative is fairly
interesting and steadily developed.The
sin of Abbess Hester causes her death, creates instability to what should be
above all else stability to the monastery, and puts the monastery into a
crises.The narrative of the building of
the stone altar nicely accentuates the theme of “becoming,” providing a
dramatic symbol at the heart of the novel, though perhaps a little
heavy-handed.The nuns are willing to go
to severe ascetic measures in order to save money to pay the debt.And they do initially.But then a precious stone falls out of a broken
crucifix and Philippa supplies a large dowry she was hiding, and the whole
thing wraps up rather artificially.
The
thing that is puzzling is that Godden didn’t really need to do that.If she had continued on the path of resolving
the debt through asceticism, perhaps turned the screw a little tighter on the
struggle, had the monastery do some extra work such as publishing, raising agricultural
products, or dressmaking—all of which they already do, but now could be
expanded—the resolution of the debt would have been both natural and
aesthetically pleasing.Godden could
have even integrated the Japanese part of the plot as helping pay for the
debt.For example the extra dowries the
Japanese brought and the wealth from Japan could have been brought to bear on
the first part of the plot.Why she
chose the convenient, happenstance resolution escapes me, though perhaps there
may be a reason I’m not seeing.
The
second narrative movement, the development of the Japanese postulants, is also
unsatisfactory.The postulants, though
individualized characters, remain stereotypes.Why have they been drawn to Christianity?What tensions back home did they face?What specifically about Christianity has
captured their heart to leave a familiar life back home, move to another
country far away, and then subject themselves to vows of poverty, chastity, and
obedience?Godden drops little plums of
suggestions, but nothing developed in a substantive way.We do get the expected cultural distinctions,
subsequent assimilations, and the overcoming of communication differences.But from the initial hurdles we see the postulants
being clothed, first profession, final profession, and off to Japan to start a
new monastery all in cursory fashion.It’s rather superficial.
So
why read this novel?Is it a bad
read?I still gave it four stars.I think it’s a flawed work, but it still has
positive attributes that overcome the flaws.What I listed above are the two main plot lines but there are a variety
and abundance of subplots that create a uniform work, despite the two
disjointed main plots.There is the Dame
Veronica plot line that takes her as an accomplice to Abbess Hester, steals
monastery money for her wayward brother, accidently poisons herself, nearly
dies, but lives and provides restitution.There is the Sister Julian theme of abandoning the monastery for a
modern spirituality.There is the Abbess
Catherine plot line as she doesn’t want to become Abbess, is elected
nonetheless, and slowly grows to her job.There is the Dame Agnes plot line as a rigid and exacting nun but who
maintains the monastery traditions.There is the Penny and Donald plot line with its secular world issues and
saved by Philippa’s monastic wisdom.There is the Dame Maura plot line of playing and teaching music, her
attraction to Cecily, her being sent away, and then years later returning.There is the Sister Cecily plot line of
coming in as a young novice, being pressured to return to secular life, her
internal struggles with remaining a nun, her beautiful musical gifts, and
finally overcoming and being professed.And of course there is the Philippa plot line, taking us through her
leaving the secular world, her internal psychological struggles with her past,
her formation as a nun, her assistance with the Japanese, and her sacrifice in
going to Japan.
Some
have said that the monastery itself is the central theme.I don’t know if I would phrase it quite that
way.I think the stability of the
monastery set against the evolving and mutable secular worldis
one of the themes.But is it the
monastery that is the theme or perhaps the Benedictine Order?Perhaps it isn’t even the order but this
chapter in the order who maintain the stability and traditions.It is hard to separate the monastery from the
Order from the chapter.They are
interconnected.The interwoven web of
subplots from the lives of the individual nuns forms the theme.The subplot of Philippa’s experience and
development is the spine that runs through the novel and which is at the core
of the central theme.
