2021 Reads, Update #2

I don’t quite post an update every quarter any more.  This would be the third quarter update.  This is only my second update for the year.  But I do keep track of my reading by quarter.  Here’s what I’ve read these past three quarters, what I’m reading, and what I plan to read.

Completed First Quarter:

Prince Caspian, a novel from the Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis.

Magnificat, January 2021, a monthly Catholic devotional.

“Baptism,” a (Don Camillio) short story by Giovanni Guareschi, translated by Adam Elgar.

Magnificat, February 2021, a monthly Catholic devotional.

In This House of Brede, a novel by Rumer Goddard.

“The Coffee-House of Surat,” a short story by Leo Tolstoy.

“The Presence,” a short story by Caroline Gordon.

Dark Night of the Soul, a non-fiction work of spirituality by St. John of the Cross.

Magnificat, March 2021, a monthly Catholic devotional.

“Nimram,” a short story by John Gardner.

“Screwball,” a short story by William Baer.

 

Completed Second Quarter:

Magnificat, April 2021, a monthly Catholic devotional.

Things Worth Dying For: Thoughts on a Life Worth Living, a non-fiction work by Charles J. Chaput.

Magnificat, May 2021, a monthly Catholic devotional.

“Swept Away,” a short story by T. Coraghessan Boyle. 

 “Wintry Peacock,” a short story by D. H. Lawrence. 

“Acts of God,” a short story by Ellen Gilchrist.

“Candor Lucis Aeternae,” an Apostolic Letter from Pope Francis.

A Devotional Journey into the Mass: How Mass Can Become a Time of Grace, Nourishment, and Devotion, a non-fiction devotional concerning the Catholic Mass by Christopher Carstens.

Magnificat, June 2021, a monthly Catholic devotional.

 

Completed Third Quarter:

Magnificat, July 2021, a monthly Catholic devotional.

Catholics: A Novel, a novel by Brian Moore.

Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith, a non-fiction work by Robert Barron.

 “In the Walled City,” a short story by Sewart O’Nan.

“Granted Wishes: Unpopular Girl,” a short story by Thomas Berger.

Magnificat, August 2021, a monthly Catholic devotional.

Hail, Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God, a non-fiction work by Scott Hahn.

The Power and the Glory, a novel by Graham Greene.

“Gods,” a short story by Vladimir Nabokov.

Acts of the Apostles, a book of the New Testament, RSV translation.

“The Manager of ‘The Kremlin,’” a short story by Evelyn Waugh.

Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great Tradition, a non-fiction book by Roger Scruton.

“Dead Man’s Path,” a short story by Chinua Achebe. 

Magnificat, September 2021, a monthly Catholic devotional.

 

Currently Reading:

How Catholic Art Saved the Faith: The Triumph of Beauty and Truth in Counter-Reformation Art, a non-fiction book by Elizabeth Lev.

Dominican Life: A Commentary on the Rule of St. Augustine, a non-fiction work by Walter Wagner, O.P.

K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, a non-fiction book by Tyler Kepner.

Charming Billy, a novel by Alice McDermott.

Four Quartets, an extended lyric poem by T. S. Eliot.

Hildegard of Bingen: Selected Writings, a collection translated and edited by Mark Atherton.

 

Upcoming Plans:

“A Matter of Chance,” a short story by Vladimir Nabokov.

Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed, a memoir on the development of stealth aviation technology by Ben Rich and Leo Janos.

The Red and the Black, a novel by Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle).

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, a novel from the Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis.

“A Sea Change,” a short story by Ernest Hemingway. 

“A Snowy Night on West Forty-Ninth Street,” a short story by Maeve Brennan.

The Book Of Hosea, a book of the Old Testament, KJV and RSV translations. 

 

I accomplished an incredible amount of reading in the third quarter: four full length books and completed finished Robert Barron’s Catholicism, which I had been dabbling for a couple of years.  I should be posting on The Power and the Glory shortly.  It’s a great novel.

