tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67430850622520650062024-03-13T16:04:56.019+01:00Beyond BrusselsTravels and travails of a historian and translatorPaulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.comBlogger125125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-30209423413809036922010-05-10T09:06:00.006+02:002010-05-10T09:30:42.802+02:00Washing up<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDnfWrj20VH73tq17wKKVN2CeSqzAPrb0PHCF_8xkFDdVShkOE_zPYvsqTTt5zBZ1gLD8zge7Agk7s0h6XAh7j5fSv5k1WngdK07pvmq2yD1BJTKECmG3r4ydwZ3fK0lCDOV0Ri-y5yQ/s1600/ps_jff_original_dishwasher.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 180px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDnfWrj20VH73tq17wKKVN2CeSqzAPrb0PHCF_8xkFDdVShkOE_zPYvsqTTt5zBZ1gLD8zge7Agk7s0h6XAh7j5fSv5k1WngdK07pvmq2yD1BJTKECmG3r4ydwZ3fK0lCDOV0Ri-y5yQ/s200/ps_jff_original_dishwasher.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469538648445265010" /></a>A couple of weeks ago (where does the time go?) I blogged about being a waiter and washer-upper at weekend functions. This past weekend repeated the experience in a minor key: a birthday party at my brother's, where I found myself sporadically washing up cutlery while chatting to an EU lobbyist and a doctoral student working on Plotinus (a much less labour-intensive form of service); followed on Sunday by a couple of hours of tending bar with the archery guild during a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9psa3Y2bedg">community event</a>.<br /><br />My better half also spent International Mothers' Day tending bar, at her school fête. Luckily, the girls were at <a href="http://info.chiro.be/artikel.php?id=842">youth group</a> and our youngest was at a birthday party, leaving only the oldest "home alone" (putatively studying Latin relative pronouns).<br /><br />In the mean time, the joys of washing up by hand have become a daily delight. Our dishwasher, over ten years old, has given up the ghost (or more accurately, the element). We're waiting, with no sense of optimism, to hear whether a replacement part is available. By coincidence (so many coincidences lately have been happy, assuming they are coincidences at all), this was a topic of conversation just over a week ago, when I was visiting <a href="http://www.cathocambrai.com/page-38046.html">a little English monastery</a> - almost more of a hermitage, in effect - in Douai, France. The monks there had considered seeking to obtain a dishwasher, but had decided against it, not only because of the expense, but also because "washing up is something we can do together" (while loading a dishwasher is really something you can only do in turns).<br /><br />So now if you'll excuse me, I have some washing up to do.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-2313417665160356782010-04-18T21:32:00.004+02:002010-04-18T22:36:26.716+02:00Premonstratensian weekend<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXMfXUBzVvyhBGXPODjAFCdQvuFwp1rUwqs1fb-HGbWBdfCPxglpYZcOhyphenhyphenu9Fat8M3NosOuuxylsnM41lNR5IkRUgfcQoJpTxZwEkENE9uniLrkn6qafO6SOzOMAn7xqz6-0jUEiZuA/s1600/ParkAbbeyPond.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQXMfXUBzVvyhBGXPODjAFCdQvuFwp1rUwqs1fb-HGbWBdfCPxglpYZcOhyphenhyphenu9Fat8M3NosOuuxylsnM41lNR5IkRUgfcQoJpTxZwEkENE9uniLrkn6qafO6SOzOMAn7xqz6-0jUEiZuA/s200/ParkAbbeyPond.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5461565344457198098" /></a>Not that I've been away on retreat, or anything - in fact I've spent most of the weekend as a sort of amateur waiter. But on Saturday I had the privilege of being present at the profession of six members of a newly formed <a href="http://www.premontre.org/">Norbertine</a> Third Order at the <a href="http://www.parkabdij.be/">Abbey of Park</a> (founded 1129; suppressed 1789; refounded 1790; suppressed 1797; refounded 1836). The ceremony was surprisingly short, and surprisingly moving. Afterwards I found myself carrying round trays of sandwiches at a reception in what I take to have been the abbot's rather palatial parlour.<br /><br />Then on Sunday, a Norbertine of the <a href="http://www.tongerlo.org/">Abbey of Tongerlo</a> (founded 1128; suppressed 1796; refounded 1840) came to a village near here to pronounce a blessing over the <a href="http://www.sintsebastiaansgildedilbeek.be/v2/">archery guild's</a> new <a href="http://blogsimages.skynet.be/images_v2/002/585/124/20080815/dyn003_original_450_600_jpeg_2585124_dd5f32da6ddc37d7a2cfd61723b5dd71.jpg">popinjay mast</a> (which looks vaguely like some sort of high-tech broadcast equipment). Then there was a barbecue and a three-hour shooting competition, where I found myself pouring drinks, clearing tables and washing up. Why do festivals always seem to become opportunities for washing-up?Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-21468206133419546142010-04-11T23:52:00.003+02:002010-04-12T00:04:49.020+02:00Flat Earth NewsVery quickly (before the link widget <a href="http://fineoldfamly.blogspot.com/2010/04/what-i-learned-this-week-by-opening-one.html">here</a> expires) - What I Learned This Week By Opening One Book.<br /><br />The book is Nick Davies' "Flat Earth News", and I learned just why it is that (as anybody with eyes can see) we have a media culture where "ignorance is accepted as knowledge and falsehood is accepted as truth" (p. 154).<br /><br />The answer is essentially (though unwittingly) G. K. Chesterton's: "a man writing at speed will write what he already knows" (which is why newspapers never contained anything new even a century ago). But the conditions of journalistic employment that drive the problem have got a lot worse over the last 20 years: instead of going out, drinking in pubs with contacts, journalists are now shackled to a computer, recycling wire stories or stories from other papers, with the occasional bit of google-supported rewriting, and no encouragement or incentive to check facts or interpretations with people who know anything about the background, leading to (p. 152):<br /><br /><blockquote>the arbitrary and the irrational replacing real judgements; the casual recycling of unreliable claims; and the structural bias towards the political and moral beliefs of the most powerful groups in society.</blockquote>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-34930218272836179442010-04-11T20:09:00.003+02:002010-04-11T23:28:46.559+02:00Back to blogging<object width="500" height="405"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q2H3vsdHgE4&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q2H3vsdHgE4&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="405"></embed></object><br /><br />When our first child was due, in 1997, the date of his expected birth (though not of his actual birth) was the Second Sunday of Easter. Even though it's not his birthday, it's a day that has gained added personal significance from this fact. The day is also known as Quasimodo Sunday from the first words of the introit, "quasi modo" ("after the fashion of" or "like"):<br /><br /><blockquote>Quasi modo geniti infantes, alleluia: rationabiles, sine dolo lac concupiscite, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.</blockquote><br /><br /><blockquote>Like newborn babes, alleluia, desire the rational milk without guile, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.</blockquote><br /><br />Or, as the King James translates it: As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word.<br /><br />When I mentioned the due date to my old tutor he exclaimed with delight, "Why, then you can call him Quasimodo!" It's not a suggestion we entertained seriously, but now that I've told our son about it he seems disappointed at the missed opportunity.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-78977104748166533772009-11-29T20:28:00.004+01:002009-11-29T22:10:15.413+01:00The end of the blogI'll be leaving things in place as a repository of links, not just for myself but particularly for people searching for the phrases "<a href="http://beyondbrussels.blogspot.com/2009/02/by-god-sir-so-you-have.html">By God Sir, I've lost my leg</a>", "<a href="http://beyondbrussels.blogspot.com/2008/12/opening-scene-of-gladiator-for-real.html">opening scene of Gladiator</a>" and "<a href="http://beyondbrussels.blogspot.com/2009/07/baby-jesus-at-breast.html">Baby Jesus at the breast</a>". But I have no intention of adding new posts (and will be systematically paring back a lot of what is here). Wishing any readers a fruitful advent, a merry Christmas, and a prosperous New Year!Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-26684221053440373542009-11-23T09:08:00.000+01:002009-11-23T10:15:33.640+01:00Rising like a phoenixMight not be the fate of this blog (although one can hope), but is certainly the fate of the rest of us, as the first patristic document, <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20070307_en.html">Clement of Rome</a>'s <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1010.htm">Letter to the Christians of Corinth</a>, explains.