So
what is this central theme?It’s
actually given to us by Godden through a quote from the medieval past
articulated by the character who encapsulates the sole source of wisdom from
the secular world in the novel, Pilippa’s ex-boss, Daniel McTurk.The
only secular person who understood why Philippa was entering monastic life,
McTurk provides Phillipa a quote which then runs through Philippa’s mind as she
wonders if she will sustain her vocation.It’s in Chapter 2, and we get Philippa’s thoughts:
Even if I don’t succeed
they honour me for trying, for coming, and words had come into Philippa’s mind:
‘Not what thou art, nor what thou hast been, beholdeth God with His merciful
eyes, but what thou wouldst be.’ It was McTurk who had quoted that; McTurk who
alone had understood. ‘What thou wouldst be.’ Philippa’s eyes had been suddenly
blinded.
“Not
what thou art, nor what thou hast been, beholdeth God with His merciful eyes,
but what thou wouldst be” is a well-known quote from The Cloud of Unknowing (from chapter 75), an anonymous medieval work of mysticism, who’s central theme
is that one needs to surrender one’s will to God in order to understand
Him.It is not important what you have
been, nor what you are now.The only
thing that is important is what you will become, and that is the person that
God made you to be.And so we see not
just in Phillipa’s progress but in the novel every nun’s process of development
to be conforming to the will of God.
We
are told again of this theme later in chapter 2 when Dame Ursula provides
guidance to her postulants, cautioning them on over striving to be useful.
‘And you needn’t worry
about being useful,’ said Dame Ursula. ‘When you have become God’s in the
measure He wants, He, Himself, will know how to bestow you on others.’ She was
quoting St Basil. Then her face grew wistful, ‘“Unless He prefer, for thy greater
advantage, to keep thee all to himself.” That does happen to a few people. Yet,
paradoxically, they have the greatest influence.’
“When
you have become God’s in the measure He wants, He, Himself, will know how to
bestow you on others.” Again another quote from the depths of Christian
spirituality that insists that God will shape you if you let Him.
In
chapter three, we see Philippa explaining to Cecily why she came to Brede.
‘I haven’t even begun to
catch up. You don’t understand,’ said Philippa more quietly. ‘All my grown
life, it seems to me now I have been – acting in authority … yes, acting,’ said
Philippa, ‘because I wasn’t a full person. I was so busy,’ said Philippa, ‘that
I had no time for myself. Now, at last, at Brede I have a chance to be no one.
That’s what I need because I must begin again; in all those years I hadn’t
advanced one jot.’
“I
wasn’t a full person.”The process of
the novel is the process of Philippa becoming a full person.Duranski carving the statue is a metaphor for
the nuns “becoming.”As he works, in
chapter eight, the nuns watch.
The statue seemed to
emerge almost naturally from the stone though again, statue seemed the wrong
word, it was so alive. ‘He’s uncovering it,’ said Dame Gertrude marveling.
After the novitiate had
watched him, Sister Constance had said, ‘It’s like us. We come as a rough piece
of stone and have to be carved and shaped to have meaning.’
Through
Philippa we see the woman God intended her to be emerge and take shape as she
takes on different responsibilities and sacrifices her will for God’s
will.But Dame Philippa’s “becoming” is
accentuated in the other nuns “becoming.”Catherine becomes a wise abbess; Dames Veronica, Maura, and Agnes become
balanced from their individual irregularities; Sister Cecily and the Japanese
postulants become mature nuns.
All
these subplots form a wonderful web of interest and overcome the disjointed
plot line.Through the varied subplots
Godden creates life at a monastery in a way that one single plot could not accomplish.It allows the reader to see, that is the
primary function of literature, according to Joseph Conrad.We see the life and complexity at a
Benedictine monastery as the characters live their lives before us, spanning
some fifteen years, and relating to an outside world that is increasingly
secular.We enter a different world, an
unfamiliar world to us, and engage in lives that have fundamentally different
objectives and routines and purposes than ours.For the span of the novel, we live in the rhythm of their lives.
