The Epiphanye

Ad Jesum per Mariam. J-J Tissot.

This is the seventh day of a Novena in preparation for the great Marian Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, on October 7th.

The Novena is offered as a gift to Our Lady praying that, through her maternal intercession, she will mediate graces so as to guide and protect the author, his family* and all the members of the Church Militant, in these disturbing times. [*E, E, K, P, T, E ,E; E, A.] 

We shall be posting each day examples of Marian poetry written by St Robert Southwell who himself lived in a terrible time of trial for Catholics. Much of his poetry was written whilst he was in solitary confinement prior to his execution at Tyburn on the 21st of February, 1595. 

The original spelling and punctuation has been retained; the notes which follow each poem are my own.

The Epiphanye

 

To blase the rising of this glorious sunne
A glittringe starre appeareth in the Easte
Whose sight to Pilgrimm toyles three sages wunne
To seeke the light they long had in requeste
And by this starre to nobler starr they pace [5]
Whose armes did their desired sunne embrace.

Stall was the skye wherein these planetts shynde
And want the cloude that did eclipse their rayes
Yet through this cloude their light did passage finde
And perc'd these sages harts by secret waies [10]
Which made them knowe the ruler of the skyes
By infant tongue and lookes of babish eyes.

Heaven at her light, earth blusheth at her pride
And of their pompe these peeres ashamed bee
Their crownes, their robes their trayne they sett aside [15]
When gods poor Cotage clouts and crewe they see
All glorious thinges their glory now dispise
Sith god contempt doth more than glory prize.

Three giftes they bringe three giftes they beare awaye
For incense myrrhe and gould, faith hope and love [20]
And with their gifts the givers hartes do staye
Their mynde from Christ no parting can remove
His humble state, his stall his poore retynewe
They phancie more, then all their ritch revenewe.

Notes

[Title] Epiphanye: late Latin epiphania, neuter plural (but often used as feminine singular), < late Greek ἐπιϕάνια (neuter plural of adjective *ἐπιϕάνιος), < ἐπιϕαίνειν to manifest, < ἐπί to + ϕαίνειν to show.

[l 1] blase: blaze - To proclaim (as with a trumpet), to publish, divulge, make known.

1592   R. Greene Pandosto (new ed.) sig. Biij   This Proclamation being once blazed through the countrey. OED.

[ll 3-4]:  The sense would seem to be: Three sages, through their determined effort and toil, were favoured with sight of the glittering star in the East. They had spent a long time in the quest for the light of this star.

[ll 5-6]: They follow the star, making their way to Mary, a nobler star (Stella Maris), whose arms enfold the sought for Sun of Justice.

[ll 7-8]: One possible explanation of these lines is as follows. The created sun and stars shine in the physical firmament. Down on earth, Christ the Sun of Justice and Mary, Star of the Sea, have a stall (or primitive home) for their sky in which they ('these planets') shine. The poverty of the setting and of the Holy Family might have masked, like a cloud, their light; this might have been a particular problem for the richly vested sages, with all their fine accoutrements. See the next verse.

[ll 10-12]: But the cloud of poverty did not prevent the light from piercing the sages' hearts in secret ways, enabling them to recognise God, the ruler of the skies, through His baby talk and looks.

[l 13] her: 'their'. The genitive case of the third person plural personal pronoun : of them; of themselves. Heaven and earth blush at their pride, the pride of these richly clad sages.

[l 16] clouts: 'clout' - A small piece or shred produced by tearing or rending; in later use chiefly a shred of cloth, a rag. Applied contemptuously to any article of clothing; in plural, clothes.

[l 16] crewe: A number of persons classed together (by the speaker) from actual connection or common characteristics; often with derogatory qualification or connotation; lot, set, gang, mob, herd.

[l 18] contempt: God looks favourably upon those who are poor and lowly in the eyes of the world and viewed with 'contempt.' Consider the words in Mary's Magnificat:

He hath shewed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.

Fecit potentiam in brachio suo : dispersit superbos mente cordis sui.

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

Deposuit potentes de sede, et exaltavit humiles.

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

Esurientes implevit bonis : et divites dimisit inanes. [Luke i. 51-53]

And the words of Christ Himself:

Then Jesus said to his disciples: Amen, I say to you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. [24] And again I say to you: It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. [Matthew xix. 23]

[l 23] retynewe: retinue. A group of people (or animals) in the service of or accompanying a person, esp. a sovereign, noble, or person in authority; a train, a suite. The little baby is Christ the King, the Prince of Peace, of the royal house of David; His mother is a Queen;  but his 'retinue' is 'poore'.

[l24] revenewe: revenue, with stress on penultimate syllable, following retynewe above.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

 

The Circumcision

 

Ad Jesum per Mariam. J-J Tissot.

This is the sixth day of a Novena in preparation for the great Marian Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, on October 7th.

The Novena is offered as a gift to Our Lady praying that, through her maternal intercession, she will mediate graces so as to guide and protect the author, his family* and all the members of the Church Militant, in these disturbing times. [*E, E, K, P, T, E ,E; E, A.] 

We shall be posting each day examples of Marian poetry written by St Robert Southwell who himself lived in a terrible time of trial for Catholics. Much of his poetry was written whilst he was in solitary confinement prior to his execution at Tyburn on the 21st of February, 1595. 