The current read at the Goodreads Catholic Thought Book Club is Elizabeth Lev’s How Catholic Art Saved the Faith.  I’m also currently juggling a couple of books as well: Dominican Life, K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, and the Hildegard of Bingen Selected Writings, which I just repacked up again.  I am woefully behind on my Biblical reading plans.  I’ve only read Acts.  There’s no way I’m going to come close to my plans, but I need to read at least one or two more. 

Plans always are greater than reality.  Happy reading.

Music Tuesday: Justin Tucker Kicker and Singer

JustinTucker may be the greatest kicker in NFL history.  He has successfully made 90.7% of his field goal attempts.  That is absolutely unbelievable and I believe he is on a current streak of 50 in a row.  This past Sunday he topped himself.  He kicked the longest field goal in NFL history, 66 yards in the last three seconds of the game to beat the Detroit Tigers to convert that 50^th straight field goal.  Here’s the video of his game winner and record.  Notice that at the 24 second mark he makes the sign of the cross.

 

What you need to know about Justin Tucker is that not only is he a great kicker, not only is he a devout Catholic, but he is an opera singer.  Here he is singing Ave Maria.

 

He’s a baritone.  That’s pretty good for a football player.  Here’s one more singing O Holy Night.

 

I think that’s even better.  And he looks really sharp with that beard.  Now here’s one more: the same winning field goal kick with his singing of Ave Maria overlaid. 

 

Applause, applause.  That’s pretty cool.  I have not followed football closely for a number of years.  I had not heard of Justin Tucker before.  Now I won’t forget him.

Sunday Meditation: Receiving a Child

One of my favorite passages in Mark.  I remember hearing this passage ahead of my trip to Kazakhstan to adopt Matthew.

 

Taking a child, he placed it in their midst,

and putting his arms around it, he said to them,

“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;

and whoever receives me,

receives not me but the One who sent me.”

       -Mark 9:36-37

 

Receive a child.  You will be forever blessed.

Faith Filled Friday: Our Lady of the Delaware Memorial Bridge

Just off the Delaware Memorial Bridge on the Delaware side, there stands a 34 foot tall stainless steel statue of the Virgin Mary.  I had passed it on the way back and forth to Maryland several times.  When one is driving, you don’t usually see it because you have to focus on the traffic, but one year on a bus ride down to the annual March for Life we on the bus saw it as we went by.  Since then I have looked for it several times and if you’re looking for it while driving you can catch a quick glimpse.  Yesterday I had a business trip down to Maryland which ended early, and so I had time on the way back to stop and look for it.  It wasn’t hard once you googled it. 

So if you’re looking for it, it is located just off of I-295 at the Holy Spirit Catholic Church in New Castle, Delaware. 

According to Roadside America: 

 

She's officially Our Lady Queen of Peace, but unofficially Our Lady of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, since she stands in clear sight of thousands of travelers who cross the bridge from New Jersey into Delaware every day.

The original statue actually stands in Santa Clara, California and is only 32 feet tall.  It was built in 1980 and put on display in several cities.  Another was built for Chicago, which ultimately ended up in Indiana.

But Catholics in Delaware really wanted one too.  Again from the Roadside America article:

 

Spurred to act, the Catholics of Delaware spent over seven years raising funds for their own giant steel Mary. According to the campaign's organizers, supporters contributed $500,000 and prayed more than 800,000 rosaries. One wealthy donor successfully got Mary to have the face of Our Lady of Medjugorje, a Mary who made multiple appearances in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

So I had the time and found it.  Here are some pictures.  First the informational plaque.

Here are a series of photos, starting from afar and getting closer.

You can see the Immaculate Heart is represented.  I can’t say the statue is as lovely as a Michelangelo, but it grew on me as I kept contemplating on her.

If you’re interested in what her back looks like, here.

 

The shrine also has a beautiful set of Stations of the Cross.  I didn’t take pictures of all fourteen stations, but here is a picture of station 12, the Crucifixion. 

If you’re ever passing the Delaware Memorial Bridge, a half hour stop to Our Lady Queen of Peace is well worthwhile.