There
was a British TV movie based on the novel.It took great license with the plot but I think it captured the spirit
of the novel.Here is a sort of extended
trailer.
This
novel, In This House of Brede, written by the English novelist and
Catholic convert, Rumer Godden, published in 1969, is set in a Benedictine Abbey (Brede) in northern
England.A widow and successful career
woman, Philippa Talbot, decides to quit her secular job and become a
Benedictine nun at Brede Abbey.Let me provide
chapter by chapter summaries, but spoiler alert: don’t read this if you don’t
want to know before a first read.After
the summaries I will provide thoughts on the novel’s structure and themes.
Chapter
Summaries:
Preface:
1953.Philippa’s last day at her job and the
background of her career as a “controller.”She’s 42 years old.Enters Abbey
on Jan 1, 1954.
Chapter
1:
1957,
Oct.History and nature of Brede
Abbey.Four years after Philippa
entered, now 46.Abbess Hester
stricken.Backstory of Abbess Hester and
Sister Julian.Philippa and Julian
compared.Both are in the fourth year of
their novitiate.Money motif; missionary
motif; modernity motif.Julian’s brother
John.Backstory of Julian not taking
solemn vows, leads to Abbess Hester’s stroke.Dame Veronica as cellar.
Chapter
2:
1957,
Oct.Abbess Hester dies.Dame Veronica’s paralysis over her sin and
guilt.Abbess Hester’s funeral.Discussion of the coming election.Sister Cecily backstory.Other postulants.Central theme stated: Not what thou art but
what thou wouldst be (Loc 1192); When you become God’s in the measure He wants,
He, Himself, will know how to bestow you on others (Loc 1266).Dame Emily to hospital.
Chapter
3:
1957,
Nov.Dame Emily sick.Dom Gervase backstory – beaten by a gang of
boys.Sister Julian leaves,Dame Perpetua as Prioress; expected Abbess.Chaos without Abbess.Central theme expressed by Pilippa: “I wasn’t
a full person” (Loc 1457).Philippa
sleepless and in turmoil, longing for Keith.Can she remain and become fully professed?Struggle.Dame Catherine consoles her.Vote
for Abbess is held.Dame Catherine
selected.
Chapter
4:
1957,
Nov.More history of Brede, thru the 13
Abbesses.Movement from England to
France and back to England thru the storms of history, Protestant Reformation,
French Revolution.The values and norms
of the Benedictine Order thru Novitiate formation: Enclosure, Self-Effacement,
Poverty, Chastity, Stability, Obedience; paradox of giving completely leads one
to finding.Dame Catherine takes on
responsibility as Abbess; struggles emotionally.Catherine’s backstory of religious
conversion, of her brother Mark who is now a bishop.
Chapter
5:
1957,
Dec.Life at monastery thru the seasons,
beautifully written section.Abbess
Catherine finding her voice.Philippa’s
backstory to being received for temporary promise; learning to sing with Dame
Maura and Cecily, highlighting Cecily’s musical abilities; Learning Latin under
Dame Agnes; hostility from Agnes.More
backstory to Philippa’s life; connections to outside world.Christmas at the Abbey; Cecily and her
mother; Cecily and Dame Maura at the organ.Catherine’s formal enthronement as Abbess.
Chapter
6
1958,
Jan.Novitiates at work and talk.Sister Cecily considered, special or
weak?Abbess Catherine reviews account
books; finds great negative balance due to Abbess Hester’s “stone
disease.”Dame Veronica failure as
Cellarer; the note of a “sinking fund” comes out.Money box missing 100 pounds; Dame Veronica
lies about it; refuses to explain.Philippa going through mail finds a letter from famous sculptor,
Duranksi, of plans with Abbess Hester for Apse and Altar.Contrast: Dame Veronica writing light poetry
with Dame Agnes writing scholarly book on Holy Cross.Dame Agnes 15 years of scholarship.Dame Veronica tells about Abbess Hester’s
commission of sculptures.Backstory on
commission.But now they can’t pay for
it because Sister Julian left the monastery.Dame Veronica overdoses and nearly dies.When she recovers admits she had stolen from the money box for her
criminal brother.Backstory to
Veronica’s life.
