I found this quote in my Facebook newsfeed this morning and decided it would be perfect for my blog today. While none of us in the United States today is in the desperate situation that prompted this homily from Fr. Delp, most everyone lives through Advent seasons during which we feel surrounded by gloom. There have been years when I felt it was just too difficult to make the effort to get out the Advent wreath, and when I felt like the Jews in Babylon who could not sing the Lord's songs in a foreign land.
I cannot, in fact, remember if there was a ever a time that I succumbed to this temptation. I think it likely that there must have been at least one year. However, what I do know is that I was never sorry when I made the attempt, because those gloomy seasons are ones during which we most need to await in hope, even though we can't always summon up the joy.
Well, I didn't intend to write all that when I sat down. What I had planned to say that is that several people who are friends of mine on Facebook have posted updates about Fr. Delp (about whom I know nothing) lately, and when I saw this, I decided that the book quoted above, Advent of theHeart: Seasonal Sermons And Prison Writings 1941-1944, might be just what I was looking for to read this year. I haven't had time to begin yet, but I will write more about it as I go along.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I thought that I
would post some picture of Mary pregnant during Advent and here is the first
one. I will attribute them if possible, but all I can find out about this one
is that it is in Liegieghaus ,
Germany
AMDG
so lovely. thank you - the quotation and the picture.
ReplyDeleteOh, I love the picture of pregnant Mary. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteLiebieghaus is a museum in Frankfurt. On its website, there's a discussion of that lovely statue of Mary here. It's in German, but Google Translate gives some of it as this:
ReplyDelete"It is a Maria in the hope alias Maria gravida or Maria in expectation, thus a representation of the pregnant Maria thus, which became in the 14th Century to the independent pictorial theme, that in painting and sculpture, especially during the Advent season, provided a devotional opportunity to engage in the pregnancy of Mary. Until the 18th century, on 18 December, Mary's joyful anticipation of the child was remembered. On this occasion, such Marian figures may have been put on the altar table. In southern Germany and Austria we know that during the Advent season these statues were used to reconstruct the hostel search in Bethlehem with procession-like processions. ...
But the Liebieghaus Maria stands out from the majority of corresponding representations. In most cases, Maria-gravida figures have (or had) an opening in the abdomen in which a small figurine of the unborn baby Jesus was visible or could be made visible by removing a lid. It was about a most impressive visualization of the mystery of the Immaculate Conception and the growth of the Divine Son in the womb. The figure of the Liebieghaus can be - except for her big belly - miss such semblance. But it can be assumed that the swollen abdomen was marked accordingly by a painted child in the radiate wreath, by a Christ sign or the like, as we know it from various late medieval paintings ago."
That's interesting, Marianne. Thanks.
DeleteAMDG
If we are not feeling the weight of darkness and sin in our own little worlds, to help us connect with the long ages of waiting before the Advent of Christ, it's not hard to branch out a little to neighboring "worlds" and feel the aching need.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there is the exhortation in your quote from Fr. Delp, that it is not about emotions, but about faith. Your example of the (not so simple) lighting of a candle is really a fundamental and oh-so-helpful one. Thank you!!
You are welcome.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me, I need to start reading that book.
AMDG