Gaudete! Today, on this the Third Sunday of Advent, we
look forward with Joyful Hope to the coming of Jesus Christ at Christmas, and
at the End of Time. Welcome also to
Sunday Snippets (a Catholic Carnival); if you’re a fan of Catholic bloggery
(and if you’re not, yet, you should give it a try), this is the place to go on
the Lord’s Day. Not simply my little
corner of the party, but the main gathering at This That and the Other Thing
[here], where a varied
collection of Papist bloggers gather around RAnn’s Advent Wreath to share their
posts from the past week.
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| The reredos at the Franco Center in Lewiston, ME |
Before I get to
my own snippets, I’d like to share a couple other things from my week. First of all, a pleasant surprise Friday
night. My family and I attended a concert by a local youth orchestra in which
the daughter of family friends was participating. The youth orchestra was to be accompanied by
a madrigal group from a local public high school. We anticipated that the orchestra and singers
would be good (and we were not disappointed), but given their secular
affiliation (especially for the high school group), we didn’t expect that we
would hear much about Christmas at this “Holiday Concert”. The event was taking place in the auditorium
of another public school, where a poster advertising the student production
of a musical called “Urine Town” (no, I’m not making this up) tended to confirm
our suspicions. I am pleased to report,
however, that not only did the student musicians beautifully perform songs
about Christmas, but songs celebrating Christ.
Among other things, “I Wonder As I Wander”, which featured a lovely
young soprano singing:
I wonder as
I wander out under the sky
How Jesus
the Savior did come for to die
For poor orn’ry
people like you and like I
I wonder as
I wander out under the sky
The players and singers concluded their concert with a
glorious rendition of Handel’s “Halleluiah Chorus”, with the clearly energized
young people in the orchestra putting forth their best performance of the
night, and the chorus joyfully singing out “And He [i.e., Christ] shall reign
for ever and ever!” No, it was not a
religious observance, but it wasn’t supposed to be: it was, simply, a
performance. I found it refreshing that,
at least in a small town in Maine, a group from a secular school can still sing
Christmas songs at a Christmas concert without causing a Constitutional Crisis.
It also brought
to mind another experience from a few days earlier. We attended a talk Wednesday night at a place
in Lewiston called the Franco Center, formerly the Franco American Heritage
Center, and before that, for most of its existence, St. Mary’s Church. There’s always something sad about a former Catholic
church building converted to secular use.
I couldn’t help but notice that this one retained an unusual number of
churchy details, no doubt because of the important place Catholicism played in
the lives of the French Canadian community for so many years: there was a large
crucifix in a glass display case in the lobby, very few of the architectural
details had been removed or hidden, and the display cases inside the nave
contained, among other historical artifacts, vestments and prayer books. The biggest surprise, however, was yet to
come: in order to accommodate theater-style seating, a new floor had been built that sloped up from front to back, until it reached the pointed tops of the Gothic arches beneath which worshipers had entered in years past. When we climbed atop this structure to our seats we were greeted with an unexpected sight: although the high altar itself had (of course) been removed, its towering wooden reredos remained (or
better yet, this having been a French-speaking parish, it’s retable). The niche for the tabernacle was still
visible, the red Alpha and Omega still stood out prominently, and above all, a
big beautiful Madonna holding the Baby Jesus.
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| Interior of the Franco Center, formerly St. Mary's Church |
It was a wonderful
sight, but it prompted thoughts both negative and positive. On the negative side, I was struck with the realization
that this secular hall still looked more like a Catholic Church than many
recent church buildings still being used for that purpose. On the plus side, however, and the more lasting
impression: I was reminded that, however difficult things may look along the
way, the Gates of Hell will not prevail.
As with the Christmas concert, the Christian roots of our culture have a
way of showing up in all sorts of places. It’s good to be reminded from time to
time.
As for the week’s
snippets from Principium et Finis, I found myself giving more attention, sadly,
to some of the more negative trends in the culture, particularly as the week
wore on:
Monday – Another
beautiful Psalm setting from another great, but neglected, composer: “De Profundis (C.W. Gluck)” [here]
Wednesday – “A person
is a person”, Dr. Seuss assures us, “no matter how small”. Well, not everyone agrees: “Abortion Myth #12” [here]
Thursday – A
revamping of a piece from this past Spring, this one examines some of the consequences
of family break-down for the health of the Republic: “Marriage, Family & Liberty” [here]
Friday – Dispatches
from the Brave New World of sex education: “A Couple Paving Stones On The Road To Hell” [here]
Finally, this being Gaudete Sunday, let’s end on a positive
note:
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