Sunday Drive: Chopin, Nocturne, Op. 9, No. 2

Gleaming Waters by Henry Scott Tuke, 1911

As performed by Vadim Chaimovich, 2010:

-----

Good Friday 2026

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Murillo, The Crucifixion, circa 1675.
Click to enlarge.

Fernando Ortega gives a deeply moving performance of the well-known hymn from Bach's St. Matthew Passion.

The Lessons Appointed for Use on

Good Friday

-----

Palm Sunday 2026

Hippolyte Flandrin, The Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, 1844.
Click to enlarge,

The Lessons Appointed for Use on the

Sunday of the Passion:  Palm Sunday

Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race, you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Addendum, 3/20:  In his Palm Sunday homily, Pope Leo said God does not listen to the prayers of those who claim to wage war in the name of the Prince of Peace, quoting from the first chapter of Isaiah:

-----

The Transfiguration of Christ

I have no words to say about the tragedy we are living through today, in this country and around the world; others have said it just as well, if not better.  All I can do is point to the gospel reading for today.

The Lessons Appointed for Use on

The Feast of the Transfiguration

On the holy mountain, a glimpse of God's glory, the splendid Reality behind and beyond all the anxious concerns of this transient life.  A profound thought for the faithful.  See also today's Forward meditation here.

The Transfiguration of Christ by Carl Bloch, 1872.
Click to enlarge.

-----

Palm Sunday 2025: All Glory, Laud, and Honor

The Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, by Hippolyte Flandrin.

The Lessons Appointed for Use on the

Sunday of the Passion:  Palm Sunday

The ancient hymn very prettily sung by the choir of St. John's Episcopal Church, Portsmouth, New Hampshire:

-----

The Annunciation

 The Lessons Appointed for Use on the 

Feast of the Annunciation

The Annunciation, Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1898.

The Song of Mary 

The Magnificat

Luke 1:46-55

My soul doth magnify the Lord,

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden: For behold, from henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed.

For he that is mighty hath magnified me, and holy is his Name.

And his mercy is on them that fear him, throughout all generations.

He hath shewed strength with his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble and meek.

He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent empty away.

He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel:

As he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed for ever.

-----

Easter 2024: Jesus Christ Is Risen Today

Christus Consolator, Carl Bloch, 1875

 

The Lessons Appointed for Use on

Easter Day

-----

Sunday Drive: The Blue Danube

A gallery of landscape paintings with captions:  what a lovely presentation to go with the beloved tune.

-----

The Crucifixion by Velazquez

Good Friday

He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.

Cristo crucificado, Digeo Velazquez, 1632.

Polish countertenor Jakub Josef Orlinski performs the poignant 23rd movement from Handel's Messiah:

Fr. Christopher Whitehead offers a brilliant meditation upon this painting in the second part of the video below:

Holy and gracious Father: In your infinite love you made us

for yourself, and, when we had fallen into sin and become

subject to evil and death, you, in your mercy, sent Jesus

Christ, your only and eternal Son, to share our human

nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to you, the

God and Father of all.

He stretched out his arms upon the cross, and offered himself,

in obedience to your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole

world.

-- The Book of Common Prayer

-----

Da Vinci's Last Supper

Maundy Thursday

A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another.

-----

The Audacity of Christian Art

A playlist from the National Gallery of Art, London, with a trailer and 8 short episodes discussing styles and techniques of various Renaissance painters.

 

-----

Sunday Drive: Bach, Air on the G String

Water Lilies - The Clouds, Monet, 1903

For my truckbuddies, five minutes of tranquil beauty - as performed by Hauser.

-----

Good Friday: He Never Said a Mumblin' Word

The Lessons for Good Friday

The Crucifixion, oil sketch by Murillo, ca. 1675.
Click to enlarge.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

--Isaiah 53:7

The late, great American soprano Jessye Norman sings the poignant spiritual at Carnegie Hall in 1990:

-----

Maundy Thursday: O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

The Lessons for Maundy Thursday

Christ in Gethsemane, by Heinrich Hofmann, 1886.

The ancient passion hymn, as performed by Nathan Drake of Reawaken Hymns:

Lyrics are in the YouTube description box.

-----

Soldier and Son

The Farewell of Hector to Andromaque and Astyanax
by Carl Friedrich Deckler, via Wikipedia.
Click to enlarge.

 

This video of a Ukrainian soldier bidding goodbye to his wife and baby son is a striking reminder of a scene in the Iliad, a poignant moment set during the Trojan War, 1200 years before Christ - a scene which no doubt has been repeated in real life times without number in all the centuries since.

Homer, like Shakespeare and all the other great writers of the past three millennia, had the divine gift of capturing the telling moment that reveals the humanity of his characters, in common with us all.  We moderns are not different creatures from our Bronze Age ancestors, whoever they were - fashions of dress, art, music, and speech may ebb and flow, but human nature does not change.