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-66028085284528289832009-10-24T14:16:00.001+02:002009-10-24T14:18:21.141+02:00not a blog postJust to keep <a href="http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.com/2009/10/migne-online.html">this link</a> handy for a while.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-10379183964501269012009-10-02T09:04:00.002+02:002009-10-02T11:11:33.714+02:00Silver, gold and stoneworkThrough different friends on Facebook I've been made aware of recent discoveries of <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8224000/8224173.stm">Viking silver</a> and <a href="http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/">Anglo-Saxon gold</a>. Beautiful stuff.<br /><br />Less in the news, but of interest here, is that <a href="http://outlandish-knight.blogspot.com">Outlandish Knight</a> has provided <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/david.petts.archaeology/RomanesqueNormandy?feat=directlink#">a link to his photographs</a> of early Norman churches, fonts, and corbels.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-38591263379336270342009-09-30T21:29:00.010+02:002009-11-29T20:06:38.518+01:00conversio ut orator<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_fx3NbySgFSXx0zhx7XHHdpW-qxhQhN_JpB47ANDgMttiRfzF8RBG0BJJ5ZtfK6QJ6qtDdM-tAA2o97Wm6JfGyGnP1zS5vebHI7l0UgwwzX8mVUxQzM0ugvoW8AGM4Tc61rzc8roVQg/s1600-h/Duerer-Jerome_in_his_study.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 241px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_fx3NbySgFSXx0zhx7XHHdpW-qxhQhN_JpB47ANDgMttiRfzF8RBG0BJJ5ZtfK6QJ6qtDdM-tAA2o97Wm6JfGyGnP1zS5vebHI7l0UgwwzX8mVUxQzM0ugvoW8AGM4Tc61rzc8roVQg/s320/Duerer-Jerome_in_his_study.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387353838339118754" /></a>The past few weeks the impetus of the blog seems to have failed for one reason or another. One such reason (not a large one, it must be said) is the fun and distraction of teaching a course on the historical and cultural context of English literature, 600-1660. Last week's class was about Bede (and "The Ruin", Caedmon's Hymn, and "The Dream of the Rood"); a lot for just two hours of class time.<br /><br />Tomorrow's class is on just one work: Beowulf. I'm very excited to be able (at last!) to teach about Beowulf. Perhaps more excited than will be good for the class. If anybody's interested, I'll be sure to let you know how it went.<br /><br />But tonight is the Vespers of the Feast of St Jerome, translator of the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin. He defended his translation method as "translating not like an interpreter but like an orator": making an attempt to convey the beauty of the original, rather than (woodenly) its meaning. As this is the blog of a historian <span style="font-weight:bold;">and translator</span>, the occasion can hardly be allowed to pass uncelebrated. So today's collect:<br /><blockquote>O God, Who for the expounding of the Holy Scriptures didst raise up in Thy Church the great and holy Doctor Jerome; we beseech Thee, grant that by his intercession and merits we may, by Thy help, be enabled to practice what he taught us both by word and by work.</blockquote>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-74950956565100383102009-09-15T00:05:00.003+02:002009-09-15T00:13:54.738+02:00Our Lady of SorrowsOr should that be "Sorrows of Our Lady"?<br /><br />In any case, to continue the last post's theme of ravishing Vespers:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bPnufDDPXFY&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bPnufDDPXFY&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-29328843007005166272009-09-14T23:57:00.000+02:002009-09-15T00:16:53.846+02:00Exaltation of the CrossYesterday evening I spent making Latin flashcards, including "REX / regis (m.) king". And to help the morphology sink in, a dose of Vespers for today:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8fHVyO2DLA4&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8fHVyO2DLA4&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-27382418708091315192009-09-07T21:49:00.005+02:002009-09-10T11:05:16.809+02:00JournalismA conversation in the comments of <a href="http://www.lightondarkwater.com/blog/">another blog</a> brought up some remarks that the Archbishop of Westminster made about social networking sites (Facebook and so forth), as <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/5956719/Facebook-and-MySpace-can-lead-children-to-commit-suicide-warns-Archbishop-Nichols.html">reported in the Telegraph</a>. Reading it is hilarious.