The original spelling and punctuation has been retained; the notes which follow each poem are my own.

The Circumcision

 

The head is launc't to work the bodies cure
With angring salve it smartes to heale our wounde
To faltlesse son from all offences pure
The falty vassalls scourges do redounde
The judge is cast the guilty to acquite [5]
The sonne defac'd to lend the starre his light

The veyne of life distilleth droppes of grace
Our rock gives yssue to an heavenly springe
Teares from his eyes blood runes from wounded place
Which showers to heaven of joy a harvest bringe [10]
This sacred deaw lett Angells gather upp
Such daynty droppes best fitt their nectared cupp.

With weeping eyes his mother reu'd his smart
If bloode from him, teares rann from her as fast
The knife that cutt his fleshe did perce her hart [15] 
The payne that Jesus felt did Marye tast
His life and hers hunge by one fatall twiste
Noe blow that hitt the sonne the mother mist.

Notes

[l 1] the head...the bodies cure: Christ is the head and we are the body.

And he is before all, and by him all things consist. [18] And he is the head of the body, the church [Colossians i. 17]

His blood will be our redemption, the cure of the body. Perhaps it is worth recalling another's head, a reference to Satan and his horde of demons and minions:

[15] I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel. [Genesis 3]

[l 1] launc't: lanced. To lance: To pierce with or as with a lance or a lancet; to cut, gash, slit. Also, to slit open; to open. Obsolete exc. poet. The word derives from the Latin lancea which is found in the Chapter 19 of St John's Gospel. Christ is cut at the beginning of the Gospels and also at the very end, after His death on the cross:

 sed unus militum lancea latus ejus aperuit, et continuo exivit sanguis et aqua.
 But one of the soldiers with a spear opened his side, and immediately there came out blood and water.[Joan. xix. 34]

RS refers to this image of 'blood and water' throughout this poem. We are called to meditate upon the blood and watery tears of Christ during his circumcision; the water and wine of the first miracle at Cana; the water and wine at the first Mass during the Last Supper; the bloody sweat of His agony in the garden; the blood and finally water shed by our Redeemer during His passion and crucifixion; the wine and water of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

[l 2] angring: angry -  inflamed, smarting, as a sore. salve: a healing ointment for application to wounds or sores. 'salve' derives originally from roots meaning butter, oil or balm. It also calls to mind 'salvatoris' or  'Saviour'.

it smartes to heale our wounde : The pain of circumcision, apparently, is such that it fades on the third day. 'our wounde' here is the sin of our first parents which affects all of from conception, with the exception of Mary Immaculate. Even the just man sins seven times a day, but Christ's salvific balm can heal such sinners who must however be repentant, ie, they must feel the pain of contrition, here represented in the word 'smartes'.

[l 3] sonne: Mary's son, without fault, free from stain of sin.

[l 4] vassals: 'vassal' - a base or abject person; a slave in common Elizabethan use. Fallen man became a slave to the evil one through sin. 'faulty' here means 'at fault', guilty of sins.

redounde: flow back. The Saviour will suffer in His flesh the scourges man deserves in order to redeem him. The circumcision anticipates the scourging at the pillar 33 years later.

[l 5] cast: condemned. 

See eg, 1567   J. Jewel Def. Apol. Churche Eng. (1611) 107   'Thinke you, he would determine matters, before he knew them: So might he cast Christ, and quit Barabbas.' OED.

[l 5] acquite: To pay the debt of and free (a debtor who has been held in prison); to ransom (a person); (also occasionally) to redeem (a thing). Obsolete.

The sense of the line then becomes: Christ, who will come again to judge the living and the dead, is condemned in order through His passion and death to acquit guilty mankind.

[l6] The sonne: the sun, as in the Sun of Justice (see, eg, Malach iv. 2). God Almighty, the supreme being, permits Himself to have His glory seem to be diminished in order that His light may lead poor creatures unto salvation from sin and show them the way to Heaven.

[l 8] rock: Perhaps a reference to the rock struck by Moses to save his people from death and enable them to make their way to the promised land [Numbers xx]. This rock was a figure of Christ, and the water that issued out from the rock, of his precious blood, the source of all our good.

Cristo de la Sangre. Cerezo. 1664-5. Burgos. Public Dom.

[l 9]: The syntax here permits more than one sense. Perhaps the primary sense is: the showers of tears and blood (l8) bring to Heaven a harvest of joy. The water and blood flowing from Christ during His passion cause new life to spring from the earth like plants watered by showers of rain. The new life is the life of grace in souls no longer in thrall to sin. The waters of baptism mean that a man is born again to a new life:

Jesus ... said to him: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.[John iii. 3]

Many artists have represented angels collecting the 'sacred dew', the precious blood from the crucified Christ, as  described in lines11-12. Cerezo's Cristo de la Sangre (left) is one example.

[l 12] dainty: Precious; hence, rare, scarce. 

1578   H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball vi. xi. 671   The blacke [whorts] are very common..but the red are dayntie, and founde but in fewe places.

nectared:  deliciously sweet or fragrant.

[l 13] reu'd: rued.