September 14: The Exaltation of the Cross and the 700th Anniversary of Dante’s Death

Well, today is the convergence of two anniversaries.  One is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, and the other is the anniversary of Dante’s passing, and this year being the 700^th anniversary.  Dr. R. Jared Staudt wrote in the Catholic World Report (“Our Greatest Poet: Celebrating Dante after 700 Years”): “It is fitting that Dante died on the day when we commemorate the triumph of the Holy Cross, as he narrates the drama of salvation as it plays out concretely over the course of life, showing its eternal significance.”   

We Catholics are a strange lot, it must appear to those outside the faith.  Here we are celebrating the very instrument of Christ’s torture and death.  Actually the Eastern orthodox, Anglicans, and some Lutherans also commemorate this day.  Why?  First let’s see how the feast came about.  It started with St. Helena, the Emperor Constantine’s mother, going on pilgrimage to Jerusalem to see the very places of the New Testament.  At Calvary where Christ was crucified there had been a temple built to the goddess Venus, but by the time Helena arrived there the temple had been destroyed.  From Catholic Education Resource Center, "St. Helena and the True Cross," by Fr. William Saunders:

The temple of Venus was also demolished, thereby exposing the site where Christ was crucified. The Emperor Constantine himself wrote to St. Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem, ordering him to make a search for the cross on Mount Calvary. A learned Jew named Judas seemed to have some knowledge of the whereabouts, and was pressed into service. Just east of the site, three crosses were found in a rock-cistern as well as the titulus (the wood plaque inscribed with Jesus Nazaranus Rex Iudaeorum). (With the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is the Chapel of the Finding of the True Cross, marking the cistern.) The question then arose, "Which was the cross of Christ?"

Now that would make a great movie!  Actually Evelyn Waugh wrote an historical novel on this, Helena.  I haven’t read it, but it’s supposed to be one of his best.  The story goes on:

 

While the details provided by St. John Chrysostom, St. Ambrose, Rufinus, and Socrates (not the philosopher) are lacking and sometimes contradictory, the essence of the story follows: The three crosses and the titulus were removed from the cistern. A woman, dying from a terminal disease, was brought to the spot. She touched the crosses, one by one. After she touched the third cross, she was cured, thereby identifying the true cross. Other sources also relate the later finding of other instruments of the Passion. Most importantly, St. Ambrose preached that when St. Helena found the true cross, "she worshiped not the wood, but the King, Him who hung on the wood. She burned with an earnest desire of touching the guarantee of immortality."

So why September 14^th?  Philip Kosloski at Aleteia (“Why is the feast of the Holy Cross celebrated on September 14?”) explains:  “It is believed that Constantine built the basilica of the Holy Sepulchre after this finding of the True Cross, and the church was consecrated on September 14, 335.” 

So why have a feast day for the cross?  From Franciscan media: 

 

The cross immediately became an object of veneration. At a Good Friday celebration in Jerusalem toward the end of the fourth century, according to an eyewitness, the wood was taken out of its silver container and placed on a table together with the inscription Pilate ordered placed above Jesus’ head: Then “all the people pass through one by one; all of them bow down, touching the cross and the inscription, first with their foreheads, then with their eyes; and, after kissing the cross, they move on.”

So why venerate the cross?  Well it’s tied to the veneration of relics, and that is a lengthy subject.  Suffice it to say that through sacramental such as remains of the cross, we receive graces which strengthen our faith.  Because the cross came in contact with Christ, it has become consecrated in its material substance.  In addition, the cross as a sacramental reminds us of our commandment to carry our cross and follow Jesus.

And so, what better day for Dante Alighieri to have died!  His Divine Comedy is the ultimate creative work that captures our Christian faith and the cross on which we carry for our earthly pilgrimage. 

Literature in the News: The Catholic Cosmology of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings

It’s not really in the news but on a video piece from The Coming Home Network, but I didn’t have a category other than this.  The Coming Home Network is a Catholic evangelization organization that puts out information on why to “come home” to the Catholic Church and provides testimonies of people who have done so.  I find their testimonies very engaging.  They also have a series of short videos categorized as Insights, which is where this video comes from.  I found this video to be somewhat outside their norm.  Normally they provide some five minute theological insight, usually by a convert who found that particular insight significant to their conversion.  This insight is presented by Dr. David Russell Mosley, who according to his blog is a “theologian, Roman Catholic, poet, writer and speaker,” and apparently now also a novelist. 