Hector, eldest son of King Priam, was the crown prince of Troy.  His wife was Andromache, and their little son was called Astyanax.  The scene opens with Hector suited up in his shiny bronze armor and helmet, ready to lead the Trojan army into battle against the Greeks, encamped before the city.  

Before departing, he goes to his house, within the walls of Troy, to say goodbye to his wife and son - an excerpt from Book 6 of the Iliad, in the lucid translation by Robert Fagles (1990):

A flash of his helmet

and off he strode and quickly reached his sturdy,

well-built house. But white-armed Andromache--

Hector could not find her in the halls.

She and the boy and a servant finely gowned

were standing watch on the tower, sobbing, grieving.

When Hector saw no sign of his loyal wife inside

he went to the doorway, stopped and asked the servants,

"Come, please, tell me the truth now, women.

Where's Andromache gone? To my sisters' house?

To my brothers' wives with their long flowing robes?

Or Athena's shrine where the noble Trojan women 

gather to win the great grim goddess over?"

A busy, willing servant answered quickly,

"Hector, seeing you want to know the truth,

she hasn't gone to your sisters, brothers' wives

or Athena's shrine where the noble Trojan women

gather to win the great grim goddess over.

Up to the huge gate-tower of Troy she's gone

because she heard our men are so hard-pressed,

the Achaean fighters coming on in so much force.

She sped to the wall in panic, like a madwoman –

the nurse went with her, carrying your child."

At that, Hector spun and rushed from his house,

back by the same way down the wide, well-paved streets

throughout the city until he reached the Scaean Gates,

the last point he would pass to gain the field of battle.

There his warm, generous wife came running up to meet him,

Andromache the daughter of gallant-hearted Eetion . . .

She joined him now, and following in her steps

a servant holding the boy against her breast,

in the first flush of life, only a baby,

Hector's son, the darling of his eyes

and radiant as a star . . . 

Hector would always call the boy Scamandrius,

townsmen called him Astyanax. Lord of the City,

since Hector was the lone defense of Troy.

The great man of war breaking into a broad smile,

his gaze fixed on his son, in silence. Andromache, 

pressing close beside him and weeping freely now,

clung to his hand, urged him, called him: "Reckless one,

my Hector - your own fiery courage will destroy you!

Have you no pity for him, our helpless son? Or me,

and the destiny that weighs me down, your widow,

now so soon?" 

And tall Hector nodded, his helmet flashing:

"All this weighs on my mind too, dear woman.

But I would die of shame to face the men of Trpy

and the Trojan women trailing their long robes

if I would shrink from battle now. a coward.

Nor does the spirit urge me on that way.

I've learned it all too well. To stand up bravely,

always to fight in the front ranks of Trojan soldiers."

In the same breath, shining Hector reached down

for his son - but the boy recoiled,

cringing against his nurse's full breast,

screaming out at the sight of his own father,

terrified by the flashing bronze, the horsehair crest, 

the great ridge of the helmet nodding, bristling terror

so it struck his eyes. And his loving father laughed,

his mother laughed as well, and glorious Hector,

quickly lifting the helmet from his head,

set it down on the ground, fiery in the sunlight,

and raising his son he kissed him, tossed him in his arms,

lifting a prayer to Zeus and the other deathless gods:

"Zeus, all you immortals! Grant this boy, my son,

may be like me, first in glory among the Trojans,

strong and brave like me, and rule all Troy in power 

and one day let them say, 'He is a better man than his father'.

So Hector prayed

and placed his son in the arms of his loving wife.

Andromache pressed the child to her scented breast,

smiling through her tears.

-----

Prayers for Peace

The Water Lily Pond, Claude Monet, 1899

The last thing anyone needs is a war just now.  Or at any time.  If you've read today's headlines, I have nothing further to say about world events; but I will say that now is the time to pray for peace on earth.

You can always make up your own prayer, anywhere, anytime.  Or you can think peaceful thoughts embracing all the lands and peoples of this troubled world.  Or just be still inside, in holy silence and at peace with all mankind.

Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, uttered or unexpressed.

If you would rather do than think or pray, consider forgiving someone who has trespassed against you.  Or do an act of kindness that you don't have to do - give something you don't have to give - love someone who can't love you back - without any thought of thanks or reward.  If you can do so anonymously, so much the better.  All these are works of peace.

If you want a set prayer, here are several collections of prayers from all around the world, and many faiths.  It's always possible to adopt one phrase or sentence that is particularly meaningful to you and use it as a frequent repetition, if you like. 

• Episcopal Prayers and Thanksgivings
• Prayers for Peace
• Prayers in Times of War and Civil Unrest

But whatever you do, I entreat you - do it now.