Chapter
7
1958,
Jan.Abbess Catherine methodically looks
for solutions to financial crises.She
holds distribution of new offices.Theme
mentioned of changing outside world (Loc 3372).Abbess Catherine finds outlet for Dame Veronica to make satisfaction and
pay debt.Abbess Catherine holds Chapter
of Faults.Philippa analyzes accounts
and suggests only solution is to sell monastery lands to pay off debt.Rejected by Dame Agnes, the only no vote.Dame Agnes insists it would violate the
stability and enclosure of the monastery.But the vote is to sell.Later at
a visit, McTurk agrees with Dame Agnes.Philippa feels terrible and contrite over her suggestion.
Chapter
8
1958,
Jan – Apr.Stefan Duranski arrives.Dame Emily returns from hospital.Abbess Catherine is nearly 50 years old.(Phillipa is around 47, both nearly same
age.)Exposition on the artwork and
placement.First part of the work will
take up to Easter, displacing the church; second part after Easter.Duranski and his men work while Nuns carry
on.Duranski carves Lady of Peace from
an old trough.Work has an act of
“creating” coordinating with theme of “becoming” (Loc 3727).The statue seemed to “emerge naturally from
the stone (Loc 3749).“Like us” says
Sister Constance (Loc 3759).Discussion
of clothing of sisters Hilary and Cecily.More backstory to Cecily; flashback to decision to join monastic
life.Discussion on monastic life.Hilary’s clothing; flashback to Philippa’s
clothing and first profession.Sister
Cecily bursts onto Abbess to plead to be clothed; Abbess allows it; Cecily
clothed.Modernity theme again.
Chapter
9
1958,
April.Duranski is back carving the
sculptures.The monastery pairs down
expenses to save money to pay for the sculptures.Abbessbecomes friends with Duranski.Grows in her responsibility as Abbess.Larry comes to visit Cecily to persuade her to marry him; more of
Cecily’s backstory.Abbess Catherine at
her work.The transfer of the cross
piece to Abbess’ room.Cracks and hidden
jewel pops out, solving their money problem.Philippa presents her dowry, also pays for the altar piece.
Chapter
10
1958,
June.Monastery finds itself
richer.Philippa makes solemn
profession; theme of becoming: “simply grow” (Loc 4634).Penny Stevens visits Philippa with her
crises.Bird imagery, motif: lark in the
sky.Penny to have a baby but won’t tell
Donald since he doesn’t want children; says she wants to abort; Philippa
dissuades her.Donald comes to see
Philippa; Penny had the abortion but is bleeding and needs emergency
surgery.Philippa has monastery pray for
Penny.“You can do nothing yourself, but
you can make yourself an instrument through which strength can flow,” Abbess
Catherine says.Kate farren becomes a postulant;
her mother was Philippa’s nanny for Keith.Philippa needs to avoid Kate who is now Sr. Pollycarp.
Chapter
11
1958,
Oct.Death of Pope Pius XII.Motif of modernism vs, tradition.Pope John XXIII selected.A sense of the modern is felt.Japanese Mr. Konishi wants to send Japanese
young women to become nuns with the hope of returning to Japan to start a
Benedictine monastery.Five postulants
will be coming.Backstory on Mr.
Konishi.Philippa as sacristan;
exposition on duties of sacristan.Theme
of becoming: “I am advancing” (Loc 5192).Nuns trying to learn about Japan.Backstory on five Japanese postulants.Philippa knows Japanese.Exposition on self-mortification “discipline.”