He doesn’t mention his conversion on his blog “About” page but I did track down an article he wrote which provided his testimony on how his eight weeks old child getting cancer ultimately led him to the Catholic Church.  Titled, “How Catholic liturgy helped a father through family tragedy: Liturgy speaks when we can't find the words" it can be found at US Catholic Magazine, here.  It’s a moving testimony and worth reading, but I wanted to highlight his last paragraph where he mentions the influence of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

 

My path, and my family’s, into the Catholic Church has many strands of beginning: my study of the church fathers, my obsession in childhood with C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien—and by extension England, Ireland, and Scotland—and my even earlier childhood obsession with Greek mythology. All of this and more is woven together to tell this story. But the central thread for me is the one that led through my son’s cancer, into that little parish church in Beeston, and ultimately across the Tiber. Where I found solace, I ultimately found a home.

As a writer and professor of theology, he does come with quite a bit of expertise on Tolkien. 

So that’s his background.  The reason this particular video caught my eye, enough so to have me post it, is because in my two separate readings of Lord of the Rings, and watching the film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson I never caught on that there was a Christian element to the work.  Albeit that both my readings were before I became religious, and I might not notice the religious dimension to the novel.  Still I have watched the movie and I have reflected on the work since I became religious, and still other than the good/evil moral element of the story, I still have not picked up on the Christianity.  So Dr. Mosely’s video is insightful. 

 

That helps a bit.  It’s a start, but it’s only a five or six minute talk.  I really should read Lord of the Rings a third time now, but given the length I’m hesitant to commit to that long a read with all I juggle.  One of these days.  Hope you found that as interesting as I did.

Matthew Monday: Twelfth Birthday and Yankee Stadium

Last week was Matthew’s twelfth birthday.  I can’t believe he’s grown so much.  He’s grown to be such a good young man.  I am very blessed to have him as a son.  That doesn’t mean there aren’t issues, but nothing serious.  We had a little cake for him at the house.

Here’s a picture and a movie blowing out the candles.  My wife got candles that supposedly would not blow out but they still blew out.

 

 

For his birthday I finally took him to a NY Yankees game at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, the famed house that Ruth built.  He’s a Yankees fan but you see I’m an Orioles fan, and the two teams are interdivision rivals.  He had wanted to go for years to Yankee Stadium, but I always said no since he stabbed me in the back for becoming a Stinkees fan.  Of course I didn’t really mean it.  I was just waiting for an opportune time.

So this was his birthday present.  It was an all-day affair since it’s an hour to drive to the Bronx from our house, tried to get to the game early to watch batting practice and get some autographs, watch the game, which turned into a long game of over four hours, and drive home.  It was a Saturday day game.  We left at just after nine in the morning and got home  just before six in the evening.  It was just the two of us.

Here are some pictures.  The first is the best I can do for an overview shot of the stadium. 

 

The stadium is actually very pretty.  It looks better in person than it does on TV.  This is the new Yankee Stadium, opened in 2009, not the original, which was actually in the same spot but torn down for the new.  You can read about the stadium and its history here.  I took a picture of the iconic frieze, which came from the old stadium, that circles the roof.

 

We sat in the right field seats, about mid-way from the right field foul pole to center field.  This is sometimes called the short “right field porch” where left-handed hitters since Babe Ruth aim for.  We were not disappointed.  The Yankees Joey Gallo hit a two run homer to tie the game, landing about four of five seats from where we sat.  Oh we just missed catching it. 

But sitting in right field we got to see one of Matthew’s favorite Yankees, Aaron Judge right in front of us.  We were only six rows back.  Here’s how close we were to Aaron Judge.

 

Judge, who I believe was adopted as a child himself, is very personable with the fans.  He also likes to throw over souvenir balls.

 

Alas, Matthew didn’t catch one.