[l 15] did perce her hart: When Jesus was presented in the Temple at Jerusalem, Simeon prophesied to Mary that she would experience great sorrow:

Behold this child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted; And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed. [Luke ii. 34, 35]

[l 17] twiste: The continuation or course of life figured as a thread.  Obsolete.

1568   T. Howell Arbor of Amitie f. 4   For thin is twist or fatall threed, on mortall wheele so spoon.

A further sense signified here: an intimate union or connection.

[l 18] miste: missed. RS's English syntax reflects his expertise in Latin. Here is but one of many examples of a verb ('missed') where 'the mother' could be either the subject or the direct object.

Coda: Circumcision and Baptism

St. Thomas holds that circumcision was a figure of baptism. He gives three reasons why the organ of generation rather than any other was to be circumcised:

• Abraham was to be blessed in his seed;
• The rite was to take away original sin, which comes by generation;
• It was to restrain concupiscence, which is found especially in the generative organs (III, Q. lxx, a. 3).

According to his teaching, as baptism remits original sin (and actual sins committed before its reception), so circumcision remitted both, but ex opere operantis, ie, by the faith of the recipient, or, in the case of infants, by the faith of the parents.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Saint Francis of Assisi

Today is the Feast of my Confirmation saint: Francis of Assisi. In this month of October, dedicated to Mary, Our Lady of the Rosary, it seems fitting to include this painting by Rubens. It shows Our Lord ready to punish the earth with the thunderbolts of His justice on account of the widespread evil present almost everywhere. The Prince of this world is coiled like a serpent around the globe. Our Lady seeks to restrain her Son; she exposes her virginal breast as if to recall the tender babyhood of her Son, imploring mercy for us all. St Francis too, shielding the earth, seeks to protect us by praying that Our Lord in His mercy should stay His hand. The rainbow appears over Mary's figure, sign of the Covenant between God and mankind:

"And the bow shall be in the clouds, and I shall see it, and shall remember the everlasting covenant, that was made between God and every living soul of all flesh which is upon the earth." [Genesis 9:16]

Below is a prayer to Our Lady which is attributed to St Francis : Ave Domina.

The Virgin Mary and Saint Francis Saving the World from Christ's Anger. 1614. Peter Paul Rubens. Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts de Belgique. CC BY. 

St. Francis' Prayer to Our Lady

Hail Lady, Holy Queen, Holy Mary Theotokos,
who art the Virgin made church
and the one chosen by the Most Holy Father of Heaven,
whom He consecrated with His Most Holy Beloved Son
and with the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete;
in whom there was and is all fullness of grace and every good.

Hail His Palace; Hail His Tabernacle; Hail His Home.
Hail His Vestment; Hail His Handmaid; Hail His Mother
and hail all you holy virtues,
which through the grace and illumination of the Holy Spirit
are infused into the hearts of the faithful,
so that from those unfaithful you make them faithful to God.

Salutatio Beatae Mariae Virginis

Ave Domina, sancta Regina, sancta Dei genetrix Maria,
Quae es virgo ecclesia facta et electa a sanctissimo Patre de caelo,
quam consecravit cum sanctissimo dilecto Filio suo
et Spiritu sancto Paraclito, in qua fuit et est omnis plenitudo gratiae et omne bonum.

Ave palatium eius,
Ave Tabernaculum eius;
Ave domus eius.
Ave vestimentum eius;
Ave ancilla eius;
Ave mater eius;

et vos omnes sanctae virtutes,
quae per gratiam et illuminationem Spiritus Sancti
infundimini in corda fidelium,
ut de infidelibus fideles Deo faciatis.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

To my Guardian Angel: Ste Thérèse of the Child Jesus

Ste Thérèse in death. By Céline (1897)

Yesterday was the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels and I was wondering what to post in honour of the feast of Ste Thérèse of Lisieux today. I have an illustrated edition of her complete works in French dated, I believe, to 1909 (Thérèse died on 30th September 1897).  Whilst casting my eyes over her Poésies, I noted one she had written to her Guardian Angel, dated February 1895. Without more ado, I sat down last night to translate her rhyming, iambic  tétramètres into an English equivalent, following the original French as far as possible. 

Here is the result which I post in honour of a remarkable saint who never ceases to amaze and overwhelm me by her interventions in the lives of men.

Laudetur Jesus Christus et Maria Immaculata.

Here is my translation and the French version follows.

To my Guardian Angel

J.M.J.T.(Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Teresa)

Oh Guardian of my soul, the same

Who burnest brightly in the sky

Just like a pure and gentle flame

Against the throne of God most high;

For me thou camest here below

A guide - with thine illumination;

A brother dear - I fain would know,

A friend - to be my consolation.

Thou knowest well how I am weak

And by the hand all tenderly

Thou leadest me, so quiet and meek,

From risks and traps protecting me.

Thy gentle voice doth ever call

Me Heavenwards to fix my gaze;

The humbler that I am, and small,

The brighter so thy face doth blaze.

O thou who travellest through space

More quickly than the speed of light,

I see thee flying, in my place,

To help my friends with thy best might;

To dry their tears with thy caressing,

To sing of Jesus’ healing fame,

How suffering can be a blessing,

While softly murmuring my name.