Chapter
12
1959,
Lent (March?).Abbess summons Philippa,
desires that Philippa be appointed zelatrix for Japanese postulants.Philippa begs no because she would then also
have to zelatrix to Sr. Pollycarp.Backstory on Sr. Pollycarp’s personality and her clothing and on her
family.Philippa has to tell story of
Keith’s death; started with a small nugget of gold (possible connection between
ruby an nugget?).Philippa working in
Washington went to California with Keith & Mrs. Farren (Sr. Polly’s mother)
as Keith’s nanny.Backstory of Keith’s
playing and running into a cave where he fell into a hole and of his horrible,
tragic death.Backstory of Philippa’s
career relocations: Washington, Tokyo, London.
Chapter
13
1959,
Holy Week (Apr?).Holy week events &
liturgies; holiest part of the novel.Larry sends Sr. Cecily and Easter card and visits monastery.Abbess learns Japanese postulants won’t be
coming for another year.Mr. Konishi
expected Philippa to assist with the Japanese postulants.Sr. Polly gets chicken pox and gives it to
Philippa.Sr. Polly and Philippa bond in
infirmary.After Philippa is over
chicken pox, goes to Abbess and volunteers to be zelatrix.
Chapter
14
1961,
Jan.Backstory to Japanese
postulants.Arriving in May, 1960.Mariko, Sumi, Yoko, Yuri, Kazuko.In Dec Abbess asked them if they wanted to be
clothed.Backstory of Yoko: widow.Backstory of Mariko: Konishi’s daughter.Backstory of Sumi: daughter of Konihi’s
servants, friends with Mariko.Backstory
of Yuri: orphan, nurse.Backstory of
Kazuko: sullen, withdrawn, and insecure.Exposition of Japanese postulants living monastery life.Interactions and exchange of customs.Bird metaphor again (Loc 5838).Yuri gave up, not clothed, goes to
Japan.Clothing ceremony of postulants.Dame Philippa acknowledged as excellent
influence.“The strength of the
monastery is that it keeps its traditions,” Abbess Catherine.
Chapter
15
1961,
Summer, Christmas, 1962, Lent, Pentecost, Sept, Oct, Nov.Seasons of prayer.McTurk brings two Buddhist monks to
monastery.Exposition of Christmas feast
days.Exposition on Lenten
practices.Dame Maura attracted to Cecily’s
face.Exposition on feasts,
Pentecost.Dame Veronica’s mother &
brother Paul visit.Dame Veronica
prideful as published poet.Dame Agnes
unable to publish her book, humbled.Philippa advices Penny who is expecting another baby but Donald has lost
his job.Bird imagery: Sept
swallows.Feast of Christ the King.Dame Thecla’s brother, an Ethiopian priest
celebrates Christ the King Mass.All
Saints and Souls Days practices.Dame
Maura’s praise of Cecliy’s voice.Kazuko
finds her charism weaving silk.Backstory to Sr, Kazuko, becomes attached to Dame Colette.
Chapter
16
1962,
March/Spring, May.Sr, Cecily asks
Abbess to stop her from music, but won’t tell her why.Abbess needs to talk with Dame Maura.Sr. Hilary asks Abbess to look after
Cecily.Dame Maura confesses to Abbess
about her attraction to Sr. Cecily; tells of kissing Cecily’s scratched
arms.Abbess will send Dame Maura to
Canada, tells Cecily to be more “bereft.”Battle of the cats; cats have over produced.Need to be brought back to balance.Dame Veronica prideful in her poetry; Abbess
needs to bring her down.Backstory to
Dame Veronica’s issues.Abbess will not
publish her books.Backstory to Dame
Agnes not able to publish her book.Sr.
Cecily asks to go to another monastery; rejected; Cecily was missing
Maura.Penny brings her two children to
show Philippa.Philippa has Cecily meet
the children; Cecily attracted to baby; now she is unsure if she wants to
profess.Backstory to Cecily and
Larry.Philippa asks college in Illinois
to look at Dame Agnes’ book.College
decides to publish it; Dame Agnes is jubilant.Dame Veronica tells Agnes that Philippa was responsible for getting book
to the publisher.Agnes thanks Philippa
with all her heart.Dame Veronica
reprimanded.Dame Emily dying.