-----

Merry Christmas 2020

Credo quia pulchrum est.

The Adoration of the Shepherds, by
Gerard van Honthorst, ca. 1622.  Click to enlarge.

For us and for our salvation

he came down from heaven:

by the power of the Holy Spirit

he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,

and was made man . . .

to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us, 

to reconcile us to you, the God and Father of all.

The Gramophone Ghana Chorus sings out the good news with joy:

 

It has been a year of unexpected changes, great and small; and even Christmas is being celebrated differently this year by many people around the world, though the spirit of the season is still evident if one has eyes to see it.  

After a toilsome week of cleaning up the messes left by successive Christmas parties at his school, M.P. rested a bit at home and then got busy once again stringing lights on the front of the house, and decorating the living/dining room with a truckload of abandoned poinsettias he brought home from work.  Now it looks a bit like a Christmas garden in there, considering it was already filled up with all the outside potted plants that we are sheltering indoors for the winter - a couple of them are as tall as I am.

M.P. has also given the main rooms a Christmas cleaning, though not quite as thoroughly as usual, because this year his children and grandchildren are not coming for the annual Yule dinner at Papaw's house; after a good deal of dithering and twittering and what-shall-we-do-ing, the group mind finally settled on each family staying home and cooking for themselves.  Which is a prudent decision for all concerned, old and young; but M.P. had already laid in supplies of Christmas foods that he was not about to let go to waste, including a nice fat duck, and a ham that he produced himself by curing and smoking a piece of ordinary pork loin - which seems a miracle to me.  

So on Monday evening, the day of the winter solstice and, this year, the remarkable Great Conjunction - a fascinating sight in the southwestern sky - M.P. after much cheffing around in the kitchen served up a luscious Yule dinner for just us two, and here are the pics to prove it.  Of course, the proof is in the eating, but you just have to take my word for it that every single bite was deee-licious.

From 5 o'clock:  apricot-glazed ham (so tender it fell apart in cutting); succulent roast duck leg; deep-fried diced parsnips (like potatoes, but slightly sweeter); creamed sweet potatoes; spinach-cheese casserole; and a deep-fried biscuit, crispy outside and oh-so-buttery inside.

Of course, we have been re-heating and re-eating this same meal ever since, delightedly.  But there is more to come from the depths of the pantry and deep freeze:  On Friday M.P. will bestir himself to cook a proper Christmas dinner; then next week, a New Year's dinner; and the week after that, a King's Day dinner, with I hope, a nice King's Cake to top things off.  And your Head Trucker, being also Head Dishwasher of this joint, will do his part to keep kitchen operations rolling along.

Yesterday M.P. spent the whole day boxing and wrapping presents for his progeny (4 adult children, 3 spouses at the moment, and 4 little tykes), including all sorts of fascinating toys and dolls and whaddayacallits that toddle and coo and go root-a-toot-toot.  Later today he will drop them off, and then come back to put up our Christmas tree.  (While he is gone, I will wrap the few presents I got for him.)  On the big day, there will be a family Zoom conference to watch the unwrappings at the various houses, which for parents is the climax of all their endeavors.  How lucky we all are to live in an age of such technological miracles.

And so Christmas is not ruined at all, just a little different this year; I do hope by next Christmas things can get back to the usual routine - busy but comforting in the endless procession of the years.  And I hope all of my truckbuddies are enjoying some Christmas cheer right now - though you may be apart from your loved ones, and perchance even Zoomless, you can still be united in spirit.  And I believe that, come what may in this mortal life, nothing can ever separate us from the eternal Love that moves the stars, and moves our willing hearts, by whatever name you call it.

I am thankful for the quiet good cheer M.P. and I share here in our humble circumstances, with general health and finances stable at the moment; as we have both reflected, it would be a sad thing, growing older, to eat alone day after day.  It's harder to cook for one than for two.  So we celebrate what we have with grateful hearts.  I'll close these rambling thoughts now with some musical selections that sum up the meaning and the joy of Christmas for me.  My prayers go up for peace on this troubled earth and goodwill among men all over the world;  and from our house to all of yours, we send best wishes for a very Merry Christmas.

The Lessons Appointed for Use on the Feast of 

Christmas Day

-----

Sunday Drive: Creator of the Stars of Night

An awe-inspiring presentation of this ancient hymn from St. John's Episcopal Church in Boulder, Colorado:

The Fourth Sunday of Advent

The Annunciation, 1898
Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937), 
African-American artist.
Click to enlarge.

-----

Easter Sunday 2020

The Incredulity of St. Thomas, Guercino, 1621

The Choir of King's College, Cambridge, sings what is for many of us who still cling to the Faith, however tenuously, the essential Easter hymn:



I wish peace, light, and joy to all my truckbuddies.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

--John 14:27