ONE cannot find anything more religious and more joyful in sacred celebrations than a whole congregation expressing its faith and devotion in song. Therefore the active participation of the whole people, which is shown in singing, is to be carefully promoted.
Musicam Sacram, Instruction on Music in the Liturgy, no. 16
With thanks to vatican.va
Image with thanks to Freepik AI generated content by CN Whittle
Some years ago I found the work of luminous artist Dina Cormick. The first artwork I viewed struck me to the heart. A stark visual of a woman whose face appears to be carved in the immediacy of incredible grief, holding up what appears to be a deceased child to the heavens. Her mouth is open in what may be a wail or soundless cry of agony at the fate of the little one. The words "a woman knows the history of human flesh, she knows its cost, Olive Shreiner", appears to the right of the image.
I found this depiction both deeply moving and meaningful. A woman goes through agony to give birth to a child, sacrifices deeply to ensure care for the child of her body until her little one reaches adulthood. Thus a woman who has experienced what it means to grow a child within, to bear that child and to nurture her offspring, knows the physical, emotional, spiritual and financial cost of bringing a child into the world and nurturing that child.
This is not to imply that fathers do not know the history of human flesh or its cost. Of course they do. Acknowledgement of the incredible role of fatherhood in the life of a child is always due. The point of this particular artwork however, to my mind, emphasizes the woman's role of motherhood: that a woman understands in her bones and flesh what the making of a child entails.
This artwork touched my heart so deeply as it made connection for me between motherhood and war. Witnessing the fruit of your body, and the pride and joy of your heart, being sent to war possibly to be maimed or killed is so tragic.
War has long shadows. There are countless stories of wars which had such profound and sorrowful impact on so many lives.
I pray for an end to the wars, suffering and death which are sweeping our beautiful planet at this time. Truly, a woman knows the history of human flesh, she knows its cost. If we, in our societies, realize the wonder of the cost of lives, surely we will come to value our children - and those of others of all species - with all our hearts.
The Mother of Jesus Christ knew the unbelievable pain of the loss of her Son Who died in the cosmic war to defeat satan from wrongful usurpation of the destiny of humankind. She knew the cost of human flesh received through the Incarnation being discarded, disrespected and swept away in torture and death. All mothers may turn to the example of Mother Mary in the Bible, for comfort in their darkest hours of grief and loss. There is hope again - there will one day be resurrection for all lost on earth and in war. Eternal life in the bliss of heaven will be experienced by all the fallen, all lost at sea or buried in unknown graves. The wail of the mother in the artwork of Artist Cormick will be tenderly changed to eternal joy in the reunion of mothers and children, fathers and children, families and their loved ones in the New Jerusalem. And that will be an eternal reunion and life of happiness which will never end.
I know what sober and realistic thoughts the work by Artist Dina Cormick evoked in my mind. Sorrow for past and present loss of life. Respect and reverence for women who value life, Respect and reverence for men who are devoted fathers. Acknowledgement to God in the heavens that, at the end of the day, no matter how grim reality seems, He is in control. And hope, hope for the future - that as women know the history and sanctity of life, all may come to respect and love all living beings. If not in this world, then in the next.
Thank you, Artist Dina, for your incredible mission as artist.
Click in the following link about Artist Dina Cormick, if you wish to view the artwork described above:
https://www.creativewomanartist.com/about-the-artist/
With thanks to creativewomartist.com
MUSIC is a moral law.
It gives soul to the universe,
Wings to the mind,
Flight to the imagination,
A charm to sadness,
Happiness and life to everything.
It is the essence of order
And lends to all that is good
And just and beautiful.
Plato
Fourth century BCE
THE priests came out of the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard to their divisions, and all the levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, their sons and kindred, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps and lyres, stood east of the altar with 120 priests who were trumpeters).
It was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD, and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD,
"For He is good,
for His steadfast loves endures forever,"
the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of GOD.
2 Chronicles 5:11-14
NOTHING is better than music. When it takes us out of time, it has done more for us than we have the right to hope for. It has broadened the limits of our sorrowful lives; it has lit up the sweetness of our hours of happiness by effacing the pettinesses that diminish us, bringing us back pure and new to what was, what will be and what music has created for us.
Nadia Boulanger
Sacred art is an excellent method to get a message across. Yet the artist's original motive must be looked at to interpret the true meaning of the created work as intended by the artist, not the construct the individual viewer places thereon.
The individual viewer of an artwork may place a construct thereon, and this is valid for the viewer. Yet viewer interpretation cannot replace the artist's motive - which should be looked at within the culture and context of the artist's time - in order to interpret the true meaning of the created work as originally intended by the artist.
Thus a sacred artwork viewed decades later within an evolved - and thus different societal and religious context - cannot be interpreted with the same lens which was possible at the time of the creation of the artwork.
Sacred art made with pure intention - which was created by an artist from one culture and context - simply cannot be judged decades later without reference to the original time of culture and context. This reflects maturity of artistic reflection.
Art is always moving on. We stand on the shoulders of the giants who went before us. So yes, we may have more options and understanding than previous generations of sacred artists due to the vast array of developed tools presently at hand.
Yet we cannot deny that without the faith, sacrifice, inspiration, toil and tears of previous sacred artists - many of whom gave their lives to teach us what they knew then (and not what we subsequently know now) - we might not have had any faith art at all.
Let us be gracious to previous sacred artists. As we hope and pray future generations will show for our own efforts to reflect the inimitable Glory of God.
The role of sacred art is not to reflect norms of ever-changing fields of societal opinions. The role of sacred art is to reflect the never-changing commands of GOD.
The goal of sacred art is not to invest faith in current norms, which of their essence are mutable. The goal of sacred art is to support individuals to come to faith in GOD the Immutable.
ONE cannot find anyth ing more religious and more joyful in sacred celebrations than a whole congregation expressing its faith and devotio...