<br /><br />I should perhaps say that I wrote my doctorate about newspapers, so when I'm reading a newspaper report my foremost thought is not "What happened?" (or "What was said?"), but "What does the journalist think happened?" (or "Did he even understand what was said?").<br /><br />It's unavoidable that some simplification should be found in a newspaper report (that is pretty much what journalists exist to do: pot things), but even so it's remarkable here how the Archbishop's own words are an awful lot more nuanced than those that the journalist "fills in" without using quotation marks. It begins with the headline.<br /><br />Headline: "Facebook and MySpace can lead children to commit suicide"<br />Actual quotation near bottom of article: "Among young people often a key factor in them committing suicide is the trauma of transient relationships."<br /><br />Journalist: "The archbishop blamed social network sites for leaving children with impoverished friendships."<br />Actual words of Archbishop: "Facebook and MySpace might contribute towards communities, but I'm wary about it. It's not rounded communication so it won't build a rounded community," he said. "If we mean by community a genuine growing together and a mutual sharing in an interest that is of some significance then it needs more than Facebook."<br /><br />It is worth reminding young people (and not-so-young people, and - need I add? - ourselves) that a Facebook "friend" and an online "community" are not at all the same thing as a friend or a community. That handy tools for keeping in touch with people at a distance shouldn't distract us from getting in touch with people in the same street as us, or the same house. Strange that it's a point that a Telegraph journalist can't grasp without sensationalising.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-9618587095636789442009-09-03T20:26:00.006+02:002009-09-03T20:40:44.503+02:001419 years ago today<blockquote>Gregory, a man renowned for learning and behaviour, was promoted to the apostolical see of Rome, and presided over it thirteen years, six months and ten days. He, being moved by Divine inspiration, in the fourteenth year of the same emperor [maurice], and about the one hundred and fiftieth after the coming of the English into Britain, sent the servant of God, Augustine, and with him several other monks, who feared the Lord, to preach the word of God to the English nation. they having, in obedience to the pope's commands, undertaken that work, were, on their journey, seized with a sudden fear, and began to think of returning home, rather than proceed to a barbarous, fierce, and unbelieving nation, to whose very language they were strangers; and this they unanimously agreed was the safest course. In short, they sent back. Augustine, who had been appointed to be consecrated bishop in case they were received by the English, that he might, by humble entreaty, obtain of the Holy Gregory, that they should not be compelled to undertake so dangerous, toilsome, and uncertain a journey. The pope, in reply, sent them a hortatory epistle, persuading them to proceed in the work of the Divine word, and rely on the assistance of the Almighty.</blockquote><br />(Bede, Ecclesiastical History, bk 1, ch. 23, as found at the <a href="http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html">Internet Medieval Sourcebook</a>)<br /><br />St Gregory's instructions on evangelization, written to Mellitus in 601, were among the most influential ever:<br /><br /><blockquote>When Almighty God shall bring you to the most reverend Bishop Augustine, our brother, tell him what I have, after mature deliberation on the affairs of the English, determined upon, namely, that the temples of the idols in that nation ought not to be destroyed, but let the idols that are in them be destroyed; let holy water be made and sprinkled in the said temples - let altars be erected, and relics placed. For if those temples are well built, it is requisite that the be converted from the worship of devils to the service of the true God; that the nation, seeing that their temples are not destroyed, may remove error from their hearts and, knowing and adoring the true God, may the more familiarly resort to the places to which they have been accustomed.