My little life has this one prayer:

That I can many sinners save;

Dear Angel show me how to share

Thy ardent holiness so brave.

I nothing have but sacrifice,

Austerity and poverty;

Thy gifts conjoin’d, these may suffice

For offering to the Trinity.

To thee, the glorious, royal Heaven,

The riches of the King of Kings;

To me, Communion’s bread unleaven’d,

The treasure that the Cross doth bring.

Armed with the Cross and sacred Host,

Together with thy help supernal,

One peaceful thought is uppermost:

To live a life of joys eternal!

January 1897.

Here is the French:

À mon Ange Gardien

1. 

Glorieux Gardien de mon âme,

Toi qui brilles dans le beau Ciel

Comme une douce et pure flamme

Près du trône de l'Eternel

Tu descends pour moi sur la terre

Et m'éclairant de ta splendeur

Bel Ange, tu deviens mon Frère,

Mon Ami, mon Consolateur !...

2. 

Connaissant ma grande faiblesse

Tu me diriges par la main

Et je te vois avec tendresse

Oter la pierre du chemin

Toujours ta douce voix m'invite

A ne regarder que les Cieux

Plus tu me vois humble et petite

Et plus ton front est radieux.

3. 

O toi ! qui traverses l'espace

Plus promptement que les éclairs

Je t'en supplie, vole à ma place

Auprès de ceux qui me sont chers

De ton aile sèche leurs larmes

Chante combien Jésus est bon.

Chante que souffrir a des charmes

Et tout bas, murmure mon nom....

4.

Je veux pendant ma courte vie

Sauver mes frères les pécheurs

O Bel Ange de la Patrie

Donne-moi tes saintes ardeurs

Je n'ai rien que mes sacrifices

Et mon austère pauvreté

Avec tes célestes délices

Offre-les à la Trinité.

5. 

A toi le Royaume et la Gloire,

Les Richesses du Roi des rois.

A moi l'humble Hostie du ciboire,

A moi le trésor de la Croix.

Avec la Croix, avec l'Hostie

Avec ton céleste secours

J'attends en paix de l'autre vie

Les joies qui dureront toujours.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

The Nativitye of Christ

Ad Jesum per Mariam. J-J Tissot.

This is the fifth day of a Novena in preparation for the great Marian Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, on October 7th. Today is the feast of  Sainte Thérèse of Lisieux, in whose honour I have prepared a separate post. 

The Novena is offered as a gift to Our Lady praying that, through her maternal intercession, she will mediate graces so as to guide and protect the author, his family* and all the members of the Church Militant, in these disturbing times. [*E, E, K, P, T, E ,E; E, A.] 

We shall be posting each day examples of Marian poetry written by St Robert Southwell who himself lived in a terrible time of trial for Catholics. Much of his poetry was written whilst he was in solitary confinement prior to his execution at Tyburn on the 21st of February, 1595. 

The original spelling and punctuation has been retained; the notes which follow each poem are my own.

The Nativitye of Christ

 

Behold the father is his daughters sonne
The bird that built the nest, is hatchd therein
The old of yeres an hower hath not outrunne
Eternall life to live doth now beginne
The worde is dumm the mirth of heaven doth weepe [5]
Might feeble is and force doth fayntly creepe.

O dyinge soules behold your living springe
O dazeled eyes behould your sunne of grace
Dull eares attend what word this word doth bringe
Up heavy hartes with joye your joy embrace [10]
From death from darke from deaphness from despayres
This life this light this word this joy repaires

Gift better than himself god doth not knowe
Gift better then his god no man can see
This gift doth here the giver given bestowe [15]
Gift to this gift lett ech receiver bee
God is my gift, himself he freely gave me
Gods gift am I and none but God shall have me.

Man altered was by synn from man to best
Bestes food is haye haye is all mortall fleshe [20]
Now god is fleshe and lyes in manger prest
As haye the brutish synner to refreshe.
O happy feilde wherein this foder grewe
Whose taste doth us from beastes to men renewe.

Notes

[First verse] A common feature of RS's writings is the paradox, well-illustrated here.

paradox: an apparently absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition, or a strongly counter-intuitive one, which investigation, analysis, or explanation may nevertheless prove to be well-founded or true. 

[l 1] the father is his daughters sonne:  Jesus is Mary's son but He is the Son of God the Father,  He and the Father are one.

 

I and the Father are one. Ego et Pater unum sumus. [John x. 30]

Therefore it may be said the father is his daughter's son. 

[l 2] the bird that built the nest... is hatched therein: The creation is attributed by appropriation to Jesus, God the Son, per quem omnia facta sunt (Nicene Creed):

All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made.

Omnia per ipsum facta sunt : et sine ipso factum est nihil, quod factum est.

per quem omnia facta sunt  [John i.3]

He was in the world, and the world was made by him. In mundo erat, et mundus per ipsum factus est, et mundus eum non cognovit.  [John i.10]

Cf, Christ's own words which can be understood as having reference to his place of birth, in a cave's stable:

And Jesus saith to him: The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests: but the son of man hath not where to lay his head. Et dicit ei Jesus : Vulpes foveas habent, et volucres caeli nidos; Filius autem hominis non habet ubi caput reclinet.[Matt. viii. 20]

[l 3] the olde of yeres (years) an hower (hour) hath not outrunne: The 'olde of yeares', the Lord God, is the 'Ancient of days' spoken of by the prophet Daniel: 

Till the Ancient of days came and gave judgment to the saints of the most High,[Daniel vii. 22]

Jesus, one with His Father, is less than an hour old.

