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| Arthur Boyd |
October 4th is the feast of St Francis of Assisi, the
legendary patron of the environment, animals, Church reform, anti-capitalism,
non-violence, and Christian naturism.
To celebrate I offer two Australian contributions to the iconography and musical
tradition that has celebrated "il Poverello"
The image I feature for this feast is St Francis and Ruffino Naked in Assis. This is from the lithograph collection of
Arthur Boyd
I love this imagery as almost all the iconography of St Francis has him robed. However, it was his dramatic and theatrical stripping of his clothes and handing them back to his father that is one of Catholicism's least appreciated ritual acts of commitment. And I suggest that this provides a good patronal model for
Christian naturists.And the musical contribution for today's feast comes from Peter Kearney Songs. Good Morning Good People - Short History of a Long Project
Peter's account of how his musical-narrative on the life of St. Francis of
Assisi, came to be written over many years and eventually be performed at
venues in Australia, Ireland and the U.K. Five pages. 94.9 KB
Francis Hears The Gospel
Unlike Rotary, being Catholic means you get to carry a lot of historical baggage. Most pew warmers have little idea of the colourful anthology that goes with ticking the Catholic box on the census form. Today,October 7th is the "Don't mention the war" day. In devotional terms it appears as the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Sounds pretty innocent and we have a couple of parishes and schools in Brisbane dedicated to to OLR. ( Catholics invented religious acronyms )
However back in 1571 long before interfaith dialogue and non violent conflict resolution Christians and Muslims faced off in the messy Battle of Lepanto. It came to a grand final on October 7 that year with the Christians 1 defeating the Muslims 0
The connection with Mary aka BVM is that the commander in chief of the Christian in this battle was a saintly but war savvy Pope Pius V ( that's a 5 not a V). As well as building a coalition of the willing among disparate interests he added a dash of devotion by inspiring the troops and most of Europe's Catholics who had 't gone Protestant to pray the Rosary. As they say, the rest is history. Remember this was done long before Facebook events pages or Meetup.
"Lepanto was not the victory of Christianity over Islam, nor is its significance to be considered primarily in religious terms or as a clash of civilisations. Of course that does not mean that was not how it was viewed in a celebrating Europe, including Protestant England, and in the many paintings that have come down to us as representing the battle. Yet across the centuries Lepanto also looks like an exercise in futility, a scene of blood, gore and human misery that, at least on the surface, settled so little. It was the last major naval battle that involved galleys rowed by banks of oarsmen. And it was won, somewhat against expectations, by the side that was willing to experiment with the use of overwhelming firepower in an attempt to blow the enemy ships out of the water rather than use the time-honoured practices of hand-to-hand combat." (Source: Quadrant 1st April 2008 )
Thankfully we have moved a little beyond the murky world view of the 16th century where religion, politics, culture and conquest all rolled into one agenda. Or have we?
So today is a good day for all people of faith to pray for peace and understanding. If you are Catholic dust off your grandmothers beads and run your fingers over the mysteries of life. For instructions just got to YouTube for video or google for a text version.
Better still if you can, send a message of good will and solidarity to a Muslim friend or Christian. But as John Cleese would say "Don't mention the war".
MY VERY CATHOLIC PARENTS made intentional choices when naming their children. At my baptism I was given the spiritual mentors, Anthony of Padua and Gerard Majella. Both inspiring men who were so captured by commitment to the reign of God they dedicated their lives in consecrated service in their particular time and culture.
Anthony and Gerard both died young, lived chastely and were not exactly fun role models for a young teen caught up in the spirit of the 60's. However, their passion for God's reign of truth and service of the poor inspired my childhood and youth.
Today, 16 October is the feast day of Gerard Majella so all of us bearing his name carry a bit of his spiritual DNA. His life story is a jolly good read worthy of a Peter Jackson movie.
For a bloke who never had a sexual encounter he has managed to collect the heavenly task of being patron of pregnant women. That's one reason you find so many Gerards around from good old Catholic families. In my family alone, I scored him as a second name, I have a young brother called Gerard and my mother's youngest sister was called Majella.
We both share another quirky bit of personal history with a connection to the Capuchin Friars with whom I lived for 7 years but GM couldn't get a show-in despite two attempts to pass the entrance exam.
Happy name day to all those in my social media network who carry variations of the name Gerard Majella. Catholic trivia moment: he is one of the few if only saints shared across male and female naming rights
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