<br /><br />And because they have been used to slaughter many oxen in the sacrifices to devils, some solemnity must be substituted for them on this account, as, for instance, that on the day of the dedication, or of the nativities of the holy martyrs whose relics are there deposited, they may build themselves huts of the boughs of trees about those churches which have been turned to that use from temples, and celebrate the solemnity with religious feasting, no more offering beasts to the devil, but killing cattle to the praise of God in their eating, and returning thanks to the Giver of all things for their sustenance; to the end that, whilst some outward gratifications are permitted them, they may the more easily consent to thee inward consolations of the grace of God.<br /><br />For there is no doubt that it is impossible to efface every thing at once from their obdurate minds, because he who endeavors to ascend to the highest place rises by degrees or steps and not by leaps. This the Lord made himself known to the people of Israel in Egypt: and yet he allowed them to use the sacrifices which they were wont to offer to the devil in his own worship, commanding them in his sacrifice to kill beasts to the end that, changing their hearts they mad lay aside one part of the sacrifice whilst retained another: that whilst they offered the same beasts which they were wont to offer, they should offer them to God, and not to idols, and thus they would no longer be the same sacrifices. </blockquote><br /><br />Oh, and he wrote the <a href="http://www.ccel.org/ccel/gregory/life_rule.html">Life of St Benedict</a> :)Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-32455154831176564862009-09-03T20:25:00.000+02:002009-09-03T20:26:08.481+02:00Seventy years ago today<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qtrOJnpmz6s&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qtrOJnpmz6s&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-63490711646014094932009-08-29T16:53:00.005+02:002009-08-29T19:56:05.323+02:00Speaking Truth to PowerToday being the Memorial of the Beheading of St John the Baptist gives another reason to post a Van der Weyden reproduction, this one borrowed from <a href="http://www.abcgallery.com/W/weyden/weyden57.html">Olga's Gallery</a>:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7X_ontGEh2uk-OkSVai1w0VFnrd2Mqtk9ANlv3_sPZmCE-PA_5VISv86A6fWLefOwNoiP2Pu1TA87hbLwHVH_lQssmTIXUABEfocGabOKNGUmjhFr1Aut0qH6mXXSR0oj_3AvcVUdUw/s1600-h/weyden57.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 293px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7X_ontGEh2uk-OkSVai1w0VFnrd2Mqtk9ANlv3_sPZmCE-PA_5VISv86A6fWLefOwNoiP2Pu1TA87hbLwHVH_lQssmTIXUABEfocGabOKNGUmjhFr1Aut0qH6mXXSR0oj_3AvcVUdUw/s400/weyden57.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375399606803145698" border="0" /></a>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-5262594091278053972009-08-21T23:47:00.001+02:002009-08-21T23:47:59.488+02:00A trip to look forward to<a href="http://irecusant.blogspot.com/2009/08/catholic-diaspora-downside-abbey.html">In just a few weeks.</a>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-56258646792973438622009-08-15T14:17:00.002+02:002009-08-15T14:20:15.575+02:00Feast of the AssumptionRather than go with "<a href="http://beyondbrussels.blogspot.com/search/label/breastfeeding">blessed be the breasts which gave suck to Christ our Lord</a>" I thought this might be nice:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkPrKlbT9uQct6ZEXL36pvawXnwBi-XpPCWqCwgpeNjet8KWv2e2iFOyREUkqsYDOJ170NhuBcAsmk7KZXh5oemoxGja6JkI9hp7OWFYg5a1d88Egcc0v2QXfeqiNtj2Srs8RMTk5rZA/s1600-h/5queen.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 323px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkPrKlbT9uQct6ZEXL36pvawXnwBi-XpPCWqCwgpeNjet8KWv2e2iFOyREUkqsYDOJ170NhuBcAsmk7KZXh5oemoxGja6JkI9hp7OWFYg5a1d88Egcc0v2QXfeqiNtj2Srs8RMTk5rZA/s400/5queen.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370163920693128658" border="0" /></a>Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-6530788109648888822009-08-04T14:29:00.003+02:002009-08-04T14:36:13.331+02:00More on MilanQuite <a href="http://beyondbrussels.blogspot.com/2008/09/too-busy-living-to-blog.html">some time back</a> I blogged about being in Milan, and about Newman's remarks on the cathedral. Just lately I happened on this description of the city, by one of the products of Oratorian education:<br /><br /><blockquote>What a magnificent city is Milan! The great houses are all of stone, and stand regular and in order, along wide straight streets. There are swift cars, drawn by electricity, for such as can afford them. Men are brisk and alert even in the summer heats, and there are shops of a very good kind, though a trifle showy. There are many newspapers to help the Milanese to be better men and to cultivate charity and humility; there are banks full of paper money; there are soldiers, good pavements, and all that man requires to fulfil him, soul and body; cafés, arcades, mutoscopes, and every sign of the perfect state. And the whole centres in a splendid open square, in the midst of which is the cathedral, which is justly the most renowned in the world.