[l 4] Eternall life... begin: God, outside time and space, sends His son Who is born of Mary to begin His earthly life. 

[l 5] the word is dumm: In the beginning was the Word (God the Son), the Word became flesh and dwelled amongst us. But as a newborn baby, the Word did not utter words (though doubtless communicating like all newborn infants!).

[l 5] the mirth of heaven doth weepe: The sense then seems to be that God's Heaven is bliss ('mirth') where there are no tears; but the Christ child cries like any other infant here on earth in 'this vale of tears'.

'mirthe' - Often used of religious joy and heavenly bliss. Now obsolete.[OED]

[l 6] fayntly: weakly, feebly. The Lord God Omnipotent allows Himself to become 'feeble' and must needs 'creep' before learning to walk: 

1546   J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xi. sig. Divv   Children lerne to crepe er they can lerne to go (walk).[OED]

[l 11-12]: The subtility of the syntax may be better appreciated when read as an acrostic:

From death                                        :    This life

from darke ('darkness')                     :     this light  

from deaphnesse (deafness)           :        this word

from despayres                              :      this joy       repaires

[l 15 et seq] gift/giver/given: the giver is God; the gift is Himself (ie His Son); He is bestowed on or given to us. He gives Himself to us through His incarnation; He gives Himself unto death as a sacrifice to redeem us; with such great love, he lays down or gives His life for His friends; He gives Himself in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and offers to give Himself to the faithful in Holy Communion.

[l 16 & l 18] We who receive God as a gift of Himself to us, in a similar fashion we must make ourselves God's gift by giving ourselves unto God, and to none but God.

[l 19] best: beast. Man lost the gift of freedom from concupiscence, a desire of the lower appetite contrary to reason and hence likened here to animal impulses.

I find then a law, that when I have a will to do good, evil is present with me. For I am delighted with the law of God, according to the inward man: But I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me in the law of sin, that is in my members. Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? [Ephesians vii. 21-24]

[l l20-24] haye: The context here suggests an image of baby Jesus lying on hay in the manger of the stable in Bethlehem, with the ox and the ass nearby. This image conveys another meaning: God has come down from Heaven ('Now god is fleshe') and has a taste of life on earth, like one of his creatures; He lies in a manger where animals eat the hay to keep themselves alive. He will become like this hay for our sake and offer Himself to us through Mass and Communion so that we may have a taste of Heaven here on earth; and so that we, 'brutest synners', by partaking of Him, might be refreshed and have the hope one day of life with Him forever in Heaven.

There is no ass or ox in the Biblical narratives of the birth of Christ but with exception of the Child himself, the ass and the ox are the most ancient and stable elements in  the iconography of the nativity.  See The Ass and The Ox in The Nativity Icon by Jonathan Pageau at The Orthodox Arts Journal.

The ox (a clean animal, a castrated male) represents Israel (the chosen people, circumcised)  and the ass (an unclean, uncastrated animal, a beast of burden) represents the gentiles (uncircumcised of the flesh).  Together they represent the whole of mankind, as in the poem.

They feature in the prophecies of Isaiah:

The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood.[Isaiah i.3]

This has an interesting parallel in St Paul:

For both the Jews require signs, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: [23] But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumbling block, and unto the Gentiles foolishness: [1 Corinthians i.22]

Coda

Fulton Sheen provides a modern version of the use of paradox in describing the Incarnation of Christ: 

“He who made his mother is born of his mother. He who made all flesh is born of flesh. The bird that built the nest is hatched therein. Maker of the sun, under the sun; molder of the earth, on this earth; ineffably wise, a little infant; filling the world, lying in a manger; ruling the stars, suckling a breast; the mirth of heaven weeps; God becomes man; Creator, a creature. Rich becomes poor; Divinity, incarnate; Majesty, subjugated; Liberty, captive; Eternity, time; Master, a servant; Truth, accused; Judge, judged; Justice, condemned; Lord scourged; Power, bound with ropes; King, crowned with thorns; Salvation wounded; Life, dead. And thought we shall live on through eternity, eternity will not be long enough for us to understand the mystery of that Child Who was a Father and of the mother who was a child.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Divine Romance, delivered in the Catholic Radio Hour 1930)

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

The Visitation

Ad Jesum per Mariam. J-J Tissot.

This is the fourth day of a Novena in preparation for the great Marian Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, on October 7th. Today is the feast of  the Holy Guardian Angels (see line 9 and note below). 

The Novena is offered as a gift to Our Lady praying that, through her maternal intercession, she will mediate graces so as to guide and protect the author, his family* and all the members of the Church Militant, in these disturbing times. [*E, E, K, P**, T, E ,E; E, A.] **Today is his birthday and we wish him 'Ad multos annos,' praying that his Holy Guardian Angel, his patron saints and Our Blessed Lady will watch over him and lead his soul to Heaven.