Chapter
17
1962,
Spring.Mrs. Bannerman comes to
monastery to persuade Cecily to leave just before her final profession.Abbess asks Cecily if she would like to
return to secular life.Cecily refuses
and rejects Mrs. Bannerman.She is sure
she wants to profess.
Chapter
18
1962,
Oct – 1963, June.Vatican II Council on
TV.Modernist motif.Nuns react.Pope John XXIII dies.Nuns form
camps of modernist versus traditional.Argument over vernacular versus Latin.Abbess Catherine tries to take middle course.The stability of the monastery is threatened.
Chapter
19
1964
(?)-1968. Japanese novice’s solemn profession.Relatives from Japan flown in.Mr. Konishi bought a site in Japan for a monastery where in a few years
they would move to.Cecily and Dame
Maura exchange letters.News arrives
that Larry Bannerman has married Cecily’s cousin, Jean.Dame Maura returns during Advent.Finds Cecily singing.Dame Cecily now thirty-four years old and
settled in.
Chapter
20
1969,
June.The monastery in Japan is ready,
now five years after Japanese nun’s solemn profession.Dame Colette will be the Abbess there; a
contingent of Brede nuns and sisters to go, but not Philippa.Departure set for June 27th.Philippa breathes sigh of relief to return to
her own life.Had been selected
infirmarian two years now.In those two
years Dame Emily underwent her illness; was not dying.Feast of Corpus Christi.Bird (martlet) imagery (Loc 7188); two
martlets when Dame Emily dies; Dame Colette suddenly dies as well.Now they will need another Abbess for Japan
monastery.Only Philippa is the logical
choice, but Dame Philippa needs to freely choose.She struggles with anguishing decision.Dames Agnes and Philippa sit and discuss
history of Brede – the gift from Elinor Hartshorn, needed to gift all.Philippa runs to Abbess Catherine.
Envoi
1969,
June.At the airport Penny, Donald, and
McTurk looking for Philippa to pass.Philippa has chosen to go to Japan and be Abbess.She realizes she may never see the other nuns
again.Sir Richard also shows up at the
airport.They all see each other.Philippa enters the plane and the plane takes
off.
Last
year I posted the St. Patrick’s Breastplate prayer and a beautiful recitation
of it.Go back and pray and listen to
it.It’s worth it. It’s a prayer one should pray regularly, but if you forget, today is the
opportune time to do it at least once for the year.
Today
I want to link to an expounding of the prayer by Fr. Patrick Briscoe, OP, “St.Patrick’s Breastplate UNPACKED” over at Aleteia.
Let
me give you a sample.
St. Patrick’s Breastplate
(also called the Lorica, from the Latin word for Roman armor) is a prayer to
take up arms in spiritual battle. Summoning the forces of heaven to combat the
armies of hell, this prayer attributed to the Apostle of Ireland contains a
wealth of theological wisdom. On the feast of St. Patrick, take a moment to
pray and reflect on these ancient, powerful words.
I
arise today
Through
a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through
belief in the Threeness,
Through
confession of the Oneness
of
the Creator of creation.
St. Patrick’s prayer
starts with the central mystery of the Christian faith: the Holy Trinity. The
Christian God is one in three, three in one. The eternal Father begets the Son,
and together they breathe forth the Holy Spirit. Eternal and infinite, the love
of Father, Son, and Spirit pours forth upon the world. The diffused goodness of
God, a goodness so great that it cannot be contained, spills out upon all
creation, making and forming the world in love.
Oh
read the entire article.It’s a beautiful prayer and
a great explanation.
I
also found another musical version, this by Dwight Beal, who I have never heard
of.He takes some liberties with the
words to fit his melody, but the spirit is faithful to the prayer. He calls it "The Hymn of St. Patrick."
It’s
beautiful.Happy St. Patrick’s Day. And remember, it's a religious day first and foremost.