</blockquote>The source is Hilaire Belloc, <span style="font-style: italic;">The Path to Rome</span>, first published 1902 (7th impression, London, 1949), 294-295.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-89621697339238384332009-07-27T18:04:00.005+02:002009-07-27T18:33:00.353+02:00Baby Jesus at the breast<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJPHEPsCRhcAI6wlb35q9poZsIXXMAAg9N8Cgp34rBgp-ahWP2vxpbsUFss5hjL5WrPYCHoZ5At9PSCF9mXE1qoUg2nbEPjJiuki1zic6VlIlJB8fuWg_ET_MrQ0n-goKSrgPh81lgA/s1600-h/482px-Weyden_madonna_1440.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 322px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBJPHEPsCRhcAI6wlb35q9poZsIXXMAAg9N8Cgp34rBgp-ahWP2vxpbsUFss5hjL5WrPYCHoZ5At9PSCF9mXE1qoUg2nbEPjJiuki1zic6VlIlJB8fuWg_ET_MrQ0n-goKSrgPh81lgA/s400/482px-Weyden_madonna_1440.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363178254105386258" /></a><br />For the past week or so I've been busy, in an inefficient and mentally diffuse manner, with translations for the catalogue of <a href="http://www.codart.nl/exhibitions/details/961/">a major exhibition</a> about <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15269c.htm">Rogier van der Weyden</a>, kicking off in September.<br /><br />Van der Weyden was Philip II's favourite old master; well, he was a lot of people's favourite old master. He conveyed the emotions of biblical episodes with a vividness that helped people imagine what it must have been like to be there - a big part of late medieval and early modern devotional practice.<br /><br />In the course of background work for the translating (that is, actually trying to find the pictures being described) I came across the above picture on wikipedia, which <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Weyden_madonna_1440.jpg">assures me</a> it's out of copyright (and since the original is in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, I imagine they're right - it's not one of the thousands of images that somebody "<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/drawing-up-battle-lines-ndash-art-gallery-takes-on-wikipedia-1752310.html">liberated</a>" from behind the National Portrait Gallery's firewall)<br /><br />The user statistics for this blog show that a fair number of the people who stumble across it do so by googling for pictures of Our Lady either pregnant or breastfeeding - something I <a href="http://beyondbrussels.blogspot.com/2008/12/jesus-grew-in-marys-womb-and-was-fed-at.html">blogged about</a> in Advent last year. So I thought I'd add this one, for their benefit.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-15489022632689844152009-07-27T17:56:00.004+02:002009-07-27T19:43:02.370+02:00A flaw in the systemIt's surprising to see that it's been two whole months since I last posted here - I knew I hadn't been giving the blog much attention, but I hadn't realised it had been so very long.<br /><br />Part of the rationale behind this blog was that it might be a way of building some sort of reflection into the day - what had been done, said, thought, or left undone - and then publicly recording any of that that might conceivably be of interest to others (and while I might be a poor judge of the latter, dear read, nobody is forced to read this stuff!). But one of the first casualties of things left undone has been regular daily reflection. Ho hum.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-26483957142501424262009-05-27T00:46:00.004+02:002009-05-27T00:59:54.873+02:00Top 100 HymnsA link from Facebook took me to a <a href="http://www.firstthings.com/blog_entry.php?blog_id=1&year=2009&month=05&title_link=top-100-hymns-survey-1243345796">blog</a> where I read about a project on <a href="http://www.semicolonblog.com/?p=5165">another blog</a> to gather a fairly random list of people's favourite hymns. The <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005/10_october/27/hymn.shtml">BBC did this</a> a few years ago and came out with a top 10 of "the nation's favourite hymns" that looked like this:<br /><ol><li>How