We shall be posting each day examples of Marian poetry written by St Robert Southwell who himself lived in a terrible time of trial for Catholics. Much of his poetry was written whilst he was in solitary confinement prior to his execution at Tyburn on the 21st of February, 1595. 

The original spelling and punctuation has been retained; the notes which follow each poem are my own.

The Visitation

Proclaymed Queene and mother of a god

The light of earth the Soveraigne of Saints

With Pilgrimm foote upp tyring hils she trodd

And heavenly stile with handmayds toyle acquaints

Her youth to age her helth to sicke she lends [5]

Her heart to god to neighbour hand she bendes.

A prince she is and mightier prince doth beare

Yet pompe of princely trayne she would not have

But doubtles heavenly quires attendant were

Her child from harme her selfe from fall to save [10]

Word to the voyce songe to the tune she bringes

The voyce her Word, the tune her dittye sings

Eternall lightes enclosed in her breste

Shott out such percing beames of burning love

That when her voyce her Cosens eares possest [15]

The force thereof did force her babe to move

With secret signes the children greete ech other

But open praise ech leaveth to his mother.

Notes

[l 1] Proclaymed Queene and mother of a god: Mary, declared 'Mother of God' or theotokos at the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD,  is honoured as a Queen under various titles throughout Catholic tradition, including the thirteen times in the Litany of Loreto.

[l 2] The light of earth the Soveraigne of Saints: This can in one sense refer to Mary who is the Stella Matutina and the Stella Maris - the Morning Star, the Star of the Sea: the 'light of the earth'. Other references to light include those in the beautiful antiphon for the Assumption:

Who is she that cometh like the dawn,

fair as the moon, bright as the sun,

terrible as an army prepared for battle?

Quae est ista quae progreditur

quasi aurora consurgens,

pulchra ut luna, electa ut sol,

terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata ? [Canticle of Canticles. vi. 10]

See also the use of 'soveraigne' in line 7 in 'Our Ladies Salutation' (posted yesterday).The syntax supports, however, a second sense whereby she is the 'mother of a god' and mother of 'the light of the earth', i.e., Christ, the 'light of the world'; and the mother of the 'Soveraigne of Saints', Christ the King.

[l 3] with Pilgrimm foote: 'pilgrim': the normal sense today is: A person who makes a journey (usually of a long distance) to a sacred place; a person who makes a journey to visit a place of particular significance or interest, esp. as an act of homage, respect. The word derives from 'peregrinus': peregrīnus, a, um: adj. (peregre from per and ager), of foreign lands; foreign.

[l 3] upp tyring hils she trodd: Mary made a journey from Nazareth to a village in the hill country of Judah, Ain Karim, some 90 miles distant, hence the 'tiring hills'.  'Ain Karim' means 'Spring of the Vineyard', an interesting name for the birthplace of John the Baptist who was to baptise Christ in the waters of the Jordan. There are many texts linking Christ to the 'vine': see, for instance:[5] I am the vine: you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing.[John XV]

[l 4] And heavenly stile: heavenly style: this line makes reference to the heavenly and the earthly. The angel from Heaven speaks of miraculous, Heavenly things:

[31] Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. [32] He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. [33] And of his kingdom there shall be no end. [34] And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man? [35] And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

[36] And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: [37] Because no word shall be impossible with God. [Luke i. 31-37]

The Blessed Virgin Mary, here in her earthly home in Nazareth, replies: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word. Pondering the Heavenly words in her heart, but mindful of earthly, practical concerns for her elderly kinswoman, Elizabeth, Mary journeys 'with haste' to offer help. She bends her heart to God, but to her neighbour (Elizabeth), she will lend a helping hand [l 6]. This last line is a wonderful example by Mary of Jesus' answer to the scribe who asked which was the 'first commandment of all':

[29] And Jesus answered him: The first commandment of all is, Hear, O Israel: the Lord thy God is one God. [30] And thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength. This is the first commandment. [31] And the second is like to it: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these. [Matt. xxii. 37]

[l 5] sicke: either a sickness or a person suffering (in this case, Elizabeth). Cf 1526   Bible (Tyndale) Matt. ix. f. xj   Then sayd he vnto the sicke of the palsey.

[l 7] prince: Mary. 'Prince' can be applied to a female sovereign in Elizabethan usage. See eg, 1581   W. Stafford Compend. Exam. Complaints (1876) i. 29   Yea, the Prince,..as she hath most of yearely Reuenewes,..so should shee haue most losse by this dearth. 

[l 7] mightier prince doth beare: recalling the prophecy of Isaias:

[6] For a CHILD IS BORN to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace.

Parvulus enim natus est nobis, et filius datus est nobis, et factus est principatus super humerum ejus : et vocabitur nomen ejus, Admirabilis, Consiliarius, Deus, Fortis, Pater futuri saeculi, Princeps pacis. [Is. ix. 6]

[l 8] trayne - train: a long line or procession (of courtiers, attendants etc.)

[l 9] heavenly quires: heavenly choirs of angels.

[l 9-10] : recalling the Psalmist's words:

[11] For he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways.

Quoniam angelis suis mandavit de te, ut custodiant te in omnibus viis tuis.

