Sexagesima Sunday

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Sexagesima Sunday is the second of three pre-Lent Sundays, which are now unique to the Anglican worship tradition. For more historical and other detail on the season watch Episode One in our video series. Gesima: the Pre-Lenten Season or listen to the audio Podcast version, which its linked from the Podcast Archive page. This week I offer site visitors two remarkable examples from our nearly 3000-item library of historic art.

The Collect for Sexagesima Sunday was adapted by Archbishop Cranmer from the Gregorian Sacramentary, which was also the source for the Collect for Septuagesima Sunday. It was used for the first time in the 1549 Book of Common Prayer and was read by Archbishop Cranmer himself on Whitsunday/Pentecost, June 9, A.D. 1549. The prayer book also may have been used earlier in the same year at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. Like the Epistle and Gospel reading for the day, the themes are the “mercies” of God and the Christian virtues. Sexagesima Sunday is actually 57 days before Easter and not the sixty which its name suggests. Readers should remember that the Greek word for God, Theos, (Strong’s Greek Word #2316) is often translated as The One Who Sees.

O LORD God, who sees that we put not our trust in any thing that we do;
Mercifully grant that by thy power we may be defended against all adversity;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

St. Paul, unfinished icon in tempera and gold on wood panel, Andre Rublev, circa 1410-1420, made for the Deesis tier in a Russian church at Zvenigorod, 33 miles west of Moscow, Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. Wikipedia Commons/Public Domain.

The Epistle reading, 2nd Corinthians 11:13-21, St. Paul’s letter to the formerly pagan congregation he established at Corinth on his Second Missionary Journey accompanied by Silas. The verses are discussed and illustrated in Episode Two of our video series, Gesima: the Pre-Lenten Season, linked from the Digital Library page and in audio form from the Podcast Homilies page. In this epistle to congregation most resistant to his teachings, he mentions the Christian virtue of diligence and names forms of suffering he endured on his journey, including stoning, beatings, shipwreck, followed by a list of more general adversities, including hunger, thirst and robbery. The image of St. Paul was painted by one of the world’s most gifted icon painters. As the credit line suggests, the image is no longer mounted in the church for which it was being made, having become an “historic” object rather than a religious one. Even in its unfinished form it is an exceptional example of art put to use for Christian purposes. Frequent visitors to this site may have noticed that another image of this icon has a blue background, which was the result of studio lighting. This one is the real thing and will be used in all future AIC Publications and updates to existing books and videos.

The Sower, opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, James Tissot, 1886-1894, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY. Public Domain.

The Gospel reading, Luke 8:4-15, is the evangelist’s account of the Parable of the Sower. The watercolor above appears as Illustration No. 71 in our publication, The Gospel of Matthew: Annotated and Illustrated and Illustration 71 in The Gospel of Mark: Annotated and Illustrated. In the comparable volume on the Gospel of Luke I used an oil on canvas by Vincent Van Gogh. These books are available through my Amazon Author Central page. A summary of the book, including price and pagination, is found on the AIC Bookstore page. The image is from a collection of around 300 images in James Tissot’s Life of Christ series, the largest collection of which is now held at the Brooklyn Museum.

As noted in previous posts late last year, I am working on Episode Six and Episode Seven in our video series, The War on Christianity. I expect to finish the text and slides before the end of this weekend. Each of the 24 slides in Episode Six and 33 in Episode Seven is produced by clipping from a sheet with six slides each and some single image pages in Adobe Photoshop. Afterward, each slide must be inset into a video and the sound track recorded using Apple’s iMovie software. The completed episodes probably will not be ready for publication before the middle to the end of March. It will be linked from the Digital Library page and the voice track, converted into an MP3 file, linked from the Podcast Archive page. In other news, I’ve had.a request from an Anglican clergyman in northern Italy to use some material from this site. I have given permission with the condition that the material contains a link to this site.

As always, thank you for your interest and support. Glory be to God for all things! Amen!

Whitsunday/Pentecost and Ambrose of Milan

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The Descent of the Spirit, egg tempera on panel icon, attributed to Theophan the Cretan, Stavronikita Monastery, Mt. Athos, Greece, 1546. The Apostles are shown in a horseshoe pattern, six on the left and six on the right. The empty space at the top of the horsehoe represents the position which usually occupied by Christ. In some traditions, the Blessed Virgin Mary occupies the space. The crowned figure at bottom center is known as Cosmos, who represents all the world. He is shown with a dark background, which symbolizes the darkness of the secular world which rejected Christ. The use of the Cosmos figure faded away in the next two centuries after this image was painted. It was never used in Western Church art.

As the Church celebrates the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Whitsunday in the English tradition), it is appropriate to remember one of the greatest of the saints of the early Church, St. Ambrose of Milan (celebrated on the Anglican Church calendar on Dec. 7th). Sadly, except among scholars and clergy, St. Ambrose is little known today. He served, reluctantly at first, as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397 A.D. He is one of Doctors of the Church in the Western Church tradition. It could be said that he was the last of the great leaders of the Western Church whose theology was virtually identical to that of the Eastern Church. He is primarily remembered for his conversion of his most famous pupil, St. Augustine of Hippo (celebrated on the Anglican Church calendar on August 28th) and several of his hymns, many of which are still used in the Western Church in the 21st C. St. Ambrose was a strong supporter of the doctrines of the Nicene Creed, including the modifications made the Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D. Especially important for St. Ambrose was the virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her status as the Mother of God (or Theotokos in Greek, literally meaning God-bearer). The award of the title of Theotokos to the Blessed Virgin was not made into official Church belief until the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D.

One the traditions observed in both the Western and Eastern Churches during St. Ambrose’s lifetime was the observation of the Sacrament of Baptism in association with the final days of Lent and the Feast of Easter. One of his most enlightening writings is On the Mysteries (or De Mysteriis. in Latin), a collection of his sermons to the newly baptized focused on the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist. St. Ambrose refers to the Dove which descended upon Christ as His Baptism in Chapter III. The dove is the traditional symbol of the presence of the Holy Spirit in Christian art. For the full text of On the Mysteries, see The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Volume 10 (Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1994 Edition).

St. Ambrose of Milan, holding a Bishop’s crozier in his right hand and a book in his left, illuminated capital letter D in colors on parchment, with penwork decoration, On the Mysteries (De Mysteriis in Latin), circa 1114-1122, southeast England, probably Rochester, Ms. Royal 2 B VI, f. 2, British Library, London, England. It may have been prepared for use at the Cathedral Priory of St. Andrew, Rochester, where is is among the list of books in the library there in the 12th C.

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Ambrose of Milan rcceiving wisdom from God, represented by the hand from heaven at upper right. Menologion of Basil II, late 10th-early 11th C. Publiv Domain.

The final image this week is an illumination in egg tempera and gold on parchment from The Menologion of Basil II, an Eastern Church style book of hours honoring the saints of the Church Universal. In the case of martyrs, the manner of their death is vividly depicted. It was prepared between 976 and 1025 at Constantinople. The original is at the Vatican Library, Rome, Italy. It was among the manuscripts taken from Constantinople in the 12th C. during the Crusades. The Vatican published a volume with all the images in the early 20th C. and which was later released into the public domain, even though some images still carrying a Vatican copyright notice.

As always, thank you for your interest and support. Glory be to God for all things! Amen!