Great Thou Art</li><li>Dear Lord and Father of Mankind</li><li>The Day Thou Gavest</li><li>Be Thou My Vision</li><li>Love Divine, All Loves Excelling </li><li>Be Still, For The Presence Of The Lord</li><li>Make Me A Channel</li><li>Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer</li><li>In Christ Alone</li><li>Shine, Jesus, Shine</li></ol>I'm not sure what my own top 10 would be, or the order of them, as thinking about it I can only whittle the list down as far as 12 (including 4 of the BBC's top 10), and that's without putting them in any order of preference:<br /><br /><ul><li>At the Cross Her Station Keeping</li><li>The Lord is My Shepherd</li><li>Be Thou My Vision</li><li>Adeste Fideles</li><li>Pange Lingua</li><li>The Day Thou Gavest Lord is Ended</li><li>Dear Lord and Father of Mankind</li><li>Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer</li><li>O Come, O Come Emmanuel</li><li>Abide With Me</li><li>Praise My Soul the King of Heaven</li><li>Lead, Kindly Light</li></ul><br />Still, if I do get round to making a ranked list of 10, I'll be sure to let the lady at the blog know!Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-13294756250310406092009-05-24T22:22:00.005+02:002009-05-24T22:30:29.723+02:00FishlinkJust back from a four-day-weekend at the seaside (Ascension is a holiday here, and the Friday fell down the crack between that and the weekend proper), to find that <a href="http://davidderrick.wordpress.com/">one of the blogs I read</a> has put up a link to a <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8058351.stm">BBC report</a> on an archaeologist opining as to when and why Europe's deep-sea fisheries got started (or is it just England's? - always hard to tell with the BBC, on whose website I once saw William Caxton described as an "inventor").Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-90000764285928852652009-05-18T22:41:00.001+02:002009-05-18T22:43:17.395+02:00MemoriesLooking for last-minute material for my students, I happened on this just now:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8J-X0TBZ0sM&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8J-X0TBZ0sM&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Brings back memories ...Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-11453995029720103442009-05-07T11:23:00.005+02:002009-05-07T11:36:04.330+02:00Displacement activityWell, the sound of stone being worked with a circular saw is keeping me from focusing on the work I should be doing, so a quick update on the blog might at least be something.<br /><br />Tuesday I taught about Northern Ireland in the course on "the English-speaking peoples of Europe"; the Tuesday before about the Republic; the Tuesday before that I cancelled the class because of my hand being in plaster - how can I possibly teach if I can't even shave?<br /><br />Two of my students have asked me whether they can reschedule my exam rather than have to sit two exams on one day. It's a question that would never even have crossed my mind as a student. But it was rather touching when one of them whined "But the other exam is <span style="font-style:italic;">really</span> important!" Such charmingly comical unfamiliarity with even the most basic principles of wheedling!Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6743085062252065006.post-35369604209105618402009-04-21T09:12:00.004+02:002009-04-21T09:21:15.882+02:00The Canticle of HezekiahThe canticle used in this morning's Morning Prayer has taken on a much more personal significance over the past week or so. Here it is, in the King James rather than the Revised Standard Version:<br /><br /><blockquote>I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.<br /><br />I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.<br /><br />Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.<br /><br />I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.<br /><br />Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.<br /><br />What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.<br /><br />O LORD, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.<br /><br />Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.<br /><br />For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.<br /><br />The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.<br /><br />The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.</blockquote><br /><br />So, time to turn to this day's work.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04315105493443923507noreply@blogger.com0