[12] In their hands they shall bear thee up: lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

In manibus portabunt te, ne forte offendas ad lapidem pedem tuum.[Ps xc]

 [l 11-12] Word, voyce, songe, tune, dittye: these two lines are rich in imagery and meaning. There is clearly at one level a reference to Mary singing the Magnificat, the 'Canticle of Mary'. She voices her ideas through words that she sets to a tune which becomes her song, the Magnificat. 

There is another possible reference:
'Word to the voyce...she bringes': Mary bears within her womb Jesus, the 'Word made flesh', and she has brought him to John who is in the womb of his mother Elizabeth and who will later say that he is the 'voice of one crying in the wilderness'.
dittye: The words of a song, as distinguished from the music or tune. See eg, 1561   Iniunctions Bishop of Norwich sig. B.iii   'That the songe in the Churche be..so deuised and vsed that the ditte may plainly be vnderstand.' OED. 

[l 13] breste: her womb; but note associated meanings as in: fig. and transf. The seat of the affections and emotions; the repository of consciousness, designs, and secrets; the heart; OED.

[l 14-15] eternall lightes...percing beames of burning love: Jesus is the 'light of the world', enabling us to see the truth and the way to Heaven:

[12] Again therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying: I am the light of the world: 
he that followeth me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life. [John  8, 12].

But the Divine fire that provides this light also enflames hearts. After the resurrection, two disciples met up with a stranger on their way to Emaus. And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures, the things that were concerning him. They did not recognise him as Jesus until the breaking of bread in the evening, when their eyes were suddenly opened.

[32] And they said one to the other: Was not our heart burning within us, whilst he spoke in this way, and opened to us the scriptures? [Luke 24]

ll17-18] With secret signes... : Luke recounts the words uttered by Elizabeth and Mary. 'secret signes' can mean here a sign that is not outwardly visible, as in the coming of the Holy Ghost upon Elizabeth and her baby's dancing for joy in the womb.

And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: [42] And she cried out with a loud voice, and said: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. [43] And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? [44] For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.[Luke 1]

The angel who visited Zachary in the temple to prophesy the birth of John included the following words: 

he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.[Luke 1, 15]

John was not free from original sin at the moment of his conception but was freed from sin while he was still in his mother's womb, when the little Lamb of God arrived, Himself also in a mother's womb. This is almost like a baptism by his cousin Christ.

There may also be a reference to the 'secret signs' necessary in Elizabethan England for people to avoid falling foul of the oppressive, anti-Catholic laws. In this scene, two cousins greet each other by 'secret signes'.  Did two other cousins, Fr Southwell and Shakespeare, use such signs?

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Our Ladies Salutation

Ad Jesum per Mariam. J-J Tissot.

This is the third day of a Novena in preparation for the great Marian Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, on October 7th. 

The Novena is offered as a gift to Our Lady praying that, through her maternal intercession, she will mediate graces so as to guide and protect the author, his family* and all the members of the Church Militant, in these disturbing times. [*E, E, K, P, T, E ,E; E, A.]

We shall be posting each day examples of Marian poetry written by St Robert Southwell who himself lived in a terrible time of trial for Catholics. Much of his poetry was written whilst he was in solitary confinement prior to his execution at Tyburn on the 21st of February, 1595. 

The original spelling and punctuation has been retained; the notes which follow each poem are my own.

Our Ladies Salutation

Spell Eva backe and Ave shall yowe finde
The first beganne the last reversd our harmes
An Angells witching wordes did Eva blynde
An Angells Ave disinchaunts the charmes
Death first by Woemans Weakenes entred in [5]
In woemans vertue life doth nowe beginn.

O Virgin brest the heavens to thee inclyne
In thee their joy and soveraigne they agnize
Too meane their glory is to match with thyne
Whose chaste receite god more then heaven did prize [10]
Hayle fayrest heaven that heaven and earth dost blisse
Where vertewes starres god sonne of justice is.

With hauty mynd to godhead man aspird
And was by pride from place of pleasure chas'd
With loving mynde our manhead god desird [15]
And us by love in greater pleasure plac'd
Man labouring to ascend procur'd our fall
God yelding to descend cutt off our thrall.

Notes

[l 1] Eva... Ave: This correspondence appears at least as early as the 9th century in the hynb, Ave Maris Stella (anon), of which the second verse has: Sumens illud Ave Gabrielis ore, funda nos in pace,mutans Hevae nomen. Taking that sweet Ave, which from Gabriel came, peace confirm within us, changing Eve's name.

yowe: you

[l 3] witching wordes: 'witching': 'that casts a spell; enchanting'. This is a reference to the seductive lies of the fallen Angel, Lucifer, who persuades Eve she can disobey the commandment God gave not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 

[4] And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the death. [5] For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil. [Genesis 3]

[l4] An Angells Ave: The Angel Gabriel, who fought in the victory of the good angels over Lucifer's proud hordes, begins the process of undoing the effects of the 'witching wordes', by a simple salutation: Ave...