As to the game, it was a great game.  No score through the first three innings.  Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the fourth.  It stayed 1-0 all the way to the seventh where Orioles expanded it to 3-0.  Yankees came up with a run in the bottom of the seventh, and then in the eighth Joey Gallo hit a two run homer to tie it.  But Orioles scratched out a run in the top of the ninth when the Yankees ace reliever Aroldis Chapman got wild and put on a number of hitters.  Orioles then held on to win 4-3.  You can look over the box score and highlights of the game here.   So Matthew didn’t see the Yankees win but he had a great time. 

A final picture.  I bought him a Yankees cap at the game.

 

It was a wonderful father and son day.

Art: Restored Andrea del Castagno Portrait of Dante

In this the 700^th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s death, I’ve been trying to have some extra posts on the great Italian poet, who is so important to this blog that I have a link up in the header summarizing all my blog posts on Dante.  It seems that Italians all across Italy have been doing special things in commemoration of the anniversary, and one of them is a restoration of a famous 15^th century portrait of Dante.  The Italian Tribune, a weekly publication in the United States for Italian-Americans since 1931, published “15th Century Portrait of Dante Restored,” noting the restoration and unveiling of the painting:

The 15th century fresco of Dante Alighieri was nearly lost forever when it was whitewashed over, only to be rediscovered hundreds of years later. It was scratched and darkened with grime, but after a six-month restoration, the famous portrait of Dante has been returned to its original luster, just in time for the 700th anniversary of the poet’s death.

The newly restored portrait, which is eight feet high by five feet wide and was painted by Renaissance artist Andrea del Castagno, was unveiled last week [March 2021] at the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, Italy. It depicts the author of The Divine Comedy, considered to be the greatest work of literature, dressed in a cloak and a red cap, his gaze intent and his nose aquiline. “This is perhaps the most famous image of Dante, an icon of Italian culture,” said Eike Schmidt, the director of the art gallery. “He’s an important figure not just for Italy but for the whole world.”

The restorers of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, a long-established cultural heritage institution in Florence, restored the portrait to its original color, removing sediments and pictorial retouches that had darkened the colors. An unprecedented image emerged. Having looked melancholy and dour before the restoration, Dante’s face is once again bright and animated and more youthful.

The restoration:

Andrea del Castagno only lived about 38 years (1419-57) but was a very influential painter.  Perhaps his most well-known works are a Last Supper, an Assumption of the Virgin, a Crucifixion, a young King David with Goliath’s head, and nine frescoes of famous men and women, many of them Florentines, of which this Dante is included.  From the Itaian-Tribune article:

The detached fresco was originally located in Villa Pandolfini near Florence and was one of nine famous figures painted by del Castagno on the walls of the villa between 1447 and 1449. The paintings included three condottieri, military commanders who led bands of mercenaries during the High Middle Ages and Early Renaissance, as well as three illustrious women and the three most famous poets of the age, Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio.

All three poets are delineated in full length wearing long gowns, with head coverings, and holding a book.  The book is an obvious emblematic attribute to their literary identity but I don’t know what the long gowns and the head coverings symbolize, if anything.  What’s interesting is in the color of the gowns and the type of head coverings.  Dante is portrayed in red with a Santa type of cap.  Boccaccio is in white and a kerchief type of bandana, which Petrarch is in an orange-brown gown with a capuchin. 

First, here is the entire fresco of Dante. 

Here are the Boccaccio and Petrarch portraits as a comparison.

 

What I find most interesting is that Dante’s facial demeanor is delineated not in an angry or perturbed manner as so many have, but rather congenial.  Here is a detail of his face.

Also interesting is the hair sticking out from under the cap is grey.  I would think it’s unlikely that is the actual face of Dante since this was painted about 130 years after his death, but it does seem like it could be him. 

Here is a lovely just over four minute video clip with no words and just overlaid music displaying the art of Andrea del Castagno. 

Boccaccio comes in at the 1:18 mark, Petrarch at the 1:29 mark.  You can see the gallery of the nine frescos as they were intended to be displayed at the 2:24 mark.  Dante first comes in at the 3:00 mark and then a detail of the face comes in at 3:20. 

I love Renaissance art.  It’s my favorite period.