[l 5] Death: 

[12] Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death; and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned. [Romans V]

[l 5] Woemans Weakenes: woman's weakness; woeman: etymology: < wife n. + man. The word 'woman' appears at the beginning of Genesis in reference to Eve: 

"And the Lord God built the rib which he took from Adam into a woman [mulier*]: and brought her to Adam. And Adam said: This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman,[virago**] because she was taken out of man." [Genesis ii: 22, 23]

The Septuagint uses one word for 'woman' in both contexts: γυνή, γυνή, γυναικός, ἡ (voc. γύναι), woman; wife. St Jerome uses the words mulier and virago in these two verses. It has been suggested that St Jerome used the words Vir for man and Virago for "woman" attempting to reproduce a pun on "male" and "female" (ish and ishah) that existed in the Hebrew text:

וַיֹּאמֶר, הָאָדָם, זֹאת הַפַּעַם עֶצֶם מֵעֲצָמַי, וּבָשָׂר מִבְּשָׂרִי; לְזֹאת יִקָּרֵא אִשָּׁה, כִּי מֵאִישׁ לֻקְחָה-זֹּאת.

Then the man said, "This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. This one shall be called Woman (isha) for from man (ish) she was taken".

However, almost all modern linguists say that ish and isha aren't related. Ish comes from the root אוש, meaning strength (the related root אשש means "to strengthen"), and isha derives from אנש, meaning weak. See: Balashon.

*mulier: mŭlĭer, ĕris, f. mollior, comp. of mollis, q. v., a woman, a female, whether married or not. mollis, e, adj. Gr. μαλακός, ἀμαλός, μῶλυς; cf. βληχρός, perh. Lat. mulier (mollior), easily movable, pliant, flexible, supple; soft, tender, delicate, gentle, mild, pleasant 

**virago: vĭrāgo, ĭnis, f. virgo: man-like, vigorous, heroic maiden, a female warrior, heroine.

[l 6] woemans vertue: A reference to another woman, the second Eve, Mary, Mother of Jesus. Note the two occasions that Our Lord addresses Our Lady, using the word 'Woman.'

[4] And Jesus saith to her: Woman, what is that to me and to thee? my hour is not yet come. Et dicit ei Jesus : Quid mihi et tibi est, mulier? nondum venit hora mea. [John ii. 4]

[26] When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. Cum vidisset ergo Jesus matrem, et discipulum stantem, quem diligebat, dicit matri suae : Mulier, ecce filius tuus. [John xix. 26]

Through a woman's 'virtue', through Our Lady's virtue, 'life doth nowe beginn.' She is to be the mother of the 'the Way, the Truth and the Life.'

Note the etymology of 'virtue':  virtūs, ūtis (gen. plur. virtutium,  f. vir, manliness, manhood, i. e. the sum of all the corporeal or mental excellences of man, strength, vigor; bravery, courage; aptness, capacity; worth, excellence, virtue, etc

[l 7] In art, Gabriel, Heaven;s envoy, inclines (bows or genuflects) before the Blessed Virgin.

[l  8] agnize: recognize, acknowledge. Christians acknowledge Mary as the 'Cause of our joy' (Causa nostrae laetitiae, Litany of Loreto, 12th century); and they honour her as Queen (see the thirteen titles in the same litany). Alternatively, the meaning here may be that the heavens acknowledge Jesus Christ, present body, blood, soul and divinity 'in thee', ie in the tabernacle of Mary's womb. See however lines 1-2 of The Visitation by Southwell:

Proclaymed Queene and mother of a god
The light of earth the Soveraigne of saints

[l 10] receite: The act of receiving or taking in; or A place of reception or accommodation for people; a shelter, refuge.

[l 11] blisse: 'bless'. Some interesting definitions from the OED: To consecrate (a person) to a sacred office. To consecrate by a prayer committing a person to God for his patronage, defence, and prospering care. To sanctify or hallow by making the sign of the cross. 'Orig. meaning (probably), To make ‘sacred’ or ‘holy’ with blood; to consecrate by some sacrificial rite.' A curious foreshadowing of the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross, even unto shedding the last drop of His blood for us.

Mary is apostrophized as 'fairest heaven'. She is 'Heaven' because God is dwelling in her and she is completely free from sin. 'dost' is second person singular and so the line reads as: 'Hail fairest Heaven, thou dost bless heaven and earth', because of the blessed fruit of her womb, Jesus, and for which reason she is esteemed blessed among all women. The second 'heaven' may be taken to mean everything above and around the earth: the sky, the sun, the moon, the starts and the planets. 'heaven and earth' therefore represent all the created world.

[l 12]: Where vertewes...sonne of justice is: The uncertainty over punctuation, number and ellipsis in this line gives pause for thought. The sense may be: God, the Sun of Justice, is (there) where Virtue's Star [Mary] is. 'sonne' shows up as either 'sun' or son' in OED citations from the Elizabethan and Jacobean period. 'Sun of Justice' is a known title of Jesus Christ when He comes again in judgement of the living and the dead. see for example:

[2] But unto you that fear my name, the Sun of justice shall arise... [Malachi 4]

[l 13] hauty: haughty, proud, arrogant; referring to the original sin of pride committed by our first parents through the deceit of Satan.

[l 15] manhead: The state of being human; the condition of belonging to humanity; human nature. Esp. as opposed to godhead. An illustration of this now rare word may be found in: 'The Glorie of Christs Godhead was hid..by the sufferinges of his Manhead'.

[l 18] thrall: thraldom, bondage, servitude; captivity.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.